Semester 1:
Biography
Welcome to my webpage.I am a permanent lecturer (roughly equivalent to US Assistant Professor, but with tenure) at the Department of Philosophy at University College Cork (Ireland). I am affiliated with our Environmental Research Institute and also direct our MA in Health and Society, a multidisciplinary MA (philosophy, public health & economics)--feel free to ask me about it! I am affiliated with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis' Equity and Justice group (Austria). I am also a member of the Irish Government's Carbon Budgets' Working Group, helping to propose and support national planning. I work primarily on moral philosophy, both theoretical and applied to climate policy. My publications can be found below.*
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, I co-authored a piece discussing climate policy in this time [co-authored with the moral philosopher Peter Singer]. That became a journal article.
Recently, I have been engaging in various forms of public science communication. I was quoted by the Wall Street Journal for an article [paywalled] on financial literacy. I have also written for, been radio interviewed by, and been quoted by Irish media on climate change. I was a featured American Philosophical Association member in July 2020 here. I have also spoken to the Irish Taoiseach and Canadian politicians about carbon taxes. This public work was recognised with an award for public philosophy by the International Society for Environmental Ethics in 2021.
Other ways of finding me are via my ORCiD, my Google Scholar page, my ResearchGate page, my Academia.edu page or my PhilPeople page.
My favorite food is lemon sorbet.
*Most of my publications are available open access through funding from the Austrian Science Foundation under grant W 1256-G15 (Doctoral Programme Climate Change – Uncertainties, Thresholds and Coping Strategies) and through Ireland's IReL (Irish Research eLibrary). To access these freely, click through the DOI links in my Publications below to get to the published versions.
Research Interests
Kian Mintz-Woo works on moral and normative issues, both fundamental (in moral ontology and metaethics) and applied (in climate ethics and climate economics). Recently, he has been working on questions related to carbon prices including carbon taxes; loss and damage in the post-Paris climate policy space; the role of moral expertise; and the ethics of negative emissions technologies.
Research Grants
| Project | Funding Body | Start Date | End Date | Award | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate Change and Civilisation Collapse (SSHRC Insight Grant 2021) | Other: Not Listed | 01-MAY-22 | 01-APR-27 | €222,160.00 | |
| Climate Loss and Damage. | Enterprise Irl | 23-JUN-23 | 22-JUN-25 | €15,261.00 | |
| ERC Coordination Support (Enterprise Ireland) | Enterprise Ireland | 26-JUN-23 | 01-JUN-25 | €15,261.00 | |
| FJTC-4M | ERASMUS | 01-MAY-23 | 30-APR-24 | €10,000.00 | |
| Project Grant (Forethought Foundation) | Other: Not Listed | 06-DEC-21 | 12-SEP-23 | €7,500.00 | |
| Long-Termism Research Grant (Future Fund Regranting Program) | Other: Not Listed | 27-JUN-22 | €10,000.00 |
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2023) | 'Carbon tax ethics' Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) 'Carbon tax ethics'. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, :article-e858 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'Strengthening midwifery in response to global climate change to protect maternal and newborn health' O’Connell, M.; Catling, C.; Mintz-Woo, K.; Homer, C. (2023) 'Strengthening midwifery in response to global climate change to protect maternal and newborn health'. Women and Birth, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'Collapse, Social Tipping Dynamics, and Framing Climate Change' Steel, D., Mintz-Woo, K., DesRoches, C.T. (2023) 'Collapse, Social Tipping Dynamics, and Framing Climate Change'. Politics, Philosophy and Economics, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'The NET Effect: Negative Emissions Technologies and the Need-Efficiency Trade-off' Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) 'The NET Effect: Negative Emissions Technologies and the Need-Efficiency Trade-off'. Global Sustainability, 6 :article-e5 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'Philosophical Foundations of Climate Policy Review' Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) 'Philosophical Foundations of Climate Policy Review'. Economics and Philosophy, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'How climate winners may actually help climate justice' Leroux, J., Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) 'How climate winners may actually help climate justice'. PLoS Climate, 2 (2):article-e0000127 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'Climate change and the threat to civilization' Steel, D., Desroches, C.T., Mintz-Woo, K. (2022) 'Climate change and the threat to civilization'. