Dorna Behdadi
Researcher
Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and ReligionAbout Dorna Behdadi
[they/them pronouns]
Education
Ph.D. in Practical Philosophy, University of Gothenburg (2024)
M.A. in Practical Philosophy, University of Lund including courses in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, comparative cognition, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience (2014)
B.S. in Biology (Zoology), University of Gothenburg: including courses in veterinary medicine at the Veterinary program, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (2014). Thesis (rodent cognition): http://hdl.handle.net/2077/54326
B.A. in Practical Philosophy, University of Gothenburg (2012)
Research
My research interests include moral psychology, normative interaction and communication, philosophy of mind and related normative ethical questions, animal ethics, ethics of AI, philosophical questions regarding comparative cognition (like choice of method and interpretation of data), theories and ideas about human exceptionalism, as well as questions about quality of life.
My dissertation project focused on the question of moral agency in other entities than human beings. What non-human beings can be morally responsible for their actions? Can other animals be moral agents? What about artificial entities like robots or intelligent programs? If any non-human entities are in fact moral agents, is their moral agency the same as ours? Or do they earn it by meeting a modified or wholly different set of criteria? What ethical, legal and social consequences follows?
Latest publications
Behdadi, D. (2024). Blame as participant anger: Extending moral claimant competence to young children and nonhuman animals. Philosophical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2024.2391430
Behdadi, D. (2023). Nonhuman Moral Agency: A Practice-Focused Exploration of Moral Agency in Nonhuman Animals and Artificial Intelligence. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Gothenburg]. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/78610
Behdadi, D. (2021). A Practice‐Focused Case for Animal Moral Agency. Journal of Applied Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12486
Behdadi, D., & Munthe, C. (2020). A Normative Approach to Artificial Moral Agency. Minds and Machines. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-020-09525-8
Affiliations
Member of the Swedish Association of Academic Ethologists: https://www.sverigesakademiskaetologer.se/
University of Gothenburg's Network for Critical Animal Studies in the Anthropocene, Gu-CAS
International Society for the Philosophy of the Sciences of the Mind: https://www.ispsmind.com/
TEDx talk on AI and moral status:
Conscious AI: A Moral Dilemma | Dorna Behdadi | TEDxGöteborg