PROFESSOR
HERMAN TAVANI'S HOME PAGE
RECENT PUBLICATIONS | RECENT PRESENTATIONS | RECENT COURSES TAUGHT
Email: htavani@rivier.edu
Academic Bio
Herman T. Tavani, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Rivier University where he has taught since 1980, both in full– and part–time capacities. For many years, he also served as Chair of the Philosophy Department and as Director of Rivier’s Liberal Studies Program. Professor Tavani has taught philosophy courses for more than half a century, teaching his first philosophy class in September 1971 at West Chester University (where he also received his B.A. and M.A. degrees). He has taught at many other colleges and universities during his career, including Boston College and Temple University (where he earned his doctorate). Tavani has also held academic appointments as a visiting scholar and associate research fellow at Dartmouth College, and as a visiting scholar (in environmental health ethics) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Professor Tavani is the author of Ethics and Technology, a textbook that is widely used in many countries and currently in its fifth edition (2016). He has also written, edited, or co–edited five other books: Readings in CyberEthics (2001, 2nd edition 2004); Intellectual Property Rights in a Networked World (2005); Ethics, Computing, and Genomics (2006); The Handbook on Information and Computer Ethics (2008); and Elements of Reasoning: A Short Introduction (2009). His academic publications include more than 100 articles, reviews, and bibliographic works that have appeared in numerous scholarly journals, encyclopedias, and books of readings. Tavani’s published work in computer ethics is internationally regarded, and he has been invited to present his research at universities in 16 countries around the world. He has delivered approximately 100 guest lectures, keynote addresses, conference papers, and panel presentations.
Active in several professional/academic organizations, Professor Tavani served as an executive director and later as President of the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology; as President of the Northern New England Philosophical Association; and as Secretary/Treasurer of the Association for Computing (ACM)—Special Interest Group on Computers and Society (SIGCAS). He also served on the American Philosophical Association—Committee on Philosophy and Computers. Professor Tavani is a member of the editorial boards of numerous academic journals and has been the Book Review Editor of the journal of Ethics and Information Technology since 1998. He has also been a frequent guest editor of various journals, and he was an associate editor of Computers and Society for many years.
Professor Tavani has been honored with a wide range of professional/academic awards, including the 2019 Weizenbaum Award which recognized his “significant contributions to the field of information and computer ethics, through his research, service, and vision” over a 25–year period. He was also the recipient of the 2004 John Brubaker Award, in recognition of his scholarly writing, and he received the 2008 ACM–SIGCAS Outstanding Service Award for his extensive professional service. Tavani has also been “acknowledged for excellence as a distinguished educator” who has “made as difference” as a college teacher.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
(since 2010)
Research Articles in Scholarly
Journals, Periodicals, Encyclopedias, and Books of Readings:
2020 Expanding
the ICT-Ethics Framework in an Era of AI. Journal of Information Ethics,
Vol. 29, No. 2, 2020, pp. 11-35.
2019 Responding
to Some Challenges Posed by the Re-identification of Anonymized Personal Data
(with Frances Grodzinsky). In Computer
Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) 2019 Proceedings, (Edited by D. Wittkower). (14
pp.). doi: 10.25884/jke7-mk31.
2018 Can Social Robots Qualify for
Moral Consideration? Reframing the Question about Robot Rights. Information, Vol. 9, pp. 1-16.
doi:10.3390/info9040073.
Should
We Have a Right to Be Forgotten? An Analysis of Some Key Arguments Addressing
this Question. Journal of Information Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp.
26-46.
2017 Incorporating
a Critical Reasoning Component into
the ICT–Ethics Methodological Framework. Journal for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT, Vol. 1, No.
2.
2016 Search Engines and
Ethics. In Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. (Edited by Edward N. Zalta). (a
substantially revised version of my 2012 encyclopedia entry).
2015 Levels of
Trust in the Context of Machine Ethics. Philosophy
and Technology, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 75-90.
