Postdoc: Mutual Justification and Disruptive

2 weken geleden

Utrecht, Utrecht, Nederland Universiteit Utrecht Voltijd

The Ethics Institute of Utrecht University's Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies seeks a researcher for a 3-year, full-time postdoctoral project "_Mutual Justification and Disruptive Technology_", as part of the inter-university Gravitation consortium _Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technology (ESDiT)_.


Your job:


We are looking for a philosopher with expertise in normative ethics, metaethics, or methodologies of applied ethics who is interested in pursuing independent research and other activities related to the following project, based at Utrecht University, as part of the multi-university research consortium, "Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies".


A key part of what makes the emergence of new technologies particularly disruptive is the moral disorientation and uncertainty that they often produce.

Socially disruptive technologies can challenge the applicability of established principles to changed circumstances, the foreseeability of future consequences, and even the viability of key ethical concepts, leading to uncertainty, instability, and ambiguity about ethical judgments and intuitions.

Ethicists of technology have extensive experience analyzing such situations of uncertainty, indeterminacy, disorientation, and unforeseeable change.

Their approaches frequently emphasise contextual, empirical, and engaged perspectives and focus on developing pragmatic procedures for restoring mutually agreed upon basis for social cooperation, with an emphasis on socially responsive policy, stakeholder engagement, and ethics by design.

At the same time, these pragmatic, procedural approaches to restoring moral orientation or building consensus regarding contested issues regularly give rise to questions about the extent to which the resulting _de facto_ agreements represent instances of genuine justification.


This postdoctoral position will be part of the _Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies_ programme, a ten-year-long international research programme of seven academic institutions in the Netherlands that started in January 2020.

This programme has a combined budget of €27 million and is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research in the Gravitation funding scheme for excellent research, and by matching funds from the participating institutions.

The programme has the aim of achieving breakthrough research at the intersection of ethics, philosophy, technology/engineering and social sciences, and to position its consortium at the top of its field internationally.

A key objective is to investigate how new technologies challenge moral values and ontological concepts (like "nature", "human being" and "community"), and how these challenges necessitate a revision of these concepts.

The programme includes four research lines, "Nature, Life and Human Intervention", "The Future of a Free and Fair Society", "The Human Condition" and "Foundations & Synthesis:
Ethics of Technology, Practical Philosophy, and Modern Technology-Driven Societies".


This position is situated within the research line "Foundations & Synthesis." You will work under the supervision of Joel Anderson and Jeroen Hopster, and in collaboration with other researchers from the ESDiT programme.

You are expected to play an active role in the project described above and to participate actively in the workshops, public events, courses and other activities of the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies programme in general and the "Foundations & Synthesis" research line in particular.

You will also play a pivotal role regarding ESDiT's objective to strengthen mutually beneficial dialogues between researchers working in ethical theory and those working in ethics of technology.

The position is based at the Ethics Institute, which is part of the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Utrecht University.

It provides a stimulating and internationally oriented research environment.

This is primarily a research appointment, focused on research publications, although you may be expected to devote up to 10% of worktime to teaching or to other non-research activities related to the ESDiT programme.


Your qualities:

  • You have completed, prior to appointment, a PhD in philosophy, with demonstrated expertise in normative ethics, metaethics, or methodologies of applied ethics.
  • You have a record (appropriate to career stage) of publications that demonstrates the ability to conduct research which is internationally recognized as contributing to the field.
  • You have an affinity for ethical issues related to technology and have an openminded research disposition, especially regarding established traditions in applied ethics and ethics of technology.
  • You have an active interest in interdisciplinary work which connects philosophical analysis to other relevant disciplines and societal challenges.
  • You have the ability to work both independently and collaboratively, with

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