Technical Artifacts: Normative and Metaphysical Perspectives

In this seminar we will explore normative and metaphysical questions pertaining to technical artifacts, which are human-made technological products like cellphones, cars, drones, software, skyscrapers, and robots. Technical artifacts pervade our daily lives and structure our relations to each other, ourselves, and society, generally. We will engage in philosophical inquiry by asking questions such as what technical artifacts are and whether they have essences, what role maintenance and repair practices play in their persistence over time, what role collective intentions play in their creation, what their relation is to broader sociotechnical systems, how they structure power relations, whether they can embody values and how they contribute to value change, as well as questions regarding responsible design and responsibility for (mis)use. (Junior and senior majors or by waiver); 3 hrs. sem.