•  482
    Beyond Paper
    The Monist 97 (2). 2014.
    The authors outline the way in which documents as social objects have evolved from their earliest forms to the electronic documents of the present day. They note that while certain features have remained consistent, processes regarding document authentication are seriously complicated by the easy reproducibility of digital entities. The authors argue that electronic documents also raise significant questions concerning the theory of ‘documentality’ advanced by Maurizio Ferraris, especially given…Read more
  •  26
    This book is an easy to read, yet comprehensive introduction to practical issues in research ethics and scientific integrity. It addresses questions about what constitutes appropriate academic and scientific behaviors from the point of view of what Robert Merton called the “ethos of science.” In other words, without getting into tricky questions about the nature of the good or right (as philosophers often do), Koepsell’s concise book provides an approach to behaving according to the norms of sci…Read more
  •  553
    Creating a Controlled Vocabulary for the Ethics of Human Research: Towards a biomedical ethics ontology
    with Robert Arp, Jennifer Fostel, and Barry Smith
    Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 4 (1): 43-58. 2009.
    Ontologies describe reality in specific domains in ways that can bridge various disciplines and languages. They allow easier access and integration of information that is collected by different groups. Ontologies are currently used in the biomedical sciences, geography, and law. A Biomedical Ethics Ontology would benefit members of ethics committees who deal with protocols and consent forms spanning numerous fields of inquiry. There already exists the Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI)…Read more
  •  22
    Philosophy and Breaking Bad (edited book)
    with Kevin S. Decker and Robert Arp
    Palgrave Macmillan. 2016.
    This volume considers the numerous philosophical ideas and arguments found in and inspired by the critically acclaimed series Breaking Bad. This show garnered both critical and popular attention for its portrayal of a cancer-stricken, middle-aged, middle-class, high school chemistry teacher’s drift into the dark world of selling methamphetamine to support his family. Its characters, situations, and aesthetic raise serious and familiar philosophical issues, especially related to ethics and morali…Read more
  •  1
    The Ontology of Cyberspace
    Dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo. 1997.
    "Cyberspace" is a term used commonly but without adequate definition. All computer-mediated phenomena may be said to comprise cyberspace. So far, no adequate ontology of cyberspace has been formulated. The law of intellectual property has attempted to fit computer-mediated phenomena into the current legal scheme. Currently, the law of intellectual property distinguishes between the subjects of patent law , and the subject of copyright law . The distinction embodied in the law of intellectual pro…Read more
  •  199
    Letter to the Editor: Dealing with socially constructed concepts in an ontology
    Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 4 (2): 75-76. 2009.
    Response to the paper “The Biomedical Ethics Ontology Proposal: Excellent Aims, Questionable Methods" by James DuBois, published in the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics
  • Cfi Goes To China
    Free Inquiry 25. 2005.
  •  12
    Things in Themselves
    Journal of Information Ethics 20 (1): 12-27. 2011.
  • Currently, under the law of intellectual property, IP owners may exclude from use or production substances and processes that we would ordinarily consider to be products of nature. This has helped companies monopolize disease genes, and thus diagnostic testing for those diseases, and “biosimilar” products, pharmaceutical materials that mimic biological materials. Extending the current paradigm to the world of synthetic biology and nanotechnology will create further injustices in the delivery of …Read more
  •  41
    Much of the discussion regarding nanotechnology centers around perceived and prosphesied harms and risks. While there are real risks that could emerge from futuristic nanotechnology, there are other current risks involved with its development, not involving physical harms, that could prevent its full promise from being realized. Transitional forms of the technology, involving “microfab,” or localized, sometimes desk-top, manufacture, pose a good opportunity for case study. How can we develop leg…Read more
  • Great Minds: John Stuart Mill
    Free Inquiry 26 47-48. 2005.
  • Bringing Something to the Table
    Free Inquiry 27 16-17. 2007.
  •  18
    Authorship and Artefacts
    The Monist 93 (3): 481-492. 2010.
  •  191
    Peter Hare and the problem of evil
    Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 46 (1): 53-59. 2010.
    Peter Hare and Edward Madden's collaborative book Evil and the Concept of God (968) has become a staple in literature about the problem of evil and remains frequently cited by supporters and critics alike. The major concepts of the work arose out of earlier papers in which they first began to formulate their arguments about the problem of evil. Their article "Evil and Unlimited Power" embodies many of their arguments against quasi-theist attempts to resolve the problem of evil.1 Assembled from t…Read more
  • A Time For Courage
    Free Inquiry 26 14-15. 2006.
  •  22
    You quite rightly need not fear being owned in the most traditional and reprehensible sense by which humans ... New and more subtle forms of ownership have emerged in the past hundred years that now impact on essential qualities and ...
  •  57
    The recent debate arising from leaked emails from a UK-based research group working on the issue of climate change is another in a long string of historical lapses that periodically threatens public confidence in the institutions and methods of science. As with other similar events, it did not have to happen. What should concern us is that the accepted methods and practices of science have once again to be shown to be too easily set aside, ignored, or broken due to human frailties. Years of rese…Read more
  •  97
    An emerging ontology of jurisdiction in cyberspace
    Ethics and Information Technology 2 (2): 99-104. 2000.
    The emergence of the new information economy hascomplicated jurisdictional issues in commerce andcrime. Many of these difficulties are simplyextensions of problems that arose due to other media.Telephones and fax machines had already complicatedjurists'' determinations of applicable laws. Evenbefore the Internet, contracts were often negotiatedwithout any face-to-face contact – entirely bytelephone and fax. Where is such a contractnegotiated? The answer to this question is critical toany litigat…Read more
  • The Duty of Dissent
    Free Inquiry 28 17-17. 2008.