Russell Blackford – Curriculum Vitae

Phone: +61 2 49518035 OR 0419159448

Email: russell.blackford@newcastle.edu.au

Academic background and professional qualifications
 
  • BA (Hons 1) – University of Newcastle.
  • Dip.Ed. – University of Newcastle.
  • Ph.D. in English literature – University of Newcastle (supervisor Norman Talbot).
  • LLB (Hons 1) – University of Melbourne.
  • MBioeth – Monash University.
  • Ph.D. in philosophy – Monash University (supervisor Justin Oakley).
  • Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
 
Career

Past:
 
  • Tutor, Department of English, Monash University (1979–82).
  • Various positions in public service, labour relations, and professional legal practice (1983–2001).
  • Sessional teaching (tutoring and lecturing) School of Philosophy and Bioethics, Monash University (2004–2009).
  • Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Evolution and Technology (2008–2020).
  • Freelance writer and editor (early 1980s–present).

Currently:
 
  • Conjoint Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Newcastle.
  • Fellow, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
  • Freelance writer and editor.

Areas of specialisation

Legal and political philosophy; philosophical bioethics.

Areas of competence

Moral philosophy generally, including metaethics; philosophy of religion; philosophy of science; metaphilosophy.
 
Selected publications

Books
 
  • At the Dawn of a Great Transition: The Question of Radical Enhancement. Basel: Schwabe Verlag, 2021.
 
  • The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism. London: Bloomsbury, 2019.
 
  • Science Fiction and the Moral Imagination: Visions, Minds, Ethics. Cham: Springer, 2017.
 
  • Philosophy’s Future: The Problem of Philosophical Progress. Co-edited with Damien Broderick. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.
 
  • The Mystery of Moral Authority. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2016.
 
  • Intelligence Unbound: The Future of Uploaded and Machine Minds. Co-edited with Damien Broderick. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014.
 
  • Humanity Enhanced: Genetic Choice and the Challenge for Liberal Democracies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2014.
 
  • 50 Great Myths About Atheism. Co-authored with Udo Schüklenk. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
 
  • Freedom of Religion and the Secular State. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
 
  • 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists. Co-edited with Udo Schüklenk. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
 
  • Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction. Co-authored with Van Ikin and Sean McMullen. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
​
Book chapters and articles
 
  • “You Can’t Please Everyone: The Secular State, the Liberal State, the Neutral State.” In Religious Ideas in Liberal Democratic States, ed. Mirjam van Schaik and Jasper Doomen. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield. Forthcoming 2021.
 
  • “Religion at Work in Bioethics and Biopolicy: Christian Bioethicists, Secular Language, Suspicious Orthodoxy.” Co-authored with Udo Schüklenk. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 46 (2021): 169–187.
 
  • “Bunge on Science and Ideology: A Re-analysis.” In Mario Bunge: A Centenary Festschrift, ed. Michael R. Matthews. Cham: Springer, 2019: 439–463.
 
  • “After Such Knowledge – What? Living and Speaking in a World Without Objective Morality.” In The End of Morality: Taking Moral Abolitionism Seriously, ed. Richard Garner and Richard Joyce. New York and London: Routledge, 2019: 59–76.
 
  • “The Liberty of Thought and Discussion: Restatement and Implications.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy, ed. David Boonin. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018: 305–315.
 
  • “The Sciences and Humanities in a Unity of Knowledge.” In Science Unlimited? The Challenges of Scientism, ed. Maarten Boudry and Massimo Pigliucci. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017: 11–29.
 
  • “The Future of Philosophical Naturalism.” Free Inquiry 37(5) (August–September 2017): 24–29.
 
  • “Introduction I: Philosophy and the Perils of Progress.” In Philosophy’s Future: The Problem of Philosophical Progress, ed. Russell Blackford and Damien Broderick. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2017: 1–12.
 
  • “Nietzsche, the Übermensch, and Transhumanism: Philosophical Reflections.” In Nietzsche and Transhumanism: Precursor or Enemy?, ed. Yunus Tuncel. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars, 2017: 191–204.
 
  • Foreword to The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us about the Apocalypse, by Phil Torres. Durham, NC: Pitchstone Publishing, 2016: 13–16.
 
