PHIL 29917 - Ethics of New Technology

Course Credit: 1
ETHICS OF NEW TECHNOLOGY: New technologies bring the promise of better transportation, communication, healthcare, and commerce. They shape our social interactions - as in the way social media has changed us - but also change based on human demands - such as when companies pursue clean energy to mitigate global climate change. Decisions we make about technology have ethical implications that must be considered as we make public policies, funding decisions, and social changes. In this course, we’ll ask: Are technologies morally neutral? What ought to be the ethical values that underpin the technologies we develop and use? How might thinking more clearly about ethics improve how we use or develop technology? Topics will include: The recent history of technology; cyberethics and cybercrime; privacy and security in cyberspace; property disputes and speech regulation in cyberspace; the “Digital Divide” and the use of technology to discriminate or oppress; virtual reality and artificial intelligence; and nanotechnology.