Piccard's Views On The Mind/Body Problem

Following the readings and presentations on the mind/body problem, and having read the synopsis and viewed the episode, I have come to believe that Piccard and Maddox view the personhood (or lack thereof) of Data entirely from different perspectives - at least for much of the episode. Piccard, from the very start of the suggestion of disassembling Data to further knowledge and create additional beings like him, is extremely convicted that the very proposal of such an act is not just wrong, but inhumane. Piccard approaches this from the mind/body problem view of dualism. Piccard sees Data both physically and mentally, a view that suggests two properties coinciding within Data - physical properties which "are properties of the body, while mental properties are properties of the mind." (Hasker, 1983, p. 65) For Piccard, referring to Data as a machine or a thing …show more content…
Piccard works alongside Data daily, considers Data not as a piece of equipment upon his ship, but rather a "valued member" of the crew (Snodgrass, 1989), repeatedly referring to Data as him or he, referencing Data as a living being, and as someone who has rights. Piccard clearly separates the physical being of Data, acknowledging that his physical being is composed of electronic parts, from the mind of Data which is composed of fond memories, relationships with colleagues, and a near emotional element that one would not expect from a machine or computer. Piccard's view of Data's mind very much aligns with Hasker's description on page 66, which says "The mind, on the other hand, has mental properties but no physical properties - it thinks, perceives and imagines but has no size, shape, mass, or even spatial location. A person's mind and her body, then, are about as different