PhD position Improving ethical analysis through better theories of the moral role of technological products and systems (EXPIRED)

Vacancy PhD researcher (Full time, 4 years):

Improving ethical analysis through better theories of the moral role of technological products and systems

Application deadline:  May 3rd, 2023

Expected start date: September 1st, 2023

The Challenge

The central question of this project is how we can conceptualize the moral role of technological products and systems, and what implications this conceptualization may have for ethical analysis. The aim is to develop new theories and approaches for analyzing the moral role of technology.

One of the key challenges of ethical analysis in the context of technology is the question of whether technological products are only instruments that modify human moral action, or whether they can be characterized as moral agents or co-agents in their own right. For instance, what is the moral role of guns in causing harm? While humans ultimately pull the trigger, guns have affordances that make killing much easier, with less risk for the shooter.  Similarly, what is the role of self-driving cars in causing harm or violating rights? Here, a human operator is not even directly involved. Should we therefore assign moral responsibility to self-driving cars? And how should ethical analysis proceed?  Current approaches in ethics of technology often do not have good answers to these questions.

In addition to analyzing individual technological products with individual users, this project will also focus on larger systems with multiple technological components and human operators. Such systems include both sociotechnical systems – predominantly technical systems with human operators and enablers, such as electricity networks, industrial production systems, and the Internet – and technosocial systems – predominantly social systems that rely on technology, such as modern organizations and associations.  The project will investigate how we can describe the moral role of these systems, how they produce moral outcomes, and how we can attribute causal and moral responsibility to humans and machines in them.

To achieve these goals, the project will study existing approaches in ethics, especially ethics of technology, to make explicit what roles are assigned to technology and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. Existing conceptualizations of technological products can also be explored, in the fields of philosophy of technology, science and technology studies (STS), technology assessment, and/or impact assessment.

The project will be mostly theoretical, but it will also involve a number of case studies of particular technologies that are to be selected by the PhD student, in consultation with supervisors, for example of autonomous vehicles, Internet-of-Things, human enhancement technologies, or any others that are deemed useful for the study.

This project is funded by the ESDiT research program and will be located within the Department of Philosophy at the University of Twente. For description of both, see below. It will be supervised by Prof. dr. Philip Brey and dr. Adam Henschke at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Twente.

Qualifications

We are looking for a PhD candidate who satisfies the following requirements:

• Completed masters in philosophy, preferably in normative ethics, applied ethics, metaethics, ethics of technology or philosophy of technology.
• Excellent speaking and writing skills in English
• An enthusiasm for combining rigorous theoretical work with practical applications
• An aptitude for independent work
• Not required, but a background in interdisciplinary approaches to technology (STS, technology assessment, impact assessment, etc.) is a plus.

We Offer

The UT provides a dynamic and international environment, combining the benefits of academic research with a topic of high relevance to public and health administration, excellent working conditions, a stimulating scientific environment, and a green and friendly campus. We offer:

• A personal development program within the Twente Graduate School, combined with excellent mentorship
• A gross monthly salary of € 2,541 in the first year, growing each year up to € 3,247 in the fourth year 
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, and a year-end bonus of 8.3%
• A minimum of 29 holidays per year in case of full-time employment;
• International applicants are likely to qualify for a low 30% tax regime for the first five years of their appointment.
• You are encouraged to spend a semester abroad, a generous budget is available for this and for conference travel

Full status as an employee at the UT, including pension and health care benefits.

How to Apply

Your application should include a CV, a letter of application (including a summary of relevant experience, motivation for pursuing the research, and contact information for two academic references), and a writing sample of 5-8,000 words, to be received no later than May 3rd , 2023.  Please upload documents at:  https://utwentecareers.nl/en/vacancies/1172/phd-improving-ethical-analysis-through-better-theories-of-the-moral-role-of-technological-products-and-systems/.  Interviews will take place early May. The expected start date is September 1st, 2023.

A longer description of the project can be found at https://www.esdit.nl/2023/phd-position-ethical-analysis-better-theories.  For more information, please contact Philip Brey ([email protected]).   

About the department of philosophy and ESDiT

The department of philosophy at the University of Twente (https://www.utwente.nl/bms/wijsb/), with over forty members, is internationally leading in the philosophy and ethics of technology. At the latest research evaluation of philosophy programs in the Netherlands, it ranked highest in the area of ethics and practical philosophy. The department participates in the interuniversity 4TU.Center for Ethics and Technology (www.ethicsandtechnology.eu). Both the department and the Center have a strong international orientation and include members from many different nationalities. The department's research has a strong focus on ethics of emerging technologies and their impact on society, the philosophy of human-technology relations, and the philosophy of engineering and social science.

You will also be part of the ESDiT research community. Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies (ESDiT) is a 10-year long (2020-2030) international research program of 7 academic institutions in the Netherlands (TU/e, TUDelft, Utrecht University, UMC Utrecht, University of Twente, Leiden University, and Wageningen University & Research). ESDiT engages in breakthrough research at the intersections of ethics, philosophy, technology, engineering and social sciences. The consortium has over 100 researchers (PhDs, postdocs, professors, doctors) working on themes in the ethics and philosophy of technology in the Netherlands. ESDiT comes with unique mentoring and career development opportunities for PhD students in the program.

Equal opportunity employer

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our university and highly encourage people from underrepresented groups in philosophy to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.