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (42):article-e2210525119 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'The Need-Efficiency Tradeoff for Negative Emissions Technologies' Mintz-Woo, K. (2022) 'The Need-Efficiency Tradeoff for Negative Emissions Technologies'. PLoS Climate, 1 (8):article-e0000060 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'Carbon Pricing Ethics' Mintz-Woo, K. (2022) 'Carbon Pricing Ethics'. Philosophy Compass, 17 (1):article-e12803 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'Teaching & learning guide for: Carbon pricing ethics' Mintz-Woo, K. (2022) 'Teaching & learning guide for: Carbon pricing ethics'. Philosophy Compass, 17 (2):article-e12816 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Carbon pricing and COVID-19' Mintz-Woo, K., Dennig, F., Liu, H., Schinko, T. (2021) 'Carbon pricing and COVID-19'. Climate Policy, 21 (10):1272-1280 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Why and Where to Fund Carbon Capture and Storage' Mintz-Woo, K., Lane, J. (2021) 'Why and Where to Fund Carbon Capture and Storage'. Science and engineering ethics, 27 (6):article-70 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'What do climate change winners owe, and to whom?' Mintz-Woo, K., Leroux, J. (2021) 'What do climate change winners owe, and to whom?'. Economics and Philosophy, 37 (3):462-483 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Infant feeding and the energy transition: A comparison between decarbonising breastmilk substitutes with renewable gas and achieving the global nutrition target for breastfeeding' Long, A., Mintz-Woo, K., Daly, H., O'Connell, M., Smyth, B., Murphy, J.D. (2021) 'Infant feeding and the energy transition: A comparison between decarbonising breastmilk substitutes with renewable gas and achieving the global nutrition target for breastfeeding'. Journal Of Cleaner Production, 324 :article-129280 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Will Carbon Taxes Help Address Climate Change?' Mintz-Woo, K. (2021) 'Will Carbon Taxes Help Address Climate Change?'. Les ateliers de l'éthique / The Ethics Forum, 16 (1):57-67 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'Public Values in the Right Place' Mintz-Woo, K. (2020) 'Public Values in the Right Place'. Australasian Philosophical Review, 4 (1):57-62 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'The Social Cost of Carbon: Valuing Inequality, Risk, and Population for Climate Policy' Fleurbaey M., Ferranna M., Budolfson M., Dennig F., Mintz-Woo K., Socolow R., Spears D., Zuber S. (2019) 'The Social Cost of Carbon: Valuing Inequality, Risk, and Population for Climate Policy'. Monist, 102 (1):84-109 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Principled Utility Discounting under Risk' Mintz-Woo, K. (2019) 'Principled Utility Discounting under Risk'. Moral Philosophy And Politics, 6 (1):89-112 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Security and Distribution, or Should You Care about Merely Possible Losses?' Mintz-Woo, K. (2018) 'Security and Distribution, or Should You Care about Merely Possible Losses?'. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 21 (3):382-386 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Two Moral Arguments for a Global Social Cost of Carbon' Mintz-Woo, K. (2018) 'Two Moral Arguments for a Global Social Cost of Carbon'. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 21 (1):60-63 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'On Parfit’s Ontology' Mintz-Woo, K. (2018) 'On Parfit’s Ontology'. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 48 (5):707-725 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] |
Book Chapters
