Sidney Axinn

Papers

Total Citations

118

H-Index

About

Sidney Axinn is a philosopher whose scholarly work centers on the intersection of ethics, technology, and autonomous systems — a domain of increasing urgency in the modern age of artificial intelligence and robotics. His most influential contribution, "The Morality of Autonomous Robots" (2013), has garnered 107 citations and confronts one of the most profound ethical dilemmas of contemporary warfare: whether the decision to take a human life should ever be delegated to a machine. This work places Axinn at the forefront of debates surrounding lethal autonomous weapons systems, challenging researchers and policymakers alike to grapple with questions that technical discourse too often sidesteps. Building on this foundation, his 2014 paper "Acting vs. Being Moral: The Limits of Technological Moral Actors" deepens the philosophical inquiry by arguing that autonomous systems may simulate moral behavior but can never truly possess moral agency — a distinction with profound implications for AI ethics. Together, these works establish Axinn as a rigorous and provocative voice in machine ethics, offering frameworks that remain essential reading for students navigating the philosophical challenges posed by emerging autonomous technologies.