•  38
    Contemporary arguments concerning the permissibility of physician-assisted suicide [PAS], or suicide in general, often rehearse classical arguments over whether individual persons have a fundamental right based on autonomy to determine their own death, or whether the community has a legitimate interest in individual members’ welfare that would prohibit suicide. I explicate historical arguments pertaining to PAS aligned with these poles. I contend that an ethical indictment of PAS entails moral d…Read more
  •  52
    The ontological and moral significance of persons
    Scientia et Fides 5 (2): 217-236. 2017.
    Many debates in arenas such as bioethics turn on questions regarding the moral status of human beings at various stages of biological development or decline. It is often argued that a human being possesses a fundamental and inviolable moral status insofar as she is a “person”; yet, it is contested whether all or only human beings count as persons. Perhaps there are non-human person, and perhaps not every human being satisfies the definitional criteria for being a person. A further question, whic…Read more
  •  14
  •  9
    Artificial Nutrition and Hydration: The New Catholic Debate edited by Christopher Tollefsen (review)
    The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 9 (3): 616-619. 2009.
  •  21
    The Case for Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Human Enhancement (review)
    The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 17 (1): 178-179. 2017.
  •  11
    The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan (edited book)
    Lexington Books. 2017.
    The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan collects sixteen essays written by philosophers and film theorists analyzing moral, metaphysical, epistemological, and political themes that characterize the films of Christopher Nolan.
  •  29
    Death and Dying (review)
    American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 80 (1): 141-144. 2006.
  • One issue in contemporary philosophy that has received significant attention recently concerns the metaphysical nature of human persons. The debate between philosophers who reduce human nature to physical or psychological properties alone, and those who hold that human nature transcends such properties, has engendered a great deal of scholarship and inspired others to formulate accounts that avoid the pitfalls of either extreme. I canvass this debate and focus upon three positions to explicate a…Read more
  •  804
    Metaphysical and Ethical Perspectives on Creating Animal-Human Chimeras
    with R. A. Ballard
    Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 34 (5): 470-486. 2009.
    This paper addresses several questions related to the nature, production, and use of animal-human (a-h) chimeras. At the heart of the issue is whether certain types of a-h chimeras should be brought into existence, and, if they are, how we should treat such creatures. In our current research environment, we recognize a dichotomy between research involving nonhuman animal subjects and research involving human subjects, and the classification of a research protocol into one of these categories wil…Read more
  •  50
    Exercising Restraint in the Creation of Animal–Human Chimeras
    with Rebecca A. Ballard
    American Journal of Bioethics 8 (6). 2008.
    No abstract
  •  44
    Cultivating the Virtue of Acknowledged Responsibility
    Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 82 249-261. 2008.
    In debates over issues such as abortion, a primary principle on which the Roman Catholic outlook is based is the natural law mandate to respect human life rooted in the Aristotelian philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. This principle, however, is limited by focusing on the obligation not to kill innocent humans and thereby neglects another important facet of the Aristotelian-Thomistic ethical viewpoint—namely, obligations that bind human beings in relationships of mutual dependence and responsibility. …Read more
  •  700
    Alongside a revival of interest in Thomism in philosophy, scholars have realised its relevance when addressing certain contemporary issues in bioethics. This book offers a rigorous interpretation of Aquinas's metaphysics and ethical thought, and highlights its significance to questions in bioethics. Jason T. Eberl applies Aquinas’s views on the seminal topics of human nature and morality to key questions in bioethics at the margins of human life – questions which are currently contested in the a…Read more
  •  33
    Advancing the Case for Organ Procurement
    American Journal of Bioethics 9 (8): 22-23. 2009.
    No abstract
  •  22
    Star Wars: The Force Awakens
    Philosophy Now 115 48-50. 2016.
    Philosophical review of themes in 'Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens' by the co-editors of 'Star Wars and Philosophy' and 'The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy.'
