Duff Waring (BA, MA, LLB, PhD) is a philosopher/lawyer who specialized in mental health law and psychiatric patient advocacy. He began doctoral studies in philosophy at York University in 1996 with a focus on political theory and bioethics. He specializes in ethics, bioethics, and philosophy of medicine, especially psychiatry. Professor Waring has been interviewed about his work in philosophy of psychiatry. To watch the video, go to: https://psagacity.org/.
Click here to watch a lecture on psychedelic therapy from Professor Waring's 4th year Honours Seminar Introduction to the Philosophy of Psychiatry: Lecture Recording
More...
He held a post-doctoral fellowship during 2001-2002 with the Biomedical Ethics Unit in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. He was a Research Associate from 2002-2004 with the Health Law and Policy Group in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and is appointed to the graduate faculties of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, Health and Osgoode Hall Law School. He teaches currently in the Philosophy Department at York University. He also teaches the Bioethics course in the Osgoode Hall Professional Development Centre’s Part-time Master’s Program in Health Law, as well as the Health, Ethics and Law course in the Faculty of Health’s Policy and Equity graduate program.
Degrees
PhD (Philosophy), York University 2001
LLB (Law), Ludlow Hall, University of New Brunswick, 1983
MA (Philosophy, University of New Brunswick 1981
BA, University of New Brunswick 1978
Member of the Law Society of Ontario, Admitted to the Ontario Bar 1987
Appointments
Faculty of Health
Professional Leadership
Former Senior Editor for the journal Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology.
Research Interests
Philosophy, Ethics, Mental Health, Bioethics, Philosophy of Psychiatry
Duff R. Waring, The Healing Virtues: Character Ethics in Psychotherapy (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2016).
2016
Law and Ethics in Biomedical Research: Regulation, Conflict of Interest and Liability. Edited by Trudo Lemmens and Duff R. Waring. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. 267 pages.
2006
Medical Benefit and the Human Lottery: An Egalitarian Approach to Patient Selection. Dordrecht, The Netherlands and New York: Springer, 2004. 220 pages.
2004
Book Chapters
Publication
Year
Waring, Duff R. “Opening Death’s Door: Psilocybin and Existential Suffering in Palliative Care.” In Medical Research Ethics: Challenges in the 21st Century. Eds. Tomas Zima and David N. Weisstub. Switzerland AG: Springer Nature, 2022. 235-264.
2023
Duff R. Waring, “Patient Responsibilities in a Psychiatric Healing Project,” in The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics, Vol. 2, eds. John Z. Sadler, Werdie (C.W.) Van Staden, and W.K.M. Fulford (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 1402-1418.
2015
“Clinical Equipoise and the Assessment of Therapeutic Risk.” The Ethics of Risk. Edited by Sabine Roeser and Lotte Asveld. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd., 2008. 105-138.
2008
“Intégration des valeurs dans l’évaluation du risque lié à la recherche biomédicale: arguments en faveur d’une réforme de la réglementation et du droit.” Le Droit et le Risque. Sous la Direction de la Commission du Droit du Canada. Saint-Nicolas, Quebec: Les Presses De L’Universite Laval, 2006. 233-303.
2006
Waring, Duff R. and Glass, Kathleen Cranley. “Legal Liability for Harm to Research Participants: The Case of Placebo-Controlled Trials.” Law and Ethics in Biomedical Research: Regulation, Conflict of Interest and Liability. Edited by Trudo Lemmens and Duff R. Waring. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. 206-227.
2006
Waring, Duff R. and Lemmens, Trudo. “Integrating Values in Risk Analysis of Biomedical Research: The Case for Regulatory and Law Reform.” Law and Risk. Edited by the Law Commission of Canada. Vancouver and Toronto: UBC Press, 2005. 156-200.
2005
Book Reviews
Publication
Year
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Making Us Crazy. DSM: The Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders, by Herb Kutchins and Stuart A. Kirk.” The Journal of Mind and Behavior 19, no. 4 (1998): 437-446.
1998
Waring, Duff R. “Review of The Wing of Madness: The Life and Work of R.D. Laing, by Daniel Burston.” The Journal of Mind and Behavior 18, no. 4 (1997): 465-472.
