Work in this area at Texas A&M is distinguished by a tight engagement between value theory and applied ethics, including traditional ethical and meta-ethical issues, but also extending out to aesthetics, the philosophy of law, and the philosophy of the environment. Our expertise in value theory includes the areas of consequentialism and ethical gradualism; aesthetic theory, especially of the sublime; and ideas of corrective justice and reconciliation. One of the distinguishing features of our department is a focus on applying value theory to some of the most challenging problems facing the world today. Our areas of focus include theoretically informed applied research into moral injury, the ethics of technology (including AI and biotechnology), engineering ethics, animal ethics, and environmental ethics and aesthetics (including climate change).
Faculty working in this area include:
Brady's research explores interactions between aesthetics and ethics, specifically through various attitudes towards and experiences of the natural world, for example, forms ofaesthetic attention, humility, wonder, natural beauty, and the sublime. In recent work, she has been (1) considering such interactions within the context of climate change and (2)developing new aesthetic-ethical philosophical approaches, including 'environmental virtue aesthetics' and 'planetary aesthetics'.
Recent Publications in Area:
- “Global Climate Change and Aesthetics,” in Special Issue: Philosophical Aesthetics and the Global Environmental Emergency, ed. Jukka Mikkonen and Sanna Lehtinen. Environmental Values. 31: 1, 27-46.
- “Environmental Virtue Aesthetics,” with Hall, N. British Journal of Aesthetics. 63 (1): 109-126.
- Between Nature and Culture: The Aesthetics of Modified Environments. London:Rowman and Littlefield International. 2018. with Brook, I. and Prior, J.
Media:
Dr. Nevin Climenhaga:
Climenhaga's research engages both theoretical questions in value theory and applied questions in social and political philosophy. On the theoretical side, Climenhaga has published on infinite value and the relation of God and morality. On the practical side, he has published on the role of religious art in promoting social reconcilation and is currently working on a defense of the use of statistical and character evidence in legal trials.
Recent Publications in Area:
- “An Unsurpassable World,” in Optimism and the Best Possible World: A Philosophical History (Routledge, forthcoming), ed. Justin Daeley
- “Images of Mercy: Narrating the Gospel through a Rwandan Catholic Shrine” (with Alison Fitchett-Climenhaga), in Philosophical and Theological Engagements with Biblical Narratives (Routledge, 2024), ed. Eleonore Stump and Judith Wolfe, pp. 199–218
- “Infinite Value and the Best of All Possible Worlds,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (Vol. 97: 2, 2018), pp. 367–392
Conway's research interests in this area include political philosophy, aesthetics (especially film and literature), and genocide studies. His contributions to political philosophy tend to involve 19thand 20th century eff orts to motivate a critique of modernity. Conway's contributions to aesthetics include publications pertaining to the genre of the philosophical novel and films in the genre of science fiction. His contributions to the field of genocide studies pertain to the psychology of genocide and strategies for resisting and/or combatting what he calls the "normalization" of genocide.
Recent Publications in Area:
- “Spectacles of Disgrace: Nietzsche, Coetzee, and Life After the Death of God,” Religions 13: 929, 2022, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100929
- “Strong Words, Strong Medicine, Strong Democracy,” in Tracy Burr Strong: Academic Reflections in memoriam, ed. Babette B. Strong. New York: NNS Press, 2023, pp. 51-70.
- “Shame, Humiliation, and Whiplash: The Case of the Ascetic Priest,” in Nietzsche and Politicized Identities, eds. Rebecca Bamford and Allison Merrick. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2024, pp. 123-152.
Palmer's work in applied ethics focuses on environmental ethics, animal ethics and climate ethics. She has particular interests in the ethics of emerging technologies in an environmental context, especially biotechnology and geoengineering.
Recent Publications in Area:
- Wildlife Ethics: The Ethics of Wildlife Management and Conservation. Wiley Blackwell, 2023, 305p. with Fischer, B., Gamborg, C., Hampton, J., & Sandøe, P.
- “Hybrid theories, psychological plausibility, and the human/animal divide”. Philosophical Studies 180, 1105-1123. 2021, with Fischer, Bob; Kasperbauer, TJ, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-021-01743-9
- “Assisting wild animals vulnerable to climate change: Why ethical strategies diverge.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 38/2: 179-195, 2021 https://doi:10.1111/japp.12358
Media:
Peterson works mostly on topics in engineering ethics and ethical theory. His most recent book is Ethics in the Gray Area (CUP 2023) ("The book is superb. It is clearly written, is effi cientlystructured, and manages a thorough defense of a controversial view." Ethics 609-14, 2024)
Recent Publications in Area:
- Ethics in the Gray Area: A Gradualist Theory of Right and Wrong. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023.
- "Moral Rightness Comes in Degrees", Journal of the American Philosophical Association, vol 8: 645-664, 2022.
- "Consequentialism in Infinite Worlds" (with Adam Jonsson), Analysis, vol 80: 240-248, 2020.
Radzik works in moral and legal theory. Her work analyzes and evaluates the practices that individuals and societies use to repair wrong doing, such as legal and social punishment, tort law, forgiveness, and atonement.
Recent Publications in Area:
- The Ethics of Social Punishment: The Enforcement of Morality in Everyday Life (NewYork: Cambridge, 2020).
- "Standing and Accountability," American Journal of Jurisprudence 68, no. 2 (2023), pp. 153–159.
- "The Role of the Public in Public Apology," NOMOSLXV: Reconciliation and Repair, edited by Melissa Schwartzbergand Eric Beerbohm, (NYU Press, 2023), pp. 203-22.
Media:
- Interviewed in a podcast by Prof. Steve Herbert (University of Washington) called "Making Amends" about prisoners' attempts to atone for their crimes. https://www.makingamendspodcast.com/ Season 1, Episodes 6 and 8, 2020. https://www.makingamendspodcast.com/season-one
Sweet's research in ethics focuses on the moral, ethical, and social philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Sweet's interests more broadly encompass ethical theory in the history of philosophy.
Recent Publications in Area:
- Kant on Practical Life: From Duty to History (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
- “Mapping the Critical System: Kant and the Highest Good,” Journal of Transcendental Philosophy, special issue, “The Architectonic Role ofthe Highest Good,” (Vol. 3:3, 2022), 301-319.
Events:
- SPT 2019: The 21st Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology https://philevents.org/event/show/65458
- Perspectives on More-Than-Human Life from the History of Philosophy. November, 2024.