Michael Bowler

Contact

mjbowler@mtu.edu
906-487-2447
Walker 307

Professor of Philosophy

PhD in Philosophy, University of Notre Dame
MA in Philosophy, Indiana University Bloomington
BS in Computer Science and Engineering, Concentration: Artificial Intelligence, University of California Davis

Dr. Bowler's current research includes: philosophy and ethics of AI, 19th and 20th century Continental philosophy, ancient Greek philosophy, philosophy of religion, and responsible conduct of research (RCR). Dr. Bowler is on sabbatical for the Spring semester of 2026, during which he will be doing basic research in the philosophy and ethics of AI, in addition to the technical aspects of AI. Specifically, he is examining the historical-philosophical conditions that led to the formulation of the very notion of artificial intelligence as well as the ethical impacts of AI on the responsible conduct of research. He is also at work on a number of projects in Heidegger's philosophy of existence, for instance, he presented a paper at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association in November 2025 on structural similarities between Averroistic accounts of mind and Heidegger's understanding of human being and existence. He is also interested in applying phenomenological insights into religious experience and life. For example, he published a paper on the nature of sacred time in a special issue of American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly that he co-edited with Mirela Oliva of University of St. Thomas, Houston.

Recent Publications

Books and Edited Collections:
Catholicism and Phenomenology, Special Issue of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly (Volume 95, Number 3, Summer 2021), co-edited with Dr. Mirela Oliva (University of St. Thomas, Houston)
Hermeneutical Heidegger, co-edited with Dr. Ingo Farin (UTAS) (Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 2016)
Heidegger and Aristotle: Philosophy as Praxis (Continuum, London and New York, 2008)
Articles, Book Chapters and Conference Proceedings:
“The Nature of Sacred Time,” Catholicism and Phenomenology, special issue of American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 95, Number 3, Summer 2021.
Complicated Presence: Heidegger and the Postmetaphysical Unity of Being by Jussi Backman, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2017 (Review Article)
"Introduction" (with Ingo Farin) in Hermeneutical Heidegger, edited by Michael Bowler and Ingo Farin (Northwestern University Press, 2016), pp. 3 – 19
"Heidegger and the Hermeneutic Understanding of Human Being" in Hermeneutical Heidegger, edited by Michael Bowler and Ingo Farin (Northwestern University Press, 2016), pp. 93 – 112
"Heidegger, Aristotle, and Philosophical Leisure," Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, vol. 88, 2014, pp. 273 – 283
"An Existential Conception of Culture," Studia Philosophiae Christianae, vol. 49, issue 4, 2013, pp. 9 – 24
"Heidegger on Hermeneutic Rationality: Logos and World," Hermeneutic Rationality, International Studies in Hermeneutics and Phenomenology, vol. 3 (Lit-Verlag: Berlin, 2012), pp. 153 – 164
"Does a STEM Researcher's Role Orientation Predict His or Her Ethical Sensitivity to Responsible Conduct of Research?" First author with co-authors: Susan Amato, et al., Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education, 2011
Gadamer's Dialectical Hermeneutics by Lauren Swayne Barthold, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2010 (Review Article)
"Assessing Role Orientation Among STEM Researchers: The Development of a Research Role Orientation Inventory," First author with co-authors: Susan Amato, et al., Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education, 2010
"Testing for Ethical Sensitivity to Responsible Conduct of Research among Multi-National STEM Researchers," First author with co-authors: Susan Amato, et al., Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education, 2010

Recent Funding

Co-PI, National Science Foundation Research and Development Grant: "Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Emerging Disaster Engineering Encompassing Human Directed Expert Systems (ERC-DEES)," 2019 - 2020, $99,752
Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation - Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) Grant, "Responsible Conduct of Research in Science and Engineering Education: Moral Motivation and Ethical Sensitivity in Multi-National Graduate Students," 2008 - 2013, $344,683
American Catholic Philosophical Association, Travel Grant, $843, 2014
Michigan Tech Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development, Grant for Instructional Improvement and Innovation, $500, 2012
American Chemical Society, Travel Grant, $2,500, 2010

