James Franklin Childress (born 4 October 1940) is a philosopher

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 and theologian

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 mainly concerned with ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

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

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

. He is also Professor of Medical Education at this university and directs its Institute for Practical Ethics. He has obtained a B.A. from Guilford College

Guilford College

Guilford College, founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends , is an independent college whose stated mission is to: provide a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment, guided by Quaker...

, a B.D. from Yale Divinity School

Yale Divinity School

Yale Divinity School is a professional school at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. preparing students for ordained or lay ministry, or for the academy...

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

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

.
He was vice chair 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

Hastings Center

The Hastings Center, founded in 1969, is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit bioethics research institute based in the United States. It is dedicated to the examination of essential questions in health care, biotechnology, and the environment...

, an independent bioethics research institution.

His works include:

• Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 6th ed., Oxford: Oxford Univ. Pr. 2009 (with Tom L. Beauchamp).
• 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

• James F. Childress's homepage at the University of Virginia