Dr Thomas Douglas

Qualifications
BMedSc (Otago), MB ChB (Otago), BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Balliol College, Oxon).

Role or Position
Senior Scholar and DPhil Candidate (Philosophy).

Email address
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Academic Background
I began my university education as a medical student at the University of Otago (New Zealand). During my studies, I became interested in philosophy, especially ethics. I wrote a Bachelor of Medical Science thesis on the philosophical underpinnings of accident law, and on finishing my medical degree, I came to Oxford to study philosophy and economics at Balliol College. I completed my 'second BA' in 2005, and since then I have been working on my doctorate in philosophy, first at Balliol, and now at Christ Church.

Undergraduate Teaching
Philosophy of Social Science, Ethics, Theory of Politics.

Research Interests
I am primarily interested in two areas where ethics and medicine come into contact: the ethics of medicine/biomedical science, and the biological underpinnings of ethics. I'm writing my thesis on the ethics of human enhancement, a topic which allows me to pursue both of these interests. I've also worked (or am working) in several other areas where the techniques of analytic philosophy can be brought to bear on public policy debates: policymaking under uncertainty, organ procurement policy, the ethics of ethics committees, and corrective/distributive justice.

Publications include:
'Medical Injury Compensation: Beyond "No-Fault"', Medical Law Review, forthcoming.

'Consequentialism and the Death Penalty', American Journal of Bioethics, 2008; 8(10):56-58 (with Dominic Wilkinson).

'Moral Enhancement', Journal of Applied Philosophy 2008; 25(3): 228-245.

'Ethics Committees and the Legality of Research', Journal of Medical Ethics 2007;33(12):732-736.

'Enhancement in Sport, and Enhancement outside Sport', Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology 2007;1(1):Article 2.


Hobbies
Cross country running, cricket, sailing, fencing. Learning French.

Links