Allen Buchanan is the James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy at Duke University as well as a Research Professor at the Freedom Center.  His teaching and research focus on political philosophy, philosophy of international law, social moral epistemology, and bioethics. 

Allen continues to do research mainly in three areas: bioethics (at present mainly on the ethics of enhancement and of synthetic biology), philosophy of international law, and social moral epistemology. His most recent papers are as follows:

“Philosophical Theories of Human Rights,” forthcoming in The Oxford Handbook of Political Philosophy, edited by David Estlund.  This paper is a critical survey of current work by philosophers on human rights and argues that they have a seriously inadequate conception of what a philosophical theory of human rights should do.

"Why International Legal Human Rights?", forthcoming in Foundations of Human Rights, edited by Matthew Liao and Massimo Renzo.  This paper addresses an embarrassingly neglected question: Even if there are moral human rights, why should we have a system of international legal human rights?

"Human Rights and Moral Progress," forthcoming in Human Rights: The Hard Questions, edited by Cindy Holder and David Reidy.  This paper develops a theory of moral progress and shows how the modern conception of human rights incorporates  progress in thinking about justice.

"Social Moral Epistemology and Education," forthcoming in a volume on the Philosophy of Education resulting from a Spencer Foundation conference, edited by Harry Brighouse.

Allen's book, Beyond Humanity?: The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement, was published by Oxford University Press in April of 2011.  His popular ("trade") book on the same subject, Better than Human: The Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves, was published by Oxford University as part of Walter Sinnott-Armstrong's series on Philosophy in Action in October, 2011.