Sabab 2022

SABAB
VOLUME 6
2022

TRANSHUMANISM
Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College for Women

SABAB

The Annual Academic Journal
Department of Political Science
Lady Shri Ram College for Women

2022

Sabab is the annual academic journal of the Department of Political Science,
Lady Shri Ram College for Women. In Urdu, the word Sabab means reason or
cause. It implies the quest for the grounding of the abstract, the grasping of the
metaphysical. Sabab publishes a compilation of imaginative, ambitious
undergraduate papers each year with the aim of encouraging critical thinking
and meaningful engagement with the political phenomena around us.

Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

Published in New Delhi
Department of Political Science
Lady Shri Ram College for Women
Lajpat Nagar- IV, New Delhi

Delhi- 110024
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© Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, 2022
The moral rights of the contributing authors are reserved. These are the views
of the authors themselves and are not intended to make assertions on the
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permission in writing from the Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram
College for Women, New Delhi.

ADVISORY BOARD EDITORIAL BOARD
Dr. Manisha Chaurasiya Editors in Chief
Dr. Nancy Pathak Ayushi Jain
Dr. Shilpi Singh Kanika Shokeen
Dr. Vagesh Pawaiya

POLITICAL SCIENCE UNION Editors
2021-22 Anagha V Nair
Muskan Choudhary, President Pia Mann
Sakshi Chaurasia, General Secretary Vani Agnihotri
Madhunisha Kalakuntla, Treasurer Vrinda Tulsain


Illustrators
Arpita Abraham
Avika Singh

Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

Faculty Note

Dr. Manisha Chaurasiya, Dr. Nancy Pathak,
Dr. Shilpi Singh & Dr. Vagesh Pawaiya

It is well known that the relationship rise of non-pagan religions in which the
between humans and technology is immortality of human is completed
much older than the rise of modern through uniting oneself with the
science. Ever since antiquity, humans immortal itself, that is, God. Leaving the
have been designing tools, weapons and materiality of the earthly social world
artefacts for their survival. Perhaps it is and having a faith in the heavenly
the mixed feeling of dread and spiritual world which still remains for
reverence towards death and life which many the successful path for immortality.
has thoroughly kept the human race
afoot in experimenting with the natural With the rise of modern science, the
order and their quest for inquiry is to term immortality has gone through
achieve immortality. tremendous changes. The reason for
such changes has to be the revival of the
For a very long time, this thrust for forgotten emphasis on the individual
immortality has materialized through which for centuries remained under the
leaving the genes in the body of the command of the society and the God.
offspring which in the society was Humanism, which for generations was
guarded through primordial customs deeply ingrained in the social and
based on the purity of races, castes and spiritual world, has transcended the
ethnicities. This could be understood as same with the rise of modern science.
a more organic or naturalistic way of The necessity of being social has now
keeping the name, identity and history been taken over by developing
of a social group and is considered to be sophisticated technologies which can
a better way of defining the origin of build up capabilities and enhance the
social constructivism. Here individual human quest for durability in both
immortality is attained through physical and mental domains.
becoming social. The detour to this Developing nanotechnologies, artificial
social path has been fossilised with the intelligence and becoming cyborgs has
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given a new meaning to the previous of the unwanted outcomes of
quest for immortality now known as Transhumanism. Here the frontiers
Transhumanism. This age of modern between humans and artefacts have
science can be understood as been minimized and there is a
posthumanism- resolving the human possibility that in the future artefacts
anxieties by not centering on natural might replace their creators. Such are
and social world but taking the route of the warning signs in the society where
technocentrism. gradually Alexa and Siri might capture
communicative and dialogical spaces of
The prospects of human capabilities human life. This risks exporting us into
through minimizing disease, enhancing the world of atomized, fragmented and
justice and becoming information diffused world of politics which can
giants have troubled the critics of become the prey of any Frankenstein at
Transhumanism on the grounds of any point of time. Creating and
being a threat to human values, ethics experimentation in the field of eugenics
and emotions. It has distorted humans as among the nations might intensify the
a species and hyped their fear of death rivalry for creating superhuman races
and provided a pseudoscientific promise and cyborg-citizens to become
of escaping into self-indulgent fantasies. superpowers and warmongers. The
This rule by big corporate and history of Nazi concentration camps
commerce-driven giants making profits and their projects of eugenics explain
out of human anxieties by positing the grim side of Transhumanism.
themselves as the redeemers of human
death. From an environmentalist Will Transhumanism ever overcome the
perspective, Transhumanism’s assurance struggle of human imperfectability? Has
of overcoming natural and universal the Posthuman world ever offered us a
human limitations like physical and glimpse of immortality? These
mental constraints of ageing and interrogations are never unending
cognitive lacking has tampered with the because the remnants and traces of
biological cycle of the natural order. Trans and Post world keep reminding
Obsession with body alterations, us about their failures of the past and
increase in carbon footprints of humans, keep Sisyphus engaged in rolling the
the extermination of other biological stone despite the factual or fictional
species and producing E-waste are some victory of Transhumanism.
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Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

Editors' Note

Editors in Chief
Ayushi Jain & Kanika Shokeen

Social scientists are often concerned with deliberation to manifest as scientific
the ability of human beings to organize realities, urging the Social Scientist to step
together and contribute to an ongoing in and question this transformation. In an
process of evolution and learning. Often, age when humans have mastered gene-
the culmination of these interactions is in editing and bio-engineering technologies,
the manner in which each individual these archetypes of supposed perfection
contribution - over the course of centuries become models of desire; escaping fantasy
- comes together into a scientific to become future possibilities. In this
revelation, a renaissance of ideas. rapidly changing context, are we seeking
Throughout history, humans have moved to become better versions of ourselves or
from adapting to their environment to to fundamentally change who we are?
altering the environment in the search for The ship of Theseus, or Theseus’ paradox,
a better quality of life. What is unique to hits at this existential question. If we have
the 21st century, arguably of course, lies in separately taken apart every inch of what
a new manner of human development. was familiar to our ancestors thousands of
When one looks back at classical years ago, and reintegrated it with
perspectives on characters that appear to be completely new ideas and creations of the
non-human or more than human, they world, are we still the same human or
need look no further than Homer’s Iliad. society that we started out with? And if
Achilles’ bodily impermeability is a famous our developments do not invalidate the
example of our imaginations creating a identity of our origins, can the same be
human that is more advanced. Yet said about the technological development
constituted within these lores are also the of recent years?
inherent shortcomings and dangers of such Equipped with advanced technology to
desires. Achilles’ heel aptly foreshadows the augment both performance and sense, the
impermanence of invincibility. lives we live today mimic a simulation.
Today, questions of enhancing human Our private actions and thoughts are as
ability and escaping human mortality have susceptible to scrutiny and influence as our
transcended the realm of philosophical texts and purchases. At the same time, our
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Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

collective revolutions and resistance, merely comfort ourselves with this
celebrations and losses, have become insistence?
shared like never before. While To be transhuman then is to be one with
technology spares the sanctity of nothing, technology. To converge our identities,
it accords legitimacy to all. It is only as behaviors and methods with the products
effective as the data it relies on, allowing of our own creations: Artificial
discrimination to hide behind the Intelligence.This envisioned future calls for
‘objectivity’ of science. Even so, it opens a deeper deliberation on what it means to
avenues of possibilities that were, to many, be human and experience life. On our
unfairly denied. perceptions of ourselves and everything
Today we can, quite literally, play with around us. On individuality of thought
nature to create humans who are faster, and freedom of speech in times of hyper
stronger, godlike - the archetypes from surveillance. On bioethics and
classical antiquity; Greek statues come to conservation in the context of a worsening
life. But we know history hasn’t always relationship with nature. On democracy,
been kind to those who played God. The equality and power in the face of recent
assumption of superiority, racial or social, developments in media and Big Tech. On
has long interacted with notions of power social and political institutions and
to create deep fissions in society. Are we questions of law and order. On our
prepared to face the consequences of when relationships with society and each other.
superiority, in terms of enhanced These developments are as concerning as
capabilities, is no longer political they are exhilarating. If we are already
propaganda but a scientific reality? superhumans, we are also ruled by humans
Are there any limits to our ambitions? We with supernatural abilities. What does that
are working to create cyborgs, humans mean for us? And if we are only seeking to
that through technological modifications move forward, what safeguards do we
gain superhuman abilities. But consider require? What lies in the balance is our
our conditions right now. We carry a understanding of our past, present and
multi-functional supercomputer that future. Inherent to this conversation is the
increases our memory multifold, and fuels longing to fulfill the persistent desire that
our access to most, if not all knowledge plagues the human condition - to do more
ever learnt by mankind in a fraction of a and be more. And in the ongoing quest to
second. We carry pacemakers in our hearts answer - Is being transhuman to transcend
and technologies that allow us not only to our weaknesses, or is it to transcend our
exist, but excel. Can we then truly escape humanity?
our dependency on technology, or do we
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Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22 01
10
CONTENT 23
39
I. Divergent Visions of a Transhuman Future in 48
Mid-Century Science Fiction - Book Review 64
Arihan Krishna
II. Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence:
Decoding the dream of a conscious machine
C. Karthika Sajeev
III. Platonic Prescriptions for the Big Tech Oligopoly
Gauri Bansal
IV. Digital Exclusion of Citizens:
The Selectivity of E-Development in Indian Democracy
Avantika Rout & Varshita Sigar
V. Plato’s Noble Lie and Big Data: Sophistry or Verity
Ashly Jiju
VI. Technology and Human Rights:
Analysis of Data Protection laws, Right to Privacy and State
Surveillance in the Indian Context
Ayushi Singh, Ishika Chaudhary & Siddhima Sirohi

Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

Divergent Visions of a Transhuman
Future in Mid-Century Science Fiction

Arihan Krishna
Department of Political Science, Ramanujan College

1.0 Introduction

In the opening pages of The Dragons of
Eden, his widely acclaimed meditation on
consciousness and what it means to be
intelligent, the celebrated American
science popularizer and public intellectual
Carl Sagan had this to say of the
distinguishing feature of the human
species, as compared to lesser animals,
possessed though many of them are with
brains far larger in size and senses, much
more versatile than those that equip this
rather weak race of primate:
[H]uman beings have… invented not only
extra- genetic but also extra-somatic
knowledge: information stored outside our
bodies, of which writing is the most notable
example. But today we do not have ten
million years to wait for the next advance. We
live in a time when our world is changing at
an unprecedented rate. While the changes are
largely of our own making, they cannot be
ignored. We must adjust and adapt and
control, or we perish.[1]
As Dr Sagan knew in 1986, when Dragons
was published, the world isn’t just
changing at an advanced rate, the very rate
of change in the modern age increases at a
rapid pace.

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To understand the timescales of progress nearly 12 months before the Kitty Hawk
that we have experienced, consider the fact flew in North Carolina, USA, on
that the earliest known stone tools used by December 17th of that year. Tanaka was
primitive humans are dated to some 2.5 42 in July 1945 when, unbeknownst to her
million years ago. From that primordial and the rest of the world, some of the
state, in which the human was nigh world’s top scientists successfully
indistinguishable from any other primate, detonated the first atomic bomb, the most
it took until about 10,000 BC for settled fearsome weapon known to mankind, in
agriculture and civilisation to begin in the desert of New Mexico in that same
earnest. country.

