Philosophy and
Film: Visions of Technology

It's nice, sometimes, to think that

technology will save us and make the world

perfect. It's nice, sometimes, to think that

we can blame technology for

what's wrong with the world today.

Both those ways of

thinking, nice though they may be, are

superficial and sadly suspect.

Course
Information

PHIL 3110
Fall 1, 1998
Webster University
Pearson House Room 4

Instructor Information

Dr. Bruce Umbaugh
office: Pearson House basement
phone: 961-2660 x7826
or 968-7170 (PHIL office)
e-mail: bumbaugh@webster.edu
office hours: Tu Th 11:30-12:00 and by appointment

This course aims at reviewing diverse visions of technology with an eye towards crafting a sensible viewpoint. We will focus on

the automobiling and infomating of America,

how technologies embody values,

changes in the character of and control we have over our work and over privacy, and

apportioning responsibility for the consequences of technological choices.

The course is "Philosophy and Film." We will watch films in class. The movies we view will span more than forty years, present various visions of diverse technologies, and star Katherine Hepburn, Harrison Ford, and Gene Hackman, among others.

The course is "Philosophy and Film." We will read, reflect, write, and discuss. Readings will all be of relatively recent vintage. Grading based on one major essay, written in stages, class participation, and a final exam. Details below.

Textbooks:





Course Schedule

Week 1 (August 25)

Introduction.

Week 2 (September 1)

Read: Boal, "A Flow of Monsters" (Resisting), and Winner, "Electronic Office," Marx, "The Case of the Omniscient Organization," and Horowitz, "Mr. Edens Profits" (handouts).

Week 3 (September 8)

Read: Schiller, "The Global Information Highway," Henwood, "Info Fetishim" (Resisting) and Part 1 of Asphalt.

Week 4 (September 15)

Read: Ullman, "Out of Time," and Hayes, "Digital Palsy" (Resisting); and Rochlin, "Taylorism Redux," The Mentor, "Conscience of a Hacker," and Dibbel, "Phiber Optik" (handouts).

Week 5 (September 22)

Read: Remainder of Asphalt; Agre, "Building an Internet Culture," (handout), and Sclove, "Making Technology Democratic" (Resisting).

Week 6 (September 29)

Read: Gandy, "It's Discrimination, Stupid" (Resisting) and Umbaugh, "Tailoring the Web for Profit" (handout).

Week 7 (October 6)

Read: Robins and Levidow, "Soldier, Cyborg, Citizen" (Resisting).

Week 8 (October 13)

Read: Solnit, "The Garden of Merging Paths" (Resisting) and Rawlins, "A Creation Unknown" (handout).
Final Examination.

Grading

Students will each write one major essay in the class. Preliminary tasks early in the course will help with focus and the overcoming of inertia. Later, drafts will be peer reviewed. Finished work should be typewritten or word-processed, double-spaced, grammatically correct, and show evidence of having been proofread as necessary. Drafts and responses to exercises will vary in style and substance. Finished work should be relevant, clear and coherent. One function of the early stages of exercises is to ensure that the major essays are good. Taken together, this work accounts for forty percent of your grade for the course.

Collegial participation is expected of every student. Much of the class will be taught as a seminar, and that works only if students carry a measure of the burden for making class time worthwhile. I expect you to contribute to your colleagues' education in class discussion, and I will regularly ask all of you to shoulder responsibility for improving your classmates' written work. Your collegial participation is worth thirty percent of your overall grade in the course.

Finally, a final examination caps the course. The exam accounts for thirty percent of your grade in the course.

To review that:

  • 40% Papers
  • 30% Collegial participation
  • 30% Final examination
Attendance in class is required, and you would be foolish to blow it off. Class meetings are an occasion for you to learn. All sorts of information will presented in class, including elaboration of the assigned texts. Announcements will be made. Films will be screened. Papers will be assigned, writing on them begun, and advice offered. You are responsible for knowing everything covered in class and for having any additional materials distributed in class. Besides, there is ordinarily a strong correlation between good class attendance and good grades in a class such as this one, not least due to the role of participation in grading. Although I will make myself available to help students outside of class, students who do not attend class meetings should not expect to be rewarded with intensive assistance. Finally, note that I reserve the right to reward students who have attended class faithfully, displayed significant effort, and made important contributions to the class.

Policy on academic dishonesty

 You are adults, attending a university. I expect you to behave responsibly. Students in this class are expected to do their own work and not to rely on the work of others. Students are welcome to work with one another to understand the material, but any student plagiarizing, cheating on an exam, aiding another student to cheat, or committing any other act of academic dishonesty will be referred for appropriate disciplinary action. Please consult with me if you have questions in this regard, either about your own work or that of another person.

Other links:

Bruce Umbaugh's Home Page or Course Info Page.

Philosophy Department home page

to the Webster University home page

Comments?

Last modified: August 25, 1998.