The Ethics Institute of Utrecht University’s Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies seeks a researcher for a four-year, full-time PhD project “
Reconceptualising Solidarity for Technologically Disrupted Contexts”, as part of the inter-university Gravitation consortium
Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technology (ESDiT).
Wat ga je doen? This PhD project is an ethical and philosophical study of how technology might (re)shape communal practices and the concepts to describe such practices, notably the concept of solidarity. ‘Solidarity’ plays a fundamental role in many social practices, ranging from political activism to the norms underpinning the welfare state. Over recent years, solidarity has also (re-)emerged as a central concept in moral and political philosophy. Solidarity relations are typically connected to shared social roles: individuals are in solidarity as democratic citizens, workers, those subject to oppression and domination etc.
Disruptive technologies have the potential to deeply reshape these shared experiences and identities that matter for solidarity relationships. Think of genomic technologies in health care practices or artificial intelligence and big data in the (gig) economy. Will such changes to our practices fundamentally alter our understanding of social and political solidarity? On what basis might we conclude that communal concepts like solidarity or community are disrupted? And in what ways could technological change provide new avenues for solidarity bonds and social mobilisation?
This PhD position is part of the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies programme, a ten year long international research programme of seven academic institutions in the Netherlands that has started in January 2020 and lasts until December 2029. The programme has the aim of achieving breakthrough research in 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 “Synthesis: Ethics of Technology, Practical Philosophy, and Modern Technology-Driven Societies”.
This position is situated within the research line “The future of a free and fair society”. You will work under the supervision of
Juri Viehoff (UU),
Marcel Verweij (UU), and another member of the consortium. 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 “The future of a free and fair society” research line in particular. 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.
Please note that there
are other vacancies in the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies programme at different participating universities. In case several are of interest to you, we would like to encourage you to apply to them simultaneously.