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2006 Abstracts Stage 2

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Chris Conway, 2006, Stage 2

TERRITORY: The relation between the individualist and the collectivist, the individual and the collective has been well documented down through the centuries, but what of the future? What technological, socio and political endeavors and horrors will unfold and will philosophy continue to guide the way, or will things spiral rapidly out of control? Who really has control and where will people be looking to find the truth in a century from now? AIMS: Because of the shear ‘potential’ size of this project it would be impossible to look at all relevant recent breakthroughs and revolutions in subjects of our modern interest, so I decided to look at the major issues of the day in both the factual and the fictional, physical and mental. There really is nowhere to run then! Cloning, what are the issues? ‘AI’, the issues? What even is the structure of reality? This project will look in depth at the arguments for and against collective unification of our minds (theory now), but perhaps real some day and wonder what a society might be like that is devoid of secrets! Do we have the right to rob people of their personality for the sake of society, or to invade privacy to combat crime? If yes then why? If no then why? Are we living at a moment of great change? Is private identity worth preserving? Can we limit technological advancement or will it spiral out of control like drugs? Can we proceed any further at all without a hard look at reality outside any fixed time, whereby we ask; ‘what really is of value to humanity?’ Freedom or equality? PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS: Kant’s Critique of Judgement, Schiller’s Aesthetic Essays, T.G.Reed’s Schiller, Herman Cohen’s Kantian Socialism, Jean Francois Lyotard’s Kantian Socialism, Harry Van Der Linden’s ‘Kantian Ethics and Socialism’, Judith Barad’s ‘Ethics of Star Trek’, Lesley Sharpe’s ‘Schiller’s Aesthetic Essays: Two Centuries of Criticism’, TPM.

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