Tabor Hill College-OAD INC

Brgy. San Jose, Talamban, Cebu City

Department of Philosophy
PHILO 19: Seminar on Special Questions in Philosophy

Lecturer: Fr. Kenneth Ekene Onwusaka, O.A.D. (M.A-Rel. Studies, M.A Philo, PhD-
Ongoing)
Schedule: Monday, 8:00-10:00am
Contact: [email protected], [email protected], 09322544650

Course Description

This course is a seminar on special questions in philosophy, devoted to other pursuits that
is not covered by the traditional fields in philosophy. It focuses on issues and problems that
constitute special questions in modern and contemporary philosophy, such as the implications of
artificial intelligence, and the status of cyborgs, or other questions that are not necessarily
included in the prospectus of the degree courses. We shall examine these selected problems in
search of a coherent philosophical discourse, considering specific themes in metaphysics,
epistemology, philosophy of mind and ethics.

This exploration shall however keep in mind he fundamental and traditional questions in
philosophy: Why are we here? What is real? What can you know? How should you live? What
shall we hope for? In virtue of being here, and in virtue of being a human being, questions like
these partly define and depict the condition—the human condition—in which we find ourselves.
Philosophy was and continues to be a discipline that systematically attempts to frame and answer
such questions with intellectual rigor—questions that we all ask at one time or another in one
form or another.

This course offers a targeted glimpse into key problems and questions, with central
aspects of the human condition serving as our guide. Course readings will include a mix of
historic and contemporary readings and philosophical sources, as well as publicly-engaged
pieces aimed at connecting perennial philosophical questions to twenty-first century life. The
philosophical impulse is the desire to know, and this desire is shared by everyone. But while the
desire might be common in our experience, it is hard to explain exactly what it is or what it is a
desire for, because it is hard to say exactly what knowledge is, and what knowledge is about.
This course begins by asking why the thirst for knowledge is such a pressing concern and just
what it is we are so desperate to know. Is this desire our most fundamental desire or is it
motivated by deeper desires, e.g. to prolong life, to alleviate suffering, or to increase wealth or
pleasure? Are truth claims inherently manipulative? How is what we believe shaped by our
feelings and vice versa, and does this interplay between the head and the heart undermine the
reliability of our knowledge? Do we desire to know everything equally much, or are there
especially satisfying forms of knowledge, e.g. knowledge of our own history, or interpersonal
knowledge (of each other or of God), or knowledge of scientific theory? Of course, all these
questions take on special significance against the backdrop of unease and confusion about the
necessary role of authority and the corresponding danger of manipulation regarding knowledge
of the most important things.
To address these questions about knowledge stemming from our shared experience, the class will
turn to the core disciplinary tools which philosophy has to offer. One goal will be to connect the
epistemological questions listed above with fundamental questions of philosophical
anthropology, political philosophy, ethics and metaphysics.
Most classes will consist of a combination of lectures, discussions, research activities, and
quizzes. The topics to be discussed shall be outlined in the course content, but there shall be
revisions as we proceed.
Course Outcomes

The students are deemed to have successfully completed the course when they are able to:
(1) identify the special questions of philosophy.
(2) demonstrate a deep philosophical view on those varying special questions in philosophy.
(3) explain the implications of those questions to philosophy and why they are worth the
attention of philosophy.
(4) critically assess the relevance of those questions to philosophy.
(5) develop and present a research paper on an issue on the course.

Course Contents

Week 1 a. The Incapacity for Conversation, in “Hans-Georg Gadamer.

b. “On the Philosophic Element in the Sciences and the Scientific Character of
Philosophy.” In Gadamer, Reason in the Age of Science.

Week 2 Fundamental Questions of Philosophy in Alex Rosenberg, Chapter 7.

