Dollhouse

We'll use these questions as a guide for class discussion about the show.  Be warned that they may contain spoilers about each episode!

Season 1 Episode 6 - "Man on the Street"

• Ethics
• What are Ballard's motivations?
• What do you think of Joel Mynor?
• Is this technology inherently unethical?
• Does the consent of the actives matter?
• Removing traumatic memories - is it ever okay?
• Metaphysics
• Discussion four different elements of a person - what are they modifying in the show?
• Body
• Memory
• Personality
• Consciousness
• The Transporter Problem
• How do we define the person - by the body? Mind?
• Are Caroline and Echo the same person?  
• Are you a different person if you lose your memory or change personality (Alzheimers)
• What makes a person "real"?
• Are the personalities that Topher creates real?
• In a later episode, Echo becomes Margaret Bashford, a real person who has recently died.  Is Margaret still real? What are the consequences of this sort of technology? (S1E10)
• What about the "people" that Topher creates?

Season 2 - Episode 5 - "The Public Eye"

• Topher's device will knock out dolls but not harming "any real people like us"?
• What makes someone a real person?
• If a person's personality is dramatically modified, are they a different person?
• Perrin 1.0 vs. Perrin 2.0
• What is a person is improved by this?
• Is this sort of technology inherently unethical, or can it be justified by its potential benefits?

Season 2 - Episode 6 - "The Left Hand"

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