{"id":485,"date":"2017-01-09T05:20:55","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T05:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidjamesbar.net\/?page_id=485"},"modified":"2022-10-19T17:02:24","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T17:02:24","slug":"persons-minds-and-bodies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/davidjamesbar.net\/?page_id=485","title":{"rendered":"Persons, Minds, and Bodies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"death-and-life-1910-15-klimt-1375726478_org\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Course Description:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A traditional view holds that human life begins at conception, that an adult at the end of his or her life can be the same person who was once a child and who was before that that an embryo, and that this same person will go on to survive the death of his or her body.\u00a0 <\/span>Does this traditional conception of human existence hold up to critical scrutiny?\u00a0 <\/span>In this introductory philosophy course, we will address such fundamental questions of human existence as:\u00a0 <\/span>When does life begin?\u00a0 <\/span>When during the development of an embryo into an adult human being does one acquire moral rights?\u00a0 <\/span>What is a mind, and what is the mind\u2019s relationship to the brain?\u00a0 <\/span>Do animals have minds?\u00a0 <\/span>Could robots or computers have minds someday?\u00a0 <\/span>Do you have an immaterial soul that is capable of surviving the death of your body and brain?\u00a0 <\/span>When does life end, and why is it bad?\u00a0 <\/span>Do human beings in a persistent vegetative state have the same right to life that most adult humans have?\u00a0 <\/span>No prior background in philosophy will be presupposed, although a willingness to ask difficult questions and develop careful and methodical reasoning in support of one\u2019s answers will be essential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tutorials:<\/strong><\/p>\n