John Danaher is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway and coeditor of Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications. He has published over forty papers on topics including the risks of advanced AI, the meaning of life and the future of work, the ethics of human enhancement, the intersection of law and neuroscience, the utility of brain-based lie detection, and the philosophy of religion. His work has appeared in The Guardian, Aeon, and The Philosophers’ Magazine.
John Danaher proposes a novel claim: The end of work is a good thing and may lead to better alternatives for human flourishing. This line of argument and the method by which Danaher pursues and achieves it is both new and exciting. A very welcome and original contribution. -David Gunkel, Northern Illinois University This is philosophy of technology at its best! Exquisitely clear, unflinchingly fair, and refreshingly original, Automation and Utopia is especially timely and important. -Evan Selinger, Rochester Institute of Technology Armed with an astonishing breadth of knowledge, John Danaher engages with pressing public policy issues in order to lay out a fearless exposition of the radical opportunities that technology will soon enable. With the precision of analytical philosophy and accessible, confident prose, Automation and Utopia demonstrates yet again why Danaher is one of our most important pathfinders to a flourishing future. -James Hughes, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies [Danaher] is well versed in the opportunities and problems of a more automated future and his new book provides one of the most wide-ranging discussions of what might be in store...A stimulating and thought-provoking book, fizzing with ideas on a subject that will assume greater importance in the future. -John Fanning, Dublin Review of Books With the timeliness and significance of his well-crafted discussions, Danaher's book will be of great interest to scholars across disciplines, tech developers and lawmakers, and concerned laypersons...One that we must take seriously in order to make the best of our future in a world increasingly dominated by technologies that have likely already outsmarted us. -Daniel W. Tigard, Journal of Applied Philosophy