From June 25-28, 2025, the Philosophy and Ethics Group of the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences of the Eindhoven University of Technology will host the 24th biennial international conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology. The conference theme is “The Intimate Technological Revolution”.
Modern technology permeates every aspect of our lives: the technology nestles itself in us (for example through brain implants), between us (through social media like Facebook), knows more and more about us (via big data and techniques such as emotion recognition), and is continually learning to behave more like us (robots and software exhibit intelligent behaviour and can mimic emotions). We refer to this as the intimate technological revolution.
These intimate technologies have many (potential) benefits, e.g., regarding health, efficiency, safety, and human connection, but they may also entail undesirable developments. As it often affects people directly and personally, intimate technology sparks many social, ethical, and philosophical issues. The intimate nature of these technologies gives rise to new kinds of vulnerabilities and risks, affecting physical, personal, social, and societal aspects of our identity. They also create new roles and tasks for engineers, policymakers, and other societal stakeholders and raise new questions for philosophers of sciences and ethicists. The opportunities, vulnerabilities, and risks of technologies must be picked up to direct the intimate technological revolution in a responsible way. At this conference, we aim to reflect on the societal and ethical issues of these technologies, which require us to rethink and reformulate ethical frameworks and social practices, and maybe even require novel methods, concepts, and values.
Program
The conference will start on Wednesday, June 25, and will end on Saturday, June 28. In principle, SPT2025 will be conducted in person. Online sessions (live-streamed) will be set up for the keynote presentations and some of the parallel paper sessions in the main conference room. Furthermore, we will make use of a virtual conference environment where in-person as well as online participants can interact with each other.
Keynote speakers
• Sabina Leonelli (Technical University of Munich)
• Robert Rosenberger (SPT president, Georgia Institute of Technology)
• Jens Schlieter (Bern University)
• Shannon Vallor (The University of Edinburgh)
Submission
Submissions that engage in philosophical reflections on relevant aspects of technology are welcomed, including those from disciplines other than philosophy (e.g., STS, history, anthropology, and sociology). The Program Committee assumes, for example, the following themes for this conference including, but not limited to:
- Mental Health and Well-Being in the Digital Age
- Technology and Human Identity
- Regulation and Policy for Intimate Technologies
- Human Nature, Agency, and Autonomy
- Epistemology and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, and Robots
- Technology, justice, and moral responsibility
- Environment, Sustainability, and Risks
- Democracy, Justice, and Solidarity
- The Role of Engineers and Designers in Shaping Intimate Technology
- Conceptual Disruption and Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies
- Personal Data: Ownership and Control
- Technological Citizenship
- Intercultural Philosophy
- Philosophy and Engineering Education
Submissions from practitioners, including entrepreneurs, engineers, and engineering faculty, are also encouraged. The Program Committee will strive for quality, variety, and diversity within the program. Please submit your abstract before January 15, 2025. All submissions should be in English. Since we would like to enable as many people as possible to present their work, no one will be permitted to present more than one contribution at the SPT2025 conference, but it is allowed to be involved in further contributions in another role (such as co-author or discussant).
• Proposals for posters: Next to classical keynotes, presentations in parallel sessions, and symposia, SPT2025 will organize dedicated and thematic poster sessions with expert panels. Whereas poster sessions are often seen as a negative or second-choice opportunity, this session type will use poster presentation as a strong method to increase interaction. Posters will be clustered around a particular topic. An expert panel will capture the debates and will further discuss the topic linking posters they considered thought-provoking. Poster proposals should have a 350-500 word abstract (excl. references), prepared for blind review. Aim to indicate the structure that will appear on your poster. Please indicate relevant topics and keywords in the Conftool submission form.
• Proposals for papers: Contributed papers will be allocated 25 minutes (including time for discussion). Contributed papers will be clustered into parallel sessions focusing on particular themes. Proposals for contributed papers should consist of a 350-500 word abstract (excl. references), prepared for blind review. Please indicate keywords in the Conftool submission form.
