Mark A. Bedau is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 philosopher who works in the field of Artificial Life

Artificial life

Artificial life is a field of study and an associated art form which examine systems related to life, its processes, and its evolution through simulations using computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline was named by Christopher Langton, an American computer scientist, in 1986...

. He is the son of philosopher Hugo Adam Bedau

Hugo Adam Bedau

Hugo Adam Bedau is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Tufts University, and is best known for his work on capital punishment...

.

Bedau teaches philosophy at Reed College

Reed College

Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...

. He is also the Co-Founder of the European Center for Living Technology (ECLT) and Visiting Professor, Ph.D. Program in Life Sciences: Foundations and Ethics, European School of Molecular Medicine. Bedau is also the editor of the Artificial Life Journal.

He has been the COO of Protolife

ProtoLife

ProtoLife is a startup company based in San Francisco, USA, headed by co-founder and CEO Norman Packard. Their current main area of endeavor is the development of machine-learning, statistical model-based methodologies for evolutionary design of complex, high-throughput...

, a biotechnology start-up based in Venice, Italy.

Recent books

• M. A. Bedau and E. C. Parke, eds. The prospect of protocells: social and ethical implications of the recreation of life. Cambridge: MIT Press. 2009.
• Mark A. Bedau, Carol E. Cleland. The Nature of Life: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives from Philosophy. 2011.
• Mark A. Bedau and Paul Humphreys, eds. Emergence: contemporary readings in philosophy and science. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008.