The Mind-Technology Problem

This edited book deepens the engagement between 21st century philosophy of mind and the emerging technologies which are transforming our environment. Many new technologies appear to have important implications for the human mind, the nature of our cognition, our sense of identity and even perhaps what we think human beings are. They prompt questions such as: Would an uploaded mind be 'me'? Does our reliance on smart phones, or wearable gadgets enhance or diminish the human mind? and: How does our deep reliance upon ambient artificial intelligence change the shape of the human mind?

Readers will discover the best philosophical analysis of what current and near future 21st technology means for the metaphysics of mind. Important questions are addressed on matters relating to the extended mind and the distributed self. Expert authors explore the role that the ubiquitous smart phone might have in creating new forms of self-knowledge. They consider machine consciousness, brain enhancement and smart ambient technology, and what they can tell us about phenomenal consciousness.

Part 1. Extended Mind, Extended Cognition, Distributed self. - Chapter 1. The Distributed Self (Richard Heersmink). - Chapter 2. Slow, Continuous Uploading: Super-selves and Alternative Routes to Personal Immortality (Robert Clowes). - Part 2. Metaphysics of the Mind. - Chapter 3. Machine Consciousness: Moving beyond Is it Possible? (Ron Chrisley). - Chapter 4. Is the Mind Software? Is it Physical? Metaphysics of Mind for the 21st Century (Susan Schneider). - Part 3. Radical Brain Enhancement and Uploading. - Chapter 5. The Myth of Mind Uploading (Gualtiero Piccinini). - Chapter 6. Predicting Me, Experiencing Us: Predictive Processing, Big Data and the Mind of Society (Paul Smart, Kieron O' Hara and Wendy Hall).