Cybermen

"[W]ould a logical creature really behave like the Cybermen do? If not, how would a logical creature really behave? Or, to put it another way, whats the "logical" way to live? Thats the question Ill be examining here by contrasting the views of philosophers Thomas Hobbes, John Stuart Mill, and David Hume, asking what theyd thin of Cyberman "logic and how Cybermen mightve looked if theyd been designed according to the principles espoused by these philosophers; how they might have designed the Cybermen differently, given a chance. While my examples come from Doctor Who the issue of living logically has real-world importance. After all, we all have to decide if we care about living logically or not, and if we do not want to live logically, wed better know what "living logically" requires of us."

"The cybermen are said to be logical creatures-and look how they behave. Theyve become a race of emotionless soldiers devoted to conquering the universe, destroying other species or forcing them to become Cybermen too."

"If David Hume had designed the Cybermen to be perfectly reasonable but emotionless, theyd do nothing at all. Theyd have no impetus since theyd care about nothing. Mondas would simply drift past the Earth in "The Tenth Planet." Human scientists would no doubt eagerly attempt to contact this newly discovered form of alien life, but the Cybermen wouldnt even wave back at our telescopes. When the new Cybermen are brought to John Lumic, hed bark orders at them only to be ignored by creatures who, lacking emotions, care no more about what he wants than about whether they live or die. Cybermen built to be reasonable but lacking emotion would be a race indistinguishable from statues, fit only to serve as shop mannequins."