Download Free Simulated Selves Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Simulated Selves and write the review.

The notion of a personal self took centuries to evolve, reaching the pinnacle of autonomy with Descartes' 'I think, therefore I am' in the 17th century. This 'personalisation' of identity thrived for another hundred years before it began to be questioned, subject to the emergence of broader, more inclusive forms of agency. Simulated Selves: The Undoing Personal Identity in the Modern World addresses the 'constructed' notion of personal identity in the West and how it has been eclipsed by the development of new technological, social, art historical and psychological infrastructures over the last two centuries. While the provisional nature of the self-sense has been increasingly accepted in recent years, Simulated Selves addresses it in a new way - not by challenging it directly, but by observing changes to the environments and cultural conventions that have traditionally supported it. By narrating both its dismantling and its incapacitation in this way, it records its undoing. Like The Invention of the Self: Personal Identity in the Age of Art (to which it forms a companion volume), Simulated Selves straddles cultural history and philosophy. Firstly, it identifies hitherto neglected forces that inform the course of cultural history. Secondly, it highlights how the self is not the self-authenticating abstraction, only accessible to introspection, that it seems to be; it is also a cultural and historical phenomenon. Arguing that it is by engaging in cultural conventions that we subscribe to the process of identity-formation, the book also suggests that it is in these conventions that we see our self-sense - and its transience - best reflected. By examining the traces that the trajectory of the self-sense has left in its environment, Simulated Selves offers a radically new approach to the question of personal identity, asking not only 'how and why is it under threat?' but also 'given that we understand the self-sense to be a constructed phenomenon, why do we cling to it?'.
This book looks at how to define persons and selves and the ways in which different disciplines have dealt with this topic.
Do multiple versions of ourselves exist in parallel universes living out their lives in different timelines? In this follow up to his bestseller, The Simulation Hypothesis, MIT Computer Scientist and Silicon Valley Game Pioneer Rizwan Virk explores these topics from a new lens: that of simulation theory. If we are living in a digital universe, then many of the complexities and baffling characteristics of our reality start to make more sense. Quantum computing lets us simulate complex phenomena in parallel, allowing the simulation to explore many realities at once to find the most "optimum" path forward. Could this explain not only the enigmatic Mandela Effect but provide us with a new understanding of time and space? Bringing his unique trademark style of combining video games, computer science, quantum physics and computing with lots of philosophy and science fiction, Virk gives us a new way to think about not just our universe, but all possible realities!
Develops a theory of contemporary culture that relies on displacing economic notions of cultural production with notions of cultural expenditure. This book represents an effort to rethink cultural theory from the perspective of a concept of cultural materialism, one that radically redefines postmodern formulations of the body.
In this new edition of Foundations for Moral Relativism a distinguished moral philosopher tames a bugbear of current debate about cultural difference. J. David Velleman shows that different communities can indeed be subject to incompatible moralities, because their local mores are rationally binding. At the same time, he explains why the mores of different communities, even when incompatible, are still variations on the same moral themes. The book thus maps out a universe of many moral worlds without, as Velleman puts it, "moral black holes”. The six self-standing chapters discuss such diverse topics as online avatars and virtual worlds, lying in Russian and truth-telling in Quechua, the pleasure of solitude and the fear of absurdity. Accessibly written, this book presupposes no prior training in philosophy.
An Introduction to Cyberpsychology provides a comprehensive introduction to this rapidly growing discipline. Fully updated in its second edition, the book encourages students to critically evaluate the psychology of online interactions and to develop appropriate research methodologies to complete their own work in this field. The book examines cyberpsychology and online research methodologies, social psychology in an online context, practical applications of cyberpsychology, and the psychological aspects of other technologies. This new edition has been carefully updated to include additional coverage of: Expanded content relating to major developments in the field and new content on gaming and screentime A new chapter examining the relationship between older adults and technology Cyberpsychology in focus feature boxes in each chapter that examine topics in depth Interviews with professionals working in fields relating to cyberpsychology Each chapter includes key terms and a glossary, content summaries, discussion questions, and recommended reading to guide further study. Supported by extensive online resources for students and instructors, this authoritative book is an essential core text for undergraduate modules in cyberpsychology, and an ideal primer for students of postgraduate programs in cyberpsychology. To view the additional student and instructor resources for this book, please visit bpscoretextbooks.routledge.com
Toward Anti-Oppressive Teaching introduces an innovative approach for using live-actor simulations to prepare preservice teachers for diverse classroom settings. Based on the SHIFT Project at Vanderbilt University, the book highlights the promise of these encounters to empower preservice teachers to become more culturally responsive. Despite widespread recognition of the need to educate novice teachers in the theory and practice of culturally responsive pedagogy, few teaching candidates have the opportunity to try out, reflect upon, and internalize these lessons prior to taking their first job. As a result, new teachers are often unprepared to respond effectively to real-life dilemmas of difference and inequity in K-12 schools. The book shows how carefully crafted encounters--when incorporated as part of a well-designed cycle of instructional tasks--can build on traditional approaches to educating future teachers about culture, power, and systems of oppression. The book is ambitious in scope, laying out the rationale and theory behind the use of this new approach and shows how teacher educators are using, adapting, and designing simulations to fit the context of a teaching program. The authors include sample simulation materials and offer advice for addressing common logistical and programmatic challenges for adopting this new practice including how to hire, train, and care for actors. Filled with engaging examples and testimony from students who have participated in the program, Toward Anti-Oppressive Teaching provides guiding principles and practical suggestions, and offers a point of entry for those interested in a new approach to addressing a long-standing challenge in teacher education.
This book defends an account of the positive psychological, ethical, and political value of simulated human experience. Philosophers from Plato and Augustine to Heidegger, Nozick, and Baudrillard have warned us of the dangers of living on too heavy a diet of illusion and make-believe. But contemporary cultural life provides broader, more attractive opportunities to do so than have existed at any other point in history. The gentle forms of self-deceit that such experiences require of us, and that so many have regarded as ethically unwholesome or psychologically self-destructive, can in fact serve as vital means to political reconciliation, cultural enrichment, and even (a kind of) utopia. The first half of the book provides a highly schematic definition of simulated experience and compares it with some claims about the nature of simulation made by other philosophers about what it is for one thing to be a simulation of another. The author then provides a critical survey of the views of some major authors about the value of certain specific types of simulated experience, mainly in order to point out the many puzzling inconsistencies and ambiguities that their thoughts upon the topic often exhibit. In the second half of the book, the author defends an account of the positive social value of simulated experience and compares his own position to the ideas of a number of utopian political thinkers, as well as to Plato's famous doctrine of the "noble lie." He then makes some tentative practical suggestions about how a proper appreciation of the value of simulated experience might influence public policy decisions about such matters as the justification of taxation, paternalistic "choice management," and governmental transparency. A Defense of Simulated Experience will appeal to a broad range of philosophers working in normative ethics, aesthetics, the philosophy of technology, political philosophy, and the philosophy of culture who are interested in questions about simulated experience. The book also makes a contribution to the emerging field of Game Studies.
A leading philosopher takes a mind-bending journey through virtual worlds, illuminating the nature of reality and our place within it. Virtual reality is genuine reality; that’s the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of “technophilosophy,” David J. Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already. Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there’s an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed by Chalmers’ mind-bending analysis. Studded with illustrations that bring philosophical issues to life, Reality+ is a major statement that will shape discussion of philosophy, science, and technology for years to come.