Articles | Books & Edited Volumes | Book Reviews and Other Publications
My primary research interests are in ethical theory, applied ethics, and philosophy of biology. My dissertation was about the meta-ethical implications of naturalistic accounts of the moral sentiments, in particular how such accounts bear on the metaphysics of morality; in future work, I would like to explore epistemological implications as well. In applied ethics, my two most extensive research programs are on the moral permissibility of interrogational torture and on ethical issues surrounding new technologies. In this latter category, I have been especially interested in nanotechnologies, as well as various biotechnologies, such as cloning, stem cell research, and genetic interventions.

Articles by Fritz Allhoff

“Business Bluffing Reconsidered”
Journal of Business Ethics 45 (2003): 283-89.
Reprinted in Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Management, ed. Marc Street (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004), pp 53-61.
I consider the arguments in favor of bluffing in business as offered by Albert Carr and by Thomas Carson; I argue that these arguments both fail, and then I offer my own positive argument defending the moral legitimacy of the practice.

“Terrorism and Torture”
International Journal of Applied Philosophy 17.1 (Fall 2003): 105-18.
Reprinted in Understanding Terrorism: Philosophical Issues, ed. Timothy Shanahan (LaSalle, IL: Open Court Press, 2005), pp. 243-59. Also reprinted (in slightly modified form) as “An Ethical Defense of Torture in Interrogation” in Jan Goldman (ed.), Ethics of Spying: A Reader for the Intelligence Professional (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), pp. 126-40.
After sketching a (seemingly obvious) consequentialist defense of torture, I go on to argue that deonotological approaches can and should also support the same conclusion, particularly if we interpret the relevant situations as being ones of rights-conflicts. In the last sections of the paper, I explore necessary and sufficient conditions for the legitimacy of torture, as well as appropriate forms therein.

“Evolutionary Ethics from Darwin to Moore”
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 25 (2003): 81-109.
This is a survey paper on historical positions in evolutionary ethics, I begin with Charles Darwin, with special emphasis on his notebooks. I then look at the writings of Herbert Spencer, Thomas Henry Huxley, Henry Sidgwick, and G.E. Moore.

“Telomeres and the Ethics of Human Cloning”
American Journal of Bioethics 4.2 (2004): W29-W31.
Most bioethicists regard moral arguments against human cloning, especially those offered by Leon Kass, to be lacking. Here I offer a criticism against human cloning—at least the somatic cell nuclear transfer variants—on the grounds that it leads to biological impairments in the progeny as likely effected through telomere shortening.

“Discriminating against ‘Organ Takers’”
American Journal of Bioethics 4.4 (2004): 31-33.
I evaluate David Steinberg’s proposal that those promising kidneys after death should be at increased priority for transplants while still alive. I object to this proposal for two reasons: both that it is unfair to “organ takers” and also that it places undue psychological pressures on prospective entrants to the program.

“Germ-Line Genetic Enhancement and Rawlsian Primary Goods”
Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15.1 (2005): 39-56.
One problem with germ-line genetic enhancement is that it bears effects on future generations who have never consented to the interventions that lead to those effects. In this paper, I develop criteria by which such interventions would be justified, as well as a delimiting principle for which interventions are justified.

“Free-Riding and Research Ethics”
American Journal of Bioethics 5.1 (2005): 50-1.
I critique Rosamond Rhodes’s contention that, since we all stand to benefit from the fruits of medical research, we therefore all have a moral duty to participate in such research. The crux of my critique is that those not participating in research are not free-riders since research subjects are usually paid for their participation; I also argue that her position is pragmatically unwieldy.

“Neuroscience and Metaphysics”
American Journal of Bioethics 5.2 (2005): 34-6 (with Chris Buford).
We challenge a contention by Judy Illes and Eric Racine that the emerging field of neuroscience will have deep implications for such philosophical concepts as personal identity, moral responsibility, and free will. Rather, we argue that the forthcoming empirical findings are nearly completely irrelevant to these conceptual issues.

“On Economic Justifications of Bioterrorism Defense Spending”
American Journal of Bioethics 5.4 (2005): 52-4.
Some people are concerned by the amount of money that we invest in bioterrorism defense (against possible attacks) rather than in health care, HIV/AIDS, etc. (i.e., against actual problems). I develop a formal framework for exploring whether such investments in are, in fact, justified.

