Big-Picture Bioethics: policy-making and liberal democracy. We live an era of rapid growth in biotechnology generating new and difficult ethical questions that need to be tackled by bioethicists and politicians. This project goes beyond typical approaches in bioethics to explore the "big picture": how policies are generated in ethically-contentious domains. It is important to examine how the values of different stakeholders are reflected in such processes to ensure that they are in accordance wi ....Big-Picture Bioethics: policy-making and liberal democracy. We live an era of rapid growth in biotechnology generating new and difficult ethical questions that need to be tackled by bioethicists and politicians. This project goes beyond typical approaches in bioethics to explore the "big picture": how policies are generated in ethically-contentious domains. It is important to examine how the values of different stakeholders are reflected in such processes to ensure that they are in accordance with Australia's commitment to fostering a multicultural, pluralistic, democratic society. This project will produce practical recommendations for refining public consultation in healthcare policy-making through an examination of three relevant contentious case studies in Australia with comparison to Canada.Read moreRead less
Artificial Intelligence, Robots, and Agriculture: Social and ethical issues. This project aims to investigate the social and ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture. By combining social science research methods and philosophical analysis, the project aims to generate new knowledge in bioethics and applied ethics. Expected outcomes of this project include an account of the social and ethical issues farmers, rural communities, and consumers anticipat ....Artificial Intelligence, Robots, and Agriculture: Social and ethical issues. This project aims to investigate the social and ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture. By combining social science research methods and philosophical analysis, the project aims to generate new knowledge in bioethics and applied ethics. Expected outcomes of this project include an account of the social and ethical issues farmers, rural communities, and consumers anticipate arising from these technologies, improved understanding of these issues, and an account of how these groups would like to see these issues addressed. This should help Australia benefit from the responsible use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture.Read moreRead less
A narrative theory of ethics. The project aims to conduct a detailed investigation into a narrative approach to ethics. Narrative is an increasingly popular but relatively under-theorised concept. Taking as its basis work in narrative theory and ethics by Paul Ricoeur, the project aims to provide an innovative conceptual scheme which incorporates recent philosophical accounts of selfhood, emodiment, autonomy, action, and pluralistic conceptions of the good. The project will result in a major con ....A narrative theory of ethics. The project aims to conduct a detailed investigation into a narrative approach to ethics. Narrative is an increasingly popular but relatively under-theorised concept. Taking as its basis work in narrative theory and ethics by Paul Ricoeur, the project aims to provide an innovative conceptual scheme which incorporates recent philosophical accounts of selfhood, emodiment, autonomy, action, and pluralistic conceptions of the good. The project will result in a major contribution to scholarship in philosophy and ethics, as well as to the articulation of notions such as identity, subjectivity, trust, rights, obligation and accountability, across the social sciences.Read moreRead less
Encounters with Urban Nature in Australia: An investigation into environmental values, anti-urbanism, multiculturalism, and the transition to urban sustainability. This project offers strategic basic and applied research approaches to overcoming the neglect of moral experience of ?nature? in urban environments so as to further the transition to sustainability in Australia. Working at the intersection of aesthetic, geographical, philosophical, and sociological studies of ecology, this project dev ....Encounters with Urban Nature in Australia: An investigation into environmental values, anti-urbanism, multiculturalism, and the transition to urban sustainability. This project offers strategic basic and applied research approaches to overcoming the neglect of moral experience of ?nature? in urban environments so as to further the transition to sustainability in Australia. Working at the intersection of aesthetic, geographical, philosophical, and sociological studies of ecology, this project develops a comparative qualitative study of three Australian cities. It explores: (1) the paradoxical appeal of anti-urban environmental values to urbanites; (2) the multicultural axis of diversity in urban environmental values; (3) political sites for contesting experiences of ?nature?; and (4) policy opportunities for expression of local synergies between social and biotic well-being in urban ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Vulnerability, autonomy and justice. Vulnerable people require assistance and care. But what are our responsibilities in relation to the vulnerable? And how can we provide assistance and care while avoiding stereotyping or paternalism? This research will advance ethical theory and be useful in solving practical problems in health research and policy.
