Theory of Social and Cultural Diversity I

The Prospect of Artificial Minds

This course will cover the very recent literature on the question of whether it is possible, or likely, that artificial minds could be created in the foreseeable future. The material will be tackled from a philosophical perspective, though relevant scientific papers will also be read. The purpose is not to fully understand the recent scientific literature, but rather to understand it enough to grasp their significance to the philosophical/conceptual questions raised by topic of artificial minds, and of minds in general.

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We will cover one or two papers at a time, tentatively including the following (this list is likely to change to some extent, but conveys the types of paper I plan to cover). 1. Bayne, T., et al (2024). Tests for consciousness in humans and beyond. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 28(5), 454–466. 2. Dehaene, S., Lau, H., & Kouider, S. (2017). What is consciousness, and could machines have it? Science, 358, 486–492 3. Floridi, L., & Nobre, A. C. (2024). Anthropomorphising Machines and Computerising Minds. Minds and Machines, 34(1), 5. 4. Hofstadter, D. R. (1981). A coffee-house conversation on the Turing test. Scientific American, 15–36. 5. Kirchhoff, M. D., & Froese, T. (2017). Where There is Life There is Mind: In Support of a Strong Life-Mind Continuity Thesis. Entropy, 19(4), 169. 6. Seth, A. K. (2025). Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1–42. 7. Shanahan, M. (2024). Simulacra as conscious exotica. Inquiry, 1–29. 8. Shiller, D. (2024). Functionalism, integrity, and digital consciousness. Synthese, 203(2), 47. 9. Wiese, W. (2024). Artificial consciousness: A perspective from the free energy principle. Philosophical Studies, 181(8), 1947–1970.