Ben Schwan

Case Western Reserve University

Department of Bioethics

I’m an Assistant Professor in Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University and a clinical ethics consultant for The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, OH. Before landing in Cleveland, I completed a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.

My research focuses primarily on issues of agency as they arise in ethical theory and practice. At the theoretical level, I explore implications that accounts of ability, intention, action, and control have for theories of reasons and oughts. At the practical level, I scrutinize the role that autonomy plays in justifying certain practices in medical research and clinical care and investigate the impact that health and healthcare have on patients’ scope of responsibility.

For more on my research, see my CV and research page.

Beyond my research and consultation work, I love to teach. You can find some of my teaching materials here.