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Email: Xavier.Symons@acu.edu.au
Xavier Symons is Director of the Plunkett Centre for Ethics at ACU. Xavier previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Human Flourishing Program in the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University and prior to this was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Plunkett Centre and a Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics and Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He has lectured in bioethics at the University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Law and at the University of Notre Dame Australia Medical School.
Xavier's research interests span a broad range of themes in bioethics. He wrote a doctoral thesis on contemporary theories of distributive justice and the ethics of healthcare resource allocation. He has written extensively about the ethics of end of life care and voluntary assisted dying. More recently he has explored the ethics of conscientious objection in healthcare. His first book, Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare, was published in July 2022 by Routledge.
Xavier has contributed extensively to both Australian and international media outlets and his work has been featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review, ABC Religion and Ethics, The Guardian, and Public Discourse. He holds degrees from the University of Sydney, the University of Oxford, and the Australian Catholic University.
More information: https://xaviersymons.com/
Area of competence: bioethics, political philosophy, medieval philosophy, Catholic social teaching
Why Conscience Matters: A Defense of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (Routledge 2022)
'Conscientious objection: a global health perspective'. BMJ Global Health 2024 Dec 27;9(12):e017555.
Hernandez-Ojeda, J, Symons, X. 'The role of virtue: contrasting two models of medicine'. Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy 27(2024): 545-553.
Symons, X, Rhee, J, VanderWeele, T, et al.. 'Flourishing at the end of life'. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 45(2024): 401-425.
Symons, X. 'The virtues of limits and sustainability in healthcare'. Bioethics 22 Jan 2025.
Long, K, Symons, X, Ko, H, et al. 'Spirituality as a determinant of health: emerging policies, practices, and systems'. Health Affairs 43;6(2024): 783-790.
Rodger, D, Hurst, D, Bobier, C, Symons, X. 'Defending genetic disenhancement in xenotransplantation'. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 742-743.
Rodger, D, Hurst, D, Bobier, C, Symons, X. 'Genetic disenhancement and xenotransplantation: diminishing pigs' capacity to experience suffering through genetic engineering'. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 729-733.
Symons, X. 'The virtues of limits and new directions in bioethics'. Cosmos and Taxis 12;11(2024): 32-36.
Rigby, B, Symons, X. 'Abortion, euthanasia, and the limits of principlism'. Journal of Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 26(2023): 549-556.
Symons, X, VanderWeele, T. 'Aristotelian flourishing and contemporary philosophical theories of wellbeing'. Journal of Happiness Studies 25(2024): 26.
Symons, X. 'On the importance of consistency: a reply to Giubilini et al'. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 347-348.
Jackson Meyer, K, Symons, X, Duffee, C. 'Moral distress as critique: going beyond 'illegitimate institutional constraints''. American Journal of Bioethics 23;4 (2023): 79-82.
Symons, X, Kha, H. 'An ethical examination of donor anonymity and a defence of a legal ban on anonymous donation and the establishment of a central register'. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 21;1(2024): 105-115.
Symons, X. 'Conscientious objection in health care: why the professional duty argument is unconvincing'. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 47;4(2022): 549-557.
Michael, N, Kissane, D, Mendz, G and Symons X. 'Vulnerability and resilience: phenomenological analysis of cancer patients value directives'. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 64;5(2022): 438-448.
Symons, X. 'Why conscience matters: 'A theory of conscience and its relevance to conscientious objection in medicine'. Res Publica 29(2023): 1-21.
Symons, X, Poulden, B. 'An Ethical Defense of a Mandated Choice Consent Procedure for Deceased Organ Donation'. Asian Bioethics Review 14(2022): 259-270.
Chua, R, Symons, X. 'Three arguments against institutional conscientious objection and why they are (metaphysically) unconvincing'. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 49;3(2024): 298-312.
Pennings, S, Symons, X. 'First among equals? Adaptive preferences and the limits of autonomy in medical ethics'. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 212-218.
Jones, K, Paal, P, Symons, X, and Best, M. 'The content, teaching methods and effectiveness of spiritual care training for healthcare professionals: a mixed-methods systematic review'. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 63:2(2021): 261-278.
Symons, X. "Shlomi Segall. Why Inequality Matters: Luck Egalitarianism, Its Meaning and Value". Journal of Moral Philosophy 18;4 (2021): 425-428.
Symons, X. 'Respect for persons and the allocation of lifesaving healthcare resources'. Bioethics 2021 35(5): 392-399.
Symons, X., Chua RM. 'Rationing, responsibility and blameworthiness: an ethical evaluation of responsibility-sensitive policies for healthcare rationing'. The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 2021 31(1): 53-76.
Symons X. ''Reflective disequilibrium': a critical evaluation of the complete lives framework for healthcare rationing'. Journal of Medical Ethics 2021 47: 108-112.
Pennings, S, and Symons, X. 'Persuasion, rather than coercion or incentivisation, is the best means of promoting COVID19 vaccination'. Journal of Medical Ethics 2021 47:709-711.
Symons, X. 'Conscientious objection: why the professional duty argument is unconvincing'. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 2022 47(4):549-557.
Symons, X. 'Strengthening the ethical distinction between euthanasia, palliative opioid use and palliative sedation'. 2020 46: 57-58.
