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I'm standing in the heart of Edinburgh's old town at a busy time
just after the festival's finished, but
there's still lots of tourists buzzing around.
I'm here to look at the statue of David Hume.
David Hume is one of the
University of Edinburgh's most illustrious former students.
He came to the university when he was only 12, and
he stayed for three or four years, so he didn't actually graduate.
I wonder what he would have made of
today's educational opportunities such as MOOCs and e-learning.
Hume's dressed in a philosopher's toga, a controversial
feature of the work of neoclassical sculptor Sandy Stoddart.
Some critics say that it's not appropriate dress for Edinburgh
weather, others say it's not appropriate dress for a Scottish philosopher.
But Sandy Stoddart wanted to represent the timelessness of philosophy.
When
I studied philosophy long before this statue was produced, our image of
Hume was a bit different, perhaps more in keeping with his time.
Although he lived 300 years ago, the philosopher David Hume still
has a major influence on our thinking and our educational practices today.
Like us, he lived at a time
of considerable change, because of science and technology.
Then, too, there was a need to rethink some fundamental ideas.
Hume was a leading philosopher in the Scottish Enlightenment, this movement
influenced thinking, not just in Scotland, but all over the world.
In particular, it reasserted the human perspective, in preference
to metaphysical or supernatural views of knowledge and reasoning.
The Scottish version of the Enlightenment
was optimistic about humans being able to control their own destiny.
Access to education was key to achieving Enlightenment ideals.
But is the humanist approach to education going to
meet the needs of e-learning in the 21st century.
We'll be thinking about humanism in week three.
Hume was an empiricist, that is, he
believed that knowledge comes mainly from sensory experience.
He saw a place for reason as
well, especially for dealing with quantities and mathematics.
So what would Hume have made of the utopias and dystopias
we've been thinking about in our first block of the EDC MOOC?
He was scathing about utopias, he saw them
as merely imaginary and impracticable because of human nature.
And I think he'd have recognized the premise of
the dystopian movie, The Matrix, where humans live
in a simulated world with all their senses deceived.
Hume would have seen this as extreme skepticism.
Like René Descartes' idea that the world might
just be imaginary, created by an evil demon.
We can't use reason, or experience to confirm or
deny such positions, so they've no utility for human beings.
Hume said we shouldn't waste time or make ourselves
gloomy with ideas for which we've got no evidence.
If our knowledge comes mainly or wholly from sensory experience, what does it
mean for humans if we then extend those senses through the use of technology?
Can we hang on to Hume's ideas
about valuing what's important and useful for humans?
Or are we reaching the stage where we're pushing
at the boundaries of what a human being actually is?
This is the main theme of our second block,
which is entitled Being Human.
Block two asks some difficult questions from two
different perspectives on what it means to be human.
In week three, we explore the impact of technology on humanism.
During this week, we'll encounter reasonings
for questioning the category human, and that
will lead us to consider the post human perspective highlighted during week four.
Here are two broad questions then for you
to think about as you watch the videos and do the readings for week three.
Question one, how do we define human?
Does it change if we extend our senses or recognize that other creatures
also have characteristics that we previously
thought only belonged to our own species?
Question two, how much of a human presence does an online course need?
Is this different or
special for MOOCs?
You'll find more questions in the discussion forums,
and I'm sure you'll have plenty of your own.
As well as watching, reading, discussing, blogging and so on, we'd
like you to experiment with a visual way of representing your understanding.
It's not compulsory, but it's good practice for
the final assignment, and we've got prizes, too.
You'll find details
on the site.
Sandy Stoddart left Hume's big toe sticking out, and philosophy students
come along to give it a rub before their exams for luck.
I think Hume himself would have thought this was a load of
superstitious nonsense, but I think he would have understood why they do it.
Here's a wee rub just for luck for you in our competition.