Speakers

Theme one, day 1

Brave new world? What is Darwin’s legacy in the era of modern medicine and technology-based societies?

Speaker: Dr Simon Longstaff, St James Ethics Centre, Australia: Ethical considerations

Having completed his secondary education at Knox Grammar School in Sydney, Dr Longstaff spent time working on Groote Eylandt in the Safety Department of BHP subsidiary, GEMCO. Following his time in the Northern Territory he returned to take up full-time study, completing a bachelor's degree in education in Tasmania.

Longstaff spent five years studying and working as a member of Magdalene College, Cambridge, before returning to Australia in mid-1991. Having won scholarships to study at Cambridge, he read for the degrees of Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy. His research centred on related questions arising in the areas of political philosophy, ethics and the philosophy of education.

Prior to returning to Australia, Longstaff was lecturing at Cambridge and working as a consultant to the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts. He was the inaugural President of The Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics and is director of a number of companies. He is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Foreign Policy Association, based in New York.

Longstaff’s first book, Hard Cases, Tough Choices, was published in 1997. He is currently preparing a second on the role of conscience.

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