How philosophy of mind can shape the future

This philosophy chapter explores how philosophy of mind can address future technological developments, particularly artificial intelligence, artificial general intelligence, and radical brain enhancements. The authors suggest that these advances will raise new questions about the extended mind hypothesis, the epistemology of evaluating thoughts of vastly smarter beings, and mind uploading. They argue that as technology progresses, previously speculative scenarios—such as robots feeling pain, computers thinking, or humans surviving neural replacement—become increasingly real, and philosophy of mind must adapt to shape these developments and confront the challenges they present.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A bright metallic thread of future-oriented thinking runs through the tapestry of the philosophy of mind, especially in those parts of the fi eld that have grappled with the possibility of minds as machines. Can a robot feel pain? Can a suitably programmed computer think actual thoughts? Could humans survive the total replacement of their nervous system by neural prosthetics? As the pace of technological change quickens, what was once purely speculative is becoming more and more real. As society moves further into the 21st century, what are the ways that philosophy of mind can shape the future? What challenges will the future bring to the discipline? In this chapter, we examine a few suggestive possibilities. We begin with what we suspect will be a game changer – the development of AI and artifi cial general intelligence (AGI). We then turn to radical brain enhancements, urging that the future will likely introduce exciting new issues involving (inter alia) the extended mind hypothesis, the epistemology of evaluating the thoughts of vastly smarter beings, mind uploading, and more.