Bush 6002

PHILOSOPHY, ETHICS
&SOCIAL IMPERATIVES
[email protected]
[email protected]
+255765253590
Office 207 Block A
 Course Description
 This course is designed to:
• Equip participants with key concepts and skills in philosophical reflection in particular ethical consideration /moral behavior in the
wider human social contexts in which professionals, such as scientists, engineers and technologists find themselves. To aid learners
to understand ethical problems by exposing them to multiple modes of thinking and reasoning.

 The principal themes to be covered include :

• Module 1: Philosophy in Sciences
• What is Philosophy?
• Science vs Philosophy in the 4IR
• Branches of philosophy
• Metaphysics (Reality)
• Logic (Algorithm)
• Epistemology (Knowledge)
• Ethics (Morality)
• Module 2: Moral Philosophy in STI
• Ethics theories
• Ontology, utilitarianism and deontology
• Ethical dilemma in STI in 4IR era

• Module 3: Ethics in Information Technology

• Ethics of Big Data
• Ethics of AI (Artificial Intelligence )
• Ethics of IoT (Internet of Things)
• Module 4: Ethics in Life Sciences
• Bioethics
• Animal ethics
• Non-human Animal ethics
• Ethics in public health
•

• Module 5: Ethics in Environmental Sciences & Socialsciences

• Ethics in climate changes (pollution)

• AI to combat Climate change
• Environmental ethical issues and possible solution
• Ethics in socials sciences
 Learning Outcome
At the end of this course, students should be able to
demonstrate competence, knowledge and skills that
enable them to:

Demonstrate philosophical appreciation of the

various interconnected sources and applications of
knowledge in society, and an understanding of the
basic concepts that are central to the analysis of
society and the various approaches to development.

Appreciate ethical and moral implications of a

professional in society as a potential leader in
innovation for social development.
Modules
Module 1:
• What is philosophy?
• What is philosophy of science and technology?
• Why do we need philosophy in the 4IR era?
 Section 1: WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
• a study of ideas about human nature in relation to the reality in
which we live.
• Philosophy: the Pursuit of Wisdom
• Philosophizing is to think or express oneself in a philosophical manner.
• Logically
• Existentialism
• Phenomenology
• Postmodern

• Philosophy is a discipline that studies what makes an argument rational,

valid or fallacious.
What is science?
• Science is viewed as a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a
body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the
operation of general laws.
Philosophy of science
• A sub-branch of epistemology.
• It studies the philosophical assumptions, foundations & implications
• It questions:
• What is science?
• Science < Scientia i.e. knowledge
• Can science lead to certainty? etc.
• Disciplines such as (sociology, history etc) can tell us how the world is.
• But these disciplines cannot tell us how we should act and live in the
world.
Philosophy of science, technology and society

• Philosophy benefits Science by clarifying the way of thinking.

• Science can describe what happens but cannot explain what things are
(foundation of reality)
• Philosophy is about thinking critically about science and technology and
its impact on the society. How S& T shape our world. E.g. 5G ,GMO,IOT
Human genome editing.
On Being Scientist
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12192.html
• You have 3 obligations:
• to honor the trust that your colleagues place in you
• an obligation to yourself. Irresponsible conduct in research can make it
impossible to achieve a goal
• to act in ways that serve the public.
 ONTOLOGY
• In experimental research the purpose is to prove that one causes the other
• They are looking for one truth---realist =one truth
• Data should be discovered and analyzed in an objective way
• They are looking at the truth from outside (etic)= etic epistemology
• They end up with quantitative research ..using deductive approach
• They start with hypothesis
Ontology in Sciences
• Ontology in Machine Learning/Data sciences
• Ontology are made up of concepts and relationships
• E.g.
• He is an African (has race)
• He is Male (has gender)
• He lives in WH (has address)
• Black ( has hair colour)
• Has DOB
• OBAMA
PHENOMONOLOGY
• Phenomenologists are observing live experiences using inductive
approach
• They conduct research for context of the experience –
• It leads to qualitative research ( conducting interviews)
 Why philosophy matters in the 4IR era?
Take note of the following 2023 cases:

AI-generated abstracts fool scientists

The artificial-intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT can write fake abstracts that scientists have trouble distinguishing
from those written by humans. The chatbot was asked to create 50 abstracts on the basis of the titles of articles in
five high-impact medical journals. Reviewers spotted only 68% of the ChatGPT abstracts —
performing roughly the same as AI-detector software. Researchers are divided over the implications: some find it
worrying, but others think that serious scientists are unlikely to use AI-generated abstracts.
Nature | 4 min read
Reference: bioRxiv paper (not peer-reviewed)

Henrietta Lacks' cancer cells were the first cloned outside the human body and have been instrumental in medical
breakthroughs around the world. Scientists have called her the "mother of modern medicine".
But her own children say those cells were stolen without her consent or compensation and they have spent
decades fighting for their mother's recognition.
Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR)
• The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is a way of describing the
blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological
worlds.
• These are three major technological drivers for the Fourth Industrial
Revolution.
• It is driven by four specific technological developments:
• high-speed mobile Internet,
• AI and automation,
• the use of big data analytics,
• and cloud technology
• https://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/fourth-industrial-revolution-shaping-ne
w-era
Technological drivers for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Technology drivers Fields

Digital IoT, AI, Big data, Cloud computing

Physical Autonomous Cars, 3D printing

Biological Genetic Engineering

Neurotechnology
4IR as an opportunity
• 4IR transforms business and jobs faster than workers can adapt.
• We need to reimagine 4IR as a unique opportunity to be welcomed,
not a problem to be confronted.
 Key Branches of Philosophy

• Metaphysics – the theory of reality

• Epistemology – the theory of knowledge
• Logic- the procedures of formal reasoning and
formal arguments
• Ethics– the theory of moral values
Metaphysics:

the nature of soul:

 What is a person?
 What makes a person the way he/she is?
 Is there a God?
 What is truth?
 Do people have minds?
 If so, how is the mind related to the body?
 Do people have free wills?
 Is the world strictly composed of matter?
Epistemology:

• Episteme= knowledge
• What does it mean to know?
• Are there some things that humans can never
know?
• Are there things that humans can know with
certainty?
• How do you know?
 Logic:

 What constitutes "good" or "bad" reasoning?

 How do we determine whether a given piece of
reasoning is good or bad?
• The rules that govern what you can conclude from the
scientific method, mathematical proofs, political
arguments and statistical studies are built out of logic
and philosophy.
• Without logic we cannot know what has been proven or
what we irrationally accept just because we like.
 Ethics:

 What is good? What makes actions or people good?

 What is right? What makes actions right?
 Is morality objective or subjective?
 How should I treat others?
• Ethics = Systematic reflections on moral views and standards
(values and norms) and how one should assess actions,
institutions and character traits.
WHY DO WE NEED PHILOSOPHY?
• TRUTH or REALITY
• Philosophy is the only discipline that studies truth itself and what we can
know.
• Science studies theory that best fits the evidence
• Law studies what can be proven in a courtroom
• History studies the explanations that best explain our historical evidence
and sources.
• Economics and political science may disagree on the way that government
should act but philosophy studies what is right and just
• Philosophy can settle disagreements about truth and justice
• Only philosophy studies what is really true, and how we can know it.
• Philosophy is essential to the study of right and wrong.
Philosophy and your disciplines today
• What is your discipline?
• How is philosophy contribute to your discipline?