Saint Louis University
Department of Philosophy
PhD, 1978
Santa Clara, California, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics
Normative Ethics
  •  103
    Can Suicide in the Elderly Be Rational?
    In Robert E. McCue & Meera Balasubramaniam (eds.), Rational Suicide in the Elderly Clinical, Ethical, and Sociocultural Aspects, Springer. pp. 1-21. 2017.
    In this chapter, we consider, and reject, the claim that all elderly patients’ desires for suicide are irrational. The same reasons that have led to a growing acceptance for the rationality of suicide in terminal cases should lead us to view other desires for suicide as possibly rational. In both cases, desires for suicide can and do materialize in the absence of mental illness. Furthermore, we claim that desires for suicide can remain rational even in the face of some mental illnesses so long…Read more
  •  97
    The report of the President's Council on Bioethics, Human Cloning and Human Dignity, addresses the central ethical, political, and policy issue in human embryonic stem cell research: the moral status of extracorporeal human embryos. The Council members were in sharp disagreement on this issue and essentially failed to adequately engage and respectfully acknowledge each others' deepest moral concerns, despite their stated commitment to do so. This essay provides a detailed critique of the two ext…Read more
  •  68
    Catholic doctrine’s strict prohibition on abortion can lead clinicians or institutions to conscientiously refuse to provide abortion, although a legal duty to provide abortion would apply to anyone who refused. Conscientious refusals by clinicians to end a pregnancy can constitute murder or reckless homicide under American law if a woman dies as a result of such a refusal. Such refusals are not immunized from criminal liability by the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion or by s…Read more
  •  56
    Respecting What We Destroy: Reflections on Human Embryo Research
    Hastings Center Report 31 (1): 16-23. 2001.
    The thought that human embryos could command moral respect yet also be acceptably used in medical research has struck some as incoherent. Given some assumptions about why they deserve respect, however, the thought is not objectionable, indeed not even unusual.
  •  40
    Though there are good arguments against physician participation in executions, physicians should be allowed to make their own decisions about whether they will participate, and professional medical organizations should not flatly destroy the careers of those who do.
  •  33
    The Top Ten Reasons Not To Mary a Bioethicist
    with Ronald Cranford
    Hastings Center Report 25 (5): 48-48. 1995.
  •  33
    It Matters That Prenatal Humans Are Not Constitutional Persons
    American Journal of Bioethics 16 (2): 15-17. 2016.
  •  31
    Parenting and adolescents’ values and behaviour: the moderating role of temperament
    with Laura M. Padilla-Walker
    Journal of Moral Education 39 (4): 491-509. 2010.
    The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of parenting and adolescent fearfulness on adolescents’ pro‐social values and pro‐social and antisocial behaviour. A total of 134 adolescents (M age = 16.22, 72 girls, 62 boys) responded to questions regarding their own fearfulness, pro‐social values and pro‐social and antisocial behaviour, as well as their perceptions of maternal attachment and maternal appropriateness. Results revealed few main‐effect findings, most notably a negative relatio…Read more
  •  30
    "Bibliography of Bioethics," vol. 1, ed. LeRoy Walters (review)
    Modern Schoolman 54 (2): 210-211. 1977.
  •  28
    Forgoing Medically Provided Nutrition and Hydration in Pediatric Patients
    with Cindy Hylton Rushton, Ronald E. Cranford, Robert M. Nelson, Jacqueline J. Glover, and Robert D. Truog
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 23 (1): 33-46. 1995.
    Discussion of the ethics of forgoing medically provided nutrition and hydration tends to focus on adults rather than infants and children. Many appellate court decisions address the legal propriety of forgoing medically provided nutritional support of adults, but only a few have ruled on pediatric cases that pose the same issue.The cessation of nutritional support is implemented most commonly for patients in a permanent vegetative state ). An estimated 4,000 to 10,000 American children are in th…Read more
  •  28
    Legal Advice, Moral Paralysis and the Death of Samuel Linares
    with Ronald E. Cranford
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 17 (4): 316-324. 1989.
  •  27
    Taking the Train to a World of Strangers: Health Care Marketing and Ethics
    with H. Westley Clark, Robert L. Goldman, and Jean E. Schore
    Hastings Center Report 19 (5): 36-43. 1989.
    The marketing of health care services raises the prospect that an ethic of strangers will govern relations between providers and patients. A fiduciary model that emphasizes honesty and public accountability, as well as the patient's good and avoiding unnecessary services, can keep marketing consistent with the ethical tradition of medicine.
  •  27
    Editor's introduction
    HEC Forum 10 (1): 2-8. 1998.
  •  25
    A Different Take on the Law and Ethics of AWT
    American Journal of Bioethics 23 (5): 92-94. 2023.
    De Bie et al. (2023) hold out their paper as an effort “to identify the broad range of ethical concerns and considerations regarding AWT” and to organize them “into a comprehensive framework to org...
  •  23
    Professor Imwinkelried is surely right: the propriety of bioethicists serving as expert witnesses in litigation is problematic, and, I would add, it should remain problematic. Such testimony most certainly does not belong everywhere it will be offered by lawyers and litigants in an effort to advance their interests. Yet in contrast to some commentators, Imwinkelried and I both see a place for bioethicists serving as expert witnesses, although we differ significantly on how to understand and just…Read more
  •  11
    Not for Physicians Only
    Ethics and Medics 2 (2): 4-4. 1977.
  •  8
    Not for Physicians Only
    Ethics and Medics 2 (2): 2-2. 1977.
  •  7