自由、真理與民主於科技時代

Recent years have seen spectacular advances in digital technologies, the social benefits of which are undeniable. At the same time, these new tools can also amplify various threats to societal well-being, as they can be used to spread misinformation and manipulate people’s beliefs and emotions, sometimes with the goal of interfering with elections and other political affairs in democratic countries (Taiwan being a case in point); as well as to indoctrinate people into particular ideologies (whether religious or political), especially in authoritarian countries. Parallel to that, some describe liberal democracies like the United States as having reached a “post-truth” stage, where people are more inclined to distrust experts who make claims they don’t like, and to uncritically accept assertions made by members of their own social and political “bubble”, leading to a socially fragmented picture of reality, and increasing the risk of irrational thought and behaviour on a large scale. This course will get students to reflect on how the core values of truth, freedom, human rights and democracy can be safeguarded in the face of these threats in their contemporary form, and on how to successfully negotiate any tensions that might arise between those different values. Students will be invited to challenge their own preconceptions, and to achieve a deeper understanding of basic rights like freedom of speech and thought, but also of socially contested notions like fake news, manipulation, indoctrination, hate speech, and cognitive warfare. This will give them the tools to reliably identify real-life examples of such practices (with special attention to the Taiwanese context), in a manner that is neither relativistic in nature nor ideologically biased. It will also help them appreciate what a consistent commitment to freedom of speech and thought entails (including with regards to views that they disapprove of), thus ideally helping them become more responsible citizens of a liberal democratic society. Finally, the course will promote students’ proficiency in English.

Basic competence in English. No prior philosophical training will be presupposed.

If students from different campuses enrol in the course, Google Meet will be used to facilitate participation.

1. Class participation: attendance, completion of required readings & participation in discussion (30% of overall grade) 2. Oral presentation, Q&A session & written assignment (35% of overall grade) 3. Final exam: 2-hour open book exam, in class (35% of overall grade)

The readings for this course will be made available in advance on Google Classroom. Students who wish to do some advance preparation are encouraged to read Nigel Warburton’s book Free Speech: a Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), as well as J. S. Mill’s classic work On Liberty (1859).

時間

By appointment

聯絡方式

alexerler@nycu.edu.tw