Office Location: 203A West Duke Building
Office Phone: +1 919-660-2426
Fax: +1 919-660-3060
Email Address: 
Education:
PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1975
B.A., Magna cum laude, Columbia Uiversity, 1970
- Specialties:
-
Political Philosophy
Bioethics
Philosophy of Social Science
- Research Interests:
- I'll be delivering the Oxford Uehiro Centre Lectures in May of 2009. Previous Uehiro Lecturers include Peter Singer, Jonathan Glover, Jeff McMahan, and Frances Kamm. The Uehiro Lectures are published in a special book series by Oxford University Press. My lectures will be on the ethics of using biotechnologies to enhance ‘normal’ human capacities.The items on enhancement belwo constitute some of my preparation for the Uehiro Lectures.
- Recently accepted journal articles and book chapters:
- “Human Enhancement and Human Development,” Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, forthcoming
- “Enhancement and Human Nature,” Bioethics, forthcoming.
- “Breaking Evolution’s Chains: The Promise of Evolution by Design”, co-authored with Russell Powell, forthcoming in a volume on the ethics of enhancement edited by Julian Savulescu, Blackwell’s Publishing
- “Fidelity to Constitutional Democracy and International Law,’ co-authored with
Russell Powell, in The Routledge Handbook on International Law, David
Armstrong, ed., Routledge Press, forthcoming
- “Constitutional Democracy and The Rule of International Law: Are They Compatible?” co-authored with Russell Powell, in The Journal of Political Philosophy, forthcoming
- “Human Rights and the Legitimacy of the International Legal Order,” Legal Theory, forthcoming.
- The Legitimacy of International Law,” in The Philosophy of International Law, Samantha Besson and John Tasioulas,eds., Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
Academic History
Allen Buchanan is James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy. He graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College, Columbia University in 1970 and received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of North Carolina in 1975. He has taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wisconsin, before coming to Duke in 2002.
Areas of Specialization- Bioethics, with emphasis on ethical issues in the application of genetic technologies to human beings and on distributive justice in health care
- Political Philosophy, including work on the ethics of secession and on legitimacy
- Philosophy of International Law, including work on the moral foundations of international law, human rights, and global governance
Publications- Over one hundred published articles
- The following books:
Ethics, Efficiency, and the Market (1985)
Splicing Life: The Ethics of Genetic Engineering With Human Beings, with others at the President’s Commission on Medical Ethics (1993)
Genetic Screening and Testing, with others at the President’s Commission on Medical Ethics, 1983
Making Health Care Decisions, with others at the President’s Commission on Medical Ethics, 1983
Securing Access to Health Care, with others at the President’s Commission on Medical Ethics, 1983.
Deciding for Others: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision-Making, with Dan W. Brock(1989)
Secession: The Morality of Political Divorce (1991)
From Chance to Choice: Genetics and Justice (with Dan W. Brock, Norman Daniels, and Daniel Wikler (2000)
Justice, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law (2003)
Not Just Theory!
Throughout my career, I’ve combined theoretical work with engagement with public policy at the state, national, and international level. Here are a few examples:- Staff Philosopher (yes, that was the official title!) for the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Behavioral and Biomedical Research, 1982
- Consultant to the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S Congress; co-author of a study on ethical issues arising from the impending epidemic of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
- Staff Consultant to the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, 1994; wrote ethical framework chapter for Committee’s book-length report on grossly unethical experiments performed by U.S. government on thousands of Americans between 1946 and 1972.
- Consultant to the Transitional Government of Ethiopia; advised on the writing of the secession clause in the new Ethiopian Constitution, 1993
- Consultant to the European High Commissioner on National Minorities in the Hague, On alterative modes of self-determination for national minorities, short of full independence, 1996
- Commissioned by Canadian Government, Office of the Privy Council, to write a commentary on the Canadian Supreme Court Reference Ruling on the Possible Secession of Quebec, 1997.
- Served on Advisory Council for the National Human Genome Research Iinstitute, 1997-2000.
- Founder and Director of the Consortium on Pharmacogenetics, an academic/industry Cooperative study of ethical and regulatory issues of advances in knowledge concerning the relationship between genotypes and the effects of drugs, 2000.
- I’m writing a short book on the ethics of using biotechnologies to enhance ‘normal’ human capacities (Uehiro Lectures; see Recent News Items above)
- I’m doing preliminary work for a book on the ethics of believing, from a social moral epistemology standpoint
- I’m continuing to work on the moral underpinnings of international human rights law
- Areas of Interest:
- Political Philosophy,
Bioethics,
Philosophy of Social Science
- PHIL 95FCS.01, Ethical issues in genomics
- West Duke 108A, TuTh 02:50 PM-04:05 PM
- POLSCI 162.01, Human rights-theory/prac
- Sanford 04, TuTh 01:15 PM-02:30 PM
- Recent Publications
(More Publications)
- A. Buchanan. "Democracy and the Commitment to International Law." University of Georgia Journal of Comparative and International Law Spring 2006 (Spring, 2006). (Invited contribution to special issue on "The Limits of International Law" by Eric Posner and Jack Goldsmith)
- A. Buchanan. "Institutionalizing the Just War." Philosophy & Public Affairs (January, 2006).
- A. Buchanan. "Uncoupling Secession From Nationalism and Itnrastate Autonoly From Secession." Negotiating Self-Determination. Ed. Hurst Hannum Routledge, 2006
- A. Buchanan. "The Compatibility of Constitutional Democracy and the Supremacy of International Law." The Cambridge Handbook on International Law. Ed. John Armstrong Cambridge University Press, forthcoming
- A. Buchanan. ""Social Moral Epistemology and Ethics"." Ed. Jeff McMahan and Nancy Davis forthcoming