Physical Existence and the Vision of Mind-Uploading

Abstract

The concept of mind-uploading is essentially the transhumanist vision of overcoming death through technology. In this paper, I will explore what mind-uploading presupposes in terms of theories of consciousness and the relationship between mind and body. I argue that the underlying understanding of the human mind is problematic because it underestimates the significance of being embedded in a living body. Mind-uploading works with a very truncated notion of mind that fails to do justice to the complex relationships between mind and the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of our existence.