This module explores the complex and somewhat elusive concept of intelligence, how it has been theorised across a range of academic disciplines and historico-cultural contexts, and how it is represented in literature, film, television and culture. While contemporary psychological discourse on the nature and mechanisms of intelligence abounds, there is not a consistent or widely studied account of it as a cultural or philosophical concept, although thinkers in the arts and humanities have reflected since ancient times in different ways on its many sister terms, including wisdom, intellect, understanding, rationality, and others. In the age of global warming, artificial intelligence, ubiquitous “smart” devices and networked infrastructure, the question “what is intelligence?” takes on new and different urgency. The 21st century is confronting us with unprecedented global crises, arguably brought about by human ambition and the pursuit of progress, a pursuit partly underpinned by so-called intelligent thinking.On this module, you will examine various conceptions of intelligence and closely related terms to reflect on how we have represented humans’ place in the order of the world, our ambitions, and perceived capabilities. You will read and watch philosophical, literary, and cinematic texts that cover topics such as: ancient conceptions of intellect, wisdom and logic; divine order and the cosmos; modernity and the production of the rational human; originality and genius; the Intelligence Quotient, "idiocy" and cognitive disability; non-human intelligence, including that of plants, animals, fungi, and ecological systems; and artificial intelligence and machine learning. This module seeks to reflect on some of humanity’s deepest and most pressing questions about who we think we are, how we relate to the world around us, and where we think we are headed.