-From Philosophy through history to Postmodernism, and the problem to truth.
-Dealing with Relativism

Week 3 Contemporary questions and Issues in philosophy and their Implications in

today’s world:

1. Transdisciplinary Understanding: Development and Problems

2. Quantum Mechanics
a. Complexity
b. Emergence
3. Nanotechnology
4. Post normal science
5. Artificial Intelligence
6. Cyborgs-Mikhail
7. Neuroscience
8. Cybernetics
9. Covid-19 pandemic. Nature of Vaccine-Lance
10. Philosophical issues in Evolutionary Biology-Arnil
11. Media Philosophy -Jeson
Term Paper.
Academic Policies

Attendance. As an online course, the class can be held asynchronous. There would be scheduled
online meeting using Google Meet.

Class Participation. To actively participate, you will need to read the assigned selections for the
week. For your assigned topic for reporting, each take turns in facilitating the assigned topic.

Class Activities. Our class activities include textual analyses, intellectual discourse, essay
writing, and research work.

Academic Honesty. Copying of ideas in substance, forms and words, constitutes plagiarism or
intellectual dishonesty. In order to avoid this, students are required to acknowledge sources from
which they get their ideas by giving the complete bibliographical entry. Any student turning in
the required papers and written exams copied from fellow students or other sources is deemed to
have committed intellectual dishonesty and is given a failing grade for that requirement for
the first offense and a failing grade for the course for the second offense.
Grading System. Class Participation 25%; Essays 40%; Research Paper 35%;

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books
Copleston, Fredrick, S.J. A History of Philosophy: Modern Philosophy from Descartes to
Leibniz, Vol. IV. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Reason in the Age of Science, trans., Frederick G. Lawrence. U.S.A:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981.

________. Heidegger’s Ways. Translated by John W. Stanley. U.S.A: State University of New
York Press, 1994.

Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans., Geoff

Bennigton and Brian Mussumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.

M. deTorre, Joseph. Christian Philosophy. Third Edition. Manila: Sinag-Tala Pub, 1980.

Rosenberg, Alex. Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction, 2nd Edition. New York:
Routledge, 2005.

Usher, Robin and Richard Edwards, Postmodernism and Education: Different Voices, Different
Worlds. New York: Routledge, 1994.

Pope John Paul 2. “The Mass Media, the Crossroads of the Social Questions.” In Rapid
Developments: Apostolic Letter to those Responsible for Communication. 2005.
Periodicals

Barfield Woodrow and Alexander Williams. “Cyborgs and Enhancement Technology.”

Philosophies 2 (2017: 1-18.

Coiffi Raffael, Marta Travaglioni, Guiseppina Psicitelli, Antonella Petrillo, and Fabio De Felice.
“Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Applications in Smart production:
Progress, Trends and Directions.” Sustainability 12 (2020):1-20.

Fox, Stephen. “Cyborgs, Robotics and Society: Implications for the Future of Society from
Human Enhancement with In-The-Body Technologies.” Technologies 6 (2018): 1-11.

Kayid Amr. “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Future Technology.” German University of
Cairo, 2020.

Luke, T. W. “At the End of Nature: Cyborgs, ‘Humachines’ and Environments in Post-
Modernity.” Environment and Planning A 29 (1997): 1367-1380.

Mestres, Frances and Joseph Vives-Rego. “Behind and Beyond of the Cyborgs and Robots Ideas
and Realities: Some Techno Scientific and Philosophical Hints.” Imaginarios
Technologicos 3 (2013): 1-11.

Midson, Scott A. “The Cyborg and the Human: Origins, Creatureliness and Hybridity in
Theological Anthropology.” Doctoral Dissertation, School of Arts, Languages and
Culture, University of Manchester (2015).

Schwab, Gabriele. “Cyborgs, Postmodern Phantasms of Mind and Body.” Discourse 9 (1987):
65- 84.

Van Joolen, Commander Vincent J. Artificial Intelligence and Robotics on the battlefield of
2020? U.S.A Navy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277787200

Vessey, David and Chris Blauwkamp, “Hans-Georg Gadamer: The Incapacity for Conversation
(1972).” Continental Philosophy Review 39 (2006): 351-359.

Waewik, Kevin. “The Cyborg Revolution.” Nanoethics (2016).

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268989282

Wittes, Benjamin and Jane Chong. “Our Cyborg Future: Law and Policy Implications.”
Technology Innovations (2014): 1-28.