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To think honestly about both technology and business means to think honestly – or philosophically, if you will – about their relationship to the human condition and human existence in general; this is where philosophy steps in. Departing from this line of reasoning, Philosophy, Technology, and Business invites students to critically assess the entangled and entwined relationships between technology and commerce – understood in the broadest sense – on the one hand, and the so-called human condition on the other, exploring what it means to be human in the globalised world driven by technological change. Through debate and discussion of key primary texts and other sources in their historical context, students will become familiar with some of the fundamental ideas and theoretical frameworks conceptualised by a wide array philosophers and thinkers from Plato to Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Martin Heidegger, or Bernard Stiegler. Rather than presenting and imposing a certain worldview or theoretical standpoint, the course equips students with a basic knowledge, tools, and skills which allows for a more nuanced and informed way of thinking across both academic and professional settings. The course is taught in English and its secondary ambition is to provide students with useful phraseology and functional language which will allow them to efficiently formulate arguments and express fine nuances of meaning in English and work with complex theoretical texts in English. The course will provide students with language support activities. Last update: Scholleová Hana (14.02.2022)
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Upon successful completion of the course, students will become familiar with key philosophies and theoretical standpoints that pertain to the field of technology, technological change, economy, and commerce and be able to apply these across academic and professional contexts. Last update: Scholleová Hana (14.02.2022)
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Course handouts and course reader. R: Heath, Eugene and Kaldis, Byron. Wealth, Commerce and Philosophy (University of Chicago Press, 2017). R: Frey, C. B. The Technology Trap (Princeton University Press, 2019). A: Mumford, Lewis. Technics and Civilizations (Routledge, 1963) A: Kaplan, D. M. (Ed.) Readings in the Philosophy of Technology Second Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2009). A: Hausman, D. M. (Ed.). The Philosophy of Economics An Anthology Third Edition (CUP, 2007). Last update: Scholleová Hana (14.02.2022)
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The course work is based on debating and discussing key primary texts and other sources in their historical context and active participation in course activities (including teamwork tasks). Last update: Scholleová Hana (14.02.2022)
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To receive credit for the course, students will be required to meet attendance requirements, submit a final essay and “defend it” in an oral discussion with the teacher. Students are obliged to attend the seminars either in person or, in case of university lockdown, online via MS Teams; active participation in course activities (including teamwork tasks) and submitting homework assignments is required. Last update: Scholleová Hana (14.02.2022)
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1. Introduction, key concepts and methods 2. Defining technology: a historical perspective 3. Defining technology: an anthropological perspective 4. Instrumental and non-instrumental interpretations of technology 5. Technological advancement and its impact on human life 6. Technology, production, and commerce 7. Techno-philosophies of the industrial age 8. Homo technologicus and/or homo oeconomicus 9. Economists/anthropologists: Smith, Mandeville, and the like 10. Marx and the rest: the anthropology of (industrial) progress 11. Technology today: the philosophies of employability 12. Postmodern narratives of (technological/economic) progress 13. Student presentations 14. Student presentations Last update: Scholleová Hana (14.02.2022)
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