I'm a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley's Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public, and did a PhD in Philosophy at Princeton University.

Here is my CV. My email is mmasny@mit.edu.

I have wide-ranging research interests in moral, political, and social philosophy.

Currently, I am working on a series of papers that address the role that work plays in our individual and social lives.

My other interests include theories of well-being, the significance of a life's shape, the significance of progress, population ethics, extinction ethics, and life extension technology. I have also written about epistemic consequentialism, suspension of judgment, and Schopenhauer's practical philosophy.

I am originally from a small town near Warsaw, Poland. My first name, Michał, is pronounced there 'Mee-how', but you can also call me 'Michael'.

In my spare time, I enjoy running and other endurance sports. I race marathons and ultras. On the ultramarathon side, I've done several 50Ks, one 50-miler, two 100K races, and two 100-milers.

Publications

forth.

Meaningful Lives and Meaningful Futures Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy

forth.

Junk, Numerosity, and the Demands of Epistemic Consequentialism Erkenntnis

2023	Wasted Potential: The Value of a Life and the Significance of What Could Have Been Philosophy & Public Affairs, 51 (1): 6-32.

2023	Healthspan Extension, Completeness of Life, and Justice Bioethics, 37: 239-245.

2021	What Should We Agree on about the Repugnant Conclusion? Utilitas, 33 (4): 379-383. With 28 co-authors.

2021	Schopenhauer on Suicide and Negation of the Will The British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 29 (3): 494-516.

2020	On Parfit's Wide Dual Person-Affecting Principle The Philosophical Quarterly, 70 (278): 114-139.

2020	Friedman on Suspended Judgment Synthese, 197 (11): 5009-5026.

Manuscripts

MS	A paper on the significance of progress

MS	A paper on preserving relationships and projects

MS	A paper on the problem of replacement

MS	A paper on human and animal welfare

MS	A paper on non-monetary goods of work

Teaching

I am an enthusiastic educator with a track record of student satisfaction. At Princeton, I received the highly competitive Graduate School Teaching Award for “a significant and exceptional contribution to undergraduate teaching”.

My teaching, much like my research program, seeks to connect philosophical theory with issues of pressing public concern. At Princeton, I taught the philosophy department’s first undergraduate course on ‘The Ethics of Technology’, which brought together a mix of philosophy and STEM students. Likewise, at UC Berkeley, I taught the philosophy department's first graduate seminar on "The Moral and Political Philosophy of AI". At MIT, I've taught Bioethics and lead a research seminar for students in the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing programme.