Humanities Philosophy

With the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and increasing environmental challenges, global catastrophic risks have gone beyond traditional natural disasters to raise controversial ethical issues. In view of this, the Hong Kong Catastrophic Risk Centre (HKCRC) of Lingnan University has introduced a new, free, online bilingual self-learning course on Ethics and Global Catastrophic Risks, taught by international authorities in philosophy and ethics. Designed to help people understand and cope with the complex landscape of global disaster risks through eight modules, the new programme, launched in late February this year, incorporates in-depth, real-life examples in AI, the environment, and the sciences, and has already attracted more than 8,000 participants from Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, South Asia, the US, and Europe. It is now open to the public at no charge.

The current capabilities of large language models already qualify them to advise students on medical ethics

Prof Ruby Lai Yuen-shan, Assistant Professor of the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, has partnered with two Hong Kong artists, Ms Miu Law and Mr Victor Sham Chung-tat, for an interdisciplinary collaboration. Together, they have curated the exhibition “Listening to the Stories of 118.4 Square Feet”, which highlights a selection of real-life stories from residents of subdivided units.

Watching and waiting with minimal intervention forms educational philosophy guided by balance

The delegation from the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR visited Lingnan University yesterday (8 April). Counsellor Wang Jian, Director-General of the International Department, delivered a lecture titled "Current International Situation and China’s Diplomacy". Attended by over 100 students and faculty members, the lecture provided a comprehensive analysis of the unprecedented global changes of our time and discussed the four key aspects of China's diplomacy, including its core objectives, basic principles, significant focal points, and cooperative platforms.

Insights into ethical and legal ramifications of growing brain organoids from human fetal brain tissue

What actually happens is much weirder, and may help us understand more about quantum mechanics

Riding on the success of the previous two seminar sessions, the Distinguished Scholars Seminar Series organised by Lingnan University’s School of Graduate Studies continues with the delivery of its third seminar. The seminar series takes place between November and December 2023 and features world-renowned scholars sharing their insights and expertise on various topics.

Researchers discuss whether a "brain organoid" should be treated as a person by law, and suggest the need for legal and social discussions uncoupled from debates on consciousness.

Research performed on human blastoids, a research model of an early embryo built out of stem cells, may allow scientists to understand better what causes birth defects and lost pregnancies, and so prevent them. But such research is also ethically fraught, warn bioethicists, due to differing beliefs on whether the blastoid possesses sentience or has the potential to do so.

A special issue of Horizon Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Research (JHSSR Vol.4 (S) Oct. 20212) is now published. This issue includes papers on the Covid-19 pandemic, developments in business and digital practices, changes in social media behavior in South Asia.

A research team has studied how humans react to the introduction of AI decision making. Specifically, they explored the question, “is society ready for AI ethical decision making?” by studying human interaction with autonomous cars.

Prof Darrell Rowbottom, Professor of the Department of Philosophy of Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong received “The 8th Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award (Humanities and Social Sciences) for Higher Education Institutions -- 2nd Class Award” from the Ministry of Education of the Mainland for his study about unconceived theories.

Music training does not have a positive impact on children’s cognitive skills, such as memory, and academic achievement, such as maths, reading or writing, according to a study published in Memory & Cognition.