Last modified: 12 Aug 2024 15:46
Will uploading be the route to eternal life? Should you do it? Would you survive, or just a copy of you? Gaming worlds are (almost) free of ethical responsibility: will virtual worlds be, too? Would you choose to live in a virtual world? How can you know you are not now living in one? Can virtual environments make the ‘real’ world better world? Can they aid education? Can they improve the lives of those in care settings? These are some of the profound and urgent questions we will engage with.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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The Metaverse is currently limited by its technology but there is no doubt that in the future we will increasingly inhabit some form of virtual world(s). Such a possibility raises fascinating philosophical questions. Will uploading be the route to eternal life? Should you do it? Would you survive, or just a copy of you? Gaming worlds are (almost) free of ethical responsibility: will virtual worlds be, too? Would you choose to live in a virtual world? How can you know you are not now living in one? Can virtual environments make the ‘real’ world better world? Can they aid education? Can they improve the lives of those in care settings? These are some of the profound and urgent questions we will engage with.
The course will be taught in a lecture and tutorial format with one reading assigned each week. The lecture will cover and expand on the set reading. In the tutorial we will discuss the issues raised by the reading and in the lecture. No computer science or philosophy background is required.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 32 | Feedback Weeks | 35 | |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen’s SafeAssign system. |
Word Count | 500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire and demonstrate knowledge of the key ethical and metaphysical concerns and puzzles in the areas of the philosophy of virtual worlds. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire an understanding of the philosophical literature relevant to the topic of the philosophy of virtual worlds |
| Procedural | Create | Learn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical thinking skills and use them to identity the arguments in the philosophical literature on virtual worlds and to engage critically with those arguments. |
| Reflection | Create | Develop proficiency in written and oral communications skills through class participation and the completion of assessments. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 75 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 38 | Feedback Weeks | ||
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen’s SafeAssign system |
Word Count | 3500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire an understanding of the philosophical literature relevant to the topic of the philosophy of virtual worlds |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire and demonstrate knowledge of the key ethical and metaphysical concerns and puzzles in the areas of the philosophy of virtual worlds. |
| Procedural | Create | Learn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical thinking skills and use them to identity the arguments in the philosophical literature on virtual worlds and to engage critically with those arguments. |
| Reflection | Create | Develop proficiency in written and oral communications skills through class participation and the completion of assessments. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reflection | Create | Develop proficiency in written and oral communications skills through class participation and the completion of assessments. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire and demonstrate knowledge of the key ethical and metaphysical concerns and puzzles in the areas of the philosophy of virtual worlds. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire an understanding of the philosophical literature relevant to the topic of the philosophy of virtual worlds |
| Procedural | Create | Learn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical thinking skills and use them to identity the arguments in the philosophical literature on virtual worlds and to engage critically with those arguments. |
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