Ide, Don. Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990).

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1 Course Title: Philosophy of Technology and Human Values Semester(s): Fall and Spring 2017 Faculty Name: TBA Credits: 3 Major Disciplines: Philosophy Related Disciplines: Ethics Max Capacity of Students: 25 Program Course Sits Under: European Humanities Course Description: In our age, it is undeniable that human beings are technological creatures. Techné, that is, artful craftsmanship, has increasingly been enhancing our experiences, fulfilling our desires, and broadening our abilities, both on a large scale and in the daily lives of individuals. Do we control technology or does it control us? Is technology part of nature or an instrument to human ends? How can we respond critically to the use and development of technology? In this course, we examine such pressing questions from specifically Scandinavian, ethical, social, environmental, and philosophical perspectives. Learning objectives of the course: Among the goals of this course are to: (1) gain a philosophical understanding of the role of technology in the human drama, specifically as an ethical category; (2) relate our own particular lived experiences to universal philosophical concepts that illuminate the human relationship to technology; (3) acquire skills in navigating challenging philosophical texts; (4) gain abilities in nuancing and articulating justifications for our own views; and (5) develop methodological tools for contributing to thought and action related to the place of technology in today s world. Field Studies/Guest Lecturers Overview: TBA Required texts: Ide, Don. Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990). Texts in the compendium: Jean Baudrillard s The Precession of the Simulacra in Simulacra and Simulation (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan 1994). Hubert L. Dreyfus s Anonymity versus Commitment: The Dangers of Education on the Internet Educational Philosophy and Theory 34 (2002). Hubert L. Dreyfus Heidegger on Gaining a Free Relationship to Technology: What Heidegger is Not Saying, in Readings in the Philosophy of Technology (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004). Selections from Hubert L. Dreyfus On the Internet (New York: Routledge, 2001).

2 Umberto Eco s Reports from the Global Village, in Travels in Hyperreality (San Diego, CA: Harcourt, 1986). Selections from Jacques Ellul s The Technological Society (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1964). Michel Foucault s The Eye of Power, in Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings (New York: Pantheon, 1980). Sarah Franklin s Stem Cells R Us: Emerging Forms of Life and the Global Biological, in Global Assemblages: Technology, Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological Problems (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley- Blackwell, 2005). Selections from Francis Fukuyama s Our Post-Human Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution (London: Picador, 2002). Jürgen Habermas An Argument against Human Cloning, in The PostNational Constellation: Political Essays (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001). Selections from Martin Heidegger s The Question Concerning Technology, in Basic Writings (New York: Harper & Row, 1977). James Hughes Contradictions from the Enlightenment Roots of Transhumanism, Journal of Medicine & Philosophy 35 (2010). Eric Kluitenberg s On the Archaeology of Imaginary Media, in Media Archeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011). Selections from Pierre Lemonnier s Mundane Objects: Materiality and Non-Verbal Communication (New York: Routledge, 2016). Selections from Arnold Pacey s The Culture of Technology (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995). Jussi Parikka s Media Theory and the New Materialism, in What is Media Archaeology? (Cambridge: Polity, 2012). Bryan Pfaffenberger s Social Anthropology of Technology, Annual Review of Anthropology: Vol. 21 (1992). Christine Rosen s Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism, The New Atlantis (2007) Roger Scruton s Hiding Behind the Screen, The New Atlantis (2010). Selections from Ellen Ullman s Close to the Machine: On Technophilia and its Discontents (New York: Farar, Strauss & Giroux, 2012) Slavoj Zizek s Of Cells and Selves, in The Zizek Reader (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009). Grading: Attendance & participation: 10% Midterm exam: 15% Final exam: 20% Three written commentaries: 15% Research paper: 40%

3 Detailed schedule: Session 1: Introduction: Human Beings as Creatures of Technology Part 1 What is Technology? Session 2: Techné and Freedom Reading: Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, selections; Dreyfus, Heidegger on Gaining a Free Relationship to Technology: What Heidegger is Not Saying. Session 3: Technology and Culture Reading: Ellul, The Technological Society, selections; Pfaffenberger, Social Anthropology of Technology ; Pacey, The Culture of Technology, selections. Part 2 Technology and Materiality Session 4: The Situation Reading: Ihde, From Garden to Earth, in Technology and the Lifeworld. Film: Space Odyssey: 2001 Session 5: Technology and Phenomenology Reading: Ihde, Technology and the Lifeworld, in Technology and the Lifeworld. Film continued: Space Odyssey: 2001 Session 6: Technological Worlds Reading: Ihde, Lifeworld: Praxis and Perception, in Technology and the Lifeworld. Assignment due: First written commentary Session 7: Technology and Objecthood Reading: Lemonnier, Mundane Objects: Materiality and Non-Verbal Communication, selections. Session 8: Humans and the Machine Reading: Ullman, Close to the Machine, selections. Session 9: Enhancement and Cloning Reading: Zizek, Of Cells and Selves ; Habermas, An Argument against Human Cloning. Part 3 Technology and Reality Session 10: Hyper-Reality Reading: Umberto Eco, Reports from the Global Village. Assignment due: Second written commentary

4 Session 11: Simulation Reading: Baudrillard, The Precession of the Simulacra. Session 12: Virtual Selves Reading: Scruton, Hiding Behind the Screen. Session 13: Virtual Friendships Reading: Rosen, Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism. Session 14: Midterm exam, in class Part 4 Industry, Media, and the Internet Session 15: Technics Reading: Ihde, Adam and Galileo, in Technology and the Lifeworld. Film: Modern Times Session 16: Technics continued Reading: Ihde, Program One: A Phenomenology of Technics, in Technology and the Lifeworld. Film continued: Modern Times Session 17: Are We Caught in the World Wide Web? Reading: Dreyfus, On the Internet, selections. Assignment due: Third written commentary Session 18: Media and Meaning Reading: Parikka, Media Theory and the New Materialism ; Kluitenberg, On the Archaeology of Imaginary Media. Part 5 Current Debates Session 19: Technology and Education Reading: Dreyfus, Anonymity versus Commitment: The Dangers of Education on the Internet. Session 20: Surveillance Reading: Foucault, The Eye of Power. Session 21: Global Bio-politics Reading: Franklin, Stem Cells R Us: Emerging Forms of Life and the Global Biological. Session 22: Transhumanism Reading: Hughes, Contradictions from the Enlightenment Roots of Transhumanism. Session 23: Where Do We Go from Here? Reading: Fukuyama, Our Post-Human Future, selections.

5 The research paper is due by 5 PM the Friday following the last day of class. The final exam takes place at DIS during finals week, as scheduled by the DIS testing center.