We use robots every day. From our laptop to our vacuum cleaner, robots are constantly around us. But have you ever wondered if a robot could be more than just a technological machine, could it be conscious? A robot is a programmable, self-controlled device composed of electronic, electrical or mechanical units. Consciousness is described as being aware of and responding to its environment. The connection between technology and consciousness rests on the question “is consciousness a material property?” If the theory of physicalism is correct, consciousness is a physical property. Therefore, if consciousness is a physical property, then robots could be conscious because physical material can be reproduced/produced. However, if consciousness is not a material property, we cannot produce it, giving rise to unconscious robots. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Substance dualism is a theory that suggests that the mental and physical are distinct substances with independent existence. René Descartes, a French philosopher, defended the argument for substance dualism using the “mind-body problem.” The mind-body problem is a problem concerning the relationship between thought and consciousness in the human mind and the brain as a part of the physical body. Mind-body issues pose a number of questions, such as: "Are the mind and body separate?" What is the relationship between mind and body? What is consciousness? And how can consciousness arise from ordinary matter? These unanswered questions call into question the argument that robots could be conscious, because they suggest that this property we call "consciousness" is not a physical property. Therefore, if the mind is immaterial, it cannot be reproduced through a material thing. The theory of substance dualism is challenged by the doctrine of interactionism. Interactionism is a dualist position in the philosophy of mind that holds that the mind and body are separate, but that there is a causal interaction between the two. Descartes wondered how an immaterial entity, the mind, without extension into the physical world, can cause changes in a physical body, and how can a physical body cause changes, moods or feelings in a mind non-physical? If the mind and body were indeed two distinct substances, as the theory of substance dualism says, this interaction would not occur. Unlike substance dualism, physicalism is the doctrine that everything that exists is no more extended than its physical properties. Phineas Gage was living proof that physicalism could be true. Phineas Gage was a mid-19th century railroad worker who suffered a severe brain injury when an explosion drove an iron spike into his brain. He survived his injury, but his personality changed significantly. In this example, Gage's mind, consciousness, and behavior are affected by the physical change. If the spirit wasn't physical, Gage's personality after the injury would have been just as much "him" as his personality before the injury. So if the consciousness of Gage's head, your consciousness and that of any other person is physical and could be replicated, robots could also be conscious. Although the example of Phineas Gage is a convincing argument for the theory of,”.