Links to the readings can be found in our on-line reader.
Q1, Q2, Q3, ... are quizzes;
#A, #B, #C, ... are written assignments.
ECS 188 – Ethics in an Age of Technology – Winter 2012 – Phillip Rogaway |
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| Class | How we spent the class: | For today you need to: | Comments: |
| 01 M 1/07 | Attitudes towards technology. Intuitively held ethical beliefs. | Surprise! Nothing due on our first day of class. | See Wednesday’s slot for assignments due Wednesday, etc. |
| 02 W 1/09 | Watch Dekalog 1 by Kieslowski. | Please come to class 2 mins early. Read the (1) Course information sheet, (2) A Brief Note to the Student, and (3) Philisophical Ethics by Johnson. (A) Write a Summary (click for what I mean by this) of the Johnson reading. | More by Kieslowski: Blue, Red, The Double Life of Veronique |
| 03 F 1/11 | Q1. Discuss Dekalog I. Discuss the Johnson reading. | (1) Finish the Johnson reading, if you didn’t manage to. (B) Write an Analysis (click for what I man by this) of Dekalog I. With proper attribution, you may consult secondary sources as desired. If needed, you can rewatch the film with the link to the right. | Link to Dekalog 1. |
| 04 M 1/14 | Q2. Discussed ethical relativism (Pojman and part of Johnson) | Read Ethical Relativism, by Pojman. | . |
| 05 W 1/16 | Q3. Discussed Aaron Swartz, copyright, activism, and suicide | Discuss the life of Aaron Swartz: (1) read Dotorow’s blog, Lessig’s blog, and watch a conference keynote. (2) Spend another hour investigating an issue close to Swartz. (3) Come to class prepared to give a 2-3 minute impromptu talk on it. | Rest in peace, Aaaron Swartz |
| 06 F 1/18 | Q4. Discussed utilitarianism. Began discussion on deontology. | (1) Review the Johnson reading if you have have forgotten what it said of utilitarianism, deontology, or virtue ethics. (2) On your own, find an interesting & understandable article or book chapter, reasonably scholarly, on one of these three topics. Come prepared to discuss what you learned. Google scholar is a good way to locate academic readings. | Many articles archived by Google-scholar will require you to be on campus or use the UCD library proxy |
| xx M 1/21 | Holiday | Martin Luther King’s birthday | . |
| 07 W 1/23 | Discussed deontology and virtue ethics. Began discussion of Jonas reading. | (1) Read: The Altered Nature of Human Action, by Hans Jonas. (C) Write up Quotes from the reading (click for what I mean by this). | The reading is hard. Leave time; read slowly; lookup words you don’t know. Some notes on Kant. |
| 08 F 1/25 | Q5. Discussed environmental ethics / Leopold, and a bit more of Jonas. | Read The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold. | A Sand County Almanac. Callicott, The Conceptual Foundations of the Land Ethic |
| 09 M 1/28 | Q6. Discussed the Barbour reading. | Read Views of Technology, by Ian Barbour. | . |
| 10 W 1/30 | Q7. Discussed McLuhan reading. Watched a quick video. | (1) Read this interview of Marshal McLuhan. (2) Read something else—you choose—on or by McLuhan | . |
| 11 F 2/01 | We watched Testament | (1) Come to Discussion section. (2) Read Why the future doesn’t need us by Bill Joy. (D) Write an Analysis of the reading. | 50 facts about U.S. nuclear weapons |
| 12 M 2/04 | Discussed the film Testament. Discussed student writing and swapped assignment D’s | (E) Milestone 1 due (today, by email). (F) Brief essay on Testament | No new reading for today. |
| 13 W 2/06 | Q8. Discussed the Hertsgaard reading. Watched part of James Hansen video | Reading from Hot by Mark Hertsgaard | . |
| 14 F 2/08 | . | (1) Watch Amory Lovins; (2) Watch Ozzie Zehner; (G) Write a one-paragraph (at most one page) essay comparing their basic views. | . |
| 15 M 2/11 | . | . | . |
| 16 W 2/13 | . | . | . |
| 17 F 2/15 | . | . | . |
| xx M 2/18 | Holiday | President’s Day | . |
| 18 W 2/20 | . | . | . |
| 19 F 2/22 | . | . | . |
| 20 M 2/25 | . | . | . |
| 21 W 2/27 | . | . | . |
| 22 F 3/01 | . | . | . |
| 23 M 3/04 | . | . | . |
| 24 W 3/06 | . | Milestone 2 due | . |
| 25 F 3/08 | . | . | . |
| 26 M 3/11 | . | . | . |
| 27 W 3/13 | Presentation Day #1 | Section 1: Read papers p101, p102 Section 2: Read papers p201, p202 | . |
| 28 F 3/15 | Presentation Day #2 | Section 1: Read papers p103, p104, p105, p106, p107 Section 2: Read papers p203, p204, p205, p206, p207 |
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| 29 M 3/18 | Presentation Day #3 | Section 1: Read papers p108, p109 Section 2: Read papers p208, p209 |
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| yy W 3/20 | Section 1 Final, 8-10 am; Presentations Day #4 |
Read papers p110, p111, p112 | . |
| zz S 3/23 | Section 2 Final, 6-8 pm; Presentations Day #4 |
Read papers p210, p211, p212 | . |