Symons, X., Chua, RM. "Alive by default': An exploration of Velleman's unfair burdens argument against state sanctioned euthanasia'. Bioethics 2020 34(3): 288-294.
O'Callaghan, C., Michael, N., Kissane, D., Symons X. et al. 'Patients' and caregivers' contested perspectives on spiritual care for those affected by advanced illnesses: a qualitative descriptive study'. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2019 58(6): 977-988.
Symons, X. 'Pellegrino, MacIntyre and the internal morality of clinical medicine'. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 2019 40(3): 243-251.
Symons, X., Chua, RM. 'Organismal death, the dead-donor rule and the ethics of vital organ procurement'. Journal of Medical Ethics 2018 44(12): 868-871.
Symons, X. 'The right to know vs. the right to privacy: Donor anonymity and the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Amendment Act 2016 (Vic)'. The Medical Journal of Australia 2017 207(9): 377-378.
Symons, X. 'The principle of autonomy: does it support the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide'. Anscombe Bioethics Centre Euthanasia Briefing Paper No.7 8th April 2022.
Symons, X. 'Care homes and older members of the community'. Anscombe Bioethics Centre COVID-19 Briefing Paper No. 4. Published 23rd May 2020.
'Luigi Mangione's apologists are undermining the pursuit of social justice'. Public Discourse 2nd January 2025.
'Embryo screening and the new eugenics'. Public Discourse 10th December 2024.
'Flourishing at the end of life'. Public Discourse 5th September 2024.
'Seeing the good in disagreement'.ABC Religion and Ethics 19th July 2024.
'Why Disagreement is good for us'. Seeking the Good April 2024.
'The hostility of illness and the therapeutic importance of hospitality'. Church Life Journal 26th June 2023.
'Conscientious objection and euthanasia'. Blog of the American Philosophical Association 11th May 2023.
'The new (biomedical) normal'. Genealogies of Modernity 2nd March 2023.
'Back to virtue? Effective altruism after FTX'. MercatorNet 16th January 2023.
'Should we allow conscientious objection in healthcare?' ABC Religion and Ethics Report (interview with Andrew West) 23rd November 2022.
'Respect for autonomy in medical ethics: its more complicated than you think'. Journal of Medical Ethics Blog 11th April 2022.
'The Stoics: Antiquity's answer to Jordan Peterson'. MercatorNet 10th April 2022.
'The end of the pandemic'. Public Discourse 13th February 2022.
'Rediscovering the practice of hospitality in the 21st century hospital'. ABC Religion and Ethics 2nd February 2022.
'Love to the very end: towards a theology of dementia'. Church Life Journal 3rd December 2021.
'"An attitude towards a soul": dementia and personhood'. ABC Religion and Ethics 18th October 2021.
'Discovering humanity and the common good in a post-pandemic world'. ABC Religion and Ethics 12th June 2021.
'I'm not anti-vaccine': Why Genevieve is waiting for Pfizer'. The Sydney Morning Herald 23rd May 2021 (interview with Caitlin Fitzsimmons).
'COVID-19 and pandemic ethics'. Interview with Richard Wilkinson and Rebecca Maddern on The Today Show. 1st of May 2021.
'Informed consent and the vaccine roll-out in aged care'. Life Matters (ABC Radio National) 23rd Feb 2021.
'COVID vaccine consent for aged-care residents: it's ethically tricky, but there are ways to get it right' The Conversation 19th Feb 2021.
'The 'oversight' in our COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the vulnerable Australians who will have to wait' ABC News 19th Feb 2021 (interview with Emily Clark).
'Experts call on Federal Government for vaccine roll-out plan'. ABC News 18th September 2020 (interview with Ros Childs).
'Persuasion better than compulsion in vaccinating the nation'. Australian Financial Review August 20th 2020.
'Pandemic ethics, herd immunity and the protection of vulnerable members of the community'. ABC Religion and Ethics 8th May 2020.
'Who lives and who dies'. Interview with Andrew West. ABC Religion and Ethics Report 25th March 2020.
'Rationing care to cope with COVID-19 should never be based on age alone'. Sydney Morning Herald 14th March 2020.
'The delicate balance of enforcing quarantine laws'. Sydney Morning Herald 5th March 2020.
'Human enhancement: The promise and perils of gene-editing technology'. ABC Religion and Ethics 29th October 2019.
'The mystery of genealogy and the ethics of donor conception'. ABC Religion and Ethics 29th April 2019.
'Reason why we cared so much for trapped Thai boys'. Sydney Morning Herald 11th July 2018.
With Udo Schuklenk. 'Viewpoints: should euthanasia be available for people with existential suffering?, The Conversation, 6th July 2017.
'The Syrian war is normalizing the weaponization of health care'. The Conversation 11th May 2017.
'All children deserve to know who their parents are', The Age, 2nd March 2017.
'Me Before You: life, disability and 'inspiration porn'', The Conversation, 15th June 2016.
2020 ACU Alumni Research and Scholarship Award
2020 Fulbright Future Postdoctoral Scholar (Funded by the Kinghorn Foundation)
2018 Annual Pellegrino Young Scholars Essay Prize (a prize administered by the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University).
2018 Archbishop Mannix Travelling Scholarship (a scholarship given every three years by Newman College, University of Melbourne).
Visiting Scholar - Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, 2016
Lucy Firth Prize 2015
Lucy Firth Prize 2014
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