Robert MacDougall

Robert MacDougall is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Social Sciences at the New York City College of Technology, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, within the School of Arts & Sciences. He specializes in bioethics, political philosophy, and moral philosophy, with a focus on health policy, medicine, and law.

• Post-doctoral Fellowship, Novel Tech Ethics, Dalhousie University (2012-2013)
• PhD, Saint Louis University (2012)
• MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2007)

His research centers on foundational ethical questions in healthcare, including informed consent, physician obligations, pediatric decision-making, organ markets through a Kantian lens, and justice in public health policy. He integrates moral philosophy with practical applications in law and health systems.

His recent scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on normative justifications in health policy, the moral status of medical practices, and the role of ethics commissions. Themes include autonomy, justice, state authority, and the philosophical underpinnings of clinical and public health decisions. His work frequently engages with Kantian ethics, Rawlsian justice, and liberal political theory.

• CUNY Book Completion Award, 2017
• PSC-CUNY Research Award, 2016
• PSC-CUNY Research Award, 2017
• PSC-CUNY Research Award, 2019

MacDougall has served as Philosophy Discipline Coordinator at City Tech since 2016 and as Workshop Coordinator for the New York City Early Career Ethics Workshop since 2018. He is also an Editorial Advisory Board Member for the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (2019–present). He has advised on multiple peer-reviewed publications and regularly presents at major national and international conferences in philosophy and bioethics. While no formal student advising list is provided, his leadership in workshops and editorial roles suggests mentorship activity. He has secured competitive internal research funding through CUNY’s PSC-CUNY awards, supporting his publications and book project.

He is actively involved in academic discourse through invited lectures, panel presentations, and commentary on emerging ethical issues such as AI in clinical ethics and environmental justice. His work bridges theoretical philosophy and real-world policy challenges, contributing to both scholarly and public understanding of bioethical dilemmas.