Posthumanity: Thinking Philosophically about the Future

Abstract

By the end of the 21st century humans could have increasingly bionic bodies with greatly enhanced brains and sensory organs. They could be spending their abundant leisure in a variety of richly detailed, stimulating worlds provided by virtual reality technology, while computers and robots of various kinds do their work for them. What should we think of this prospect? Part I: reality -- The pathos of the senses -- Liberation from the cave -- Descartes' meditation -- The demon as evil scientist -- Levels of reality -- Part II: mind -- Planet AI-the first day -- The imitation game -- Can machines think? : a Nano response -- Scientism -- E.T. and alien -- Part III: embodiment -- The flow of time -- An enchanted space -- Descartes' sailor -- Our mammalian brain -- Fear and loathing -- The endgame of multicellularity -- Part IV: posthumanity -- Planet AI-the second day -- Planet AI-the third day -- Planet AI-the fourth day.