This course offers an advanced approach to ethics or social and political philosophy, suitable for students who have a background in this area and who may be interested in continuing into 4th year Honours. What is taught will change from year to year.
An example of a course topic, taught by A/Prof Seth Lazar, Mr Stephen Mann, and members of the Humanising Machine Intelligence grand challenge team (hmi.anu.edu.au):
The Moral and Political Philosophy of AI introduces students to ethical and legal questions surrounding the development and use of digital technologies. Recent advances in artificial intelligence, big data and surveillance technology are explored in light of their relations to major questions in normative ethics. Due to the focus on contemporary and near-future moral problems, much of the literature concerns real-life cases of the use and abuse of AI. Philosophical literature will be paired with articles from computer science journals, popular science magazines and reportage in the form of news articles, podcasts and videos.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- demonstrate familiarity with the philosophical issues relating to ethics and justice as covered in the course;
- argue for a philosophical position related to the material covered in the course;
- display skill in writing research papers in philosophy; and
- discuss ideas verbally and to engage in interactive dialogue.
Indicative Assessment
- 1 x 3000 word essay (50) [LO 1,2,3]
- 1 x Group project, participation and presentation (30 mins) (40) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- 3 x Class quizzes (30 mins each) (10) [LO 1]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of weekly seminars (3 hours per week for 12 weeks)
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing
Contact hours for this course will take place in an interactive classroom setting. There is no lecture/seminar distinction; rather, a 3-hour session per week will mainly comprise discussion and student interaction focusing on class readings.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
N/A
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $3180 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $4890 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7136 | 26 Jul 2021 | 02 Aug 2021 | 14 Sep 2021 | 29 Oct 2021 | In Person | View |