From that time, the discovery of electricity She was 66 years of age in July 1969 when
and the beginning of the industrial age the Apollo astronauts touched the surface
occurred some two and one-half centuries of the moon. She was 74 when the Apple
ago; and only 119 years ago, in 1903, did II personal computer entered the
humanity take wing with the Wright American market and began the personal
brothers’ powered flight. computing revolution in April 1977.
And then, from the first flight in 1903, it Tanaka was a venerable 94 in 1997 when a
took a mere 66 years for the human race to computer beat a world chess champion in
reach the moon. Now, Mars is well within a game for the first time. Manned flight,
our sights. space flight, the atomic age, the invention
To summarise: The first jump from the of the computer and its proliferation, first
invention of stone tools to the beginning steps toward artificial intelligence,
of settled agriculture saw about 1 lakh 50 developments that are all immeasurably
thousand generations of humans pass. more complex than the progress from
From then it took only about 480 stone tools to sedentary farming, which
generations until the flight of the Wright humanity undertook over 1.5 lakh
brothers, another generation for the generations, have all taken place in one
splitting of the atom, and another from individual’s lifetime— an individual who is
then to the moon landing. still alive at the time of this writing.
The progress of technological
development over the past century has Carl Sagan cites the humble book as a
been so rapid, that there is a person still profound and transcendental invention,
alive in 2022 whose birth predates human one which uses “little black squiggles” to
flight.[2] Japanese supercentenarian Kane fill the reader’s mind with the voice of the
Tanaka was born on January 2 1903, writer, who may have died millennia ago.
abcdef
The collection and storage of information
outside the body in this manner allows any
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human anywhere to benefit from the And we humans, to better access and parse
experiences and ideas of any other human information, are expected now to
anywhere else, and indeed anytime else in consummate in full our marriage to
the past. Language and writing are technology, and not just with hearing aids
employed by our species not just to teach and pacemakers. The information that we
our young in a way no other animal can, accessed with knobs and dials sixty years
but to instruct and inform generations ago, that we now access with the tips of
beyond our conception. The written word our fingers, is imminently to be made
is the main building block of the arts and accessible to the brain direct, merely by
the sciences, and therefore modern willing it. What form this transformation
civilisation. The speed at which the takes— Neuralink’s chip implant in the
written word could travel and the base of the skull, some organic
distances it could traverse were both much biotechnology, only imagined by science
increased by the invention of the printing fiction writers for now, or something
press in 1450. This was an invention in entirely unimaginable— we cannot yet
what we today call information know, but in fits and starts this
technology. In spirit the printing press is transformational age, this transhuman age
the main forebear of the internet, is already upon us. As the speculative
developed by nuclear scientists in the writer William Gibson famously wrote,
employ of the US Army in the 1960s. By “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly
the 90s and 2000s the internet had not just distributed yet.” [3]
done more to increase access to the
written word than the printing press, it While the informational aspect of human-
had as well brought about a revolution in technology integration may prove the
the transmission of audio-visual most fundamental change in human life,
information altogether greater than the there may be other, similarly far-reaching
invention of the television and the radio. outcomes of this process: increased human
From drawings on cave walls left by lifespans, the editing of embryonic genes
Homo Habilis to teach its young to hunt, and the prospect of ‘designer babies,’
to Johannes Gutenberg’s woodblock press, enhanced sensory perception, and the
which started the Scientific Age and elimination of congenital diseases and
European Enlightenment, to the undesirable traits.
ubiquitous Internet that has changed
humanity in fundamental ways that will be All these have been the subject of moral
studied for generations to come, it is and philosophical debates, ranging from
information itself that the world has their effects on society and identity, the
turned to as the next frontier of human possibility of a revival of eugenics, and, at
progress, the new way to the future. the most fundamental level, the question
whether a race of transhumans could even
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be considered part of the human race. [4] so forth, called Alphas, all possess,
according to their function, much greater
This essay looks at the two midcentury intellects.
works of science fiction which tackle these
themes in different ways: Robert The society thus created, presided over by
Heinlein’s Beyond This Horizon and World Controllers, belonging to the
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. highest grade of human, is geared for mass
production and consumption of industrial
Huxley and Heinlein, both seminal goods. The members are indoctrinated
writers, present two divergent visions of a through a form of sleep-hypnosis to ensure
technological future in which genetic complacency and complete submission to
control has become the foundation of a the whole, and unquestioning obedience
society of perfectly or near-perfectly bred to the higher castes. To paper over what
individuals. discontent does arise in the people, a drug
called Soma is ritually consumed, used by
Brave New World, written in 1932 to the police in an anti-riot capacity, and also
parody the utopian works of HG Wells, is promoted for recreational use. Thus the
informed much by Huxley’s experiences World State is kept functional.
on a trip to America, which left in his
mind an impression of a society steeped in The story begins in London several
decadent consumerism, sexual centuries into the future. It follows
promiscuity, in his view, its attendant Bernard Marx, a psychologist, and his
social degradation, and self-absorption.[5] friend Helmholtz Watson. Bernard, being
involved in work in sleep instruction, is
The world of Brave New World appears to exposed to this process by which the
be an extrapolation of this vision unthinking loyalty of the masses is
imprinted on a future where the progress ensured, and he is unsettled by it. For
of industrial manufacturing and advances voicing his opinions on the World State’s
in biotechnology have created the perfect insidious policies, Bernard is in trouble
consumerist civilisation, the World State[6.] with his boss. He, Helmholtz, and Lenina,
Its population is purpose-bred in a hatchery worker, take a trip to a ‘savage
‘hatcheries.’ In these hatcheries, individual reserve,’ the inhabitants of which are free
fetuses are genetically adjusted according of the World State. In the reserve, disease,
to grades corresponding to their function natural birth, and other things abound that
in society. The lower grades, or castes, are are unheard of in civilisation proper. A
bred for physical labour and thus possessed savage boy who, having only ever read
strong, stout bodies but very limited Shakespeare, speaks and behaves in a
intelligence— they are human mules. The strange and dated manner, fascinates
elite of rulers and scientists and writers and Bernard, who takes him along to London.
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The savage, John, is horrified by the frowned upon. The family, mothers and
society he witnesses. John functions as the fathers do not exist, only hatcheries. No
foil in the story, reacting to the ways of emotion except happiness may exist, to the
that hypercapitalist civilisation with a point where happiness is chemically
value system closer to the 20th century, induced in the populace with Soma. (At
when the book was written, and with one point John demands ‘the right to be
cultural ideas imbibed from Shakespeare. unhappy.’)
He is seen falling for Lenina and being
tortured to the point of fleeing by her Clearly, Huxley saw the world moving in
sexual promiscuity, which is the norm in a direction where, rather than solve all
her society but abhorrent to the ‘savage.’ problems facing humanity, technological
At another point in the story, John progress may destroy the human being
attempts to stop the use of soma by a and the free individual.
group of people, having seen the cowing
effect it has on them. Heinlein, on the other hand, coming out
When John calls Bernard’s boss ‘father’ with Beyond This Horizon in 1942,
(John turns out to be Bernard’s boss’s presents us with a similar technological
illegitimate son), the people around break post-scarcity vision.[7] Like Brave New
out in laughter at the uncouth word World, genetic manipulation by central
uttered. Relationships like that of father planners has created a disease-free, robust
and son have no meaning for the and carefully selected population. But the
hatchery-born citizens of the World State. society of Beyond is one that does not
Similarly, as John cries standing by his extinguish the individual and one in
mother’s side on her deathbed, others which freedom, rather than conformity, is
around are mystified and taken aback by the central organising political element (to
this uncivilised reaction to death. the extent that male citizens carry
In this manner, throughout Brave New handguns, and the duel is the preferred
World, Huxley creates an unsettling image form of dispute-resolution.) Interestingly,
of a future bereft of humanity, where there Heinlein tackles one of the primary moral
is no individual, only a mass that produces questions of the transhumanist debate, that
and consumes. Technology is the prime of gene editing, with an elegant solution:
mover of this society, in which all the parents may freely select the specific
biological needs are taken care of. Sex for sperm and ova that will create their child,
physical pleasure is offered and taken but may not edit the natural human
freely, and celebrated, but sexual genome contained in the sperm and the
relationships with romantic attachment are ova. Thus, the parents may select the best,
abdc least flawed versions of their genome
(without disease and weaknesses, or with a
minimum of them) for reproduction, but
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Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

may not fiddle with it. conspiracy and ends up falling in love with
In Beyond, Felix Hamilton, the the woman who was selected with him.
protagonist, is a scion of the ‘Star Line,’ They have a child which not only
the most gifted line of genetically selected possesses his gifts but others his own,
individuals, which goes back several being capable of telepathy, which no other
generations. human possesses. The Star Line has
produced a new kind of human.

Felix, a game designer, is admired, his In the endings of the two novels are
needs are all taken care of, and he enjoys contained the kernels of the divergence in
his life but increasingly sees no meaning in Heinlein and Huxley’s views. Brave New
it. A scientist who oversees the selection of World ends with John becoming a
the Star Line approaches Felix with an reclusive ascetic so that he may cleanse
offer to procreate with a woman who is himself of the evil of civilisation and, upon
specially chosen because she matches his becoming a spectacle to the people he
genetic gifts. Felix turns him down, abhors through television coverage of his
reacting adversely against what he sees as exile, killing himself. In contrast to
deterministic control over his life, where Huxley’s nightmare vision of a plastic
scientists in a lab decide whom he is to dystopia in which a free, independent man
have a child with. like John is unable to live, Heinlein shows
As Felix grows disillusioned with his the use of technology for the
perfect society of perfect individuals, he improvement of the human race as leading
finds his way into a meeting of a secret to the birth of the Nietzschean Superman.
cabal that plans to overthrow the Felix, having defeated the revolutionaries
government and instate a regime that who sought to create something like the
would throw open the floodgates on gene civilisation of Brave New World, embraces
editing, create distinct function-built slave, the wonders of his society and ends by
ruler and warrior races, similar to the contributing to it its greatest addition, his
Alphas and Betas of Brave New World, and superhuman offspring. The exercise of free
embark on world domination. Drawn at will and individual agency, perhaps the
first to this conspiracy, Felix soon finds dominant theme in Heinlein’s body of
himself repulsed by it. No doubt this cabal work, is evident both in Felix’s rejection of
was Heinlein’s caricature of the thuggish, his society in the first act of the novella
race-obsessed Nazis with whom he and his and later on in his heroic defence of it.
country would go to war in the year
Beyond This Horizon was published.[8] The vision of Brave New World seems to
As the novel ends, Felix foils the say forcefully to those alive in 1932 that it
abcdefghij would serve them well to not be taken in
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Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

