Venue: TPM

Morning – Room A1.370 (Faculty Boardroom)

09:45-10:00 Coffee & welcome
10:00-11:15 Romy Eskens (Utrecht) – Debts of Agency: A Theory of Positive Accountability Attitudes
11:15-11:30 Break
11:30-12:40 James Hutton (TU Delft) – "The Pretence of Moral Sense": Re-Assessing Kant's Attack on Moral Empiricism
    
12:40-14:00 Lunch (on campus, own expense)

Afternoon – Room B1.300

14:00-15:15 Alfred Archer (Tilburg) – Feelings of Fate
15:15-15:30 Break
15:45-17:00 Lilith Lee (VU Amsterdam) – Lim Boon Keng on the Evolution of Benevolence as a Moral-Political Virtue
17:00 Pub

For informatie and registration: philevents.org/event/show/152513

Venue: C1-060

Venue: TPM, Boardroom

Speaker: Jan G. Michel
Titel: The Epistemology of Discovery

Venue: Room-31.C1.060

During this colloquium, Audrey Crowe will present the PhD research that she recently started.

Audrey is a program manager at the Canadian National Security & Critical Infrastructure Directorate, and an external PhD researcher.

The topic of the colloquium: Development of an Enterprise-Wide Insider Threat Mitigation Maturity Model for the Nuclear Industry & Field Assessment of National Mitigation Capabilities.

Venue: TPM, Hall U

I am pleased to announce that on November 16, our longstanding friend and partner from Sapporo Katsunori Miyahara will be visiting us again.

He, together with his colleague Kanako Takae, will present some work on "How to uphold autonomy when interacting with AI: Introducing the Respect-for-Autonomy-Profile (ReAP)” (See abstract below)

Martin Sand

Katsunori Miyahara (Hokkaido University), Timo Speith (University of Beyreuth), Kanako Takae (Hokkaido Univerisity)
Many AI ethics guidelines identify respect for human autonomy as a foundational principle, yet offer little theoretical guidance on how to achieve it. A common approach is to keep a human in the loop (HITL), so that a human makes the final decision. However, retaining final decision authority does not necessarily ensure autonomy. We propose the Respect-for-Autonomy Profile (ReAP), a framework for assessing how AI systems affect eight factors of human autonomy across three dimensions. We construct the ReAPs of three paradigms of human–AI interaction: bare AI recommendations (BAIR), explainable AI (XAI), and evaluative AI (EvAI). Our analysis suggests that BAIR tends to constrain most factors, while XAI supports some factors but offers limited support for others. EvAI can support most factors, although all three paradigms risk constraining freedom depending on their institutional context. We conclude that the ReAP framework offers a basis for developing design principles and regulatory frameworks for developing AI systems that respect human autonomy.

Venue: Theater de Veste, Delft

Each year, our department and Studium Generale host the Van Hasselt Lecture, a tradition that links TU Delft with the city of Delft.

The lecture gives a stage to leading thinkers on topics of “peace and justice in our technological age,” and brings the university community and the wider Delft public together for an evening of stimulating ideas . The lecture commemorates Frans van Hasselt, a Delft student who publicly protested the dismissal of Jewish professors at the university in November 1940, and who was murdered in Buchenwald concentration camp two years later.

This year's lecture takes place on Tuesday 17 November at 20:30 in Theater de Veste. Our speaker is Robert Simpson (UCL), on "Free Speech and Experimentality":

Why do liberal societies value free speech so highly? Political philosopher Robert Simpson argues that one ethical foundation of free speech is the ideal of experimentality: there is value in people testing boundaries and defying established norms. Drawing on the cultural politics of popular music, Simpson explores both the promise of experimentality and the question of whether norm-breaking really deserves the esteem we often give it.

Van Hasselt Lecture 2026
Tuesday 17 November 2026, 20:30-22:30
Theater de Veste, Vesteplein 1, Delft
In English | Free admission | Registration required

Registration:
www.theaterdeveste.nl/programma/van-hasseltlezing-robert-simpson-nlbc

This is one of the fixtures of the department’s year, so I hope to see many of you there. Please do pass it on to your students too.

Best wishes,
James Hutton

Venue: TPM, Boardroom

Robert Simpson (UCL) is in Delft to give this year's Van Hasselt Lecture on Tuesday 17 November. While he's here, he has kindly agreed to give a more academic workshop the following day, based on a chapter from his new book on free speech and the ideal of experimentality. Mandi Astola will act as commentator.

Participants are encouraged to read the chapter ahead of time, but Rob will briefly introduce the material on the day, so do come along even if you haven't had a chance to read it. To get a copy of the chapter, email James

Venue: TPM, B1.470

Title: The imperative of hope in education for responsible and sustainable futures.

This colloquium engages with the notion of ‘hope’ in the context of our educational activities and against the backdrop of polycrisis: what are the affordances and limitations of hope in our education and (how) can we equip our students to cultivate hope in their learning and professional lives?

The colloquium will start with a short orientation talk, followed by a roundtable discussion with Sabine, Andrea and Martin. We would be delighted if a PhD or postdoc could also join the roundtable: if you’re interested, please contact Clare directly.

Venue: C1-060

Venue: TPM, Boardrom

Speakers: Glenn Anderau (University of Cologne/ Glasgow University)
Topic: The threat of AI-Induced Deskilling

Venue: C1-060

Venue: C1-060