Ava Thomas Wright
Assistant Professor
Contact Information
- Office: TBA
- Phone: TBA
- Email: avwright@calpoly.edu
- Website: avathomaswright.com
Education
- Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Georgia
- M.S., Artificial Intelligence, University of Georgia
- M.A., Philosophy, Georgia State University
- J.D. cum laude, Georgia State University
- B.A., Philosophy, Psychology, Rice University
Courses Taught
- PHIL 323: Ethics, Science and Technology
- PHIL 333: Political Philosophy
Fields
- Areas of Specialization: Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Kant's Practical Philosophy, AI and Information Ethics
- Areas of Competence: Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Law, Logic, Epistemology, Cognitive Science
Publications (Selected)
- “A Deontic Logic for Programming Rightful Machines” Proceedings from the 2020 AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society (forthcoming)
- “Two Rationales for the Duty of Veracity in ‘On a Supposed Right to Lie From Philanthropy'” Proceedings from 13th International Kant Congress (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2020) (forthcoming)
- “Rightful Machines and Dilemmas,” Proceedings from 2019 AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society
- “Two Failures of Arthur Ripstein's Conception of Kantian Freedom as 'Purposiveness,'” Proceedings from 12th International Kant Congress (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2018): 2495-2504.
Presentations (Selected)
- "A Kantian Approach to Dilemmas: Solving the Trolley Problem," American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting (colloquium paper, main program), 26 February 2020, Chicago, IL
- "A Kantian Solution to the Trolley Problem," 2020 Annual I Conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) (colloquium paper, main program), 22 February, 2020, Atlanta, GA
- "A Deontic Logic for Programming Rightful Machines," AAAI/ACM 2020 Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society (main program), 7-8 February 2020, New York, NY
- “Two Rationales for the Duty of Veracity in ‘On a Supposed Right to Lie...’”, 13th International Kant Congress (held approximately every five years) (colloquium paper), 4-6 August 2019, Oslo, Norway
- “Rightful Machines”, CEPE (Computer Ethics—Philosophical Enquiry), 2019 Biennial Conference (colloquium paper), 28–30 May 2019, Norfolk, VA
- "Assurance and Lies," American Philosophies Forum 2019 Conference (Topic: Truth), 4 April 2019, Atlanta, GA
- "Rightful Machines and Dilemmas," AAAI/ACM 2019 Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society (main program), 27 January 2019, Honolulu, HI
- "A Duty of Veracity as a Necessary Condition of Kantian Justice," American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting (colloquium paper, main program), 10 January 2019, New York, NY
- “The Duty of Veracity and the Innate Right of Freedom”, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting (poster presentation), 28 March 2018, San Diego, CA
- "A Social Epistemic Rationale for the Absolute Freedom of Speech in Mill's On Liberty: Why We Must Put Up With Flat-Earthers of All Kinds," American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting (colloquium paper, main program), 12 April 2017, Seattle, WA
- “The Duty of Veracity and Possible Universal Consent”, Georgia Philosophical Society (colloquium paper), 8 April 2017, Young Harris, GA
- "Business Corporations Do Not Have Moral Rights of Free Expression," American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting (colloquium paper, main program), 4 March 2016, Chicago, IL
- “Two Failures of Arthur Ripstein's Conception of Kantian Freedom as 'Purposiveness'”, 12th International Kant Congress (colloquium paper), 22 September 2015, Vienna, Austria
Professional Affiliations
- Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
- American Philosophical Association
- Association for Practical and Professional Ethics
- International Society for Ethics and Information Technology (INSEIT)
- North American Kant Society