by wondrous visions of an industrial, per Heinlein and Wells, among others? Or
technological future devoid of disease and will humanity be reduced to the level of
poverty and hunger and strife, that indeed unfeeling and unthinking subjects in a
as they dream of the utopias of HG Wells, machine of production and consumption,
they may rather be walking blindly onto as per Huxley? Today totalitarian China
the conveyor belt of a civilisational marches forward in science and
assembly line more of Henry Ford’s technology, and the free world, keeping
making. pace for now, contends with the reality
Beyond This Horizon, while admitting, in that the latest and best innovations in AI,
the form of the revolutionary cabal which biotechnology and other nascent fields
momentarily captivates Felix, the which will dominate the future, will be
possibility of just such a future coming to done not just in countries which will
pass if the right— or wrong— people subject them to scrutiny and debate but
control such technology, appears to argue also in the most oppressive regime in the
that technological development by itself world, and not for the purpose of elevating
does not necessarily lead to an oppressive humanity to a higher level of
society, where the individual is given over consciousness but in order to perpetuate
to a machine controlled from the top. That and deepen its control of the masses, mind
if the human race, with enlightenment and and body, as already it is doing with its
free will in its heart, embarks upon such a social credit and mass surveillance regimes.
scientific, transhuman future, there is no As a consequence, the transhumanist
reason why technological development debate, confined for so long to the fanciful
should not enrich and raise it to a greater visions of woolgathering futurists and the
level of being. scholarly back-and-forth of specialised
Today, decades of transformative change academics, is charged with a new urgency
in all fields of technology lie between us as it bursts forth into the mainstream of the
and the men who wrote Brave New World technological discourse. For better or for
and Beyond This Horizon. We are hurtling worse, the question Who got it right? will
faster than we know to the advent of true be answered, at least in part, in our
Artificial Intelligence, commercial gene- lifetimes.
editing, and the invention of internet
interfaces that we can manipulate just with References
our minds. The future is unmapped, but
palpably close. And the bets have been 1. Sagan, Carl. “Introduction.” Essay. In
placed. The Dragons of Eden. Random House,
1986.

Will our future be an enlightened utopia, 2. “Kane Tanaka, the World’s Oldest
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Person Alive, Is Now Japan’s Oldest
Person on Record Ever!” 2020.
IndiaTimes. September 21, 2020.
https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/hu
maninterest/kane-tanaka-oldest-person-
japan-523301.html.
3. Gibson, William. 2003. Review of The
Future Is Already Here – It’s Just Not
Evenly Distributed. The Economist,
December 4, 2003.
4. Tom Koch, Enhancing Who?
Enhancing What? Ethics, Bioethics, and
Transhumanism, The Journal of Medicine
and Philosophy: A Forum for Bioethics
and Philosophy of Medicine, Volume 35,
Issue 6, December 2010, Pages 685–699
5. Heje, Johan (2002). "Aldous Huxley". In
Harris-Fain, Darren (ed.). British Fantasy
and ScienceFiction Writers, 1918–1960.
Detroit: Gale Group. p. 100.
6. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World
(Vintage Classics ed.)
7. Heinlein, Robert A. 2014. Beyond This
Horizon. New York: Baen.
8. Patterson, William H. 2010. Robert A.
Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century.
Volume 1, 1907-1948 Learning Curve.
New York: Tom Doherty Associates
Book.

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Robots Repaired While U Wait by Ed Emshwiller,
Galaxy September - 1954

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Consciousness and Artificial

Intelligence
Decoding the dream of a conscious machine

C. Karthika Sajeev
Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College

Abstract 1.0 Introduction

We often use the term consciousness Consciousness has eluded human
without truly understanding its meaning or understanding for centuries now. It is
the implication of our perception of interesting because it is considered the
consciousness. The exercise of basis of human understanding itself. In this
understanding consciousness is deeply paper, we shall talk about four major
linked with the act of understanding one’s schools of thought about consciousness,
own identity, wants, and behavior. This namely; Dualism, Materialism,
area of study has become even more Panpsychism, and Biological Naturalism.
important with the advent of Artificial Though this list isn’t exhaustive, I believe
Intelligence (AI). With the rise of machine it is successful in providing a broad idea
learning and AI technology, we have begun about the way consciousness is articulated
to conceptualize and desire conscious in the contemporary world. This paper
machines but to actualize that dream, we then goes on to extrapolate its implications
must attain a consensus on the definition and limitations to the real world. It talks
and meaning of consciousness. In the status about the questions it raises and what our
quo, different schools of thought provide us considerations should be before
with a range of definitions. Acceptance or conforming to a particular idea. The aim
rejection of any school of thought has far- of the paper isn’t to provide definitive
reaching implications in the way we answers but shed light on the important
understand the possibility of a conscious ethical questions we as humans should
machine. In this paper, we shall examine engage in before it is too late.
four major schools of thought about
consciousness and its implication in our 2.0 Consciousness
understanding of conscious AI. It also
attempts to raise ethical questions which we We all are familiar with the concept of
all should consider before supporting and being conscious but when asked what it
celebrating technological advancement. means, most of us do not have an answer.
Keywords: Consciousness, Artificial It is not just us; even leading philosophers,
Intelligence, dualism, materialism, abcdef
panpsychism, biological naturalism

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neurobiologists, and scientists have not believed that everything that he can
been able to provide an ontological understand clearly and distinctly is true.
explanation for consciousness. Some, like (Britannica,2016) To reach this
John Searle, believe that consciousness is methodology, he started by rejecting all his
ontologically irreducible. Currently, we do beliefs and evaluating each belief by
not have a consensus on even the form of rationalizing them. He goes on to claim
consciousness, much less its nature. We do that the mind and body are two separate
not know if it is a process, a concept, or a entities, and the body is just an illusion
phenomenon. We have also been unable created by the mind. This is a very
to locate the exact region of the brain contested view, but one of the leading
where consciousness resides or is schools of thought when we talk about
processed. There have been theories like consciousness.
the Global Workspace Theory which
provide certain hypotheses of where the Despite the obvious critique of Descartes’s
functions might be taking place. Still, we view, his view does help us understand the
have consistently failed to arrive at a importance of consciousness. He connects
common conclusion. Philosophers like the existence of consciousness with his
Peter Carruthers go on to deny the existence. Consciousness is the reason he
existence of consciousness, believing that exists, without it, he is as good as dead.
most of our decisions and judgments do This line of thought has interesting
not come from a conscious place. He implications in the ethical debates about
believes we cannot always be completely rights, euthanasia, abortion, and so on.
conscious of what we are doing, and yet Another implication can be that
those decisions and actions are an integral consciousness becomes a separate entity,
part of our lives. (Ayan, 2018). distinct from the illusion of the physical
This just gives us a very brief idea about body. Since it is so fundamental it cannot
the lack of clarity we have on the subject be recreated. Descartes is not alone in
of consciousness. But despite that, it is one having a unique understanding of
of the most important fields of study. The consciousness.
main reason is its applications in different
fields of study and facets of life. We can Another example is Ned Block who
get a glimpse of that in ways different categorizes consciousness as phenomenal
philosophers have tried to articulate the consciousness (p-consciousness) and access
idea. Rene Descartes in his work consciousness (a-consciousness). P-
‘Discourse on the Method’ (1637) said consciousness focuses on the subjective
‘cogito, ergo, sum’ (meaning, ‘I think, experiences of human beings, for instance,
therefore I am). He was a sceptic and when they see the colour red, how exactly
propounded the Cartesian Scepticism, he do they experience its ‘redness’. A-
abcd consciousness is the cognitive aspect of
abcd
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consciousness, how we use our subjective us realise that every advancement in the
experiences while performing cognitive field of AI affects our lives personally.
actions. Through this dichotomy, he As mentioned before, the articulation of
brings to fore two aspects of consciousness consciousness can have far-reaching
and also shows us where exactly the implications in many different aspects of
problem lies in our understanding. We human life, but why does this paper focus
have been fairly successful in on Artificial Intelligence? The answer lies
understanding and quantifying our in the emotional response of humans when
cognitive abilities and actions, and the we talk about AI invasion or the robot
existence of AI is an ideal example to uprising. We often view these ideas as
showcase the stride we have made in the interesting conspiracy theories and plots to
field. (Kuhn, 2003) What we are a sci-fi thriller. According to Sam Harris,
completely clueless about is p- this shows the lack of threat perception of
consciousness. We are not able to reach a humans. We may be unable to
consensus on the conceptualization of the comprehend the consequential nature of
subjective experiences of humans, this our developments in the field of AI. The
aspect of consciousness is often called result of this ignorance is that we fail to ask
qualia by neurobiologists. important questions while the
What is interesting is how the difference development of AI continues. Harris isn’t
in the articulation of consciousness just worried about the ‘evil robot
generates novel questions in the field of takeover’. He points out that the
psychology, biology, physics, social advancement of AI can lead to a stage
science, and philosophy. Each implication where it would be indifferent to humans,
of such articulation merits a separate much like humans are indifferent to the
conversation but today we shall focus on existence of ants. It threatens the entire
how it affects the position of humans in foundation of Human supremacy on
the world, especially with the advent of Earth. (Davey, 2016)
Artificial Intelligence. I believe that the contemporary scientific
debates about consciousness in AI fail to
3.0 Artificial Intelligence (AI) phantom the complexities of the subject
consciousness. When we look at
Artificial Intelligence has captured human consciousness as an objective
imagination as nothing else has. In this phenomenon, it becomes easier for us to
paper, we refer to every technological replicate it in the material realm. When we
advancement as AI which is created by talk about ‘making AI human’ we fail to
replicating human intelligence. Hence the understand that humans themselves are yet
personal gadgets we find ourselves being to completely comprehend consciousness.
so dependent on are AI. This should make abc
abcdef
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We must have these discussions before superior or not. Many scientists believe
talking about conscious AI because that since AI is our creation, it can never
consciousness provides us with a sense of surpass us. But I do believe that it is just
identity and superiority over other wishful thinking. We already have AI
organisms. Our conscious experiences which possesses more IQ than an average
often shape the way we view the world, human, they can solve problems that many
determine right and wrong and think of humans cannot and process information at
concepts like justice and fairness. We build a rate no human can fathom. But then
value and belief systems based on our what is stopping them?
conscious experiences and awareness of the
world. The answer lies in our understanding of
What happens when a conscious being consciousness (or the lack thereof). Even
smarter than us starts occupying the same though we can create artificial intelligence,
space as us? A more frightening question we cannot do the same for our subjective
is, what if the apple watch you wear and experiences. We, at least not yet, cannot
the google map you operate are conscious? give AI the ability to have personal
Do they deserve rights? Can we switch subjective experiences. But this reason is
them off on our whim? Is that ethical? subject to our take on consciousness as
How is the incessant usage of conscious well. Do we consider those subjective
machines any different from slavery? experiences a part of consciousness,
This particular discussion has the potential separate from its cognitive functioning or
to make us rethink the foundations of how a by-product? We can go on to speculate
we conceptualize human rights, structure further but the truth of the matter is that
society, and even the foundational power we just don’t know yet. Or if we do
structures of human civilization. What if a know, not all agree on one definition.
robot is more competent than a human,
should we allow it to rule us? We are at 4.0 Different Schools of Thoughts
the stage of history where humans might on Consciousness
have to work towards re-establishing their
dominance over other creations. One can 4.1 Dualism
go on and say that we should stop the Many argue that the first person to talk
development of AI. Here we find ourselves about dualism is Rene Descartes but I
in a dilemma between advancement and would like to make a case that the earliest
the status quo. But is the fear of potential account of the dualist theory of
dominance a good enough reason to stop consciousness comes from Plato. In this
all technological development? Another dialogue, ‘Phaedrus’, he talks about the
interesting question is whether AI is nature of the soul. The way he defines the
abcdefg soul, i.e., the element which helps us in
making moral decisions, it helps us
aaaaaabcd
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understand the world around us, etc., chariot, where the soul is a charioteer and
makes us believe that he was talking about two horses, one noble and good and the
our consciousness. Even when we try to other opposite. Intelligence and logic are
articulate our consciousness today, we are the charioteers which help manage both
usually referring to our ability to think, the horses and attain true being. (Plato,
experience, reason, and so on. This is very 370 BCE)
similar to the notion of soul given by
Plato. Plato talks about consciousness not being
He believes that the soul and body are two one thing, he marks out different elements
distinct elements, and when they come of consciousness like intelligence, innate
together, they form the ‘living being’. It is desires, and rationality. Similarly, today we
important to note here, that this talk about cognitive actions, memories,
assumption of his, leads us to believe that experiences, values, and desires interacting
soul or consciousness isn’t exclusive to with each other to make decisions, and this
humans. Another important aspect is that interaction is considered to be
the soul is superior to the body. The soul is consciousness. However, the notion isn’t
immortal, it doesn’t have a source, it is the without its limitations.
source in itself. The true identity of a
being resides in the soul for Plato, the Plato talks about heaven; this concept helps
body is in reality a shell that the soul longs him justify a lot of claims he makes
to liberate itself from. Through his regarding the level of consciousness in
writings, he creates the idea that different beings and his claim that the soul
consciousness isn’t standard for all human is immortal. Since heaven isn’t part of the
beings. He further goes on to say that the material realm according to Plato, one
soul which hasn’t caught any glimpse of cannot find empirical evidence to prove its
reality, cannot be human. Here Plato does existence. He also claims that it is only
two things, he creates a hierarchy amongst philosophers amongst humans who
humans and also establishes the supremacy comprehend the existence and the full
of humans over other living beings. reality of heaven. He goes on to also claim
He also claims intelligence is the soul’s that philosophers who do talk about this
‘guide’ towards becoming a ‘True Being’. realm are considered insane by others. By
A true being is the closest a soul can come saying that he does shield himself from
to being God, it possesses all the true obvious criticisms but still does not answer
knowledge. Only intelligence can see the the question of how one can know of the
true being and help the soul to attain that existence of heaven. This leads us to the
form. Plato tries to explain the nature of state of limbo, where a particular argument
the soul through the allegory of the cannot be completely disproven or proven.
abcdefgg
What is the theory’s implication for the
abcd
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contemporary debates on AI? According GWT talks about a cognitive architecture
to dualism, consciousness doesn’t exist in called ‘workspace’ where there is the
the physical realm, this means it is not integration of different elements like
made of atoms. Hence, humans cannot memory, perceptual systems values, etc.
create it in the physical world. According Then this integrated information is
to this notion, AI would never attain globally broadcasted hence this neural
consciousness. But we have observed that activity is non-localized. When an
intelligence, emotions, and to a certain information integration is localized, it can
extent personality have been artificially be deemed an unconscious activity
engineered into AI. According to Plato, according to the theory. The Global
these aspects are part of consciousness. Neuronal Workspace model later goes on
Then how are these aspects engineered in to answer why these integrations are
the physical realm? Does it mean Plato is globally broadcasted. They propose that
wrong about what consciousness consists sensory stimuli send an excitatory signal to
of but right about its origin? Presently we axons producing patterns of activity
have no way of knowing the answer. throughout certain neurons globally in the
The dualist approach resides at one brain. This global pattern is consciousness
extreme of the spectrum, the other end is and is stimulated by sensory signals. This
occupied by the materialist school of also goes on to indicate that according to
thought. We shall now proceed to this theory, actions which do not possess
understand its meaning and implications sensory stimuli, aren’t conscious. (Porter,
on AI. 2019)
4.2 Materialism Another similar theory in recent years is
Materialists reside at the other extreme of the Information Closure theory (ICT) of
the spectrum in our understanding of consciousness by Acer Y.C Chang, Martin
consciousness. They reject the existence of Biehl, Yen Yu, and Ryota Kanai. They
an immaterial world. Mind resides in the propose that the neural system is
physical/material world and can be informationally closed to the conscious
explained by it. They believe that experience that we have, that is why we
consciousness is causally dependent upon cannot have a first-hand experience of the
the physical processes of the brain. (Smart, neurons firing in the brain. In cases of
2021) They attempt to create a correlation conscious experiences, the system’s sensory
between brain activities and conscious stimuli interact with the environmental
experiences. Many leading theories like the change and provide us with consciousness.
Global Workspace Theory (GWT) try to They also talk about predictive memory in
explain consciousness through physical their theory, where the person is engaged
brain activities in the brain. in an activity but is not conscious,
becomes the sensory stimuli of the system,