Autonomy
and Trust in the Context of Artificial Agents (with Jeff Buechner). In Evolutionary Robotics, Organic Computing and
Adaptive Ambience. (Edited by Mathias Gutmann, Michael Decker, and Julia Knifka). Berlin, Germany: LIT Verlag, pp. 29-52.
Transaction-Generated
Information. In Ethics, Science, Technology, and Engineering: A Global
Resource. 2nd ed. Vol. 4
(Edited by J. Britt Holbrook). Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference, pp.
403-406. [An updated and substantially
revised version of my 2005 encyclopedia article.]
2014 Trust, Betrayal, and
Whistleblowing: Reflections on the Edward Snowden Case (with Frances Grodzinsky). Computers and Society, Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 8-13.
Rethinking
Trust and Trustworthiness in Digital Environments (with Jeff Buechner and
Judith Simon). In Autonomous
Technologies: Philosophical Issues, Practical Solutions, Human Nature: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Computer Ethics – Philosophical
Enquiry. (Edited by E. Buchanan, et al.). Menomonie, WI: INSEIT, pp. 65-79.
2013 DNA Databanks and
Informed Consent (with Maria Bottis). In Bioinformatics Law: Legal Issues for
Computational Biology in the Post-Genome Era (Edited by Jorge L. Contreras
and A. James Cuticchia). Chicago, IL: ABA (American
Bar Association) Publishers, pp. 179-188.
Cyberethics. In Encyclopedia
of Sciences and Religions. (Edited by Anne Runehov
and Luís Oviedo). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, pp. 565-570.
2012 Computer
Ethics as a Field of Applied Ethics: Core Questions and Future Directions. Journal of Information Ethics, Vol. 21,
No. 2, pp. 52-70.
Ethical Aspects of
Autonomous Systems. In Robo- and
Information-Ethics: Some Fundamentals (Edited by Michael Decker and Mathias
Gutmann). Berlin, Germany: LIT Verlag, pp. 89-121.
2011 Trust and
Multi-Agent Systems: Applying the ‘Diffuse, Default Model’ of Trust to
Experiments Involving Artificial Agents (with Jeff Buechner). Ethics and Information Technology, Vol.
13, No. 1, pp. 39-51.
Privacy
in the Cloud: Applying Nissenbaum’s Theory of
Contextual Integrity (with Frances Grodzinsky). Computers and Society, Vol. 42, No. 1,
pp. 38-47.
2010 The
Foundationalist Debate in Computer Ethics. In The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. (Edited
by Luciano Floridi). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press, pp. 251-270.
Applying the ‘Contextual Integrity’ Model of Privacy
to Personal Blogs in the Blogosphere (with Frances Grodzinsky). International Journal of Internet Research
Ethics, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 38-47.
Review Articles, Book Reviews, and
Annotated Bibliographies in Academic Journals
§ Review of Broadening the Horizons of Information Law
and Ethics: A Time for Inclusion: ICIL 2017 Proceedings (Maria Bottis
and Eugenia Alexandropoulou, editors. Pretoria, South
Africa: University of Macedonia Press, 2017). International Review of Information Ethics, Vol. 26, 2018, pp. 150-151.
§ Review of Honorary Volume for Evi
Laskari (Maria Bottis,
editor. Athens, Greece: Nomiki Bibliothiki).
International Review of Information
Ethics, Vol. 21, 2014, pp.
72-73.
§ ICT
[Information and Communication Technology] Ethics Bibliography 2012-2014: A
Select List of Recent Books. Ethics
and Information Technology, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2013, pp. 243-247.
§ Defending a
Context-Based Framework of Privacy: (Review of) Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social
Life (by Helen Nissenbaum. Palo Alto, CA:
Stanford University Press, 2010). IEEE
Technology and Society, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2012, pp. 7-11.
§ Can We
Develop Artificial Agents Capable of Making Good Moral Decisions? (Review of) Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from
Wrong (by Wendell Wallach and Colin Allen. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2008). Minds and Machines,
Vol. 21, No. 3, 2011, pp. 465-474.
§ ICT Ethics
Bibliography 2009-2011: A Select List of Recent Books. Ethics and Information Technology, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2010, pp. 379-384.
