Course: Phenomenology and Hermeneutics

« Back
Course title Phenomenology and Hermeneutics
Course code KFI/FUFN
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 6
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course unspecified
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Schuster Radek, Mgr. Ph.D.
  • Havlík Vladimír, Doc. PhDr. CSc.
Course content
1) Natural and artificial: homunculi, thinking machines and real/unreal reality 2) AI as a paradigm: terminology and definitions, history and present 3) AI as a formal system: Turing machines and halting problem 4) AI as a formal system: Gödel's theorem and Lucas-Penrose argument 5) AI as a technology: algorithms and neural networks 6) AI as a technology: (deep) machine learning 7) AI as a language game: Turing test 8) AI as a language game: Searle's Chinese room 9) AI as a simulation of thinking: Leibniz's mill and computation of mind 10) AI as a simulation of thinking: (self) conscious, moral and emotional machines 11) AI as a simulation of reality: Descartes's evil demon and Putnam's brain in a vat 12) AI as a simulation of reality: Bostrom's simulation argument 13) AI as a futuristic vision: Kurzweil's singularity, salvation or threat

Learning activities and teaching methods
Seminar classes, Lecture
  • Graduate study programme term essay (40-50) - 40 hours per semester
  • Contact hours - 52 hours per semester
  • Presentation preparation (report) (1-10) - 10 hours per semester
  • Preparation for an examination (30-60) - 44 hours per semester
  • Preparation for comprehensive test (10-40) - 10 hours per semester
prerequisite
Knowledge
to describe main definitions, paradigms and practical uses of AI
to paraphrase key thought experiments related to AI
to explain the main theories of mind and language from the perspective of both analytic and continental philosophy
Skills
to interpret abstract philosophical texts written in English
to link the phenomenon of AI to modern philosophical thought
to evaluate critically the current technological limits of AI and lay ideas about it
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
learning outcomes
Knowledge
to explain the definitions, principles and applications of UI from the perspective of the philosophy of mind and language
to describe philosophical, ethical and religious aspects of the vision of general AI
to understand the philosophical theories of mind and language in the context of the current development of AI
Skills
to make a logical-semantic analysis of AI definitions and paradigms in various discourses
to evaluate critically the development of specialized and general AI from the point of view of philosophy, logic and ethics
to mediate a discussion on AI on the boundary of cybernetics and humanities and social sciences
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
teaching methods
Knowledge
Lecture
Textual studies
Self-study of literature
Seminar
Students' portfolio
Skills
Seminar classes
Skills demonstration
Individual study
Students' portfolio
Textual studies
Competences
Seminar
Students' portfolio
Individual study
Textual studies
assessment methods
Knowledge
Combined exam
Test
Seminar work
Individual presentation at a seminar
Skills
Skills demonstration during practicum
Individual presentation at a seminar
Seminar work
Competences
Combined exam
Individual presentation at a seminar
Skills demonstration during practicum
Recommended literature
  • BOSTROM, N. Are You Living in a Computer Simulation? In Philosophical Quarterly, 2003, Vol. 53, No. 211, 243-255.. 2003.
  • Bostrom, Nick. Superinteligence : až budou stroje chytřejší než lidé. V českém jazyce vydání první. 2017. ISBN 978-80-7260-353-4.
  • COPELAND, B. J. (Ed.). The Essential Turing. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004. ISBN 9780198250807.
  • DIAMOND, C. (Ed.). Wittgenstein's Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics. Hassocks: Harvester Press., 1976.
  • DREYFUS, H. What Computers Still Can?t Do. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992.
  • Ekbia, H. R. Artificial dreams : the quest for non-biological intelligence. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-521-70339-0.
  • Ekbia, H. R.; Nardi, Bonnie A. Heteromation, and other stories of computing and capitalism. 2017. ISBN 978-0-262-03625-2.
  • GRAU, Ch. (Ed.). Philosophers Explore The Matrix. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0195181077.
  • HAUGELAND, J. Mind Design: Philosophy, Psychology, Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981.
  • Hofstadter, Douglas R. Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid. 20th-anniversary ed. London : Penguin Books, 2000. ISBN 0-14-028920-8.
  • Kurzweil, Ray. The singularity is near : when humans transcend biology. New York : Viking, 2005. ISBN 0-670-03384-7.
  • PENROSE, R. The Emperor's New Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
  • RUSSELL, S. & NORVIG, P. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. 3rd edition.. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. ISBN 0136042597.
  • SEARLE, J. Minds, Brains and Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester