Philosophy • Law • Ethics
David R. Koepsell, J.D./Ph.D.
Instructional Assistant Professor
Texas A&M University
301 YMCA Building
College Station, TX 77840, USA

Education
Academic Background
Ph.D., Philosophy Department
Dissertation: The Ontology of Cyberspace: Law, Philosophy, and the Future of Intellectual Property.
J.D.
Buffalo Law Review, Systems Editor. Desmond Moot Court Board, Connelly Trial Technique Award.
B.A. Magna cum laude, Political Science/English-honors with High Distinction
Phi Beta Kappa.
Academic Appointments
Professional Experience
Instructional Assistant Professor
Began as Lecturer in 2021, then Visiting Assistant Professor in 2022, before current position.
Online Adjunct Instructor
Philosophy of Law, Introduction to Philosophy, Intro to Ethics
Visiting Professor
Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas, Mexico, D.F.
Tenured Associate Professor of Philosophy
Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management, Department of Values and Technology
Books
Mad Max and Philosophy: Thinking Through the Wasteland
forthcoming, April
Philosophy and Breaking Bad
Scientific Integrity and Research Ethics: an Approach from the Ethos of Science
Journal Articles
Blockchain, Wikis, and the Ideal Science Machine: with an example from genomics
Legal Ontology
Research, Teaching, and Tools for Legal Knowledge Representation
Legal Ontology Course
PHIL 487: Legal Ontology
Learn about the intersection of philosophy, law, and computer science through this specialized course. Students explore how legal concepts can be formally represented for computational use, drawing on both philosophical theories of ontology and practical skills in knowledge representation.
Practical application of philosophical theory to legal knowledge systems
Hands-on work with legal ontology tools and development
Understanding semantic web technologies for legal applications
Course Highlights
- Fall 2024 Semester
- Tuesday/Thursday
- No prerequisites
Legal Ontology Tools
OWL Tester Service on Replit
I've developed a specialized tool on Replit that helps users create, visualize, and work with legal ontologies. This web-based application makes complex ontology development more accessible to legal practitioners, students, and researchers.
Key Features
- Interactive ontology visualization
- Export to standard OWL and RDF formats
- Collaborative editing capabilities
- User-friendly interface for non-technical users
Use Cases
- Legal education and teaching
- Law firm knowledge management
- Academic research in legal informatics
- Legal AI and automated reasoning systems
Research Background
My work in legal ontology began with my doctoral dissertation, "The Ontology of Cyberspace," which explored the philosophical foundations of digital entities and their legal status. Since then, I have continued to research the intersection of philosophy, law, and computation, with a particular focus on how we can formally represent legal concepts and reasoning.
Key Contributions
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Pioneering Work on Digital Entities
Early research on the ontological status of digital objects and their intellectual property implications.
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Legal Knowledge Representation
Development of formal methods for representing legal concepts and relationships in computational systems.
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Interdisciplinary Approaches
Integration of philosophical ontology, legal theory, and computer science to create more robust legal knowledge systems.
Collaborations
I have collaborated with computer scientists, legal scholars, and philosophers around the world on projects related to legal ontology, including work with research groups at Stanford, MIT, and European universities.
Future Directions
My current research focuses on integrating legal ontologies with AI systems, exploring the ethical implications of automated legal reasoning, and developing better tools for legal knowledge representation.
Contact
Get in Touch
Contact Information
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Emaildrkoepsell@tamu.edu
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Address
301 YMCA Building
College Station, TX 77840, USA
Connect
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GitHubgithub.com/dkoepsell
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LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/dkoepsell
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Twittertwitter.com/dkoepsell