Effects of the Neuro-Turn: The Neural Network as a Paradigm for Human Self-Understanding

Publikation: Beiträge in SammelwerkenAufsätze in SammelwerkenForschungbegutachtet

Authors

This chapter discusses the image of the neural net and its impact on human self-understanding. Neuroscientific imaging techniques produce a wide range of images of the inside of the skull, which not only serve a medical purpose but also begin to fuel our imagination and give the interdisciplinary discussion a new edge. I will elaborate on how philosophy adopts neuroscientific thinking and how art incorporates artificial life. Based on an analysis of the movies Her (2013) and Transcendence (2014), two highly successful Hollywood movies and recent examples from popular culture, I show that these movies invoke a net structure as their leading image, and that it makes a difference whether the image of the brain (body-bound) or of the neural net (not body-bound) is used. Furthermore, the neural net represents an image that suggests the emergence of intelligence, self-organization, and infinity. It is closely intertwined with the Internet, advanced computing, and utopias of immortality. These images, I argue, ultimately suggest a new metaphysical dimension of an omni-present consciousness that permeates being itself.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
TitelThe Human Sciences after the Decade of the Brain
HerausgeberJon Leefman, Elisabeth Hildt
Anzahl der Seiten19
ErscheinungsortLondon
VerlagElsevier B.V.
Erscheinungsdatum13.02.2017
Auflage1
Seiten159-177
ISBN (Print)978-0-12-804205-2
ISBN (elektronisch)978-0-12-804260-1
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 13.02.2017

    Fachgebiete

  • Philosophie - Embodiment, Cognitive Sciences, Phenomenology, Philosophy of Film, Philosophy of science

DOI