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21Two Concepts of Conscience and their Implications for Conscience-Based Refusal in HealthcareCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 26 (1): 97-108. 2017.
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6Informed Consent and Clinician Accountability: The Ethics of Report Cards on Surgeon Performance (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2007.This timely book analyses and evaluates ethical and social implications of recent developments in reporting surgeon performance. It contains chapters by leading international specialists in philosophy, bioethics, epidemiology, medical administration, surgery, and law, demonstrating the diversity and complexity of debates about this topic, raising considerations of patient autonomy, accountability, justice, and the quality and safety of medical services. Performance information on individual card…Read more
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27A Prospect Theory Approach to Understanding ConservatismPhilosophia 45 (2): 551-568. 2017.There is widespread agreement about a combination of attributes that someone needs to possess if they are to be counted as a conservative. They need to lack definite political ideals, goals or ends, to prefer the political status quo to its alternatives, and to be risk averse. Why should these three highly distinct attributes, which are widely believed to be characteristic of adherents to a significant political position, cluster together? Here I draw on prospect theory to develop an explanation…Read more
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49Bioconservatism, Bioliberalism, and the Wisdom of Reflecting on RepugnanceMonash Bioethics Review 28 (1): 1-21. 2009.We consider the current debate between bioconservatives and their chief opponents — whom we dub bioliberals — about the moral acceptability of human enhancement and the policy implications of moral debates about enhancement. We argue that this debate has reached an impasse, largely because bioconservatives hold that we should honour intuitions about the special value of being human, even if we cannot identify reasons to ground those intuitions. We argue that although intuitions are often a relia…Read more
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114Intuitions as Evidence, Philosophical Expertise and the Developmental ChallengePhilosophical Papers 42 (2): 175-207. 2013.Appeals to intuitions as evidence in philosophy are challenged by experimental philosophers and other critics. A common response to experimental philosophical criticisms is to hold that only professional philosophers? intuitions count as evidence in philosophy. This ?expert intuitions defence? is inadequate for two reasons. First, recent studies indicate significant variability in professional philosophers? intuitions. Second, the academic literature on professional intuitions gives us reasons t…Read more
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53Ontological disunity and a realism worth havingBehavioral and Brain Sciences 27 (5): 628-629. 2004.Ross & Spurrett (R&S) appear convinced that the world must have a unified ontological structure. This conviction is difficult to reconcile with a commitment to mainstream realism, which involves allowing that the world may be ontologically disunified. R&S should follow Kitcher by weakening their conception of unification so as to allow for the possibility of ontological disunity.
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37Against the unification of the behavioral sciencesBehavioral and Brain Sciences 30 (1): 21-22. 2007.The contemporary behavioral sciences are disunified and could not easily become unified, as they operate with incompatible explanatory models. According to Gintis, tolerance of this situation is “scandalous” (sect. 12). I defend the ordinary behavioral scientist's lack of commitment to a unifying explanatory model and identify several reasons why the behavioral sciences should remain disunified for the foreseeable future. (Published Online April 27 2007).
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78Transcendental realisms in the philosophy of science: on Bhaskar and CartwrightSynthese 173 (3): 299-315. 2010.I consider two transcendental arguments for realism in the philosophy of science, which are due to Roy Bhaskar (A realist theory of science, 1975) and Nancy Cartwright (The dappled world, 1999). Bhaskar and Cartwright are both influential figures, however there is little discussion of their use of transcendental arguments in the literature. Here I seek to correct this oversight. I begin by describing the role of the transcendental arguments in question, in the context of the broader philosophica…Read more
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5Accountability, Informed Consent and Clinician Report CardsIn Steve Clarke (ed.), Informed Consent and Clinician Accountability: The Ethics of Report Cards on Surgeon Performance, Cambridge University Press. pp. 1-21. 2007.
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31Homeopathy – An Undiluted ProposalIn David Edmonds (ed.), Philosophers Take on the World, Oxford University Press Uk. pp. 39-41. 2016.
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31Buchanan and the Conservative Argument against Human Enhancement from Biological and Social HarmonyIn Steve Clarke, Julian Savulescu, Tony Coady, Alberto Giubilini & Sagar Sanyal (eds.), The Ethics of Human Enhancement: Understanding the Debate, Oxford University Press Uk. pp. 211-224. 2016.
