I think that Maddox holds the view of dualism, while Picard holds a more materialistic view on the mind/body problem. Maddox goes back to the point that Data is not actually a human, thus does not have rights. It does not have an additional element besides that which is physical in its makeup, which makes it nothing more than property. Even though Data looks and acts like a human, Maddox holds that it still is not human, but rather property. Maddox offers this definition of a sentient being: “Intelligence, self-awareness and consciousness.” These elements require something outside of what is purely physical – indicating that he holds a dualism view. He contends that Data does not meet all three of these criteria, so it cannot be said to have rights. Unless there is something that operates outside of the realm of the physical – the mind – then Data does not have rights like a human has, because a human has that nonphysical property.
I think that Picard holds a materialism view because he knows that Data is technically property, but still contends that he has rights. He compares Data to humans, saying that “We too are machines, just machines of a different type.” Even though Data was created differently than we are, he can still think, reason, is self-aware, etc, giving him just as many rights as any other person. The way his intelligence system operates is what makes him capable of the same type of reasoning we are capable of. Because Picard supports Data’s rights, even though Data could not possibly have a separate “mind” element in his being, leads me to believe that Picard holds a materialism viewpoint. The additional nonphysical element of one’s being does not affect Picard’s view on the issue. I think that he believes that one’s “mind” may still be a purely physical thing.
I am not sure if I agree with the JAG officer’s ruling or not, because I hold a dualism