•  267
    Ethical Expertise Revisited: Reply to Giles Scofield
    with Norbert L. Steinkamp, Bert Gordijn, and Henk A. J. M. ten Have
    Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 18 (4): 385-392. 2008.
    This reply to Giles Scofield's critique of the authors' article in the June 2008 issue of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal highlights two main topics. First, contrary to what Scofield suggests, using the terms "ethics" and "morality" interchangeably constitutes an oversimplification that blurs important distinctions. Second, in a representative democracy, ethical expertise and consultation need not generate a "tragic choice" of the kind Scofield has in mind.
  •  157
    The Troublesome Concept of the Person
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 20 (4): 347-359. 1999.
    In today'sbioethical debates, the concept of the person plays a major role. However, it does not hold this role justly. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the concept of the person is unsuited to be a central concept in bioethical debates, because its use is connected with serious problems. First, the concept is superfluous. Secondly, it is a confusing concept and it lacks pragmatic use. Thirdly, its use leads to simplifications. Finally, the concept can easily be used as a cover-up conc…Read more
  •  123
    This paper analyses the concept of empirical ethics as well as three meta-ethical fallacies that empirical ethics is said to face: the is-ought problem, the naturalistic fallacy and violation of the fact-value distinction. Moreover, it answers the question of whether empirical ethics (necessarily) commits these three basic meta-ethical fallacies.
  •  122
    ChatGPT: evolution or revolution?
    with Henk ten Have
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 26 (1): 1-2. 2023.
  •  103
    Identity and moral responsibility of healthcare organizations
    with Martien A. M. Pijnenburg
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 26 (2): 141-160. 2005.
    In this paper the moral responsibility of a Healthcare Organization (HCO) is conceived as an inextricable aspect of the identity of the HCO. We attempt to show that by exploring this relation a more profound insight in moral responsibility can be gained. Referring to Charles Taylor we explore the meaning of the concept of identity. It consists of three interdependent dimensions: a moral, a dialogical, and a narrative one. In section two we develop some additional arguments to apply his concept o…Read more
  •  103
    The Convergence of Virtual Reality and Social Networks: Threats to Privacy and Autonomy
    with Fiachra O’Brolcháin, Tim Jacquemard, David Monaghan, Noel O’Connor, and Peter Novitzky
    Science and Engineering Ethics 22 (1): 1-29. 2016.
    The rapid evolution of information, communication and entertainment technologies will transform the lives of citizens and ultimately transform society. This paper focuses on ethical issues associated with the likely convergence of virtual realities and social networks, hereafter VRSNs. We examine a scenario in which a significant segment of the world’s population has a presence in a VRSN. Given the pace of technological development and the popularity of these new forms of social interaction, thi…Read more
  •  92
    Debating Ethical Expertise
    with Norbert L. Steinkamp, Bert Gordijn, and Henk A. M. J. ten Have
    Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 18 (2): 173-192. 2008.
    This paper explores the relevance of the debate about ethical expertise for the practice of clinical ethics. We present definitions, explain three theories of ethical expertise, and identify arguments that have been brought up to either support the concept of ethical expertise or call it into question. Finally, we discuss four theses: the debate is relevant for the practice of clinical ethics in that it (1) improves and specifies clinical ethicists' perception of their expertise; (2) contributes…Read more
  •  82
    Does an appeal to the common good justify individual sacrifices for genomic research?
    with Rogeer Hoedemaekers and Martien Pijnenburg
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 27 (5): 415-431. 2006.
    In genomic research the ideal standard of free, informed, prior, and explicit consent is believed to restrict important research studies. For certain types of genomic research other forms of consent are therefore proposed which are ethically justified by an appeal to the common good. This notion is often used in a general sense and this forms a weak basis for the use of weaker forms of consent. Here we examine how the notion of the common good can be related to individual health, health care, an…Read more
  •  68
    Catholic Healthcare Organizations and the Articulation of Their Identity
    with Martien A. M. Pijnenburg, Bert Gordijn, Frans J. H. Vosman, and Henk A. M. J. ten Have
    HEC Forum 20 (1): 75-97. 2008.
  •  67
    New developments in dutch legislation concerning euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide
    with Rien Janssens
    Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 26 (3). 2001.
    Dutch euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide stand on the eve of important legal changes. In the summer of 1999, a new government bill concerning euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide was sent to Parliament for discussion. This bill legally embodies a ground for exemption from punishment for physicians who conduct euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide and comply with certain requirements. On November 28, 2000, the Dutch parliament approved an adapted version of this bill. Since the app…Read more
  •  65
    Questions of Human Enhancement: An Editorial
    with Anthony Mark Cutter
    Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology 1 (1). 2007.
