S. Matthew Liao

S. Matthew Liao holds the Arthur Zitrin Chair in Bioethics and is the Director for The Center for Bioethics at New York University. From 2006 to 2009, he was the Deputy Director and James Martin Senior Research Fellow in the Program on the Ethics of the New Biosciences in the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University. He was the Harold T. Shapiro Research Fellow in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University in 2003–2004, and a Greenwall Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and a Visiting Researcher at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University from 2004–2006. In May 2007, he founded Ethics Etc, a group blog for discussing contemporary philosophical issues in ethics and related areas. He is interested in a wide range of issues including ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, moral psychology, and bioethics.

Editorial Positions
Editor in Chief, Journal of Moral Philosophy, 2013 –
Editorial Board Member, American Journal of Bioethics, 2009 –
Review Board Member, International Encyclopedia of Ethics, 2010 - 2012

Affiliated with other departments or programs
Affiliate Professor of Philosophy; Environmental Studies; and Division of Medical Ethics, Department of Population Health

Publications

Books & Edited Volumes

• 2016. Current Controversies in Bioethics, (ed.), Routledge, forthcoming, with C. O'Neil
• 2016. Moral Brains: The Neuroscience of Morality, (ed.), Oxford University Press
  
• 2015. The Right to Be Loved. Oxford University Press
  
• 2015. The Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights, (ed.), Oxford University Press, forthcoming, with R. Cruft and M. Renzo
• 2008. “The Ethics of Enhancement,” Journal of Applied Philosophy, 25 (3), (ed.) with J. Savulescu and D. Wasserman
  

Selected Articles and Book Chapters

• 2014. "The Closeness Problem and the Doctrine of Double Effect: A Way Forward,” Criminal Law and Philosophy, forthcoming
• 2014. "Are Intuitions Heuristics?” In Moral Brains: The Neuroscience of Morality, edited by Liao, S. M. Oxford University Press
• 2014. "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life,” In The Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights, edited by Cruft, R., Liao, S. M., and M. Renzo. Oxford University Press
  
• 2012. "Intentions and Moral Permissibility: The Case of Acting Permissibly with Bad Intentions," Law and Philosophy, forthcoming
• 2012. "Putting the Trolley in Order: Experimental Philosophy and the Loop Case," Philosophical Psychology, with A. Wiegmann, J. Alexander, and G. Vong, forthcoming
  
• 2012. "Political and Naturalistic Conceptions of Human Rights: A False Polemic?" Journal of Moral Philosophy, with A. Etinson, forthcoming
  
• 2012. "Why Children Need to Be Loved," Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 15 (3) 2012: 347-358
  
• 2012. "Human Engineering and Climate Change," Ethics, Policy and the Environment, 15 (2): 1-16, with A. Sandberg and R. Roache (Target Article)
  
• 2012. "The Genetic Account of Moral Status: A Defense," Journal of Moral Philosophy, 9 (2): 265-277
  
• 2011. “Parental Love Pills: Some Ethical Considerations,” Bioethics, 25 (9): 489-494
• 2011. "Bias and Reasoning: Haidt’s Theory of Moral Judgment,” In New Waves in Ethics, edited by Thom Brooks. Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 108-127
• 2011. "After Prozac." In Enhancing Human Capacities, edited by J. Savulescu, R. ter Muelen, and G. Kahane, Blackwell, pp. 245-256, with Rebecca Roache
• 2010. “Agency and Human Rights,” Journal of Applied Philosophy, 27 (1): 15-25
• 2010. “The Buck-Passing Account of Value: Lessons from Crisp,” Philosophical Studies, 151 (3): 421-432
• 2010. “Twinning, Inorganic Replacement, and the Organism View,” Ratio, 23 (1): 59-72
  