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and doesn't interact with the actual what exactly they are. This problem can be
environment but uses the memory it has of understood by engaging with the Chinese
its previous experience. Though ICT room thought experiment proposed by
provides us with a new understanding of John Searle. (Cole, 2004) Hence, if we use
conscious and unconscious experiences, it the current development in materialist
is still a developing theory. It is yet to theory, we may develop AI that might
provide a decisive answer when it comes look and act very similar to humans, but
to classifying dreams and imagination as they would lack in essence the human-ness
conscious or unconscious thought. that defines us all.
(Chang, Biehl, and Kanai 2020)
The materialists believe that they have no What can we say about advancement in
reason to believe in the existence of an AI? When I see the current materialist
immaterial world. Hence, for them, the understanding of consciousness, we see
answer lies in a deeper investigation of the that no theory has narrowed down a
brain. Some materialists also believe region of the brain where these activities
sensation and thoughts exist in addition to take place and why. They have not
material processes but they do not have a answered the fundamental questions of
causal efficacy on their own. Hence, they their theories. For example, the GWT
can only be understood by observing the doesn’t address how exactly the Global
material processes. One of the most workspace comes into being? The ICT is
dominant strands of materialism is yet to clarify where exactly consciousness
functionalism. It says that the internal resides and it can also be speculated that it
constitution of the brain has little to do doesn’t reside in the brain at all. I believe
with understanding consciousness. It thinking of inserting AI with artificial
focuses on the processes, specifically causal consciousness, even if it’s something basic
relations to expand their understanding. as the cognitive architecture like in GWT,
This line of thought took root in is hasty conduct. We do not understand
Aristotle’s concept of soul. They work on the implications of the actions we are
the premise of understanding the hoping to engage in, such a blinded
correlation between brain activity and approach can prove dangerous if not life-
human actions and experience. (Levi, threatening.
2004)
But no materialist theory to date has been 4.3 Panpsychism
successful in explaining the subjective Panpsychism believes that everything has
aspect of consciousness. They are consciousness. It would mean every cell
successful in explaining how conscious and atom would have a degree of
experiences happen, but they fail to tell us consciousness. In broad terms, they define
abcd consciousness as the integration of
information. The most recent and popular
abcd
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example would be the Information the consciousness of a human and AI or
Integration Theory by Giulio Tononi. It animals. The explanation is very important
attempts to quantify the integration of to answer the many ethical questions
information in the brain by the variable panpsychism poses.
phi and by evaluating the level of phi,
determines whether something/ someone I believe it is the heightened sense of
is conscious or not (Tononi, G. 2015). introspection and self-awareness that sets
Through this, the theory has successfully humans apart, but the fact remains that we
determined if a particular subject is are yet to completely understand this very
conscious or not. But this raises a different personal and subjective conscious
but very important question. Does the fact experience of ours. This also raises another
that everything possesses consciousness, question, how are we sure the AI is not
warrant them a degree of consideration as having these subjective experiences? To
individuals? Do your watch and nails get an answer to this question we shall
deserve right because of the low-level now discuss another interesting school of
consciousness they possess? One can argue thought championed by philosopher John
that maybe we can set a limit at which Searle, named Biological Naturalism.
subjects would become eligible to have
rights and get consideration. But how are 4.4 Biological Naturalism
we going to set that eligibility criterion? This school of thought also dismisses the
What happens when humans in a existence of an immaterial world. It says
vegetative state account for less than high- that consciousness is a biological
functioning AI? Do we consider that AI is phenomenon, just like digestion or
more important than humans? photosynthesis. It is a high-level brain
Many materialists like Ned Block believe activity, which we haven’t yet fully
that integration of information would refer understood and hence cannot replicate. He
to the intelligence of a particular being and provides a very clear definition of
wouldn’t completely solve the problem of consciousness, “Consciousness consists of
understanding consciousness. Thus, an all those sets of feelings, sensations, and
iPhone despite having a high amount of awareness that begins in the morning
phi wouldn’t necessarily be considered when you wake up from a dreamless sleep
conscious. This calls for a greater till night when you fall asleep or have an
characterization of the value phi. The unconscious experience.” Hence,
calculation of phi itself is rather according to him, a dream would be a
complicated making it difficult for scholars conscious experience.
to find an average phi for humans, animals,
and AI. (Gary,2013) Another issue with Despite it being a normal biological
IIT is it doesn’t explain what is different in phenomenon, he acknowledges that
abcdefg consciousness is special. Hence, he says
abdc
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consciousness is ontologically irreducible, assumptions. At the same time, my only
due to the first-hand subject experience issue with the idea would be the lack of
humans have. He doesn’t try to fit the clarity regarding how to conceptualize
understanding of consciousness within the that high-level functioning of the brain or
known principles of science or build up qualia. Even its claim that dreams and
another realm to explain it. He accepts the imagination are a kind of consciousness
uniqueness of consciousness to what it requires more clarity. Searle concedes that
seems like and builds his theory. Another his definition isn’t scientific. But I believe
interesting aspect of his theory is how he that if one claims that a particular
resolves the mind and body problem of phenomenon is biological, its definition
philosophy. He says, when we are engaged should have sound scientific backing. This
in any conscious activity, there are particular idea can act as a much-needed
physiological processes like the release of lucid but temporary gap-filler when it
acetylcholine and firing up of the neurons, comes to our understanding of
etc at the same time, we are having the consciousness. But it is important to know
conscious experience in the form of that it is not complete.
thought to engage in that conscious An important implication of this idea is
activity. The latter part of the process, the that it prolongs or postpones the possibility
subject, semantic aspect of consciousness is of conscious AI. Searle even goes as far as
what makes it unique and it is also to say that passing the Turing test doesn’t
something neurobiology hasn’t been able prove that the AI is conscious. He justifies
to articulate yet. Once we attain a this by saying that the test just evaluates
complete understanding of the ‘semantic intelligence and not consciousness.
aspect’ or the qualia. We shall be successful
in creating conscious machines. (Searle, 5.0 Conclusion
2004)

