The Boundaries of Humanity : Humans, Animals, Machines

To The Age-old Debate Over What It Means To Be Human, The Relatively New Fields Of Sociobiology And Artificial Intelligence Bring New, If Not Necessarily Compatible, Insights. What Have These Two Fields In Common? Have They Affected The Way We Define Humanity? These And Other Timely Questions Are Addressed With Colorful Individuality By The Authors Of The Boundaries Of Humanity. Leading Researchers In Both Sociobiology And Artificial Intelligence Combine Their Reflections With Those Of Philosophers, Historians, And Social Scientists, While The Editors Explore The Historical And Contemporary Contexts Of The Debate In Their Introductions. The Implications Of Their Individual Arguments, And The Often Heated Controversies Generated By Biological Determinism Or By Mechanical Models Of Mind, Go To The Heart Of Contemporary Scientific, Philosophical, And Humanistic Studies--publisher's Description. Prologue : Making Sense Of Humanity / Bernard Williams -- The Horror Of Monsters / Arnold I. Davidson -- The Animal Connection / Harriet Ritvo -- Language And Ideology In Evolutionary Theory : Reading Cultural Norms Into Natural Law / Evelyn Fox Keller -- Human Nature And Culture : Biology And The Residue Of Uniqueness / Melvin Konner -- Reflections On Biology And Culture / John Dupré -- The Meaning Of The Mechanistic Age / Roger Hahn -- Metaphors For Mind, Theories Of Mind : Should The Humanities Mind? / Allen Newell -- Thinking Machines : Can There Be? Are We? / Terry Winograd -- Romantic Reactions : Paradoxical Responses To The Computer Presence / Sherry Turkle -- Biology, Machines, And Humanity / Stuart Hampshire Edited By James J. Sheehan And Morton Sosna. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.