•  330
    In the beginning of the COVID pandemic, researchers and bioethicists called for human challenge trials to hasten the development of a vaccine for COVID. However, the fact that we lacked a specific, highly effective treatment for COVID led many to argue that a COVID challenge trial would be unethical and we ought to pursue traditional phase III testing instead. These ethical objections to challenge trials may have slowed the progress of a COVID vaccine, so it is important to evaluate their merit.…Read more
  •  320
    The potential for climate engineering with stratospheric sulfate aerosol injections to reduce climate injustice
    with Toby Svoboda, Peter J. Irvine, and Masahiro Sugiyama
    Journal of Global Ethics 14 (3): 353-368. 2018.
    Climate engineering with stratospheric sulfate aerosol injections (SSAI) has the potential to reduce risks of injustice related to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Relying on evidence from modeling studies, this paper makes the case that SSAI could have the potential to reduce many of the key physical risks of climate change identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Such risks carry potential injustice because they are often imposed on low-emitters who do not benef…Read more
  •  61
    The Slippery Slope Argument against Geoengineering Research
    Journal of Applied Philosophy 36 (4): 675-687. 2018.
    With the lack of progress there has been so far on climate change, some have begun researching the potential of geoengineering to allay future climatic harms. However, others contend that such research should be abandoned. One of the most‐cited reasons as to why research into geoengineering should be abandoned is the idea that such research sits at the top of slippery slope. The Slippery Slope Argument warns that even mere research into geoengineering will create institutional momentum, ultimate…Read more
  •  59
    Institutional Legitimacy and Geoengineering Governance
    Ethics, Policy and Environment 21 (3): 324-340. 2018.
    ABSTRACT: There is general agreement amongst those involved in the normative discussion about geoengineering that if we are to move forward with significant research, development, and certainly any future deployment, legitimate governance is a must. However, while we agree that the abstract concept of legitimacy ought to guide geoengineering governance, agreement surrounding the appropriate conception of legitimacy has yet to emerge. Relying upon Allen Buchanan’s metacoordination view of institu…Read more
  •  54
    The ethical landscape of gene drive research
    Bioethics 33 (9): 1091-1097. 2019.
    Gene drive technology has immense potential. The ability to bypass the laws of Mendelian inheritance and almost ensure the transmission of specific genetic material to future generations creates boundless possibilities. But alongside these boundless possibilities are major social and ethical issues. This article aims to introduce gene drive technology, some of its potential applications, and some of the social and ethical issues that arise during research into the technology. For example, is inv…Read more
  •  48
    Each year, over 200 million people are infected with the malaria parasite, nearly half a million of whom succumb to the disease. Emerging genetic technologies could, in theory, eliminate the burden of malaria throughout the world by intentionally eradicating the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. In this paper, we offer an ethical examination of the intentional eradication of Anopheles gambiae, the main malaria vector of sub-Saharan Africa. In our evaluation, we focus on two main consideratio…Read more
  •  41
    With the significant disconnect between the collective aim of limiting warming to well below 2°C and the current means proposed to achieve such an aim, the goal of this paper is to offer a moral assessment of prominent alternatives to current international climate policy. To do so, we’ll outline five different policy routes that could potentially bring the means and goal in line. Those five policy routes are: (1) exceed 2°C; (2) limit warming to less than 2°C by economic de-growth; (3) limit war…Read more
  •  27
    Brain Drain, Contracts, and Moral Obligation
    Moral Philosophy and Politics 3 (1). 2016.
    In this paper I first argue that when answering the question of whether or not governments may restrict emigration, Brock and Blake are staking out positions not astronomically far from one another. Despite the ostensibly large philosophical gap between the two, both think that certain governments may restrict emigration when such restriction is agreed to in a morally binding contract. Secondly, both authors think that there are specific “circumstances” or “conditions” under which a contract tha…Read more
  •  20
    The Ethics of Climate Governance (review)
    Environmental Ethics 39 (1): 97-100. 2017.
  •  19
    Climate Engineering: For and Against (review)
    Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric 8 (2). 2015.
    No abstract
  •  18
    The Ethics of Climate Engineering: Solar Radiation Management and Non-Ideal Justice (review)
    Ethics, Policy and Environment 22 (1): 100-102. 2019.
    In 1992, the global community made a commitment to stabilize ‘greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate sys...
  •  11
    Should we research, develop, and deploy climate engineering technology? Drawing upon contemporary moral and political theory, this book offers a normative perspective on such questions, ultimately making the case in favor of research and regulation guided by norms of legitimacy, distributive justice, and procedural justice.
  •  11
    The Ethics of Geoengineering
    In Pellegrino Gianfranco & Marcello Di Paola (eds.), Handbook of Philosophy of Climate Change, Springer Nature. pp. 919-937. 2023.
    Defined as the “deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment in order to counteract anthropogenic climate change,” geoengineering is an umbrella term that captures a variety of different technologies. This chapter will offer a concise overview of geoengineering as a response to anthropogenic climate change, with a primary focus on the ethical aspects this grouping of technologies engenders. We will start by exploring why it is that we are even considering these technologies …Read more
  •  9
    Unilateral ECMO Withdrawal and the Argument From Distributive Justice
    American Journal of Bioethics 23 (6): 72-74. 2023.
    Childress and colleagues (2023) review several arguments that would support the unilateral withdrawal of ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) against the wishes of a capacitated patient (Mr....
  •  8
    A placebo is an intervention that is believed to lack specific pharmacological or physiological efficacy for a patient’s condition. While placebo-controlled trials are considered the gold standard when it comes to researching and testing new pharmacological treatments, the use of placebos in clinical practice is more controversial. The focus of this case study is an undisclosed placebo trial used as an attempt to diagnose a patient’s complex and unusual symptomology. In this case, the placebo wa…Read more
  •  5
    Abstract:A placebo is an intervention that is believed to lack specific pharmacological or physiological efficacy for a patient's condition. While placebo-controlled trials are considered the gold standard when it comes to researching and testing new pharmacological treatments, the use of placebos in clinical practice is more controversial. The focus of this case study is an undisclosed placebo trial used as an attempt to diagnose a patient's complex and unusual symptomology. In this case, the p…Read more
  •  1
    Solar Geoengineering and Democracy
    with Joshua Horton, Jesse Reynolds, Holly Jean Buck, Stefan Schaefer, David Keith, and Steve Rayner
    Global Environmental Politics 3 (18): 5-24. 2018.
    Some scientists suggest that it might be possible to reflect a portion of incoming sunlight back into space to reduce climate change and its impacts. Others argue that such solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering is inherently incompatible with democracy. In this article, we reject this incompatibility argument. First, we counterargue that technologies such as SRM lack innate political characteristics and predetermined social effects, and that democracy need not be deliberative to serve …Read more