Kyle McClain

A Short Book of Popular Philosophy Exploring Who We Should Include in Our Moral Community

Advisor: Derrick Gray
Major: Ethics, History and Public Policy; Philosophy
Minor: Politics and Public Policy

Abstract

For this senior honors thesis, I plan to author a short book of popular philosophy exploring who we should include in our moral community, or what beings/people/agents owe moral obligations to. I will explore different layers of moral community, including total apathy, the self, other human beings, animals and artificial intelligence. The project will explore these themes using a narrative approach to metaethics, engaging readers in an area of philosophy typically reserved for the academic community and bringing an elevated level of engagement to understanding who we owe moral obligations to and why.

Bio

I am double majoring in Ethics, History, and Public Policy and Philosophy. My interests lie in making moral philosophy both interesting and accessible to all readers as well as helping guide people to developing consistency in their ethical beliefs. This project was deeply motivated by these interests, as all too often philosophy can be seen as a dense, hard to understand texts and not as a discipline people can actually use to improve their lives. I hope to use the skills developed through working on this project after graduation as I pursue law school.