Nanyang Technology University

Philosophy 
Main Research Areas at NTU:

·          Chinese Philosophy

·          Ethics (Moral Philosophy)

·          Philosophy of Science

·          Social Philosophy and Political Philosophy

The word "philosophy" comes from the Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom." As a discipline, philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, mind, reason, knowledge, truth, beauty, values, and the meaning of life. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of inquiry by its critical, generally systematic, approach and its reliance on rational argument. While other fields study particular kinds of things, philosophy asks how it all fits together and aims at developing a systematic worldview.

Chinese Philosophy studies philosophical traditions with Chinese roots, such as Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, and Buddhism. These philosophies are concerned with fundamental issues related to human existence, such as virtue, freedom, reason, knowledge, love, harmony, and the good life. Investigations of these subjects are for both their historical and modern significance. In contemporary times, research in Chinese philosophy is often conducted in a comparative perspective with Western philosophy (“comparative philosophy”).

Ethics (Moral Philosophy) is the philosophical study of morality. Central questions in ethics include the following: What is morality? What considerations make an action morally right or wrong? What is a good life? Research in ethics spans three subfields: meta-ethics (the study of the meaning and justification of moral beliefs), moral psychology (the study of the psychological causes underlying moral thought and action), and normative ethics (the study of morally appropriate decision-making).

Philosophy of Science is concerned with the nature of scientific investigation and knowledge.  It examines the foundations, assumptions, and methods of scientific practice as well as the consequences that scientific investigation has, or ought to have, for our beliefs about the world and our way of organizing society.  Some of its areas of study include scientific explanation, scientific inference, confirmation of scientific theories, scientific realism and anti-realism, the distinction between science and non-science, the nature of observation, scientific reduction, causation, scientific laws, philosophy of physics, philosophy of biology, philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of the social sciences, and science ethics. 

Social Philosophy and Political Philosophy are closely related areas of philosophical inquiry.  Social philosophy studies issues related to social justice. It asks question such as, What are the characteristics of a just society? What is social fairness? Is gender equality essential to a good society? Political philosophy focuses mainly on issues related to the role and legitimacy of government. Its topics include liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of legal code by authority.

 NameResearch Interests
Asst Prof Andres Carlos LucoMy research interests fall mainly into meta-ethics, moral psychology, and social & political philosophy. I am interested in such topics as the rationality of moral action; the psychology of moral motivation; the evolution of morality; social norms; theories of well-being; distributive justice; and human rights.
Prof Chan Kam Leung AlanChinese Philosophy and Religion; Hermeneutics and Critical Theory; Comparative Philosophy and Religion
Asst Prof Christopher HolmanMy current research interests are in the history of political thought (particularly early-modern and modern), contemporary political theory, critical theory, democratic theory, political anthropology, and psychoanalysis and politics.
Asst Prof Chuang ChristinaEthics, History of Ethics, Moral Psychology, Indian Philosophy
Asst Prof Daniel Keith JerniganModern and Contemporary British Literature; Modern and Postmodern Drama; Narrative Theory; Playwriting
Asst Prof Hallam StevensMy research focuses on the intersection between information technology and biotechnology. His forthcoming book -- Life out of Sequence: bioinformatics and the introduction of computers into biology (http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo16744390.html) -- is an historical and ethnographic account of the changes wrought to biological practice and biological knowledge by the introduction of the computer. Especially in highly computerized fields such as genomics, the computer has changed how biologists work, how biologists collaborate, and how biologists make knowledge. I am currently working on two other book projects. First, I am writing a general audience book about biotechnology under the title "Biotechnology and society." This book will examines the social, cultural, political, and economic effects of biotechnologies from a range of disciplinary perspectives (including history, sociology, anthropology, and philosophy). Second, I am co-editing a book with Sarah Richardson (Department of History of Science and Department of Women and Gender Studies, Harvard University) that reflects on recent developments in the biosciences from a social science perspective. The tentative title of that work is "Postgenomics." I am also working on several new projects that examine the production of knowledge in the biosciences in Singapore and Asia. These projects examine, amongst other things, the use of laboratory spaces and the use of 'big data' in scientific work.
Asst Prof Han Sam(1) The dynamic of religion and digital technology in contemporary American Christianity (2) Digital-diasporic religious practices in Asia (3) Death and mourning in the digital age (4) The religious discourse of technology as sinful (5) General social and cultural theory (e.g., affect theory, post-structuralism, post-modernism, psychoanalysis, network theory) (6) Parochialism in popular representations of “genius” in media depictions of US ethnic minorities
Asst Prof Ida Lina Stina JanssonMy primary research interest has been focused on questions about the nature of scientific explanations. I have worked on this topic primarily from within the philosophy of physics, but I also have interests in how explanations in other fields, such as metaphysics, are related to scientific ones.
Prof John Allen PaulosOriginally mathematical logic, specifically model theory, then philosophy and probability, and then writing - books, articles, essays for a variety of publications. Several books became bestsellers. They're described here: http://www.math.temple.edu/~paulos/books.html
Asst Prof John Richard TangneyHistory of ideas, Platonism, allegory, esoteric philosophy, Renaissance literature, early modern materialism
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