Dennett's Where Am I

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Daniel Dennett attempts to answer where the self is located within the body in his essay “Where Am I?” Dennett is approached by the government whose intent it is to have him deactivate a nuclear warhead that was stuck underground. The procedure is mentioned to be dangerous, as the nuclear activity has severe detrimental effects on brain tissue, but appears harmless to other body tissues. The precautionary method to avoid this damage was to remove the brain entirely then remotely operate the body sent to deactivate the device a mile under Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dennett had decided he will attempt the mission once he was assured no information (past experiences, favorite things, etc.) would be lost. The Houston brain surgeons had suggested he should think of it as stretching the neural connections, all connectivity would remain intact. Dennett had consented to conduct the mission, thus multitudes of information was gathered by interviewers: a recorded autobiography, tedious lists of tastes, fears, hopes, even musical preferences. The brain removal surgery resulted in success and as Dennett awakened he was shown to his brain in a vat within the Houston lab. Methods of communication between the brain and the body were by radio link and was controlled by an on/off switch. So there Dennett stands, reasoning with himself about his position. He asserts himself as a physicalist but encounters the problem of where “here” is, as he stares from his body at his brain. To ease his self-inflicted confusion, Dennett names his brain Yorick and his body Hamlet, together they are Dennett. So the question he asks himself again is where is Dennett? Where are Dennett’s thoughts tokened? He concludes three possibilities: Dennett is wherever Haml...

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...ught experimental essay, “Where Am I?” Each approach he touches on has viability but also is subject to criticism depending on the lens the audience can interpret the approach under. Functionalism is an approach through physicalism that would glaze over the more mental priorities of identity, since the body functions are what is relevant to this lens. The body view falls under the functionalist and physicalist argument. There is a touch of soul view in interpretation of the mind-body relationship, but it held little evidence for foundation and under scrutiny the soul view does not hold up as strongly as the mind-body pair view does for interpretation of Dennett’s essay. It is not easy to decipher the meaning of identity and mind-body relationships, but using this thought experiment one could iron through some creases to clear up an argument for either position.

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