Portrait of Jonathan D. Moreno

PERSON

Jonathan D. Moreno

1952–

Bioethics · Philosophy

American bioethicist, philosopher, and historian of science whose work has shaped research ethics, neuroethics, science policy, and the ethics of national security.

At a Glance

Primary fields
Bioethics; Philosophy
Intellectual streams
Research ethics & consent; Law & public policy; Boundary expansion
Modes of contribution
Conceptual / theoretical; Legal / policy; Institutional; Public / translational

01 / LIFE & CONTEXT

Government secrecy and military research form one entry into Jonathan D. Moreno's wider work on bioethics and science policy. Trained in philosophy at Washington University, he developed an interdisciplinary career in research ethics, the history of science, and medicine. At the University of Pennsylvania he became the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor; he has also served as staff member or adviser to U.S. presidential bioethics commissions.

02 / KEY CONTRIBUTIONS

Undue Risk: Secret State Experiments on Humans (1999) examined government-sponsored research involving human subjects and the ethical pressures created when science meets state power and secrecy. In Mind Wars, Moreno explored neuroscience and neurotechnology in national defense. His scholarship also considers moral consensus and the history of bioethics, while commission work connects those academic concerns to federal deliberation.

03 / HISTORICAL ROLE

Moreno's subjects chart bioethics' movement into terrain beyond the hospital and ordinary research oversight: national security, brain science, biotechnology, and democratic control of science. The history of the field is itself one of his objects of inquiry.

04 / SELECTED WORKS & CONTRIBUTIONS

Undue Risk: Secret State Experiments on Humans (1999); Is There an Ethicist in the House? On the Cutting Edge of Bioethics (2005); The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America (2011); Mind Wars: Brain Science and the Military in the 21st Century (2012); Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die: Bioethics and the Transformation of Health Care in America (with Amy Gutmann, 2019); The Brain in Context: A Pragmatic Guide to Neuroscience (with Jay Schulkin, 2020); Absolutely Essential: Bioethics and the Rules-Based International Order (2024).

Roles and contributions