Neil McArthur

• PHIL 2190 - Philosophy and Sexuality
• PHIL 2860 - Philosophy of Law

I am currently Director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics. I teach courses on sexual ethics, ethics and technology, the philosophy of human rights, and the philosophy of law. I have done work on the history of philosophy, specifically in the philosophy of the Enlightenment. My dissertation and my first book was on David Hume's political theory. I am also interested in LGBTQ+ rights and in alternative sexual identities. I have written for numerous media outlets including VICE, the Guardian, Fast Company, the Globe and Mail, and Time. 

• PhD (Philosophy), University of Southern California
• MA (Philosophy), University of Western Ontario
• BA First Class Honours (Philosophy), McGill University

Research interests

• Sexual ethics
• Ethics and technology
• The ethics of AI
• LGBTQ+ rights

Research summary

My current research focuses on sexual ethics and on ethics and technology. I am interested in ethical issues surrounding Artificial Intelligence, specifically in the use of AI for companionship and intimacy, as well as on the use of AI in religion. In October 2023 Maclean’s Magazine named me one of Canada’s fourteen leading thinkers on AI. 

I also make films and performance works. My films Land of Oil and Water and Overburden (co-directed with Warren Cariou) document the impact of oil extraction on Canada’s indigenous communities. My play Let Me Freeze Your Head was shortlisted for the Manitoba Association of Playwrights’ Harry S. Rintoul Award for Best New Manitoba Play at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival

Research affiliations/groups

• Director, Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics

• The Ethics of Sex (Routledge, 2023)
• (co-editor, with John Danaher) Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Issues (MIT Press, 2017)
• (with Markie Twist) "The rise of digisexuality: therapeutic challenges and possibilities" The Journal of Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 2017 

• 2023 - Joint UM/UMFA Merit Award, Research, Scholarly Work and Other Creative Activities category 

• Co-organiser of the annual Manitoba High School Ethics Bowl with the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties (MARL)