These lectures will explore different areas of our scientific and social life where Complexity has a critical impact. The lectures are delivered by researchers from ETH Zurich and abroad, with different disciplinary backgrounds. The goal is therefore to provide a pluralistic conception of Complexity from fields and topics such as sociology, climate research, AI, mathematics, philosophy etc.

Wars and conflicts show a particular complexity, which is difficult to untangle. In this lecture series presenters with different backgrounds will give talks in order to describe and solve the complexity of current and past conflicts. In subsequent seminar sessions, students will furthermore read and discuss texts related to the topics of complexity, security and war.

L-F. Céline’s Journey to the End of the Night is regarded a classic of the twentieth century. It tells a story of cruelty and misery in modern societies. We will contextualize Céline’s socially critical perspective both historically and literarily, addressing colonialism, capitalism, and the First World War. The course will also critically discuss the controversial relationship to antisemitism.

In this course, we will look at ethical problems connected to digital technologies: cyber, information, robotics and artificial intelligence. Starting from concrete examples in cyber-mobbing, disinformation campaigns, autonomous weapon systems, algorithmic biases and privacy and surveillance, etc. we will also discuss theories in ethics such as deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics etc.

In this course we read important texts in the historical development of the field of artificial intelligence, for example: Alan Turing, Warren McCulloch & Walter Pitts, John Searle's Chinese Room Argument, Ray Kurzweil's Singularity etc. The main focus of the seminar is to trace the development of the field of AI and to better understand what the concept of intelligence means in this context.

This seminar will explore different areas of our social and scientific life where computational practices have a critical impact. The goal is to provide a pluralistic conception of computing based on what computing looks like when dealing with topics as diverse as climate, law, art, or war. The lectures are delivered by researchers from ETH and abroad, with different disciplinary backgrounds.

In the course we will read, interpret and discuss classical texts from the field of philosophy of war (Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Thucydides) and focus on questions such as: what is war? Strategy and tactics in war? What is the relationship between war and politics? What are different types of warfare (war of attrition, guerrilla warfare etc.)

In this seminar, we will look at different theories in Pragmatism, used in realms such as philosophy of science and technology, social, educational and political sciences. Important topics will be the relationship between theory and practice, pluralism vs. reductionism, instrumentalism etc. We will read texts Peirce, Dewey, Holmes, Latour, Feyerabend, Poincaré etc.

Several researchers from the humanities will propose a critical yet not partisan approach to AI, aiming at elaborating a common perspective on this phenomenon. Sessions will delve into aspects of the way in which AI challenges our understanding of the human, such as “Knowledge”, “Learning”, “Language”, “Freedom” or “Justice”.

In the course we read texts from the field of artificial life. Important topics are how Alife has historically developed and how biology and technology relate to another: Can living systems be simulated adequately and what tools can be used to simulate them? More fundamental questions are: What is life? What is artificiality? etc.

Today complexity research has found an enormous expansiveness in heterogenous areas, such as physics, biology, medicine, urban complexity, environment sustainability, public policy, economics, sociology, education, computer science, robotics, AI, etc. Furthermore, we will look at historical advancements like cybernetics, and how complexity research influenced philosophical theories.

In the course we read classical texts from the field of philosophy of war (Clausewitz, Hobbes) and compare them to texts about human war against nature (James, Latour), e.g. climate change, pandemics such as Covid-19 or HIV. Important questions are: Is the concept of war only applicable to humans? Is there a difference between politics and nature? Is there a science of war? How is war experienced?