David Koepsell
Encyclopedia
David R. Koepsell earned his PhD in Philosophy as well as his Law degree from the University of Buffalo where he studied with Barry Smith (ontologist)
. He has authored numerous articles as well as authored and edited several books, including Searle on the Institutions of Social Reality, co-edited with Laurence Moss, (Oxford UK: Blackwell 2003), Reboot World, (New York: Writer's Club Press 2003) (fiction), and The Ontology of Cyberspace
: Law, Philosophy, and the Future of Intellectual Property which has been translated into Japanese and Portuguese. He has lectured worldwide on issues ranging from civil rights, philosophy, science, ontology
, intellectual property
theory, society, and religion. Koepsell has practiced law, worked for Bowstreet, Inc. as an ontologist in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
, and taught at SUNY Buffalo. He was appointed Asst. Prof. of Philosophy at TU Delft beginning in September 2008. He is an associate editor of Free Inquiry
magazine. He is the co-founder, with Edward Summer
, of Carefully Considered Productions, an educational media not-for-profit corporation.
dualism in his discussions of cyberspace
and virtual reality
, Koepsell has argued for a Searle
an realism about all expression. Cyberspatial entities are expressions of the same type as any other intentionally produced, man-made object. Koepsell's work uses legal ontology and common sense ontology to examine social objects. In the process, Koepsell criticises the distinction between patent
able and copyright
able objects as artificial, and argues for an open source
approach to all intellectual property
.
Koepsell's research interests focus on the nexus of ethics, law, and science. Specifically, while at Yale
as a Visiting Fellow (2006–2007), he investigated ethical questions involved in the practice of bioprospecting and patenting elements of the human genome
. Koepsell argues that there are two forms of commons, a) fiat and b) natural, otherwise called "commons by choice" and "commons by logical necessity." He has recently argued that DNA, like radio spectra, sunlight, and air, falls into the category "commons by logical necessity" and attempts to own genes by patent are unjust. His book on the subject, entitled Who Owns You, was published by Wiley-Blackwell in March 2009. While it was endorsed by Nobel Prize winner John Sulston as "[a] lucid and compelling deconstruction of current practice in the patenting of human genes, exposing inherent contradictions in the process and offering practical ways to resolve them," a starkly contrasting review of Who Owns You? has also recently been published. Favorable reviews appear in De Ingenieur, The Guardian, Choice Reviews, and the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.
Barry Smith (ontologist)
Barry Smith is a Julian Park Distinguished Professor of Philosophy in the University at Buffalo and Research Scientist in the New York State . From 2002 to 2006 he was Director of the Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science in Leipzig and Saarbrücken, GermaUny...
. He has authored numerous articles as well as authored and edited several books, including Searle on the Institutions of Social Reality, co-edited with Laurence Moss, (Oxford UK: Blackwell 2003), Reboot World, (New York: Writer's Club Press 2003) (fiction), and The Ontology of Cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
: Law, Philosophy, and the Future of Intellectual Property which has been translated into Japanese and Portuguese. He has lectured worldwide on issues ranging from civil rights, philosophy, science, ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
, intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
theory, society, and religion. Koepsell has practiced law, worked for Bowstreet, Inc. as an ontologist in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
, and taught at SUNY Buffalo. He was appointed Asst. Prof. of Philosophy at TU Delft beginning in September 2008. He is an associate editor of Free Inquiry
Free Inquiry
Free Inquiry is a bi-monthly journal of secular humanist opinion and commentary published by the Council for Secular Humanism, which is part of the Center for Inquiry. Philosopher Paul Kurtz is the editor-in-chief and Thomas W. Flynn the editor. Feature articles cover a wide range of topics from a...
magazine. He is the co-founder, with Edward Summer
Edward Summer
Edward Summer has been an award winning painter, motion picture director, screenwriter, internet publisher, magazine editor, journalist and science writer, comic book writer, novelist, book designer, actor, cinematographer, motion picture editor, documentary film maker, film festival founder, and...
, of Carefully Considered Productions, an educational media not-for-profit corporation.
Major theses
In stark contrast to the work of Michael R. Heim, who has promoted a platonicPlatonic
Plato's influence on Western culture was so profound that several different concepts are linked by being called "platonic" or Platonist, for accepting some assumptions of Platonism, but which do not imply acceptance of that philosophy as a whole....
dualism in his discussions of cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
and virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
, Koepsell has argued for a Searle
Searle
-Persons:*Searle *Searles *Searl *Searls -Businesses:*G. D. Searle & Company, a pharmaceutical corporation that also makes food additives**Searle Scholars Program, an award sponsored by the same company...
an realism about all expression. Cyberspatial entities are expressions of the same type as any other intentionally produced, man-made object. Koepsell's work uses legal ontology and common sense ontology to examine social objects. In the process, Koepsell criticises the distinction between patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
able and copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
able objects as artificial, and argues for an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
approach to all intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
.
Koepsell's research interests focus on the nexus of ethics, law, and science. Specifically, while at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
as a Visiting Fellow (2006–2007), he investigated ethical questions involved in the practice of bioprospecting and patenting elements of the human genome
Human genome
The human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs plus the small mitochondrial DNA. 22 of the 23 chromosomes are autosomal chromosome pairs, while the remaining pair is sex-determining...
. Koepsell argues that there are two forms of commons, a) fiat and b) natural, otherwise called "commons by choice" and "commons by logical necessity." He has recently argued that DNA, like radio spectra, sunlight, and air, falls into the category "commons by logical necessity" and attempts to own genes by patent are unjust. His book on the subject, entitled Who Owns You, was published by Wiley-Blackwell in March 2009. While it was endorsed by Nobel Prize winner John Sulston as "[a] lucid and compelling deconstruction of current practice in the patenting of human genes, exposing inherent contradictions in the process and offering practical ways to resolve them," a starkly contrasting review of Who Owns You? has also recently been published. Favorable reviews appear in De Ingenieur, The Guardian, Choice Reviews, and the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.