Brey, P.A.E. (Philip)

Research profile

Background

Philip Brey (Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 1995) is professor of philosophy of technology and chair of the department of philosophy, University of Twente, the Netherlands. He is also director of the Centre for Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Science (CEPTES) of the University of Twente and a member of the management team of the Centre of Excellence for Ethics and Technology of the Universities of Twente, Delft and Eindhoven. He is a member of the executive board of the Society for Philosophy of Technology and of the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology, and director of the European division of the International Association of Computing and Philosophy. He is a member of the editorial board of the journals Techn�: Research in Philosophy and Technology, Ethics and Information Technology, the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, and Nanoethics: Ethics for Technologies that Converge at the Nanoscale, and is vice editor of the Society for Philosophy and Technology Newsletter. He is also a member of the Netherlands Graduate School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture, the Dutch-Flemish Network for Philosophy of Science and Technology and the Centre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT) of the University of Twente, for which he also coordinates the research of the department of philosophy that is embedded in it. He recently (co)directed the conferences E-CAP 2007, CEPE 2007 and (co)directed CEPE2005, SPT 1999 and international workshops on Modernity and Technology, Ethics of Technology and Nanoethics. He was formerly also programme director of the international master programme Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society (2003-2006). He previously taught at Delft University of Technology and the University of California, San Diego.

Research

Brey�s Ph.D. thesis focused on the cognitive turn in epistemology and the philosophy of science. Since then, his attention has shifted to the philosophy of technology. He has published in the areas of general philosophy of technology, philosophy of science, philosophy of biomedical technology, philosophy of sustainable technology and philosophy of information and communication technology (ICT). In general philosophy of technology, he has published on the relation between technology, society, culture and the body; the relation between technology and science; the nature of engineering design; and the status of philosophy of technology as a field. In the philosophy and ethics of biomedical technology, his research has focused on ethics of bioengineering, prosthetics, neuromodulation and human enhancement. Much of his current research is directed to the philosophy and ethics of ICT, where he has published on the ethical and political aspects of computer systems design, the limits of artificial intelligence, the ethics and ontology of virtuality, the role of ICT in mobility and surveillance, the implications of ICT for globalization, geographical organization and the quality of life. He is co-editor, with Thomas Misa and Andrew Feenberg, of Modernity and Technology (MIT Press, 2003) and (co)editor of two special issues of the journal Ethics and Information Technology. He currently manages a five-year Vici project in the philosophy of technology that involves six researchers and focuses on the social and cultural quality of new media.

3TU.Ethics Projects

Evaluating the Cultural Quality of New Media;
Towards an Integrated Philosophy of Human-Media Relations

Scientific publications (selection)

Brey, P.A.E. 2007. Computer Ethics in (Higher) Education. In Computation, Information Cognition: The Nexus and the Liminal, edited by G. Dodig-Crnkovic and S. Stuart. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2007. Ethical Dimensions of Security, Privacy and Trust. In Security, Privacy and Trust in Modern Data Management, edited by M. Petcovic and W. Jonker. New York: Springer.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2007. Is Information Ethics Culture-Relative? International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction 3 (3):12-24.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2007. Method in Computer Ethics: Toward a Multi-Level Interdisciplinary Approach. In Computer Ethics, International Library of Essays in Public and Professional Ethics Series, edited by J. Weckert. Brookfield (USA): Ashgate Publishing Company.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2007. Nieuwe Media en Het Goede Leven. Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte, 132-140.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2007. Theorizing the Cultural Quality of New Media. Techn�: Research in Philosophy and Technology, Fall 2007, 11(1): 1-18.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2006. Ethical Aspects of Behavior-Steering Technology. In User Behavior and Technology Develepment, edited by P. P. C. C. Verbeek and A. Slob. Dordrecht: Springer.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2006. Evaluating the Social and Cultural Implications of the Internet. Computers and Society 36 (3):41-48.

Brey, P.A.E. 2006. Freedom and Privacy in Ambient Intelligence. Ethics and Information Technology 7 (3):157-166.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2006. The Social Agency of Technological Artifacts. A Typologie. In User Behavior and Technology Development, edited by P. P. C. C. Verbeek and A. Slob. Dordrecht: Springer.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2006. Social and Ethical Dimensions of Computer-Mediated Education. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society 4 (2):91-102.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2005. The Epistemology and Ontology of Human-Computer Interaction. Minds and machines 15 (3-4):383-398.available online

Brey, P.A.E. 2005. Prosthetics. In MacMillan Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics, edited by C. Mitcham. Detroit: MacMillan Press.

Brey, P.A.E. 2005. Virtual Reality. In MacMillan Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics, edited by C. Mitcham. Detroit: MacMillan Press.

Professional/Popular publications (selection)

Brey, P.A.E., and S. Uithol. 2006. Hubert Dreyfus. In Kritisch Denkerslexicon, edited by H. J. Achterhuis and J. Sperna Weiland. Diemen: Veen.

Brey, P.A.E. 2005. The Importance of Privacy in the Workplace. In Privacy in the Workplace, edited by S. O. Hansson and E. Palm. Brussel: Peter Lang.

Brey, P.A.E. 2005. Techniekfilosofie. Verandert de Techniek ook de Filosofie? Wijsgerig Perspectief op Maatschappij en Wetenschap 3 (45):40-51.

Teaching

Filosofie van de Psychologie en Kennisleer

Within the Master Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society (Master PSTS): Introduction to Philosophical Methods and Philosophy of ICT

Other recent courses: Medical ethics; Humans and Information Technology; The Makeable Human; Environmental Philosophy; Biological and Cultural Evolution; Analytic Philosophy, Logic and Epistemology; Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society; Knowledge, Information and Technology; The Information Society