Fall 2016 Courses – Philosophy

PHI 200A: A-Bombs, Clones, and AIs, Oh My!
TR 12:45-2pm, SCI 30, Dr. Jennifer Kling
Broadly, this class will focus on the ethics of newly-existing and near-future technology. More concretely, we’re going to discuss several technological advancements that humans recently have made or are on the cusp of making, and the ethical issues that are raised by those technologies. For instance, how should driverless cars be programmed? Should they always protect the driver, or should they be programmed to sacrifice the driver to save several pedestrians? Scientists are close (relatively speaking) to being able to clone humans; should they? How would having human clones around change human society and relationships? Computer programmers have created learning machines that are on the brink (according to DARPA) of being independently taskable; should we put those machines into military drones, and–essentially–fight our wars with robots? Should we try to regulate social media to make it less toxic to women and persons of color? Should life extension technology be made available to all, or only to those who can pay for it? Should we implement genetic therapy (so-called “designer babies”) for expectant parents?

The class will be divided roughly into 3 parts: a section on military technology, a section on medical technology, and a section on virtual and networking technology. We’ll read news articles and scientific communication articles, watch some TED talks and other media clips, and do some philosophical reading. The bulk of the class will be issue and discussion focused.

PHI 220: Introduction to Ethics
MW 11-12:15pm, DH 204, Dr. Patrick Mayer

PHI 342: Medieval Philosophy
TR 11-12:15pm, SCI 31, Dr. Jennifer Kling
Have you ever considered:

• the relationship between faith and reason?
• the nature of God and our relationship to Him?
• free will, responsibility, and divine knowledge?
• the structure of the universe and our place in it?
• the nature of humans and our interpersonal relationships?

If so, consider taking Medieval Philosophy: Faith seeking understanding since 387 A.D.! In this course, we will focus on several major philosophers of the medieval period, including, but not limited to, Augustine, Aquinas, Averroes, Anselm, Al-Ghazali, Ockham, and Scotus. Throughout our survey, we will consider the ways in which medieval thought underlies many of our contemporary geopolitical, cross-cultural, religious, and interpersonal debates.