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2023) | 'Compensation Duties' Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) 'Compensation Duties' In: Pellegrino, G,; Di Paola, M (eds). Handbook of the Philosophy of Climate Change. Cham: Springer. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'Fossil Fuels' Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) 'Fossil Fuels' In: Benjamin Hale, Andrew Light & Lydia A. Lawhon (eds). The Routledge Companion to Environmental Ethics. New York: Routledge. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'A Philosopher’s Guide to Discounting' Mintz-Woo, K. (2021) 'A Philosopher’s Guide to Discounting' In: Mark Budolfson, Tristram McPherson, David Plunkett (eds). Philosophy and Climate Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'The ethics of measuring climate change impacts' Mintz-Woo, K. (2021) 'The ethics of measuring climate change impacts' In: Trevor M. Letcher (eds). The Impacts of Climate Change. Amsterdam: Elsevier. [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Blogging Climate Change: A Case Study' Sajeev E.P.M.;Mintz-Woo K.;Damert M.;Brunner L.;Eise J. (2019) 'Blogging Climate Change: A Case Study' In: Addressing the Challenges in Communicating Climate Change Across Various Audiences. Cham: Springer. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Science for Loss and Damage. Findings and Propositions' Reinhard Mechler and Elisa Calliari and Laurens M. Bouwer and Thomas Schinko and Swenja Surminski and Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer and Jeroen Aerts and Wouter Botzen and Emily Boyd and Natalie Delia Deckard and Jan S. Fuglestvedt and Kian Mintz-Woo and Arianna Montero-Colbert and Jaroslav Mysiak (2019) 'Science for Loss and Damage. Findings and Propositions' In: Mechler R., Bouwer L., Schinko T., Surminski S., Linnerooth-Bayer J (eds). Loss and Damage from Climate Change: Concepts, Methods and Policy Options. Cham: Springer. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'The Ethical Challenges in the Context of Climate Loss and Damage' Wallimann-Helmer I., Meyer L., Mintz-Woo K., Schinko T., Serdeczny O. (2018) 'The Ethical Challenges in the Context of Climate Loss and Damage' In: Mechler R., Bouwer L., Schinko T., Surminski S., Linnerooth-Bayer J (eds). Loss and Damage from Climate Change. Cham: Springer. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2016) | 'A new defence of probability discounting' Mintz-Woo, K. (2016) 'A new defence of probability discounting' In: A. Walsh, S. Hormio, & D. Purves (eds). The Ethical Underpinnings of Climate Economics. Oxford: Routledge. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] |
Blog
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2023) | Effective climate action requires us to abandon viewing our efforts as a ‘sacrifice'. Steel, D.; DesRoches, C.T.; Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) Effective climate action requires us to abandon viewing our efforts as a ‘sacrifice'. Blog [Details] | |
| (2021) | Carbon capture and storage: where should the world store CO₂? It’s a moral dilemma. Kian Mintz-Woo (2021) Carbon capture and storage: where should the world store CO₂? It’s a moral dilemma. Blog [Details] | |
| (2020) | Carbon Pricing and COVID-19. Kian Mintz-Woo (2020) Carbon Pricing and COVID-19. Climate Strategies: Blog [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2019) | How Would We Know if We Made a Climate Difference?. Kian Mintz-Woo (2019) How Would We Know if We Made a Climate Difference?. Blog [Full Text] [Details] |
Newspaper Articles
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2023) | Climate Winners Should Pay. Leroux, J., Mintz-Woo, K. (2023) Climate Winners Should Pay. United Kingdom: Newspaper Articles [Details] | |
| (2021) | How to talk to your children about climate change. Kian Mintz-Woo, Simona Capisani (2021) How to talk to your children about climate change. Ireland: Newspaper Articles [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 6 ways you and your family can take action now on climate change. Kian Mintz-Woo (2021) 6 ways you and your family can take action now on climate change. RTÉ: Newspaper Articles [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2020) | Put a Price on Carbon Now. Peter Singer; Kian Mintz-Woo (2020) Put a Price on Carbon Now. Project Syndicate: Newspaper Articles [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2020) | Why COVID-19 is the right time to increase carbon prices. Kian Mintz-Woo (2020) Why COVID-19 is the right time to increase carbon prices. RTÉ: Newspaper Articles [Full Text] [Details] |
Professional Activities
Education
| Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | University of Graz | PhD | Moral Philosophy | |
