•  138
    Agency and authenticity: Which value grounds patient choice?
    with John Lantos
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 32 (4): 217-227. 2011.
    In current American medical practice, autonomy is assumed to be more valuable than human life: if a patient autonomously refuses lifesaving treatment, the doctors are supposed to let him die. In this paper we discuss two values that might be at stake in such clinical contexts. Usually, we hear only of autonomy and best interests. However, here, autonomy is ambiguous between two concepts—concepts that are tied to different values and to different philosophical traditions. In some cases, the two v…Read more
  •  93
    Hypothetical consent and moral force
    Law and Philosophy 10 (3). 1991.
    This article starts by examining the appeal to hypothetical consent as used by law and economics writers. I argue that their use of this kind of argument has no moral force whatever. I then briefly examine, through some remarks on Rawls and Scanlon, the conditions under which such an argument would have moral force. Finally, I bring these considerations to bear to criticize the argument of judge Frank Easterbrook's majority opinion in Flamm v. Eberstadt.
  •  92
    Lord Jim and moral judgment: Literature and moral philosophy
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 56 (3): 265-281. 1998.
  •  90
    The Place of Philosophy in Bioethics Today
    with Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Sean Aas, Jessica Flanigan, S. Matthew Liao, Alex London, Wayne Sumner, and Julian Savulescu
    American Journal of Bioethics 22 (12): 10-21. 2021.
    In some views, philosophy’s glory days in bioethics are over. While philosophers were especially important in the early days of the field, so the argument goes, the majority of the work in bioethics today involves the “simple” application of existing philosophical principles or concepts, as well as empirical work in bioethics. Here, we address this view head on and ask: What is the role of philosophy in bioethics today? This paper has three specific aims: (1) to respond to skeptics and make the …Read more
  •  82
    Two Types of Civic Friendship
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 16 (4): 729-743. 2013.
    Among the tasks of modern political philosophy is to develop a favored conception of the relations among modern citizens, among people who can know little or nothing of one another individually and yet are deeply reciprocally dependent. One might think of this as developing a favored conception of civic friendship. In this essay I sketch two candidate conceptions. The first derives from the Kantian tradition, the second from the 1844 Marx. I present the two conceptions and then describe similari…Read more
  •  80
    Are alcoholics less deserving of liver transplants?
    Hastings Center Report 37 (1): 41-47. 2007.
    When does behavior trigger a lesser claim to medical resources? When does chronic drinking, for example, mean that one has a lesser claim to a liver transplant? Only when one's behavior becomes a callous indifference to others' needs—when one knows the consequences of heavy drinking and knows that by drinking one may end up depriving someone else of a liver.
  •  76
    Marlow's morality
    Philosophy and Literature 27 (2): 318-340. 2003.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Philosophy and Literature 27.2 (2003) 318-340 [Access article in PDF] Marlow's Morality Daniel Brudney "Good is a transcendent reality" means that virtue is the attempt to pierce the veil of selfish consciousness and join the world as it really is. —Iris Murdoch, The Sovereignty of Good I THE REPUTATION OF Conrad's sailor-narrator, Charlie Marlow, has risen and fallen through the years. Initially seen as a simple master mariner or at…Read more
  •  64
    Marx's attempt to leave philosophy
    Harvard University Press. 1998.
    Rather, in all the texts of this period Marx tries to mount a compelling critique of the present while altogether avoiding the dilemmas central to philosophy in ...
  •  50
    Choosing for Another: Beyond Autonomy and Best Interests
    Hastings Center Report 39 (2): 31-37. 2009.
    According to bioethics orthodoxy, the question, “What would the patient choose?” is a question about the patient's autonomy. is at stake. In fact, what underpins the moral force of that question is a value different from either autonomy or best interests. This is the value of doing things in a way that is authentic to the person.
  •  50
    Daniel Brudney replies
    Hastings Center Report 39 (4): 6-6. 2009.
  •  48
    Is health care a human right?
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 37 (4): 249-257. 2016.
  •  28
    Gemeinschaft als Ergänzung
    Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 58 (2): 195-219. 2010.
    Communitarians have long criticized John Rawls′ theory of justice as fairness. In this paper I sketch a picture of communal relationships and use it to examine the nature of community in Rawls′ theory. In the first section I extract a picture of communal relationships from Karl Marx′s work of 1844; in the second section I argue for this picture′s distinctiveness; finally, I look at a shift in the nature of Rawlsian community between A Theory of Justice and Rawls′ later book, Political Liberalism…Read more
  •  27
    A new kind of argument has been proposed to explain why health-care workers can sometimes refuse to offer a service or treatment. But this new kind of argument must also be evaluated and invoked differently.
  •  27
    On Noncoercive Establishment
    Political Theory 33 (6): 812-839. 2005.
    In this essay, I raise the question of whether some degree of noncoercive state support for religious conceptions (broadly understood) should be left to the majoritarian branch ofgovernment. I argue that the reason not to do so is that such state support would alienate many citizens. However to take this as a sufficient reason to constrain the majoritarian branch is to accept the thesis that not being alienated from one's polity is a significant part of the human good. Those who would prohibit e…Read more
  •  26
    Beyond Autonomy and Best Interests
    Hastings Center Report 39 (2): 31-37. 2012.
