Social media has become an essential space of public and semi-public discourse, and has the potential for a second wave of digital democracy by increasing access to information and greatly lowering the barrier of participation in public debates. The last few years, however, have also shown some of the risks that are present in social media. Fake news, disinformation, manipulation and disguised propaganda in social media have contributed to a post-truth era in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. A recent challenge is posed by so called deep-fake technology that allows to create authentic looking videos that seem to depict real events, and that are undistinguishable from real videos for the average user. This poses a threat to democracy.

In this project we will investigate the complex picture of the influence of social media upon democratic politics, and whether the claim that democratic practices is linked to truth telling, rationality, consensus and reason is still tenable due to social media. The objective of this project is to develop a normative and empirical model of democracy theory that takes into account the potential of social media to facilitate more participative democracy while acknowledge its disruptive value of challenging traditional political practices and institutions.

Research Program “Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies”

This PhD position will be part of the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies research program, a new 10 year long international program of seven academic institutions in the Netherlands that has started in January 2020. This programme has a combined budget of € 27 million, and is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) in the Gravitation funding scheme for excellent research, and by matching funds from the participating institutions. The duration is from January 2020 to December 2029.

The programme has the aim of achieving breakthrough research at the intersection of ethics, philosophy, technology / engineering and social sciences, and to position its consortium at the top of its field internationally. A key objective is to investigate how new technologies challenge moral values and ontological concepts (like “nature”, “human being” and “community”), and how these challenges necessitate a revision of these concepts. The program includes four research lines, “Nature, life and human intervention”, “The future of a free and fair society”, “The human condition” and “Synthesis: Ethics of Technology, Practical Philosophy, and Modern Technology-Driven Societies”. The PhD project we advertise will be part of the research line “The future of a free and fair society”

PhD students are encouraged to spend a semester abroad, and a budget is available to cover travel expenses. Please note that there are other vacancies in the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies program at different participating universities. In case several are of interest to you, we want to encourage you to apply to them as well.
Job requirements

Your Profile

You hold a Master’s degree or equivalent degree in Philosophy or Ethics. Other Master’s degrees will also be considered if you have a demonstrable interest in analytical/conceptual problems, as well as in normative questions. You have an interest in the themes of the research: political philosophy, ethics, ethics of technology, democracy, and social media. You have good Dutch and English skills.

The TU/e is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome candidates with a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. As we aim to increase the diversity in our Section and in the field of philosophy, we especially encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.
Conditions of employment

We offer you a four-year Ph.D. position, starting September 1 (or soon thereafter), 2020. The gross salary is €2325 per month in the first year to €2972 per month in the last year. Additionally, Eindhoven University of Technology provides excellent facilities for professional and personal development, a holiday allowance (amounting to 8% of the annual salary), an end-of-year bonus (amounting to 8.3%), and a number of additional benefits.
Information and application

Application

Your application should contain the following documents:

a letter of application which explains your interest in the position and your qualifications for it;
a curriculum vitae;
a writing sample (Master thesis or equivalent)
a one-page motivation statement, elaborating on your ideas for a research focus in line with the project
names and contact information of two persons willing to provide references;

If you are interested, we invite you to apply before June 21 2020. Interviews will be held shortly thereafter. To apply please use the “apply now” button. Please note that a maximum of 1 document can be uploaded, so if you have more than 1 document you will have to combine them. Please do not send us applications by e-mail.

Further information
For further information on the PhD project, please contact mr.dr.ir. Lambèr Royakkers (email: l.m.m.royakkers[at]tue.nl, phone: +31 40 2474693)

More information about the Program “Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies” can be found at https://www.esdt.nl/.

More information about the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences can be found at www.tue.nl/en/university/departments/industrial-engineering-innovation-s....

Information about the terms of employment can be obtained from Kim van Puijenbroek, HR advisor (pz.ieis[at]tue.nl). Further information about Eindhoven University of Technology can be found at www.tue.nl.