Resources
Useful resources provided by UNIV Forum for discourse.
Books
ARISTOTLE'S REVENGE (EDWARD FESER)
Actuality and potentiality, substantial form and prime matter, efficient causality and teleology are among the
fundamental concepts of Aristotelian philosophy of nature. Aristotle's Revenge argues that these concepts are
not only compatible with modern science, but that modern science implicitly presupposes them.
ABOUT THE SOUL (ARISTOTLE)
The figure of a giant like Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) is unavoidable in Western thought. The question is not
whether the soul exists or not, but "what gender does it belong to and what is the soul." From here, Aristotle
develops, throughout the three books that make up the work, a new and vigorous theory about the soul far
removed from previous speculations.
ABOUT THE SOUL (STO. TOMÁS DE AQUINO)
To analyze the nature of the soul, it is necessary to keep in mind the assumption according to which it is
said that the soul is the first vital principle in that which lives among us, since we call the living beings
animate, and the non-living beings inanimate. Life manifests itself, above all, in a double action: that of
knowledge and that of movement.
MIND AND COSMOS (THOMAS NAGEL)
The modern materialist approach to life is notoriously incapable of explaining central mind-related features
of our world, such as consciousness, intentionality, meaning, and value. This lack of explanation, argues
philosopher Thomas Nagel, is a major problem that threatens to unravel the entire naturalistic picture of the
world.
Articles
L'IA PENSA. E NOI? (RICCARDO MANZOTTI)
If we say that machines can think like people, it is precisely because we sometimes conceive ourselves as
simple machines. That fault of philosophy that limits itself to describing reality without thinking that
we can really know it; that is, philosophy that is not realistic and that places the source of the
intelligibility of things in the mind instead of in reality. It's in Italian... it could be translated
(using, of course, artificial intelligence).
MINDS, BRAINS AND PROGRAMS (JOHN R. SEARLE)
This is the original article from philosopher John Searle's "Chinese Room" experiment. Against the notion
of the Turing Test, he defends the idea that being able to give perfect answers to questions is not
intelligence. Use a graphic example that is easy to understand.
IMMATERIAL ASPECTS OF THOUGHT (JAMES ROSS)
Some acts of intellection (judgment) are determined in a way that no physical process can be.
Consequently, such acts of intellection cannot be (in their entirety) a physical process. If all acts of
intellection, judgment in general, are determined in this way, no physical process can account for
judgment (in its entirety). Furthermore, the “functions” between physical states cannot reach sufficient
determination to be such judgments either. So some judgments can be neither wholly physical processes nor
functions between wholly physical processes. So, do our thoughts have an immaterial aspect?
Videos
THE A.I. DILEMMA (TRISTAN HARRIS & AZA RASKIN)
The creators of "The Social Dilemma" (about the dangers of social networks) explain in a powerful - if
also somewhat apocalyptic - way why we should think about the possible consequences before developing
artificial intelligence further. They have impressive images and quotes - for example, that half of those
who work with artificial intelligence think that there is at least a 10% probability that AI will lead to
the extinction of humanity. The video is one hour, in English.
CHAT GPT, ETHICS AND THE HUMAN MIND (JEFFREY PAWLICK)
ChatGPT appears to offer a significant leap in the capabilities of neural networks and artificial
intelligence. It raises fascinating technical and also human or philosophical questions. This talk,
intended for non-experts, consists of three parts:
1. Basics of ChatGPT technology
2. ChatGPT and the human mind
3. Some ethical issues with ChatGPT
Each part offers the first reflections on the relevant topics of this still very recent innovation
Suggested Resources
Send us your suggestions for books, articles and videos to univng@info.org.
Once your proposal has been reviewed, it will be published on this page.