Guest Editorials and Guest–Edited
Volumes (Special Issues of Journals):
§ Concepts
of Ethics and Their Application to AI (co-guest-edited with Jeff
Buechner). Special Issue of the journal, Information (Vol. 13). Basel,
Switzerland: MDPI Publications, forthcoming.
§ Crossing Boundaries:
Ethics in Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Relations (co-guest-edited with Elizabeth
Buchanan). Special Issue of Computers and Society (Vol. 43, No. 1). New
York: ACM Press, 2013.
§ Trust and Privacy in Our
Networked World (co-guest-edited
with Dieter Arnold). Special Issue of the journal, Information (Vol. 2, No. 1). Basel, Switzerland: MDPI Publications,
2011.
§ Moral Luck,
Social Networks and Trust on the Web (co-guest-edited with Maria Bottis
and Frances Grodzinsky). Special Issue of Ethics
and Information Technology (Vol. 12, No. 4). Dordrecht, Netherlands:
Springer, 2010.
RECENT PRESENTATIONS (Since 2010)
Delivered Keynote Addresses and
Invited Papers at the Following Institutions:
§ UNIVERSIDAD MILITAR NUEVA GRANADA (Bogotá, Colombia). Presented (remotely) an invited talk
(titled “Expanding
the ‘Standard’ Applied-Ethics Framework in an Era of Emerging and Converging
Technologies”) at the Doctoral Symposium (in the university’s School on Applied
Sciences), November 17, 2021.
§ ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (Tempe, AZ).
Presented (remotely) an invited talk
(“A Dynamic Ethics Framework for Analyzing Controversial Aspects of
Emerging and Converging Technologies”) at the PIT (Public
Interest technology) Colloquium (in the university’s School for the Future of
Innovation in Society), November 9, 2021.
§ OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY (Norfolk, VA). Delivered
the “2019 Weizenbaum Award” Address, titled “The State of ICT Ethics: A
Brief Look Back and a Look Ahead,” at the 2019 Conference on Computer Ethics –
Philosophical Enquiry, May 29, 2019.
§ UNIVERSITY OF TORINO, (Turin) Italy. Delivered a keynote address, titled “Incorporating a Critical Reasoning Component into the
ICT–Ethics Methodological Framework,” at the 2017 Conference on Computer Ethics
– Philosophical Enquiry, June 7, 2017.
§ BENTLEY UNIVERSITY, Waltham, MA. Presented an invited paper, titled
“Ethical Aspects of Big Data (Analytics),” at the Thought Leadership Network
(TLN) Seminar on Research with Big Data, April 25, 2017.
§ DENISON UNIVERSITY, Granville, Ohio.
Delivered an invited address, titled, “Information: A Global Public Good, or
Just another Commodity,” at the 2015-2016 interdisciplinary forum on Cyberethics, October 22, 2015.
§ LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, Chicago, IL. Presented an invited paper, titled
“Levels of Trust in the Context of Machine Ethics,” at the Second Annual
International Symposium on Digital Ethics, October 29, 2012.
§ IONIAN ACADEMY, Corfu, Greece. Delivered a keynote address, titled
“Ethical and Legal Aspects of Search Technologies,” at the Fifth International
Conference on Information Law (ICIL 2012), June 29, 2012.
§ KARLSRUHE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (KIT), GERMANY. Presented and invited talk, titled “Autonomy and
Trust in the Context of Artificial Agents,” at the Symposium on Evolutionary Robotics, Organic Computing and
Adaptive Ambience, October 22, 2011.
§ FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY, Fairfield, CT. Presented an invited paper, titled
“Core Questions and Future Directions in Computer Ethics,” at the Conference on
Applied Ethics: Directions of the Disciplines Today, June 7, 2011.
§ TURKU SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, FINLAND. Presented a keynote address (online via interact
video software), titled “Recent Topics of Interest in Computer Ethics,” at the
2010 INFORTE Seminar, September 29, 2010.
Presented (Refereed) Conference
Papers at the Following Institutions:
§ OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY (Norfolk, VA).
