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14Review of The Myth of the Moral Brain: The Limits of Moral Enhancement by Harris Wiseman (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 17 (3): 565-567. 2017.
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9Artificial Nutrition and Hydration: The New Catholic Debate edited by Christopher Tollefsen (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 9 (3): 616-619. 2009.
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21The Case for Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Human Enhancement (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 17 (1): 178-179. 2017.
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11The 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.
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Analytic and Thomistic Approaches to Human Nature: A Comparative Metaphysical and Bioethical AnalysisDissertation, Saint Louis University. 2003.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
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790Metaphysical and Ethical Perspectives on Creating Animal-Human ChimerasJournal 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
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89Potentiality, Possibility, and the Irreversibility of DeathReview 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
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14Sons of Anarchy and Philosophy: Brains Before Bullets (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2013._“Brains before bullets” – ancient and modern wisdom for “mechanics and motorcycle enthusiasts”_ Essential reading for fans of the show, this book takes readers deeper into the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, the Teller-Morrow family, and the ethics that surround their lives and activities. Provides fascinating moral insights into _Sons of Anarchy_, its key characters, plot lines and ideas Investigates compelling philosophical issues centering on loyalty, duty, the ethics of war, authority, rel…Read more
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25Examines theism versus atheism as depicted in the re-imagined sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica.
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19Extraordinary Care and the Spiritual Goal of LifeThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 5 (3): 491-501. 2005.Kevin O’Rourke argues that Aquinas’s concept of a “spiritual goal of life,” to which Pius XII refers in his famous allocution of 1957, serves as a basis for declaring that certain treatments, such as artificial nutrition and hydration [ANH] for patients in a persistent vegetative state [PVS], are “extraordinary” and thus morally optional. I examine whether O’Rourke properly interprets Aquinas’s concept in this regard and conclude that he is correct in his assessment and that ANH is properly und…Read more
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12The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Socrates (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2016.Reunites the editors of Star Trek and Philosophy with Starfleet’s finest experts for 31 new, highly logical essays Features a complete examination of the Star Trek universe, from the original series to the most recent films directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness Introduces important concepts in philosophy through the vast array of provocative issues raised by the series, such as the ethics of the Prime Directive, Star Trek’s philosophy of peace, Data and Voyager’s Doctor …Read more
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13Catholic Bioethics for a New Millenium. By Anthony Fisher (review)American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 88 (1): 173-176. 2014.
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25Truly Human Enhancement: A Philosophical Defense of Limits, by Nicholas Agar (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 15 (4): 781-784. 2015.
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18Reply to BeauchampIn Arthur L. Caplan & Robert Arp (eds.), Contemporary debates in bioethics, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 25--431. 2014.
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71Aquinas on the Nature of Human BeingsReview of Metaphysics 58 (2): 333-365. 2004.IN THIS PAPER, I PROVIDE A FORMULATION of Thomas Aquinas’s account of the nature of human beings for the purpose of comparing it with other accounts in both the history of philosophy and contemporary analytic philosophy. I discuss how his apparently dualistic understanding of the relationship between soul and body yields the conclusion that a human being exists as a unified substance composed of a rational soul informing, that is, serving as the specific organizing principle of, a physical body.…Read more
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59Ontological Kinds Versus Biological SpeciesAmerican Journal of Bioethics 12 (9): 32-34. 2012.No abstract
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1591Foundation for a Natural Right to Health CareJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 36 (6): 537-557. 2011.Discussions concerning whether there is a natural right to health care may occur in various forms, resulting in policy recommendations for how to implement any such right in a given society. But health care policies may be judged by international standards including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The rights enumerated in the UDHR are grounded in traditions of moral theory, a philosophical analysis of which is necessary in order to adjudicate the value of specific policies designed…Read more
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67Ford, Norman M., S.D.B. The Prenatal Person: Ethics from Conception to BirthThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 3 (1): 216-218. 2003.
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3Do human persons persist between death and resurrection?In Kevin Timpe (ed.), Metaphysics and God: Essays in Honor of Eleonore Stump, Routledge. 2009.Thomas Aquinas presents an account of human immortality and bodily resurrection intended to be both faithful to Christian Scripture and metaphysically sound as following from the Aristotelian view of human nature. One central question is whether a human person persists between death and resurrection by virtue of her soul, given Aquinas’s hylomorphic account of human nature and assertion that a human person is not identical to her soul. Robert Pasnau contends that only a part of a person exists …Read more
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14The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy: You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2015.Does it take faith to be a Jedi? Are droids capable of thought? Should Jar Jar Binks be held responsible for the rise of the Empire? Presenting entirely new essays, no aspect of the myth and magic of George Lucas’s creation is left philosophically unexamined in The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy. The editors of the original Star Wars and Philosophy strike back in this Ultimate volume that encompasses the complete Star Wars universe Presents the most far-reaching examination of the philosophy …Read more
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2Thomism and the beginning of personhoodIn John P. Lizza (ed.), Defining the beginning and end of life: readings on personal identity and bioethics, Johns Hopkins University Press. 2009.In addressing bioethical issues at the beginning of human life, such as abortion, human embryonic stem cell research, and therapeutic cloning, a primary concern is to establish when a developing human embryo or fetus can be considered a “person”; for it is typically held that only persons are the subjects of moral rights, such as a “right to life.” The 13th century philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas defines a person as “an individual substance of a rational nature” (ST Ia.29.1); he fur…Read more
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59A Thomistic understanding of human deathBioethics 19 (1). 2005.I investigate Thomas Aquinas's metaphysical account of human death, which is defined in terms of a rational soul separating from its material body. The question at hand concerns what criterion best determines when this separation occurs. Aquinas argues that a body has a rational soul only insofar as it is properly organised to support the soul's vegetative, sensitive, and rational capacities. According to the ‘higher‐brain’ concept of death, when a body can no longer provide the biological found…Read more
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26Aquinas (review)Review of Metaphysics 58 (1): 196-197. 2004.Eleonore Stump provides a clear and thorough treatment of some of the main philosophical themes that characterize Aquinas’s vast corpus in a way that allows his thought to be situated among contemporary philosophers and their ideas. This approach allows Stump to address certain criticisms that have been raised against Aquinas’s views as well as the medieval Christian approach to philosophy in general. The proper consideration owed to Aquinas as a key figure in the history of philosophy is given …Read more
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29There are No Circumstances in Which a Doctor May Withhold InformationIn Arthur L. Caplan & Robert Arp (eds.), Contemporary debates in bioethics, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 25--418. 2014.This essay focuses on cases in which a physician elects to withhold, either temporarily or permanently, certain information from a patient for arguably beneficent reasons. That is, the physician is not being self-serving, to herself or her institution, by not revealing this information. Rather, the goal is purely to promote what the physician believes to be in the patient’s best interest by withholding information that may be harmful to him. This practice of informational guardianship is known a…Read more
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33Review of Enhancing Human Capacities edited by Julian Savulescu, Ruud ter Meulen, and Guy Kahane (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13 (3): 565-567. 2013.
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37Creating non-human persons: Might it be worth the risk?American Journal of Bioethics 7 (5). 2007.This Article does not have an abstract
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28Star Trek and PhilosophyOpen Court. 2007.Philosophy and space travel are characterized by the same fundamental purpose: exploration. An essential guide for both philosophers and Trekkers, Star Trek and Philosophy combines a philosophical spirit of inquiry with the beloved television and film series to consider questions not only about the scientific prospects of interstellar travel but also the inward journey to examine the human condition. The expansive topics range from the possibilities for communication among different cultural bac…Read more