1997
Waring, Duff R. “Review of In the Sleep Room, by Anne Collins.” Journal of Law and Social Policy 5 (1989): 264-274.
1989
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Mental Disability and the Law in Canada, by Gerald B. Robertson.” Journal of Law and Social Policy 4 (1988): 181-188.
1988
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Mental Health Law in Canada, by Harvey Savage and Carla McKague.” Canadian Bar Review 67 (1988): 190-192.
1988
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD and the Sixties Rebellion, by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain." Phoenix Rising 7, no. 2 (1987).
1987
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences, by Thomas Szasz.” Phoenix Rising 7, no. 1 (1987).
1987
Journal Articles
Publication
Year
Waring, Duff R. “Telling It Like It Was: Dignity Therapy and Moral Reckoning in Palliative Care.” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 41 no. 1 (2021): 25-40.
2021
Waring, Duff R. “Wishing You Won’t Be Here: Medical Assistance in Dying for Psychiatric Patients.” Ethics, Medicine, and Public Health 8 (Jan. 2019): 1-10. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemep.2018.08.004.
2019
Waring, Duff R. “The Virtuous Patient.” Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 19, no 1 (2012): 25-36. Feature Article with Two Commentaries: "Psychotherapy as Cultivating Character" by Mike W. Martin (37-39) and "Virtue and Psychotherapy" by Robert L. Woolfolk (41-43). Response by Waring, Duff R. “Psychotherapy Through the Prism of Moral Language” (45-48).
2012
Waring, Duff R. “The Antidepressant Debate and Ethically Defensible Placebo-Controlled Trials.” IRB: Ethics and Human Research 30, no. 6 (2008): 12-16.
2008
Waring, Duff R. “The Antidepressant Debate and the Balanced Placebo Trial Design: An Ethical Analysis.” The International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 31, no. 6 (2008): 453-462.
2008
Glass, Kathleen Cranley and Waring, Duff R. “The Physician/Investigator’s Obligation to Patients Participating in Research: The Case of Placebo Controlled Trials.” The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 33, no. 3 (2005): 575-585.
2005
Waring, Duff R. “Adequate Conscious Life and Age-Related Need: F. M. Kamm’s Approach to Patient Selection.” Bioethics 18, no. 3 (June 2004): 234-248.
2004
Waring, Duff R. and Lemmens, Trudo. “Integrating Values in Risk Analysis of Biomedical Research: The Case for Regulatory and Law Reform.” University of Toronto Law Journal 56, no. 3 (2004): 249-290.
2004
Fergusson, Dean, Glass, Kathleen Cranley, Waring, Duff R. and Shapiro, Stanley. “Turning a Blind Eye: The Success of Blinding Reported in a Random Sample of Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trials.” British Medical Journal 328 (Feb. 21/2004): 432-434.
2004
Waring, Duff R. “Paradoxical Drug Response and the Placebo Effect: A Discussion of Grunbaum’s Definitional Scheme.” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 24 (2003): 5-17.
2003
Glass, Kathleen Cranley and Waring, Duff R. “Good Research Need Not Conflict With Good Patient Care.” American Journal of Bioethics 2, no. 2 (2002): 26-27.
2002
Waring, Duff R. “Why the Practice of Medicine Is Not a Phronetic Activity." Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 21 (2000): 139-151.
2000
Valentine, Mary Beth, Waring, Duff R., Guiffrida, David and Hall, Donna. "Competency and Treatment Refusal in Psychiatric Hospitals." Canada's Mental Health 40 (1992): 20-24.
1992
Waring, Duff R. "Use of Restraints in Ontario Psychiatric Hospitals." Journal of Law and Social Policy 7 (1991): 251-283.
1991
Waring, Duff R. “Telling It Like It Was: Dignity Therapy and Moral Reckoning in Palliative Care.” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 41 no. 1 (2021): 25-40.
Other
Publication
Year
Professor Waring has been interviewed about his work in philosophy of psychiatry. To watch the video, go to: https://psagacity.org/.
