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45Research integrity in china: Problems and prospectsDeveloping World Bioethics 10 (3): 164-171. 2010.In little more than 30 years, China has recovered from the intellectual stagnation brought about by the Cultural Revolution to become a global leader in science and technology. Like other leading countries in science and technology, China has encountered some ethical problems related to the conduct of research. China 's leaders have taken some steps to respond to these problems, such as developing ethics policies and establishing oversight committees. To keep moving forward, China needs to conti…Read more
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101Pain as a folk psychological concept: A clinical perspective (review)Brain and Mind 1 (2): 193-207. 2000.This paper develops an instrumentalistic argumentagainst an eliminativist approach to using the folkconcept of pain in clinical medicine and draws someimplications for biomedical theories of pain. Thepaper argues that the folk concept of pain plays afundamental role in several aspects of clinicalmedicine, including the diagnosis and treatment ofdiseases and symptoms, relieving human suffering, andthe doctor-patient relationship. Since clinicians mustbe able to apply biomedical theories of pain i…Read more
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33A proposal for a new system of credit allocation in scienceScience and Engineering Ethics 3 (3): 237-243. 1997.This essay discusses some of the problems with current authorship practices and puts forward a proposal for a new system of credit allocation: in published works, scientists should more clearly define the responsibilities and contributions of members of research teams and should distinguish between different roles, such as author, statistican, technician, grant writer, data collector, and so forth.
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70Repairing the reticulated model of scientific rationalityErkenntnis 40 (3). 1994.InScience and Values (1984) and other, more recent, works, e.g. (1987a, 1987b, 1989a, 1989b, 1990), Larry Laudan proposes a theory of scientific debate he dubs the reticulated model of scientific rationality (Laudan, 1984, pp. 50–66). The model stands in sharp contrast to hierarchical approaches to rationality exemplified by Popper (1959), Hempel (1965), and Reichenbach (1938), as well as the conventionalist views of rationality defended by Carnap (1950), Popper (1959), Kuhn (1962), and Lakatos …Read more
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104Exploitation in biomedical researchTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 24 (3): 233--259. 2003.This essay analyzesexploitation in biomedical research in terms ofthree basic elements: harm, disrespect, orinjustice. There are also degrees ofexploitation, ranging from highly exploitationto minimally exploitation. Althoughexploitation is prima facie wrongful,some exploitative research studies are morallyjustified, all things considered. The reasonan exploitative study can still be ethical isthat other moral considerations, such as theautonomy of the research subject or the socialbenefits of r…Read more
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28Medical misinformation on the Web: mitigation or control?Acm Sigcas Computers and Society 28 (1): 35-37. 1998.
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21Promoting Public Trust: ESCROs Won't Fix the Problem of Stem Cell TourismAmerican Journal of Bioethics 13 (1): 53-55. 2013.No abstract
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5Review of Nanoethics: Big Ethical Issues with Small Technology (review)Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology 4 (2). 2010.
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42DNA Patents and Human DignityJournal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 29 (2): 152-165. 2001.Those objecting to human DNA patenting frequently do so on the grounds that the practice violates or threatens human dignity. For example, from 1993 to 1994, more than thirty organizations representing indigenous peoples approved formal declarations objecting to the National Institutes of Health's bid to patent viral DNA taken from subjects in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Although these were not patents on human DNA, the organizations argued that the patents could harm and exploit i…Read more
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25Unequal treatment of human research subjectsMedicine, Health Care and Philosophy 18 (1): 23-32. 2015.Unequal treatment of human research subjects is a significant ethical concern, because justice in research involving human subjects requires equal protection of rights and equal protection from harm and exploitation. Disputes sometimes arise concerning the issue of unequal treatment of research subjects. Allegedly unequal treatment occurs when subjects are treated differently and there is a genuine dispute concerning the appropriateness of equal treatment. Patently unequal treatment occurs when …Read more
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36Institutional Conflicts of Interest in Academic ResearchScience and Engineering Ethics 25 (6): 1661-1669. 2015.Financial relationships in academic research can create institutional conflicts of interest because the financial interests of the institution or institutional officials may inappropriately influence decision-making. Strategies for dealing with institutional COIs include establishing institutional COI committees that involve the board of trustees in conflict review and management, developing policies that shield institutional decisions from inappropriate influences, and establishing private foun…Read more
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43The clinical investigator-subject relationship: a contextual approachPhilosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 4 16-. 2009.BackgroundThe nature of the relationship between a clinical investigator and a research subject has generated considerable debate because the investigator occupies two distinct roles: clinician and scientist. As a clinician, the investigator has duties to provide the patient with optimal care and undivided loyalty. As a scientist, the investigator has duties to follow the rules, procedures and methods described in the protocol.Results and conclusionIn this article, I present a contextual approac…Read more
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19Retracting Inconclusive Research: Lessons from the Séralini GM Maize Feeding StudyJournal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 28 (4): 621-633. 2015.In September 2012, Gilles-Eric Séralini and seven coauthors published an article in Food and Chemical Toxicology claiming that rats fed Roundup©-resistant genetically modified maize alone, genetically modified maize with Roundup©, or Roundup© for 2 years had a higher percentage of tumors and kidney and liver damage than normal controls. Shortly after this study was published, numerous scientists and several scientific organizations criticized the research as methodologically and ethically flawed…Read more
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40Convergent Realism and Approximate TruthPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1992 421-434. 1992.I examine the role that approximate truth plays in arguments for convergent realism and diagnose some difficulties that face attempts to defend realism by employing this slippery concept. Approximate truth plays two important roles in convergent realism : it functions as a truth surrogate and it helps explain the success of science. I argue that approximate truth cannot perform both of these roles. If it adequately fulfills its role as a truth surrogate, then it cannot explain the success of sci…Read more
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20The new EPA regulations for protecting human subjects: Haste makes wasteHastings Center Report 37 (1): 17-21. 2007.
