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70Ford, 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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15The 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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66A 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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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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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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32There 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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38Creating 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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94A Thomistic appraisal of human enhancement technologiesTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 35 (4): 289-310. 2014.Debate concerning human enhancement often revolves around the question of whether there is a common “nature” that all human beings share and which is unwarrantedly violated by enhancing one’s capabilities beyond the “species-typical” norm. I explicate Thomas Aquinas’s influential theory of human nature, noting certain key traits commonly shared among human beings that define each as a “person” who possesses inviolable moral status. Understanding the specific qualities that define the nature of h…Read more
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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
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52Pomponazzi and Aquinas on the Intellective SoulModern Schoolman 83 (1): 65-77. 2005.One of Thomas Aquinas’s primary philosophical concerns is to provide an account of the nature of a human soul. He bases his account on Aristotle’s De anima, wherein Aristotle gives an account of “soul” (psuchē) as divided into three distinct types: vegetative, sensitive, and intellective. Aristotle defines an intellective soul as proper to human beings and the only type of soul that may potentially exist separated from a material body. Aquinas argues that an intellective soul is indeed sepa…Read more
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642Metaphysical and Moral Status of Cryopreserved EmbryosThe Linacre Quarterly 79 (3): 304-315. 2012.Those who oppose human embryonic stem cell research argue for a clear position on the metaphysical and moral status of human embryos. This position does not differ whether the embryo is present inside its mother’s reproductive tract or in a cryopreservation tank. It is worth examining, however, whether an embryo in “suspended animation” has the same status as one actively developing in utero. I will explore this question from the perspective of Thomas Aquinas’s metaphysical account of human natu…Read more
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21Review of Human Capacities and Moral Status by Russell DiSilvestro (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 11 (3): 586-588. 2011.
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18Double-Effect Reasoning (review)American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 83 (2): 295-298. 2009.
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57Varieties of Dualism: Swinburne and AquinasInternational Philosophical Quarterly 50 (1): 39-56. 2010.Thomas Aquinas argues that matter is informed by a rational soul to compose a human person. But a person may survive her body’s death since a rational soul is able to exist and function without matter. This leads to the typical characterization of Aquinas as a dualist. Thomistic dualism, however, is distinct from both Platonic dualism and various accounts of substance dualism offered by philosophers such as Richard Swinburne. For both Plato and Swinburne, a person is identical to an immaterial s…Read more
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14Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Knowledge Here Begins Out There (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2008.This thought-provoking book examines the philosophical issues arising from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series, revealing how the ragtag fleet's outward journey to Earth is also an inward exploration for the human survivors and their Cylon pursuers
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26Review of Theological Bioethics: Participation, Justice, and Change by Lisa Sowle Cahill (review)American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 83 (4): 615-618. 2009.
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116Aquinas's account of human embryogenesis and recent interpretationsJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 30 (4). 2005.In addressing bioethical issues at the beginning of human life, such as abortion, in vitro fertilization, and embryonic stem cell research, one primary concern regards establishing when a developing human embryo or fetus can be considered a person. Thomas Aquinas argues that an embryo or fetus is not a human person until its body is informed by a rational soul. Aquinas's explicit account of human embryogenesis has been generally rejected by contemporary scholars due to its dependence upon mediev…Read more
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55Religious and Secular Perspectives on the Value of SufferingThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 12 (2): 251-261. 2012.Advocates of active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide argue that a patient’s intractable pain and suffering are a sufficient justification for his life to end if he autonomously so chooses. Others hold that the non-utilization of life-sustaining treatment, the use of pain-relieving medication that may hasten a patient’s death, and palliative sedation may be morally acceptable means of alleviating pain and suffering. How a patient should be cared for when approaching the end of life invol…Read more
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31" If You Could Cure Cancer by Killing One Person, Wouldn't You Have to Do That?"In Sandra Shapshay (ed.), Bioethics at the movies, Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 297. 2009.
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50Exercising Restraint in the Creation of Animal–Human ChimerasAmerican Journal of Bioethics 8 (6). 2008.No abstract
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44Cultivating the Virtue of Acknowledged ResponsibilityProceedings 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
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726Thomistic Principles and BioethicsRoutledge. 2006.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
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33Advancing the Case for Organ ProcurementAmerican Journal of Bioethics 9 (8): 22-23. 2009.No abstract
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22Star Wars: The Force AwakensPhilosophy 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.'
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28Personal Identity and Resurrection: How Do We Survive Our Death? Edited by Georg Gasser (review)American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 87 (4): 781-785. 2013.
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32Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine (edited book)Open Court. 2005.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