Ethics and risk. This project aims to develop a theory of risk. From the extreme to the everyday, from warfare to the drive to work, the modern world is unimaginable without mutual imposition of risk. Philosophers must explain how risks can be justified, or risk irrelevance. This project will use the tools of ethics (the study of right and wrong action) and decision theory (the study of rational decision-making under uncertainty) to develop a comprehensive theory of the ethics of risk. This proj ....Ethics and risk. This project aims to develop a theory of risk. From the extreme to the everyday, from warfare to the drive to work, the modern world is unimaginable without mutual imposition of risk. Philosophers must explain how risks can be justified, or risk irrelevance. This project will use the tools of ethics (the study of right and wrong action) and decision theory (the study of rational decision-making under uncertainty) to develop a comprehensive theory of the ethics of risk. This project is expected to improve understanding of the risks people impose on others as individuals and as a society.Read moreRead less
Ethics, responsibility and the carbon budget. This project aims to provide a rigorous ethical framework for dividing the world’s remaining ‘carbon budget’ (CB). In order to avoid climate change the world must drastically limit its emissions of greenhouse gases. The project will develop a new analysis of how our assumptions concerning risk and harm shape conception of the CB. It will also provide a new understanding of how future emission rights should be allocated given that countries have emitt ....Ethics, responsibility and the carbon budget. This project aims to provide a rigorous ethical framework for dividing the world’s remaining ‘carbon budget’ (CB). In order to avoid climate change the world must drastically limit its emissions of greenhouse gases. The project will develop a new analysis of how our assumptions concerning risk and harm shape conception of the CB. It will also provide a new understanding of how future emission rights should be allocated given that countries have emitted vastly different quantities of greenhouse gases in the past. The project will analyse how the CB will impact the climate transition plans of countries such as Australia. The project will thus bring significant new research in philosophy to bear on a practical issue.Read moreRead less
Place, Commonality and the Human: Towards a New Philosophical Anthropology. This project proposes a new philosophical vision of what it means to be human. Combining historical and conceptual approaches, the project aims to develop a new philosophical anthropology that centres on understanding human beings in terms of both place and commonality. This account is designed to provide the basis for a rethought conception of the ethics that are bound to human life and that understands the ethical as e ....Place, Commonality and the Human: Towards a New Philosophical Anthropology. This project proposes a new philosophical vision of what it means to be human. Combining historical and conceptual approaches, the project aims to develop a new philosophical anthropology that centres on understanding human beings in terms of both place and commonality. This account is designed to provide the basis for a rethought conception of the ethics that are bound to human life and that understands the ethical as essentially a matter of judgment rather than prescriptive rule. Given the centrality of the concept of the human to any thinking about our contemporary situation, the project would have both applied and interdisciplinary relevance.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100719
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,478.00
Summary
Hate speech against women online. This project aims to theorise online gendered hate speech against women. Women are subjected to many forms of attack online. This project will expand Australia’s knowledge base on the persistent problem of online gendered hate speech, and advance research in cybersecurity. The project expects to provide new understandings of this social issue, and nuanced evaluations of legal and extra-legal responses to determine which can be justified and which are most effect ....Hate speech against women online. This project aims to theorise online gendered hate speech against women. Women are subjected to many forms of attack online. This project will expand Australia’s knowledge base on the persistent problem of online gendered hate speech, and advance research in cybersecurity. The project expects to provide new understandings of this social issue, and nuanced evaluations of legal and extra-legal responses to determine which can be justified and which are most effective. The project will provide international and national benefits, serving Australia’s social and cultural commitment to women’s equality and to improved cybersecurity.Read moreRead less
A Unified Theory of 'If's. This project aims to develop a unified theory of ‘if’s. Our understanding of an uncertain and risky world requires hypothetical reasoning involving ‘if’s. They are significant theoretically: in science, history, politics, economics, psychology, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy. They are significant practically: in our planning, decision-making, policy priorities, legal judgments, environmental and medical interventions. Yet we lack a comprehensive, readily ....A Unified Theory of 'If's. This project aims to develop a unified theory of ‘if’s. Our understanding of an uncertain and risky world requires hypothetical reasoning involving ‘if’s. They are significant theoretically: in science, history, politics, economics, psychology, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy. They are significant practically: in our planning, decision-making, policy priorities, legal judgments, environmental and medical interventions. Yet we lack a comprehensive, readily implementable theory of ‘if’s. The project expects to provide such a theory, based on probability, improving on approaches from philosophy and linguistics, and benefitting both these fields. It also promises significant benefits for artificial intelligence/machine learning.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100473
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,434.00
Summary
