2024-2025 Catalog

PHIL 331 Contemporary Moral Philosophy

Technology is rapidly progressing, raising new and difficult ethical problems. Should a self-driving car kill its driver to save a pedestrian? At what point does a system like ChatGPT exhibit sentience, and are we nearing that point? Is it possible to design algorithms which treat all people fairly, including facial recognition software used by police? Are we comfortable with the emergence of autonomous weapons, e.g. drones which bomb their target without a human pulling the triggers? In this course, we will explore and engage with a variety of ethical issues raised by new technologies, using this as a chance to explore substantive philosophical questions about ourselves, our society, and our relationship with our future robot overlords.

Credits

4 units

Prerequisite

N/A

Corequisite

N/A