Biological Naturalism is different from Based on my observation the first, i.e.,
other ideas because it acknowledges the dualism is an ideal example of how humans
answers it doesn’t provide and provides try and explain something in the absence
strong backing to the claims it does make. of scientific explanation. Believing in the
I believe it gives us a concrete foundation dualist theory becomes a matter of faith
to understand consciousness for the same because it is rooted in the assumption that
reason. It provides us with the much- an immaterial realm exists, whose existence
needed balance between dualism and cannot be empirically proven. It
materialism and also avoids grave ethical completely dismisses the possibility of a
problems panpsychism places. This view of conscious AI, for me, such an approach
consciousness seems sound to me because seems more like denial of the dangers yet
it doesn’t require any out-of-the-box to come. Materialism on the other end of
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the spectrum hasn’t been successful in For me, it becomes a slippery slope. What
providing us with a satisfactory answer, is the basis with which we humans are
but at the same time has made major better than others? Why do we deserve
headways in trying to understand the rights and a good life? It questions the
process behind a conscious thought. This foundation of human civilization and gives
leads us to believe that at the status quo, rise to many ethical questions. What
even though we cannot create conscious would we do if a better species occupied
AI, we can create AI which can exhibit the Earth along with us? Would ethics call
behaviour very similar to a conscious for us to accept defeat and become slaves
being. That itself should be a cause of or would we expect us to fight for our
worry and discussion for philosophers and supremacy and survival? What would be
scholars. Biological Naturalism as stated the rationale behind fighting back? But
before can be treated as a temporary even before we answer those questions the
placeholder but not a universal theory of most important question is, should we not
consciousness, at least Searle provides us create a better species when we know how
with more answers. to, just to safeguard ourselves from a battle
of supremacy? What is important
I believe panpsychism fails to completely development or supremacy?
understand the depth of consciousness. It
says consciousness can be the integration I would like to conclude by noting that the
of information but is that all consciousness implication of articulating consciousness
is? We often derive our sense of identity isn’t just limited to Artificial Intelligence.
from our consciousness, there is an innate Defining consciousness becomes a tougher
sense of personhood which each individual task when we also acknowledge the
feels. Dr Brian Little in one of his talks said heterogeneity of the human race when it
that to understand someone one needs to comes to the degree to which they engage
ask what makes the person unique. Dr in conscious acts like introspection, self-
Little articulates them as ‘core projects’, awareness and even thinking. I believe
projects one cares very deeply about, engaging in the question of consciousness
which makes one act ‘out of character’ means engaging in the quest to understand
(Little, 2016). I believe our consciousness humans better. Today we find evidence in
plays an important role in determining the brain which provide us greater insights
what these core projects are. into the nature of humans themselves. An
ideal example would be mirror neurons.
Hence, I’m not sure if consciousness can The existence of such neurons can be
be explained merely by the integration of proof that humans have the biological
information. Another interesting ability to be empathetic and understanding
implication is that this paradigm says that of another being’s pain. Another aspect
AI already has some level of consciousness. that makes the study of consciousness
abcd abcdefgh
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interesting is our vested interest. We want 2016 "Cartesian circle." Encyclopaedia
consciousness to be a certain way so that it Britannica, Accessed November 1, 2021
can answer the questions we long an https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cartesia
answer for. It is possible that the real n-circle
definition of consciousness might fail to Chang Acer Y.C, Biehl Martin, Yu Yen
explain the reason behind philosophical and Kanai Ryota. 2020. “Information
zombies and free will, but that would be a Closure Theory of Consciousness”
very undesirable outcome for all of us. Frontiers in Psychology
Hence, I do believe that the expectations https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.338
we have from the definition itself make it 9/fpsyg.2020.01504/full
difficult for us to establish a general Cole, David. 2020 “The Chinese Room
consensus. Another issue this that the study Argument.” The Stanford Encyclopaedia
of the subjective experience and of Philosophy, Accessed November 8,
perception of humans is subject to the 2021
subjective perception of humans. How do https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-
we make sure that what we see and what room/
we understand is the reality or the illusion Davey, Tucker. 2016 “Sam Harris TED
created by our own conscious? This alone Talk: Can we build AI without losing
can make one’s head spin. But the study control over it?” Accessed November 8,
still merits careful and rigorous 2021
engagement, majorly because it would be https://futureoflife.org/2016/10/07/sam-
key in answering humanity’s many harris-ted-talk/
unanswered mysteries.

References

Aristotle. 350 BCE. On the Soul. Kuhn, Robert. 2003. “Ned Block- What is
https://antilogicalism.com/wp- the Mind Body Problem?” Released
content/uploads/2016/12/aristotle_anima_fi February 2021 at Closer to the Truth.
nal.pdf Video
Ayan, Steve 2018. “There is no such thing https://www.closertotruth.com/interviews/
as Conscious Thought.” Scientific 47344
American. December 20, 2018 Levin, Janet. 2021 “Functionalism.” The
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
/there-is-no-such-thing-as-conscious- Accessed November 1, 2021
thought/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/functional
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. ism/#MacStaFun
2016
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Little, Brian. 2016. Who are you, really? http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Integr
The puzzle of personality. Released July ated_information_theory
19, 2016 by TED. Video
https://youtu.be/qYvXk_bqlBk

Marcus, Gary. 2013 “How much
consciousness does an iPhone have?” June
6, 2013. The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-
of-technology/how-much-consciousness-
does-an-iphone-have

Plato. 360 BCE. Phaedrus.
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html

Porter, Alan. 2019 “The Mystery of
Consciousness, Part 6: Materialist Models
of Consciousness such as the Global
Workspace Theory and Correlates of
Consciousness” Porter Medium
https://portermedium.com/2019/08/the-
mystery-of-consciousness-part-6-
materialist-models-of-consciousness-such-
as-the-global-workspace-theory-and-
correlates-of-consciousness/

Searle, J. R. (2004). Mind: A brief
introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford
University Press.

Smart, J. Jamieson Carswell. 2021
"Materialism." Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Accessed November 4, 2021
https://www.britannica.com/topic/material
ism-philosophy

Tononi, Giuloni. 2015. “Integration
Information Theory” Scholarpedia
abcdefgh

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Actor in a Cyberman costume takes a cigarette break. The 'Cyberman,' the
quintessential cyborg character from the 1960s British TV show Doctor Who, is
one of the earliest depictions of a man-machine hybrid in popular culture. The
cyborg in print and screen science fiction has generally been portrayed negatively,
betraying a clear anxiety in the popular imagination about such a state of human
existence.

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Platonic Prescriptions for the

Big Tech Oligopoly

Gauri Bansal
Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College

Abstract 1.0 Introduction

A major dimension in the global restructuring For a long time, Silicon Valley in the
of power distribution has been the governance United States has enjoyed an
of cyberspace. With vertical and horizontal unencumbered embrace around the world
percolation of the internet and platform as the hub of path breaking innovations.
intermediaries, there have been efforts to devise However, as it amassed huge networks of
a robust regulatory framework that delineates wealth, user base and impact, recent
rights of citizen-users and non-state actors such developments have pushed Big Tech to a
as tech-companies. This paper starts by point of no reputational return. From
explaining the extent of wealth concentration antitrust bills pending in the US Senate to
and its origins in Big Tech and exploring the enforcing compliance to the IT Rules
relevance of Plato’s axioms of economic closer home, efforts are being made to
organisation to fill the regulatory vacuum. The arrive at a global regulatory architecture
research combines a qualitative and quantitative for the technology linked market sphere.
methodology through a thematic analysis of The Overton Window of digital
Plato’s original texts extrapolated to data-based governance extends from the concerns
contemporary case studies. It reviews existing over fair competition to those about
literature across multiple standpoints to trace national security and privacy. As
the relationship between contemporary technology became ubiquitous, the
capitalism, and Plato’s conceptions of justice growing economic influence of tech firms
and eudaimonia. Plato’s foretellings of excessive has lent them the role of knowledge
wealth and its consequences have been analysed brokers, providing platforms for the
in consonance with current market monopolies production, processing, transfer, and
and the network effect enabled by the internet. sharing of large volumes of information
Within Plato’s progression of polities, the Big (Ghosh and Srinivasan 2021). The market
Tech landscape is classified as a degenerating capitalizations of the five FAANG
oligarchy. His conceptualisation of the companies, Facebook, Apple, Amazon,
guardians of law and the second best state can Netflix, and Google, exceed the economy
be adapted to provide a foundation for platform of France. If Facebook were a country, it
governance within a temperate economy. Due to would have the largest population on earth
the dialogic form of writing premised on (Sagers 2019). Thus, their financial power
baseline virtues, there is a possibility of abcd
interpretive bias and insufficient scientific
rigour. The research is overarching in scope and
can be further specialised to explore location-
specific variables and existing competition law.
Keywords: Plato; ethics; economics; justice;
technology; wealth; monopoly

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came to be fused with political, economic, Plato, the classical Greek philosopher,
cultural and informational power, making offers an ethico-economic structure of
them a prime target for populist backlash. society. Plato’s ideal state consisted of the
These firms enjoy several natural four virtues of social wisdom, social
advantages that breed monopoly power: temperance, social courage and social
information asymmetries, the network justice (Kotsonis 2019). While
effect that enables limitless expansion, contemporary welfare analysis is premised
gatekeeper rents in the form of data, upon the belief that welfare is achieved
conducting unrestricted commerce on when at least one individual can satisfy
their own platforms and possession of the needs without others’ detriment, Plato’s
legal and political muscle to keep the rules analysis explains welfare in terms of
of the game in their favour (Foroohar majority people coexisting happily in a
2019). Market monopoly further lends regulated economy even as the appetitive
them a psychological monopoly in urges of a few remain unsatisfied. In
political discourse since they shape the consonance, welfare for many can be
political attitudes, behaviours and electoral improved through the institutionalisation
outcomes at a large scale, posing of moderation or temperance (Plato
significant risks to a non-partisan and well 375BC).
functioning democracy (Santesteban and While the search for common good has
Longpre 2020). This article aims to explore been emphasised upon by many such as
the nature of oligopoly that Big Tech Vilfredo Pareto and Nicholas Kaldor,
commands and what the counter- contemporary mainstream economics
weighing regulatory landscape can import omits issues of equity, fairness and justice
from Plato’s ideas on political economy. abc

