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21The Marxian Critique Of justice and RightsCanadian Journal of Philosophy 11 (sup1): 269-306. 1981.Among analytic philosophers in the past few years there has been a growing commitment to taking Marx seriously. Since the publication in 1971 of John Rawls’ book A Theory of Justice there has been a growing commitment to taking problems of Justice and rights seriously. These two developments intersect in mutual criticism: Marx's radical critique challenges the resources of recent theories of rights and Justice, while the sophistication of recent theories raises the possibility that they escape M…Read more
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2348Human nature and enhancementBioethics 23 (3): 141-150. 2008.Appeals to the idea of human nature are frequent in the voluminous literature on the ethics of enhancing human beings through biotechnology. Two chief concerns about the impact of enhancements on human nature have been voiced. The first is that enhancement may alter or destroy human nature. The second is that if enhancement alters or destroys human nature, this will undercut our ability to ascertain the good because, for us, the good is determined by our nature. The first concern assumes that al…Read more
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28Deciding for Others: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision MakingCambridge University Press. 1989.This book is the most comprehensive treatment available of one of the most urgent - and yet in some respects most neglected - problems in bioethics: decision-making for incompetents. Part I develops a general theory for making treatment and care decisions for patients who are not competent to decide for themselves. It provides an in-depth analysis of competence, articulates and defends a coherent set of principles to specify suitable surrogate decisionmakers and to guide their choices, examines …Read more
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27Conflicts of interest in clinical practice and research (edited book)Oxford University Press. 1996.Our society has long sanctioned, at least tacitly, a degree of conflict of interest in medical practice and clinical research as an unavoidable consequence of the different interests of the physician or clinical investigator, the patient or clinical research subject, third party payers or research sponsors, the government, and society as a whole, to name a few. In the past, resolution of these conflicts has been left to the conscience of the individual physician or clinical investigator and to p…Read more
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265Beyond humanity?: the ethics of biomedical enhancementOxford University Press. 2011.In Beyond Humanity a leading philosopher offers a powerful and controversial exploration of urgent ethical issues concerning human enhancement.
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3Philosophy of International LawIn Jules Coleman & Scott J. Shapiro (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence & Philosophy of Law, Oxford University Press. 2002.
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83Trust in managed care organizationsKennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 10 (3): 189-212. 2000.: Two basic criticisms of managed care are that it erodes patient trust in physicians and subjects physicians to incentives and pressures that compromise the physician's fiduciary obligation to the patient. In this article, I first distinguish between status trust and merit trust, and then argue (1) that the value of status trust in physicians is probably over-rated and certainly underdocumented; (2) that erosion of status trust may not be detrimental if accompanied by an increase in well-founde…Read more
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85From Chance to Choice: Genetics and JusticeCambridge University Press. 2000.This book, written by four internationally renowned bioethicists and first published in 2000, was the first systematic treatment of the fundamental ethical issues underlying the application of genetic technologies to human beings. Probing the implications of the remarkable advances in genetics, the authors ask how should these affect our understanding of distributive justice, equality of opportunity, the rights and obligations as parents, the meaning of disability, and the role of the concept of…Read more
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100Self-Determination, Revolution, and InterventionEthics 126 (2): 447-473. 2016.What limitations on intervention in support of democratic revolutions does proper regard for the collective right of self-determination impose? Some have held that if intervention in support of democratic revolutions is justified, it must cease once the authoritarian regime has been deposed—that any effort by the intervener to use force to shape the new political order would violate the people’s right of self-determination. This essay argues that proper regard for self-determination is compatibl…Read more
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40Better Than Human: The Promise and Perils of Biomedical EnhancementOxford University Press USA. 2012.Is it right to use biomedical technologies to make us better than well or even perhaps better than human? Should we view our biology as fixed or should we try to improve on it? College students are already taking cognitive enhancement drugs. The U.S. army is already working to develop drugs and technologies to produce "super soldiers." Scientists already know how to use genetic engineering techniques to enhance the strength and memories of mice and the application of such technologies to humans …Read more
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1Pt. VI. Genetics and enhancement. Population genetic research and screening: conceptual and ethical issues / Eric Juengst ; Enhancement / Thomas Murray ; Genetic interventions and the ethics of enhancement of human beings / Julian Savulescu ; Pharmacogenomics: ethical and regulatory issues (review)In Bonnie Steinbock (ed.), The Oxford handbook of bioethics, Oxford University Press. 2007.
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83Perfecting Imperfect DutiesBusiness Ethics Quarterly 6 (1): 27-42. 1996.Ethical problems in business include not only genuine moral dilemmas and compliance problems but also problems arising from the distinctive characteristics of imperfect duties. Collective action by business to perfect imperfect duties can yield significant benefits. Sucharrrangements can (1) reduce temptations to moral laxity, (2) achieve greater efficiency by eliminating redundancies and gaps that plague uncoordinated individual efforts, (3) reap economies of scale and achieve success where ben…Read more
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54The Morality of InclusionSocial Philosophy and Policy 10 (2): 233-257. 1993.Today we are witnessing two dramatic processes: the fragmentation of old states and empires, followed by the emergence of new states and new forms of political association; and the construction of new economies out of the ruins of state socialism. These two processes—the redrawing of political boundaries and the creation of economies—are not independent of one another. In some cases, the desire for a new, more productive economy supplements other motives for state-breaking and state-making. In o…Read more
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124Justice in the Diffusion of InnovationJournal of Political Philosophy 19 (3): 306-332. 2009.No Abstract
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67Human rights and the legitimacy of the international orderLegal Theory 14 (1): 39-70. 2008.The international legal order is beginning to take human rights seriously, yet sound justifications for claims about human rights are conspicuously absent. Philosophers have begun to respond to this “justification deficit” by developing theories of human rights. Although a philosophical conception of human rights is needed, it would not be sufficient. The justification of human rights is a dynamic process in which a provisional philosophical conception of human rights both guides and is fleshed …Read more
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43The controversy over retrospective moral judgmentKennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 6 (3): 245-250. 1996.: The mandate of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments required that the Committee take a position on the validity of retrospective moral judgments. However, throughout its period of operation, the Committee remained divided on the question of whether sound judgments of individual culpability and wrongdoing should be included in its Final Report. This essay examines the arguments that various committee members marshalled to support their opposing views on retrospective moral…Read more
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33Deriving welfare rights from libertarian rightsIn Carl Wellman (ed.), Rights and Duties, Routledge. pp. 5--101. 2002.
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88Survey article: Constitutional democracy and the rule of international law: Are they compatible?Journal of Political Philosophy 16 (3): 326-349. 2008.No Abstract
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39From Chance to Choice: Genetics and JusticePhilosophical Review 111 (1): 130. 2002.In the months preceding the writing of this review, bioethics has been in the news a great deal. In congressional and public policy debates surrounding stem cell research, human cloning, and the Human Genome Project, bioethics and bioethicists have gained national attention and been subject to public scrutiny. Commentators have asked who these self-appointed moral experts are to tell us what is right and wrong.
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