New York City, New York, United States of America
  •  142
    Abstract: Forgiveness of wrongdoing in response to public apology and amends making seems, on the face of it, to leave little room for the continued commemoration of wrongdoing. This rests on a misunderstanding of forgiveness, however, and we can explain why there need be no incompatibility between them. To do this, I emphasize the role of what I call nonangry negative moral emotions in constituting memories of wrongdoing. Memories so constituted can persist after forgiveness and have important …Read more
  •  127
    Philosophical and Ethical Issues in Disability
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 9 (4): 573-587. 2012.
    What is a disability? What sorts of limitations do persons with disabilities or impairments experience? What is there about having a disability or impairment that makes it disadvantageous for the individuals with it? Are persons with severe cognitive impairments capable of making autonomous decisions? What role should disability play in the construction of theories of justice? Is it ever ethical for parents to seek to create a child with an impairment? This anthology addresses these and other qu…Read more
  •  95
    The Moral Demands of Memory
    Cambridge University Press. 2008.
    Despite an explosion of studies on memory in historical and cultural studies, there is relatively little in moral philosophy on this subject. In this book, Jeffrey Blustein provides a systematic and philosophically rigorous account of a morality of memory. Drawing on a broad range of philosophical and humanistic literatures, he offers a novel examination of memory and our relations to people and events from our past, the ways in which memory is preserved and transmitted, and the moral responsibi…Read more
  •  93
    Pain: Ethics, Culture, and Informed Consent to Relief
    with Linda Farber Post, Elysa Gordon, and Nancy Neveloff Dubler
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 24 (4): 348-359. 1996.
    As medical technology becomes more sophisticate the ability to manipulate nature and manage disease forces the dilemma of when can becomes ought. Indeed, most bioethical discourse is framed in terms of balancing the values and interests and the benefits and burdens that inform principled decisions about how, when, and whether interventions should occur. Yet, despite advances in science and technology, one caregiver mandate remains as constant and compelling as it was for the earliest shaman—the …Read more
  •  81
    Criticizing and reforming segregated facilities for persons with disabilities
    with Adrienne Asch and David T. Wasserman
    Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 5 (2-3): 157-168. 2008.
    In this paper, we critically appraise institutions for people with disabilities, from residential facilities to outpatient clinics to social organizations. While recognizing that a just and inclusive society would reject virtually all segregated institutional arrangements, we argue that in contemporary American society, some people with disabilities may have needs that at this time can best be met by institutional arrangements. We propose ways of reforming institutions to make them less isolatin…Read more
  •  74
    Doing the best for one’s child: satisficing versus optimizing parentalism (review)
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 33 (3): 199-205. 2012.
    The maxim “parents should do what is in the best interests of their child” seems like an unassailable truth, and yet, as I argue here, there are serious problems with it when it is taken seriously. One problem concerns the sort of demands such a principle places on parents; the other concerns its larger social implications when conceived as part of a national policy for the rearing of children. The theory of parenting that creates these problems I call “optimizing parentalism.” To avoid them, I …Read more
  •  74
    On the duties of parents and children
    Southern Journal of Philosophy 15 (4): 427-441. 1977.
  •  72
    What bioethics needs to learn about families
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 19 (2): 101-115. 1998.
  •  70
    No profession has undergone as much scrutiny in the past several decades as that of medicine. Indeed, one might well argue that no profession has ever undergone so much change in so short a time. An essential part of this change has been the growing insistence that competent, adult patients have the right to decide about the course of their own medical treatment. However, the familiar and widely accepted principle of patient self-determination entails a corollary that has received little attenti…Read more
  •  59
    Introduction: The Doctor-Proxy Relationship: An Untapped Resource
    with Linda Farber Post and Nancy Neveloff Dubler
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 27 (1): 5-12. 1999.
  •  46
    Credentialing ethics consultants: An invitation to collaboration
    with Nancy Neveloff Dubler
    American Journal of Bioethics 7 (2). 2007.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  45
    Choosing for Others as Continuing a Life Story: The Problem of Personal Identity Revisited
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 27 (1): 20-31. 1999.
    Philosophically, the most interesting objection to the reliance on advance directives to guide treatment decisions for formerly competent patients is the argument from the loss of personal identity. Starting with a psychological continuity theory of personal identity, the argument concludes that the very conditions that bring an advance directive into play may destroy the conditions necessary for personal identity, and so undercut the authority of the directive. In this article, I concede that i…Read more
  •  41
    RÉSUMÉ: J'examine ici trois façons de défendre l'idée que les personnes ont individuellement une valeur. Je pars de la thèse selon laquelle la valeur des individus tient à la valeur de leurs qualités particulières. Je m'arrête alors sur l'objection que pour comprendre ce qui fait la valeur individuelle des personnes, il nous faut accorder une place distinctive à leurs conceptions d'elles-mêmes. L'approche par la conception de soi qui résulte de ces considérations se révèle problématique à l'exam…Read more
  •  36
    This essay is written in the belief that questions relating to the treatment of impaired and imperiled newborns cannot be adequately resolved in the absence of a general moral theory of parent-child relations. The rationale for treatment decisions in these cases should be consistent with principles that ought to govern the normal work of parenting. The first section of this paper briefly examines the social contract theory elaborated by John Rawls in his renowned book A Theory of Justice and ext…Read more
  •  34
    The Task Force Responds
    with Baruch Brody, Nancy Dubler, Arthur Caplan, Jeffrey P. Kahn, Nancy Kass, Bernard Lo, Jonathan Moreno, Jeremy Sugarman, and Laurie Zoloth
    Hastings Center Report 32 (3): 22-23. 2002.
  •  34
    Human Rights and the Internationalization of Memory
    Journal of Social Philosophy 43 (1): 19-32. 2012.
  •  31
    The theme of this book is the complex moral psychology of forgiving and remembering in both personal and political contexts. It offers an original account of the moral psychology of interpersonal forgiveness and explores its role in transitional societies. The book also examines the symbolic moral significance of memorialization in these societies and reflects on its relationship to forgiveness.
  •  28
    Despite the current popularity of what is commonly referred to as an `ethics of care', no one has yet undertaken a systematic philosophical study of `care' itself. In this book, Jeffrey Blustein presents the first such study, offering a detailed exploration of human `care' in its various guises: concern for and commitment to individuals, ideals, and causes. Blustein focuses on the nature and value of personal integrity and intimacy, and on the questions they raise for traditional moral theory.
  •  25
    When Doctors Break the Rules
    Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 21 (2): 249-259. 2012.
  •  24
    [Access article in HTML]
    with V. Ruth Cecire and Alan R. Fleischman
    Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 10 (1): 1-20. 2000.
    : Urban bioethics seeks to broaden the traditional focus of bioethics to encompass questions about the interplay of individuals with family, group, community, and society. Urban bioethics will need to deal with cultural diversity, issues of equity, and the conflict between individual rights and the public good. Encouraging a multicultural ethical discernment, fostering an appreciation of the political, economic, sociological, and psychological issues that inform the question of urban moral choic…Read more
  •  23
    This Article does not have an abstract
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  •  20
    Adolescence and Criminal Responsibility
    International Journal of Applied Philosophy 2 (4): 1-17. 1985.