Public Philosophy and Consulting

I enjoy showing how perspectives from philosophy and political theory can help us navigate problems in public life, and I periodically contribute to public debates that relate to my research. See the links below for recent interventions.

Working with teams of academic colleagues and business professionals at Principia Advisory and Compass Ethics, I also devote much of my spare time to advising complex organizations on a range of ethical challenges. I have advised clients in robotics, enterprise software, biotech, professional services, philanthropy, and humanitarian aid on identifying their core values, allocating and exercising power, and determining their external responsibilities. If your organization might benefit from guidance on these or related matters, please get in touch.

Articles

“The Philosophical Challenges of Augmenting Democracy with AI.” IE Insights. Oct. 9., 2023.

“Give and Take.” The Mint Magazine. Jun. 26, 2023.

“The Tyranny of Generosity.” Oxford Philosophy Magazine 13: (2022): 18–20.

“The Tyranny of Generosity and How We Can Tame It.” HistPhil. Mar. 30, 2022.

“Spotify’s Spotty Platform Rules Won’t Stop Misinformation” (with B. Lange). Medium. Mar. 9., 2022.

“So You Say You Want a Boycott.” Compass Ethics Journal, Feb. 21, 2022.

“Philanthropists Seeking to Fix Big Problems Must Tread Carefully – Here’s How They Can Make Their Efforts More Compatible with Democracy.” The Conversation. Jan. 3, 2022.

“Corporate Giving: A Tyranny of Generosity?” Compass Ethics Journal, Nov. 22, 2021.

“Will AI Make Democracy Obsolete?” Public Ethics Blog, Stockholm Centre for Ethics of War and Peace. August 4, 2021.

“Political Theory and the Nonprofit Sector” (with Rob Reich), HistPhil, Apr. 24, 2020.

“Digital Technology’s Democratic Deficits,” Blog of the APA, Mar. 5, 2020.

“The Ethics of #DeleteFacebook,” Blog of the APA, Dec. 4, 2018.

“One Big Problem with How Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos are Spending a Small Share of Their Fortune,” The Conversation, Sep. 19, 2018. Republished by Salon.

“An Ethical Guide to Responsible Giving,” The Conversation, Nov. 28, 2017. Republished by Chicago Tribune, among others.

“Why Harvey Weinstein Can’t Redeem Himself through Charity Alone,” The Conversation, Oct. 16, 2017.

“What Jeff Bezos Gets Wrong (and Right) with his Populist Philanthropy,” The Conversation, June 26, 2017. Republished by Salon, Business Insider, SFGate, and others.

“Is Populist Criticism of Philanthropy Justified?” HistPhil, May 11, 2017.

Interviews & Media Coverage

Weekman, K. “MrBeast’s extravagantly charitable videos have been called ‘stunt philanthropy.’ Is that a bad thing?” Yahoo News. Nov. 8, 2023.

Farmer, K. and Musante, S. “AI Ethics in Privacy and Governance: An Interview with Theodore Lechterman.” Washington University Review of Philosophy 3 (2023): 115-23.

Van Kessel, D. et al. “Philanthropy allows the rich to influence Europe’s policy agenda.” Follow the Money. Jun. 9, 2023.

Collins, K. “Theodore Lechterman on Automating the Democratic Process.” Virtual Sentiments (podcast). Mar. 29, 2023.

Gunderman, R. “In defense of generosity.” Law and Liberty. Oct. 25., 2022.

Visram, T. “The truth about Elon Musk, Sam Bankman-Fried, and effective altruism.” Fast Company. Sep. 14, 2022.

Srinath, I. “Two books explore both sides of the philanthropy debate.” Alliance Magazine. May 31, 2022.

Hartmann, M. E. “Philanthropy’s Corruption of Politics, and vice versa.” The Giving Review. Jan. 10, 2022.

Clark, B. “The Man with the Rawlsian Tattoo.” Oxford Review of Books. Winter 2021/2022.

Cimmino, N. “Philosoph: «Nicht Probleme lösen, sondern Veränderung fördern»,” Echo der Zeit, SRF Radio (Switzerland), Dec. 8, 2020.

Larsen, D. E. U. “Kunstdonorer i hardt vær,” Klassekampen (Norway), Aug. 17, 2019.

Frank, D. “Philanthropie und Macht,” UniReport der Goethe-Universität, July 11, 2019, p. 16.

Sun, R. “Hollywood's #MeToo Dilemma: When Alleged Predators Also Give Generously to Charity,” Hollywood Reporter, July 11, 2019.

Varagur, K. “By the Time a Natural Disaster Happens It’s Too Late to Help,” The Outline, Feb. 4, 2019.