  •  28
    Personal Identity and Resurrection: How Do We Survive Our Death? Edited by Georg Gasser (review)
    American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 87 (4): 781-785. 2013.
  •  32
    The essays in this volume tackle the philosophical questions from these blockbuster films including: Was Anakin predestined to fall to the Dark Side? Are the Jedi truly role models of moral virtue? Why would the citizens and protectors of a democratic Republic allow it to descend into a tyrannical empire? Is Yoda a peaceful Zen master or a great warrior, or both? Why is there both a light and a dark side of the Force? Star Wars and Philosophy ponders the depths of these subjects and asks what it…Read more
  •  34
    Human Dignity in the Biotech Century (review)
    American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 81 (3): 510-512. 2007.
  •  14
    Extraordinary Care and the Spiritual Goal of Life
    The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 5 (3): 491-501. 2005.
  •  30
    What Dignitas personae does not say
    The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 10 (1): 89-110. 2010.
    Dignitas personae has garnered significant attention both inside and outside Roman Catholic circles, but it lacks the argumentative force not only to present the Church’s ethical judgment but also to persuade non-sympathetic readers. More direct engagement with contrary views would provide a stronger foundation for constructing arguments in public discourse. This article highlights various assertions found in Dignitas personae which call for greater explicit argumentation. Subjects treated inclu…Read more
  • A Mind’s Matter: An Intellectual Autobiography (review)
    Philosophia Christi 5 (1): 291-295. 2003.
  •  27
    The Complex Nature of Jewish and Catholic Bioethics
    American Journal of Bioethics 9 (11): 31-32. 2009.
  •  114
    Aquinas on Euthanasia, Suffering, and Palliative Care
    The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 3 (2): 331-354. 2003.
    Euthanasia, today, is one of the most debated issues in bioethics. Euthanasia, at the time of Thomas Aquinas, was an unheard-of term. Nevertheless, while there is no direct statement with respect to “euthanasia” per se in the writings of Aquinas, Aquinas’s moral theory and certain theological commitments he held could be applied to the euthanasia question and thus bring Aquinas into contemporary bioethical debate. In this paper, I present the relevant aspects of Aquinas’s account of natural la…Read more
  •  20
  •  86
    Fetuses Are Neither Violinists nor Violators
    American Journal of Bioethics 10 (12): 53-54. 2010.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  43
    Dualist and Animalist Perspectives on Death
    The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 7 (3): 477-489. 2007.
    In this essay, I outline two contemporary metaphysical accounts of human nature—substance dualism and biological reductionism, also known as “animalism”—by elucidating the views of two representative theorists. I show how these two accounts conceive of death and which criteria for determining death--higher brain, whole-brain, or cardiopulmonary--each advocates. I will then contrast these accounts with Thomas Aquinas’s view of human nature and death.
  •  10
    The Routledge Guidebook to Aquinas‘ Summa Theologiae introduces readers to a work which represents the pinnacle of medieval Western scholarship and which has inspired numerous commentaries, imitators, and opposing views. Outlining the main arguments Aquinas utilizes to support his conclusions on various philosophical questions, this clear and comprehensive guide explores: The historical context in which Aquinas wrote A critical discussion of the topics outlined in the text including theology, me…Read more
  •  72
    Response to Jan Deckers' critique of the author's earlier article on the beginning of personhood from a Thomistic perspective in which the author revises and further refines his view.
  •  94
    Potentiality, Possibility, and the Irreversibility of Death
    Review of Metaphysics 62 (1): 61-77. 2008.
    This paper considers the issue of cryopreservation and the definition of death from an Aristotelian-Thomistic perspective. A central conceptual focus throughout this discussion is the purportedly irreversible nature of death and the criteria by which a human body is considered to be informed by a rational soul. It concludes that a cryopreserved corpse fails to have “life potentially in it” sufficient to satisfy Aristotle’s definition of ensoulment. Therefore, if the possibility that such a corps…Read more