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56Imperialism, Progress, Developmental Teleology, and Interdisciplinary UnificationInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 27 (3): 341-351. 2013.In a previous article in this journal, we examined John Dupré's claim that ‘scientific imperialism’ can lead to ‘misguided’ science being considered acceptable. Here, we address criticisms raised by Ian J. Kidd and Uskali Mäki against that article. While both commentators take us to be offering our own account of scientific imperialism that goes beyond that developed by Dupré, and go on to criticise what they take to be our account, our actual ambitions were modest. We intended to ‘explicate the…Read more
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407Conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorizingPhilosophy of the Social Sciences 32 (2): 131-150. 2002.The dismissive attitude of intellectuals toward conspiracy theorists is considered and given some justification. It is argued that intellectuals are entitled to an attitude of prima facie skepticism toward the theories propounded by conspiracy theorists, because conspiracy theorists have an irrational tendency to continue to believe in conspiracy theories, even when these take on the appearance of forming the core of degenerating research program. It is further argued that the pervasive effect o…Read more
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76Scientific Imperialism and the Proper Relations between the SciencesInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 23 (2): 195-207. 2009.John Dupr argues that 'scientific imperialism' can result in 'misguided' science being considered acceptable. 'Misguided' is an explicitly normative term and the use of the pejorative 'imperialistic' is implicitly normative. However, Dupr has not justified the normative dimension of his critique. We identify two ways in which it might be justified. It might be justified if colonisation prevents a discipline from progressing in ways that it might otherwise progress. It might also be justified if …Read more
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12Religion, Intolerance, and Conflict: A Scientific and Conceptual Investigation (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2013.The relationship between religion, intolerance and conflict has been the subject of intense discussion, particularly in the wake of the events of 9-11 and the ongoing threat of terrorism. This book contains original papers written by some of the world's leading scholars in anthropology, psychology, philosophy and theology exploring the scientific and conceptual dimensions of religion and human conflict. The volume will be of great interest to academics across avariety of disciplines, including r…Read more
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82The reversal test, status quo bias, and opposition to human cognitive enhancementCanadian Journal of Philosophy 46 (3): 369-386. 2016.Bostrom and Ord’s reversal test has been appealed to by many philosophers to substantiate the charge that preferences for status quo options are motivated by status quo bias. I argue that their characterization of the reversal test needs to be modified, and that their description of the burden of proof it imposes needs to be clarified. I then argue that there is a way to meet that burden of proof which Bostrom and Ord fail to recognize. I also argue that the range of circumstances in which the r…Read more
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24Metaphysics and the Disunity of Scientific KnowledgeAvebury. 1998.The central current of ideas in modern philosophy - through Hume, Kant and Hegel, to the present - can be understood as a reaction to the percieved threat of disorder. Against this background, the author argues for acceptance of a metaphysics of disorder, and outlines a number of important philosophical consequences of such an acceptance. When appropriately constrained by empiricist concern, such a metaphysics allows us to make sense of ourselves as as knowers who must make do in a world of comp…Read more
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62Hume's Definition of Miracles RevisedAmerican Philosophical Quarterly 36 (1). 1999.It is argued that Hume’s definition of miracle stands in need of revision because it fails to be inclusive of acts of supernatural intervention in the world which are non-law-violating. Potential revisions of the definition, due to Paul Dietl and Christopher Hughes are considered and found to be inadequate, and a new definition is put forward; a miracle is "an intended outcome of an intervention in the natural world by a supernatural agent." An objection to this definition is anticipated and a d…Read more
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34Conscientious objection in healthcare, referral and the military analogyJournal of Medical Ethics 43 (4): 218-221. 2017.An analogy is sometimes drawn between the proper treatment of conscientious objectors in healthcare and in military contexts. In this paper, I consider an aspect of this analogy that has not, to my knowledge, been considered in debates about conscientious objection in healthcare. In the USA and elsewhere, tribunals have been tasked with the responsibility of recommending particular forms of alternative service for conscientious objectors. Military conscripts who have a conscientious objection to…Read more
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134The Duty to Disclose Adverse Clinical Trial ResultsAmerican Journal of Bioethics 9 (8): 24-32. 2009.Participants in some clinical trials are at risk of being harmed and sometimes are seriously harmed as a result of not being provided with available, relevant risk information. We argue that this situation is unacceptable and that there is a moral duty to disclose all adverse clinical trial results to participants in clinical trials. This duty is grounded in the human right not to be placed at risk of harm without informed consent. We consider objections to disclosure grounded in considerations …Read more