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54Critical discussionErkenntnis 38 (2). 1993.InExplaining Science: A Cognitive Approach, Ronald Giere (1988), proposes what he calls a cognitive theory of science (p. 2). Giere intends his view to be a broadly scientific account employing the resources of the cognitive sciences (Giere, 1988, p. 2). This paper argues that Giere does not secure a firm foundation for a cognitive theory of science because he leaves the door wide open for social constructivist interpretations of his views. In order to avoid social constructivism, Giere needs to…Read more
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80The ethics of HIV research in developing nationsBioethics 12 (4). 1998.This paper discusses a dispute concerning the ethics of research on preventing the perinatal transmission of HIV in developing nations. Critics of this research argue that it is unethical because it denies a proven treatment to placebo‐control groups. Since studies conducted in developed nations would not deny this treatment to subjects, the critics maintain that these experiments manifest a double standard for ethical research and that a single standard of ethics should apply to all research on…Read more
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24H5N1 Avian Flu Research and the Ethics of KnowledgeHastings Center Report 43 (2): 22-33. 2013.Scientists and policy‐makers have long understood that the products of research can often be used for good or evil. Nuclear fission research can be used to generate electricity or create a powerful bomb. Studies on the genetics of human populations can be used to understand relationships between different groups or to perpetuate racist ideologies. While the notion that scientific research often has beneficial and harmful uses has been discussed before, the threat of bioterrorism—a concern that h…Read more
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6Punishing Medical Experts for Unethical TestimonyJournal of Philosophy, Science and Law 4 45-71. 2004.
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38Bioethics and Climate Change: A Response to Macpherson and VallesBioethics 30 (8): 649-652. 2016.Two articles published in Bioethics recently have explored the ways that bioethics can contribute to the climate change debate. Cheryl Cox Macpherson argues that bioethicists can play an important role in the climate change debate by helping the public to better understand the values at stake and the trade-offs that must be made in individual and social choices, and Sean Valles claims that bioethicists can contribute to the debate by framing the issues in terms of the public health impacts of cl…Read more
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53Social epistemology and the ethics of researchStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 27 (4): 565-586. 1996.
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28Examining the Social Benefits Principle in Research with Human ParticipantsHealth Care Analysis 26 (1): 66-80. 2018.The idea that research with human participants should benefit society has become firmly entrenched in various regulations, policies, and guidelines, but there has been little in-depth analysis of this ethical principle in the bioethics literature. In this paper, I distinguish between strong and weak versions and the social benefits principle and examine six arguments for it. I argue that while it is always ethically desirable for research with human subjects to offer important benefits to societ…Read more
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49Of maize and men: Reproductive control and the threat to genetic diversityJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 25 (4). 2000.The genetic diversity argument (GDA) is one of the most commonly voiced objections to advances in reproductive and genetic technologies. According to the argument, scientific and technological developments in the realm of genetics and human reproduction will lead to lower genetic diversity, which will threaten the health and survivability of the human population. This discussion explicates and analyzes the GDA and challenges its empirical assumptions. It also discusses the possible significance …Read more
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29Adaptationist ExplanationsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 20 (2): 193. 1989.
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51Difficulties with regulating sex selectionAmerican Journal of Bioethics 1 (1). 2001.This Article does not have an abstract
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45Waiving legal rights in researchJournal of Medical Ethics 40 (7): 475-478. 2014.The US federal research regulations prohibit informed consent, whether written or oral, from including provisions in which human subjects waive or appear to waive legal rights. We argue that policies that prevent human subjects from waiving legal rights in research can be ethically justified under the rationale of group, soft paternalism. These policies protect competent adults from making adverse decisions about health and legal matters that they may not understand fully. However, this rational…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Biology |
General Philosophy of Science |