The invention of collateral damage and the changing moral economy of war. This project aims to provide a novel philosophical account of the invention of the concept of collateral damage in war. It seeks to understand the historical and institutional processes that have produced a moral distinction between deliberate harm inflicted on non-combatants, and the non-intentional harm that is seen as an inevitable side effect of modern warfare. Drawing on archival material and military manuals, and com ....The invention of collateral damage and the changing moral economy of war. This project aims to provide a novel philosophical account of the invention of the concept of collateral damage in war. It seeks to understand the historical and institutional processes that have produced a moral distinction between deliberate harm inflicted on non-combatants, and the non-intentional harm that is seen as an inevitable side effect of modern warfare. Drawing on archival material and military manuals, and combining insights from the history of human rights and contemporary European political philosophy, the project aims to produce a sophisticated philosophical framework for understanding the social and political implications of conceiving civilian deaths as collateral damage to contribute to public debate about the human costs of war.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100001
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$383,183.00
Summary
Buddhist ethics and moral psychology. This project aims to investigate the ethical and moral psychological foundations of Buddhist thought. It aims to critically analyse the theoretical differences between Buddhist philosophical traditions to reveal a plurality of theoretical grounds on which Western thinkers can embrace Buddhist insights. The project is expected to advance intellectual engagement between Buddhist and Western ethicists, and to demonstrate the importance of a collaborative, inter ....Buddhist ethics and moral psychology. This project aims to investigate the ethical and moral psychological foundations of Buddhist thought. It aims to critically analyse the theoretical differences between Buddhist philosophical traditions to reveal a plurality of theoretical grounds on which Western thinkers can embrace Buddhist insights. The project is expected to advance intellectual engagement between Buddhist and Western ethicists, and to demonstrate the importance of a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to global philosophy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101413
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,216.00
Summary
Organisations' Wrongdoing: from Metaphysics to Practice. This project aims to explain how organisations can do wrong and apply this explanation to the Banking Royal Commission and Paris Climate Agreement. The project expects to use the methods of analytic philosophy and law to contribute to, and integrate, three increasingly isolated fields: metaphysics, moral philosophy, and law. Expected outcomes include a much-improved scholarly, legal, and public understanding of how organisations exist, per ....Organisations' Wrongdoing: from Metaphysics to Practice. This project aims to explain how organisations can do wrong and apply this explanation to the Banking Royal Commission and Paris Climate Agreement. The project expects to use the methods of analytic philosophy and law to contribute to, and integrate, three increasingly isolated fields: metaphysics, moral philosophy, and law. Expected outcomes include a much-improved scholarly, legal, and public understanding of how organisations exist, persist, act, have characters, and can be punished—as distinct from the individuals on whom they depend, and despite the fact that we cannot see or touch organisations. This should provide significant benefits, such as guiding commercial, legislative, and regulatory responses to organisational wrongdoing.Read moreRead less
Making Better Decisions: An Investigation of Time-Biases. The aim of this project is to empirically and normatively evaluate two kinds of time-biases.
Using an interdisciplinary approach, this project will empirically investigate near-bias and future-bias in a unified manner, and use this data to inform theorising about the rationality of time-biased preferences. The project will yield a rich account of the conditions under which we display time-biases and the likely mechanisms that underlie th ....Making Better Decisions: An Investigation of Time-Biases. The aim of this project is to empirically and normatively evaluate two kinds of time-biases.
Using an interdisciplinary approach, this project will empirically investigate near-bias and future-bias in a unified manner, and use this data to inform theorising about the rationality of time-biased preferences. The project will yield a rich account of the conditions under which we display time-biases and the likely mechanisms that underlie them.
This project will determine whether, and when, time-biased preferences lead to sub-optimal outcomes, and lay the groundwork for determining which strategies mitigate these biases, leading to better decisions and outcomes.Read moreRead less
The Ethics of Net Zero. This project aims to provide the first systematic study of key ethical issues connected to the adoption of net zero targets—pledges to make no net addition to the global atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. It expects to fill a significant knowledge gap, by addressing the full range of ethical questions raised by the adoption, promotion, and coordination of net zero targets by national and subnational climate actors. Expected outcomes of the project include deta ....The Ethics of Net Zero. This project aims to provide the first systematic study of key ethical issues connected to the adoption of net zero targets—pledges to make no net addition to the global atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. It expects to fill a significant knowledge gap, by addressing the full range of ethical questions raised by the adoption, promotion, and coordination of net zero targets by national and subnational climate actors. Expected outcomes of the project include detailed guidelines for determining ethically sound net zero policy and practice. The project should provide significant benefits to stakeholders in the government, corporate and NGO sectors, including best practice advice on the setting and implementation of net zero targets.Read moreRead less