PhD Student Position: Meaning In Life in the Digital Society
Job
We are inviting applications for a four-year full-time PhD position in philosophy at the University of Zurich. As a PhD student you will contribute to the research project «Meaning in Life in the Digital Society» funded by the Digitalisierungsinitiative der Zürcher Hochschulen (DIZH). The DIZH aims to promote cooperation between Zurich's higher education institutions in the field of digitalization and thus to strengthen Zurich as a center of research and business. You will be supervised by Muriel Leuenberger, PhD (Digital Society Initiative, University of Zurich) and Prof. Christoph Halbig (Chair of General Ethics, Department of Philosophy, University of Zurich). About the project This research project investigates the risks and opportunities presented by virtual reality technology (VR) and generative AI (GenAI) for meaning in life. In the last four decades, philosophers have increasingly emphasized that, contrary to a widely held philosophical position, humans are not only motivated either by self-interest or moral demands but additionally, by a pursuit of meaning in life. Digital technologies such as VR and GenAI may contribute to a meaningful life or make our lives less meaningful. However, the conceptual and normative issues around meaning in life in the digital society have been widely neglected so far. The project addresses this research gap and provides a conceptual and normative analysis of how VR and GenAI contribute to or disrupt meaning in life. The research project focuses on the impact of VR and GenAI on meaning we may achieve through relationships, creating art, and playing games. The PhD student is free to develop their own research project within the topic area of meaning in life through art and games, either in the field of general ethics (e.g., do games contribute to a meaningful life?) or applied to digital technologies (e.g., is creating art with generative AI meaningful?).
Initiator(s):
University of Zurich
Deadline: 20.05.2024
Start date: 01.08.2024
Location: Zürich, Switzerland
Post created by: Lymor Wolf Goldstein