The course will provide an overview of philosophical questions about intellectual autonomy, our ability to govern ourselves as thinkers. “Thinking for yourself” is a traditional educational emphasis; but recent history has also dramatized the risks of “doing your own research” instead of trusting experts on topics from climate change to vaccine risks to election outcomes. Meanwhile, the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT illustrates the possibility of “outsourcing” some of our thinking to technology; and problems of misinformation press us to consider how individuals and governments can permissibly shape people’s intellectual behavior. This course brings these topics into perspective by considering how the value of intellectual autonomy relates to our dependence on other people, labor-saving tools, and healthy informational environments.
Recommended experience
What you'll learn
Examine the ethical dimensions of governmental nudges and other ways of managing the intellectual environment
Acquire intellectual skills applicable in daily life when confronted with testimony, options for cognitive offloading, and persuasive techniques
Develop a deeper understanding of intellectual autonomy and its value, as well as the benefits and risks of intellectual reliance on others.
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February 2025
9 assignments
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There are 4 modules in this course
An introduction to the idea of intellectual autonomy and its possible benefits and drawbacks, along with an overview of the remaining course modules.
What's included
3 videos3 readings2 assignments3 discussion prompts
An overview of the epistemology of testimony—i.e. of believing what other people tell you—as a site for negotiating intellectual autonomy. Special attention is given to problems of "expert" testimony.
What's included
4 videos4 readings2 assignments3 discussion prompts
This section explores the relation between intellectual autonomy and strategies for cognitive offloading.
What's included
3 videos5 readings3 assignments2 discussion prompts
In this section the focus moves from how we can value and preserve our own intellectual autonomy to how intellectual autonomy is respected when we are persuaded.
What's included
4 videos6 readings2 assignments3 discussion prompts
Instructor
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Frequently asked questions
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