“Stem Cells and the Blastocyst Transfer Method: Some Concerns Regarding Autonomy”
American Journal of Bioethics 5.6 (2005): 28-30.
The blastocyst transfer method promises to allow embryonic stem cell research without the destruction of the human embryo, thus seemingly removing any plausible objection against it. Nevertheless, I argue that concerns still exist, particularly as regards extraction of stem cells from an organism who might later come to object to such a withdrawal.

“A Defense of Torture: Separation of Cases, Ticking Time-Bombs, and Moral Justification”
International Journal of Applied Philosophy 19.2 (2006): 243-64.
This paper is an extension of “Terrorism and Torture”: I expand my arguments beyond consequentialist and deontological defenses of torture to offer virtue-theoretic, social contract, pluralist, and particularist defenses. I also argue directly against absolutist positions (i.e., those that say torture is never justified) by appeal to various frameworks regarding moral justification.

“Nanoethics and Human Enhancement: A Critical Evaluation of Recent Arguments”
Nanotechnology Perceptions 2 (2006): 47-52 (with Patrick Lin).
Some general issues in human enhancement are drawn out in specific application of nanotechnologies therein. We argue against current accounts to defend these practices; this is not to say that we necessarily oppose them, but only that extant arguments fail.

“Physician Involvement in Hostile Interrogations”
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (forthcoming).
During war, medical personnel may sometimes be called upon to effect practices that, arguably, violate traditional medical virtues such as beneficence and non-malfeasance. I argue that such situations are not morally problematic insofar as I take these medical personnel not to be physicians (i.e., those to whom such virtues would attach); I offer positive arguments for this view as well as negative arguments against its contrary.

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Books & Edited Volumes by Fritz Allhoff

Ethics and the Workplace, 3 vols.
(London: Sage Publications, 2005)
(with Anand Vaidya)

Blackwell Readings in the History of Philosophy: Ancient Philosophy
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, forthcoming)
(with Nicholas Smith, and Anand Vaidya)

Blackwell Readings in the History of Philosophy: Medieval Philosophy
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, in press)
(with Gyula Klima and Anand Vaidya)

Blackwell Readings in the History of Philosophy: Early Modern Philosophy
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, in press)
(with A. P. Martinich and Anand Vaidya)

Blackwell Readings in the History of Philosophy: Late Modern Philosophy
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, in press)
(with Elizabeth Radcliffe, Richard McCarty, and Anand Vaidya)

Business and Professional Ethics, 2 vols.
(Calgary: Broadview Press, forthcoming)
(with Anand Vaidya)

Wine & Philosophy
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, forthcoming)

Beer & Philosophy
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, forthcoming)
(with Steve Hales)

Food & Philosophy
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, forthcoming)
(with Dave Monroe)

“Nanoethics: A Symposium”
The International Journal of Applied Philosophy (forthcoming)
(with Patrick Lin)

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Book Reviews and Other Publications by Fritz Allhoff
  • Review of Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society by David Sloan Wilson, Human Nature Review 4 (2004): 76-80.
  • Review of Remaking Life & Death: Toward an Anthropology of the Biosciences by Sarah Franklin and Margaret M. Lock (eds.), History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 26 (2004): 440-2.
  • Note on The President of Good & Evil: The Ethics of George W. Bush by Peter Singer, Ethics 115.2 (2005): 439. Review in Human Nature Review (forthcoming).
  • “The Oregon Plan and QALY’s,” Virtual Mentor: Ethics Journal of the American Medical Association 7.2 (2005).
  • “An Introduction to Ethical Theory and Business Ethics,” in Fritz Allhoff and Anand Vaidya (eds.), Business Ethics (London: Sage Publications, 2005): xix-xxx.
  • “The Moral Status of Communication,” National Consensus Report on Patient-Centered Communication (Chicago: AMA Press, forthcoming).
  • “Should Alcoholics Be Deprioritized for Liver Transplantation?”, Virtual Mentor: Ethics Journal of the American Medical Association 7.9 (2005).
  • “The Zen Master and the Big Aristotle: Cultivating a Philosopher in the Low Post,” in Greg Bassham (ed.), Basketball and Philosophy (LaSalle, IL: Open Court Press, forthcoming).