Assoc. Prof. Bernadette Tobin

MA (Melb), Med (Melb), PhD (Cantab)

Bernadette Tobin is Reader in Philosophy and Director of the Plunkett Centre for Ethics at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.

Recent Publications

‘Contemporary Moral Philosophy and Happiness.’ In Truth and Faith in Ethics, edited by Hayden Ramsey. St Andrews Studies in Philosophy and Public Affairs, Imprint Academic, (2011): 71-84.

That’s right, isn’t it?  Old and new ethical issues in paediatric care J Paed Child Health 2011; 47:  9, (September 2011): 579-580.

IH Kerridge, CFC Jordens, R Benson, R Clifford, R Ancheny, D Keown, B. Tobin, S Bhattacharyya, A Sachedina, L Lehmann, B Edgar.  Religious Perspectives on embryo donation and research. Clinical Ethics, 5 (2010): 35-45.

D Fitzgerald, D Isaacs, B. Tobin. Palivizumab: A debate about funding. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, Advance Access, published 10 October 2010. doi: 10.1111/j. 1440-1754.2010.01865x

Shirley Alexander, Louise Baur, Roger Magnusson, B. Tobin: ‘When does severe childhood obesity become a child protection issue?’ Medical Journal of Australia (2009), 190 (3).

Selected Publications

Development in Virtues. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 22, 2, 1987.

Richard Peters Theory of Moral Development. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 23, 1, 1989.

An Aristotelian Theory of Moral Development, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 23, 2, 1989.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the role of cognition in Christian life. The Australasian Catholic Record, LXX1, October 1994.

The virtues in John Wilson’s approach to moral education, Journal of Moral Education, 29, 3, (2000): 301-311.

Philosophy of Religion, Ethics, Philosophy of Education

Ethics: meta-ethics, normative ethics, ‘autonomy’ of ethics.
Philosophy of religious belief: cognitive status of religious belief; role of testimony.
Philosophy of education: stages in moral development.
Ethics of healthcare: goals of medicine and nursing; responsibility for decision-making.

Catholic Culture, Ethics, Bioethics, Ethics of Healthcare.

• Member, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain.
• Member, Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia.
• Member, Catholic Moral Theologians’ Society of Australasia.
• Member, Editorial Board, Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics.