John Sadler, M.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

John Z. Sadler, M.D., Director of the Program in Ethics in Science & Medicine and Chief of the Division of Ethics in the Department of Psychiatry is internationally acclaimed for his work in the fields of Philosophy and Ethics of Psychiatry. He is co-founder and treasurer of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy & Psychiatry, an organization dedicated to exploring conceptual issues at the interface of psychiatry and philosophy, and is one of three Executive Secretaries of the International Network of Philosophy and Psychiatry.

For 30 years, until 2024, Dr. Sadler edited the international journal Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, along with its founding editor, K. W. M. Fulford. Dr. Sadler continues to co-edit the Oxford University Press book series International Perspectives on Philosophy and Psychiatry, which has published over 50 monographs, and Oxford Handbooks reference texts. Dr. Sadler’s work prompted the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians to award their Psychiatric Excellence Award to him in 2001.

Dr. Sadler’s ongoing work in the education of medical students, residents, and practitioners has earned him several teaching awards, including the Nancy C.A. Roeske Certificate of Excellence in Medical Education from the American Psychiatric Association, appointment as a UT System and UT Southwestern Distinguished Teaching Professor, election to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society anno domini, and an inaugural recipient of the UT Health Science System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012. In 2014 he was awarded the Distinguished Clinical Science Educator Award from the UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers, and in 2014 he was designated a Distinguished Life Fellow from the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Sadler has edited or co-edited several books and several special issues of professional journals, and he authored Values and Psychiatric Diagnosis (Oxford University Press, 2005) and Vice and Psychiatric Diagnosis (Oxford University Press, 2024). In collaboration with philosopher Jennifer Radden, he co-authored The Virtuous Psychiatrist: Character Ethics in Clinical Practice. In 2013 Dr. Sadler was a co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry, and in 2015 he was the lead editor of the 2-volume, 1700-page Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics and, in 2021, a co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics, all definitive reference works in their fields. Dr. Sadler has published dozens of articles and chapters in the area of clinical psychiatry, psychiatric education, bioethics, and the philosophy of psychiatry. Since 1985, he has served on the Parkland Hospital & Health System Institutional Ethics Committee and, from 1989-2019, served as its co-chair and the clinical ethics consultant to the hospital. Dr. Sadler received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and trained in psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center before joining the faculty in 1984.

Education

Research Interest

Publications

Featured Publications

Confidence of IRB/REC Members in Their Assessments of Human Research Risk: A Study of IRB/REC Decision Making in Action.: Grinnell F, Sadler JZ, McNamara V, Senetar K, Reisch J J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics 2017 May 1556264617710386
Polarities in Clinical Thinking and Practice.: Sadler JZ AMA J Ethics 2017 Feb 19 2 141-146
Behavioral Aspects of the Pre-transplant Assessment.: Gonzalez-Ammatuna E, Sadler JZ Tex Med 2015 111 2 47-50
Risk factor medicalization, hubris, and the obesity disease.: Sadler JZ Narrat Inq Bioeth 2014 4 2 143-6
History, philosophy and practical psychiatry: neither gap nor contradiction, but mutual enrichment.: Hoff P, Fulford BK, Sadler JZ Curr Opin Psychiatry 2012 Nov 25 6 485
Community, constituency, and morbidity: applying Chervenak and McCullough's criteria.: Shivakumar G, Inrig S, Sadler JZ Am J Bioeth 2011 May 11 5 57-60
Psychiatric molecular genetics and the ethics of social promise: Sadler JZ Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 2011 8 March 27-34
Stuck in the middle: what should a good society do?: Brandon AR, Puzziferri N, Sadler JZ Am J Bioeth 2010 Dec 10 12 18-20
All the world's a stage.: Fulford KW, Hoff P, Sadler JZ Curr Opin Psychiatry 2010 Nov 23 6 522-3
Dignity, arete, and hubris in the transhumanist debate.: Sadler JZ Am J Bioeth 2010 Jul 10 7 67-8

Books

Philosophical Perspectives on Psychiatric Diagnostic Classification

Sadler JZ, Wiggins OP, Schwartz MA (Ed.) (1994). Baltimore, MD, The Johns Hopkins University Press

Descriptions and Prescriptions: Values, Mental Disorders, and the DSMs

Sadler JZ (Ed.) (2002). Baltimore, MD, The Johns Hopkins University Press

Values and Psychiatric Diagnosis

Sadler, J.Z. (2005). Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

The Virtuous Psychiatrist: Character Ethics in Psychiatric Practice

Radden, J.H., and Sadler, J.Z. (2010). New York, NY/Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry

Fulford, KWM, Davies, M, Gipps, RGT, Graham, G, Sadler, JZ, Stanghellini, G, Thornton, T (Ed.) (2013). Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics

Sadler, J.Z., Van Staden C.W., Fulford, K.W.M. (Ed.) (2015). Oxford/New York, Oxford University Press

Virtues in the practice of psychiatric diagnosis. In Psychiatric Ethics, Fifth Edition

Laney M, Sadler JZ (2021). Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

Why ethics matter in psychotherapy. In The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Trachsel M, Gaab J, Tekin S, Biller-Andorno N, Sadler JZ (2021). Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

Vice and Psychiatric Diagnosis

Sadler JZ (Ed.) (2024). Oxford University Press

The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Trachsel M, Gaab J, Tekin S, Biller-Andorno N, Sadler JZ. (Ed.) (2021). Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

Nature and Narrative: An Introduction to the New Philosophy of Psychiatry

Fulford, K.W.M., Morris, K., Sadler, J.Z., and Stanghellini, G. (Ed.) (2003). Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

Conceptual models of normative content in mental disorders. In Thomas Szasz: An appraisal of his legacy

Sadler JZ (2019). Oxford, Oxford University Press

Legitimate and illegitimate imposition of therapists? values on patients. In The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Lampley S, Sadler JZ (2020). Oxford, Oxford University Press

Evidence, science, and ethics in talk-based healing practices. In The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Phillips J, Sadler JZ (2019). Oxford, Oxford University Press

Psychiatric Ethics. In Landmark Papers in Psychiatry

Zettl R, Sadler JZ (2020). New York, NY USA, Oxford University Press

Embedded ethics in medical education. In Ethics at the Heart of Higher Education

Camp M.E., Cole A.G., Sadler J.Z (2020). Eugene, Oregon, USA, Pickwick Publications

Philosophical Aesthetics in Psychiatric Practice and Education. In The Oxford Handbook of Mental Health and Contemporary Western Aesthetics

Laney M, Sadler JZ (2023). Oxford Academic

Values Literacy and Citizenship. In Philosophy and Human Flourishing

Sadler JZ (2022). New York, Oxford Academic

Psychiatric diagnosis. In Psychiatric Ethics (5th Edition)

Laney M, Sadler JZ (2021). Oxford University Press

Honors & Awards

Gold Humanism Honor Society
Elected by UT Southwestern Medical Students (2023)
Outstanding Reviewer
Milbank Quarterly Journal (2021)
Texas Monthly Super Doctors Hall of Fame
(2021)
Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
(2015)
Distinguished Clinical Science Educator Award, UT Southwestern Medical Center
(2013-2014)
UT System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award
Recipient (2012)
Alpha Omega Alpha
Medical honorary fraternity (2008)
Charter Member
The UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers (SWAT) (2006)
Member
The University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education (2006)
Psychiatric Excellence Award
Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians (2001)

Professional Associations/Affiliations