essays

Artificial Intelligence: Is It Possible? (1999) A brief history of 'intelligent' machines and a detailed discussion of the possibility of creating machines that can think similarly to humans. The COG project at MIT is discussed in some detail.

Cyborgs: Uploading and Immortality. Some Serious Concerns. (2002) Published in Sophia International. A critical philosophical investigation into the Extropian concepts of Uploading and Immortality.

Biobehavioural Basis of Art. (1999) A detailed discussion and investigation into the evolutionary nature of art making. Art is used in its broadest sense. The paper argues art making is an evolved trait and perhaps predates language acquisition.

Kant & Aquinas: Regarding The Transcendence of Reason. (1996) This paper is a detailed investigation into the role these great thinkers gave Reason in the investigation of the possibility of proving the existence of God.

Condemned To Be Free. (1994) An ontological investigation into Sartre's concept of radical freedom. Including a brief background on the nature of Existentialism.

The Myth of The Freudian Unconscious. (2000) Abstract:
This thesis investigates the nature of the Freudian Unconscious and its relationship with Surrealist poetry. The findings of recent neurophysiological research and dream-sleep experiments suggest that such an Unconscious is a myth. The concept of nonconscious mental states, which are controlled by precise ratios of the brain's chemicals, as opposed to a dynamic, autonomous Freudian Unconscious is explored. Analysis of the surrealist project itself, and a comparison of surrealist poetry with computer generated poetry, further supports the scientific evidence. Whilst this thesis is not specifically about Artificial Intelligence some of my findings are directly relevant to this field of research. It also shows that the surrealists' belief, that they could circumvent the control of logical reasoning in their literary and artistic creations, was misguided. It was not the purpose of this thesis to provide irrefutable evidence as to the non-existence of the Freudian Unconscious but to establish sufficient doubt to justify further detailed research.

Superman, Joan of Arc and Jesus: Transgressive or Conventional Heroes? [1998] This paper looks at the nature of mythical heroes and their relationship to the society in which they lived.

Was Shakespeare An Existential Wimp? [1998] A discussion on the nature of human benevolence from Shakespeare's Christian ideological background. "Measure for Measure" and "The Merchant of Venice" are the two plays analyzed.

Post-Reformation Hermeneutics. [1996] This paper gives a general background to exegesis and hermeneutics, then a critical analysis of the problems with existing methods and suggests an holistic methodology for deconstructing texts.

Christianity and Evolution: Is The Conflict Resolvable? [1997] This paper is an introductory and general discussion on this complex and often, hotly debated topic.

Shelter News: Ferro-cement [1977] This article discusses the concept of ferro-cement used to
construct free-form organic dome shelters.

Thoughts On Building [1982] This article discusses some of the philosophy involved in the design of environmentally responsible shelters.