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40Response to Mumford and another definition of miraclesReligious Studies 39 (4): 459-463. 2003.Stephen Mumford concludes a recent paper in Religious Studies, in which he advances a new causation-based analysis of miracles, by stating that the onus is ‘on rival accounts of miracles to produce something that matches it’. I take up Mumford 's challenge, defending an intention-based definition of miracles, which I developed earlier, that he criticizes. I argue that this definition of miracles is more consistent with ordinary intuitions about miracles than Mumford 's causation-based alternativ…Read more
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63Introducing Transformative Technologies into Democratic SocietiesPhilosophy and Technology 25 (1): 27-45. 2012.Transformative technologies can radically alter human lives making us stronger, faster, more resistant to disease and so on. These include enhancement technologies as well as cloning and stem cell research. Such technologies are often approved of by many liberals who see them as offering us opportunities to lead better lives, but are often disapproved of by conservatives who worry about the many consequences of allowing these to be used. In this paper, we consider how a democratic government wit…Read more
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582Defensible territory for entity realismBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (4): 701-722. 2001.In the face of argument to the contrary, it is shown that there is defensible middle ground available for entity realism, between the extremes of scientific realism and empiricist antirealism. Cartwright's ([1983]) earlier argument for defensible middle ground between these extremes, which depended crucially on the viability of an underdeveloped distinction between inference to the best explanation (IBE) and inference to the most probable cause (IPC), is examined and its defects are identified. …Read more
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50The Justification of Religious ViolenceWiley-Blackwell. 2014.How are justifications for religious violence developed and dothey differ from secular justifications for violence? Can liberalsocieties tolerate potentially violent religious groups? Can thosewho accept religious justifications for violence be dissuaded fromacting violently? Including six in-depth contemporary case studies,The Justification of Religious Violence is the first book toexamine the logical structure of justifications of religiousviolence. The first book specifically devoted to exami…Read more
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76The supernatural and the miraculousSophia 46 (3). 2007.Both intention-based and causation-based definitions of the miraculous make reference to the term ‘supernatural’. Philosophers who define the miraculous appear to use this term in a loose way, perhaps meaning the nonnatural, perhaps meaning a subcategory of the nonnatural. Here I examine the aetiology of the term ‘supernatural’. I consider three outstanding issues regarding the meaning of the term and conclude that the supernatural is best understood as a subcategory of the nonnatural. In light …Read more
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139Naturalism, science and the supernaturalSophia 48 (2): 127-142. 2009.There is overwhelming agreement amongst naturalists that a naturalistic ontology should not allow for the possibility of supernatural entities. I argue, against this prevailing consensus, that naturalists have no proper basis to oppose the existence of supernatural entities. Naturalism is characterized, following Leiter and Rea, as a position which involves a primary commitment to scientific methodology and it is argued that any naturalistic ontological commitments must be compatible with this p…Read more
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40Informed consent and surgeons' performanceJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 29 (1). 2004.This paper argues that the provision of effective informed consent by surgical patients requires the disclosure of material information about the comparative clinical performance of available surgeons. We develop a new ethical argument for the conclusion that comparative information about surgeons' performance - surgeons' report cards - should be provided to patients, a conclusion that has already been supported by legal and economic arguments. We consider some recent institutional and legal dev…Read more
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19Conscientious objection in healthcare: new directionsJournal of Medical Ethics 43 (4): 191-191. 2017.Conscientious objection was barely mentioned in debates about the ethics of healthcare provision before the 1970s.1 The conscientious objections that attracted public and academic attention were those of conscripts who objected to participation in military forces, and of parents who objected to the vaccination of their children. All of this was changed by the 1973 US Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion in the USA. Shortly after this decision, …Read more
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University of OxfordWellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, St Cross College
Faculty of PhilosophyResearcher
Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
General Philosophy of Science |
Biomedical Ethics |
Applied Ethics |
Technology Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Social Science |
Medical Ethics |
Biomedical Ethics |