Yet another philosophical entry which people will probably not want to hurt their brains thinking about, but I'm going to post it anyway!
In Philosophy we read this article written by a guy named Dennett. It was totally hypothetical, which I want to establish first because then some people will think this is cool and real, etc. and even if it's cool, it is completely unrealistic. But interesting to think about none the less.
So Dennett undergoes this process to remove his brain and put it in a holding container. Then, they use his body to go to a nuclear active site (which would harm brain material) to do some stuff. His brain can feel the body and see everything it sees, but is miles away and totally unconnected. His body dies of exposure. Then, only his brain exists. But after a while, they are able to create him a new body for the brain. After this new body they create another body for the same brain, so it now controls two bodies. The question is, which is the real Dennett? The brain, the original body, the 1st new body, or the 2nd new body? Or does Dennett not exist at all?
This is not a riddle in any way, shape, or form! Philosophers have been arguing about self, the mind, and basic human existence since Socrates (who lived way, way back in ancient Greece). But feel free to comment on your views.
8 comments:
Ok i think that Dennett is the brain. i think that he is the brain because he was originally part of a body that died. after the body died, Dennett, in the form of the brain, continued to exist after his original body died and after the creation of his 2 new bodies, he continued to exist.
I think that the first body was Dennet.
It might seem to be the brain, but we must realize that philosophy is never that simple.
A person is body, soul, and mind. So even though the brain was separated from the first body, it felt all the pain that it went through, although miles away. And so when the first body/soul died, in a way the brain did too. It didn't have its other part that made it whole. So when it was put into another body and then another it was just the leading force, the captain of the ship, but wasn't actually connected to those two bodies as it was when it was connected to its original body. The story doesn't mention this, but I highly doubt that the brain felt any pain its two new bodies felt. Why? Because there wasn't that connection between the brain and body/soul.
So, the brain could lead the bodies all it wanted but it could never have that same connection.
Another way to look at it is by this: since the two new bodies were being controlled by the same brain, neither was the real Dennet and neither was the brain. A person is just that a person, just one. And so, the two new bodies could not be Dennet. And as for the brain, it was split governing the two bodies. It couldn’t entirely control just one body. It had to control both bodies when the bodies were in separate places. And so, it couldn’t focus on just one body and since a person is one body one brain, the brain couldn’t be Dennet either.
And so, the brain wasn't Dennet, neither was either of the two new bodies. It was the original body, the original soul.
It all depends on the emotion. If he still has the memories and emotion of his past self, than his brain is Dennett. Looking at the circumstances I think that all four parts make up dennett. Maybe it is quite unusual to have a total of three bodies, but both mind and body make up a person. Regardless if this person is quite unusual, he still is everything that he was before and whatever he would become after this.
I think all of them is dennet. the brain is the basically the reason why we are human and why we can survive long. We would basically be vegetables without them. Brain gives off human emotions that everyone can feel, even outside the persons body. If the body can feel everything that the brain tells it to feel, it is still part of the body. the soul controls everything in life except for a few occasions where it is basic instinct and adrenaline. What is real and what is not depends on the person itself, which would be dennet. He is the only true being that would know which was him and which was not.
i think that the brain is dennett. the brain carries his mind, thoughts, memories and emotions. the brain continues to exist after the first body died.
I remember this from philosophy last year; however, I thought that in the story, after a new body is fashioned for Dennett’s brain, a new brain (not a 2nd body) is made ( a carbon copy of the original) , and from then on, Dennett’s new body has the ability to switch between using his original brain and the new brain. So the question is still the same; which one is Dennett?
Since the new brain is the same as the old brain, I think both are Dennett. The brain is where he is; his personality, his memories, his identities. The body is just a vessel that holds the brain and does what the brain commands it to do. Even at the end of the essay, where Dennett switches over to the other brain, which surprisingly begins ranting and raving about being ignored, and sounds different from the Dennett we know- this brain is Dennett also. It is how Dennett would have been if he was ignored, left in a glass jar. I’d be a bit miffed too. While exactly the same as Dennett-brain #1, brain #2 is its own individual too. Because it is the same brain, brain #2 would make the same decisions, but because it is in a different circumstance than brain #1(being ignored as opposed to being used), it acts different.
I believe that the first and original body was Dennetts. Dennetts original thoughts and feelings are already in the brain and nothing can change that. Even though the brain would be in a different body all of Dennetts original thoughts would still be their.
I think that your brain, not your body, makes you who you are. Unfortunately, as time passes we are all going to get older, and essentially "lose" the bodies that we have now. That doesn't mean we are going to be different people. We are still the same people because our brains are in tact. They still retain our memories and thoughts and emotions, what makes us us. If bodies and not brains made people who they were, identical twins would really be 2 copies of the same exact person, which is not true. Brains are what make people who they are, not bodies. And souls are extensions of the brain.
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