Technology and ideals
Description
The inner self as a task: Technology and the erroneous separation of inner and outer worlds.
Neuroscientific and technological developments increasingly want us to believe that the mind should be considered part of the body. Although popular media presents us with many unlikely possibilities, more realistic developments can be identified. These include the cochlear implant, a sensory prosthesis that has been used successfully for several decades. Techniques such as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and neurofeedback are also being experimented with. The speaker would also like to mention prenatal genetic engineering, a technique that could intervene in a person's physical and mental abilities even before they are born. If the human mind can be reduced entirely to structures and processes in the brain and thereby expanded, augmented, manipulated and even created using external techniques, the question arises as to what remains of the inner self
Speaker(s)
Prof Ciano Aydin is Thomas More Professor at Delft University of Technology and Associate Professor at the University of Twente. He is also education director of the Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society programme at the University of Twente. He currently conducts research on philosophical anthropology and technology. He is particularly concerned with 'human enhancement' technologies, the paradigm of the 'extended mind' and the relevance of ideals in a technological age
Location
Utrecht
Organiser
Philosophy & Technology
Name and contact details for information
Further information from drs.ing. Henk Uijttenhout (vz), tel: 070 - 3875293 / 06 - 26715554 or via the e-mail address below