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with its narrow focus on cost-benefit in the Big Tech atmosphere that leverage a
analyses and utility maximization (Sandmo wide user base (Groenewegen 2011).
1995). Plato emphasised that empirical Plato’s foremost assumption is that man
knowledge is a relatively imperfect form of desires happiness, which is the ultimate
knowledge when compared with a priori end, agathon. Thus, in order to arrive at an
knowledge. This explains the basis for the organisation of the economy which
Platonic question of “Ti esti?” or “What is produces happiness, he tied it to the notion
it?”, in opposition to Karl Popper’s version of social welfare, or happiness for all. The
of “What does a thing do for man?” main components of Platonic thought thus
(Moural 2016). The economic model become the analysis of what is considered
premised on accumulation is based on faith good, agathon, and the realising the good
in the “invisible hand”, automatic for whom? The goal is the pursuit of the
mechanisms that make a market operate virtuous, subsequently happy life,
efficiently if individual actors behave eudaemonia that results from the
rationally to serve their own interests. This knowledge of the good (Plato 375BC).
conceptualisation undermines the systemic
risk created by excessive concentration of Even within the framework of modern
wealth that further affords a lack of capitalism, Adam Smith proposed that you
transparency, accountability and needed transparency, equal access to
democratic spirits (Gill 2004). From the information, and a shared moral
epochal railroads to the energy markets in framework for markets to work (Bouchet,
the 1990s and the financial industry of 2017). While the first two have been the
2007, there are many examples that subject of most regulations in the digital
demonstrate the inability of companies to sphere, a shared moral framework is yet to
undertake measures that cutback their own be arrived at in the digital political
operations and profits (Norris 2021). economy. In the absence of a singular
Industry self-regulation remains an governing logic, Plato’s work offers a
unrealised utopia. As a result, in the range of ideas that can be imported to lay
Darwinian struggle for market shares, they the foundation of this framework.
dominate their spaces such that they don’t Without an appropriate economic
just lay claim to a market, but seize the foundation, he held that neither the ethical
market entirely. nor the social dimensions of society would
be oriented towards the ideal good. Plato
Plato can be considered as a predecessor of adequately grasped the pull of liberal
the optimal resource allocation theory. individualism and described the historical
Oligopolies are a result of high deterioration of society moving from
investments, strong consumer loyalty and aristocracy to tyranny. The pursuit of
the establishment of an economy of scale - profit beyond fair measure and moderation
all three of which are remarkably present hampers the Platonic ties of reciprocity
abc abcd
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Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

and community good, inhibiting the through the contemporary logic of
materialisation of social justice (Plato accumulation?
375BC). (iii) Is the Big Tech oligopoly symbolic of a
The end of the Cold War marked the degenerating oligarchy?
commercialisation of the internet. (iv) How can we evolve a regime of platform
Economic deregulation in the telecom governance through Plato’s conception of
industry was accompanied by the notion “Guardians of Law” within his framework of
that it would be governed as per market division of labour?
democracies. As a result, the internet (v) Can we arrive at a temperate economy
adopted laissez-faire norms to achieve the through Plato’s prescriptions of the “second
highest possible economic outcomes best state”?
(Tymoigne, 2009). However, as
inequalities in these returns widened, it 2.0 Methodology
reinforced a unipolar world order and as a
byproduct, the power of global institutions In an attempt to integrate primary and
declined. With the rules underwriting Big secondary research, this paper primarily
Tech being drawn in an incubator of relies on excerpts from Plato's original
economic and political hegemony, around works, namely, the Republic, Laws and his
the world, governments are seeking to dialogue in Eryxias, which is often termed
reclaim the Wetsphalian balance of power as the “first manuscript of political
with the primacy of nation-states. By economy”. In addition, it features an
proposing new laws to increase platform extensive examination of the existing
liability for harmful online content, they literature, comprising books, journal
are using antitrust rules to dilute the articles, news reports and legislative bills,
influence of Big Tech. While external to understand the contemporary relevance
regulations might not be a panacea for all of Plato’s ethico-economic thought, its
issues associated with large social media proponents as well as the associated
platforms, increasing competition reduces criticisms. The paper utilizes quantitative
the dominance of a few firms in the data to explore the theme of Big Tech
market, reducing their control over our monopoly, its nature and impact,
social discourse (Budzinski and combining it with a thematic analysis of
Mendelsohn 2021). This research thus aims Plato’s work in order to yield a logically
at answering the following questions - coherent perspective.
(i) What is the relevance of Plato’s virtue of
moderation for the economic organisation of 3.0 Literature Review
Big Tech?
(ii) Can Plato’s description of the perils of While Plato’s ideas are often evoked in the
wealth accumulation be witnessed context of political reconstruction and the
stage wise progression of state systems, his
abcd
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Sabab, Volume VI, 2021-22

contributions towards economic analysis defy this fundamental principle of social
are overlooked. Even though 21st century justice and reciprocity (Marsh 2001) .
political economists rely on positivist Thus, this research elucidates how, unlike
value-free science, it was not uncommon modern conception of economic
during antiquity to incorporate normative efficiency, Plato helps us delineate both the
analysis within the realm of scientific individual as well as social limits to
investigation. economics. Amartya Sen summarises it
Economists have put forward how through these two questions - (i) how
contemporary developments of capitalism should an individual agent live an
compromise the original values that enable economically flourishing life for oneself? and
it to function, replacing the (ii) how should an individual agent contribute
anthropological types with quantitative to societal welfare? (Sen 1987). Based on this
values. Proposing an ethical foundation for discussion, eudaimonia, or the achievement
economics, they analyse Plato’s notion of of the ultimate good through a virtuous
economic wealth linked to human life is incompatible with oligopolies in the
fulfillment and flourishing, eudaimonia. market sphere. To extrapolate it to the Big
They emphasise upon the instrumental and Tech regulatory sphere, the accumulation
functional, and not finalistic conception of of vast amounts of data and wealth acts as a
riches, ploutos wherein it is just a means to mechanism for reproduction of capital and
a good life when practised in harmony perpetuation of dominance. The inability
with virtue (Marsh 2001). of Facebook to detect and moderate hate
All the gold on earth, or under it, does not speech that caused violence in Myanmar is
equal the price of goodness (Laws V, 728 A an example of its impact on collective
3–4). socio-political behaviour. The ethical
With 81 occurrences of ploutos, in its dilemma between freedom of expression
original form, it is a consistent theme in on the internet and the reinforcement of
Plato’s works. The crucial idea for Plato is communal divisions has played out in
thus the well-intentioned usage of wealth multiple scenarios, for instance, violence
and the collective conceptualisation of against religious minorities in India and
economics defines “justice as reciprocity” most recently, Bangladesh (Fink 2018).
consisting of fair exchange between Robin Waterfield points out the reductive
community (koinonia) of interests. In interpretation of justice in modern analysis of
Nicomachean ethics, Justice is the “perfect Plato. He chooses to accept Aristotle’s
virtue” - it is directed not only towards conceptualisation of morality through
ourselves but towards others. Thus, if dikaiosune, an all-encompassing term.
wealth is accumulated, it would defy this While John Rawls himself acknowledged
abcd abcd

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that he restricts the concept of justice to he emphasised that they were keen
fair and impartial distribution of wealth, towards specialisation instead of the
other scholars such as Iris Marion Young division of labour (Finley 1979). However,
and Michael Walzer have echoed the it is apparent that Plato propounded both
broad Platonic centrality of justice. For the need to maximize quality as well as the
Plato, the tendency towards seeking excess means of production:
can be described as the “nightmare forces
of chaos and evil.” In his view, Plato And so more tasks of each kind are
outlines a primarily economic basis for accomplished, and the work is better and is
social disorder (Waterfield 1993). done more easily when each man works at the
In order to align the Big Tech sphere with one craft for which nature fits him (Republic
a broader notion of justice, the research in 370A- G).
applying the principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities to justice Thus, while Plato does not analyse the
becomes important. Following the notion mechanics of market operations, he does
that unequals must be treated as unequals, offer a transcendental deduction of the nature
they call for a redistribution of economic and existence of markets, laying the
and social resources in accordance with foundation for the concept of an economy.
existing baseline inequities that shape the Plato conducted an experiment wherein he
identity of individuals and institutions attempted to test the hypothesis that the
(Barral and Virginie 2020). Lawyer Lina economy exists to sustain material
Khan, in her influential article, Amazon’s infrastructures which can support the
Antitrust Paradox, posits that markets political community as a whole. Economic
might not be the perfect exemplar of markets were constrained by the need to
competitive harm; international regulatory perpetuate social cohesion (Plato 375BC).
efforts must be futuristic. She expresses her
concerns over the short term consumer The economist Joseph Schumpeter has
welfare standard these companies are critiqued the branding of tech firms as
subjected to, which act as a smokescreen, “monopolies”, since in his view they
pushing long-term impacts on the provide cost effective services that are
economy and society under the market popular with users. He finds the appraisal
(Khan 2020). of their economic wealth presumptuous,
Scholars like Moses Finley propose that whereby the only way to determine the
during classical antiquity, economic consequences of market capitalism is to
analysis was not present since there was no analyse them in the future. Thus, he would
concept of a formalised economy. With not support the application of Platonic
regard to Plato and other ancient writers, thought on monopolies and oligopolies,
abcd since what drives the economy in his
conception is the development of new
abcd
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commodities and newer organizational wealth, must be liberal with the wealth
methods (Collins et al. 1992). However, they accumulate and be fair and just in
given the concentration of wealth in their dealings with fellow citizens. He
cyberspace, with 80% of corporate wealth compares the appetitive or greedy part of
being held by just 10% of companies, these the soul to an “unruly horse” that is hard to
firms are leveraging the new oil of our control. Moderation then becomes an
economy, information and networks (Nast organising principle for citizens in their
2021). private lives and for the state’s public
affairs, leading to happiness as a whole.
4.0 Discussion and Analysis Plato recognised that the absolute size of
wealth shall only increase proportionately
The economic sociologist Karl Polanyi, and any surplus value must be turned to
gave the term “embedded economy” to the government in this way the wealth of
express the idea that economy is immersed Magnesia would be distributed in just
in social relations, such that it cannot be a proportions. He propounded a
separate, autonomous sphere divorced symmetrical consumption pattern between
from society as a whole (Stodder 1996). citizens and a rate of wealth with a
While this idea is echoed in the work of maximum and minimum threshold for its
Karl Marx and critical theorists through growth (Plato 375BC).
the base-superstructure correlation, its
origins can be traced to Plato’s ethico- In order to assess if the virtue of
economic structure of society (Keena moderation holds true for the Big Tech
2021). Eudaemonia, the flourishing and sphere, let’s consider the rate of wealth
virtuous life in Plato’s philosophy, requires increase of these firms. In the year 2020
the pursuit and fulfillment of the cardinal alone, tech barons increased their wealth
virtues - wisdom, courage, moderation by 56% - from a valuation of $419bn to
and justice, which are applied to the state $651bn (Lawson 2021). To contextualise
and the soul alike. the figure, the money required to
4.1 What is the relevance of Plato’s vaccinate the entire world from Covid-19
virtue of moderation (sôphrosunê) for is less than $25bn (WHO, 2021). This was
the economic organisation of Big made possible by no-cap investments that
Tech? yield large returns and paying lesser
It is a combination of the beliefs of corporate tax by leveraging loopholes -
consonance (sumphônia) and harmony both resting on a foundation of inadequate
(harmonia) with a certain disposition to regulations for this sphere that place no
support order, kosmos. In the economic specific thresholds for wealth
sense, it implies that Individuals must be accumulation. The nature of the services
temperate in their desire to accumulate these firms provide is inextricable from the
abcd dominance they have. With operations in
abcd
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social networking, advertising backed called surveillance capitalism, based on data
search engines and communications, the extraction and processing (Zuboff 2019).
psychological monopoly these firms have The psycho-social effects of Big Tech
provides the cultural backing to their operations are best described by Chamath
financial hegemony, rendering it Palihapitiya, the former president of user
legitimate in popular discourse. While the growth at Facebook wherein he critiques
tendency towards monopolization has the short-term dopamine driven feedback
been intrinsic to capitalism, the presence of loops created by tech services of these
network effects - the incremental benefits platforms. In his view, they are disrupting
that arise from every new user joining the foundations of how societies were
their platforms, provide an unprecedented wired to work - tampering with civil
scale of growth. discourse, increasing polarisation,
4.2 Can Plato’s description of the perils misinformation and eventually
of wealth accumulation be witnessed determining a version of ‘truth’ that is
through the contemporary logic of guided by commercial interests alone
accumulation? (CNBC 2021). Beyond these effects, the
Plato compares a well ordered city to a political consequences of their operations
human body at equilibrium. In have led to coinage of the term “platform
undernourishment, both wither, and if state”. Discussions over sovereignty of
overfed, they lose fitness and become nation-states being eclipsed by digital
subject to disease. The city, like a body, is behemoths have arisen given their role in
a finite system requiring a constant influx, determining electoral outcomes (Tavani
outflow and movement of matter and 2007). For instance, in Russia, a firm called
concentration of matter or wealth at any the Internet Research Agency, drew
one point is detrimental. He attributed a thousands of users to Facebook groups to
luxurious city to the degeneration of souls stoke outrage for an experiment. They
of its inhabitants. In a safeguard against leveraged Facebook to organize offline
this psychological deterioration, he demonstrations, and bought specific
espouses a theory of flux. Similar to Facebook ads intended to hamper Hillary
modern entropy, he traces the decay of Clinton’s reputation among Democratic
wealth and its dissolution into dust with voters. With fewer than a hundred
time - money has the power to operatives controlling the exercise, the
undermine, displace and destroy the organisation reported astonishing results:
foundational ethical values. (Republic, the content reached and potentially shaped
564c). the attitudes of as many as 150m users
Shoshana Zuboff describes Big Tech as (Zwitter and Hazenberg 2020). With over
birthing ‘a new logic of accumulation’ 87% of Facebook’s global budget spent on
abcd classifying misinformation in the United
States even as India constitutes its biggest
abcd
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market by user base, it has been receiving 4.3 Is the Big Tech monopoly symbolic
flak in political circles ("Antitrust of a degenerating oligarchy?
Regulators V. Big Tech: The Battle In his work Republic, Plato discusses the
Reaches India" 2021). five regimes of aristocracy, timocracy,
Socrates developed the following maxim, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny,
Extremes of riches and poverty are to be degenerating from one stage to another.
avoided anywhere in the city. For either saps From the standpoint of this article, the rise
the devotion of a worker for his craft, breeding of oligarchy, in a society characterised by
luxury and idleness in the one case, meanness wide income disparities between rich and
and villainy in the other, and political unrest poor and a narrow apex of political
in both (421C-422A). control, can be paralleled to oligopoly
existing in Big Tech. In oligarchy, reason
becomes subordinate to desires:

