| Unit name | Beyond Humanity |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHIL20063 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Jones |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Philosophy |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
What does it means to be human in relation to what it means to be an animal? How should we understand the minds of nonhuman beings and our interactions with them? How should this understanding influence our ethical decisions? Do living things other than animals, such as plant or fungi have minds? Can there be artificial minds? What are the ethical issues associated with artificial minds? Will technological advances allow us to transcend our humanity? What are the ethical issues associated with this? What stance should we take regarding the ethics of human and nonhuman extinction?
In this unit we will explore philosophical perspectives that go beyond anthropocentrism and evaluate how we can and should act in relation to the nonhuman world, drawing on philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, social philosophy, and philosophy of science. The unit gives students a chance to apply philosophical analysis to issues of pressing societal significance.
The unit builds on positions that all Philosophy students (both SH and JH) will have studied in the compulsory C/4 Intro A and Intro B units. The unit also complements content that is covered across a broad spectrum of optional I/5 and H/6 units that focus on topics such as ethics, metaphysics, political philosophy, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. In keeping with the department’s ethos, the unit will combine understanding relevant science with applying philosophical analysis to contemporary ethical issues.
The unit will cover some of the following topics: the problem of knowledge of nonhuman animal minds; the question of animal consciousness/sentience; related ethical issues regarding treatment of nonhuman animals (e.g. veganism, animal testing); questions about human exceptionalism and anthropocentrism; questions about Humanism and the various different forms of Posthumanism; questions about nonanimal minds (e.g. in plants, fungi, or bacteria) and related ethical issues; questions of whether we can or should create artificial minds and how we could know if we have; the question of what it means to be human and whether we should pursue the transhumanist goal of transcending our humanity; ethical issues associated with transhumanist projects such as mind-uploading, gene-editing, cyborg enhancements, and the pursuit of technological or biological immortality; and the ethics of human and nonhuman extinction.
Students will learn about the scientific basis for our understanding of nonhuman animal, artificial, and transhuman minds. Students will learn how to think about themselves as animals, to question the assumptions of Humanism, and to consider their ethical obligations to the nonhuman world. Students will be able to address pressing or emerging ethical issues associated with animal ethics, artificial intelligence, and transhumanism.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Students will learn via 2-hour lectures and 1-hour seminars. Given the contentious, engaging, and societally significant nature of the course content, lectures and seminars will lean towards interactive learning with time allotted for discussion and debate.
The assessment in the form of group presentations will help students to engage in productive debate with their peers in a charitable, rigorous, and collaborative manner, as well as helping students to develop their organisation, cooperation, communication, and presentation skills.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Group presentation planning meetings
Tasks which do not count towards your unit mark but are required for credit (zero-weighted):
None
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Group Presentation, 20 mins (10%) [ILOs 1, 3, 4]
Individual Report based on the group presentation, 1,000 words (10%) [ILOs 1, 3]
Essay, 3,000 words (80%) [ILOs 1, 2, 3]
When assessment does not go to plan:
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
Recorded individual presentation, responding to the presented materials of the group that they were assigned to, (10%) [ILOs 1, 3, 4]
Individual Report based on the group presentation, 1,000 words (10%) [ILOs 1, 3]
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. PHIL20063).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
