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34Gewirth: Critical Essays on Action, Rationality, and CommunityRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1998.As one of the most important ethicists to emerge since the Second World War, Alan Gewirth continues to influence philosophical debates concerning morality. In this ground-breaking book, Gewirth's neo-Kantianism, and the communitarian problems discussed, form a dialogue on the foundation of moral theory. Themes of agent-centered constraints, the formal structure of theories, and the relationship between freedom and duty are examined along with such new perspectives as feminism, the Stoics, and Sa…Read more
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72The moral status of animals and their use in research: a philosophical reviewKennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 1 (1): 48-70. 1991.In this article I offer a philosophical review of (1) leading theories of the moral status of animals, (2) pivotal theoretical issues on which more progress needs to be made, and (3) applications to the setting of animal research. Such an examination demonstrates, I believe, that the practical implications of leading theories converge far more than might be expected. In addition, I hope this review helps to clarify particularly troubling issues that remain so they can be treated adequately.
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19Single Payer Meets Managed CompetitionHastings Center Report 38 (1): 23-33. 2012.Common sense and empirical evidence suggest that single-payer health insurance, combined with competitive private delivery, would be the most cost-effective way of achieving the major, widely accepted goals of health care reform. Among the current presidential candidates, Kucinich and Gravel have the most promising reform proposals, with Edwards’s and Obama’s as fall-backs.
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23The Ethical Justification for Minimal Paternalism in the Use of the Predictive Test for Huntington’s DiseaseJournal of Clinical Ethics 2 (4): 219-228. 1991.
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9Death and Dying: A ReaderSheed & Ward. 2004.Edited by Thomas A. Shannon, this series provides anthologies of critical essays and reflections by leading ethicists in four pivotal areas: reproductive technologies, genetic technologies, death and dying, and health care policy. The goal of this series is twofold: first, to provide a set of readers on thematic topics for introductory or survey courses in bioethics or for courses with a particular theme or time limitation. Second, each of the readers in this series is designed to help students …Read more
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91Single Payer meets managed competition: The case for public funding and private deliveryHastings Center Report 38 (1): 23-33. 2008.Common sense and empirical evidence suggest that single-payer health insurance, combined with competitive private delivery, would be the most cost-effective way of achieving the major, widely accepted goals of health care reform. Among the current presidential candidates, Kucinich and Gravel have the most promising reform proposals, with Edwards’s and Obama’s as fall-backs.
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80Must we have full moral status throughout our existence? A reply to Alfonso Gomez-loboKennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 17 (4): 297-310. 2007.: Those who are morally opposed to abortion generally make several pivotal assumptions. This paper focuses on the assumption that we have full moral status throughout our existence. Coupled with the assumption that we come into existence at conception, the assumption about moral status entails that all human fetuses have full moral status, including a right to life. Is the assumption about moral status correct? In addressing this question, I respond to several arguments advanced, in this journal…Read more
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280The Ethics of Animal Research: What Are the Prospects for Agreement?Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 8 (1): 23-34. 1999.Few human uses of nonhuman animals have incited as much controversy as the use of animals in biomedical research. The political exchanges over this issue tend to produce much more heat than light, as representatives of both biomedicine and the animal protection community accuse opponents of being and the like. However, a healthy number of individuals within these two communities offer the possibility of a more illuminating discussion of the ethics of animal research
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300Handguns, Moral Rights, and Physical SecurityJournal of Moral Philosophy 11 (1): 56-76. 2014.Guns occupy a major—sometimes terrible—place in contemporary American life. Do Americans have not only a legal right, but also a moral right, to own handguns? After introducing the topic, this paper examines what a moral right to private handgun ownership would amount to. It then elucidates the logical structure of the strongest argument in favor of such a right, an argument that appeals to physical security, before assessing its cogency and identifying two questionable assumptions. In light of …Read more
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116Great Apes, Dolphins, and the Concept of PersonhoodSouthern Journal of Philosophy 35 (3): 301-320. 1997.
