Saving & Uniting Lives - Bioethics - New York University

Saving &
Uniting Lives
A Conference in Honor of
William Ruddick
Professor of Philosophy
Arthur Zitrin Professor of Bioethics
Founding Director, NYU Center for Bioethics
Hosted by New York University’s
Department of Philosophy
& Center for Bioethics
Friday, April 12, 2013
9:00am – 7:00pm
D’Agostino Hall, 110 West 3 rd Street,
Lipton Hall & Faculty Club
Speakers
Daniel Wikler
Mary B. Saltonstall Professor of Population Ethics
Professor of Ethics and Population Health,
Harvard University
Amelie Rorty
Lecturer on Global Health & Social Medicine,
Harvard University
Frances Kamm
Littauer Professor of Philosophy & Public Policy;
Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University
Jonathan Glover
Professor of Medical Law & Ethics, King’s College
Distinguished Research Fellow,
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics

Schedule of Sessions
FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013
9:00-9:30AM BREAKFAST
Location D'Agostino Hall, 110 West Third Street, Faculty Club
9:30-9:45AM OPENING REMARKS
Don Garrett, Chair, Department of Philosophy; Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Dale Jamieson, Director of the Center for Bioethics, the Environmental Studies Program
and the Animal Studies Initiative; Professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy, New
York University
9:45-11:15AM SESSION I: WRONG TURN AFTER NUREMBERG: QUESTIONING THE POST-WAR CONSENSUS IN
RESEARCH ETHICS
Speaker: Daniel Wikler, Mary B. Saltonstall Professor of Population Ethics; Professor of
Ethics and Population Health, Harvard University
Session Chair: Matthew Liao, Director of Graduate Studies, Center for Bioethics; Clinical
Associate Professor of Bioethics, New York University.
11:15-11:30AM COFFEE BREAK
Location D'Agostino Hall, 110 West Third Street, Faculty Club
11:30-1:00PM SESSION II: ON THE OTHER HAND: THE ETHICS OF AMBIVALENCE
Speaker: Amelie Rorty, Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical
School, University; Visiting Professor of Philosophy, Boston University
Session Chair: Collin O’Neil, Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow of Bioethics, New York
University.
1:00-2:30PM LUNCH
Please see the attached list of area restaurants for suggestions on where to have lunch
2:30-4:00PM SESSION III: WHO TURNED THE TROLLEY?
Speaker: Frances Kamm, Littauer Professor of Philosophy & Public Policy; Professor of
Philosophy, Harvard University
Session Chair: Samuel Scheffler, University Professor; Professor of Philosophy & Law, New
York University.
4:00-4:15PM COFFEE BREAK
Location D'Agostino Hall, 110 West Third Street, Faculty Club
4:15-5:45PM SESSION IV: EMOTIONS, MEMORY AND RECOGNITION
Speaker: Jonathan Glover, Professor of Medical Law & Ethics, King’s College; Distinguished
Research Fellow, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Session Chair: Dale Jamieson, Director of the Center for Bioethics, the Environmental
Studies Program and the Animal Studies Initiative; Professor of Environmental Studies and
Philosophy, New York University
5:45-7:00PM RECEPTION
Location: D'Agostino Hall, 110 West Third Street, Faculty Club
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Abstracts
SESSION I
“Wrong Turn After Nuremberg: Questioning the Post-War Consensus in Research Ethics”
Daniel Wikler, Mary B. Saltonstall Professor of Population Ethics;
Professor of Ethics and Population Health, Harvard University
Abstract: As almost all American academics know, the “IRB” (“Institutional Review Board”, aka the
“Human Subjects Committee” “Ethical Review Committee”, etc.) is a formidable presence at
research institutions. The IRB’s moral approval, which is not subject to appeal, is required before
research involving human subjects can begin. A critical examination of the moral reasoning of IRBs
is thus of practical as well as theoretical interest. I argue that the conventional wisdom in human
subjects review can be traced back to a particular response to revelations about Nazi abuses of
research subjects that misinterprets the moral nature of these abuses and that can be faulted for
misdirecting the subsequent direction of human subjects review. I will sketch an alternative that, in
my view, is preferable in both respects.
SESSION II
“On the Other Hand: The Ethics of Ambivalence”
Amelie Rorty, Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, University
Visiting Professor of Philosophy, Boston University
Abstract: Ambivalence is sometimes appropriate, epistemically responsible and worth preserving.
The imaginative skills that sustain warranted ambivalence are central to constructive practical
reasoning. In pluralistic societies, the capacities of being justifiably of two minds enable empathic
cooperation: they are among the civic virtues.
SESSION III
“Who Turned the Trolley?”
Frances Kamm, Littauer Professor of Philosophy & Public Policy;
Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University
Abstract: Recently there has been some debate about what the Trolley Problem is and whether it
actually exists. To deal with this mystery, I will review some possible understandings of the Trolley
Problem, its role in helping us decide when some may be harmed in order to save others, and
examine the claim that only those who would otherwise kill rather than die may permissibly turn
the trolley.
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SESSION IV
“Emotions, Memory and Recognition”
Jonathan Glover, Professor of Medical Law & Ethics, King’s College;
Distinguished Research Fellow, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Abstract: There is a debate in psychiatry over whether depression at being bereaved should be
considered a disorder needing help, perhaps medication. The context and meaning for the person of
memories and grief are crucial. Contrasts will be drawn with emotionally charged memories in
other contexts: national memories of defeat and humiliation (that often contribute to a cycle of
retaliatory violence) and the guilt-laden memories of some former combatants who have posttraumatic
stress.
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