    Introducing a special issue of a journal is a difficult, but pleasurable task for any editor. One must chose what to say about the themes of the issue, and how to introduce the papers presented. However, this task becomes still more complex when the special issue in question forms the inaugural issue of a new journal. This is the case here as we find ourselves introducing "Questions in Human Enhancement" as the inaugural issue of Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology. As such, this editorial ser…Read more
  •  63
    Nanoethics: From utopian dreams and apocalyptic nightmares towards a more balanced view
    Science and Engineering Ethics 11 (4): 521-533. 2005.
    Nanotechnology is a swiftly developing field of technology that is believed to have the potential of great upsides and excessive downsides. In the ethical debate there has been a strong tendency to strongly focus on either the first or the latter. As a consequence ethical assessments of nanotechnology tend to radically diverge. Optimistic visionaries predict truly utopian states of affairs. Pessimistic thinkers present all manner of apocalyptic visions. Whereas the utopian views follow from one-…Read more
  •  62
    Catholic Healthcare Organizations and How They Can Contribute to Solidarity: A Social-Ethical Account of Catholic Identity
    with Martien A. M. Pijnenburg, Frans J. H. Vosman, and Henk A. M. J. Ten Have
    Christian Bioethics 16 (3): 314-333. 2010.
    Solidarity belongs to the basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and is part of the ethical repertoire of European moral traditions and European healthcare systems. This paper discusses how leaders of Catholic healthcare organizations (HCOs) can understand their institutional moral responsibility with regard to the preservation of solidarity. In dealing with this question, we make use of Taylor's philosophy of modern culture. We first argue that, just as all HCOs, Catholic ones also …Read more
  •  61
    Diversity and bioethics
    with Henk ten Have
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 14 (3): 227-228. 2011.
  •  59
    Turning residual human biological materials into research collections: playing with consent
    with Eugenijus Gefenas, Vilius Dranseika, Jurate Serepkaite, Asta Cekanauskaite, Luciana Caenazzo, Renzo Pegoraro, and Elizabeth Yuko
    Journal of Medical Ethics 38 (6): 351-355. 2012.
    This article focuses on three scenarios in which residual biological materials are turned into research collections during the procedure of procuring these materials for diagnostic, therapeutic or other non-research purposes. These three scenarios differ from each other primarily because they employ different models of consent: (a) precautionary consent, which may be secured during the collecting procedure; (b) the presumed consent model, which may be applied during the collection of materials; …Read more
  •  57
    A Review of Contemporary Work on the Ethics of Ambient Assisted Living Technologies for People with Dementia
    with Peter Novitzky, Alan F. Smeaton, Cynthia Chen, Kate Irving, Tim Jacquemard, Fiachra O’Brolcháin, and Dónal O’Mathúna
    Science and Engineering Ethics 21 (3): 707-765. 2015.
    Ambient assisted living technologies can provide assistance and support to persons with dementia. They might allow them the possibility of living at home for longer whilst maintaining their comfort and security as well as offering a way towards reducing the huge economic and personal costs forecast as the incidence of dementia increases worldwide over coming decades. However, the development, introduction and use of AAL technologies also trigger serious ethical issues. This paper is a systematic…Read more
  •  56
    The Ethics of Geoengineering: A Literature Review
    with Augustine Pamplany and Patrick Brereton
    Science and Engineering Ethics 26 (6): 3069-3119. 2020.
    Geoengineering as a technological intervention to avert the dangerous climate change has been on the table at least since 2006. The global outreach of the technology exercised in a non-encapsulated system, the concerns with unprecedented levels and scales of impact and the overarching interdisciplinarity of the project make the geoengineering debate ethically quite relevant and complex. This paper explores the ethical desirability of geoengineering from an overall review of the existing literatu…Read more
  •  55
    In pluralistic modern societies, moral dissent will, to an increasing extent, be an inescapable fact in our lives. Moral dissent, however, involves various serious dangers: escalation of conflicts, the use of violence, flourishing of radical extremism and even civil war. There are basically two ways in which these threats can be addressed: coercive enforcement of consensus or tolerance. First, we could try to eliminate moral dissent by using more dictatorial forms of consensus formation, like pr…Read more
  •  54
    Ethical case deliberation on the ward. A comparison of four methods
    with Norbert Steinkamp
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 6 (3): 235-246. 2003.
