Professor of Philosophy, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Religious Studies

Research Interests and Selected Publications

Professor McGregor’s current research interests are focused on a number of questions in moral and legal philosophy.

Bioethics and environmental ethics join in research on the moral issues in sustainability. One of the most pressing sustainability questions pertains to modern food systems. Contemporary food systems are complex and multinational, involving workers and consumers from diverse cultures and economies. These systems must be capable of feeding large culturally varied populations without compromising social justice, human health, and the health of the planet.  These questions are multifaceted and require approaches and methods from a variety of disciplines. In order to tackle these challenges, McGregor’s current  project is directing Just Food  a multi-year, transdisciplinary project designed to research moral and cultural questions related to modern food production and consumption, including the consideration of the unintended consequences of the practices and technologies that we develop in our food systems.

McGregor directed two NEH summer institutes on sustainability, “Fierce Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and the Foundations of the Land Ethic” in 2009 and in 2011, “Beyond the Land Ethics: Sustainability and Humanities”.

Other projects in bioethics include moral and legal issues questions generated from the ethics of emerging technologies, nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science. Problems of consent,  exploitation, and coercion have continue to be a focus of research,  recently with attention to vulnerable populations in bio-medical research  examining the ethical and legal issues involved in doing genetic research with groups, particularly marginalized groups such as Native Americans. Out of this work has come an interest in the development of a theory of harm group. Another area of research and collaboration has been focused on the ethical and conceptual issues surrounding the definitions of death and ethics of organ donation.

Legal philosophy, particularly moral and legal dimensions of rape, has been an on-going area of research and publication.

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Teaching Interests and Courses

Graduate Course recently taught:

Ethics of Sustainability

Research Ethics and Law (cross-listed with law) 

Foundations of Bioethics 

Intercultural Issues in Bioethics (cross-listed with law) 

Normative Ethics 

Undergraduate courses recently taught: 

History and Philosophy of Sustainability

Bioethics 

Philosophy of Law 

Environmental ethics 

Applied Ethics 

Ethical theory