Philosophy Department

Quick Facts

Title: Associate ProfessorAssociate Professor in PhilosophyAssociate Professor of NeurobiologyAssociate Professor of PediatricsAssociate Professor of Medical Humanities

Education: PhD, University of Michigan

Website

Curriculum vitae

Contact Info

529 Lattimore Hall
Department of Philosophy
Box 270078
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0078

Phone: (585) 275-8110
richard.dees@rochester.edu

Office Hours: Thursday 12:30 - 1:30 PM, Friday 11:00 AM - Noon

People—Richard Dees

Research Interests

Medical Ethics, Public Health Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, History of Moral and Political Philosophy

Courses Offered (subject to change)

• PHL/BIO  107  The Science and Ethics of Stem Cells
• PHL 221  Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution
• PHL 225  Ethical Decisions in Medicine
• PHL 228  Public Health Ethics
• PH 300  Seminar for Bioethics Majors

Selected Publications

Book

• Trust and Toleration, (Routledge, 2004)

Selected Articles

•  with Jennifer Kwon, “Pediatric Screeing and the Public Good,” Cerebrum 2009, ed. Dan Gordon (New York: Dana Press, 2009), 121-29.
• with Eric Singer, “KidneyMatch.com: The Ethics of Solicited Organ Donations,” Journal of Clinical Ethics 19 (2008): 141-49.
•  “Better Brains, Better Selves?:  The Ethics of Neuroenhancements.”  Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 17 (2007): 375-99.  A related interview can be found in the Escapist magazine.  Here I discuss the issues with 1370 Connection with Bob Smith on WXXI radio.
• "Of Socinians and Homosexuals: Trust and the Limits of Toleration," in Toleration on Trial,  ed. Ingrid Creppell, Russell Hardin, and Stephen Macedo (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008), 85-109
• “The Bond of Friendship and Trust:  Liberal Societies in the Face of Evil,”  The Modern Schoolman 85 (2007): 71-87.
• “’The Paradoxical Principle and Salutary Practice’: Hume on Toleration,”  Hume Studies 31 (2005): 145-64.
• “Moral Ambiguity in a Black-and-White Universe,” in Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine, ed. Kevin Decker and Jason Eberl (Indianapolis: Open Court Press, 2005), 39-53.
• “Slippery Slopes, Wonder Drugs, and Cosmetic Neurology: The Neuroethics of Enhancements.“ Neurology 63 (2004): 951-52.  NPR  story about this issue.
• “Morality above Metaphysics: Friendship and Philo’s Stance in Dialogue XII.  Hume Studies 28 (2002): 131-47.
• “Establishing Toleration.”  Political Theory 27 (1999): 667-93.
• “Trust and Rationality of Toleration.” Noûs 32 (1998): 82-98.
• “Hume on the Characters of Virtue.”  Journal of the History of Philosophy 35 (1997): 45-64.
• “Moral Conversions.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 56 (1996): 531-50.
• "Living with Contextualism." Canadian Journal of Philosophy 24 (1994): 243-60.
• “Liberalism in Context.”  Polity 25 (1993): 565-82
• Hume and the Contexts of Politics.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 30 (1992): 219-42.