The University of Twente is looking for a PhD candidate to work on the project 'Reconceiving Rights, Duties, and Wellbeing amidst technological and ecological challenges'.
Deadline: 6th June 2024
Intended start date: 1st October 2024
For information and how to apply, please visit: https://utwentecareers.nl/en/vacancies/1786/phd-position-in-reconceiving-rights-duties-and-well-being/
Project context
Recent work in philosophy and critical social sciences (e.g., Flanagan 2016) highlights a deep-rooted emphasis on individualist moral values and conceptions of human wellbeing within Western cultures. These values, supported by a range of technologies improving personal choice, are increasingly under scrutiny in the face of the grand challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and AI-induced social disruption. In light of these challenges, the pursuit of unbridled material accumulation in the service of maximizing individuals’ preference-satisfaction and/or hedonic wellbeing looks increasingly questionable. In the fields of political economy and political ecology, technology-induced conceptual changes which go beyond the individualist paradigm are well underway. New concepts such as “degrowth” (Hickel 2020; D’Alisa, Demaria and Kallis 2015) and “post-consumerism” (Cohen, Stejnwald Brown and Vergragt 2017) have been developed to meet the environmental challenges caused by industrial technologies and the possibility of an automated world without work. Pluralistic conceptions of environmental values have also been proposed, drawing upon Indigenous traditions (Escobar 2020) and relational practices of care for nature. These conceptual innovations open a path beyond the liberal consumerist ethos which is threatened by the ecological and technological challenges of our time (and which, arguably, contributed to the emergence of those challenges). As such, there is societal pressure to revise a wide range of normative concepts bound up with Western individualism, and to examine how technologies can support or undermine such conceptual change.
The challenge
Are similar conceptual innovations that go beyond individualism needed in the domain of moral philosophy? Is there a need to revise individualist conceptions of moral rights and duties, of the determinants of human wellbeing, and of meaning in life? What is the role of technology in supporting this conceptual change, if various technologies have partially constituted the liberal consumerist ethos? These are the questions to be addressed in this PhD project. Grounded in moral philosophy, this wide-ranging project may involve the examination of alternative value systems that emphasise communitarian values (MacIntye 1981), relational conceptions of wellbeing and sustainability (Pascual et al. 2023), and the value of non-human nature (Taylor 1986). It may also draw on intercultural perspectives on human wellbeing (Angle 2022), and intercultural as well as Indigenous environmental philosophies (Nelson 2020; Callicott 1994). In addition, this project may choose to engage with the philosophical foundations of scientific approaches to human wellbeing (Alexandrova 2017).
INFORMATION AND APPLICATION
Are you interested to be part of our team? Please submit your application no later than the 6th of June 2024 and include:
- A cover letter (maximum 2 pages A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications, and motivations to apply for this position;
- A Curriculum Vitae, including a list of all courses attended and grades obtained, and, if applicable, a list of publications
- Contact information for two academic references;
- A writing sample (e.g. Master’s thesis/chapter) that reflects your suitability for this position
Additional information about this position can be acquired from dr. Dominic Lenzi (d.s.lenzi@utwente.nl).
For information and how to apply, please visit: https://utwentecareers.nl/en/vacancies/1786/phd-position-in-reconceiving-rights-duties-and-well-being/