Political unrest around the world has “..the only calculations and research he allows
definitely been a consequence of Big Tech his rational mind to make are concerned with
consuming the lion’s share of the how to start with a little money and increase
monetary pie. For instance, this year, the it” (Republic 553d).
US Federal Trade Commission sued
Facebook for its illegal acquisition of rival Placing money at the supreme pedestal,
social media apps, Instagram and oligarchic individuals are thrifty and
WhatsApp. In addition, its involvement in hardworking, as a result of which they face
the Cambridge Analytica resulted in a $5 internal conflicts since “the better desires are
billion fine levied by the Trade in control of the worse ones” (Republic
Commission. The European Union (EU), 554d). Plato signalled that acquisition and
which is home to the General Data its associated appetites constitute the
Protection Regulation (GDPR), lowest common denominator in human
spearheaded antitrust investigations against motivation and in the human
Facebook to evaluate its ability to distort understanding of value. However, on the
competition. With a host of fines and contrary, the philosophy of Big Tech firms
sanctions coming its way, Big Tech has a having built their way to the top is often
widening trust deficit to bridge, especially acclaimed as a legitimacy lending
in Congressional spaces. Big Tech’s narrative, popularly called the “hustle
lobbying expenditure reached $64m in the culture”. However, the dark side of this
US in 2019. With Google overtaking hustle culture is surfacing. Workplace
Goldman Sachs as the biggest spender on environments in the United States are
political donations, there has been a drastic touted to be responsible for 120,000 excess
rise in Big Tech’s pressure on public policy deaths per year and an additional 180
(First and Fox 2020). billion dollars being spent every year in
abcd
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in healthcare expenses, approximately 8% propounds that justice, rather than
of the total healthcare spending (Hurley et efficiency, should be promoted in an
al. 2016). economy. He acknowledged the increase
This psychological and physical in productive efficiency that comes with
deterioration in the overall quality of life specialisation but did not hail it as the
can be traced to Marx’s alienation - losing primary reason in an ideal state. Instead, he
the ability to determine life and destiny postulated harmony as an important
due to an increasingly mechanistic life. concept for the state which involves a
Plato describes democracy as the regime in proportionate share of inputs and outputs.
which freedom is corrupted to mean Socrates responded, “What matters
freedom to pursue whichever ends one fundamentally is not the happiness of the
wants - an appropriate description of the guards or any other group within the
absence of adequate anti-competitive laws citizen body, but that of the whole city
in the tech sphere. Its susceptibility to (Republic 421C).” The emphasis was thus
political corruption comes from the not on the positive benefits of
weakening resilience towards the threat of communism, rather the perils that arise
materialism and the “lust for liberty”. from a single-minded pursuit of wealth
Modern economics is starting to recognise when supplied with the necessary means to
the importance of tempered economic do so.
growth in a near-stationary state where
the focal point is horizontal, rather than In order to bring about the principle of
vertical growth. For instance, the way commutative or distributive justice, he
these platforms monetise their operations is favoured inequality between members of
not compatible with the principles levied different socio-economic classes, since
on corporate activities involving tangible “indiscriminate equality for all amounts to
assets such as the cross-border allocation of inequality”. In the context of Tech laws,
tax rights. As a result, while fierce platform liability has emerged as the
diplomatic contestation plays catch-up, guardian of cyberspace. Earlier, platforms
Big Tech firms largely live tax-free lives had no responsibility for user-generated
(Himes, Nieh and Schnell 2021). content leading to inflammatory
4.4 How can we evolve a regime of information being circulated and profit
platform governance through Plato’s being derived from it. With greater
conception of “Guardians of Law” consensus on intermediary liability,
within his framework of division of countries such as India have come up with
labour? legal rules such as the Information
His theory of the division of labour Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and
abcdefg Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 that
levy fines and sanctions in the case of
inaction. This has brought about an
abcdefg
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editorial model, where companies are excessive accumulation. In his second-best
forced to cross-check content being posted state, the households should be exactly
on their platforms, algorithmically and 5040, no more and no less. The rationale
manually (Joshi 2019). However, liability behind this was to try and maintain the
is not just in the case of content, it pertains initial distribution of wealth. This attempt
to non-price parameters such as privacy. by Plato to avoid growth in terms of
Recent bills in the US Senate such as the population as well as wealth is referred to
American Innovation and Choice Online Act by some economists as “Plato’s steady-state”
and the Platform Competition and (Welles, 1948).
Opportunity Act will prohibit
discriminatory conduct by tech giants and Geographical limits like these are
would bar the use of acquisitions to crush inconceivable in a hyper-globalised digital
competitive threats or to expand their economy and centralised state control over
market power (Monti 2021). While these property is fundamentally incompatible
Acts seem to have pure economic with the liberal democratic world order.
significance, the scale at which these However, despite these crucial differences
companies operate makes the issue deeply in the socio-economic context, Plato’s
political and intrinsically tied to state perspectives on wealth distribution provide
sovereignty and a temperate political a philosophical startpoint against “winner‐​
economy. take‐a​ ll” markets that create conditions for
4.5 Can we arrive at a temperate the persistent success of a few companies.
economy through Plato’s prescriptions For instance, scholars have critiqued the
of the “second best state”? aggressive business tactics Amazon
Due to the infeasibility of establishing the employs, such as their campaign “The
best state, Plato’s prescriptions for welfare Gazelle Project,” to refer to a stunt where
economics are oriented towards the Amazon would co-opt small publishers
creation of a “second-best state”. Plato “the way a cheetah would approach a
intended to have a wealth distribution sickly gazelle.” It drew widespread flak
system in which the largest wealth holding because it exposed the consequences and
could exceed the smallest by a factor of no costs linked to Amazon’s dominance
more than four. Property was to exist in (Cohen and Mello 2019).
the form of lots, to be distributed to the
citizens by the state. These lots were not Plato’s temperate economy was premised
designed to be equal, rather in accordance on the notion of sufficiency, or ikanotes.
with the principle of proportionate Plato also points out how the acquisition
inequality. Plato also pointed out the of wealth ought to be limited by an end
importance of registering all property and (causa finalis), in such a way that it does
estate, for the close monitoring to prevent not become an end in itself. This emphasis
abcd on a causa finalis is echoed in the Chinese
abcd
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regulatory crackdown on tech companies, institutionalise transparency,
with their laws differentiating between accountability and fairness alongside
“nice to have” and “need to have” companies. operational efficiency. Plato’s notion of a
In addition, internet based companies temperate economy and bringing about a
inflict hidden costs on the society, in the steady, second-best state can provide an
words of XI Jinping, become “opium of ethico-economic foundation to frame
the mind”, violating privacy, propagating anti-monopoly laws and policies for just
misinformation and leading to behavioural business practices. A model of polycentric
addictions. Thus, the growing footprint of governance with multiple stakeholders at
social media and e-commerce giants such all levels can exercise the necessary
as Alibaba, Tencent and Didi has been influence, both from the margins and
restricted with strengthening of labour- within the ecosystem in order to ensure
intensive manufacturing countries that effective governance of cyberspace.
enhance self-reliance in an era of post-
Covid economic recovery (Smithurst Given the diversification of Big Tech
2021). operations, understanding the nature of
Big Tech oligopoly is complex as it is
5.0 Conclusion linked to the frame of reference - how one
delimits the relevant market. For example,
The debate about regulating Big Tech is a is Google competing as an advertising
debate closely tied to power. In this clash channel, a search engine or a cloud
of the titans, corporate authoritarianism computing service provider? Relevant laws
cannot be simply replaced by government are being drafted such as the Ending
authoritarianism, any regulatory Platform Monopolies Act in the US that
framework must keep citizen-users’ rights inhibits platforms with market
at the centre. Incorporation of capitalizations of more than $600 billion to
Nicomachean ethics such as the virtue of own another line of business that creates a
moderation is integral to bring about fairer conflict of interest. The future scope for
competition and balance of power research includes incorporation of
between tech companies on one hand and location-specific variables in arriving at
between nation-states and non-state robust regulatory frameworks for India,
actors. The concentration of wealth is given the recent widening of social
linked to stifling of democracy, especially cleavages being correlated with online
in view of the nature of services Big Tech echo chambers. Further, discussions on the
offers that rely on processing of ethics built within machine learning and
behavioural data. As they make inroads artificial intelligence harnessed by tech
into shaping political attitudes and companies are taking centre stage.
outcomes, the behemoths that shape them Integrating safeguards against algorithmic
need a robust set of safeguards to bias within the larger ethics, equity and
abcdefghj abcd
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ease of access framework can go a long Saunders. 1990. "Plato: Early Socratic
way in establishing digital egalitarianism. Dialogues". The Classical World 83 (6):
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Feminist interventions such as Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto have long
considered the philosophical and political implications of our multitudinous bodily
entanglements with technology: “We are all chimeras,” Haraway famously writes,
“theorized and fabricated hybrids of machine and organism; in short, we are cyborgs”
(7). Emphasising boundary porosity as a site of socialist-feminist potential, Haraway’s
cyborg is ultimately a celebration of multiplicity, insisting that such distinctions as
human/machine, human/animal, and natural/artificial are ultimately untenable in a
world where everyone can be partly someone else

