About

I am a Research Fellow at the University of Southampton working on the ERC 'Ethics of Doubt' Project (PI: Genia Schönbaumsfeld). 

Previously, I was a Research Fellow at King's College London in the YTL Centre for Politics, Philosophy, and Law. Before that, I was a Research Fellow at University College London. I completed a DPhil in Philosophy at Oxford.

Here's my CV. Email: k.van-oosterum@soton.ac.uk 

Research

I work mainly in ethics, political philosophy, and social epistemology. I wrote my dissertation on the political philosophy of echo chambers (abstract here). 

My research falls primarily into two strands. The first concerns the ethics of influence: when is it permissible to intervene in others' choices for their own good, and what responsibilities arise when we guide each other's practical deliberation? In this strand, I've written about paternalism, nudging, and autonomy.

The second concerns the philosophy of the digital public sphere. In this strand, I've written about echo chambers, hate speech, and the regulation of social media platforms. 

Beyond this, I am fascinated by AI and emerging technologies not because they throw up new problems but because they cast the old ones in a new light. Here, I'm currently thinking about the ethics of advisory AI as well as the harms of deepfake technologies.

When I'm not doing philosophy, I play music, watch basketball, and spend an inordinate amount of time searching for the best food in London.