public policy
TagA Petition to Pause Training of AI Systems
“We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. This pause should be public and verifiable, and include all key actors. If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.” (more…)
Philosopher Appointed to National Space Council Advisory Group
Patrick Lin, professor of philosophy at California Polytechnic State University and director of the university’s Ethics and Emerging Sciences Group, has been selected as a member of National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group (UAG). (more…)
Philosophers Cited in IPCC Report
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing science related to climate change, earlier this week released the report of its Working Group I, which is the first installment of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), to be completed in 2022. (more…)
Philosophical Input on Transportation Policy
Can philosophers help improve transportation policy? Jonathan Badgley, an economist who works with the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) and who studied philosophy as an undergraduate, thinks so. (more…)
Heath Wins Donner Prize for Best Public Policy Book
Joseph Heath, professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, has won the 2020 Donner Prize for Best Public Policy Book. (more…)
The Ethics of Social Distancing (and Why It Doesn’t Rule Out Protesting) (guest post by Travis N. Rieder)
“When I began writing this essay, public health-minded folks were arguing that social distancing is morally required, and expressing dismay at the pictures of partiers and beach-goers that surfaced after Memorial Day weekend. Just a couple weeks later, however, attention had shifted to the nationwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality, which was supp..
Why Ethicists Advising in Crises Should Take a SEAT (guest post by Per Sandin)
“For academic philosophers, being solution-oriented can be a challenge.”
Philosophers Help Swedish Government Develop Healthcare Prioritization and Rationing Policies
The National Board of Health and Welfare, one of Sweden’s main agencies for handling the COVID-19 pandemic, brought in philosophers in to help them design new guidelines for priority-setting in medical care and the rationing of healthcare resources. (more…)
Further Philosophical Considerations about Covid-19: Why We Need Transparency (guest post by Stefano Canali)
The following is a guest post* by Stefano Canali, a postdoctoral fellow at Leibniz University Hannover who works in philosophy of medicine, with a focus on epidemiology and the epistemic role of data. (more…)
Thinking Rationally About Coronavirus COVID-19 (guest post by Alex Broadbent)
The following is a guest post* by Alex Broadbent, Dean of Faculty of the Humanities, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of Institute for the Future of Knowledge at the University of Johannesburg. He is the author of many works, including Philosophy of Medicine and Philosophy of Epidemiology, and co-editor of a forthcoming volume on the philosophy of public health..
Philosophers: “Learn to listen rather than talk”
“What is the first thing philosophers have to change about their ideas, or their ways of presenting them, when putting on their public policy hat?” (more…)
Philosopher Appointed to Federal Advisory Committee on Biosecurity
The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) is a federal advisory committee that “addresses issues related to biosecurity and dual use research at the request of the United States Government.” (more…)
New Ethics Research Center Opening in Cameroon
The Ethics and Public Policy Laboratory (EthicsLab) is a new research center at the Catholic University of Central Africa that is officially launching this week. (more…)
Service to the Planet, Sentence-by-Sentence
John Broome (Oxford) is among the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent “Fifth Assessment Report.” One of his tasks is to help the IPCC and its delegates craft the “Summary for Policy Makers” (SPM), a 30-page précis of the 2000-page report that, it is hoped, policy makers (or their assistants) will actually read.  Every single sentence of..
How Political Should the APA Be?
An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses whether professional academic organizations should take overt stances on the political issues of the day. The American Philosophical Association is not mentioned in the article, though others are, such as the American Economic Association, the American Political Science Association, and the American History A..