Xavier Symons, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. He previously worked as a bioethicist at the Australian Catholic University and The University of Notre Dame Australia. Xavier's research interests include ethical issues at the beginning and end of life, conscientious objection, the ethics of healthcare resource allocation, and pandemic ethics. His first book, Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare, was published in July 2022 by Routledge. Dr Symons is the recipient of a 2020 Fulbright Future Postdoctoral Scholarship and was a scholar in residence at Georgetown University’s Kennedy Institute for Ethics from September 2021 to March 2022. He holds degrees from the University of Sydney, the University of Oxford, and the Australian Catholic University.

Select publications:

• Symons, S. (2022). Conscientious Objection in Health Care: Why The Professional Duty Argument is Unconvincing. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhac013.
• Michael, N, Mendz, G, Symons, X, & Kissane, D. (2022). Vulnerability and Resilience: Phenomenological Analysis of Cancer Patients Value Directives. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088539242200834X?via%3Dihub.
• Symons, X. (2022). Why Conscience Matters: A Theory of Conscience and Its Relevance to Conscientious Objection in Medicine. Res Publica, DOI: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11158-022-09555-2.pdf.
• Symons, X, & Poulden, B. (2022). An Ethical Defense of a Mandated Choice Consent Procedure for Deceased Organ Donation. Asian Bioethics Review, 14, 259-270.
• Pennings, S, & Symons, S. (2022). First among equals? Adaptive preferences and the limits of autonomy in medical ethics. Journal of Medical Ethics, DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2021-107942.