Paper short abstract:

The development of technology has seemingly made the line of demarcation between humans and machine quite vague. In this presentation, I will address the question of whether the concept of "humanity" is coherent and possible by a brief historical reference to several attempted demarcations.

Paper long abstract:

Quite a few thinkers have reflected on the problem of demarcation between humans and machine. Though the line seems clear to some philosophers such as Descartes, there have been defiant ones who launched dissenting views. Alan Turing famously insisted that there could be no crucial difference between humans and machine in terms of intelligence. Indeed, the development of computer science, robotics, and cyborg technology based on neural engineering has seemingly made the line of their demarcation quite vague. Some might say that the world could be brought into reality where, as many sci-fis have depicted, human-like machines and mechanically enhanced humans interacted.

In this presentation, I will address the question of whether the concept of "humanity" is coherent, and if so, what abilities are presumed to underlie that concept, by a brief historical reference to several attempted demarcations. Specifically, I will

1. survey some of the philosophical theories of human-machine relationship.

2. examine the philosophical implications of the situations and dramatis personae

developed in sci-fis.

3. introduce our research of making the developmental robot and discuss the concept of humanity in a society where robotics and cyborg technology are fully developed.