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Aim The purpose of this degree is threefold:
(1) to give students an intensive grounding in those areas of philosophy most relevant to the problems raised by technology and technological development;
(2) to allow students to study the application of philosophy to specific aspects of technology;
(3) to provide a suitable preparation for research work in this area.
The normal admission requirement will be a good honours degree in philosophy. Applications from honours graduates in other subjects, especially in closely cognate subjects, will be considered sympathetically.
The course is spread over twelve months, and divided into three periods of study. In the first half of the academic session, students study three core subjects and are examined in these in Janauary. In the second half of the academic session, students choose three subjects from a list of options available and are examined in May. During the summer months, students prepare a dissertation with the guidance of a supervisor and on a topic approved by the Course Director.
1. Philosophy of Science and Technology (Dr Tomassi)
2. Social Philosophy (Prof. Graham/ Dr Shaw)
3. Philosophy of Art (Dr Friday/Dr Shaw)
Technology and Development Ethics (Dr Dower)
Philosophy of Medicine (Prof. Matthews)
Theories of Practical Reason (Prof. Graham/Dr Shaw)
Heidegger on Technology (Dr Gorner)
Technological Issues in Environmental Ethics and Aesthetics (Dr Dower/ Dr Friday)
Not all of these option papers may be available in every year.
In addition to classes on examinable subjects, students will be required to attend a non-examinable 'Recents Developments' seminar in which experts from a variety of fields will be invited to describe contemporary technological developments of special interest.
Part One of this course is intended to provide an introduction to the contemporary debate about the nature of scientific methodology. i.e., the controversy between purely deductivist accounts (Popper) and inductivist (Bayesianism. In perticular, medical science is considered as a test case. The logic of diagnostic reasoning is examined and an important integrity between certain philosophical views and their technological applications is highlighted. Part Two of the course compares and contrasts different conceptions of the aim of science, the status of scientific theories and technology itself. The plausibility of a fundamental agreement between philosophical conceptions of science and of technology is explored.
The aim of this course is to make students familiar with the principal theoretical bases of contemporary social philosophy and acquaint them with the application of these theories to issues of social policy. The material to be covered includes individualism vs communitarianism; theories of social justice; law and morality; democracy and public choice; social engineering.
The course is divided into two parts. The first will examine central themes in aesthetic theory relating to the specific challenges that arise in connection with artistic media that interact with and are dependent upon technology. Particular stress will be laid upon issues in the aesthetics of film and architecture. These two media will also provide the central focus for the second part of the course which is concerned with the relation of art to society. Pornography, censorship and the responsibility of the artist/architect will be considered.
This course will examine the role of technology in development i.e. desirable socio-economic change. Technologies are oiften justified by their contribution to the improvement of human well-being. By what criteria do we measure progress? Are technologies value-neutral? is the 'technologkical imperative' to be questioned? Are modern technologies, especially in the area of IT and genetic engineering, expressions of western values in the global economy, and indeed re-inforcers of western dominance? Is the idea of 'appropriate technology' a philosophically illuminating one? What ethical issues are rised by the transfers of technology from rich countries to the Third World?
This course examines the ethical and philosophical problems created for medical practice by the development of medical technology. After an intial discussion of the Hippocratic tradition in Western medicine, the course moves on to consider, by means of case studies, the relevance of technological development for resource allocation in medicine, the problems of technology assessment, and possible changes in concepts of the human person, value of human life and nature of health which may result from the increasing use of medical technology
The first part of this course centres on David Hume's account of practical reason, and rationalistic alternatives to it. Among the topics included are the concept of desire, causal vs intentional explanation, the means/end distinction; egoism vs altruism. The second part considers the logical structure of cost-benefit analysis, especially within a utilitarian framework.
Using mainly the text "The Question Concerning Technology" Heidegger's ideas on technology are placed in the context of his later philosophy. The course examines his claim that technology is not just a human activity and a means to an end, but embodies a way of understanding the being of entities, including ourselves, which in a sense is beyond our control. The course also includes some discussion of Heidegger's conception of the relationship between technology and art.
his course will examine some of the ethical and philosophical issues raised by the pursuit of modern technology in relation to policies of protecting and respecting nature/the natural environment. In considering the question: 'what is environment?', it distinguishes between natural and artificial environment. Following on from the Philosophy of Art course it explores the possibility of an aesthetics of the natural and built environment.Are modern technologies any different from technologies used in all human societies, or are they expressive of a particular world view in which the natural world is there to be exploited, controlled and manipulated? Are the problems facing the modern world to be tackled by changes in technology or changes in life styles?
NIGEL DOWER is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Head of Philosophy, School of Philosophy and Cultural History and an Associate Director of the Centre for Philosophy, Technology and Society. A graduate of the Universities of Oxford and Leeds, he has taught philosophy at the University of Zimbabwe as well as the University of Aberdeen where he was first appointed in 1976. His principal research interests relate to the ethics of international relations development and the environment. He is Vice-Chairman of the International Development Ethics Association.
Recent publications include:
'World Poverty', in Peter Singer ed. Companion to Ethics, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991)
'Sustainability and the Right to Development' in R Attfield and B Wilkins edd. International Justice and the Third World, (London: Routledge, 1992)
'Are Government Aid and Private Charity Morally on a Par?' in A Carty and H Singer edd. Conflict and Change in the 1990's (London: Macmillan, 1993)
'The Idea of Environment' in R Attfield and A Belsey edd. Philosophy and the Natural Environment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)
'Peace and Security: some conceptual notes' in M Salla ed. Essays on Peace: Paradigms for Global Order. (Rockhampton: University of Central Queensland Press, 1995)
'The Idea of International Development: some ethical issues' in M Wright ed. Morality and International Relations, (Aldershot: Avebury, 1996)
JONATHAN FRIDAY is Lecturer in Philosophy. He holds degrees in history of ideas and philosophy from St John's College Annapolis, and the universities of of London and Cambridge. Since his appointment at Aberdeen in 1994 he has taught aesthetics, moral and political philosophy and a number of areas in the history of philosophy. His primary research interests are within aesthetics and moral philosophy. He is preparing a book on the aesthetics of film and photography.
