Lecture
LUCIP Colloquium "Artificial Consciousness and the Conditionality of Moral Agency: An Abhidhamma Perspective"
- Date
- Thursday 5 June 2025
- Time
- Series
- Centre for Intercultural Philosophy events 2024 - 2025
- Location
-
P.J. Veth
Nonnensteeg 1-3
2311 VJ Leiden - Room
- 1.03
The Leiden Center for Intercultural Philosophy (LUCIP) is pleased to announce a lecture by Dr. Martin Adam, Associate Professor in Religion, Society and Culture Program at the University of Victoria. His articles have appeared in numerous academic journals including the Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. He is also the playwright and producer of the rock opera What the Buddha Never Taught (2022).
Abstract
This paper explores the relevance of Abhidhamma theory to the modern development of artificial intelligence. Relying principally upon the medieval Theravāda commentary, the Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha, the first half of this paper examines the conditions deemed necessary for the arising of consciousness and raises doubts whether these could ever be instantiated in a machine environment. In brief, it is argued that Abhidhamma theoretical and computational functionalist models of consciousness are incompatible. The second part of the paper examines the early Buddhist understanding of moral agency and argues that if conscious machine agents were ever developed, they would not be capable of acting morally.
All are welcome!