| 2023 | University College Cork | Postgraduate Diploma | Teaching & Learning in Higher Education | |
| 2022 | University College Cork | Postgraduate Certificate | Teaching & Learning in Higher Education | |
| 2014 | Oxford University | BPhil | Philosophy | |
| 2011 | University of Reading | MA | Ethics and Political Theory | |
| 2010 | University of Amsterdam | MSc | Logic | |
| 2008 | University of British Columbia | BA | Philosophy |
Employment
| Employer | Position | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| University College Cork | Lecturer (Permanent) | 01-SEP-20 / | |
| International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis | Young Scientist | 01-JUN-18 / 31-AUG-18 | |
| Princeton University | Lecturer/Postdoctoral Research Associate | 01-SEP-18 / 31-AUG-20 |
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2021 Andrew Light Award for Public Philosophy (Winner) | International Society for Environmental Ethics | |
| 2020 | 2020 Andrew Light Award for Public Philosophy (Finalist) | International Society for Environmental Ethics | |
| 2019 | Best Applied Ethics Blog Post | PEA Soup |
Professional Associations
| Association | Function | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Society for Environmental Ethics | Standing Member | 22-APR-19 / | |
| Philosophers for Sustainability | Conference Committee | 16-JUL-19 / | |
| American Philosophical Association | Member | 28-FEB-15 / | |
| Canadian Philosophical Association | Member | 30-NOV-18 / |
Outreach Activities
| Description | |
|---|---|
I was part of the COP26 event with the British Ambassador to Ireland and UCC's President, coverage here: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40742529.html and by UCC here: https://www.ucc.ie/en/news/british-ambassador-meets-ucc-cop26-delegation--.html . | |
Did an interview on climate hope and COP26 for The Ryan Tubridy Show [ https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22025269/ November 3, 2021] | |
I gave an interview to The Last Word with TodayFM's Matt Cooper on climate change and COP26 November 3, 2021, discussed in the Irish Times [here: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/the-michael-healy-rae-climate-plan-save-the-planet-but-not-at-the-expense-of-the-farmer-1.4719460 and https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/cop26-it-s-a-bit-too-white-and-elite-says-mary-robinson-1.4716444 ] | |
Profiled on my work on climate net winners co-authored with Justin Leroux [ https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266267120000449 ] for a piece by Joe Humphreys for The Irish Times' Unthinkable column [ https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/should-sectors-that-win-from-climate-change-be-taxed-1.4688734 , paywalled] | |
Interviewed for a newspaper article with the Cork Echo responding to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report: https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40356059.html . | |
Featured philosopher at Engaged Philosophy, https://t.co/Z3jFVtMaCk?amp=1 . | |
Gave a talk, invited by Citizens' Climate Lobby Canada, to Canadian politicians. https://youtu.be/tAnVjHt3OpY?t=118 . | |
I was a featured member of the American Philosophical Association and selected for an interview on the official blog here: https://blog.apaonline.org/2020/07/03/apa-member-interview-kian-mintz-woo/ . | |
I was interviewed for CFRO 100.5 Co-op Radio (Vancouver, Canada), discussing climate ethics and climate policy. The interview can be streamed here: http://coopradio.org/content/it-takes-village-164 . | |
I co-authored [with the philosopher Peter Singer] an op-ed on carbon pricing in the context of COVID-19. It is available here: https://prosyn.org/cL6cNDx . | |
Was an invited member of a panel on COVID-19 and climate change. It was covered in the Daily Princetonian: https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/04/coronavirus-climate-change and a recording of the lecture is on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/U0KcuTFedfw . | |
Interviewed on climate ethics for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis here: https://blog.iiasa.ac.at/2018/07/12/the-philosophy-of-climate-change-an-interview-with-yssp-participant-kian-mintz-woo/ . |
Journal Activities
| Journal | Role | To / From | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Journal Of Philosophy | Peer Reviewer | 10-OCT-16 - | |