    The objective of this article is to analyse and compare four methods of ethical case deliberation. These include Clinical Pragmatism, The Nijmegen Method of ethical case deliberation, Hermeneutic dialogue, and Socratic dialogue. The origin of each method will be briefly sketched. Furthermore, the methods as well as the related protocols will be presented. Each method will then be evaluated against the background of those situations in which it is being used. The article aims to show that there i…Read more
  •  53
    A role for doctors in assisted dying? An analysis of legal regulations and medical professional positions in six European countries
    with G. Bosshard, B. Broeckaert, D. Clark, L. J. Materstvedt, and H. C. Muller-Busch
    Journal of Medical Ethics 34 (1): 28-32. 2008.
    Objectives: To analyse legislation and medical professional positions concerning the doctor’s role in assisted dying in western Europe, and to discuss their implications for doctors.Method: This paper is based on country-specific reports by experts from European countries where assisted dying is legalised , or openly practiced , or where it is illegal .Results: Laws on assisted dying in The Netherlands and Belgium are restricted to doctors. In principle, assisted suicide is not illegal in either…Read more
  •  53
    Methods for Practising Ethics in Research and Innovation: A Literature Review, Critical Analysis and Recommendations
    with Wessel Reijers, David Wright, Philip Brey, Karsten Weber, Rowena Rodrigues, and Declan O’Sullivan
    Science and Engineering Ethics 24 (5): 1437-1481. 2018.
    This paper provides a systematic literature review, analysis and discussion of methods that are proposed to practise ethics in research and innovation. Ethical considerations concerning the impacts of R&I are increasingly important, due to the quickening pace of technological innovation and the ubiquitous use of the outcomes of R&I processes in society. For this reason, several methods for practising ethics have been developed in different fields of R&I. The paper first of all presents a systema…Read more
  •  50
    Regions, concepts and integrations
    with Henk ten Have
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 15 (4): 363-364. 2012.
  •  48
    Euthanasia and Palliative Care in the Netherlands: An Analysis of the Latest Developments
    with Rien Janssens
    Health Care Analysis 12 (3): 195-207. 2004.
    This article discusses the latest developments regarding euthanasia and palliative care in the Netherlands. On the one hand, a legally codified practice of euthanasia has been established. On the other hand, there has been a strong development of palliative care. The combination of these simultaneous processes seems to be rather unique. This contribution first focuses on these remarkable developments. Subsequently, the analysis concentrates on the question of how these new developments have infl…Read more
  •  47
    Travelling bioethics
    with Henk ten Have
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 14 (1): 1-3. 2011.
  •  45
    Broadening education in bioethics
    with Henk ten Have
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 15 (2): 99-101. 2012.
  •  45
    COVID-19 and the ethics of human challenge trials
    with Henk ten Have
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 24 (1): 1-2. 2021.
  •  44
    Autonomy, integrity and the human body
    with Wim Dekkers
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 8 (2): 145-146. 2005.
  •  43
    Bioethics in a European perspective (edited book)
    with H. Ten Have
    Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2001.
    In this book, developed by a group of collaborating scholars in bioethics from different European countries, an overview is given of the most salient themes in present-day bioethics. The themes are discussed in order to enable the reader to have an in-depth overview of the state of the art in bioethics. Introductory chapters will guide the reader through the relevant dimensions of a particular area, while subsequent case discussions will help the reader to apply the ethical theories to specific …Read more
  •  42
    Developing a Model of Healthcare Ethics Support in Croatia
    with Ana Borovečki, Ksenija Makar-aus̆perger, Igor Francetić, Sanja Babić-Bosnac, Norbert Steinkamp, and Stjepan Orešković
    Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 19 (3): 395-401. 2010.
    Croatia is a transitional society in that it is a country emerging from a socialist command economy toward a market-based economy with ensuing structural changes of a social and political nature—some extending into the healthcare system. A legacy from our past is that, until now, Croatian healthcare institutions have had no real experience with clinical ethics support services. When clinical cases arise presenting complex ethical dilemmas in treatment options, the challenges presented to the med…Read more
  •  41
    Brains, Trains and Automobiles: An Editorial
    with Anthony Mark Cutter
    Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology 2 (1). 2008.
    When we founded Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology we wondered if we might, like Icarus, be trying to fly too close to the sun. Had we set ourselves an impossible task in seeking to create a new community of interdisciplinary scholars under the umbrella of the words ethics, law and technology? Would expert scholars in biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, neurotechnologies, information technologies, weapons and security technologies, energy and fuel technologies, space based technologies, and/or…Read more