  • “Why I Still Support Charlie Hebdo.” Politics, Policy & the Chance of Change: The Conversation Yearbook 2015, ed. John Watson. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2015. (Orig. pub. on the Cogito philosophy blog, September 20, 2015.)
 
  • “Religion and Politics.” The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, ed. Michael Gibbons et al. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014: 3195–3207.
 
  • “Living Without God.” Christianity is Not Great: How Faith Fails, ed. John W. Loftus. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2014: 462–484.
 
  • “Introduction II: Bring on the Machines.” Intelligence Unbound: The Future of Uploaded and Machine Minds, ed. Russell Blackford and Damien Broderick. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014: 11–25.
 
  • “The Great Transition: Ideas and Anxieties.” The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future, ed. Max More and Natasha Vita-More. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013: 421–429.
 
  • “Robots and Reality: A Reply to Robert Sparrow.” Ethics and Information Technology 14 (2012): 41–51.
 
  • “Enhancement Anxiety.” Free Inquiry 32(1) (December 2011–January 2012): 22–24.
 
  • “Atheists for Freedom of Speech.” The Australian Book of Atheism, ed. Warren Bonett. Melbourne: Scribe, 2010: 299–312.
 
  • “Moral Pluralism versus the Total View: Why Singer is wrong about Radical Life Extension.” Journal of Medical Ethics 35 (2009): 747–752.
 
  • “Unbelievable!” 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists, ed. Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009: 5–9.
 
  • “Trite Truths About Technology: A Reply to Ted Peters.” Global Spiral 9(9) (February 2009). Reprinted in H+: Transhumanism and its Critics, ed. Gregory R. Hansell and William Grassie. Philadelphia: Metanexus Institute, 2011: 176–188.
 
  • “Embracing The Unknown Future: In Defence of New Technology.” Human Futures: Art In An Age of Uncertainty, ed. Andy Miah. Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press/FACT, 2008: 24–35.
 
  • “Rendezvous with Utopia: Two Versions of the Future in the Rama Novels.” Colloquy 14 (2007): 21–29.
 
  • “Slippery Slopes to Slippery Slopes: Therapeutic Cloning and the Criminal Law.” American Journal of Bioethics 7(2) (February 2007): 63–64.
 
  • “Differing Vulnerabilities: The Moral Significance of Lockean Personhood.” American Journal of Bioethics 7(1) (January 2007): 70–71.
 
  • “Sinning against Nature: The Theory of Background Conditions.” Journal of Medical Ethics 32 (2006): 629–634.
 
  • “Dr. Frankenstein meets Lord Devlin: Genetic Engineering and the Principle of Intangible Harm.” The Monist 89 (2006): 526–547.
 
  • “Stem cell research on other worlds, or why embryos do not have a right to life.” Journal of Medical Ethics 32 (2006): 177–180.
 
  • “Human Cloning and ‘Posthuman’ Society.” Monash Bioethics Review 24 (2005): 10–26.
 
  • “Try the Blue Pill: What’s Wrong with Life in a Simulation?” Jacking In to the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation. Ed. Matthew Kapell and William Doty. New York: Continuum, 2004: 169–182.
 
  • “Should We Fear Feath? Epicurean and Modern Arguments.” The Scientific Conquest of Death: Essays on Infinite Lifespans, ed. Immortality Institute. Buenos Aires: LibrosEnRed, 2004: 257–269.
 
  • “Mutants, Cyborgs, AI & Androids.” Meanjin 63(1) (2004): 14–21.
 
  • “Lawrence v. Texas: A Right to Personal Freedom?” Quadrant 401 (November 2003): 34–41.
 
  • “Who’s Afraid of the Brave New World?” Quadrant 396 (May 2003): 9–15.
 
  • “Stranger Than You Think: Arthur C. Clarke’s Profiles of the Future.” Prefiguring Cyberculture: An Intellectual History, ed. Darren Tofts, Annemarie Jonson, and Alessio Cavellaro. Sydney: Power Publications, 2002; co-published Boston: MIT Press, 2003: 252–263.
 
  • “The Supposed Rights of the Fetus.” Quadrant 389 (September 2002): 11–17.
 
  • “Thinking about Cloning: A Reply to Judith Thomson.” Journal of Law and Medicine 9 (2001): 238–250.
 
