Chris MacDonald, Ph.D.

Philosopher and ethicist.

I'm Associate Professor (Tenured) in the Philosophy Department at Saint Mary's University (Halifax, Canada) and Coordinator of SMU's M.A. Programme in Philosophy. I'm also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics. I was recently a Visiting Professor at the Keck Graduate Institute, and am currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics.

I was named one of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics" for both 2008 and 2009, by Ethisphere Magazine.

I conduct research in business & professional ethics and health care ethics (including work on ethical issues in the biotechnology and nanotechnology industries) and foundational issues in moral theory. I'm currently writing a book on ethical issues in the biotech industry.

In 2004 I was awarded a 3-year Ethics Operating Grant by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, to support my project entitled "Biotech Ethics: Corporate Decisions as Key to Better Health and Better Health Policy".

In early 2006, I was awarded a 3-year Standard Research Grant by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (of Canada), to support my project entitled "External Perspectives on Corporate Moral Motivation."

In late 2006, I was awarded a 1-year grant, by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, under the title "Conflicting Interests, Benefit-Sharing & University-Industry Relations: A Socio-Ethical Analysis of Commercial Genomics Research."


I'm a former Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Bioethics, Dalhousie University, and former Graduate Research Associate at the University of British Columbia's Young Centre for Applied Ethics.

I'm active in ethics-related scholarly organizations. I was President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics, and am a former member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Bioethics Society. I'm also a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Business Ethics.

I'm co-author of The Power of Critical Thinking, 2nd Canadian Edn. (Vaughn & MacDonald, Oxford University Press, 2010).

Finally, I write a popular Business Ethics Blog.


Reaching Me:

  • e-mail: chris.macdonald@smu.ca

  • Tel: 902-420-5820

  • Mail:
    Department of Philosophy,
    Saint Mary's University,
    Halifax, NS
    B3H 3C3,
    Canada

 

My published work, by topic area:

What's powering my research right now?

"What is the EthicsWeb?"


An Ethicsweb.ca website.

This site is administered by: Chris MacDonald (chrismac@ethicsweb.ca