2018
Current Courses
Term
Course Number
Section
Title
Type
Winter 2025
AP/PHIL1100 3.0
M
The Meaning of Life
LECT
Duff Waring (BA, MA, LLB, PhD) is a philosopher/lawyer who specialized in mental health law and psychiatric patient advocacy. He began doctoral studies in philosophy at York University in 1996 with a focus on political theory and bioethics. He specializes in ethics, bioethics, and philosophy of medicine, especially psychiatry. Professor Waring has been interviewed about his work in philosophy of psychiatry. To watch the video, go to: https://psagacity.org/.
Click here to watch a lecture on psychedelic therapy from Professor Waring's 4th year Honours Seminar Introduction to the Philosophy of Psychiatry: Lecture Recording
He held a post-doctoral fellowship during 2001-2002 with the Biomedical Ethics Unit in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. He was a Research Associate from 2002-2004 with the Health Law and Policy Group in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and is appointed to the graduate faculties of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, Health and Osgoode Hall Law School. He teaches currently in the Philosophy Department at York University. He also teaches the Bioethics course in the Osgoode Hall Professional Development Centre’s Part-time Master’s Program in Health Law, as well as the Health, Ethics and Law course in the Faculty of Health’s Policy and Equity graduate program.
Degrees
PhD (Philosophy), York University 2001
LLB (Law), Ludlow Hall, University of New Brunswick, 1983
MA (Philosophy, University of New Brunswick 1981
BA, University of New Brunswick 1978
Member of the Law Society of Ontario, Admitted to the Ontario Bar 1987
Appointments
Faculty of Health
Professional Leadership
Former Senior Editor for the journal Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology.
Research Interests
Philosophy, Ethics, Mental Health, Bioethics, Philosophy of Psychiatry
All Publications
Book Chapters
Publication
Year
Waring, Duff R. “Opening Death’s Door: Psilocybin and Existential Suffering in Palliative Care.” In Medical Research Ethics: Challenges in the 21st Century. Eds. Tomas Zima and David N. Weisstub. Switzerland AG: Springer Nature, 2022. 235-264.
2023
Duff R. Waring, “Patient Responsibilities in a Psychiatric Healing Project,” in The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics, Vol. 2, eds. John Z. Sadler, Werdie (C.W.) Van Staden, and W.K.M. Fulford (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 1402-1418.
2015
“Clinical Equipoise and the Assessment of Therapeutic Risk.” The Ethics of Risk. Edited by Sabine Roeser and Lotte Asveld. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd., 2008. 105-138.
2008
“Intégration des valeurs dans l’évaluation du risque lié à la recherche biomédicale: arguments en faveur d’une réforme de la réglementation et du droit.” Le Droit et le Risque. Sous la Direction de la Commission du Droit du Canada. Saint-Nicolas, Quebec: Les Presses De L’Universite Laval, 2006. 233-303.
2006
Waring, Duff R. and Glass, Kathleen Cranley. “Legal Liability for Harm to Research Participants: The Case of Placebo-Controlled Trials.” Law and Ethics in Biomedical Research: Regulation, Conflict of Interest and Liability. Edited by Trudo Lemmens and Duff R. Waring. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. 206-227.
2006
Waring, Duff R. and Lemmens, Trudo. “Integrating Values in Risk Analysis of Biomedical Research: The Case for Regulatory and Law Reform.” Law and Risk. Edited by the Law Commission of Canada. Vancouver and Toronto: UBC Press, 2005. 156-200.
2005
Book Reviews
Publication
Year
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Making Us Crazy. DSM: The Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders, by Herb Kutchins and Stuart A. Kirk.” The Journal of Mind and Behavior 19, no. 4 (1998): 437-446.
1998
Waring, Duff R. “Review of The Wing of Madness: The Life and Work of R.D. Laing, by Daniel Burston.” The Journal of Mind and Behavior 18, no. 4 (1997): 465-472.
1997
Waring, Duff R. “Review of In the Sleep Room, by Anne Collins.” Journal of Law and Social Policy 5 (1989): 264-274.
1989
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Mental Disability and the Law in Canada, by Gerald B. Robertson.” Journal of Law and Social Policy 4 (1988): 181-188.
