scholarly journals Can A Robot Have Free Will?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith D. Farnsworth
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Internal Model ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Master Function ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Definition Of

Using insights from cybernetics and an information-based understanding of biological systems, a precise, scientifically inspired, definition of free-will is offered and the essential requirements for an agent to possess it in principle are set out. These are: a) there must be a self to self-determine; b) there must be a non-zero probability of more than one option being enacted; c) there must be an internal means of choosing among options (which is not merely random, since randomness is not a choice). For (a) to be fulfilled, the agent of self-determination must be organisationally closed (a `Kantian whole'). For (c) to be fulfilled: d) options must be generated from an internal model of the self which can calculate future states contingent on possible responses; e) choosing among these options requires their evaluation using an internally generated goal defined on an objective function representing the overall `master function' of the agent and f) for `deep free-will', at least two nested levels of choice and goal (d-e) must be enacted by the agent. The agent must also be able to enact its choice in physical reality. The only systems known to meet all these criteria are living organisms, not just humans, but a wide range of organisms. The main impediment to free-will in present-day artificial robots, is their lack of being a Kantian whole. Consciousness does not seem to be a requirement and the minimum complexity for a free-will system may be quite low and include relatively simple life-forms that are at least able to learn.

Hume, Free Will, and Moral Responsibility

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Pitson
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Free Will ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Common Life

This chapter aims to relate Hume’s discussion of liberty and necessity to central themes in his philosophy, including causation, the self, the distinction between virtue and vice, and naturalism as a response to skepticism. From this perspective, many points of contact with contemporary discussions of free will and moral responsibility emerge. Hume’s account of moral responsibility, with its implications for the conditions under which ascriptions of responsibility are withheld or qualified, is considered in detail. The notion of agent autonomy is linked to Hume’s distinction between the calm and violent passions. The kind of self-determination for which Hume allows here is distinguished from that of the libertarian and is also contrasted with the problematic notion of responsibility for self that leads to skepticism about the very possibility of moral responsibility. Hume’s appeal to “common life” provides a naturalistic response to skepticism in this, as well as in other philosophical contexts.

On the applicability of dialetheism and philosophy of identity to the definition of life

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera M. Kolb
Keyword(s):  
Life Forms ◽  
Definition Of Life ◽  
Individual Organism ◽  
Numerical Identity ◽  
Chemical Systems ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Important Idea ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractWe have found that the principles of dialetheism, which state that some contradictions (typically at the limits of a system) may be true, and which amply demonstrate the limits of thought and conception, can be valuable in sorting out and clarifying some astrobiological problems that impede our ability to define life. The examples include the classification of viruses as alive or not alive, and the description of the transition zone for the abiotic-to-biotic transition. Dialetheism gives us the philosophical tool to state that the viruses may be both alive and not alive, and that chemical systems may exist that are both abiotic and biotic.We have extracted some philosophical principles of the identity and have applied them to the identity of living organisms and their life forms. The first and most important idea is that we should define an individual organism via its numerical identity. For each organism its identity will be in relation to itself. As the organism undergoes various changes during its development, and as it transitions from one to the next of its life forms, one can observe numerous qualitative differences between these life forms. Although the life forms change and the organism is in a flux, what remains constant is the numerical identity of the organism. If the organism reproduces, for example by a fission mode, then the daughter cells will have their own numerical identity. We can state that the life of an organism is a sum of all its life forms over the period of time of the existence of the organism. Reproduction, particularly by fission, represents an identity dilemma, but it can be resolved by Gallois' occasional identities theory.

scholarly journals BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE IN METEORITES MAY LEAD TO PANSPERMIA ORIGIN OF LIFE

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Y. V. Subba Rao
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Electromagnetic Force ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Biological Molecules ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
The Universe

              The current hypothesis leads to the panspermia origin of life, which is based on the scientific principle of electromagnetic force interaction with matter. Electromagnetic force (Sunlight) interacts with inorganic chemistry available to us given out by the stars in the universe plausibly triggers the formation of extra-terrestrial biological molecules of proto cells under abiotic conditions, as evidenced by their presence in meteorites.' Proto cells’ might theoretically give rise to living organisms with a manifested soul, allowing 'Ribose' to be formed from ice grains hit by sunlight for RNA and DNA at the same time. The presence of life's building blocks and other important organic chemicals like ribose in meteorites, including some microscopic life forms that aren't native to Earth, may have led to the 'Panspermia Origin of Life' and the 'Evolution of Life on Earth' which is evidenced by the definition of 'Meteorites' in Vedic Scriptures, such as the "Bhagavad Gita" (3000 BC) and "Brihat Samhita" (520 AD) that they are the souls of righteous people who have returned to earth to be reborn.

scholarly journals Is it possible to delete a philosophical consciousness? Metaphysical aspects of Ssearle’s neurobiological approach of free will

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-919
Author(s):  
Snezana Grujic
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Self ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Scientific Paradigm ◽  
Basic Facts ◽  
Living Organisms

In an effort to adjust his theoretical comprehension to the existing natural-scientific paradigm, Searle develops neurobiological naturalism, an approach which should rely on basic facts obtained from the neuroscience researches of living organisms when solving basic philosophical problems. This paper briefly presents this view?s theory leading to the argumentation that Searle?s point of view is of metaphysical characteristics which is exactly what he was trying to avoid. The metaphysical character of Searle?s neurobiological naturalism has been seen through the problem of free will resulting from his understanding of consciousness. The argumentation is based on an analysis of the concepts, the gap and the self, as well as on possible solutions of the problem of free will (hypothesis 1 and 2).

Queer subjectivities within political scenes: Traumatic relations, exposed vulnerabilities

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-166
Author(s):  
Soula Marinoudi
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Radical Feminism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Space ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Political Scene

This article examines the lives of queer people as performed in the biographies of ten interlocutors who participated in the queer political scene during the decade 2000–10. In recent years, a wide range of queer/feminist subjectivities, groups and spaces have emerged within collective social movements in Greece. These new approaches to radical feminism and queer life-forms often convey a sense of discontinuity with the recent past, as queer voices have been marginalized in the anti-authoritarian and the radical leftist political scene until recently. I argue that the anti-authoritarian and leftist political space in and around the various social grassroots movements constituted – in their own right – disciplinary fields as well as gender-constructing mechanisms. Gendered subjectivities, either entirely excluded or included on restrictive terms, exposed the limits of the political body. In this article, I explore how these new queer contexts can work through the traumas out of which they have emerged, and I argue that the emergence of a queer political scene in Greece signals a shift from passionate attachments to new modes of relationality. These new modes of relating expose vulnerabilities and emerge as negotiations of intimacy between the self and the other.

The Self-Determined English Language Learner

2017 ◽  
pp. 148-159
Author(s):  
Lori Suzanne Hepburn ◽  
Kathryn Jones
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language Learner ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
Definition Of

English Language Learners have their own, individual set of needs. According to Deci and Ryan (1985), individuals need self-determination skills to be successful in their environment. Researchers agree that self-determination skills produce positive outcomes for individuals both in and out of school. This chapter provides families, students, and educators a working definition of self-determination and instructional practices that assist English Language Learners to develop self-determination skills both at school and in the home.

Can self-determination benefit more than the "self"? A pathway to prosocial behaviours

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Mask ◽  
Catherine E. Amiot ◽  
Celine M. Blanchard ◽  
Julie Deshaies
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Prosocial Behaviours
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document