Part I – Foundations
Session 1: Introduction
No readings assigned.
Session 2: Objectivity
Enoch, David. “Why I am an Objectivist about Ethics (And You Are, Too).” In The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems. 3rd ed. Edited by Russ Shafer-Landau. Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780199997275.
Session 3: Objectivity, continued
Shafer-Landau, Russ. “Ten Arguments against Moral Objectivity.” Chapter 21 in The Fundamentals of Ethics. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780199773558.
Session 4: Knowledge
Rawls, John.“Outline of a Decision Procedure for Ethics.” Philosophical Review 60, no. 2 (1951): 177–97.
Session 5: Technology
Winner, Langdon. “Technologies as Forms of Life.” Chapter 1 in The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780226902111. [Preview with Google Books]
Part II – Data and Privacy
Session 6: Data Collection
Snowden, Edward. “Tokyo.” Chapter 16 in Permanent Record: A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower. Macmillan, 2019. ISBN: 9781529035650.
———. “Heartbeat.” Chapter 20 in Permanent Record: A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower. Macmillan, 2019. ISBN: 9781529035650.
Session 7: Privacy
Gavison, Ruth. “Privacy and the Limits of Law.” Yale Law Journal 89, no. 3 (1980): 421–71. (Read pages 421–40.)
Session 8: For Individuals
Gavison, Ruth. “Privacy and the Limits of Law.” Yale Law Journal 89, no. 3 (1980): 421–71. (Read pages 450–56.)
Session 9: For Society
Richards, Neil M. “The Dangers of Surveillance.” Harvard Law Review 126, no. 7 (2013): 1934–65.
Session 10: Consent, Part 1
Solove, Daniel J. “Introduction: Privacy Self-Management and the Consent Dilemma.” Harvard Law Review 126 no. 7 (2013): 1880–1903.
Session 11: Rights
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. “Claims, Privileges, and Powers.” Chapter 1 in The Realm of Rights. Harvard University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780674749498. [Preview with Google Books]
Session 12: Consent, Part 2
Mills, Kevin. “Consent and the Right to Privacy.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 39, no. 4 (2022): 721–35.
Part III – Online Manipulation
Session 13: Online Manipulation
Susser, Daniel, Beate Roessler, et al. “Technology, Autonomy, and Manipulation.” Internet Policy Review 8, no. 2 (2019): 1–22.
Session 14: Manipulation
Noggle, Robert. “Manipulative Actions: A Conceptual and Moral Analysis.” American Philosophical Quarterly 33, no. 1 (1996): 43–55
Session 15: Autonomy
Larmore, Charles. “Pluralism and Reasonable Disagreement.” Social Philosophy & Policy 11, no. 1 (1994): 61–79.
Session 16: Autonomy, continued
Mill, John Stuart Mill. “Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being.” Chapter 3 in On Liberty. 1859. Project Gutenberg.
Session 17: Advertising
Arrington, Robert L. “Advertising and Behavior Control.” Journal of Business Ethics 1 (1982): 3–12.
Session 18: Responsibility
Shiffrin, Seana Valentine. “Deceptive Advertising and Taking Responsibility for Others.” Chapter 21 in The Oxford Handbook of Food Ethics. Edited by Anne Barnhill, Mark Budolfson, and Tyler Doggett. Oxford University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780197508732.
Part IV – Disinformation and Polarization
Session 19: Misinformation and the Internet
Starr, Paul. “The Flooded Zone: How We Became More Vulnerable to Disinformation in the Digital Era.” Chapter 3 in The Disinformation Age. Edited by W. Lance Bennett and Steven Livingston. Cambridge University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781108823784. [Preview with Google Books]
Session 20: Echo Chambers
Nguyen, C. Thi. “Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles.” Episteme 17, no. 2 (2020): 141–61.
Session 21: Freedom of Speech
Mill, John Stuart Mill. “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion.” Chapter 2 in On Liberty. 1859. Project Gutenberg.
Session 22: Freedom of Speech, continued
Meiklejohn, Alexander. Chapter 1 in Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People. Oxford University Press, 1965. ISBN: 9780195004267.
Session 23: Lies
Shiffrin, Seana Valentine. “Lying and the Freedom of Speech.” Chapter 4 in Speech Matters: On Lying, Morality, and the Law. Princeton University Press, 2016, pp. 120–32, and 140–44. ISBN: 9780691173610.
Session 24: Deplatforming
Simpson, Robert Mark, and Amia Srinivasan. “No Platforming.” Chapter 11 in Academic Freedom. Edited by Jennifer Lackey. Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN: 9780198791508.
Part V – Algorithms and Justice
Session 25: Discrimination
Barocas, Solon, and Andrew D. Selbst. “Big Data’s Disparate Impact.” California Law Review 104 (2016): 671–732.
Session 26: Algorithmic Transparency
Zerilli, John, Alistair Knott, et al. “Transparency in Algorithmic and Human Decision-Making: Is There a Double Standard?” Philosophy & Technology 32 (2019): 661–83
