PHIL2350 · Philosophy

Playing God: Technology and the Human Condition

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

When asked whether God exists, Google futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil, widely regarded as the prophet-philosopher of Silicon Valley, replied, "Not yet." Conventional wisdom has it that we are in the midst of a "techlash"--a backlash against the powerful and pervasive digital technologies developed in the first two decades of the twenty-first century that is sowing unintended psychological, political, and economic consequences. In this course, you will survey the philosophy of technology, including canonical figures such as Aristotle, Bacon, Martin Heidegger, and Hans Jonas--and contemporary scholars such as Hubert Dreyfus and Shannon Vallor, as well as popular authors such as Sherry Turkle and Jaron Lanier. In particular, we will explore the moral dimensions and the psychological, political, and economic consequences of digital and emerging technologies, including the internet, smart phones, social media, big data, genetic engineering, life enhancement and extension, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.