Philosophy projects

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Core theme: Thinking about modern technology and its impact on lived human existence

Please contact m AT melanieswan.com with any comments, resource suggestions, and potential collaborations.

Syllabus: Philosophy, Computing, and the Arts

HIGH PRIORITY 

1. Investigate the structure and content of contemporary continental philosophy papers relating to technology

Review a variety of contemporary continental philosophy papers on technology. Identify argument structure and characterize content. Some categories of argument structure may include comparative analysis, refutation, and conceptual application to new areas. A comparison could be made historically, between fields, or based on some other parameter. Evaluate adequacy of current philosophical thought for thinking about technology; define adequacy.

2. Review and suggest philosophical approaches to thinking about technology

Phase I: Archaeology and genealogy:

Survey what philosophers have said about technology (Greek to modern)

a)      Explicitly

b)      Implicitly (apply the core ideas of philosophers to context of modern technology)

Phase II: Prescriptive application:

Apply philosophical thought to technology and undertake a phenomenology of technology

Apply philosophical thought (comprehensively, not anecdotally) to the consideration of modern technology. Is modern technology fundamentally different than historical technology; is it just a higher degree of the same familiar concept, or something qualitatively different? What would constitute a qualitative difference? Examine secular versus cyclical shifts more generally, is there a similarity to how we distinguish when things are really different? Describe secular shifts in technology, economics, thought, etc. in philosophical terms.

Question(s) this analysis should help address:

•  Are there historical examples of qualitative differences in technology? What constitutes qualitative changes in human beings’ existence more generally?
•  How is technology different than [what is most different than technology]?
•  Why/how/is a philosophical approach to technology inadequate for thinking about technology and its impact on lived human existence? What is missing? What are some good ways to think about technology?

MEDIUM PRIORITY

3. Examine objective and subjective aspects of lived human existence

Describe and characterize objective and subjective aspects of the totality of lived human existence. Objective elements may comprise reason, science, and systems; subjective elements may comprise values, ethics, morals, emotion, and mood.

Question(s) this analysis should help address:

• Why is it hard to define, describe, and argue the value of subjective aspects of lived human existence?

4. Shape the parameters for the next era of philosophical thought (the will to posthumanism)

Discuss what shape and ends a potential next era in philosophical thought might have. Crudely, philosophy may be segregated into two eras, ancient philosophy and modern philosophy. The question naturally arises as to the applicability of these models to future eras, particularly those that may be increasingly steeped in technology and biotechnology. Nearly all of the core topics in philosophy could be dramatically different in future existence, areas such as the self, embodiment, subject-object differences, language, nihilism, death, aesthetics, economics, and culture. This project aims to set forth different aspects and dimensions that may be required in a future era, or even near-present era, of philosophical thought.

5. Evaluate and create models for structuring thinking

Phase I: Archaeology and genealogy:

Survey of existing models for structuring thinking

Identify, characterize, and summarize models used for structuring thinking in diverse disciplines such as philosophy, computer science, complexity theory, and biology

Phase II: Prescriptive application:

Propose a rigorous methodology for structuring thinking about uncertainty like the future

Propose objective and subjective schema (subjective schema could include such as narratives, phenomenology, intuition, and other practices)

Question(s) this analysis should help address:

•  What will the next technology be that has an impact as great as the internet?
•  What is the impact of today’s technology, biotechnology?

LOW PRIORITY

6. Measure knowledge generation [too early, insufficient tools at present]

Distill core list of knowledge elements from text corpora, student questions, etc. Analyze attributes of knowledge elements and questions. Attempt to measure learning quality and rate.

7. Analyze the impact of differences in language and culture on thought and conceptualization

Compare differences in concepts and conceptualization across cultures

Question(s) this analysis should help address:

• What are the advantages and drawbacks of creating machine learning systems and other artificial intelligence projects in different languages?
• Is machine intelligence easier to create in some human and computer languages than others, for example are more abstract less emotion-oriented languages better?

8. Towards a fourth person perspective

Investigate whether we may be able to construct a fourth person perspective (through technology) that offers a new view on ourselves and different interaction possibilities with the world. What would be the desiderata in an additional perspective? Characterize and evaluate benefits and shortcomings, and possible improvements to the currently known perspectives: first, second, and third person. Reference philosophers: Charles Pierce, Habermas, Levinas, Roarty, George Mead, and Stephen Darwall.