Animals, Machines, and Human Beings: From Aristotle to AI

This course examines fundamental concepts of life, agency, and personhood, with a specific focus on how these concepts connect with technology and the good life. We will engage with a variety of thinkers from ancient and medieval (e.g., Aristotle, Aquinas) to modern and contemporary ones (e.g., Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, Albert Borgmann). Our guiding aim will be to understand better the nature of human persons, in order to orient our quest to live well. Wewill examine questions such as: What distinguishes living things from non-living ones? How are humans both similar to, and different from, other animals? Are humans and other animals simply complex machines and if not, why not?How does the human use of tools, and our creation of enduring artifacts, shape our form of life? In what ways can technologies either support or undermine goods like friendship, meaningful work, or the experience of natural beauty? What ethical principles and practices should guide us, as individuals and as communities, as we engage with new AI technologies?