| Journal Of Applied Philosophy | Peer Reviewer | 22-DEC-17 - | |
| Erasmus Journal Of Philosophy Of Economics | Peer Reviewer | 07-JAN-19 - | |
| Ethics, Policy & Environment | Peer Reviewer | 28-AUG-19 - | |
| Analysis | Peer Reviewer | 09-JAN-20 - | |
| Philosophical Quarterly | Peer Reviewer | 11-JUN-20 - | |
| Nous | Peer Reviewer | 07-JUL-20 - | |
| British Journal Of Political Science | Peer Reviewer | 16-AUG-20 - | |
| Philosophical Studies | Peer Reviewer | 16-AUG-20 - | |
| Ethics | Peer Reviewer | 26-AUG-20 - | |
| Politics, Philosophy And Economics | Peer Reviewer | 06-APR-21 - | |
| Global Environmental Change | Peer Reviewer | 01-JUN-21 - | |
| Oxford University Press | Referee | 01-JUL-21 - | |
| Ethics And International Affairs | Peer Reviewer | 01-SEP-21 - | |
| Global Challenges (Hoboken, Nj) | Peer Reviewer | 24-NOV-22 - | |
| Journal Of Value Enquiry | Peer Reviewer | 11-JUL-23 - | |
| Economics And Philosophy | Peer Reviewer | 30-NOV-23 - |
Other Activities
| Description | |
|---|---|
I attended IPCC COP26 [Glasgow, 2021]. I gave a radio interview with The Ryan Tubridy Show [ https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22025269/ ] and also gave an interview to The Last Word with TodayFM's Matt Cooper on climate change and COP26, discussed in the Irish Times [here: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/the-michael-healy-rae-climate-plan-save-the-planet-b... and here: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/cop26-it-s-a-bit-too-white-and-elite-says-mary-robinson-... ] |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
Alongside coordination of the MA in Health and Society (don't hesitate to ask me about it), I coordinate the following modules. I also teach part of our flagship PH1001 course, teaching the quarter on climate ethics:Semester 1:
- PH3042/PH6053: Professional Ethics and Professional Ethics: Advanced: What is a professional code of ethics? How should we choose our jobs in a moral way? Is profit the only rule in business? How far should business go to protect and preserve the environment? What does it mean to be a moral expert? Do businesses have obligations only to share-holders or also to future generations? What duties do different workers have in the context of COVID-19? These are some of the many questions that will be discussed in this course. Some of the following topics will come under closer scrutiny: whistleblowing and professional responsibility; harassment in the work place; executive pay; truth and deception in advertising; and the moral status of corporations. [All texts will be provided via Canvas.]
- PH6047: Philosophy and Health, where the focus will be on health and society in the context of COVID-19. This module will introduce students to concepts of health and disease as well as the moral considerations involved in addressing public health in the context of COVID-19. Some of the topics to be discussed include the arguments for and against lockdown, what moral duties we have for inhibiting the spread of disease, what ethical questions there are about testing and distributing vaccines and scarce medical equipment, as well as interactions between health and climate change.
- PH3048: Moral Philosophy in Theory and Practice: How do moral theories apply to contemporary moral questions? In this module, you will learn about common moral theories and how they are relevant to contemporary challenges. Theories like deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics will be used to guide responses to contemporary challenges like COVID-19, climate change, choosing a profession, donating to charity, and considering animal lives, and some topics voted on by students.
- PH6047: Philosophy of Death and Dying: The module includes discussions of many puzzles and questions that arise from discussing death and dying, such as if death is bad and, if so, what makes death bad. We will draw from both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions, as well as explore representations of death and dying in literature from different cultural traditions. We will also have a guest lecturer join us to discuss under which conditions immortality is bad; their name is Dr August Gorman. The primary textbook is Travis Timmerman and Michael Cholbi’s Exploring the Philosophy of Death and Dying [Routledge].
Contact details
- Kian Mintz-Woo
- mintzwoo@ucc.ie
- +353-21-490-3000
- Environmental Research Institute Associate
- Lecturer
- mintzwoo@ucc.ie
- 4 Elderwood
College Road