• Proposals for a full symposium: Symposia/panels will be allocated (at least) 90 minutes, including discussion. They can have any format. Symposium proposals can be submitted by the coordinating author, and should include the symposium title, a description of the symposium’s rationale (up to 500 words, excl. references), the title, and abstract (350-500 words, excl. references) of each of the individual presentations that will constitute the session, prepared for blind review. Please indicate keywords in the Conftool submission form.
• Proposals for Author-Meets-Critics sessions: We invite authors of (un) published articles to participate in the Authors-meet-Critics sessions. These sessions provide a platform for authors to receive feedback on their latest work by (a maximum of 6) discussants. The proposals should include the (draft of the) paper, and should be submitted by December 16, 2024. On the website, these sessions will be announced on December 18, 2024. People who would like to be discussants for a paper should register for the paper discussion of their choice before January 15, 2025, in the Conftool submission form.
Please submit your proposal through the conference website: https://spt2025.dryfta.com. If you have any trouble submitting through the form above, please direct your questions to spt2025@tue.nl.
Important deadlines
- Abstract submission deadline (poster, paper, or symposium/panel): January 15, 2025
- Draft-paper deadline for Author-Meets-Critics session: December 16th 2024
- Paper submission for SPT Graduate Student Paper Awards: January 6th 2025
- Paper submission for SPT Early Career Award: April 1st 2025
- Expected notification of acceptance decision: February 15, 2025
- Registration opens: February 1, 2025
- Registration with early bird fee: February 1 - April 1, 2025
- Registration with standard fee: April 2 - June 18, 2025
SPT early career award
This award, which includes a $500 (USD) prize, will be given to an early career scholar whose accepted paper for SPT 2025, in the judgment of the SPT Executive Board, best embodies exceptional and innovative scholarly work that promises to expand the scope of research in this field. Priority will thus be given to work that promotes growth and open horizons in philosophical research on technology, for example, by developing new ideas, topics, methodologies, arguments, conceptual frameworks, or disciplinary perspectives.
Early career scholars (less than 10 years since the Ph.D., with exceptions for parental leave) whose abstracts are accepted by the SPT 2025 program committee may submit full papers to the SPT Board by April 1, 2025, for award consideration; the winner will be notified by April 17 and listed on the conference program. Those selected must register and present the paper at the conference to receive the award and stipend. Additional funds for travel to SPT 2025 may be offered. The award will be formally presented to the winner at the award SPT session. Papers from those wishing to be considered for this award should be sent to Glen Miller glenmiller(at)tamu.edu with the subject line "SPT Early Career Award Submission."
SPT Graduate Student Paper Awards
The Society for Philosophy and Technology will sponsor graduate student paper awards given to outstanding submissions by graduate students for SPT 2025. These awards include a $500 USD travel stipend. Graduate students (including the equivalent of Ph.D. candidates, doctoral students, or research master students) who wish to be considered for an award must submit a complete draft (max. 3000 words) of the paper to be considered by an independent SPT award committee by January 6, 2025, following the separate submission of the abstract by December 1, 2024. The full paper (including abstract) should be stripped of identifying information, and be accompanied by a separate cover sheet with the paper title, 150-200 word abstract, the author’s name, e-mail address, and current graduate program details (e.g., date of enrollment, degree being pursued, department, and institution).
Submitted papers will be blind-reviewed by the SPT award committee. Only authors whose abstracts are accepted by the program committee for the conference program will be eligible to receive a graduate student paper award, and those selected must register and present the paper at the conference to receive the award and stipend. Co-authored submissions are ineligible for graduate student paper awards unless all authors are graduate students and are listed as such, with the required program information, on the paper cover sheet.
To apply for a graduate paper award, please send a full paper (maximum 3000 words; papers exceeding this length, excluding notes and references, will not be considered)) and cover sheet as email attachments to Glen Miller glenmiller(at)tamu.edu with the subject line "SPT Graduate Student Award Submission." By January 6, 2025. Awardees will be notified by mid-February.