The Mind and the Machine: What It Means to Be Human and Why It Matters

Are humans just complex biochemical machines mere physical parts of a causally closed materialist universe? Are we approaching the so-called Singularity when human consciousness can (and will) be downloaded into computers? Or is there more to the human person--something that might be known as soul or spirit? As this book makes clear the answers to these questions have profound implications to topics such as heroism creativity ecology and the possibility of reason and science. In exploring this important topic Dickerson engages the ideas of some well-known twentieth- and twenty-first-century espousers of physicalism including philosopher Daniel Dennett (Consciousness Explained) biologist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) futurist-engineer Raymond Kurzweil (The Age of Spiritual Machines) psychologist B. F. Skinner (Beyond Freedom and Dignity) and mathematician-philosopher Bertrand Russell (Why I Am Not a Christian). Through a careful reading of their works Dickerson not only provides a five-fold critique of physicalism but also offers a Christian alternative in the form of integrative dualism which affirms the existence of both a physical and spiritual reality without diminishing the goodness or importance of either and acknowledges that humans are spiritual as well as bodily persons. An engaging and probing exploration of some of the fundamental questions humans ask about themselves: Is a human being just a machine made out of protein? Are humans completely determined by the physical processes going on in their bodies? Is the belief that humans are spiritual just a vestige of prescientific thinking? Dickerson attacks these questions--and many others--with verve and elan. The book is a model of interdisciplinary inquiry drawing on a deep understanding of contemporary philosophy science and computers. --C. Stephen Evans Baylor University [A] complex thoughtful book. --Publishers Weekly Dickerson deftly evaluates cutting-edge cultural implications of physicalist treatments of human persons. Refreshingly he presents a specific dualist alternative and underscores the important entailments of that alternative. I am glad to recommend this wonderful book. --J. P. Moreland Biola University; author The Recalcitrant Imago Dei Dickerson is one of the most gifted clear-headed contemporary writers working on consciousness today. He has a command of the philosophical literature a love for well-crafted compelling arguments and a matchless grasp of the deep wisdom that can be found in the work of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. His latest book is both an accessible introduction to central questions about human nature and a sustained rigorous argument for recognizing the distinctive overwhelming value of human persons. --Charles Taliaferro St. Olaf College; author Consciousness and the Mind of God Whether human minds are machines is a central question not only for philosophers and scientists but also for the future of our culture and of the human race itself. This book is clearer fairer more helpful and more reliable than 99 out of 100 others on the subject. Its author knows both halves of his books title very well. --Peter Kreeft Boston College Dickerson is a thoughtful computer scientist exploring the presuppositions behind the notion that the human mind is nothing more than a complex machine. By pushing this idea to its logical conclusion he shows the troubling implications for free will creativity environmental care and reason. By contrasting this reductionistic approach with a view informed by the biblical story Dickerson affirms a holistic view of what it means to be human. This is simply the best book I have found on this important topic--I highly recommend it! --Derek C. Schuurman Professor of Computer Science Redeemer University College; author of Shaping a Digital World: Faith Culture and Computer Technology Matthew Dickerson is a professor at Middle