McGill.CA / Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Human Nature and Technology

Jocelyn Maclure

Jocelyn Maclure is full professor of philosophy at McGill University. First known for his work in ethics and political philosophy on moral agency, value pluralism, justice and democracy, he expanded his research to the philosophy of technology and social epistemology. His book Secularism and Freedom of Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2011), co-authored with Charles Taylor, appeared in 10 languages. He taught for 17 years in the Faculty of Philosophy at Université Laval and held several visiting appointments, including the Mercator Visiting Professorship for AI in the Human Context at the University of Bonn in 2023.

His recent research focuses on some of the speculative and practical issues raised by progress in artificial intelligence, on the transformation of the public sphere under the influence of digital technologies and on the question of meaning at the end of life.

As a public philosopher, he served as an expert-analyst for the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on cultural and religious accommodations, co-chaired two panels of experts on medical assistance in dying, and participated in numerous public debates. He is the current president of the Quebec Ethics in Science and Technology Commission. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2023.

Professor Jocelyn Maclure standing in a coffee shop, smiling

 

 

Appointments

McGill University

Full professor, Department of Philosophy. (2021-)

Ethics in Science and Technology Commission (Department of Economy, Science and Innovation, Quebec Government)

President (2017-)

Laval University

Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Philosophy. (2022-)

Talks

Dave Binkley Memorial Lecture- "Working and Living with AI: A Deflationary yet Cautionary View"

Aarhus University Workshop- "When and Why are Algorithmic Generalizations Morally Wrong? AI, Negligence, and (Dis)Respect for Individual Moral Agency"

University of Bonn- "AI Ethics: A Deflationary yet Cautionary View"

University of Bonn- "AI, Extended Cognition and Social Reasoning"

UQAM- Conférences Hugues Leblanc 2023: Science et démocratie

IRPP: "Who has jurisdiction over Artificial Intelligence?"

Pop Montreal: "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Music? Artificial Intelligence and the Music Industry"

OBVIA Conference-Discussion: Anticipating AI's Major Risks for Society

OBVIA: "La création assistée par l'IA: Défis et enjeux éthiques"

"Society, AI and Normativities"

"Taking Stock of AI Ethics: Where Are We? What Should We Hope For?"

La sphàre publique numérique et la crise de la raison publique, Colloque international La démocratie numérique : promesses et illusions, Université de Cöte-d’Azur, Nice, France, April 15-17, 2024.

L’éthique de l’IA : l’approche institutionnelle, Colloque L’encadrement de l’intelligence artificielle : enjeux éthiques, techniques, juridiques et perspectives futures, Acfas

Dialogue on Freedom of Expression

“AI Within The Limits of Public Reason”, Annual Lecture of the Centre for Law and Technology, University of Southamption, UK, May 1st, 2024.

Toward an Ethical Use of AI for Psychosocial Support, Grand Round, Department of Psychistry & Behavioral Sciences, Memoral Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, April 26, 2024.

Selected Academic Publications

"Pour un tournant institutionnel en éthique de l’IA. In Patrick Turmel" (co-authored with Alexis Morin-Martel),  Donner un sens à l’éthique publique: Mélanges en l’honneur de Luc Bégin edited by Patrick Turmel, 2026. pp. 93-106.

"Between precedent autonomy and the patient's best interests: a reasonable path for advance medical assistance in dying requests" (co-authored with Naïma Hamrouni), Research Handbook on Voluntary Assisted Dying Law, Regulation and Practice edited by Ben White, 2025, pp 211-228.

"AI Ethics' Institutional Turn", Digit. Soc. 4. 18 (2025)

"AI's Fairness Problem: Understanding Wrongful Discrimination in the Context of Automated Decision-Making", AI Ethics, 2022.

"Les effets de l'intelligence artificielle et de l'automatisation sur le monde du travail", Vivre avec l'intelligence artificielle, dir. Christin Byk, 2022.

"AI, Explainability and Public Reason: The Argument from the limitations of the Human Mind", Minds and Machines, vol 31, 2021, pp 421-439.

"AI For Humanity: The Global Challenges" (co-authored with Stuart Russell), Toward Responsible AI, edited by B. Braunschweig & M. Ghallab, Springer, 2021, pp 116-126.

"Context, Intersubjectivism, and Value: Humean Constructivism Revisited", Dialogue. Canadian Philosophical Review, 59 (3), 2020, pp. 377-410.

"The New AI Spring: A Deflationary View", AI & Society. Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication, 2019.

"The Regulation of Hateful and Hurtful Speech. Liberalism's Uncomfortable Predicament", McGill Law Journal, vol 63:1, 2018, pp. 133-154.

"Reasonable Naturalism and the Humanistic Resistance to Reductionism", in Neo-Existentialism. How to conceive the Mind After Naturalism's Failure (ed. Markus Gabriel), Polity Press, 2018.

"Selling conscious short: a response to Schuklenk and Smalling on conscientious objections by medical professionals", (co-authored with Isabelle Dumont), Journal of Medical Ethics, 43 (4), 2017, pp. 241-244.

Selected Non-Academic Publications

"Que sont les chambres d'écho?", LaPresse+, November 19, 2024.

"The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Await the Law", Policy Options, September 27, 2023. (With Alexis Morin-Martel)

"Will Artificial Intelligence lead to more unfairness?", Policy Options, September 23, 2021. (With David Rocheleau-Houle)

"Entre le technosolutionnisme et le catastrophisme", La Presse +, May 19, 2020.

"Montréal peut être à l’avant-garde de la réflexion éthique sur l’intelligence artificielle", Le Devoir, November 2, 2017.

Books

 

cover of Civic Freedom in an Age of Diversity

Civic Freedom in an Age of Diversity. The Public Philosophy of James Tully. (2023) (with Dimitrios Karmis)

cover of Interpreting Modernity: Essays on the Work of Charles Taylor

Interpreting Modernity. Essays on the Work of Charles Taylor. (2020) (with Jacob T. Levy and Daniel Weinstock)

book cover for Retrouver la raison

Retrouver la raison. Essais de philosophie publique (2016)

 

 

 

 

book cover for Secularism and Freedom of Conscience

Secularism and Freedom of Conscience (co-authored with Charles Taylor) (2011)

book cover of Quebec Identity: The Challenge of Pluralism

Quebec Identity. The Challenge of Pluralism (2000)

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