Spotlight Series

What is your current area of research?

My research interests center on ethics and the philosophy of mind and of cognitive science. My PhD work was on the nature of practical reason and what we could learn about it from psychology and neuroscience. But, right now, I’m working on various projects in the ethics of A.I. that connect my interests in ethics and mind. I’ve recently written papers on the A.I. value-alignment problem and the question of whether self-driving cars should be legally mandated in the future.   

What question or challenge were you setting out to address when you started this work?

The value-alignment problem concerns the matter of how to ensure that future generally intelligent A.I. are safe and share our values. I got interested in this question because – unlike many philosophical issues – it seems pretty pressing! I’m skeptical that there’s any airtight solution to this problem – but I like to think that I’ve made a small contribution to our understanding of it.  

Share a turning point or defining moment in your work as a philosophical researcher?

Probably my conversion from radical empiricism to rationalism whilst in graduate school. As an undergraduate I was very taken by the philosophical outlook of Hume and Quine. But my commitments have gradually become more rationalist (and Kantian) with time. 

Briefly, what excites you about your research?

I just love problem solving! Of course, philosophical problems are rarely solved (or, at least, there’s no consensus that they are solved). But it’s wonderful to be able to work out your own ‘solutions’ to them all the same and contribute to our shared understanding of philosophical space.   

What do you like to do when you aren`t working?

Outside of work, I listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of history. I also try to keep up my classical guitar and piano playing. Since moving to Ireland, I’ve gotten into cycling. But my favorite things to do are spending time with friends and family.  

What are you currently reading?

Right now, I’m working my way through Jonathan Healey’s ‘The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England’. It’s a fantastic account of the English Civil War – or, more accurately, the War of the Three Kingdoms, since the conflict took place in Scotland and Ireland too.  

Do you have a favourite movie?

Oh gosh – that’s a toughie. Probably Pulp Fiction or the Shawshank Redemption. But I love nothing better than a Lord of the Rings Marathon once a year. 

What would people be surprised to find out about you?

I would never have encountered philosophy had it not been for a very persistent friend who rang me up every evening when I was a teenager. He got interested in philosophy after starting an evening class in it and started talking to me (really: at me!) about it. After a few weeks of this, I caught the philosophy bug and haven’t looked back.

February 2024