Xavier Symons

Cambridge

Director, Plunkett Centre for Ethics, The Australian Catholic University. Book, Why Conscience Matters, out with Routledge. 🇦🇺 (Views are my own)

Articles

The Radical Deficiency of Elon Musk’s Pronatalism

4 weeks ago | thepublicdiscourse.com | Xavier Symons

Elon Musk’s family life and views on procreation are making the news, including in a recent exposé in the Wall Street Journal interviewing several women who have borne his children. The picture that has emerged is ugly, messy, and weird. This is not just a story about a talented but morally flawed Silicon Valley visionary. Musk’s is an attitude of detached posthuman nihilism that enables him to evade the norms of familial relationships in the pursuit of creating more and better babies.
The virtues of limits and environmental sustainability in healthcare

Jan 22, 2025 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Xavier Symons

1 INTRODUCTION The global community has responded to the spectre of human-induced climate change by seeking more sustainable forms of environmental resource use and altering energy production and consumption. One area of focus has been health systems, which are invariably one of the biggest energy consumers and waste producers in an economy.
Luigi Mangione’s Apologists Are Undermining the Pursuit of Social Justice

Jan 2, 2025 | thepublicdiscourse.com | Xavier Symons

I am an ethics professor, and in my moral philosophy classes, I often appeal to the universal belief in the immorality of murder to show why moral relativism—the view that morality is contextual and subjective—is mistaken. My expectation until now has been that students will agree with me. After witnessing the public response to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly by Luigi Mangione, I am no longer that confident.
Embryo Screening and the New Eugenics

Dec 10, 2024 | thepublicdiscourse.com | Xavier Symons

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)—the screening of human embryos created in vitro for disease-related genetic mutations—was once an exceptional test performed by only a small number of patients undergoing IVF. Today, it is no longer a rarity, but a common step within the IVF process. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, the proportion of IVF cycles using PGD increased from 14 percent in 2014 to 44 percent in 2018.
Genetic disenhancement and xenotransplantation: diminishing pigs’ capacity to experience suffering through genetic engineering

Nov 5, 2024 | jme.bmj.com | Daniel Rodger |Daniel Hurst |Christopher A Bobier |Xavier Symons

The case for genetic disenhancementPigs are already genetically altered for xenotransplantation research. Genetically engineered pigs for xenotransplantation are created using somatic cell nuclear transfer and are genetically modified to prevent hyperacute and acute vascular rejection and to reduce the risk of xenozoonosis.
Flourishing at the End of Life

Sep 5, 2024 | thepublicdiscourse.com | Xavier Symons |John S. Rhee |Tyler Vander Weele

Editors’ Note: This essay is a shortened, adapted version of a paperpublished in Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics on August 20. 2024. Portions of this essay were taken directly from the article, with permission from the publisher. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of their colleagues Anthony Tanous, and Tracy Balboni, who are co-authors on the paper.
Defending genetic disenhancement in xenotransplantation

Aug 21, 2024 | jme.bmj.com | Daniel Rodger |Daniel Hurst |Christopher A Bobier |Xavier Symons

Statistics from Altmetric.com Request Permissions If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.
On the importance of consistency: a response to Giubilini et al

Apr 30, 2024 | jme.bmj.com | Xavier Symons

On the importance of consistency: a response to Giubilini et al Statistics from Altmetric.com Request Permissions If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.
Genetic disenhancement and xenotransplantation: diminishing pigs’ capacity to experience suffering through genetic engineering

Feb 23, 2024 | jme.bmj.com | Daniel Rodger |Daniel Hurst |Christopher A Bobier |Xavier Symons

CapacityTransplantationBiomedical EnhancementEnhancementKidneyIntroductionXenotransplantation—the cross-species transfer of live cells, tissues or organs—has been studied for decades to bridge the gap between the increasing demand for human tissues and organs and the current shortfall. Solid organ transplantation, which this paper is concerned with, is of particular importance for xenotransplantation. In the USA, over 100 000 persons are currently awaiting a human organ.
Defending genetic disenhancement in xenotransplantation

Feb 23, 2024 | jme.bmj.com | Daniel Rodger |Daniel Hurst |Christopher A Bobier |Xavier Symons

Defending genetic disenhancement in xenotransplantation Statistics from Altmetric.com Request Permissions If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.