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48Marvelling at the Marvel: The Supposed Conversion of A. D. Darbishire to MendelismJournal of the History of Biology 33 (2). 2000.The so-called "biometric-Mendelian controversy" has received much attention from science studies scholars. This paper focuses on one scientist involved in this debate, Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire, who performed a series of hybridization experiments with mice beginning in 1901. Previous historical work on Darbishire's experiments and his later attempt to reconcile Mendelian and biometric views describe Darbishire as eventually being "converted" to Mendelism. I provide a new analysis of this epis…Read more
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33Detecting Themes and Variations: The Use of Cases in Developmental BiologyPhilosophy of Science 79 (5): 644-654. 2012.This article unpacks a particular use of ‘cases’ within developmental biology, namely as a means of describing the typical or canonical patterns of phenomena. The article explores how certain cases have come to be established within the field and argues that although they were initially selected for reasons of convenience or ease of experimental manipulation, these cases come to serve as key reference points within the field because of the epistemological structures imposed on them by the scient…Read more
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26Recasting the Debate on Multiple Listing for Transplantation through Consideration of Both Principles and PracticeCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 8 (3): 330-339. 1999.Debates continue to surround the system in the United States for allocating transplantable cadaveric organs, due in large part to the scarcity of such organs in relation to the number of individuals waiting to undergo transplantation. Candidates awaiting transplantation gain access to cadaveric organs by being placed by individual transplant programs on the national list of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, overseen by the United Network for Organ Sharing. In recent years, the U…Read more
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42Double Meanings Will Not Save the Principle of Double EffectJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 39 (3): 304-316. 2014.In an article somewhat ironically entitled “Disambiguating Clinical Intentions,” Lynn Jansen promotes an idea that should be bewildering to anyone familiar with the literature on the intention/foresight distinction. According to Jansen, “intention” has two commonsense meanings, one of which is equivalent to “foresight.” Consequently, questions about intention are “infected” with ambiguity—people cannot tell what they mean and do not know how to answer them. This hypothesis is unsupported by evid…Read more
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36On not taking objective risk assessments at face valueAmerican Journal of Bioethics 4 (3). 2004.This Article does not have an abstract
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21Inviting Everyone to the Table: Strategies for More Effective and Legitimate Food Policy via Deliberative ApproachesJournal of Social Philosophy 47 (1): 10-24. 2016.
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46The ethos and ethics of translational researchAmerican Journal of Bioethics 8 (3). 2008.Calls for the “translation” of research from bench to bedside are increasingly demanding. What is translation, and why does it matter? We sketch the recent history of outcome-oriented translational research in the United States, with a particular focus on the Roadmap Initiative of the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD). Our main example of contemporary translational research is stem cell research, which has superseded genomics as the translational object of choice. We explore the natur…Read more
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2The Conqueror Worm: An Historical and Philosophical Examination of the Use of the Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans as a Model OrganismDissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 1997.This study focuses on the concept of a 'model organism' in the biomedical sciences through an historical and philosophical examination of research with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. I explore the choice of C. elegans in the mid-1960s, showing a rich context existed within which the organism was selected as the focus for a molecular biological research program, including an experimental life prior to Sydney Brenner's work. I argue that this choice can be seen as an obvious outcome of what …Read more
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University of AdelaideDepartment of Historical and Classical Studies
Department of PhilosophyProfessor
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Biology |