^Researchers

Dr Oliver Feeney 

Tel: + 353 (0) 91 492280

Email: oliver.feeneysas.ac.uk

Oliver Feeney gained his PhD in political theory through the School of Political Science and Sociology under the supervision of Dr. Peter Morriss. The thesis (Winner of the PSAI Basil Chubb prize) - Equality of Whom? A Genetic Perspective on Equality of Opportunity (2008) - offered an analysis of contemporary egalitarian theory in light of new genetic technologies and developed and defended a deontic egalitarian response to the question of the just distribution of genetic technologies. Dr. Feeney is a former co-chairperson of the SSRC. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Studies, University of London and a lecturer with the Department of Politics, Birkbeck College, University of London.  

Current Research

• Primary research concerns the social justice implications of new genetic technologies, particularly from a broadly egalitarian perspective, and uses the possibility of such technologies to offer a critical appraisal of the equality/priority and ideal theory/non-ideal theory debates.
• Exploring the influence of new biological technologies and knowledge on society, politics and human evolution. 
• Examining the justifications of inequalities of important goods such as health and education and the mechanisms by which such inequalities have the propensity of perpetuating (over time and over generations) ever increasing inequalities between groups of people (and sometimes why they do not).
• Examining effects of genetic and social influences on motivation and focused on drawing from, and offering support for, an increased (constructive) discourse between sociology, genetic science and political philosophy and for the increased centrality of this discourse to contemporary debates in egalitarian theory and social justice.

Teaching (NUIG) 

• SPA419: Social and Political Theory - a seminar-based course in the structured PhD programme which provides the theoretical, sociological and normative foundations for doctoral research in the social sciences.
• SP687: The Theory and Politics of Contemporary Egalitarianism – a philosophical examination of contemporary egalitarian theory, with an emphasis on the ’equality of what?’, the equality-priority and the ideal versus non-ideal theory debates. (3BA)
• SP691: Genetics & Justice – an examination of political theory, law, and ethics in relation to new genetic technology. Main themes included genetic selection, therapies and enhancements, healthcare, disability issues and various theories of distributive justice applied to genetics. (3BA)
• SP504: Topics in Political Philosophy – a philosophical examination of theories of distributive justice centring on the works of John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Amartya Sen and G. A. Cohen. (3BA)
• SP215: Modern Political Thought – an introduction to modern political thought, through a study of some of its main writers, including Hobbes, Locke, Bentham and Mill. The main theme was the issue of political obligation: when and why ought we to obey the state? (2BA)
• SP160: Problems in Politics and Sociology - Small group, inquiry based learning, to enhance practical scholarship skills while engaging with real world problems. (1BA)
• Second year Political Science and Sociology seminar - Small group discussion class in Political and Social Theory, International relations and European Politics. (2BA) 

Book (in progress)

Egalitarianism in the Age of Genetics (2012)

Published articles and reviews

Feeney, Oliver, ’Parental Planning and New Reproductive Technologies’, Review of Wilkinson, Stephen 2010 Choosing Tomorrow’s Children: The Ethics of Selective Reproduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 265 pp Res Publica: A Journal of Legal and Social Philosophy (2011 forthcoming) [available 'Online First']

Feeney, Oliver, 'Germ-line Enhancements, Inequalities and the (In)egalitarian Ethos', Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology: Vol. 4 : Iss. 2 (Aug. 2010), Article 2.  

Feeney, Oliver, 'Equality of Whom? A genetic perspective on equality (of opportunity)' Res Publica: A Journal of Legal and Social Philosophy Vol. 12, No. 4 (Dec. 2006), 357-383. 

SSRC working papers:

'Normalising the Enhancement Discourse: Genetics, Social Structures and Moral Generalisations' SSRC Working paper (2011)

'Incentives, Genetics and the Egalitarian Ethos’ SSRC working paper (2011).

'Genomic Intervention and Non-ideal Justice' SSRC Working paper (2011)

'Genetic Determinism and the (Non-) Non-identity Problem' (2011).

Relative Egalitarianism against the Parfitian Equality-Priority Framework' (2011).

’Genomics and Social Justice: A reflexive appraisal’, SSRC working paper (2011).

’Egalitarianism in the Age of Genetics’, SSRC working paper (2010).

Recent Conference Papers

’Incentives, Genetics and the Egalitarian Ethos’ presented in the 2011 Political Studies Association Annual Conference, hosted by Novotel, London, UK.

’Incentives, Genetics and the Egalitarian Ethos’ presented in the 2010 Political Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference, hosted by Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland.

'Egalitarianism in the Age of Genetics' presented in the 'Human Enhancement and Social Justice' workshop in June 2010, hosted by the ESRC Innogen Centre, Open University and University of Edinburgh, UK. (Invited paper) 

'Enhancements, Incentives and the Egalitarian Ethos' presented in the Workshops in Political Theory, Sixth Annual Conference 2009, hosted by the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

'On monolithic alternatives: against the notion of enhancements as a singular moral entity' presented in the 2009 ALSP Annual Conference 'Ethics for the 21st Century', hosted by the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Research Fellowships and awards

• Winner of the 2009 Basil Chubb Prize, an award established by the Political Studies Association of Ireland to recognise the best PhD thesis (produced in an Irish university) in any field of politics.
• Faculty of Arts Research Fellowship.

News

CFP: PSA 2011 Conference Panel – Genetics and Justice '

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