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Digital Exclusion of Citizens

The Selectivity of E-Development in Indian Democracy


Avantika Rout and Varshita Sigar

Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College

Abstract 1.0 Is the Universality of Internet
Rights replicated enough in India?
When the internet first appeared in India
throughout the 1990s LPG reforms, notably The COVID-19 shutdown made us all
in 1986, it was exclusively used for academic more dependent on the internet than we
research and schooling. Fast forward to 2022, had ever been before; work from home
the data usage in India is estimated to reach a became the norm, and even
high of 10,96,58,793 million MB. With schoolchildren's classes were relocated to
internet penetration set to cross yesteryears’ an online platform. And as a result, the
thresholds in the coming years, the central number of internet users in India has
government will very certainly step up its exploded. 61 per cent of households in
"digital revolution" and "e-democracy" India used the internet in 2021, compared
efforts. In 2014, the Digital India campaign to just 21 per cent in 2017. Over 130
sparked changes in technical infrastructure. million users came online in 2020 and
While this may be considered a specimen of 2021 from which nearly 80 million came
e-governance, the concept of "digital universal online in 2020 and 43 per cent of them
literacy," which targets the "electronic" (around 34 million) came online due to the
component of e-democracy, has yet to gain COVID-19 crisis. Internet penetration in
traction in the country. The 2015 "Smart India is very uneven compared to the
Cities Mission" gave MyGov.in a boost. U.S.A. or other nations, when we think of
There is a considerable digital divide in the problem of why this internet
educational opportunity among children from penetration is so uneven despite everyone
impoverished areas of the country and those having mobile phones, etc., the main cause
from more wealthy neighbourhoods; between of this is the country's digital divide — the
courts, practitioners, and clients in gap between those with the means and
metropolitan cities and those outside knowledge to benefit from the internet,
metropolises, and this prevalence continues and those without — worsening already
with as much intensity as the pandemic itself. stark levels of inequality and weighing on
Elections are approaching again this year, and economic growth. While the divide isn’t
even there, the ostensibly e-friendly mandated unique to India, it’s especially acute in a
'Aadhaar connectivity with electoral rolls' is nation where more than half the
being viewed as a means of systematically population of 1.3 billion people is under 25
removing voters. This ultimately goes against
the virtue of India's electoral democracy.

Keywords: Internet penetration, E-
Democracy, Aadhar linkages, Digital Divide

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years old. Education is just one area that under Article 216 of the Constitution of
has highlighted the digital divide between India. Being an adult she claims that
India’s rural and urban areas during the nobody has any authority to interfere with
lockdown. The trend is evident her freedom to use mobile phones. It is
everywhere — telemedicine, banking, e- argued that the forceful seizure of mobile
commerce, and e-governance, all of which devices has invaded the right to privacy of
became accessible only via the internet hostel inmates. It is also her contention
during the lockdown. The divide exists that the modification of rules based on
despite the rise in the number of wireless parental concern is also an infringement
subscribers in India over the past few on her autonomy as well as that of other
years. Although the divide might be inmates of the hostel.
overcome for the users, another problem
has risen of “internet shutdown”. The 1.2 Anuradha Bhasin Vs. UOI (2020)
country in the past one to two years alone This harsh on-ground reality of the state
has seen around 400 national cases of of Jammu and Kashmir was pretty much
internet shutdowns. The following judicial prevalent after the abolition of article 370.
pronouncements chart out the roots of the This case is an apt example of how the
digital divide and the issues stemming legality of internet shutdowns and illegal
from them, in our country- internet restrictions, create a problem for
1.1 Fahima Shrin vs. State of Kerala the citizens as the internet is now an
(2019) important part of the press and important
The case very well states the problem of in every sector. The petitioner's argument
the digital divide and how it acts as a was about the failure of the government to
barrier for those who want to use the give a valid reason for passing such an
service available to them. The order as required by Suspension rules. She
Government has proclaimed steps for additionally pointed out the reason for
making the internet accessible to all such orders to be passed was wholly based
citizens recognizing the right to the on mere apprehension of risk interns of
internet as a human right. Referring to the law and order which was not the case. The
Information Technology Policy5 of the contention of the petitioner was to point
Government for the year 2017, it is stated out that the government needs to find a
that the State Government is adopting a way to balance the measures necessary to
mobile-first approach for e-governance maintain national security on one hand
services in line with Digital Kerala Vision and the rights of the citizens. However,
by leveraging high mobile penetration and the state is establishing it as the ground for
coverage in the State. It is therefore argued passing the order to restrict the rights of
that the restrictions have invaded her the citizens. He claimed that restrictions
fundamental right to privacy guaranteed were to be imposed temporarily, however,
abcd are imposed for more than a hundred days.
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It is necessary to publish order is a business, trade and heavily affects the
component of natural justice and it even is common people in the region. The Court
made accessible to the general public. declared that the freedom of speech and
The state cannot claim any kind of expression and the freedom to practice any
privilege before the court for not profession or carry on any trade, business
producing such judgements. Furthermore, or occupation over the medium of the
the proportionality test was upheld by the Internet enjoys constitutional protection
court and must be seen whether under Article 19(1)(a) and Article 19(1)(g)
restrictions imposed on the fundamental respectively. While such freedom is not
rights of citizens are reasonable or not. absolute, the restrictions imposed on it
The Court declared that the freedom of should align with the mandate under
speech and expression and the freedom to Article 19(2) and Article 19(6) of the
practice any profession or carry on any Constitution, inclusive of the test of
trade, business or occupation over the proportionality. This uneven distribution
medium of the Internet enjoys of the internet and digital divide in the
constitutional protection under Article country has created problems which are
19(1)(a) and Article 19(1)(g) respectively. hard to overcome, internet access is also a
While such freedom is not absolute, the right now and duly comes under right to
restrictions imposed on it should align life as we are free to use it without any
with the mandate under Article 19(2) and restrictions but the above-stated problems
Article 19(6) of the Constitution, inclusive not only challenges a citizen’s right to life
of the test of proportionality. but altogether Right to Education,
1.3 The Case of Foundation of Media Profession, and Health is also challenged as
Professionals vs. Union of India & now due to covid-19, no internet would
ANR (2020), i.e., the 4G Case mean no education, no work from home,
Another example of the ground reality no online registrations for vaccination or
after the abolition of article 370, people accessibility to the Arogya Setu app. The
and government illegally making benefits outcomes of the above-stated cases might
from the sensitive condition of the citizens be the solution on the paper but they
in the union territory. The internet haven’t fetched any strong solutions or
shutdown in august 2019 created problems changes in the status quo. How? Let us
for people as Restrictions have virtually explore in the next section.
abrogated fundamental rights and
paralyzed the lives of seven million people 2.0 Mandating E-Documents in the
in the region. The shutdown of internet face of Digital Divide
services has severe consequences on
anmbcd 2.1 The 'Aadhar' Connection: A Stride
Towards Lowering of Electoral
Democracy & other E-Governance
December
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Websites and bogus voting, the emerging,
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), as selectively exclusive nature of Indian
we know them, are standalone gadgets not democracy comes to the fore.
connected to the internet. In many remote
parts of the country, neither EVMs nor Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, while
Internet have reached yet. On 20th rejecting the Opposition MPs’ arguments
December 2021, the Lok Sabha passed the that the Bill would violate the fundamental
Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 rights of citizens, stated that the
asking to link voter ID cards with Aadhar amendment was only meant to stop bogus
cards. Now, monitoring the state of non- and fraudulent voting. However, linking
uniform EVM penetration & lack of voter ID with Aadhaar would not only
internet assistance in this field, a question increase ‘bogus and fraudulent voting’, but
worth asking is that "how will biometric millions could also be disenfranchised in
verification for enrolled voters work?" due course.
Hold that thought and allow us to propose
a hypothetical situation, one in which the Taking a detour, alternative applications
internet drives this linking process. Even that have been put in place by the
with this being the case, what guarantees Government to reach the impoverished
the promise of voluntariness in the Aadhar areas, in villages, E-Mitra launched in
law? Definitely, it is not the grossly 2005 being one specimen have come with
inadequate safeguards on privacy that we its share of loopholes. Recently infamous
have seen in the past, at least. Aarogya Setu, COWIN app layout a grim
Another cause of worry is that voter ID reality. The repeated "log-ins" that do not
linked to an Aadhar would be linked to a result in timely delivery of "One-Time-
mobile phone, which in turn would be Passwords," and the crashing of websites
linked to social media, with the possibility when booking slots for vaccination has to
of it being linked to bank accounts, e- undertake are a common state of affairs to
healthcare services, bank applications and anyone you ask in today's date. Imagine a
akin services that breathe and operate by daily-wage earner striving to access a
the channel of your phones, i.e., only if phone first, let alone a data-pack facility,
you happen to have one. It is a widely going ahead to recharge his phone with
known and commonly held belief that internet only to find that none of the
information if kept open for the access of government services put in place work.
citizens will bring more transparency and But again, this is a situation of
accountability to the administration. hypothetical consideration. Other
However, if the personal data of citizens is applications include eSanchar, e-PDS,
misused to pave way for voter profiling eBazaar, iFact, which look positive on
abcd paper but not on the ground. There's a
possibility of digitization being used to
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