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Religious Studies Program

The Cal Poly Philosophy Department houses a Religious Studies program with a wide variety of courses in GE and a Religious Studies minor.

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Between the Species

Between the Species online journal logoAn online philosophy journal about the relationship between humans and animals.
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Ethics Group


Cal Poly's Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group focuses on the implications and impact of emerging sciences and technologies.
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Ava Thomas Wright

Ava Wright

Assistant Professor

Contact Information 

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
  • PHIL 334: Philosophy of Law

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) 

  • “Rightful Machines” in Kant and AI (Walter de Gruyter, 2022) (forthcoming)
  • "Kantian Freedom as 'Purposiveness,'" Kant-Studien (forthcoming)
  • "Mill's Social Epistemic Rationale for the Freedom to Dispute Scientific Knowledge: Why We Must Put Up With Flat-Earthers," Philosopher's Imprint 21 (14) (2021): 1-14. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3521354.0021.014
  • “Why Free Speech Rights for Business Corporations Cannot Be Justified,” Southwest Philosophy Review 37 (1) (2021): 187-198.  
  • “A Deontic Logic for Programming Rightful Machines” Proceedings from the 2020 AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society (extended abstract)
  • “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 (extended abstract)
  • “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)

  • “Artificial Intelligence and Robotics - Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications” Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, Chicago Regional Conference (invited) 16 July 2021 (virtual)
  • “Rule-Based Robots: Why Autonomous Machines Can and Must be Governed by Rules of Right,” Computer Ethics—Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) / International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP) Joint Conference 2021: The Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, 5 July 2021 (virtual)
  • "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

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