What is democracy? Who invented it? Does it work? In part 1 we will compare Ancient Athenian democracy with NZ democracy. A key part of our exploration will be examining Plato’s criticism of democracy. An issue related to Plato's criticism is the notion of knowledge. What is it? Do we know the things we think we do? Where does knowledge come from? We will focus on fake news and disinformation, and connect these to our ability to participate effectively in democracy. Believe it or not, the Ancient Athenians also had problems with fake news.
In part 2 we will examine the notion of freewill and how it connects to the nature of the human mind. Do we have freewill, or are our actions causally determined? What is a mind? What is a self? Answers to these questions are fundamental to understanding what exactly it is to be a conscious human being. But can we answer them? This will continue into Term 4.
Assessment:
33140 - Demonstrate knowledge of fake online information - 3 Credits, Level 1
33141 - Evaluate fake online information - 4 Credits, Level 2