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| 'What is real, Neocchio?' |
The young Pinocchio has entered into a debate in which his claims to be a ‘real boy’ are deemed fraudulent and fantastical. Others claim he has no more right to consider himself human than the fire wood from which he came. Pinocchio claims he is being discriminated against due to his ‘flesh deficiency’ and argues that any object which displays intelligence, whether of wooden or computerised origins, can be considered human if these requirements are met:
1) To be human requires comprehension of the external world
2) The demonstration of emotion
3) A physiological response to either internal or external stimuli
4) The beginnings of life and an awareness of one’s mortality
His father Geppetto points to Pinocchio’s ability to fabricate tales as proof of cognitive reasoning and intelligence; a product of not only surveying the external world but the capability to disseminate the information and formulate an alternative sequence of events, and his ability to be educated as further proof of mental activity. He argues that as both human brain matter and wood are organic in nature, and the point at which mind and body are assimilated are unknown and unproven in either, he too can be said to possess his own epicentre of thought.
Further to this Geppetto adds that the generated physiological change which occurs when lying (the extension of the nasal passage) is akin to the “human” response of the endocrine and haematological processes which commonly occur during a tales fabrication. Also, his father argues that if these displays of intellect and physical responses are not enough to prove his humanity, his emotive reactions to situations about him, including fear and excitement in the face of danger or amusements, indicate a human-like response to external stimuli.
In addition to this Pinocchio is able to trace his origins, as such is aged, and possesses an awareness of his own mortality in his fear of fire. This, he argues, places him above animals which he protests demonstrate only a fear of the predator and a visceral reaction to the predator approaching, not a conscious understanding of the consequence of the predator successfully catching them.
Marionette or man, Pinocchio goes on displaying those signs which Geppetto considers life and wonders what more it would take for society to consider him too, to be a real boy.
Johannon Davis
The Philosophy Takeaway 'Identity' Issue 37
