RESEARCH &
PUBLICATIONS
Academic work on Bioethics

Xavier’s research interests include ethical issues at the beginning and end of life, conscientious objection, ethical issues in aged care, and pandemic ethics. His recently completed PhD thesis focused on the allocation of lifesaving healthcare resources.

Books and Publications

• Why Conscience Matters. London: Routledge, 2022.

• "On the importance of consistency: a response to Giubilini et al" Journal of Medical Ethics (2023): DOI: 10.1136/jme-2023-109152.

• "Moral Distress as Critique: Going Beyond 'Illegitimate Institutional Constraints" American Journal of Bioethics (2023): DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2023.2186519.

• "Conscientious Objection in Health Care: Why The Professional Duty Argument is Unconvincing" Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (2022): DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhac013.

• With Natasha Michael, George Mendz and David Kissane. "Vulnerability and Resilience: Phenomenological Analysis of Cancer Patients Value Directives" Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (2022): DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088539242200834X?via%3Dihub.

• "Why Conscience Matters: A Theory of Conscience and Its Relevance to Conscientious Objection in Medicine" Res Publica (2022): DOI: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11158-022-09555-2.pdf.

• With Billy Poulden. "An Ethical Defense of a Mandated Choice Consent Procedure for Deceased Organ Donation" Asian Bioethics Review 14 (2022): 259-270.

• With Susan Pennings. "First among equals? Adaptive preferences and the limits of autonomy in medical ethics" Journal of Medical Ethics (2022): DOI: doi: 10.1136/medethics-2021-107942.

• "Shlomi Segall. Why Inequality Matters: Luck Egalitarianism, Its Meaning and Value" Journal of Moral Philosophy 18;4 (Aug 2021): 425-428.

• With Kate Jones, Piret Paal and Megan Best. "The Content, Teaching Methods and Effectiveness of Spiritual Care Training for Healthcare Professionals: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review" Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 62;3 (Sept 2021): 261-278.

• With Reginald Chua. "Rationing, Responsibility and Blameworthiness: An Ethical Evaluation of Responsibility-Sensitive Policies for Healthcare Rationing." Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 31;1(2021): 53-76.

• "Respect for persons and the allocation of lifesaving healthcare resources". Bioethics 35;5(Feb 2021): 392-399

• With Susan Pennings. "Persuasion, not coercion or incentivisation, is the best means of promoting COVID-19 vaccination". Journal of Medical Ethics 47(2021): 709-711.

• "Reflective disequilibrium: a critical evaluation of the complete lives framework for healthcare rationing". Journal of Medical Ethics 47(2021): 108-112.

• With Reginald Chua. ‘‘’Alive by default’: An exploration of Velleman’s unfair burdens argument against state sanctioned euthanasia”. Bioethics 34;3 (2020): 288-294.

• “Strengthening the ethical distinction between euthanasia, palliative opioid use and palliative sedation”. Journal of Medical Ethics 46(2020): 57-58.

• With Clare O’Callaghan, Natasha Michael, David Kissane et al. “Patients’ and caregivers’ contested perspectives on spiritual care for those affected by advanced illnesses: a qualitative descriptive study.” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 58;6 (2019):977-988.

• ‘Pellegrino, MacIntyre, and the internal morality of clinical medicine’. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 40;3 (2019): 243-251.

• With Reginald Chua. “Organismal death, the dead-donor rule and the ethics of vital organ procurement”. Journal of Medical Ethics 44;12 (2018): 868-871.

• With Natasha Michael, Julia Trimboli and Clare O’Callaghan. ‘Extending awareness of Catholic Healthcare ethics amongst junior clinicians: A qualitative study’. Journal of Health and Religion 57;4 (2018): 1440-1450.

• “The right to know vs. the right to privacy: Donor anonymity and the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Amendment Act 2016 (Vic)”. The Medical Journal of Australia 207;9 (2017): 377-378.

• “Two conceptions of conscience and the problem of conscientious objection”. The Journal of Medical Ethics 43 (2017): 245-247.

• ‘On the univocity of rationality: a response to Nigel Biggar’s ‘Why religion deserves a place in secular medicine’’. The Journal of Medical Ethics 41 (2015): 870-872.

• ‘A response to Robert Zuradzki’s ‘preimplantation genetic diagnosis and rational choice under risk or uncertainty’’. The Journal of Medical Ethics 40 (2014): 779.