Ozan Gurcan - Research

Areas of Specialization: bioethics; political philosophy; ethics and public policy
Areas of Competence: feminist ethics; business ethics
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I am interested in:

Developing a reasonable conception of 'unjustified genetic discrimination' that is flexible enough to address future forms of genetic discrimination.
Identifying the content and limits of reprogenetic liberties in the genomic era.
Investigating the relationship and co- utilization of ideal & non-ideal theorizing in applied ethics.

As a political bioethicist, I regularly engage with the philosophical and sociological concepts of pluralism, public reason, equality of opportunity, and medicalization. Most generally, I am interested in extending the basic moral principle of equality as far as logically possible, within the confines of a democratic, free and equal society.

Here are my most recent publications:

Gurcan, O. (2025). Moral Permissibility and Desert in the Therapy-Enhancement Distinction. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. doi:10.1017/jme.2025.64
Gurcan, O. (2024). Moral Equality and Reprogenetic Autonomy in the Genomic Era. Politics and the Life Sciences. doi:10.1017/pls.2024.12.2024

My doctoral dissertation was on genetic discrimination in life insurance. I use a luck egalitarian & expression-based conception of discrimination to demonstrate how the genetic non-discrimination law in Canada can be improved.

Between 2017-2020, my project was funded by the Government of Ontario and the David and Rachel Epstein Scholarship.

My main contributions to the field of Ethics and Public policy from this project are that:

I offer a pluralistic, compensation-based policy to the issue of (genetic) discrimination in life insurance, by accounting for and balancing the interests of relevant stakeholders, including that of private insurers, individuals, and public-at-large.
The general public reason framework is strengthened by insights from feminist ethics, resulting in more contextually informed proposals.
I broaden the genetic discrimination literature by arguing that many other kinds of information—such as lifestyle and environmental—are also implicated in the debate, which puts into question the fairness of the way private insurance operates in general.

Dissertation abstract

The Genetic Non-discrimination Act in Canada prohibits service providers such as life insurance companies from using genetic test results in their risk-assessment procedures. From a practical standpoint, however, this law does not change much for those seeking life insurance. The law does not change much for these individuals because it is reflective of what I call a ‘genetic test exceptionalism’ policy rather than what is known as the broader policy of ‘genetic exceptionalism’. What this means is that insurers are still free to request other kinds of genetic data from clients such as information about family history of genetic disease, and the results of non-genetic tests that can nonetheless reveal genetic information. These may similarly render genetically disadvantaged persons ineligible for insurance and/or increase their premiums, which are two outcomes that the law is attempting to reduce.

In this thesis, I critique both 'genetic exceptionalism' and 'genetic test exceptionalism' as ways to protect genetically disadvantaged persons in life insurance, and defend an alternative response to the problem of unjustified discrimination. Without equating all genetic discrimination to “unjustified discrimination”, I argue that every life insurance customer ought to be offered two options: (1) a substantive no-questions-asked guaranteed insurance; and (2) insurance based on full disclosure of information. When a person seeks insurance coverage above the 'no-questions-asked' amount but below a maximum limit, the premium cost ought to be shared between the insured--who pays for what is ‘controllable’--and the state--who pays for what is based on “bad luck” and (i) leads to disadvantage and/or (ii) expresses a negative message.

Next steps:

Minimally, my project can cause policy discussion towards a new, more inclusive direction.
Maximally, my project can be piloted.
Future research can utilize the ethical building blocks from my dissertation, including my conceptualization of unjustified genetic discrimination, to analyze discrimination in other contexts (e.g., law enforcement, immigration) and develop their own normative tools to aid in addressing them.

My paper “Genetic discrimination, life insurance, and justice as fairness” uses key philosophical ideas that were later developed in my dissertation.

Abstract: In this paper, I use justice as fairness (JAF) to inquire whether any issues of liberal justice are raised by the practice of genetic discrimination in society, in particular from the standpoint of life insurance pricing in Canada. I present three ways in which JAF may apply. First and foremost, Rawls’ negative thesis can be interpreted to say that one’s genetic characteristics are morally arbitrary and therefore persons do not deserve to be advantaged or disadvantaged by the basic structure of society based on these characteristics. Second, as James W. Nickel observes, Rawls’ principle of equal basic liberties can be interpreted to include a right to privacy which is necessary, among other things, in order to protect other basic rights and liberties. Third, as Martin O’Neill maintains, life insurance is a gateway social good that allows individuals to access primary goods and to live a full human life. Therefore, securing this important good on non-discriminatory grounds is of fundamental importance for a society committed to social justice.

My research in industry: Business ethics

My report can be accessed here

My Presentations

Reprogenetic ethics and policy

Moral equality and reprogenetic autonomy in the genomic era at the Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, 2024
An enhanced therapy-enhancement distinction at the Conference of the Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW), Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands, 2024
Designer babies and genetic enhancement at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa, Canada (invited talk), 2020
Bioethics and genetic technologies, guest lecture presented to students of BIOL 4301- Current Topics in Biotechnology, Carleton University, Ottawa (invited talk), 2017
Ethical issues facing the Deaf community, presented to Carleton University’s Disability Research Group, Ottawa (invited talk), 2017

Panel discussion on human genome editing, 2020

Genetic exceptionalism

Genetic (test) exceptionalism in life insurance- presented at

Law and Society Conference, 2021
Great Lakes Philosophy Conference, 2021
Accepted for presentation at the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics World Conference on Bioethics, Medical Ethics & Health Law (event cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)

Ethics in the private sphere

What's so special about genetic information, anyway? - presented at
1. - History and Philosophy of Science Seminar Series, Caltech, 2023
How should genetically disadvantaged persons be treated by life insurers? - presented at

Canadian Bioethics Society Conference, 2021

The Canadian Genetic Non-discrimination Act, life insurance, and justice as fairness - presented at

International Social Philosophy Conference, Oakland University, 2018
Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics Conference, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2017

Research ethics

Challenges for informed consent - presented at
1. - The Movies that Matter series (public event): The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Caltech, 2023 (invited talk)

Clinical ethics

“World-travelling" as a means to applying epistemic humility in chronic pain management - presented at

Western Michigan University Medical Humanities Conference, 2018

Animal ethics and other topics in applied ethics

Animal ethics and sentience, lecture presented to

Students of PHIL 2501- Philosophy of Mind, Carleton University, Ottawa (invited talk), 2018
Students of PHIL1550- Intro to Ethics and Social Issues, Carleton University, Ottawa (invited talk), 2018

Technology and distributive justice - lecture presented to

Students of PS/Ec 128- Intro to Public Health Economics and Policy, Caltech, Pasadena (invited talk), 2024

My arguments and research have appeared in:

My argument on genetic privacy appears on Chapter 13 of the Research Handbook on Information Policy.

My master's research on the ethics of safe injection facilities is listed as a resource by the organization responsible for providing national leadership to address substance use in Canada.

I am interested in collaborating. Get in touch at: ogurcan@caltech.edu

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Areas of Specialization: bioethics; political philosophy; ethics and public policy Areas of Competence: feminist ethics; business ethics ________________________ I am interested in: