PHIL 399-60: Course Schedule

Prof. Eric Steinhart

Fall 1999 / W 7:00 - 9:40 pm

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This schedule is flexible; it may be revised. Come to class to find out.

Readings are short but hard. Your goal is not to read, or even to know, but to think. Any reading underlined in blue text is an on-line reading, either on this Web Site or on the Internet.

Introduction to PhiTech (1 week)

Week 1: Classical Ideas

• Plato: The Series of Simulations
• Leibniz: God's Art and Human Art

Basic Concepts (4 weeks; Readings in Ferre)

Week 2: Philosophy of Technology, chs. 1-2.

• Ferre, Philosophy of Technology, ch. 1
• Technology as Organ Projection

Week 3: Philosophy of Technology, chs. 3-4.

Week 4: Philosophy of Technology, chs. 5-6.

Week 5: Philosophy of Technology, chs. 7-8.

Nature & Machines (4 weeks; Readings in Dyson)

Week 6: Darwin among the Machines: chs. 1-3.

Week 7: Darwin among the Machines: chs. 4-6.

Week 8: Darwin among the Machines: chs. 7-9.

Week 9: Darwin among the Machines: chs. 10-12.

Technology & Religion (4 weeks; Readings in Noble)

Week 10:The Religion of Technology: Intro. - ch. 3.

Week 11:The Religion of Technology: chs. 4-7.

Week 12:The Religion of Technology: chs. 8-9.

Week 13:The Religion of Technology: ch. 10 - Conc.

Technological Transcendence (2 weeks; Readings in Moravec)

Week 14: Mind Children: ch. 4.

Week 15: The Divine Artificial Body

William Paterson University Philosophy Department