Recent publications include:
'Transparency and the Photographic Image', British Journal of Aesthetics , 36 (1996)
PAUL GORNER is Lecturer in Philosophy. He studied at the universities of Manchester and Cambridge and obtained his PhD at the University of Aberdeen. His principal research interests lie in the areas of Heidegger, Kant and German Idealism. He is also a translator of German philosophy.
Recent publications include:
'Realism and Idealism in Husserl', Idealistic Studies 21 (1991)
'Husserl and Heidegger as Phenomenologists', Journal of the British Society for Phenomenlogy 23 (1992)
'Heidegger', Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth Century Philosophers, (London, Routledge, 1996)
'Husserl', Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth Century Philosophers, (London, Routledge, 1996)
GORDON GRAHAM is Regius Professor of Moral Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Philosophy, Technology and Society. A graduate of the universities of St Andrews and Durham, he has held visiting research and teaching posts at the universties of Minnesota, Maryland, Malta, and the Colorado College. His principal research interests lie in the areas of social and political philosophy and the philosophy of the arts.
Recent publications include:
Contemporary Social Philosophy (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988 Reprinted 1990, 1994, 1995, Italian translation 1991, Chinese translation forthcoming)
'Liberalism and Democracy', Journal of Applied Philosophy 9 (1992)
'The Rights of Ethnic Groups', Social Philosophy Today 8 (1993)
'Liberal vs Radical Feminism Reconsidered', Journal of Applied Philosophy 11 (1994)
Ethics in International Affairs, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1996)
The Shape of the Past: a philosophical approach to history (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 1997.)
The Philosophy of the Arts: an introduction (London: Routledge, forthcoming 1997)
ERIC MATTHEWS holds a Personal Chair in Philosophy and is an Associate Director of the Centre for Philosophy, Technology and Society. He is a graduate of the Univerity of Oxford, from which he also holds a postgraduate degree. In addition to teaching at the University of Aberdeen, he has been Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans, USA. his principal research interests lie in the areas of contemporary French philosophy and the philosophy of medicine (including psychiatry) and medical ethics.
Recent publications include:
Philosophy and Health Care, edited with Michael Menlowe, (Aldershot: Avebury, 1992)
'The Ethics of Rationing' in Philosophy and Health Care
'Paternalism, care and mental illness' in Andrew Grubb ed. Decision-making and Problems of Incompetence, (Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1994)
'Moralist or therapist: Foucault and the critique of psychiatry', Philosophy,Psychiatry, Psychology 2 (1995)
Twentieth Century French Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)
'Is companionate marriage inherently unstable?' in Haldane and Love edd. Marriage Now: Asking Questions, (Edinburgh: Marriage Counselling Scotland, 1996)
DANIEL SHAW is Lecturer in Philosophy. He holds both BA and PhD degrees from the University of Adelaide, and has lectured at Aberdeen University since 1970. His principal research interests are Hume, moral philosophy, philosophy of mind and action, and utilitarianism.
Recent publications include:
'Hume's Theory of Motivation', Hume Studies 18 (1992)
'Reason and Feeling in Hume's Action Theory and Moral Philosophy', Hume Studies 18 (1992)
'Hume's Moral Sentimentalism', Hume Studies 19 (1993)
'Review of O Hanfling ed. Philosophical Aesthetics', Philosophical Books 35 (1994)
'Review of M Rollins ed. Danto and His Critics', Philosophical Books 37 (1996)
PAUL TOMASSI is Lecturer in Philosophy. He preveiously held a lectureship in philosophy at the University of Edinburgh from which he obtained his doctorate. His principal research interests lie in the areas of lgic, philosophy of science and history of philosophy. He is a supervising editor of the forthcoming Dictionary of Seventeenth Century Scots Philosophy.
Recent publications include:
'Logic and Medicine' in Calbert Phillips ed. Logic in Medicine (London: British Medical Group Publishing, 1995)
'Logic and Scientific Method' in Logic in Medicine
'Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Technology', Ends and Means, NS 1 (1996)
How to Think Logically (London: Routledge, forthcoming)
Students on this course are eligible for
British Academy Postgraduate Studentships.
A booklet describing these studentships is available either from:
the British Academy Online
or by post from:
The Humanities Research Board of the British Academy Postgraduate Studentships
Office
Block 1, Spur 15,
Government Buildings
Honeypot Lane
Stanmore
Middlesex HA7 1AZ
Scottish Postgraduate Studentships
Information on these awards, available to students resident in Scotland,
can be obtained from:
Scottish Office Education Department
Student Awards Branch
Gyleview House
3 Redheughs Rigg
Edinburgh EH12 5DR
CPTS Studentships
The Centre for Philosophy, Technology and Society has a small number
of grants awarded by competition. There is no special application form, but
a letter registering the wish to be included in the competition should accompany
the application for admission.
All inquiries relating to the M Litt in Philosophy and Technology should be addressed to the Course Director,
Professor Gordon Graham,
Centre for Philosophy, Technology and Society
University of Aberdeen,
The Old Brewery,
OLD ABERDEEN.
Scotland AB24 3UB
UK
Applications should be addressed to
Dr Paul Gorner
Postgraduate Admissions Tutor,
Philosophy, School of Philosophy and Cultural History,
University of Aberdeen,
King's College,
OLD ABERDEEN.
Scotland AB29 3UB
UK
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