#  Jeff Behrends 

Senior Research Scholar and Associate Senior Lecturer on Philosophy

 

 

 



   ![Jeff Behrends](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2025-09/071425_AI-Philosophy-JeffBehrends_039_my.edits%20.jpg?itok=wAJDPJvO) 

 



 

 location\_on Emerson 203 

 email <jbehrends@fas.harvard.edu> 

 laptop\_windows [Personal Web Site](https://www.jeffbehrends.com) 

 

Photo courtesy of Veasey Conway/Harvard University

 

 



 

**Research Interests:** Practical Normativity, Moral Epistemology, Ethics of AI  
  
Jeff Behrends received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then taught for three years at Illinois State University before joining Harvard in 2016. He has published in a diverse range of ethical subfields, including axiology, meta-ethics, normative ethics, applied ethics, and applied political philosophy. His current research interests concern metaethics, especially regarding the nature of practical reasons, and the applied ethics of computing technology, especially regarding the design, development, and use of AI. He formerly served as co-Director of Embedded EthiCS @ Harvard University and as the Director of Ethics and Technology Initiatives at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics, and is now a faculty advisor to both.



 

 

 





 

 

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     [Regular Faculty](/taxonomy/term/125841)