Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics
Normative Ethics
  •  157
    Robot caregivers: harbingers of expanded freedom for all? (review)
    Ethics and Information Technology 12 (3): 277-288. 2010.
    As we near a time when robots may serve a vital function by becoming caregivers, it is important to examine the ethical implications of this development. By applying the capabilities approach as a guide to both the design and use of robot caregivers, we hope that this will maximize opportunities to preserve or expand freedom for care recipients. We think the use of the capabilities approach will be especially valuable for improving the ability of impaired persons to interface more effectively wi…Read more
  •  60
    Storks, cabbage patches, and the right to procreate
    Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 4 (2): 105-115. 2007.
    In this paper I examine the prevailing assumption that there is a right to procreate and question whether there exists a coherent notion of such a right. I argue that we should question any and all procreative activities, not just alternative procreative means and contexts. I suggest that clinging to the assumption of a right to procreate prevents serious scrutiny of reproductive behavior and that, instead of continuing to embrace this assumption, attempts should be made to provide a proper foun…Read more
  •  51
    In this article, the authors examine whether and how robot caregivers can contribute to the welfare of children with various cognitive and physical impairments by expanding recreational opportunities for these children. The capabilities approach is used as a basis for informing the relevant discussion. Though important in its own right, having the opportunity to play is essential to the development of other capabilities central to human flourishing. Drawing from empirical studies, the authors sh…Read more
  •  46
    Academic-industry collaborations and the conflicts of interest (COI) arising out of them are not new. However, as industry funding for research in the life and health sciences has increased and scandals involving financial COI are brought to the public’s attention, demands for disclosure have grown. In a March 2008 American Council on Science and Health report by Ronald Bailey, he argues that the focus on COI—especially financial COI—is obsessive and likely to be more detrimental to scientific p…Read more
  •  33
  •  19
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  14
    Playing Politics with Bioethics
    Journal of Philosophy, Science and Law 4 1-4. 2004.
  •  13
    Expanding Opportunities for People with Disabilities
    Journal of Philosophy, Science and Law 14 1-3. 2014.
  •  11
    Crisis Management and Ethics: Moving Beyond the Public-Relations-Person-as-Corporate-Conscience Construct
    with Burton St John Iii
    Journal of Media Ethics 31 (1): 18-34. 2016.
    Over the past 40 years, scholars and practitioners of public relations have often cast public relations workers in the role of the public relations-person-as-corporate-conscience. This work, however, maintains that this construct is so problematic that invoking it is of negligible use in addressing ethical issues that emerge during a crisis. In fact, a complex crisis, such as the Jahi McMath “brain death” case at Children’s Hospital Oakland, demonstrates the need to abandon the PRPaCC construct …Read more
  •  10
    The Impact of Robot Companions on the Moral Development of Children
    In Zachary Pirtle, David Tomblin & Guru Madhavan (eds.), Engineering and Philosophy: Reimagining Technology and Social Progress, Springer Verlag. pp. 237-248. 2021.
    The complexity of the interactions between humans and robots is increasing, and scholars predict that at some future point, robots will become caregivers and companions for children. This occurrence would raise many ethical issues, including what effects prolonged interactions with a robot may have on a child’s well-being. In this chapter, we discuss how robots could in principle be used to nurture the development of virtues in children by encouraging prosocial behavior and discouraging antisoci…Read more
  •  4
    No Title available: Book Reviews (review)
    Utilitas 20 (2): 248-250. 2008.
  • Procreation and Obligation
    Dissertation, University of Miami. 2002.
    This dissertation explores the notion of a right to reproduce in the context of assisted reproductive technologies and argues that there are no good arguments supporting the notion of a genuine, independent right to reproduce. Although it is generally believed to be self-evident that there is a right to reproduce, I question this line of thinking and expose the fact that there is no adequate demonstration of a right to reproduce. Once I point out that there is no adequate basis for a so-called r…Read more