Moral Psychology and Technology

The Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW) and the TU Delft invite all ReMa and PhD students to participate in the course Moral Psychology and Technology, taking place October 21-25 in Delft.

Organizing university

TU Delft

Date(s)

October 21-25, 2019

Location

The Boardroom of the Faculteit Techniek, Bestuur en Management (TBM) Gebouw 31, located at Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX Delft.

Type of activity

Course/Seminar

Type of activity

4 ECTS: To earn these credit points, participants must prepare for all meetings by reading the materials assigned, attend all course days, give a presentation, and write a research paper.

Primary target group

PhD Students

If places available, also open to

ReMa students

Application/registration deadline

October 1st, 2019

About the topic

Moral psychology is a growing field of interdisciplinary research that draws on both normative reflection and theorizing in philosophy and empirical research and modeling in psychology and other social sciences. Increasingly, technology is involved in moral psychological phenomena both as a measurement device (e.g., self-tracking tools) and as an ameliorative intervention. This increased integration of mind and machine raises multiple questions that can only be addressed by ethical reflection.

Aim / objective

Students will come to understand many of the main concepts and theories in contemporary moral psychology. In addition, they will learn to criticize methodologies and analyses in the empirical literature. Those who take the course for credit will also become acquainted in depth with a cutting-edge problem in moral psychology and receive feedback from both the instructor and at least one other expert in the field.

Program

This course is an accelerated introduction to the field of moral psychology, understood as the empirically- and philosophically-informed study of human conduct in morally-relevant contexts. The course will be structured around Mark Alfano’s monograph, Moral Psychology: An Introduction; all enrollees will receive a free copy. Further readings (articles and chapters) will also be assigned. Program:
1. Day one: wellbeing
2. Day two: responsibility
3. Day three: emotion
4. Day four: character and virtue
5. Day five: moral disagreement
Guest lecturers with expertise in philosophy, psychology, anthropology, and potentially some other fields will enrich the course. Students who wish to receive credit for the course will conceive a paper during the seminar, then write and submit it to the instructor within six weeks.

Lecturers

TBA

Required preparations

The participants are expected to read all the assigned literature, to do assignments, to actively participate in the discussions, and (optionally) to write a paper at the end of the course.

Certificate / credit points

4 ECTS: To earn these credit points, participants must prepare for all meetings by reading the materials assigned, attend all course days, give a presentation, and write a research paper.

Costs

The course is free for:

  • 2nd year research master students in philosophy at a Dutch university;
  • PhD students who are a member of the OZSW.

All other students pay a fee of €250,-

Location / accommodation details

Participants are required to arrange their own accommodation, if needed.

How to apply / register

Please fill out the registration form below. The deadline for application is October 1st, 2019.

In case of too many applications, the coordinator of the course will make a selection. In general, priority will be given to OZSW PhD students over ReMa students and philosophy ReMa students over external applicants. A decision of acceptance/rejection for this course will be sent by October 10th.

Registration/application form

Organizers

Mark Alfano, TU Delft

Contact info

For further information related to the contents of this course, please contact the coordinator Mark Alfano at the following e-mail address: mark.alfano@gmail.com. For practical inquiries, please contact secretariaat@ozsw.onmicrosoft.com.