Philosophy 101 Unit 1

Below the jump is the final. Post questions you have in this thread, I’ll be doing a review session sometime after we get back.

Final

Your final should be 7-10 pages total, comprising two distinct essays. Clearly indicate which question you are answering in your response. Remember to clearly cite any direct quotes from the text.

The purpose of the final is to test your understanding of the material. Your answers should be clear and concise (roughly 4 pages each), and should reflect your familiarity with the arguments presented in the reading and the objections and counterarguments discussed in class. Although you are asked to evaluate the arguments, this is not the place to discuss your own views. Any claims you make should be supported by the text or through arguments of your own.

Due Date: Friday, December 12th, 1:30pm. Midterms must be submitted to TurnItIn before the deadline AND in hard copy in my mailbox. 

1) Answer ONE of the following questions (note: each question has two parts):

Gehlen and Heidegger

a) For Gehlen, technology is at the very core of human nature. “[Technology] truly mirrors man- like man himself it is clever, it represents something intrinsically improbable, it bears a complex and twisted relationship to nature.” (p 89) Explain Gehlen’s philosophical anthropology, and the role technology plays in human life.

b) Heidegger says that technology is a mode of revealing. Explain what Heidegger means, with reference to the concepts of instrumentality, enframing and standing reserve. Heidegger claims that, “Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology…” (p 123). Would Gehlen agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.

Clark and Dreyfus

a) Clark thinks human nature is best understood in terms of our relationship with technology. “It is our special character, as human beings, to be forever driven to create, co-opt, annex, and exploit nonbiological props and scaffoldings.” (p 6) For these reasons, Clark claims that humans are ‘natural-born cyborgs’. Explain Clark’s reasons for holding this view. Be sure to cite examples that Clark finds especially convincing.

b) Dreyfus thinks that the use of certain technologies may threaten our humanity. For example, the Internet risks the loss of “the possibility of leading meaningful lives,” which is “constitutive of us as human beings.” (p 93) What is the source of this threat, for Dreyfus? Be sure to discuss Dreyfus’ critique of telepresence in detail. How would Clark respond to these criticisms?

Mind/body dualism revisited

a) Clark claims that the old mind-body problem is really the ‘mind-body-scaffolding’ problem. “It is the problem of understanding how human thought and reason is born out of looping interactions between material brains, material bodies, and complex cultural and technological environments.” (p 11) Why does Clark think that the use of technology is essential for understanding human intelligence? Does this really solve the Cartesian problem of mind-body dualism? Explain the similarities and differences between Clark and Descartes. Can Clark avoid radical skepticism?

b) Clark discusses ‘transparent’ and ‘opaque’ technology in detail (p 37ff). This discussion bears some similarity to Heidegger’s ready-to-hand/present-at-hand distinction. In class, I claimed that these are both essentially phenomenological treatments of technology. Explain what this means, and how this compares to Descartes’ discussion of mind-body interactionism. Is phenomenology the best way to understand technology? What might be the alternative?

Artificial Intelligence revisited

a) Dreyfus says, “any means for searching the Web must be a formal, syntactic technique for manipulating meaningful symbols so as to try to locate relevant, meaningful, semantic content” (p 12), and therefore search will always fall short of more traditional methods of acquiring knowledge. Explain Dreyfus’ argument about the failure of meaning on the Internet. In what ways is his argument similar to Searle’s arguments against artificial intelligence? In what ways are they different? Dreyfus says that meaning is essentially tied to the body. Would Dreyfus be sympathetic to the robot reply to Searle’s Chinese Room Argument? Why or why not?

b) Clark says, “What human brains are best at is learning to be a team player in a problem-solving field populated by an incredible variety of non-biological props, scaffoldings, instruments, and resources.” (p 26) Sterling also emphasizes the necessity for collaboration with technological agents. How do these discussions bear on the classic debate over artificial intelligence? How would Turing approach these discussions? How would Dreyfus respond?

2) For each of the following thinkers:

Arnold Gehlen, Martin Heidegger, Andy Clark, Hubert Dreyfus, Bruce Sterling

Discuss how they understand at least two of the following technological artifacts or systems:

hammer           airplane            arphids                        windmill          power plant

chalice             car                   cell phone                    wrist watch      language

firearms           telephone         computers                   calculator         printing press

shoes               eyeglasses       highway system           microscope      wine bottle

Internet            writing             search engines             robots              television

In formulating your response, be sure to describe the philosophical basis for each philosopher’s treatment of these artifacts. How does their understanding of technology inform the discussion of these particular artifacts? Also, be sure to note any agreement or disagreement between the philosophers with regard to these technologies.