This course offers a rigorous, problem-focused exploration of pressing contemporary issues, designed to equip students with the critical tools necessary to engage confidently and insightfully in current philosophical debates. Aligned with the liberal arts emphasis on practical application and the university’s strategic directions, PHIL 250 centers on foundational questions of mind, language, and recognition in an increasingly globalized and complex world.nnThe curriculum is structured around two key modules. Module 1: Consciousness, Mind, Language, and AI, explores the nature of consciousness, cognition, and personal identity by engaging with debates on dualism, physicalism, and functionalism. Students analyze pivotal thought experiments such as Searle’s Chinese Room, Nagel’s “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?”, and Descartes’ Meditations, connecting these concepts to the cognitive limits of artificial intelligence and contemporary computing.nnModule 2: The Problem of the Other – Intersubjective Recognition, investigates how interpretation and recognition function within diverse, volatile social contexts. Drawing on hermeneutic approaches, including frameworks developed by Paul Ricoeur, and recognition theory from scholars like Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth, the module addresses the complexities of understanding the “other”. Key issues, such as social cynicism and intersubjectivity, are examined using cultural examples like the film “Don’t Look Up,” highlighting challenges posed by a global oversaturation of narrative and discourse.nnUpon completion, students will be able to apply philosophical frameworks to analyze issues of identity, AI, and social recognition, and construct original philosophical arguments that extend historical debates to address present-day concerns. This high-impact course fulfills the second PHIL-II requirement for the Habib Liberal Core.
