Joshua May

Joshua May
Associate Professor

Associate Professor (P), Philosophy , College of Arts and Sciences

Overview

I’m an ethicist and cognitive scientist (officially, Associate Professor of Philosophy) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. After finishing my PhD in 2011 at beautiful UC Santa Barbara, I was fortunate to have taught for two years in a land down under at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. When not reading, writing, or teaching, I like to get away from the computer and hike, climb, travel, play guitar, cook mostly vegetarian food, or spend time with my wonderful daughter.

Selected Publications

Academic Article

Year	Title	Altmetric
2022	Harnessing Moral Psychology to Reduce Meat Consumption 2022
2022	Which moral exemplars inspire prosociality? 2022
2021	Bias in science: natural and social 2021
2021	Moral rationalism on the brain 2021
2020	Experimental Philosophical Bioethics. Ajob Empirical Bioethics. 11:30-33. 2020
2019	Defending optimistic rationalism: A reply to commentators. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 42:e168. 2019
2018	Moral Responsibility and Mental Illness: a Call for Nuance. Neuroethics. 11:11-22. 2018
2018	A limited skeptical threat. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 41:e52. 2018
2018	Précis of Regard for Reason in the Moral Mind. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2018
2017	The means/side-effect distinction in moral cognition: A meta-analysis. Cognition. 166:314-327. 2017
2016	Emotional reactions to human reproductive cloning. Journal of Medical Ethics. 42:26-30. 2016
2014	Moral judgment and deontology: Empirical developments. Philosophy Compass. 9:745-755. 2014
2014	Does Belief in Dualism Protect Against Maladaptive Psychosocial Responses to Deep Brain Stimulation? An Empirical Exploration 2014
2014	Does disgust influence moral judgment?. Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 92:125-141. 2014
2014	On the very concept of free will 2014
2013	Because I Believe It's the Right Thing to Do. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 16:791-808. 2013
2013	Skeptical hypotheses and moral skepticism. Canadian Journal of Philosophy. 43:341-359. 2013
2012	What in the world is weakness of will? 2012
2011	Egoism, empathy, and self-other merging 2011
2011	Relational desires and empirical evidence against psychological egoism. European Journal of Philosophy. 19:39-58. 2011
2010	Experimental Philosophy 2010
2010	Practical Interests, Relevant Alternatives, and Knowledge Attributions: An Empirical Study. Review of Philosophy and Psychology. 1:265-273. 2010

Book

Year	Title	Altmetric
2018	Regard for reason in the moral mind 2018

Chapter

Year	Title	Altmetric
2018	The limits of emotion in moral judgment. 286-306. 2018
2018	Moral reasoning and emotion. 139-156. 2018
2017	Empathy and intersubjectivity. 169-179. 2017
2016	Repugnance as Performance Error. 43-57. 2016

Research Overview

My research lies at the intersection of ethics and science (e.g. neuroethics) and aims to better understand the development, breakdown, and improvement of moral knowledge and virtue. My book Regard for Reason in the Moral Mind (Oxford University Press, 2018) draws on scientific evidence to show that reasoning plays a fundamental role in ethical thought and action.

Principal Investigator On

Joshua May - ACT Fellowship Application awarded by THE JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION

Why Do Some Stories of Moral Exemplars Increase Prosocial Behavior awarded by Duke University

Teaching Overview

I teach a range of philosophy courses, but my regulars are Intro to Philosophy, Bioethics, Ethics: Theories of Good and Evil, and Neuroethics. I occasionally teach seminars, which usually cover current debates in these areas. In 2017, I was honored to receive the “Outstanding Professor Award” from the students in UAB’s Early Medical School Acceptance Program.