Senior Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- p.sweeney@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272357
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History
Biography
Paula Sweeney is a senior lecturer in Philosophy. She joined the University of Aberdeen in 2009. Prior to that she completed her PhD at the University of St Andrews under the supervision of Crispin Wright.
In 2015 Paula became the Head of Philosophy and the Deputy Head of School. From 2016 until 2022 Paula was the Head of the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy and Art History.
Paula's academic background is in the Philosophy of Language and the Philosophy of Logic. Now she works in the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, particularly regarding social robots. She is interested in what social robots are, what benefits they can bring to society and how we should engage with them. Although she approaches these questions from a philosophical perspective, she draws on research from a wide range of disciplines.
Paula teaches at undergraduate and masters level in Philosophy and at masters level in the School of Computer Science.
Paula's monograph Social Robots: A Fictional Dualism Model is to be published by Rowman & Littlefield in late 2023. An episode of the podcast Philosophical Disquisitions was dedicated to a discussion of her fictional dualism theory of social robots. She has also published many articles in peer reviewed journals and edited collections. Please see the Publications tab for more details.
Qualifications
- PhD Philosophy2010 - University of St Andrews
Supervisor: Crispin Wright
- MLitt Philosophy2006 - University of St Andrews
- MA Philosophy2005 - University of St Andrews
External Memberships
In recent years Paula has been a member of the AHRC Peer Review College, an elected board member of the British Philosophical Association and an appointed trustee of the trust associated with Thought: A Journal of Philosophy.
She is an external examiner at Lancaster University and the University of St Andrews.
Latest Publications
Two disrupters to arguments from analogy for robot rights: uniqueness and completeness
AI and EthicsContributions to Journals: ArticlesAvatars and the value of human uniqueness
Philosophy & Technology, vol. 37, 118Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWittgensteinian Considerations on the Moral Status of Robots
Wittgenstein and Artificial Intelligence: Value and Governance. Ball, B., Helliwell, A. C., Rossi, A. (eds.). Anthem Press, pp. 69-82, 14 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersSocial Robots: A fictional dualism model
Rowman & Littlefield. 152 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksCould the destruction of a beloved robot be considered a hate crime?: An exploration of the legal and social significance of robot love.
AI and SocietyContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-023-01805-y
Prizes and Awards
Paula was co-investigator on the Leverhulme Trust funded project, Relativism and Rational Tolerance, with Professor Crispin Wright.
- Research
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Research Overview
I am an analytic philosopher who is interested in the Philosophy of AI, particularly the philosophy of social robots. Some of the questions that interest me are ethical but often I am interested in the traditional questions of philosophy, reconsidered in light of these new entities in our world, social robots.
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Philosophy.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Research Specialisms
- Philosophy
- Artificial Intelligence
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
Most recently I have been working on a monograph for Rowman & Littlefield, to be published by the end of 2023. The monograph is a book-length study of my theory of social robots, a theory that I call 'fictional dualism'. The theory proposes that, when we engage with social robots, the emotional response that we have is closer in kind to the response that we have towards fiction than it is to how we respond to persons. Aspects of the theory are also discussed in some of my recently published articles.
Please see the Publications tab for more of my research.
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Philosophy.
I can offer supervision in the Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.
Funding and Grants
I was a co-investigator on the Leverhulme funded Relativism and Rational Tolerance (£250K).
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
2020
Ethical and Legal aspects of Artificial Intelligence.
Feminist Philosophy
2019
PH3006 Contemporary Topics in Philosophy
2017
PH1027 Controversial Questions
2016
Semester One
PH1027 Controversial Questions
SX1018 Logic, Language and Information
Semester Two
PH353Z/PH454Z Philosophy of time
2015
Semester One
PH1027 Controversial Questions
PH3094/PH4094 Wittgenstein
Semester Two
PH2529 Life Death and Meaning
2014
Semester One
PH1027 Controversial Questions
Semester Two
PH352F Independent Study
PH1523 Experience, Knowledge and Reality
