AI Ethics, Business Ethics, Engineering Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Ethics and Healthcare, Human Rights

Dan Corrigan’s research spans moral, political, and legal philosophy, with a focus on the theory and practice of rights. His published work has examined the role of rights in areas such as business, environmental sustainability, and international and cross-cultural settings. Prior to joining Iowa State, he worked to establish the Marymount University Center for Professional Ethics and Social Responsibility and served as its Interim Director. He has organized and hosted conferences, including one on the ESG (Environmental-Social-Governance) framework for corporate social responsibility, “ESG: Promising Framework or Problematic Idea?” (April 2023). He has extensive experience collaborating with faculty in other disciplines and is currently working with engineering faculty to develop a framework for studying the impacts of AI and robotics in the construction industry. He also recently developed a course on AI ethics that is part of ISU’s minor in Applied Artificial Intelligence.

Civic Engagement, Public Philosophy, Technology Ethics

Scott Samuelson holds a joint appointment at Iowa State University in Philosophy & Religious Studies and Extension & Outreach. The winner of the Hiett Prize in the Humanities for his work in bringing philosophy to the public, he’s the author of three books, including The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone. He has worked with a variety of institutions and community organizations to give public talks on a wide variety of moral theories and issues, and to facilitate workshops on subjects like civility and the ethical use of new technologies. Contact him (scotts@iastate.edu) with inquiries pertaining to public humanities, local government, civic engagement, and facilitated conversation.

AI Ethics, Data Ethics

Annemarie Butler is an associate professor of philosophy and professor-in-charge of the applied artificial intelligence program (a university-wide minor for students with low or no computer programming skills). She has been an advisor for ISU Computer Science’s NSF NRT-D4 (Dependable Data Driven Discovery) grant and for the ISU Strategic Plan project, “New Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (AI & The Humanities).” She has also provided ethics support for grant proposals to the NSF by engineers and computer scientists, as well as proposals to the NEH and NEA, where her contributions concern trust, human decision-making, agential AI, and human-robot interactions. She has delivered public talks to general audiences and industry experts on AI ethics, and she has organized university-wide events on artificial intelligence and technology. Dr. Butler regularly teaches “Ethics of Computing and AI” and will offer a graduate-level course in “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.” She is faculty advisor for All Tech is Human and Thomistic Institute (Catholic thought), and has served as a judge for the Iowa High School Ethics Bowl.

Engineering Ethics, Ethics and Finance, Technology Ethics

Kate Padgett Walsh is Professor of Philosophy. Her work brings ethical theory to bear on contemporary moral issues in finance, engineering, and technology ethics. She has worked extensively with engineers on projects funded by NSF, collaborated with social scientists on grant-funded projects focused on the ethics of finance and risk, and co-organized conferences on the ethics of finance, risk, and debt. She co-organizes the annual Iowa High School Ethics Bowl at ISU, advises the ISU collegiate Ethics Bowl team, teaches courses on ethical theories and applied ethics, and gives public talks and interviews.

Philosophy of Economics and Law, Environmental and Agricultural Ethics, Bioethics and Biotechnology

Clark Wolf is Director of Bioethics, and Professor in the departments of Philosophy and (by courtesy) Political Science. He is also Chair of Iowa State’s Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture. Dr. Wolf’s research addresses issues in political theory, including public trust and regulation of new technologies, sustainability, intergenerational justice, and intellectual property. Wolf’s research on responsible research conduct and sustainable food/energy/water infrastructure has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. His work on public trust and the regulation of biotech innovation has been supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Medical Ethics, Workplace Ethics

Duane Long’s teaching focuses on applied ethics. In introductory courses, he uses a multidisciplinary approach that combines historical theory analysis with contemporary empirical data on moral motivation, especially in the workplace. In more advanced courses, his focus is on medical ethics, including informed consent, end-of-life issues, research ethics, and complicity with morally worrisome norms in appearance, behavior, and mental well-being. He has served as a judge for the Iowa High School Ethics Bowl competition at ISU.

Conceptual Engineering, Metaethics

Heimir Geirsson works primarily in the area of philosophy of language, dealing with issues having to do with reference and mental representation. His work in ethics includes co-editing a volume on ethical theory, now in its 3rd edition, and co-writing and editing a book on metaphysics which shows that important social, political, and moral concerns involve metaphysical questions and that important metaphysical positions have moral and practical implications. He has published papers on the nature of moral properties, addressing the issue of whether moral facts are entailed by natural facts. Most recently he has worked on conceptual engineering, the process of changing concepts.

Ethics, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Film

Professor Joseph Kupfer teaches ethics, aesthetics and medical ethics. His primary areas of scholarship are in ethics, aesthetics and philosophy in film. His most recent articles are “Sainthood and The Good Life,” “The Pervasive Power of Humility,” and “Wings of Desire and The Joys of Finitude.” His most recent books are Virtue and Vice in Popular Film and Con Artists in Cinema.