Kant's moral philosophy
The value of humanity's survival
Obligations to future generations
Moral psychology
Emotions
Current Projects
I am currently working on developing a Kantian approach to the value of humanity's survival, and examining it against the challenge of vindicating attempts to preserve humanity despite the expected costs to non-human species. This approach draws on Kant's moral teleology and in particular on his notion of the highest good, as well as on Kant's conception of the value of humanity as an end in itself. I am also writing about Kant's conception of self-love, the ethics of procreation, and the threat that online manipulation poses to our autonomy.
Curriculum Vitae
Areas of Specialization: Kant; normative ethics; moral psychology.
Areas of Competence: Philosophy of emotion; ethics of emerging technologies; political philosophy.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2009 Guided Reading in Descartes' Meditations (Tel Aviv University)
2010 Guided Reading in Hume's Treatise, Book I (Tel Aviv University)
2011 Guided Reading in Plato's Gorgias and Kant's Groundwork (Tel Aviv University)
2014 Kant's Categorical Imperative (Assistant Instructor to Ido Geiger, Ben- Gurion University)
2010-14 Instructor for gifted high school students taking undergraduate philosophy courses at Tel Aviv
University (Modern Philosophy, 19th Century Philosophy)
2015-16 Introduction to Philosophy (Assistant Instructor to Gary Ebbs, Indiana University)
Introduction to Ethics (Assistant Instructor to Timothy O'Connor, Indiana University)
2016-17 Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (grader and substitute lecturer for Pieter Sjoerd Hasper,
Indiana University)
Introduction to Philosophy (Assistant Instructor to Frederick Schmitt, Indiana University)
2019 Introduction to Ethics (Instructor, Indiana University)
All Assistant Instructor Positions at Indiana University involved teaching two stand-alone sections
per-week and grading;
Introduction to Ethics involved lecturing and grading.
2021 On Sense and Sensibility: Morality and the Emotions (Instructor, Technion)
Gender Bias and Stereotypes in NLP (Embedded Ethics module in a Computer Science seminar
given by Dr. Yonatan Belinkov, Technion)
2022 Technology and Society: Ethical Challenges (Instructor, Technion; Reichman University).
LANGUAGES
English – fluent reading, writing, and speaking Hebrew – fluent reading, writing, and speaking
German - fluent reading, intermediate writing and speaking French – elementary reading
Farsi - intermediate reading and writing Arabic - elementary reading and writing
Fellowships and Grants (selection)
2011-2013 Fellow at the Program for the Study of the Philosophy of Immanuel Kant and its Legacy (held jointly by Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion University)2012-2014 Coordinator, book review series, Minerva Humanities Center, Tel Aviv University
2014 Indiana University, Philosophy Department Fellowship
2017 Indiana University - Freie Universität, Berlin, Foreign Exchange Fellowship
2019 Minerva Stiftung Doctoral Fellowship. Project Title: "What (Else) Can Kant Teach Us About Emotions?". Hosted by Prof. Dina Emundts at Freie Universität, Berlin
2021 Honorable Mention of Excellence in Teaching for the course "On Sense and Sensibility: Morality and the Emotions"
2012-Present Editorial Board Member in Mafte'akh: Lexical Review of Political Thought
2021 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Humanities and Arts Department, Technion
2022 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Moral and Political Philosophy, Hebrew University
Prizes
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2009, 2011 Tel Aviv University’s “Poesis” Prize for Academic Excellence
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2017 Indiana University’s Irving and Shirley Brand Graduate Fellowship Indiana University’s Philosophy Department’s Academic Excellence Award
Education
2021 Ph.D. in Philosophy, Indiana University. Kant's Theory of Emotion: Toward A Systematic Reconstruction. Committee: Allen Wood (chair), Marcia Baron, Sandra Shapshay, Johannes Türk.
2012 M.A. in Philosophy, Tel Aviv University, magna cum laude. Dissertation title: The Non-Moral Conscience: Kant, Heidegger. Supervised by Ruth Ronen.
2008 B.A. in Behavioral Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, cum laude.
Publications
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES
1. Eran, U., 2022. “Kantian Desires: A Holistic Account”, Journal of the History of Philosophy, 60(3), 429-451. Q1, SJR H-Index: 0.5 (2021).
2. Eran, U., 2021. “Are Kantian Emotions Feelings?”, Kantian Review, 26(3), 371-378. Q1, SJR H-Index: 0.36 (2021).
3. Eran, U., 2020. “Which Emotions Should Kantians Cultivate? (and Which Ones Should they Discipline)? ”, Kantian Review, 25(1), 53-76. Q1, SJR H-Index: 0.36 (2021).
4. Eran, U., 2023. “More Than a Feeling: Kant's Tripartite Account of Pleasure”, Kant-Studien, 114 (2), pp.271-294. Q2, SJR H-Index: 0.17 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1515/kant-2023-2017
5. Eran, U., 2022. “Pleasure as a Necessary Component of Kantian Emotions”, History of Philosophy Quarterly, 39 (4), 355-371. Q2, SJR H-Index: 0.2 (2021). https://doi.org/10.5406/21521026.39.4.04
Presentations (selection)
2023: "Ought We Save Ourselves? A Kantian Perspective on Humanity's Survival" (Conference on the Value of Human Life, Center for Moral and Political Philosophy, Hebrew University; Israeli Philosophical Association)
2022: "Kant's Tripartite Account of Pleasure" (Humanities and Arts Colloquium, Technion; Israeli Philosophical Association)
2021: "Kantian Desires: A Holistic Account" (Humboldt University; Free University of Berlin)