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RELEASED: June 3, 2004
DANVILLE, KY—Brian Cooney, NEH Professor of Philosophy at Centre College, has written a new book titled Posthumanity: Thinking Philosophically about the Future.
The book deals with foreseeable developments in artificial intelligence and biotechnology that will enable us to alter our minds and bodies in ways that will strain our concepts of what it means to be alive, conscious and human.
If we choose to keep our human nature, we will nevertheless have the capability to create machines with minds and bodies that surpass our own, Cooney explains. Would such machines be persons in the legal and moral sense? If so, wouldn't our attempt to control them amount to enslavement? Or would we be willing to cede control to them?
Cooney's 264-page book is a philosophical treatment of topics that have only been science fiction material until now. "A lot of science fiction is like a laboratory for philosophical questions," Cooney says. "It reminds us of the many different ways that life and mind could have evolved here on Earth and elsewhere." His book examines sci-fi films such as The Matrix and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Cooney has taught at Centre since 1980. He holds a B.A. in classics and philosophy from Saint Louis University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy from McGill University. His academic interests include philosophical psychology and the mind/brain relationship. In 2000 he edited and provided commentary for The Place of Mind (Wadsworth).
Posthumanity: Thinking Philosophically about the Future is published by Rowman & Littlefield. To order a copy call Centre Shoppes at (859) 238-5370. The book is also available at http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bn.com/, or http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/.
Rising sophomore Rachel Tapley contributed to this article.
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