Recent Talks
Here are some selected recent research presentations. Take a look! Some are available online.
The Metaphysics of Pregnancy and Moral Interpretation
Society for Applied Philosophy, 2023 annual Congress
The philosophy of pregnancy is well represented in the moral literature. There, the conversation primarily centres on questions relating to the moral status of the fetus, the rights of the pregnant person and the fetus, or the permissibility of emerging Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs). However, literature is emerging on the less examined topic of the metaphysics of pregnancy. Metaphysical assumptions about pregnancy are prevalent in moral philosophy, and in the popular debates on abortion. However, these metaphysical commitments are not often articulated explicitly. Drawing out and challenging these foundational elements is helpful in clarifying the arguments in the moral domain. Indeed, as some scholars have argued, certain misguided metaphysical accounts of pregnancy are sympathetic to equally problematic moral accounts.
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Thresholds for Consent: Phenomenological Experience and Denials of Tubal Sterilization
Canadian Philosophical Association 2023 Congress, York & MUN Graduate Conference 2023
This paper draws on philosophical literature on transformative experience and phenomenological knowledge to establish that sometimes, when women are refused elective sterilizations, they are being held to an unjustifiably high threshold of competence that relies on their inability to understand the phenomenological experience of their future self.
The Obligation to Conscientiously Object
Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics 2023 Congress, Toronto & IME's Postgraduate Bioethics Conference 2023, Edinburgh
This paper discusses cases where practitioner values influence the care a patient receives and argues that refusals to treat for non-clinical reasons should be articulated as a conscientious objection, which comes along with a responsibility to effectively refer.
Ethical Considerations for Sterilization Refusal in Nulliparous Women.
University of Toronto, Joint Centre for Bioethics, 2023
Full talk available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_DAaoLFIRY&t=460s
The Role of Bioethics Within Transforming Moral and Technological Landscapes.
Bioethics in Society 2022, Lake Como School of Advanced Studies
Discussion of procreative duties and permissions relating to genetic selection and genetic enhancement.
