Humanities and Social Science Program

Beyond the Black Mirror: Philosophy and Ethics of Technology

Faculty Advisor: Professor of Global Liberal Studies, New York University in Paris

Research Program Introduction

The question concerning technology has less to do with algorithms, bots, and machines than with what it means to be human and, more specifically, what constitutes the good life, or what it means to truly “flourish.” This is less an empirical issue than a deeply ethical and moral one, which asks us to reflect on how technologies are changing the way we think, feel, relate to others, understand ourselves, and engage with the larger nexus of self, culture, and society. This course explores the philosophy and ethics of technological life, from surveillance and social media to artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and climate change.

Among the most urgent questions we ask: Who owns your mind? Are your desires your own, or are they being shaped by algorithms? When does connection become surveillance, and self-improvement become self-exploitation? Can a chatbot be a friend, a therapist, or even a partner? Would you choose a satisfying simulation over an uncomfortable reality? Are we “using machines,” or are “machines making us more machinic”?

Drawing on thinkers including Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, Byung-Chul Han, Jean Baudrillard, and Guy Debord, alongside films such as The Matrix, students will investigate how technologies shape power, desire, identity, and freedom. Through discussion and an independent research paper, they will explore what it means to be human in a world increasingly organized by machines.

Possible Topics For Final Project

  • Who owns your mind?

  • Where does the human end and technology begin?

  • Is a simulated life less meaningful?

  • Can technological progress make us less free?

  • Can technology solve the climate crisis without changing how we live?

  • When does self-improvement become self-exploitation?

  • Are we living our lives or performing them?

  • What happens when students outsource thinking to AI?

  • Can a chatbot be your friend?

  • Should a university monitor its students for their own good?

  • Can a machine make music that means something?

  • Posthuman quandaries: Do you want to live forever

  • Posthuman quandaries: Would you want a brain chip that makes you feel good all day?

  • Other topics approved by the Faculty Advisor

Program Detail

  • Cohort size: 3 to 6 students

  • Duration: 12 weeks

  • Workload: Around 4 to 5 hours per week (including class and homework time)

  • Target students: 9 to 12th-grade students interested in Philosophy, Media Studies, Psychology, Social Theory, Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or other related areas in the humanities and social sciences.