  • “Stephen Jay Gould on Science and Religion.” Quadrant 365 (January–February 2000): 8–14. 
 
  • “Judicial Power, Political Liberty and the Post-Industrial State.” Australian Law Journal 71 (1997): 267–293.
 
Short popular articles in New Philosopher
 
  • “The Ethics of Political Power.” New Philosopher 21 (August–October 2018): 68–70.
 
  • “Time and the Future.” New Philosopher 15 (February–April 2017): 92–93.
 
  • “Laws of Nature: The World According to Hobbes.” New Philosopher 14 (November 2016–January 2017): 102–103.
 
  • “Would You Live In A Simulation?” New Philosopher 11 (February–April 2016): 98–100.
 
  • “Manure and Property Rights.” New Philosopher 9 (August–October 2015): 98–99.
 
  • “Time Travel: Welcome to the Future.” New Philosopher 8 (May–July 2015): 108–109.
 
  • “Why Not Change Your Mind?” New Philosopher 6 (November 2014–January 2015): 86–88.
 
  • “Would You Upload Yurself?” New Philosopher 5 (August–October 2014): 66–68.
 
  • “Masters and Servants.” New Philosopher 4 (May–July 2014): 52–55.
 
  • “Who Will Flourish In A Brave New World?” New Philosopher 3 (February–April 2014): 72–75.
 
  • “Our Inner Life.” New Philosopher 2 (November 2013): 84–87.
 
  • “Freedom of Thought: The Media and Propaganda.” New Philosopher 1 (Third Quarter 2013): 60–63.
 
Book reviews
 
  • Review of Grandstanding: The Use and Absuse of Moral Talk, by Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke. The Philosophers’ Magazine 92 (2021): 116–117.
 
  • “Wishful Thinking.” Review of Secularity and Science: What Scientists around the World Really Think about Religion, by Elaine Howard Ecklund, David R. Johnson, Brandon Vaidyanathan, Kirstin R. W. Matthews, Steven W. Lewis, Robert A. Thomson Jr., and Di Di. Free Inquiry 40(4) (June–July 2020): 60–64.
 
 
  • “All You Need.” Review of A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism, by Adam Gopnik. Australian Book Review (September 2019): 15.
 
  • “The Good, the Bad, and the Scary.” Review of Science Fiction, Ethics and the Human Condition, ed. Christian Baron, Peter Nicolai Halvorsen, and Christine Cornea. Science Fiction Studies 46 (2019): 397–400.
 
  • “The Desolation of Smug.” Review of Trigger Warnings: Political Correctness and the Rise of the Right, by Jeff Sparrow. Australian Book Review (April 2019): 17, 19.
 
  • “America’s Sense of Mission.” Review of The Rise and Fall of the Christian Myth: Restoring Our Democratic Ideals, by Burton L. Mack. Free Inquiry 38(2) (February–March 2018): 60–62.
 
  • Review of Becoming Atheist: Humanism and the Secular West, by Callum G. Brown (review no. 2136). Reviews in History. Published online with a response by the author, 13 July 2017. DOI: 10.14296/RiH/2014/2136. Available at URL http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/2136
 
  • “Natural and Supernatural (Whatever They Are!).” (Review of The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism, ed. Kelly James Clark.) Free Inquiry 36(5) (August–September 2016): 52–56.
 
  • Book Review: Chris Abel’s The Extended Self: Architecture, Memes, and Minds. Journal of Evolution and Technology 25(1) (June 2015): 53–55.
 
  • “Talking About Goodness.” (Review of Confusion of Tongues: A Theory of Normative Language, by Stephen Finlay.) The Philosophers’ Magazine 69 (2015): 121–122.
 
  • “Atheism Rises.” Review of Imagine There’s No Heaven, by Mitchell Stephens. TPM Online, 21 January 2015.
 
  • Book Review: Zoltan Istvan’s The Transhumanist Wager. Journal of Evolution and Technology 24(2) (September 2014): 89–91.
 
  • Review of Mind, Brain, and Free Will, by Richard Swinburne. Philosophy in Review XXXIV (June 2014): 110–112. 
 
  • “The Faith of a Conservative.” (Review of The Soul of the World, by Roger Scruton.) Free Inquiry 34(1) (December 2013–January 2014): 61–63.
 
