Jonathon Hawkins
- Email: J.Hawkins.pgr@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: What Does It Mean to 'Cause' an Action? Exploring Compatibilist Agent-Causation in Light of AI Advancements.
- Supervisor: Professor Helen Beebee, Professor Helen Steward FBA, Dr. Ashley Shaw
Profile
As a PhD researcher in philosophy, my work sits at the intersection between free will debates and artificial intelligence. My current project aims to make a novel intervention in the debate about what it would take for AI systems to be free or responsible. In doing so, I seek to establish an agent-causal view, which is traditionally incompatibilist in nature, as a tenable version of compatibilism. This involves offering a new explanation of how a determined ‘agent’ may ‘cause’ their action, before discussing the implications of this view on recent advancements in AI.
My work is currently supported by the AHRC through the White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities (WRoCAH).
Outside of academia, I am passionate about disseminating philosophy and making it more accessible. I contribute to several public philosophy projects, including as Co-Host of The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast and Editor of The Philosopher (Public Philosophy Journal). I also work as an Education Outreach Fellow at the University of Leeds, promoting philosophy in local schools.
Selected Public Philosophy
Publications
- ‘Where is Public Philosophy Going’, The Philosopher, Vol. 111, No. 2. [Guest-Editor of the edition alongside Dr. Peter West.]
- ‘Public Philosophy: A Democratic Approach’, The Philosopher, Vol. 111, No. 2. [Co-Written with Dr. Peter West.]
Interviews
- The Concept of Beastliness with Dr. Ellie Robson (Parts I and II), The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast, Episode 132. [Co-Host.]
- The Philosophy of War (Parts I-III), The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast, Episode 134. [Co-Host.]
- The Philosophy of Headphones with Dr. Jacob Kingsbury Downs (Parts I and II), The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast, Episode 135. [Co-Host.]
Research interests
- The Philosophy of Action (specifically the free will, determinism, and compatibilist debate).
- The Philosophy of Mind (with a specific interest in mental causation and phenomenology).
- The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence.
- Metaphysics (with a specific interest in causation).
- Ethics (and the link between free will and our normative evaluations).
- Public Philosophy.
Qualifications
- MA in Philosophy, 2022 — Durham University
- BA in Philosophy, 2020 — The University of Nottingham
Research groups and institutes
- Centre for Theoretical Philosophy
- Centre for Aesthetic, Moral and Political Philosophy