David R. Koepsell, J.D./Ph.D.

Education

Academic Background

1997

Ph.D., Philosophy Department

SUNY at Buffalo

Dissertation: The Ontology of Cyberspace: Law, Philosophy, and the Future of Intellectual Property.

1995

J.D.

SUNY at Buffalo School of Law

Buffalo Law Review, Systems Editor. Desmond Moot Court Board, Connelly Trial Technique Award.

1990

B.A. Magna cum laude, Political Science/English-honors with High Distinction

SUNY at Buffalo

Phi Beta Kappa.

Academic Appointments

Professional Experience

2021-Present

Instructional Assistant Professor

Texas A&M, Philosophy

Began as Lecturer in 2021, then Visiting Assistant Professor in 2022, before current position.

2021-Present

Online Adjunct Instructor

Texas A&M International University

Philosophy of Law, Introduction to Philosophy, Intro to Ethics

Jan-July 2015

Visiting Professor

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas, Mexico, D.F.

2013-2015

Tenured Associate Professor of Philosophy

Delft University of Technology

Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management, Department of Values and Technology

Recent Publications

Selected Books and Articles

View complete publication list on Google Scholar

Books

2024

Mad Max and Philosophy: Thinking Through the Wasteland

Wiley-Blackwell • co-edited with Matthew Meyer

forthcoming, April

2017

Philosophy and Breaking Bad

Palgrave Macmillan • co-edited with Kevin Decker and Robert Arp

2016

Scientific Integrity and Research Ethics: an Approach from the Ethos of Science

Springer

Journal Articles

2024

Genetic Determinants of Atherogenic Indexes

Genes

Texis T, Rivera-Mancía S, Colín-Ramírez E, Cartas-Rosado R, Koepsell D, Rubio-Carrasco K, Rodríguez-Dorantes M, Gonzalez-Covarrubias V

2019

Blockchain, Wikis, and the Ideal Science Machine: with an example from genomics

Frontiers in Blockchain Vol. 2, p. 25

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 details coming soon

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.

Try the OWL Tester Service View on GitHub

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

Pioneering Work on Digital Entities

Early research on the ontological status of digital objects and their intellectual property implications.
Legal Knowledge Representation

Development of formal methods for representing legal concepts and relationships in computational systems.
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.

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