Universität Wien
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010067 FS Ethics in an Era of Emergencies (2024W)

6.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 1 - Katholische Theologie
Continuous assessment of course work
MIXED
Moodle
We 22.01. 16:45-20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 30 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 09.10. 16:45 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Wednesday 23.10. 16:45 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Wednesday 06.11. 16:45 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Wednesday 20.11. 16:45 - 20:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 04.12. 16:45 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Wednesday 08.01. 16:45 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Do we live in an especially dangerous era? The accelerating rise of powerful new technologies, combined with existing threats from pervious eras, suggests that we do. How does this reality influence the way we think about and approach moral problems? For each meeting of this seminar, we will learn about a crisis and consider possible ways of responding to it. What responses are permissible, and which are obligatory? We consider a variety of perspectives, both religious and secular, while drawing on competing moral theories, especially consequentialism and deontology.

Topics:
1. Existential risk and moral frameworks
2. Nuclear war
3. Political emergencies (discussion will be tired to 2024 US Presidential election)
4. Pandemics
5. Artificial intelligence
6. Climate change
7. Cyber attacks

Assessment and permitted materials

Active participation and attendance (30%)

Presentation (30%)
Students present on a text and lead a discussion on it.

Seminar paper (40%)
Students write a seminar paper, generally (but not necessarily) on the topic of their presentation.
Length: 25,000-30,000 characters including spaces, footnotes and references.

By registering for the course, you agree to a possible plagiarism check of your written work in Moodle using the software Turnitin.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Attendance: at least 85%.
Positive achievement of all partial performances.

Examination topics

Examination-immanent LV - Course content.

Reading list

**The list below is an incomplete draft that has not been finalized. Some texts will be added or removed. Regardless of the final list, all texts will be made available in PDF form.**

1. Existential risk and moral frameworks - Wednesday 09.10.2024 16:45 - 20:00
Julia Driver, Ethics: The Fundamentals (2006), “Introduction”
Toby Ord, The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity (2020), “Introduction,” “Standing at the Precipice,” “Existential Risks.”

2. Nuclear war - Wednesday 23.10.2024 16:45 - 20:00
Paul Fussell, “Thank God for the Atom Bomb” (1981). Reply by Michael Walzer
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars (1977), “Nuclear Deterrence”

3. Political emergencies (discussion will be tired to 2024 US Presidential election) - Wednesday 06.11.2024 16:45 - 20:00
**Follow election coverage – we’ll spend the first half of the class discussing the results**
Michael Walzer, “Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands” (1973)
Recommended: “Dirty Hands Revisited” (2023)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, selections from Ethics (1949)

4. Pandemics - Wednesday 20.11.2024 16:45 - 20:00 (ONLINE)
Jonathan D. Quick, The End of Epidemics: The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It (2018), Prologue, Chapters 1, 4
Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, Chapters 4 (possibly 10 and 11)

5. Artificial intelligence - Wednesday 04.12.2024 16:45 - 20:00
Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014)
Leopold Aschenbrenner, Situational Awareness (2024)
Yudkowsky, “Pausing AI Developments Isn’t Enough. We Need to Shut it All Down” (2023).

6. Cyber attacks - Wednesday 08.01.2025 16:45 - 20:00
Andy Greenberg, Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers, Introduction, Prologue, Chs. 1, 14
Nicole Perlroth, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race (2021), "Prologue"

7. Climate Change - Wednesday 22.01.2025 16:45 - 20:00
David Wallce-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming (2017), “Cascades,” “Ethics at the End of the World”

Association in the course directory

Lv für Doktorats-/PhD- Studien, für 011 (15W) FTH 26, 199 518 MA UF RK 02 oder RK 05

Last modified: Mo 30.09.2024 05:25