    According to bioethics orthodoxy, the question, “What would the patient choose?” is a question about the patient's autonomy. is at stake. In fact, what underpins the moral force of that question is a value different from either autonomy or best interests. This is the value of doing things in a way that is authentic to the person.
  •  24
    Knowledge and Silence: "The Golden Bowl" and Moral Philosophy
    Critical Inquiry 16 (2): 397-437. 1990.
    When literary texts are included in a course on moral philosophy they tend to be classical tragedies or existentialist novels: texts filled with major moral transgressions and agonized debates over rights, wrongs, and relativism. Recently, however, the focus of much discussion on literature and moral philosophy has been Henry James’s last novel, The Golden Bowl. This ought to seem surprising. For The Golden Bowl is a quintessential Jamesian novel. Almost nothing happens. In the course of more th…Read more
  •  24
    The Different Moral Bases of Patient and Surrogate Decision‐Making
    Hastings Center Report 48 (1): 37-41. 2018.
    My topic is a problem with our practice of surrogate decision-making in health care, namely, the problem of the surrogate who is not doing her job—the surrogate who cannot be reached or the surrogate who seems to refuse to understand or to be unable to understand the clinical situation. The analysis raises a question about the surrogate who simply disagrees with the medical team. One might think that such a surrogate is doing her job—the team just doesn't like how she is doing it. My analysis ra…Read more
  •  23
    Changing the Question
    Hastings Center Report 49 (2): 9-16. 2019.
    Jack, who is seventy‐five years old, is in the hospital with a terminal condition that has undermined his cognitive faculties. He has left no advance directive and has never had a conversation in which he made his treatment wishes remotely clear. Yet now, a treatment decision must be made, and in modern American medicine, the treatment decision for Jack is supposed to be made by a surrogate decision‐maker, who is supposed to use a decision‐making standard known as “substituted judgment.” Accordi…Read more
  •  21
    Concepts at the Bedside: Variations on the Theme of Autonomy
    Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 62 (2): 257-272. 2019.
    Let’s start with three cases of refusal of treatment.[A] 24-year old graduate student is brought to the emergency room by a friend. Previously in good health, he is complaining of a severe headache and stiff neck. Physical examination shows a somnolent patient without focal neurologic signs but with a temperature of 39.5 degrees centigrade and nuchal rigidity. Examination of spinal fluid reveals cloudy fluid with a white blood cell count of 2000; Gram stain of the fluid shows many Gram-positive …Read more
  •  20
    Grand ideals: Mill's two perfectionisms
    History of Political Thought 29 (3): 485-515. 2008.
    argue that there are two forms of perfectionism in John Stuart Mill's work, two ideals of the person. One, the self-development ideal, is found in On Liberty. The other, the strong identification ideal, is tied to Mill's advocacy of a 'religion of humanity' and is found in Utilitarianism, 'Utility of Religion', and other texts. My first concern is to show that Mill's work contains this latter ideal. Next, I situate the strong identification ideal historically. Finally, I ask whether both ideals …Read more
  •  19
    On Productivity Holism
    European Journal of Philosophy 30 (3): 1092-1109. 2022.
    European Journal of Philosophy, EarlyView.
  •  17
    Marx’ neuer Mensch
    In Christopher F. Zurn & Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch (eds.), Anerkennung, Akademie Verlag. pp. 145-180. 2009.
  •  17
    On Productivity Holism
    European Journal of Philosophy 30 (3): 1092-1109. 2022.
    European Journal of Philosophy, EarlyView.
  •  17
    Patients, doctors and the good life
    Journal of Medical Ethics 41 (9): 733-735. 2015.
  •  13
    The Philosophy of Recognition: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
    with Frederick Neuhouser, Jay M. Bernstein, Michael Quante, Ludwig Siep, Terry Pinkard, Andreas Wildt, Nancy Fraser, Axel Honneth, Emmanuel Renault, Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch, Jean-Philippe Deranty, and Arto Laitinen
    Lexington Books. 2009.
    Edited by Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch & Christopher Zurn. This volume collects original, cutting-edge essays on the philosophy of recognition by international scholars eminent in the field. By considering the topic of recognition as addressed by both classical and contemporary authors, the volume explores the connections between historical and contemporary recognition research and makes substantive contributions to the further development of contemporary theories of recognition.
  •  13
    Daniel Brudney replies
    Hastings Center Report 39 (4): 6-6. 2009.
  •  10
    The Young Marx and the Middle‐Aged Rawls
    In Jon Mandle & David A. Reidy (eds.), A Companion to Rawls, Wiley. 2013.
    This chapter compares the 1844 Marx (the Marx of the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844) and the Rawls of A Theory of Justice, with the central topic being the young Marx and the middle‐aged Rawls. It starts with the standard Marxian criticism of Theory, and then discusses the two ways in which the writers resemble one another. Eventually, the discussion returns to the standard criticism, casting it as a difference in the writers’ conceptions of “alienation.” The 1844 Marx condemns cap…Read more