Tim Juvshik
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
- Office
- Alexander Twilight Hall 303A
- tjuvshik@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Fall 25: M 3:00-4:00 & Th 2:00-4:00 or by appointment
Tim Juvshik earned his PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has MA degrees from McGill University and Queen’s University, and a BA from Lakehead University. Before joining the philosophy department at Middlebury, he held an appointment at Clemson University.
Professor Juvshik’s main areas of research are in metaphysics and philosophy of technology. Much of his work to date has focused on the metaphysical nature of artifacts and the built world, though he also has interests in normative and applied questions concerning technology, especially emerging technologies such as AI, geoengineering, and genetic engineering. Professor Juvshik also has research interests in more core metaphysical questions concerning abstract objects, causation, personal identity, and the nature of time and persistence.
He has published articles on artifact function, mind-dependence, and physical modification, as well as on whether abstract objects have causal powers, in journals such as Philosophical Studies, Synthese, Erkenntnis, and American Philosophical Quarterly. His current research projects are on the social dimensions of artifacts, AI ethics, and the ontology of art.
He teaches courses in metaphysics, formal logic, and philosophy of science, as well as courses in more normative philosophy, including social and political philosophy, philosophy of art, philosophy of technology, and applied ethics.
Courses Taught
PHIL 0180
Upcoming
Introduction to Modern Logic
Course Description
Introduction to Modern Logic
Logic is concerned with good reasoning; as such, it stands at the core of the liberal arts. In this course we will develop our reasoning skills by identifying and analyzing arguments found in philosophical, legal, and other texts, and also by formulating our own arguments. We will use the formal techniques of modern propositional and predicate logic to codify and test various reasoning strategies and specific arguments. No prior knowledge of logic, formal mathematics, or computer science is presupposed in this course, which does not count towards the PHL distribution requirement but instead towards the deductive reasoning requirement. 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 0215
Current
Philosophy of Technology
Course Description
Philosophy of Technology
In this course we will explore a number of philosophically and ethically significant questions about the nature of technology and how it interacts with, improves, harms, and ultimately structures our individual lives and society, generally. The answers to the questions pursued in this course lie somewhere between two common attitudes towards technology: an unbridled optimism that technology will improve our lives and a romanticized Ludditism that desires a return to pre-technological human society. While there is much to appreciate and much to criticize about modern technology, both appreciation and criticism need to be tempered with critical and rational reflection. Specific topics include ethics of artificial intelligence, ethical design, genetic engineering and human nature, technologizing cognition, technology in politics, technology creep. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 0217
Issues in Bioethics
Course Description
Issues in Bioethics
In this course, we will look at when medicine departs from its usual purpose of prolonging life and treating disease/injury, as well as how to distribute medical resources needed for that purpose. First, when should medicine be used not to avoid death, but to bring it about? We will discuss abortion and euthanasia. Second, when should medicine be used to change our physical condition, in non-disease/injury contexts? We will discuss the nature of disability and the permissibility of human enhancement. Finally, we will look at how we should distribute medical resources in a variety of contexts, including triage, vaccine distribution and the anti-vax movement, Third World clinical trials, and blood donations, as well as how structural inequalities hamper just resource distribution. (Not open to students who have completed PHIL 1034)
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 0220
Current
Knowledge and Reality
Course Description
Knowledge and Reality
This course will introduce students to central issues in epistemology (the philosophical study of knowledge) and metaphysics (the philosophical study of reality). We will examine philosophical answers to some of the following questions: What is knowledge? How do we know what we know? How does knowledge differ from mere opinion? Does reality exist independently of our minds? When is it rational to believe something? What is the nature of time, causality, and possibility? Are our actions freely chosen or determined by natural forces? Do abstract entities-such as numbers and universals-exist? 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 0256
Environmental Ethics
Course Description
Environmental Ethics
In this course we will explore a variety of moral questions that arise in connection to the environment and our relationship to it. Questions may include: What are our moral obligations to the environment? What is the moral status of non-human animals, and how should we take their welfare into account? Do we have a duty to be vegetarian/vegan? What should we do about climate change? How should we respond to climate change deniers? What role should technology play in combating climate change? Is biodiversity intrinsically or only instrumentally valuable?; What duties do we have to future generations? The primary goal of this course is to engage in an overview of philosophically and ethically significant questions about the environment and our relation to it.
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 0353
Social Metaphysics
Course Description
Social Metaphysics
Social metaphysics focuses on the nature of social kinds and phenomena, including race, gender, sexual orientation, groups, teams, organizations, institutions, virtual artifacts, games, social relationships, governments, nations, and cultures. In this seminar we will focus on the ways such kinds are constructed via social norms and conventions, whether social kinds have essential properties, and what mental states are needed to sustain them. We will also consider how social kinds structure relations of power as well as our lived experiences, and the relations of dependence between social kinds and material artifacts. Students will be introduced to different methodological approaches to these issues, including methodological individualism, holism, conceptual engineering, and descriptive meta-ontology. (one Philosophy course) 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 0415
Upcoming
Technical Artifacts
Course Description
Technical Artifacts: Normative and Metaphysical Perspectives
In this seminar we will explore normative and metaphysical questions pertaining to technical artifacts, which are human-made technological products like cellphones, cars, drones, software, skyscrapers, and robots. Technical artifacts pervade our daily lives and structure our relations to each other, ourselves, and society, generally. We will engage in philosophical inquiry by asking questions such as what technical artifacts are and whether they have essences, what role maintenance and repair practices play in their persistence over time, what role collective intentions play in their creation, what their relation is to broader sociotechnical systems, how they structure power relations, whether they can embody values and how they contribute to value change, as well as questions regarding responsible design and responsibility for (mis)use. (Junior and senior majors or by waiver); 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 0500
Current
Upcoming
Research In Philosophy
Course Description
Research in Philosophy
Supervised independent research in philosophy. (Approval required).
Terms Taught
PHIL 1023
Upcoming
Ethics of AI and Algorithms
Course Description
Ethics of AI and Algorithms
In this course we will look at the ethical and social impacts of the development and application of AI and algorithms. While algorithmic decision-making is by now familiar, advances in generative AI has seen ubiquitous integration of these systems to domains as diverse as healthcare, education, social media, cybersecurity, warfare, politics, climate change, and entertainment. The rapid deployment of these technologies means their ethical and social implications have not been fully understood. We will use ethical frameworks to investigate how to develop and use these technologies equitably, while maximizing their benefits and minimizing potential harms. Because these technologies promise profound social change, critical rational reflection on their ethical and social impacts is crucial for responsibly guiding their integration into society.
Terms Taught
Requirements
PHIL 1034
Issues in Bioethics
Course Description
Issues in Bioethics
In this course, we will look at when medicine departs from its usual purpose of prolonging life and treating disease/injury, as well as how to distribute medical resources needed for that purpose. First, when should medicine be used not to avoid death, but to bring it about? We will discuss abortion and euthanasia. Second, when should medicine be used to change our physical condition, in non-disease/injury contexts? We will discuss the nature of disability and the permissibility of human enhancement. Finally, we will look at how we should distribute medical resources in a variety of contexts, including triage, vaccine distribution and the anti-vax movement, Third World clinical trials, and blood donations, as well as how structural inequalities hamper just resource distribution.
Terms Taught
Requirements