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Philosophy

D. Micah Hester, Affiliated Faculty

Image of Micha Hester

Office: Freeway Medical, Suite 500
Phone: 501-296-1745, x1333
Email: hesterdm@uams.edu

Introduction

I became associated with the Department of Philosophy and Liberal Studies at UALR soon after arriving in Little Rock to take a faculty position in the Division of Medical Humanities at UAMS. Thus, my “day job” is as a full-time bioethicist, teaching medical students and residents, and a clinical ethicist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Teaching in the faculty at UALR affords me the opportunity to work with undergraduates in the discipline of my training, philosophy. I am particularly interested in the American philosophy known as pragmatism which arose at the turn of the 20th century. This is particularly convenient since I have no facility with languages other than English, and my facility with English is limited.

“Philosophical study is the habit of always seeing an alternative.”
—William James

“To be clear-headed rather than confused; lucid rather than obscure; rational rather than otherwise; and to be neither more, nor less, sure of things than is justifiable by argument or evidence. That is worth trying for.”
—Geoffrey Warnock

Teaching Interests

I am interested in many aspects of the philosophical life, but in particular I have focused on ethics and critical thinking. Also, I am interested in philosophical thinkers such as William James and John Dewey.

Areas of Specialization: Bioethics, American Philosophy

Areas of Competence: Ethical Theory, Critical Thinking, British Empiricism

Research Interests

I publish and lecture in both bioethics and pragmatism. And have branched out to computer ethics and American idealism as well.

Selected Publications

    Books: Authored Volumes

  • Talisse RB, Hester DM, On James: Philosophy As Vision—an analysis of James’s philosophical contributions, Wadsworth, 2004.
  • Hester DM, Community As Healing: Pragmatist Ethics in Medical Encounters—an application of classic American philosophy to issues in physician-patient relationships, Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.
    Books: Edited Volumes

  • Hester DM, Talisse RB, Dewey’s Essays in Experimental Logic, John Dewey’s 1916 collection on logic, critical edition with additional relevant writings, So. Ill. Univ. Press, forthcoming, Winter 2007.
  • Lachs, J, Hester DM, A William Ernest Hocking Reader with Commentary—collection of original texts by and critical essays concerning W. E. Hocking, Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 2004.
  • Burke, T, Hester DM, Talisse RB, Dewey’s Logical Theory: New Studies and Interpretations—collection of critical essays concerning Dewey’s logical theory by contemporary scholars, Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 2002.
  • Hester DM, Ford PJ, Computers and Ethics in the Cyberage—textbook anthology of essays on the philosophy and ethics of computer technologies, Prentice Hall Publ., 2001.
  • Hester DM, Educating Hospital Ethics Committees—a textbook of educational chapters for HEC members, Rowman & Littlefield Publ., under contract.
    Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals

  • Hester DM, “Why We Must Leave Our Organs to Others”—American Journal of Bioethics, 2006, vol. 6, no. 4, W23-28
  • Hackler JC, Hester DM, “Age and the Allocation of Organs for Transplantation: A Case Study”—Health Care Analysis, 2005, vol. 13, no. 2, 129
  • Hester DM, “What Must We Mean by ‘Community’?: A Processive Account”—Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 2004, vol. 25, no. 5-6, 423-437.
  • Hester DM, “Is Pragmatism Well-suited to Bioethics?”—Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 2003, vol. 28, no. 5, 545-561
  • Hester DM, “What Constitutes a ‘Just’ Match?: A Reply to Murphy” (a response to Timothy Murphy’s article “Justice in Residency Placement: Is the Match System an Offense to the Values of Medicine?”)—Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics, 2003, vol 12, no. 1, 78-82
  • Hester DM, “Reproductive Technologies as Instruments of Meaningful Parenting: Ethics in the Age of ARTs”—Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics, 2002, vol. 11, no. 4, 401-410
  • Hester DM, “Narrative As Bioethics: The ‘Fact’ of Social Selves and the Function of Consensus”—Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics, 2002, vol. 11, no. 1, 17-26
  • Hester DM, “The Place of Community in Medical Encounters”—Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 1998, vol. 23, no. 4, 367-381
  • Hester DM, “Progressive Dying: Meaningful Acts of Euthanasia and Assisted—Journal of Medical Humanities, 1998, vol. 19, no. 4, 279-298

Educational Background

Ph.D., Philosophy 1998
Vanderbilt University

M.A., Philosophy 1995
Vanderbilt University

B.A., Philosophy 1988
Pomona College

Updated 10.4.2006