Research Profile
Alvin Chen D.Phil (Oxford)
Research
My current works runs along three lines: the philosophy of AI, bioethics and public health, and legal and political philosophy. What holds them together, I think, is a question about how institutions should answer to those who depend on them. That means patients and citizens, and also, more recently and more contentiously, artificial agents.
In the philosophy of AI, I have been developing a political philosophy of AI, with a focus on collective agency and AI moral status. Two papers of the project are currently under review. I also write on more general AI philosophical questions in Via PhilosophiAI, a Substack I co-author with MJ Chang.
In bioethics and public health, I am finishing a book, Public Health Constitutionalism: An Institutional Theory of the Right to Health, under contract with Cambridge University Press in the Cambridge Bioethics and Law series. The book asks what a constitutional right to health requires of the state and when public health interventions are legitimate.
My work in legal and political philosophy grows out of my training in intellectual history. I have written on the history of social and constitutional rights, and on Hobbes and Pufendorf’s theory of the personality of the state. I keep coming back to those early modern debates when I think about artificial persons today.
Funding and Teaching
Since 2019 my research has been funded by Academia Sinica and by the National Science and Technology Council (formerly the Ministry of Science and Technology). These grants have supported projects on the political philosophy of AI, the ethics of public health law, and the history of constitutional rights. I have also taught at National Taiwan University, where I was nominated for teaching awards every year from 2019 to 2025.
Background
I received my DPhil from the University of Oxford (Christ Church) in 2019, with a thesis on George Berkeley and Enlightenment debates in mathematics, natural philosophy, political economy, and political thought. I then joined the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at Academia Sinica as an Assistant Research Fellow. There I began working across the philosophy of AI, bioethics, the philosophy of public policy. I was promoted to tenured Associate Research Fellow in 2025, when I also began leading the AI Ethics and Political Theory project. In 2025-2026, I was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago.
What is Realism in Political Theory?
Briefly speaking, realism in political theory argues that political theory should prioritize real-world, day-to-day political questions, like how can we live peacefully together despite many disagreements, over moral philosophical questions, like what is justice.
Why Bridging AI, Ethics, and Politics?
Public policy, with its ethical framework, are increasingly influenced by the integration of AI technology in our everyday life. Reciprocally, the development of AI technology is also shaped by policy regulations. These call for a new approach to studying the impacts of AI on politics alongside AI governance.
Are You Open to Collaboration?
While all my papers are single-authored, I am open to collaboration on research projects, papers, and discussions related to my areas of expertise. Please feel free to propose any ideas or initiatives you have in mind.
What Connects Ethics with Policy?
Law and policies are made and justified for reasons. Whether these reasons are valid is a question of ethics, as these are reasons with consequences that will change our lives. This is why I study the ethical framework for legislation and policy-making, particularly the reasons for and the grounds of legitimacy of law-making and policy formation.
Is Health Really a Political Issue?
Our standards of health, and our living surroundings that impacts our health, are significantly shaped by public authority that makes individual health an integral part of public interests. The reason and justification for the authority’s efforts to making health public thus become a foundational question when we talk and think about health.
Do You Offer Public Talks?
Yes, I have experiences in public lectures, podcast interviews, and television broadcasts. I firmly believe in the importance to communicate scholarly works to general audience. And I will be happy to provide public talks on my research areas.