  • Book review: Mark Coeckelbergh’s Human Being @ Risk: Enhancement, Technology, and the Evaluation of Vulnerability Transformations. Journal of Evolution and Technology 23(1) (December 2013): 65–68.
 
  • “Sorting Out Religion with Brian Leiter.” (Review of Why Tolerate Religion?, by Brian Leiter.) Free Inquiry 33(5) (August–September 2013): 57–59.
 
  • “Excessive Tolerance?” (Review of The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age by Martha Nussbaum.) The Philosophers’ Magazine 59 (2012): 121–22.
 
  • “The Invention of Ethics.” (Review of The Ethical Project, by Philip Kitcher.) The Philosophers’ Magazine 56 (2012): 102–103.
 
  • Review of Humanity’s End: Why We Should Reject Radical Enhancement, by Nicholas Agar. Monash Bioethics Review 29(3) (May 2011): 8.1–8.7.
 
  • Book review: Sam Harris’ The Moral Landscape. Journal of Evolution and Technology 21(2) (December 2010): 53–62.
 
  • Book Review: Jerry A. Coyne’s Why Evolution is True. Journal of Evolution and Technology 20(1) (June 2009): 61–66.
 
  • Book review: Michael J. Sandel. The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. Monash Bioethics Review 26(3) (July 2007): 60–64.
 
  • Review of The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. Cosmos # 13 (February–March 2007): 13.
 
  • Review of A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age by Daniel H. Pink. Cosmos # 5 (November 2005): 87.
 
  • Review of Histories of the Future: Studies in Fact, Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. Alan Sandison and Robert Dingley. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 12 (2001): 338–340.
 
  • Review of Theory and Its Discontents by Damien Broderick. Metascience 12 (1997): 78–80.

Opinion pieces, etc.
 
  • “Toleration and Its Discontents.” Free Inquiry 41(4) June/July 2021.
 
  • “Into The Unknowable.” Medium (Steven Umbrello/IEET). 30 May 2021.
 
  • “Humanism and Posthumanism – Critique and Counter-Critique.” Free Inquiry 41(3) (April/May 2021).
 
  • “Rise of the Philistines.” Free Inquiry 41(1) (December 2020/January 2021).
 
  • “The Real Morality of Public Discussion.” Free Inquiry 40(6) (October/November 2020).
 
  • “A Letter to the Future.” Free Inquiry 40(4) (June–July 2020).
 
  • “Scientific Uncertainty and Public Debate over Science.” Free Inquiry 40(3) (April–May 2020).
 
  • “Toxic Environment.” Free Inquiry 40(1) (December 2019–January 2020).
 
  • “Where to Draw Lines on Assisted Dying.” Free Inquiry 39(6) (October–November 2019).
 
  • “Philosophy Is Not Ideology.” Arc Digital, 21 June 2019. Available online: https://medium.com/arc-digital/philosophy-is-not-ideology-fcaefd010f57?sk=e99a4f838fb11775be5b9f4699c5e011
 
  • “Terrorist Propaganda and Government Censorship.” Free Inquiry 39(4) (June–July 2019).
 
  • “Dehumanizing Propaganda and Freedom of Speech – A New Case in Canada.” Free Inquiry 39(3) (April–May 2019).
 
  • “No Platforms for Bannon?” Free Inquiry 39(1) (December 2018–January 2019).
 
  • “Reasons to Be Fearful.” Quillette, 5 November 2018. Available online: https://quillette.com/2018/11/05/reasons-to-be-fearful/?fbclid=IwAR1u0_DIWph6P2iVV0jXthgVXrR_w6JU3acjfTUc8H-NTMOwG3dT5i9Oyv4
 
 
  • “John Stuart Mill and the Language of Freedom.” Free Inquiry 38(6) (October–November 2018).
 
 
  • “A Step Closer to Human Cloning?” Free Inquiry 38(4) (June–July 2018).
 
  • “Just a Semantic Argument? The Free Will Free-for-All.” Free Inquiry 38(3) (April–May 2018).
 
 
  • “Are Philosophical Questions Really Intractable?” The Philosophers’ Magazine 80 (1st quarter 2018): 74–77.
 
  • “The Problems of Philosophy.” Free Inquiry 38(1) (December 2017–January 2018).
 
