Philosophy

This course provides a comprehensive insight into all things AI. It is not intended for those who wish to learn the mathematical underpinnings of the computer science or coding aspect of AI. It is for those who wish to explore how AI is affecting our world, from labor markets to politics, from business models to us as humans.

This course examines classic texts and major themes in phenomenology and existentialism, a tradition that shaped continental European philosophy throughout much of the 20th century. It focuses on central figures in that tradition, such as Sartre, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Husserl. Themes to be discussed include the aims and methods of phenomenology, consciousness and perception, being-in-the world, our relation to others, authenticity, freedom and embodiment. 

This module provides an introduction to central figures, works and ideas of the period of the European Enlightenment (roughly 1700-1800), beginning with an account of its historical background and ending with a review of its legacy. It approaches issues both thematically and through the writings of major thinkers, considering for example various contrasts: experience and reason, belief and scepticism, individual and society, nature and convention, equality and inequality, and representation and revolution; and looking at the ideas of such figures as Locke, Hume, Kant, Smith, and Rousseau.

This course explores various ethical questions related to engineering. Examples include: What is the relationship between ethical and social responsibilities in engineering? What is considered ethical? What is considered legal? Who decides that? etc. It discusses the idea that the essence of ethics is not to set up barriers to technical progress, but, rather, to indicate in which direction progress should move. Key topics include: algorithmic fairness, the rationality of ethics, and strategies for engineers to maintain ethical integrity while working in complex systems and organizations. 

This course covers key Concepts of Hermeneutics: Dialogue, Fusion of Horizons, Crossover, 2nd Person, and Naturalism and Deconstructionism. This course is a survey of the ideas of Husserl, Heidegger, and Gadamer, which make up most of what is known as hermeneutics, or the philosophy of interpretation. 

This course is an introduction to Chinese Classics.
The core content of this course is texts of Zhuang Zi inner 7 chapters.
Through analyzing the texts of the Classic, let students understand the texts of Zhuang Zi and his system of philosophy.

This course explores the main problems, themes, and foundations of political aesthetics, particularly the tense and diffuse relationship between aesthetics and politics.

This course explores one or more key issues in Value Theory through the close reading of two or more central works by key historical thinkers in the area and by the critical analysis of the ideas and arguments these works present. The course also introduces students to some of the key secondary literature on the relevant texts and consider how the ideas presented in these texts relate to each other and to issues in the modern philosophical debate.