Year in Review (2012)

As 2012 comes to an end I thought I would summarize the research highlights of the year for me.

Publications out in print this year:

“Virtue Epistemology and the “Epistemic Fitness" of Democracy" Political Studies Review 10(1), 2012, pp. 7-22.

“Patriarchy and Historical Materialism” Hypatia 26(1), 2012, pp. pages 1–21.

“”Positive Biology” as a New Paradigm for the Medical Sciences” Nature’s EMBO Reports 13, 2012, pp. 186 – 188.

“Biogerontology and the Intellectual Virtues” Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences 67(7), 2012. pp. 734-6.

“Why the NIH Should Create an Institute of Positive Biology” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine Vol. 105, 2012, pp. 412-15.

Papers forthcoming include:

“Play and Politics” (forthcoming) Journal of Political Science Education

“Normative Theorising about Genetics” (forthcoming) Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics

New paper on the duty to extend the human biological warranty period.

Major puzzles worked in 2012:

1. Positive Biology. A vision for the medical sciences that transcends the limitations of the fixation on pathology. Media interviews included this piece in the National Post, this interview with the CBC, and a forthcoming interview in the Reader's digest.

2. Punishment. Spent most of the winter and spring contemplating the question "Why punish?". Paper is still a work in progress. See series of blog posts, part 1, part 2, part 3.

3. Extending the human biological warranty period. See series of posts on this topic: post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4 and post 5 (paper forthcoming I hope later next year).

Intellectual aspirations for 2012:

Make serious headway (and complete!) a book on the genetic revolution which I have been working on for over a decade.

Take some serious plunge into the new literature on the science of happiness.

Work out some new ideas on non-ideal theory.

Other blog highlights from the year include:

The Institute of Positive Biology: Outline of a Bold Vision

and

Syracuse Workshop on Virtue, Citizenship and Law


Cheers,
Colin