  • “Trump in Warsaw and the Long Shadow of Charles Martel.” Free Inquiry 37(6) (October–November 2017).
 
  • “Momentous Anniversaries.” Free Inquiry 37(4) (June–July 2017).
 
  • “Keep Dissent Non-Violent.” Free Inquiry 37(3) (April–May 2017).
 
  • “Yes – Oh, Dear, Yes – Don’t Ban the Burkini.” Free Inquiry 37(1) (December 2016–January 2017).
 
  • “Not (Just) a Tragedy! Fanatics and Their Atrocities.” Free Inquiry 36(6) (October–November 2016).
 
  • “Threat to Free Speech? Why I Don’t Stand With Gawker.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 6 June 2016.
 
  • “Suppress and Punish: The Dangerous Impulse to Shut Down Speech.” Free Inquiry 36(4) (June–July 2016).
 
  • “Islamophobia or Anti-Muslim Prejudice?” Free Inquiry 36(3) (April–May 2016).
 
  • “Genetic Editing and the Tyranny of Opinion.” Policy Forum. 23 December 2015.
 
  • “The Not-at-All Harsh Reality of Same-Sex Marriage.” Free Inquiry 36(1) (December–January 2016).
 
  • “Freedom for the Speech we Oppose.” TPM Online, 13 October 2015.
 
  • “Should There Be A Nobel Prize For Philosophy?” ABC The Drum, 8 October 2015.
 
  • “Angry Atheists: A Contemporary Myth.” Free Inquiry 35(4) (June–July 2015).
 
  • “An Odor of Sanctimony: Responses to the Charlie Hebdo Murders.” Free Inquiry 35(3) (April–May 2015).
 
  • “Surprisingly Sensitive – Civility and Freedom of Speech.” Free Inquiry 35(1) (December 2014–January 2015).
 
  • “The Rushdie Affair – Lest We Forget.” Free Inquiry 34(4) (June–July 2014).
 
  • “Upstream, Downstream: Liberalism, Direct Harm, and Hate Speech.” Free Inquiry 34(2) (February–March 2014).
 
  • “Should We Abolish Morality?” Free Inquiry 33(3) (April–May 2013).
 
  • “The Fascination of Faitheism.” Free Inquiry 33(2) (February–March 2013).
 
  • “Up with Secularism!” Free Inquiry 32(6) (October–November 2012).
 
  • “The State and the Marriage Business.” Free Inquiry 32(5) (August–September 2012).
 
  • “How Free Is The Will? Sam Harris Misses His Mark.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 26–27 April 2012.
 
  • “Who’s Afraid Of Scientism?” Free Inquiry 32(3) (April–May 2012).
 
  • “We Are Doing Something Right: Steven Pinker and the Decline of Violence.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 28 March 2012.
 
  • “Changing Marriage: Why the State has no Place in the Bedroom.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 13 March 2012. (Republished 30 April 2013 as “Keeping the State in its Place: The Secular Case for Same-Sex Marriage.”)
 
  • “Feminism, Faith, or Freedom of Speech: What’s Really At Stake?” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 21 February 2012.
 
  • “Don’t Mention the War! A Response to Cavanaugh.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 8 February 2012.
 
  • “Why the Secular State Has No Moral Mandate.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 25 January 2012.
 
  • “With Friends Like These: Atheists Against the New Atheism.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 28–29 April 2011.
 
  • “The Mechanics of Moral Evaluation.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 5 April 2011.
 
  • “Moral Scepticism versus Sam Harris’s Moral Realism.” ABC Religion and Ethics Portal, 28 January 2011.
 
  • “The State, Religion, and the Need for Rational Scrutiny.” ABC The Drum, 27 December 2010.
 
  • “Morality, With Limits.” The Guardian (Comment is Free),18 March 2010.
 
  • “Stand Up, Stand Up, Against Jesus.” Co-authored with Udo Schüklenk. The Guardian (Comment is Free), 6 November 2009.
 
  • “There’s Madness in the Raelians’ Method.” The Australian, 30 December 2002.
 
 Academic and other journals

From February 2008 until late 2020, I was Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Evolution and Technology (recently renamed the Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies).

