Research

The Plunkett Centre conducts research in the following areas:

Contemporary normative theory, in particular virtue theory, and its relation to Kant's ethics and consequentialism.

Clinical ethics, in particular the goals of medicine, the canons of therapeutic responsiveness; competence, consent and decision-making about sick children; end-of-life decision-making; advance care planning; assisted reproductive technologies; organ and tissue donation; professional role ethics, the law and clinical ethics; regenerative medicine; public health ethics.

Psychiatric ethics, in particular the threat of psychopathology to moral identity and moral agency, respect for autonomy, competence and coercion, moral responsibility of impaired persons, law and psychiatry, and the ethical challenges posed by developments in neuroscience in this area.

Bioethics, in particular the Catholic Christian contribution and its debates with and relationships to contemporary secular bioethics.

Research Ethics, in particular traditional debates about ethical standards with respect to research involving human participants and research involving animals; contemporary debates about genetic technologies, biotechnologies, stem cells, biobanking, etc.

Resource allocation, in particular debates about the roles of the individual, the family, the market and the state in the provision of health care.

Computer ethics (in medical contexts), in particular the role online therapies play in treatment, reduction in costs, effectiveness, threats it poses to the clinician-patient relationship.