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48Biomedical Ethics (edited book)Mcgraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.This best-selling anthology of readings with case studies provides insightful and comprehensive treatment of ethical issues in medicine. Appropriate for courses taught in philosophy departments, bioethics programs, as well as schools of medicine and nursing, the collection covers such provocative topics as biomedical enhancement, clinical trials in developing countries, animal research, physician-assisted suicide, and health care reform. The text's effective pedagogical features include chapter …Read more
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69Why the united states should adopt a single-Payer system of health care financeKennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 6 (2): 145-160. 1996.: Although nothing could be less fashionable today than talk of comprehensive health care reform, the major problems of American health care have not gone away. Only a radical change in the way the U.S. finances health care--specifically, a single-payer system--will permit the achievement of universal coverage while keeping costs reasonably under control. Evidence from other countries, especially Canada, suggests the promise of this approach. In defending the single-payer approach, the author id…Read more
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38Moral Status, Human Identity, and Early Embryos: A Critique of the President's ApproachJournal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 34 (1): 49-57. 2006.Underlying President Bush's view regarding stemcell research and cloning are two assumptions: we originate at conception, and we have full moral status as soon as we originate. I will challenge both assumptions, argue that at least the second is mistaken, and conclude that the President's approach is unsustainable
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169The harm of death, time-relative interests, and abortionPhilosophical Forum 38 (1). 2007.Regarding the sinking lifeboat scenario involving several human beings and a dog, nearly everyone agrees that it is right to sacrifice the dog. I suggest that the best explanation for this considered judgment, an explanation that appears to time-relative interests, contains a key insight about prudential value. This insight, I argue, also provides perhaps the most promising reply to the future-like-ours argument, which is widely regarded as the strongest moral argument against abortion. Providin…Read more
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130Handguns, Moral Rights, and Physical SecurityJournal of Moral Philosophy 13 (1): 56-76. 2016._ Source: _Page Count 21 Guns occupy a major—sometimes terrible—place in contemporary American life. Do Americans have not only a legal right, but also a moral right, to own handguns? After introducing the topic, this paper examines what a moral right to private handgun ownership would amount to. It then elucidates the logical structure of the strongest argument in favor of such a right, an argument that appeals to physical security, before assessing its cogency and identifying two questionable …Read more
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75Persons, Organisms, and Death: A Philosophical Critique of the Higher-Brain ApproachSouthern Journal of Philosophy 37 (3): 419-440. 1999.
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23Review of Jennifer S. Hawkins, Ezekiel J. Emanuel (eds.), Exploitation and Developing Countries: The Ethics of Clinical Research (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2009 (2). 2009.
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134Pain, suffering, and anxiety in animals and humansTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 12 (3). 1991.We attempt to bring the concepts of pain, suffering, and anxiety into sufficient focus to make them serviceable for empirical investigation. The common-sense view that many animals experience these phenomena is supported by empirical and philosophical arguments. We conclude, first, that pain, suffering, and anxiety are different conceptually and as phenomena, and should not be conflated. Second, suffering can be the result — or perhaps take the form — of a variety of states including pain, anxie…Read more
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48An outcomes model of medical decision makingTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 12 (4). 1991.In the traditional fix-it model of medical decision making, the identified problem is typically characterized by a diagnosis that indicates a deviation from normalcy. When a medical problem is multifaceted and the available interventions are only partially effective, a broader vision of the health care endeavor is needed. What matters to the patient, and what should matter to the practitioner, is the patient's future possibilities. More specifically, what is important is the character of the alt…Read more
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46Handguns, Moral Rights, and Physical SecurityJournal of Moral Philosophy 11. 2014._ Source: _Page Count 21 Guns occupy a major—sometimes terrible—place in contemporary American life. Do Americans have not only a legal right, but also a moral right, to own handguns? After introducing the topic, this paper examines what a moral right to private handgun ownership would amount to. It then elucidates the logical structure of the strongest argument in favor of such a right, an argument that appeals to physical security, before assessing its cogency and identifying two questionable …Read more
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61Autonomous action and autonomy-subverting psychiatric conditionsJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 19 (3): 279-297. 1994.The following theses are defended in this paper: (1) The concept of autonomous action is centrally relevant to understanding numerous psychiatric conditions, namely, conditions that subvert autonomy; (2) The details of an analysis of autonomous action matter; a vague or rough characterization is less illuminating; (3) A promising analysis for this purpose (and generally) is a version of the "multi-tier model". After opening with five vignettes, I begin the discussion by highlighting strengths an…Read more
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79Regarding animals: Mental life, moral status, and use in biomedical research: An introduction to the special issueTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 27 (4): 277-284. 2006.
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99Are we essentially persons? Olson, Baker, and a replyPhilosophical Forum 33 (1): 81-99. 2002.In the literature on persons and their identity, it is customary to distinguish the issue of the nature of personhood—“What is a person?”—from the issue of per- sonal identity—“What are the persistence conditions of a person over time?” In recent years, Eric Olson and Lynne Rudder Baker have brought to the forefront of discussion the related, but often neglected, issue of our essence: “What are we, most fundamentally (essentially)—human animals, persons, or something else?” Attacking what he cal…Read more
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National Institutes of HealthResearcher
Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Meta-Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Cognitive Science |
20th Century Philosophy |