philosophy of science fiction final

chapman university

knowledge (jtb)

Justified True Belief - knowledge is true and a belief, but most importantly justified.

TRUTH (Correspondence Theory)

The correspondence theory in its simplest form says that truth is a connection to reality.

logical fallacy definition

a reasoning error that weakens or invalidates the argument

equivocation fallacy

•  alternating between the different meanings of a word in the argument’s premises

• can be avoided by clearly defining the term in the debate

epistemology

Epistemology is the “how”, the framework of the beliefs, not necessarily the content

• It’s the study of knowledge and it’s methods

what to rationalists believe?

Rationalists believe “There are cases where the content of our concepts or knowledge outstrips the information that sense experience can provide” - basically reason is the primary source of knowledge, not necessarily senses

rationalism (plato) definiton

to reason, to have knowledge of things that aren’t shifting, not using the senses, isn’t physical— these ideas exist apart from us

empiricism

dea that knowledge comes exclusively from sensory perceptions

who coined empiricism

john locke (homeboy)

metaphysics - the what

Before, after, and beyond the physical, all of reality

• The exploration of the essence or nature of reality itself

• What is reality, what does it mean to be human, a person

dualism

the idea that there is a physical part of reality and one that goes beyond the senses but is grasped by our sense of reasoning

what does dualism connect to

metaphysics

qualitative identity

Relation that one thing X, bears to another thing Y (two toys by same maker)

• x and y came from z

Numerical Identity 

X is the very same thing as Y (share all of the their essential qualities)

• x=y

Synchronic numerical identity

same time

• Synchronic numerical identity is simply to match the known essential properties of a substance with the thing in front of us

• same time

Diachronic numerical identity

 answering the question how does a substance maintain its numerical identity over time

• Diachronic = through time 

SOUL THEORY (Descartes)

Person X at time T is numerical idneticall to person Y at time T + 1 if and only if X and Y share the same soul

MEMORY THEORY / PSYCHOLOGICAL (Locke)

• Psychological Continuity Theory– Person X and Person Y are diachronically numerically identical if and only if X and Y are psychologically continuous (Y’s mental network is well connected to X’s mental network, AKA their sum of total mental states- beliefs, desires, moods, conscious/unconscious minds)

• Locke’s revised version

CRITICISM of PSYCHOLOGICAL

criticism – Parfit believes “personal identity” is too vague to be of any philosophical importance, it’s an insoluble problem

Bundle Theory

 the philosopher David Hume thinks we should abandon the concept of diachronic numerical identity

• Instead he offers a philosophical consolation prize: the self changes in so many and in such deep ways that a self cannot be said to be a single person over the course of its life

• However some criticize this, saying if you convict a criminal, they eventually become a different person, if you sign a contract, you’re not always you

free will

• The canonical design for a significant kind of control over one's actions 

compatibalism

past determines the future, the determination comes within ourselves

• free will is compatible with determinism

incompatibilism

if determinism is true, then free will cannot exist.

hard determinism (incompatibilism)

the belief that all events are caused by past events, noting other than what does occur could occur

soft determinism (compatibilism)

substance dualism (mind-body dualism) -  the mind and the body are two separate substances and therefore have different properties

• Past determines the future

• The determination comes within ourselves 

• When the action is self-determined - it should be considered free 

•  Free will is compatible with determism 

the MIND

debates on if the body rules the mind or if the mind rules the body

• substance dualism (descartes) the mind doesn’t occupy space in the body

  • materialists - consicousness and man can be entirely explained as a physical phenomenom

substance dualism - descartes, metaphysics

• (part of the body not being a physical thing), he doesn’t believe in determinism, which is based on laws of physics

  • Descartes feels a machine cannot have free will

materialism

the mind rules the body, physicalism

Materialists believe “consciousness can be entirely explained as a physical phenomena; it is a matter of brain mechanics”

EPIPHENOMENALISM (property dualism)

• Epiphenomenalism (property dualism)– having a physical body, while having a nonphysical aspect (ex: qualia)

instead of separate physical and mental worlds, there is one world where everything has both physical mental properties

qualia

The special indescribable inner experiences we all have

• combination of all 5 sensed to create a unique detailed experience, are private no one will know what it is like

  • Conscious seeming behavior is not enough to demonstrate one has qualia

• The qualia of an entity are separate and cannot be determined from the physical facts about it 

• Some philosophers claim these problems surrounding qualia strengthen the dualist argument - must be non physical 

ZOMBIE

zombies in philosophy

• Zombies in philosophy are imaginary creatures designed to illuminate problems about consciousness and its relation to the physical world

