Ethics of Technology
Introduces the tools of philosophical ethics through application to contemporary issues concerning technology. Takes up current debates on topics such as privacy and surveillance, algorithmic bias, the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, automation and the future of work, and threats to democracy in the digital age from the perspective of users, practitioners, and regulatory/governing bodies.
Spring 2023 · Ethics of Technology
This course introduces the tools of philosophical ethics through application to contemporary issues concerning technology. It takes up current debates on topics such as privacy and surveillance, algorithmic bias, the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, automation and the future of work, and threats to democracy in the digital age from the perspective of users, practitioners, and regulatory/governing bodies.
Readings
- Shafer-Landau, Russ. “Ten Arguments against Moral Objectivity.” Chapter 21 in The Fundamentals of Ethics . 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780199773558.
- Snowden, Edward. “Tokyo.” Chapter 16 in Permanent Record: A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower . Macmillan, 2019. ISBN: 9781529035650.
- ———. “Heartbeat.” Chapter 20 in Permanent Record: A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower . Macmillan, 2019. ISBN: 9781529035650.
- Meiklejohn, Alexander. Chapter 1 in Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People . Oxford University Press, 1965. ISBN: 9780195004267.
- Shiffrin, Seana Valentine. “Lying and the Freedom of Speech.” Chapter 4 in Speech Matters: On Lying, Morality, and the Law. Princeton University Press, 2016, pp. 120–32, and 140–44. ISBN: 9780691173610.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2023
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.