This course will introduce you to key ethical debates in the area of digital technology. As such, you will learn about the key debates on a range of issues from artificial intelligence to digital privacy that equip you with the knowledge to delve deeper into these topics and connect them to each other, as well as debates on technological developments beyond the classroom.

Importantly, this course will help you learn to think philosophically about these topics. You will develop the skills necessary to construct rigorous critical arguments, and will apply them both orally and in writing. Developing those arguments requires you to think and write both creatively and precisely, and to engage with critical challenges and feedback. The course is structured to help you improve these skills: you will write regularly and on a wide array of topics, engage with and respond to your peers. By the end of the semester, you will have compiled a portfolio of written work culminating in a major writing-project on a topic of your own choice.

Course structure

We will (for the most part) look at one topic each week. While each of the sessions will mainly focus on the specific dimensions raised in the text or texts assigned to that session, all the sessions of the week are usually intertwined. You should have read all of the texts assigned for each session before class. All the assigned texts will be available on Canvas or, if they are available as an ebook, a link will be provided on the course schedule page.

Critical annotations (15%)

This course requires you to read, write, and comment on philosophical ideas. As such, each week you will:

• 1. read assigned readings; and
• 2. collaboratively annotate and comment on the text you have read (together with a group of your classmates, using the Hypothesis tool integrated with Canvas) and respond to the comments of others in your group.

Your annotations are due by midnight on the day before the session for which the text has been assigned (usually Sunday and Tuesday, but check the schedule each week; sometimes readings are assigned for Friday sessions as well in which case the annotations are due by the end of Thursday).

Collaborative annotations are graded for completion: you will get full credit for them long as they reflect a reasonable and good-faith attempt to engage with the assigned texts and your classmates' comments.

Portfolio (75% in total)

All major written assignments in PHIL 401 form part of a portfolio of work. This portfolio will, across several writing tasks, help you build your critical and argumentative philosophical skills, with each task building towards a major piece of work in which you will research, argue and present (either in writing or in some other scripted format such as a podcast, video, or interactive experience) a self-chosen question in the realm of tech ethics. You will receive feedback on each component of your portfolio and you are expected to implement and act on this feedback in subsequent assignments. Demonstrating that you are responsive to feedback and make progress on all the skills the assignments are intended to build is the dominant component of your grade for each writing assignment.

Here is a breakdown of all the parts of the portfolio you will complete over the course of the semester:

Short paper critique (15%)

In the first component of your portolio, you will write a short (1000-1200 words) but polished critical response to a philosophical paper in which you reflect on and respond to key arguments in the paper. The purpose of this first assignment is to acquaint you with key elements of philosophical reasoning and how to constructively engage with it, such that you can effectively draw on existing literature to build and situate your own arguments in your final project artifact.

Concepts and tensions essay (15%)

The second component of the portfolio develops your ability to research, summarize and explain a set of related and potentially conflicting ideas and concepts in the space of tech ethics. You will be able to chose from a preselected set of topics, so you can tailor the focus of your essay to an area you are interested in exploring for your final project.

Find and develop your question (5%)

For the third component of your portfolio, you will research and sketch the question you intend to address in your final project artifact. This will take the form of a short (~300 word) proposal. The purpose of this step is to invite and receive feedback from both myself and your peers in the class, so you can refine your question before you engage in more detailed research or start outlining and drafting.

Argumentative outline and sketch (20%)

In the fourth component of your portfolio, you will explicitly outline the structure you envision the ideas and arguments within your final project artifact to take and sketch the key parts of those arguments in a preliminary but polished draft essay. This intermediate step is really important: at this point, you will receive concrete feedback on the arguments, structure and style of your project, which you are expected to implement and build on when you move beyond the draft stage and put together your final project artifact. You will have a chance to present and talk to your classmates about your drafts in class towards the end of the course.

Project artifact (20%)

In this fifth step, you will put all the skills you built in the preceding parts of your portfolio (and some of the content): you will draw on your ability to critically engage with philosophical ideas and arguments, explain and summarize conflicting positions and develop your own well-supported and nuanced stance on the question you have chosen. You will build out the arguments you drafted in the preceding step, polishing them and framing them for your intended audience, as well as reshaping them into your chosen format. You will have the opportunity to share your work with your classmates and read/watch/listen to their work if you choose.

Colloquium

You will meet with me at least once during the semester for a short (~15 minute) colloquium in which you will explain and answer questions on the work you prepared for one of the assignments in your portfolio. Each colloquium is also designed to provide you with useful feedback on your work and help you succeed in the course. Attending the colloquia is mandatory and will be graded as part of the assignment it refers to.

Participation (10%)

This is a lecture course but it will nevertheless be interactive, so please be prepared to get involved in the discussion. The Friday sessions will typically be dedicated workshop and discussion sessions and your active participation is expected in those, but there will also be ample room for conversation in the lecture sessions on Monday and Wednesday.

One note on the culture of debate which I would like to foster in this course: discussions in philosophy are not about winning an intellectual battle, but about engaging with others’ views on their merits. They are also about taking intellectual risks, putting forward a potentially controversial argument, as well as receiving and offering constructive criticism. This is only possible in a class environment in which we build trust. In class, I therefore expect us all to treat each other courteously, engage with each other’s arguments constructively and in good faith no matter the topic.

Time Commitment

You can expect to spend approximately 3 hours per week in class (40 hours total), and around 3-4 hours preparing readings, and creating annotations and responding to others' comments in their respective annotations (42-56 hours total). All portfolio work will take around 98-126 hours in total throughout the semester.

Policies

Late Policy

You can use a budget of three late days in total across all assignments in the portfolio. The purpose of these late days is to provide you with some flexibility for unexpected situations in which you find yourself unable to complete an assignment on time (e.g., coinciding deadlines, extracurricular commitments, etc.). For those situations, I normally expect you to use your late days, rather than asking for an extension, so make sure to use them judiciously.

I expect you to attend every session, but let me know if you have any special requirements or can't make it to class because you are sick. For longer absences, please obtain a Dean's note and I will accommodate it.

The course will involve substantial reading for each meeting, and you will need to stay on top of the assigned readings to keep up, as we quickly move between topics. However, the texts we read are relatively standalone, so finding one paper difficult to read will not disadvantage you going forward.

Annotations are generally due at midnight (EST) on Sunday and Wednesday (see course schedule for exceptions), and owing to the small amount of credit they contribute individually, there will be no late submission. If you do encounter particular, unexpected hardships however, please send me an email.

Accommodations

Brown University is committed to full inclusion of all students. Please inform me if you have a disability or other condition that might require accommodations or modification of any of these course procedures. You may email me, come to office hours, or speak with me after class, and your confidentiality is respected. I will do whatever we can to support accommodations recommended by SEAS. For more information contact Student and Employee Accessibility Services (SEAS) at 401-863-9588 or SEAS@brown.edu.

Mental Health