Co-presented (with Frances Grodzinsky) a
peer-reviewed paper at the Fourteenth
Conference on Computer Ethics – Philosophical Enquiry, May 29, 2019.
§ BATES COLLEGE (Lewiston, ME). Presented a peer-reviewed paper, at
the 2015 Northern New England Philosophical Association Conference, September
25, 2015.
§ UNIVERSITÉ PIERRE-ET-MARIE CURIE (LES CORDELIERS, SORBONNE UNIVERSITÉS) – PARIS, FRANCE. Co-presented
(with Frances Grodzinsky) a peer-reviewed paper at the
Eleventh Conference on Computer
Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry, June 24,
2014.
§ AUTÓNOMA UNIVERSITY OF LISBON – PORTUGAL. Co-presented (with Judith
Simon) a peer-reviewed paper Tenth International Conference on
Computer Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry,
July 2, 2013.
§ UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN – MILWAUKEE. Co-presented (with Frances Grodzinsky)
a peer-reviewed paper at the Ninth International Conference on Computer
Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry, June 2, 2011.
§ UNIVERSITY OF ROVIRA AND VIRGILI – TARRAGONA, SPAIN. Co-presented (with Maria Bottis)
a peer-reviewed paper at the Tenth International Conference on Social and
Ethical Impacts of Information and Communication Technology, April 15, 2010.
Delivered Invited Panel Talks and
Chaired Paper Sessions at the Following Institutions:
§ UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG, Germany. Moderated a keynote session (7/8) and paper
session (7/6) at the 2021 CEPE/IACAP joint Conference (via Zoom), July 5-9,
2021.
§
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA – LINCOLN. Presented/Participated
as an invited panelist (via Zoom, during
the Covid
pandemic) at the Workshop on
Cybersecurity Ethics Education: July 30, August 14, and August 29, 2020.
§ COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS, Worcester, MA. Chaired a paper session at the 2019 Northern
New England Philosophy Association (NNEPA 2019) Conference, November 8, 2019.
§ ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT, Boston MA. Presented/Participated as an invited panelist
at the Workshop on Ethical Analytics at 79th Annual AOM (Academy of Management)
Conference, August 10, 2019.
§ DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, Hanover, NH. Presented as an invited speaker (at the
reception celebrating James Moor’s career) at the Conference on Ethics,
Computing, and Artificial Intelligence, November 14, 2017.
§ KEENE STATE COLLEGE, Keene, NH. Chaired a paper session at the 2016
Northern New England Philosophy Association (NNEPA 2016) Conference, October
15, 2016.
§ UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, Newark, DE. Chaired a keynote session and two paper
sessions at the Twelfth International Conference on Computer
Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE 2015), June 27-28, 2015.
§ UNIVERSITÉ PIERRE-ET-MARIE CURIE (LES CORDELIERS, SORBONNE UNIVERSITÉS) – PARIS, FRANCE. Presented
an invited panel talk at the Eleventh Conference on Computer
Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE 2014), June 24, 2014.
§ AUTÓNOMA UNIVERSITY OF LISBON – PORTUGAL. Presented as an invited
panelist at the Tenth International
Conference on Computer Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE 2013), July 1, 2013.
§ DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, Hanover, NH. Chaired a paper session at the 2013
Northern New England Philosophical Association (NNEPA) Conference, August 23,
2013.
§ UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN – MILWAUKEE. Chaired a paper session at the Ninth International
Conference on Computer Ethics–Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE 2011), June 2, 2011.
§ UNIVERSITY OF ROVIRA AND VIRGILI – TARRAGONA, SPAIN, Spain. Chaired a keynote session at the ETHICOMP
2010 Conference, April 15, 2010.
RECENT Courses Taught (Since 2010)
Rivier University:
§ PHI 341: Junior Year Seminar
§ PHI 228: Philosophy and Computers
§ PHI 227: Computer Ethics
§ PHI 223: Technology, Values and Society
§ PHI 209: Contemporary Moral Issues
§ PHI
115: First Year Seminar: Reasoning
Last updated on March 13, 2023
© 2023 (and previous years) Herman T.
Tavani