Everyday Incivilities. The study aims to provide the best available evidence on the seriousness of everyday incivilities between strangers in public places as a social problem in Australian society. This will involve gathering self-report data from socially diverse Australians for the purpose of exploring social group differences in (i) the type and prevalence of everyday incivilities experienced, and (ii) the social and psychological costs of exposure to everyday incivilities. The information ....Everyday Incivilities. The study aims to provide the best available evidence on the seriousness of everyday incivilities between strangers in public places as a social problem in Australian society. This will involve gathering self-report data from socially diverse Australians for the purpose of exploring social group differences in (i) the type and prevalence of everyday incivilities experienced, and (ii) the social and psychological costs of exposure to everyday incivilities. The information gathered will be used to identify high risk social groups and public places, and serve as a basis for developing programs for reducing everyday incivilities.Read moreRead less
Time and Politics: A Rapprochement of Analytic Political Philosophy and Post-structuralism. The most obvious benefits of this project will be academic, in that it will enrich contemporary political philosophy and advance theoretical work on the post-structuralism of Derrida and Deleuze. I will also be consulting with philosophers across Australia of both analytic and 'European' persuasion, and encouraging such a dialogue contributes to what is an emerging movement to break down the oppositional ....Time and Politics: A Rapprochement of Analytic Political Philosophy and Post-structuralism. The most obvious benefits of this project will be academic, in that it will enrich contemporary political philosophy and advance theoretical work on the post-structuralism of Derrida and Deleuze. I will also be consulting with philosophers across Australia of both analytic and 'European' persuasion, and encouraging such a dialogue contributes to what is an emerging movement to break down the oppositional thinking that has pervaded the Australian philosophical community. Finally, the findings of this project will also be used to instigate new ways of thinking regarding political issues afflicting Australians and the world, particularly in regard to refugees and reconciliation.
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Ethos and Topos: A Philosophical Investigation of the Ethics and Politics of Place. This project will contribute to the public and academic understanding of the way our sense of place relates to our sense of who we are, and the ethical implications of that relation. The outcomes of the project will have an application to a wide range of applied and policy areas in which questions of identity and belonging are at issue. It will connect directly with ongoing public discussion about a number of cr ....Ethos and Topos: A Philosophical Investigation of the Ethics and Politics of Place. This project will contribute to the public and academic understanding of the way our sense of place relates to our sense of who we are, and the ethical implications of that relation. The outcomes of the project will have an application to a wide range of applied and policy areas in which questions of identity and belonging are at issue. It will connect directly with ongoing public discussion about a number of critical contemporary issues relating to ideas of nationhood and community, our connection to land and environment, and our sense of identity and belonging.Read moreRead less
The republic of the demiurge: textual community and the commentary tradition in late antique Platonism. This project will add to our understanding of the content and purpose of philosophy within 'higher education' in the eastern Roman Empire in the period 300-500 CE. Since there are many ways in which the late Empire resembles our own time, this understanding illuminates the place of philosophy in what we call higher education.
Between the Outback and the Sea: The Place of Cosmopolitanism in Contemporary Australia. 'Place' is an increasingly contested and problematic notion. In contemporary Australia, it arises as a central issue in relations between the indigenous and the 'settled'; between the refugee and the citizen; between the regional and the international. By focusing on the idea of the 'cosmopolitan' as it arises in the Australian context, and particularly with respect to the built environment (often neglected ....Between the Outback and the Sea: The Place of Cosmopolitanism in Contemporary Australia. 'Place' is an increasingly contested and problematic notion. In contemporary Australia, it arises as a central issue in relations between the indigenous and the 'settled'; between the refugee and the citizen; between the regional and the international. By focusing on the idea of the 'cosmopolitan' as it arises in the Australian context, and particularly with respect to the built environment (often neglected in favour of the concepts of 'land' or 'wilderness'), the project will enable a reconfiguration of the significance and meaning of place for ideas of citizenship and identity.
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