In the past I have served on the editorial boards of Science Fiction Studies, the leading academic journal in its field, and the International Journal of Technoethics. I am currently a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Posthuman Studies and the Journal of Posthumanism.

I have acted as a peer reviewer for a wide range of journals, including:
 
  • Academia Letters.
 
  • American Journal of Bioethics.
 
  • Bioethics.
 
  • Colloquy.
 
  • Ethics and Information Technology.
 
  • European Journal of Political Theory.
 
  • International Journal of Technoethics.
 
  • Journal of Church and State.
 
  • Journal of Controversial Ideas.
 
  • Journal of Consciousness Studies.
 
  • Journal of Medical Ethics.
 
  • Kemanusiaan: The Asian Journal of Humanities.
 
  • Monash Bioethics Review.
 
  • Mosaic.
 
  • NeuroEthics.
 
  • Open Ethics Journal.
 
  • Pacific Philosophical Quarterly.
 
  • Philosophy.
 
  • Science Fiction Studies.
 
  • Science, Religion and Culture.
 
  • Technology in Society.
 
  • Utopian Studies.

I have been a frequent contributor to Free Inquiry, New Philosopher, and The Philosophers’ Magazine, as well as to the ABC’s Religion and Ethics Portal and to The Conversation.

Research

My Ph.D. dissertation, entitled “Human Enhancement: The Challenge to Liberal Tolerance”, was approved in 2008, and I formally graduated from Monash University in 2009. I subsequently developed a revised and expanded version, which was published by MIT Press in 2014 under the title Humanity Enhanced: Genetic Choice and the Challenge for Liberal Democracies.
 
I continue to work in philosophical bioethics and biopolitics, as in my most recent book, At the Dawn of a Great Transition: The Question of Radical Enhancement, published by Schwabe Verlag. This examines the prospect and the desirability of extreme enhancement of human capacities through emerging technologies.
 
As a legal and political philosopher, I am especially interested in issues relating to liberal theory and practice, religious freedom and freedom of speech, and related topics. The intersection of bioethics with liberal legal theory provides the theme for my doctoral thesis and much related work, while my 2012 book from Wiley-Blackwell, Freedom of Religion and the Secular State, is, at its title suggests, focused on ideas of secular government and religious freedom. My 2019 book from Bloomsbury, The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism, examines the phenomenon of social and political conformity within liberal democracies.
 
As reflected in my publications, I also have broad interests in moral philosophy, metaphilosophy, and aspects of philosophy of science and philosophy of religion.
 
Public and community service

Prior to undertaking a Ph.D. in philosophy at Monash University from 2004 to 2008, I enjoyed a distinguished career as an industrial advocate and labour relations lawyer, involving extensive experience in courtroom advocacy, public service, and public policy management. For this, I have an entry in Who’s Who in Australia. During the 1980s and 1990s, and the early years of the new century, I also established a profile as a professional writer, literary critic, and public intellectual.
 
I aim to bring academic philosophy and its methods to current issues of policy and public concern. I have pursued this through a mix of peer-reviewed academic scholarship and writing for more general educated audiences. My ability to make informed contributions to contemporary debate on moral, political, and cultural issues is supported by my formal training in law, bioethics, and literary scholarship, and by my past experience in legal practice and public policy management.
 
I am a fellow of the US-based Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and I also work with organizations involved in advocacy of secular humanist thought and church-state separation. In particular, I am affiliated with the US-based Center for Inquiry, arguably the world’s leading organization in this area. In February 2014, I was inducted into the International Academy of Humanism.

In July 2017, I was awarded the annual AAP Media Prize. This prize, awarded by the Australasian Association of Philosophy, is for the best philosophical piece(s) published by a professional philosopher in the popular media during the previous calendar year.
 
Personal

I was born in Sydney, and grew up in the Lake Macquarie area, near Newcastle, NSW. I lived in Melbourne, Victoria, from February 1979 until December 2009 (including a three-month secondment spent in Canberra in 1983). At the end of 2009, I returned to Newcastle for family reasons.

In addition to my scholarly interests in philosophy, including philosophical bioethics, I am a professionally published author, and a well-known scholar and critic, in the field of science fiction and fantasy. My professionally published fiction includes numerous short stories and a trilogy of original novels for the Terminator franchise, collectively entitled Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles (published 2002–2003).