We are looking for a suitable PhD candidate in philosophy and ethics of AI.

The project description below provides a rough outline, but the particular PhD project will be refined by the candidate.

In AI it is normally assumed that “rational choice” for AI is to choose the action with the highest expected subjective utility. But apart from well-known problems with rational choice in real-world environments (e.g. uncertainty, dynamic changes, other agents, non-discreteness of actions), we know from the human example that highly complex choices in real-world environments require metacognition, e.g. considering which utility function to use, whether our reasoning is trustworthy, whether knowledge is sufficient, whether to act now or to optimise the decision further - and especially whether a course of action is ethical. Humans are able to change the frame of reference and move to metacognition, when needed. When should an AI system say: “It is best not decide this and act now, I should change the frame”?

The position is fully funded with a salary for 4 years (ca. €33000-42000/y gross, 30% rule may apply) and offers excellent working conditions in a philosophy group with particular strengths in philosophy of AI. The project is embedded in a programme with 10 PhD students who work on projects related to the "AI Planner of the Future", considering AI planning for supply chains and logistics.

Starting date is September 2021 (negotiable).

The current deadline is 30.05.2021 (we hope that we can extend this deadline).

https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-on-improving-automated-rational-choic...

Employment: 0.8 FTE
The intended start date is 1 September 2021
Duration of the contract: depending on your CV, we offer a tenure-track position of 2 to 4 years, which, after positive evaluation, may be made permanent.

Job description:
As Assistant Professor of Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology, you will be a member of a department whose primary goals are to offer education and conduct research in the fields of metaphysics and philosophical anthropology, with a specific focus on the post-Kantian European tradition.

You will teach courses at all levels in the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in Philosophy, as well as in study programmes offered at other faculties. You will primarily teach in the fields of metaphysics and philosophical anthropology. You may also be required to teach other disciplines in philosophy as well as philosophy courses for students with a non-philosophy major. Your duties will also include individual supervision and tutoring of students (e.g. students who are writing their Bachelor's or Master's theses or follow the Research Master's programme). Furthermore, you will be involved in the development of the educational programme and of courses for the Bachelor's and Master's programmes.

Your research expertise should complement that of the current staff members, and you will conduct research in line with the research themes of the Center for Contemporary European Philosophy. The Center is a very cohesive research unit, whose members share their research in work-in-progress meetings and co-teach, co-publish and co-organise conferences. Besides collaborating with your fellow researchers, you will be involved in further developing the Center's research line and acquiring externally funded research projects.

Requirements:
You have a PhD in contemporary European (continental) philosophy.
You are knowledgeable in the domains of metaphysics and philosophical anthropology and well-acquainted with the European philosophical tradition, complementing the expertise of the current staff members in these fields.
You are a dedicated teacher and have university teaching experience in philosophy (preferably possessing a University Teaching Qualification (BKO) or a similar qualification, otherwise you will be asked to obtain this qualification within two years).
You are a highly competent researcher, and this is reflected in your publication record, which will be appropriate to your career stage.
You are proficient in Dutch (C2 level) and English (C1 level) or are willing to obtain these proficiencies within two to four years.

The gross monthly salary amounts to a minimum of €3,746 and a maximum of €5,826 based on a 38-hour working week, depending on previous education and number of years of relevant work experience (salary scale 11 or 12).
In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
The faculty has interesting staff and promotion policies and provides active career monitoring. Where possible, we take into account talent and ambitions, development and personal circumstances.

This PhD fee waiver is available only for overseas students, full-time and resident, with a start date of September 2021.

This scholarship will cover the difference between home fees and overseas fees. The home fees for 2021/22 are £4,500 and overseas fees are £17,000. Thus, the value of the fee waiver will be £12,500. The successful candidate will be liable for the home portion of fees, £4,500, which will be fixed for the duration of their programme, as well as receive a stipend of £6,000 per academic year.

Subject to satisfactory progress, the scholarship will be awarded for three years.

Successful scholars will undertake a package of training and career development opportunities. This will include a set number of hours of teaching or research assistance. The career development package will be phased in year-by-year and supported by relevant training.

Project: The Problem of Epistemic value

Supervisors: Dr Luca Moretti and Dr Federico Luzzi

Socrates, in Plato’s Dialogue Meno, famously asked why we should valuate knowledge more than mere true belief. This question has opened the ongoing philosophical debate about epistemic values. According to contemporary virtue epistemologists (e.g. Greco, Sosa and Zagzebski), knowledge is more valuable than true belief because it coincides with true belief arising from a successful exercise of the subject’s cognitive ability, or with true belief motivated by virtuous traits and dispositions of the subject. Other philosophers, however, have rejected the thesis that knowledge is an ultimate epistemic value, or the only one we have. Some think that acquiring true beliefs and avoiding false beliefs is the real ultimate epistemic goal (e.g. Foley), and others claim that epistemic rationality is valuable independently of knowledge and true belief (e.g. Kelly). Finally, some philosophers have argued that the sole ultimate epistemic value is understanding, rather than knowledge or true belief (e.g. Pritchard and Kvanvig).

The project aims to critically engage with this debate. The investigation should ideally find answers for the following five questions:
1) What epistemic values are there?
2) Are epistemic values intrinsically valuable or valuable because of their practical benefits? (Links with the problems of the pragmatic encroachment of epistemic notions, the debate on epistemic virtues and vices, and ethics of beliefs could be explored).
3) Are epistemic values subjective or objective?
4) Is there one ultimate epistemic value (monism), or more than one ultimate epistemic value (pluralism)?
5) What relations are there between ultimate and non-ultimate epistemic values (e.g. constitutive or instrumental)?

This post is being offered under the UK Government's Kickstart scheme, and as such is only open to those who are 24 or under, based int he UK, and currently on Universal Credit.

We are a fast-growing provider of online (and normally residential) courses for children, primarily homeschoolers but also for gifted children, which is the background from which this business originates. Our most popular course is philosophy, and we also offer courses in debating and improv. Our Director of Studies, Jason Buckley, is also a leading writer and teacher trainer in the field of philosophy for children (see www.thephilosophyman.com)

The successful candidate will have a wide range of duties spanning content development, marketing and, after training, assisting in the delivery of courses. You will also be involved in routine customer communications and all aspects of running the business.

For full details, see the job advert at this link: https://limber.work/job/462/. Also see what we do at www.p4he.org