Contact
Biography
I began my PhD in Philosophy at Nottingham in 2018. My thesis attempts to answer the question:
How should care robots in residential homes for older people conceive of consent?
Along the way, I examine ways of distinguishing between different types of robot, whether robots can care, and whether it is deceptive for robots to behave as if they care when they have no inner mental states.
My research interests, broadly construed, include social, ethical, and political philosophy, and I have a particular interest in philosophical issues arising from emerging technologies.
Teaching Summary
Degree level
I am teaching on the Philosophy in the Contemporary World module, which - as the name suggests - explores some important current philosophical issues, including environmental changes, sexuality, education, implicit bias, punishment, animal suffering, privacy, and sexbots.
I am delivering the lecture on sexbots and their use in people's own homes and within institutions. The lecture explores issues of objectification, consent, how sexbots should look, exploitation, and the nature of sex.
Other HE level
I have convened modules on Medical Ethics, Philosophy of Health, and Social and Demographic Trends. These were for Access to Nursing and Access to Social Science courses.
A Level
For 14 years I taught A Level Philosophy and A Level Sociology. This involved convening and teaching all the modules of the courses. The Philosophy modules were: Epistemology, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Mind, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, and Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. The Sociology modules were: Families and Households, Education, Health, Research Methods, Religion, Politics, Crime and Deviance.
Primary level
I teach Philosophy to a class of Year 5 pupils. Each week we do a new topic, such as Knowledge, Art, Can we trust our senses?, The ethics of video games, Friendship, What is a good life?, Beauty, Am I the same person today as I was yesterday? Acts and Omissions, Killing, Belief in God, History and the past, Punishment, and Fairness.
Research Summary
My PhD thesis explores the use of robots in residential care homes for the elderly. Carebots physically help patients to use the bathroom, wash, dress, eat, use equipment and move about, as well as… read more
Recent Publications
Current Research
My PhD thesis explores the use of robots in residential care homes for the elderly. Carebots physically help patients to use the bathroom, wash, dress, eat, use equipment and move about, as well as bots which remind patients to do things or engage them in conversations.
Robots such as these do not currently exist in care homes in the UK, but there are many carebots in use in Japan and China. My thesis will outline some ways in which robot usage can be safely implemented in care homes in the UK.
Past Research
My MA thesis explored some ethical issues (specifically, consent) surrounding sexbots which are made to look exactly like a particular person.