J.J. (Jos) Kole

Welcome at my homepage

I am an assistant professor professional ethics of healthcare at the Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare (IQ-healthcare) from Radboud university medical center. 

Apart from my work in higher education and research, I was also member of the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ) from 2010-2020.

I studied both philosophy and theology (MA) and wrote a Ph.D. thesis on meta-ethics (Frankena, theory of justification - relation morality-religion) but that is already long ago, although I am still fond of meta-ethical issues. Since August 2005, I focus on teaching and research in professionalism & ethics. 

Teaching: Teaching professional ethics, philosophy and 'medical humanities' to students of diverse professions, mainly in healthcare, is my main task and ambition. Developing new attractive and challenging teaching is part of my responsibilities as well.

Research: Most of the time, professional ethics is linked to a specific profession. Yet, my aim is to develop more general, relevant professional-ethical insights by comparative moral philosophical analysis and research.

My motto is that professional ethics should be both practically relevant and philosophically interesting (which sounds slightly better in Dutch: praktisch relevant - wijsgerig interessant).

My most recent finished research project concerned professional virtues. Other earlier research projects focused on the ethics of interprofessional collobaration in youth care and community care, and on professional ethics concerning child abuse (see the tab 'professonal ethics' above for more information).

The coming years my focus will be on (inter)professional ethics in the healthcare professions, dental ethics and 'professional ethics for scientists' (scientific integrity) included. Other themes of interest are the role of virtues and critical ethical reflection in the cultivation of professionalism.

I am Dutch and live in The Netherlands.

Work: publications and activities

Look here 

Most recently:

• 2018. W. Sanderse & J. Kole (eds.). Karakter. Deugden voor professionals. Leusden: ISVW. 

• 2017. Braspenning, J., Kole, J., & van der Burg, S. (2017). Duidelijke informatie over kwaliteit van huisartsenzorg. Reflectie op een gesprek tussen huisartsen, verzekeraars en patiënten. NTvG, (161-D1207), p.2–3.

• 2017 KNMT IQual crash course in professional ethics for dentitsts [info] [youtube-intro]

• 2016. Samen zorgen in de wijk. CEG-signalement 18 mei 2016 [J.J. Kole leading author]

• 2016. Moreel beraad bij de koffieautomaat. Op het grensvlak van professionele communicatie en ethiek. In: Tijdschrift voor Gezondheid en Ethiek, jrg. 26 (1), p.13-18.

Work in progress, upcoming activitities and publications in 2019:

• articles co-authored on dentistry and human enhancement

Awards, grants etcera.

2020 Comenius Senior Fellowship

2010 ZonMW Research grant € 100.000 for professional ethical research after interprofessional cooperation in youth care

2003 Award Legatum Stolpianum, Leiden University (the Netherlands) - 1st price for best Dutch Ph.D. thesis on moral philosophy of philosophy of religion

2002 PhD. cum laude

1995 Award The Radboud Foundation (nowadays Thomas More foundation) - 1st price in National Dutch contest on Best Ma-thesis on religion-morality-meaning of life (17-11-1995)

1995 MA theology (moral philosophy) cum laude

Short CV

born in 1968, married with Anna Walsma, with three children

study philosophy 1989-1995

study theology, MA 1995 (cum laude)

Ph.D. 22 february 2002 (cum laude)

extended CV here