• They are exactly like us in all physical respects but without conscious experiences - there is nothing it is like to be a zombie

strong ai

• Strong AI claim properly programmed computers can generate consciousness on its own

weak ai

narrow systems that excel at specific tasks within limited contexts

DESCARTES’ TWO TESTS

• Descartes believes these are the criteria to having a mind (dualist)

• Turing does as well

  • Language use

    • Universal general problem solving 

turing test

a computer would be considered intelligent if it’s conversation couldn’t be distinguished from a humans

• Turing’s “Imitation Game”, became known as “Turing Test”— if a computer could convince a human it was human, that meant it was capable of original thought/intelligent

• For Turing it didn’t matter how it happened, but if they (machine and human) had the same outcome, it was a thinking

  • Turing does as well (materialist)

    • Language use

    • Universal general problem solving

chinese room/chess room

• Chinese room thought experiment 

• John Searle’s idea 

  • Boxes of chinese symbols and a book of instructions for the manipulating the symbols in the program 

• The program enables the person in the room to pass the turing test for understanding chinese but he does not understand a word of chinese 

• The idea of weak AI - no understanding of what it is doing 

Gary Marcus’ REVISED TURING TEST

• he said that a truly intelligent computer could "watch any arbitrary TV program or YouTube video and answer questions about its content—'Why did Russia invade Crimea?' or 'Why did Walter White consider taking a hit out on Jessie?'" 

• watch an episode of “The Simpsons,” and tell us when to laugh.

• Gary Marcus’

elf ranger test

beth singler

• AI are usually chosen for games of intelligence like chess but never for creativity 

• Dungeon and Dragons Elf Ranger 

• These experiences have non of the open ended colbation of D&D - (has a lot of storytelling)

  • Instead of turing test -there should be elf ranger test testing on the creativity of AI in D&D games

lovelace test

• An artificial agent designed by a human to pass the test only if it origiantes a program that it was not engineer to produce 

• must  be the result of processes the artificial can reproduce

• The agents designers must ot be able to explain how their original code led to this program

• creativity

DARPA ROBOTICS CHALLENGE

• Fukushima Nuclear Disaster (2011) inspires more robotics and DARPA robotics challenge which attempts to make autonomous machines

ROBOT (Sense Think Act Paradigm)

Define a robot as a machine that senses, thinks, and acts – a robot must have sensors, processing ability that emulates cognition, and actuators

ROBOT (Etymology / Word Origin)

• Robot first appears in Karel Cpaek’s play R.U.R (1920) 

• derived from the Czech work robota - making it clear that Capek intended his drama to comment on slavery, class, race, and social revolution  (forced labor)

ANDROID (Etymology / Word Origin)

• An android is an automaton with human-like appearance

• The term was popularized by the french science fiction novel “the future eve” in 1886

• Android is derived from the greek roots - Andros, meaning man and eidos meaning form

ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

• Platos thought experiment on reality 

• Platos theory of forms - everything has a pure form - soul 

• Person is locked in a cave and believes that the shadows on the all are the real thing but then is freed and experiences outside the cave true forms 

ETHICS

• The systematic rational search for answers to moral questions

• Morality is all that concerns our beliefs about right and wrong actions and good or bad persons or character

VIRTUE (Aristotle)

• “Emphasize the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy rather than either doing one duty or acting in order to bring about good consequences.”

• Golden Mean

  • Two vices, vice of excess, vice of not doing enough

• Most virtue ethics take inspiration from Aristotle, who stated that a virtuous person is someone who has ideal character traits 

• What would a virtuous person do in that situation - follow that, and you will become a virtuous person

• Rejects Objective moral principles - certain circumstances demand certain actions 

friendship of utility

• These friendships are based on what someone can do for you, or what you can do for another person

friendship of pleasure

shared interests, someone you go out for drinks with or enjoy a particular hobby

virtue friendship

aristotle approved,  based as it is on the character of two self-sufficient equals, is a lot more stable than the previous two categories.

CONSEQUENTIALISM / UTILITARIANISM (ethics)

• Utility is that  

• Object moral principles

• These claims are often summarised in the slogan -the  greatest happiness for the greatest numbe

principle of utility

• Simply stated, the moral action in every citation is the action that brings about the greatest good for the greatest number.

• Happiness for utilitarianism means maximising pleasure and minimizing pain

NONCONSEQUENTIALISM / DEONTOLOGY

• We have a duty/ obligation to act according to what the dictates is objectively good or bad. There are objective moral principles. These moral principles can be identified by using reason and the categorical imperative. 

• Kant’s theory 

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE

• Kant’s theories

• = Commands you must follow regardless, of your desires. Moral obligations are derived from pure reason

Hanson Robotics’ SOPHIA

• Sophia was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia 

• Non human things have been granted personhood

David Gunkel

• Idea of the robot invasion

• Robots are already here - using sense the act paradigm 

• These machines are already around - not coming from our future already here

Gary Marcus

• he said that a truly intelligent computer could "watch any arbitrary TV program or YouTube video and answer questions about its content—'Why did Russia invade Crimea?' or 'Why did Walter White consider taking a hit out on Jessie?'" 

