Teaching

At the Georgia Institute of Technology

Philosophy of Technology, Spring 2025

This course considers philosophical accounts of how technologies can and should shape our understanding of politics, ethics, and daily life. After examining different theories of how society and technology shape one another, we will explore three broad topics: bio-enhancement, digital technologies, and climate change. We will use case studies to better understand real problems scientists, engineers, and citizens face when dealing with technologies. Finally, we will host a consensus conference to explore one method of regulating technology in democratic societies.

Theories of Knowledge, Spring 2025

What is knowledge, and how do we obtain it? This course will examine key issues in epistemology, the study of knowledge. Major topics will include: skepticism, a prioi and a posteriori knowledge, justification, and the scientific method. We will also consider the epistemological challenges raised by modern digital technology such as social media, simulations, virtual reality, news apps, and deepfakes.

Science, Technology and Human Values, Fall 2024

It is often assumed that science is (or should strive to be) value-free; science is a logical, empirical endeavor that should be separate from our personal viewpoints, politics, and social values. Is this true? In this course, we will place science in its social context and examine claims that values do and should guide scientific endeavors. Further, we will ask what happens when scientists "behave badly". We will consider how politics enter into science, and how science should guide our political system. Finally, we will consider the role of values in the development of technologies

Environmental Ethics, Fall 2024

The debate over climate change has brought into focus the necessity of approaching environmental concerns in an informed, confident, and collaborative manner. Climate change is not merely a technical issue– it requires ethical attention and political action. The same is true for other pressing environmental concerns, including factory farming, nuclear energy, and a variety of concerns facing the Atlanta community. We will examine a range of case studies in order to explore the ethical challenges we face in interacting with the environment. We will examine these cases collaboratively, in order to gain an appreciation for the difficulty of reaching consensus given the range of values individuals express.

At the University of Notre Dame

Ethics of Space Exploration, Spring 2022

The aim of this course is to explore the ethical and political issues surrounding space exploration and consider how past and present realities constrain our future in space. We will first survey the present state of space exploration. This will include the privatization of space travel, military investment in the space industry, space policy and law, and the state of modern space science. Then, we will look to our future in space and consider questions such as: Does climate change justify/ necessitate colonizing other worlds? What are the ethics of terraforming? What types of extraterrestrial life are worthy of ethical consideration? Will space travel replicate or exacerbate existing structural oppression, and should we pursue ‘anti-colonial’ space travel? Ultimately, students should be able to place space exploration in its social context and articulate a vision of space exploration that they believe best serves society.

The syllabus is available here.