• 2010. “The Basis of Human Moral Status,” Journal of Moral Philosophy, 7 (2): 159-179
• 2010. "The Right of Children to Be Loved." In What Is Right for Children: The Competing Paradigms of Religion and Human Rights, edited by M. Fineman and K. Worthington. Ashgate, forthcoming
• 2009. “The Loop Case and the Doctrine of Triple Effect,” Philosophical Studies, 146 (2) 2009: 223-231
• 2009. “Disclosing Clinical Trial Results: Publicity, Significance and Independence,” American Journal of Bioethics, 9 (8): W3–W5, with Mark Sheehan and Steve Clarke
• 2009. “The Duty to Disclose Adverse Clinical Trial Results,” American Journal of Bioethics, 9 (8): 24-32, with Mark Sheehan and Steve Clarke (Target Article)
• 2009. “Is There a Duty to Share Genetic Information?,” Journal of Medical Ethics 35 (5): 306-309
• 2008. “Who Is Afraid of Numbers?” Utilitas, 20 (4): 447-461
• 2008. “Selecting Children: The Ethics of Reproductive Genetic Engineering,” Philosophy Compass, 3: 1-19
• 2008. “The Normativity of Memory Modification,” Neuroethics, 1 (2): 85-99, with Anders Sandberg
• 2008. “A Defense of Intuitions,” Philosophical Studies, 240 (2): 247-262
• 2008. “Issues in the Pharmacological Induction of Emotions,” Journal of Applied Philosophy, 25 (3): 178-92, with David Wasserman
• 2008. “The Ethics of Enhancement,” Journal of Applied Philosophy, 25 (3): 159-161, with Julian Savulescu and David Wasserman
• 2007. “Ethical and Policy Issues Related to Progenitor Cell-based Strategies for Prevention of Atherosclerosis,” Journal of Medical Ethics, 33: 643-46, with Pascal J. Goldschmidt and Jeremy Sugarman
• 2007. “Time-Relative Interests and Abortion,” Journal of Moral Philosophy, 4 (2): 242-56
• 2007. “Neuroethical Concerns about Moderating Traumatic Memory,” American Journal of Bioethics, 7 (9): 38-40, with David Wasserman
• 2007. “The Ashley Treatment: Best Interests, Convenience, and Parental Decision-making,” The Hastings Center Report, 37 (2): 16-20, with Julian Savulescu and Mark Sheehan
• 2006. “The Idea of a Duty to Love,” Journal of Value Inquiry, 40 (1): 1-22
• 2006. “The Organism View Defended,” The Monist, 89 (3): 334-350
• 2006. “The Right of Children to Be Loved,” Journal of Political Philosophy, 14 (4): 420-440
• 2006. “The Embryo Rescue Case,” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 27: 141-147
• 2005. “Rescuing Embryonic Stem Cell Research: The Blastocyst Transfer Method,” American Journal of Bioethics, 5 (6): 8-16 (Target Article)
• 2005. “Response to Commentators on “Rescuing Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: The Blastocyst Transfer Method”,” American Journal of Bioethics, 5 (6): W10-13 (Response to nine commentators)
• 2005. “The Ethics of Using Genetic Engineering for Sex Selection,” Journal of Medical Ethics 31: 116-118 (JME’s “Top Ten Articles of 2005 and 2006”)
• 2005. “Are ‘Ex Ante’ Enhancements Always Permissible?” American Journal of Bioethics, 5 (3): 23-25 (A commentary on Frances Kamm’s “Is There a Problem with Enhancement?” in the same volume)

Encyclopedia Entries and Book Reviews

• 2010. "Contractualism." In Encyclopedia of Political Theory, edited by Mark Bevir. Sage, with Jussi Suikkanen, forthcoming
• 2010. "Psychopharmacology." In International Encyclopedia of Ethics, edited by Hugh LaFollette. Blackwell, commissioned
• 2001. T. Scanlon, What We Owe To Each Other (Harvard, 2000), Metapsychology Online

Interviews & Op-Eds

• Climate Change: Could We Engineer Greener Humans?, BBC, Jul 16, 2014
• Engineering Ourselves to Combat Climate Change, TED @ NYC, Oct 8, 2013
• Little Green Men, Harper’s Magazine, Aug 2013
• Human Engineering and Climate Change, The Organist, forthcoming
• Interview with Claudia Dreifus at the New York Times, Dec 17, 2012
• Human Engineering: Should We Change Our Bodies to Battle Warmer Climate?, Talk Nerdy To Me, Huffington Post, Oct 22, 2012
• Engineering Humans to Combat Climate Change, 4BC Weekend Morning with Ian Maurice, Oct 6, 2012
• Hand-made humans may hold the key to saving the world, Sydney Morning Herald, Sept 30, 2012
• Could Human Engineering Solve Climate Change?, ABC National Breakfast with Geraldine Doogue, Sep 28, 2012
• Engineering Humans to Fight Climate Change, ABC Triple J Hack, Sept 27, 2012
• Can We Reengineer Ourselves to Cope With the Effects of Climate Change?, Popular Science, Aug 28, 2012
• Small People Save the Environment, Quest Magazine, June, 2012
• Artificial, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Apr 27, 2012
• Modifying Humans to Combat Climate Change, eFM 1013 Main Street with Ahn Junghyun, Apr 23, 2012
• Green People, New Hampshire Public Radio, Apr 10, 2012
• Aid, Happiness, and Tiny Vegetarians, The BBC One Planet, Apr 6, 2012
• Final Frontier of Climate Policy - Remake Humans, Sydney Morning Herald, Apr 6, 2012
• Bioengineer Humans to Tackle Climate Change, The Guardian, Mar 14, 2012
• How Engineering the Human Body Could Combat Climate Change, The Atlantic, Mar 12, 2012
• Introducing “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Cabaret Cinema, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, Mar 2, 2012
• Regulating New Bioscientific Technologies, The Shoshin Project, Jan 24, 2011
• The Ethics of IVF, World Journal, Nov 21, 2010
• The Ethics of Erasing Memories, The Tom Dunne Show, Newstalk Ireland, Feb 23, 2008
• Spotless Minds, ABC Unleashed, Dec 3, 2008
  

Videos

• Ethics of Organ Sales, The Independents, Fox Business News, Dec 11, 2013
  
• Scientists Debate Human Engineering, Channel 7 Sunrise with Andrew O’Keefe and Samantha Armytage, Sept 30, 2012
• "Engineering Humans to Stop Climate Change,” Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Sydney Opera House, Sept 30, 2012
• Erase Traumatic Memories (and Achieve Your Own “Eternal Sunshine”), Big Think, Aug 4, 2010