• watch an episode of “The Simpsons,” and tell us when to laugh.

• Gary Marcus’

John Searle

• Chinese room thought experiment 

• John Searle’s idea 

• Boxes of chinese symbols and a book of instructions for the manipulating the symbols in the program 

• The program enables the person in the room to pass the turing test for understanding chinese but he does not understand a word of chinese 

• The idea of weak AI - no understanding of what it is doing 

Immanuel Kant

Every rational being exists as an end in himself and not merely as a means to be arbitrarily used by this or that

Jeremy Bentham

• If something is experiencing pain, we have a direct moral obligation to it

• Bentham - vegetarian - pains from eating animals outweigh pleasure from gaining the meat

• Can a robot have rights 

• Should robot have rights

David Chalmers

• Philosophist David Chalmers (an epiphenomenalist) believes to have qualia is almost the same thing as to be conscious

Beth Singler

• Beth Singler

• AI are usually chosen for games of intelligence like chess but never for creativity 

• Dungeon and Dragons Elf Ranger 

• These experiences have non of the open ended colbation of D&D - (has a lot of storytelling)

• Instead of turing test -there should be elf ranger test testing on the creativity of AI in D&D games

René Descartes

• (part of the body not being a physical thing), he doesn’t believe in determinism, which is based on laws of physics

• Descartes feels a machine cannot have free will

• Person X at time T is numerical idneticall to person Y at time T + 1 if and only if X and Y share the same soul

• Descartes believes these are the criteria to having a mind (dualist)

• Turing does as well

• Language use

• Universal general problem solving 

Alan Turing

• British Computer scientist 

• Created the Imitation game/turing test

• TURING TEST: a computer would be considered intelligent if it’s conversation couldn’t be distinguished from a humans

• Turing and Descartes agree that language use and problem-solving are the two necessities for consciousness

• However, Turing is a materialist, whereas Descartes is a dualist

Daniel Dennett (materialist)

Daniel Dennett says NO– there is nothing about the experience of seeing color that exists separate from the physical data. Our experience of qualia is only the processing of data, not something distinct from the process itself. Mental events are physical events, consciousness is an illusion.

• Mary just didn’t have all the information in the first place, her seeing color was just getting more information

• EX: the blue banana, Mary would know it was a blue banana idk

• Materialists deny the existence of qualia and consciousness. Dennett says humans are just “moist robots”

Frank Jackson (epiphenomenalism)

Mary the Color Scientist, thought experiment by Frank Jackson

• Mary grew up in a room, learning everything to know about color vision– except, she has never experienced color herself before, she was taught completely in black and white– does she know, for example, the color red, when she finally steps outside.

• Frank Jackson says YES. There is a qualia that cannot be known solely through the accumulation of physical facts

Derek Parfit

• Critiques Locke’s theory on continuity of identity 

• Locke’s revised version

• criticism – Parfit believes “personal identity” is too vague to be of any philosophical importance, it’s an insoluble problem

John Donaher

• he is a modern philosopher, he talks about artificial intelligence im not really sure tbh 

Boston Dynamics’ ATLAS

• Boston Dynamic's Atlas robot is probably the most advanced humanoid robot that exist, while doing parkour is very impressive

• Competed in Darpa robotics 

• Has evolved quickly in the last ten years - much improvement 

Vaucanson’s FLUTE PLAYER

• Automaton 

• Played the flute as well as a human 

• Used stacks of CAMs to control the automaton movments

• 18th century 

Plato

Plato believes in “the forms”: a universal, immaterial, eternal, and unchanging form of every object or idea in the material world

• Your soul started in the realm of forms, and should return there

• You aren’t learning new things, rather recollecting from your soul

Plato believed in dualism: the idea that there is a physical part of reality and one that goes beyond the senses but is grasped by our sense of reasoning

• Because physical things are in constant change, you cannot know them

The form of something is distinct from an example of it, ex: form of roundness is different than round objects, since they change

JUST WAR THEORY

• Created by Thomas Aquinas 

• Asks Jus ad bellum (is going to war just)

  • Have a just cause

  • Being the last resort

  • Right intention 

  • End being proportion to the means used

• Jus in Bello (How must one act in war?)

  • Discrimination and proportionality 

IBM’s DEEPBLUE & WATSON

• Deep Blue and IBM Watson are both AI systems developed by IBM that demonstrate the company's capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI

  • Deep Blue

  • A chess-playing supercomputer that defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997

  • IBM Watson

  • A system that defeated Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in the 2011 Jeopardy! Challenge