Philosophy 381: Metaphysics in Science Fiction

Suppose you have contracted a horrible disease that is slowly eating away all the parts of your body. The doctors give you the following options:

(i) As the parts of your body deteriorate they are replaced with artificial stand-in made of plastic, ceramics, silicon, etc. The stand-in's perform the same function as what they replace. Eventually this will require all parts of the body being replaced, including your brain.

(ii) The pattern of your memories and mannerisms is recorded into a computer. The pattern is then saved in a virtual reality environment such that your pattern has 'experiences', which are similar to, but still distinguishable from your current biological experiences. The hope is that eventually a suitable biological replica of you, sans disease, can be constructed and your pattern imprinted on this biological replica.

(iii) Your DNA is recorded down to the last amino acid and an artificial egg and sperm are produced based on this DNA record in order to produce a DNA duplicate of you.

Assume you wish to survive. Which option, if any, would you take and why? If you would take no option, explain why.

Extra directions: This assignment should be a minimum of 2 standardly formatted typewritten pages. There is no maximum length, but since I value precision, conciseness, and clarity, excess verbiage should be avoided.

Complete this assignment on separate paper. Sign this sheet at the bottom and staple this sheet to your answers.

Due: Monday, March 30 at the beginning of class.

I pledge that I have neither given or received unauthorized assistance during the completion of this work.