Philosophical Analysis (abridged class paper)

Rating: 10/10 (31 May 2016)

This philosophical analysis of the film Blade Runner is an abridged version of a school paper I wrote during my first semester at college. Upon evaluation, I feel there is much more I could add to this.
This is my personal subjective and analysis of the film and the philosophical writings of Turing and Hume referenced below. Alan Turing gave his answer to the question of whether or not machines could ever be capable of thinking like a human being as a 'yes.' Many philosophers and great thinkers of history stated the answer would be, "no." While it is often agreed that computers can think in certain but not all ways, it raises the question, "how would we even know if a computer is thinking like a human being or not?" Turing stated that it is polite to assume everybody thinks as the only person one can know positively thinks is one's self. With this in mind, it can be concluded that machines can one day be assumed to have human thought just as validly as any person besides one's self does. Turing looked at a party imitation game as an inspiration to develop the Turing Test, a game in which a judge must decipher if he is speaking to a computer or a person and if the computer can be mistaken to be human, it can be concluded to possibly have human-like thought.
In the film, four bio-engineered humanoids – known as replicants – come to Earth illegally and become targets for execution. The process of replicant execution is referred to as retirement, perhaps because the layman would look at replicants as not humans, therefore their executions would not be considered genuine deaths. The film utilizes the fictional Voight-Kampff Test – a test parallel to the Turing Test designed to determine if someone is a replicant or not by asking a series of questions and looking closely at iris dilations and pupil fluctuations to decipher if their emotional response is not human. Towards the beginning of the film, the replicant character Leon is given the test with suspicion of him being a replicant. Before murdering the questionnaire, Leon responds to several questions in an evasive and curious human-like way easily, thus passing the Turing Test before the Voight-Kampff Test really began. The character Rachael believes herself to be human but is then given a the test by Deckard and is then discovered to be a replicant. The line between artificial intelligence and human intelligence becomes blurred, so much that only the slightest details would give away the difference. According to the film, artificial intelligent beings are in fact able to pass the Turing Test and therefore are able to think for themselves.
With this in mind, mankind ever does create a machine that claims to be able to think and potentially turn away from initial programming, I believe we should not automatically assume they do not genuinely think, and possibly treat such a machine as a living organism. David Hume once wrote: "As a memory alone acquaints us with the continuance and extent of this succession of perceptions, 'tis to be considered, upon that account chiefly, as the source of personal identity. Had we no memory, we never shou'd have any notion of causation, nor onsequently the identity of our persons beyond our memory . . ." and ". . . memory does not so much produce as discover personal identity, by shewing us the relation of cause and effect among our different perceptions." I interpret and summarize Hume's writings as stating memory is not what makes somebody a person as other philosophers may believe, but rather helps one know their personal identity.
The character Racheal learns she not only is a replicant destined to die within a short amount of time, but that her memories had been programmed by her creator, Tyrell. Racheal essentially loses nearly all understanding of her personal identity but as she exists, she does not lose her personal identity altogether.
While not officially stating it, the film hints that Deckard, is not only assigned to retire replicants, but also a replicant himself. This is further explored in The Final Cut in which Deckard dreams about a unicorn and at the end of the film finds an origami unicorn on the floor presumably left by his work partner, Gaff, who had previously been shown with an origami match-stick man. Towards the end of the film, Gaff tells Deckard that he has done a man's job while before treating him more unfairly, further suggesting Deckard may be a replicant. With this in mind, it appears Gaff not only knows Deckard's basic whereabouts and thoughts, but possibly created Deckard with programmed memories that may belong to Gaff. If this theory is true, Deckard's understanding of his personal identity is false, but his actual personal identity is not, as memories do not create personal identities but helps people understand their personal identity. The character Roy Batty, moments before death, says the following lines to Deckard:
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in the rain Time to die..."
One could conclude with Hume's writings that Batty's memories are not what makes him a person but helps him understand his personal identity. With his memories gone, his understanding of personal identity would cease to exist, but by saving Deckard's life and sharing his memories, he allows his personal identity to continue existing as Deckard would remember him. As Batty dies, a dove he was holding is released and then flies into the air, suggesting his soul left his body and makes its way to Heaven. As his personal identity lives on and despite being artificial, he is in fact a person.