University of Gothenburg
University of Gothenburg
  2. About
  3. Find staff
  4. Dorna Behdadi

Dorna Behdadi

Doctoral Student

Philosophy and Logic
unit
Mail
dorna.behdadi@gu.se
Visiting address
Renströmsgatan 6
412 55 Göteborg
Room number
C515
Postal address
Box 200
405 30 Göteborg

About Dorna Behdadi

[they/them pronouns]

Education

B.A. in Practical Philosophy, University of Gothenburg (2012)

M.A. in Practical Philosophy, University of Lund including courses in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, comparative cognition, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience (2014)

B.A. 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

Research

My dissertation project focuses 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?

In addition to the above, I take interest in philosophy of mind and related normative ethical questions, animal ethics, moral psychology, 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.

Latest publications

Behdadi, D. (2020). 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

Environmental Humanities Network, University of Gothenburg

Member of the Swedish Association of Academic Ethologists

University of Gothenburg's Network for Critical Animal Studies in the Anthropocene

TEDx talk on AI and moral status:

Conscious AI: A Moral Dilemma | Dorna Behdadi | TEDxGöteborg