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Francisco Javier López Frías

Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, Penn State

Francisco Javier López Frías is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a research associate in the Rock Ethics Institute. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Valencia, where he also completed a master's program in Ethics and Democracy at the Department of Moral Philosophy.

His master’s thesis, “Reclaiming an Ethical Account of Sport,” explores the main approaches in sports ethics. His doctoral dissertation entitled “Human Enhancement and Doping in the Recent Philosophy of Sport” addresses current debates surrounding the introduction of biotechnologies in sport. He researches sports ethics and human enhancement, but is also interested in political philosophy, normative ethics, and applied ethics. López Frías has published numerous papers in international journals, as well as book chapters, book reviews, and books in the Philosophy of Sport.

He has been a visiting scholar at Penn State University, the Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics at Oxford University, the Franklin Institute of the University of Alcala de Henares, and the University of Rome - Foro Italico. He has been an active member of GIBUV (Research Group on Bioethics of the University of Valencia) and of working groups focusing on issues related to Neuroethics, Neuroeconomy and Neuropolitics. López Frías was awarded the Robert Scott Kretchmar Student Essay Award from IAPS (International Association for the Philosophy of Sport) in 2013 and participated in the 29th Seminar for Postgraduate Students on Olympic Studies organized by the International Olympic Academy (IOA) the following year. He is the secretary general of EAPS (European Association of the Philosophy of Sport) and an editorial board member of two journals on sports ethics: Fair Play and International Journal of Ethics and Sport Law.

Experience

  • –present
    Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University