New Faculty Joining the Department

The Department of Philosophy is delighted to announce that Per-Erik Milam will be joining us this coming FA25 as a new Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

Dr. Milam earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Philosophy from Pomona College. He then went on to take his PhD in Philosophy from the University of California San Diego, with a dissertation in moral psychology on abolitionism about the reactive attitudes. Before arriving here in Long Beach, he spent several years doing research and teaching at the Universities of Gothenburg, Oslo, and Twente, before landing back in the United States at Lewis & Clark College in Portland Oregon.

Dr. Milam’s primary areas of expertise are in ethics and moral psychology (esp. the reactive attitudes related to praise and blame) and applied metaphysics (esp. agency and philosophy of action). Secondarily, he also does research in areas related to the ethics of technology, among other areas. Recent publications include ‘Violent video games: content, attitudes, and norms‘, which was co-authored with Alexander Andersson and published in volume 25 of Ethics and Information Technology and ‘Letting go of blame‘, which was co-authored with Luke Brunning and published in volume 106 of the renowned Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.

This FA25, Dr. Milam will be teaching Meaning of Life (PHIL101) and a graduate seminar on the topic of forgiveness and blame in moral psychology (PHIL690). Future courses might include Ethics and Society (PHIL160) Normative Ethics (PHIL363), Engineering Ethics (PHIL402), AI Ethics (PHIL404), and Freedom and Agency (PHIL448/558).

Welcome, Professor Milam!