James Franklin Childress (; born October 4, 1940) is a

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

whose scholarship addresses

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

, particularly biomedical ethics. Currently he is the John Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics at the Department of Religious Studies at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

and teaches public Policy at the

Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy (also known as the Batten School) is one of the University of Virginia's thirteen schools. The school offers classes and degree programs in Public Policy and Leadership. The school, establish ...

. He is also Professor of Medical Education at this university and directs its Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life. He holds a B.A. from

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society o ...

, a B.D. from

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. He was vice-chairman of the national Task Force on Organ Transplantation, and he has also served on the board of directors of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the UNOS Ethics Committee, the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee, the Human Gene Therapy Subcommittee, the Biomedical Ethics Advisory Committee, and several Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for NIH clinical trials. From 1996 to 2001, he served on the presidentially-appointed National Bioethics Advisory Commission. He is a fellow of the

Hastings Center The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute and think tank based in Garrison, New York. It was instrumental in establishing the field of bioethics and is among the most prestigious bioethics and health policy i ...

, an independent

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, m ...

research institution. His works include: * with

Tom Beauchamp Tom Lamar Beauchamp (born 1939) is an American philosopher specializing in the work of David Hume, moral philosophy, bioethics, and animal ethics. He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Georgetown University, where he was Senior Research Schola ...

: ''Principles of Biomedical Ethics'' (1978;

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, Oxford 2013, 7th ed.). * ''Practical reasoning in bioethics'', Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Pr. 1997. * ''A new dictionary of Christian ethics'', London: SCM Press 1986 (co-edited with John Macquarrie). * ''Who should decide? Paternalism in health care'', New York: Oxford Univ. Pr. 1982. * ''Moral responsibility in conflicts. Essays on nonviolence, war, and conscience'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Pr. 1982. * ''Priorities in biomedical ethics'', Philadelphia: Westminster Pr. 1981. * ''Civil disobedience and political obligation. A study in Christian social ethics'', New Haven: Yale Univ. Pr. 1971.

External links

Personal webpage at University of Virginia
1940 births American philosophers Living people American Christian theologians University of Virginia faculty Yale Divinity School alumni Guilford College alumni Christian ethicists Bioethicists Hastings Center Fellows Members of the National Academy of Medicine {{US-philosopher-stub

See also

External links