Recent Presentations

"Was Heidegger an Existential Averroist?" American Catholic Philosophical Association, Notre Dame, IN, November 2025
"The Nature of Nature," American Catholic Philosophical Association, Panel Session: Phenomenological Approaches to the Philosophy of Nature, Minneapolis, MN, November 2019
"From Neo-Kantian Concept Formation to Heideggerian Hermeneutic Intuition," American Catholic Philosophical Association, Panel Session: Phenomenology and Hermeneutics, San Diego, CA, November 2018
"Heidegger, Fundamental Ontology, and the Concealing of the Good," American Catholic Philosophical Association, Panel Session: Phenomenology and Metaphysics, Dallas, TX, November 2017
"Being a Spectator of the World Spectacle: Retrieving Contemplation in the Age of Intellectual Labor," Inaugural Labor and Leisure Conference, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN, July 2017
"Work, Worship, and Religious Life," American Catholic Philosophical Association, Panel Session: Religious Life, Community, and the Sacred, San Francisco, CA, November 2016
"Subject and World," Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophy Association, San Diego, CA, April 2014
"Heidegger, Aristotle, and Philosophical Leisure," American Catholic Philosophical Association, Washington, D.C., October 2014
"Case Studies in Engineering Values: A Biographical/Autobiographical Approach to Ethics Education in Engineering," (with Valorie Troesch), Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, Cincinnati, Ohio, March 2012
"Does a STEM Researcher's Role Orientation Predict His or Her Ethical Sensitivity to Responsible
Conduct of Research?" American Society for Engineering Education, Vancouver, Canada, June 2011
"Bringing Empirical Methods to Bear Upon the Study of Ethics and Ethics Education in Science
and Engineering," (with Susan Amato) Pacifichem 2010 - The International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, Honolulu, Hawaii, December 2010
"The design, implementation, and results of a survey of faculty perceptions of STEM graduate students' preparedness to meet the challenges of research integrity," (with Susan Amato) Pacifichem 2010 - The International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, Honolulu, Hawaii, December 2010
"Assessing Role Orientation Among STEM Researchers: The Development of a Research Role Orientation Inventory," First author with co-authors Susan Amato, et. al., Annual Meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education, Louisville, KY, June 2010
"Testing for Ethical Sensitivity to Responsible Conduct of Research among Multi-National STEM Researchers," First author with co-authors Susan Amato, et. al., Annual Meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education, Louisville, KY, June 2010
"World and Culture: Toward an Existentialist Conception of Culture," 34th Annual International Association of Philosophy and Literature Conference, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, May 2010
"On the Trajectory of Heidegger's Thought and Why We Should Reexamine Aristotle," 27th Heidegger Symposium, University of Dallas, Dallas, TX, April 2009
"Dreyfus on Heidegger: Dasein, Disclosure, and World," 26th Heidegger Symposium, University of Dallas, Dallas, TX, April 2008

Research Projects

Philosophy and Ethics of AI
Was Heidegger an Existential Avveroist?
The Human Bug
A Hylomorphic Account of Sensation and Thought

Teaching Experience

HU2700 Introduction to Philosophy
HU2702 Ethical Theory/Moral Problems
HU3700 Philosophy of Science
HU3702 Philosophy of Religion
HU4701 Political Philosophy
HU5006 Continental Philosophy
HU6060 Special Topics in Philosophy
UN5500 Advanced Research Integrity (fulfills the University's Advanced RCR requirement)

Recent Service

In Bold = Currently Serving

University and College Level Service:

CSA Representative on the University Assessment Council (2022 - )
Committee Chair of the Undergraduate Student Learning Goal #8 Committee - Social Responsibility and Ethical Reasoning (2018 - )
Michigan Tech Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Assessment Academy Team Member (2016 – 2020)
Graduate Programs Liaison for Assessment (2016 – 2018)
University Honors and Awards Committee (2015 – 2018)
University Graduate Faculty Council (2010 - 2013)

Humanities Department Service:

Election Officer (2022 - )
Graduate Program Steering (RTC) Committee (Spring 2023)
Department Grievance Committee (2017 – 2019, 2021 - 2024)
IRB Liaison (2022 - )
Acting Chair of the Department (Spring Semester 2018 and Feb. – May 2016)
Associate Chair of the Department (2014 - 2019)
Committee Chair, Charter Review Committee (2014 – 2019)
Performance Evaluation Committee (2014 – 2019)
Chair’s Advisory Committee (2017 – 2019)
Committee Chair, Promotion and Tenure Committee (2014 – 2016)
Committee Chair, Philosophy Tenure-Track Position Search (2014 – 2015)
Director of Graduate Studies (2010 – 2013)
Department Steering Committee (2008 – 2019)
Graduate Program Steering (RTC) Committee (2005 – 2008, 2009 – 2013)