1988
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Mental Health Law in Canada, by Harvey Savage and Carla McKague.” Canadian Bar Review 67 (1988): 190-192.
1988
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD and the Sixties Rebellion, by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain." Phoenix Rising 7, no. 2 (1987).
1987
Waring, Duff R. “Review of Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences, by Thomas Szasz.” Phoenix Rising 7, no. 1 (1987).
1987
Books
Publication
Year
Duff R. Waring, The Healing Virtues: Character Ethics in Psychotherapy (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2016).
2016
Law and Ethics in Biomedical Research: Regulation, Conflict of Interest and Liability. Edited by Trudo Lemmens and Duff R. Waring. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. 267 pages.
2006
Medical Benefit and the Human Lottery: An Egalitarian Approach to Patient Selection. Dordrecht, The Netherlands and New York: Springer, 2004. 220 pages.
2004
Journal Articles
Publication
Year
Waring, Duff R. “Telling It Like It Was: Dignity Therapy and Moral Reckoning in Palliative Care.” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 41 no. 1 (2021): 25-40.
2021
Waring, Duff R. “Wishing You Won’t Be Here: Medical Assistance in Dying for Psychiatric Patients.” Ethics, Medicine, and Public Health 8 (Jan. 2019): 1-10. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemep.2018.08.004.
2019
Waring, Duff R. “The Virtuous Patient.” Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 19, no 1 (2012): 25-36. Feature Article with Two Commentaries: "Psychotherapy as Cultivating Character" by Mike W. Martin (37-39) and "Virtue and Psychotherapy" by Robert L. Woolfolk (41-43). Response by Waring, Duff R. “Psychotherapy Through the Prism of Moral Language” (45-48).
2012
Waring, Duff R. “The Antidepressant Debate and Ethically Defensible Placebo-Controlled Trials.” IRB: Ethics and Human Research 30, no. 6 (2008): 12-16.
2008
Waring, Duff R. “The Antidepressant Debate and the Balanced Placebo Trial Design: An Ethical Analysis.” The International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 31, no. 6 (2008): 453-462.
2008
Glass, Kathleen Cranley and Waring, Duff R. “The Physician/Investigator’s Obligation to Patients Participating in Research: The Case of Placebo Controlled Trials.” The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 33, no. 3 (2005): 575-585.
2005
Waring, Duff R. “Adequate Conscious Life and Age-Related Need: F. M. Kamm’s Approach to Patient Selection.” Bioethics 18, no. 3 (June 2004): 234-248.
2004
Waring, Duff R. and Lemmens, Trudo. “Integrating Values in Risk Analysis of Biomedical Research: The Case for Regulatory and Law Reform.” University of Toronto Law Journal 56, no. 3 (2004): 249-290.
2004
Fergusson, Dean, Glass, Kathleen Cranley, Waring, Duff R. and Shapiro, Stanley. “Turning a Blind Eye: The Success of Blinding Reported in a Random Sample of Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trials.” British Medical Journal 328 (Feb. 21/2004): 432-434.
2004
Waring, Duff R. “Paradoxical Drug Response and the Placebo Effect: A Discussion of Grunbaum’s Definitional Scheme.” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 24 (2003): 5-17.
2003
Glass, Kathleen Cranley and Waring, Duff R. “Good Research Need Not Conflict With Good Patient Care.” American Journal of Bioethics 2, no. 2 (2002): 26-27.
2002
Waring, Duff R. “Why the Practice of Medicine Is Not a Phronetic Activity." Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 21 (2000): 139-151.
2000
Valentine, Mary Beth, Waring, Duff R., Guiffrida, David and Hall, Donna. "Competency and Treatment Refusal in Psychiatric Hospitals." Canada's Mental Health 40 (1992): 20-24.
1992
Waring, Duff R. "Use of Restraints in Ontario Psychiatric Hospitals." Journal of Law and Social Policy 7 (1991): 251-283.
1991
Waring, Duff R. “Telling It Like It Was: Dignity Therapy and Moral Reckoning in Palliative Care.” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 41 no. 1 (2021): 25-40.
Other
Publication
Year
Professor Waring has been interviewed about his work in philosophy of psychiatry. To watch the video, go to: https://psagacity.org/.