2025 ALAN SAUNDERS LECTURE
ENVIRONMENTAL
TECHNO-UTOPIAS
KATE LYNCH & CHRISTOPHER LEAN
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE
6PM THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER
This year’s lecture will take the form of a Panel Discussion with David Rutledge,
host of ABC Radio National's The Philosopher’s Zone.
Link to the Facebook Video Stream will appear here on Wednesday October 23.What if conservation aimed beyond the restoration of our planet, towards an improved nature?
Rather than fixing a broken environment, we could build a better one.
Human activity has created multiple environmental crises that threaten life on Earth. Science and policy are working to repair this damage as part of global conservation efforts, but some argue we should go further. What if conservation aimed beyond the restoration of our planet, towards an improved nature? Rather than fixing a broken environment, we could build a better one. An environment that better serves the needs of humans and even improves animal welfare.
Emerging technologies are moving us closer to this possibility. They could allow us to redesign ecosystems, revive proxies for lost species, and even invent new ecological functions. If perfected, these tools could enable us to intentionally create “better” environments. But what kind of world would that be?
This talk explores that question through the lens of science fiction, from G. R. R. Martin to Isaac Asimov, and philosophy. We believe that imagining techno-utopias (and dystopias) can expose just how complex it is to value nature, and that this complexity must guide how we set our goals for its future.
www.katelynch.net • christopherhlean.weebly.com
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE On air since 2005, The Philosopher’s Zone is an ABC Radio National program that explores philosophical ideas and issues, featuring interviews with philosophers and thinkers about ethics, logic, politics, art, science, and everyday life. | |
ALAN SAUNDERS LECTURE
2024 Krushil Watene
2022 Bryan Mukandi
2021 Stephen Gardiner
2019 Alison Wylie
2018 Serene Khader
2017 Nancy Sherman
2016 Susan Wolf
2015 Cordelia Fine
2014 Philip Pettit
2013 Simon Blackburn
Alan Saunders 1954 - 2012
Alan Saunders was a prince among broadcasters. Of all the journalists I've ever met, he had the deepest love of, and also understanding of, philosophy, and his passion for ideas made doing a program with him a highlight of one's year -- even long distance by phone, and even more in person in the studio. What he brought to public discussion was priceless'.
- Martha Nussbaum, University of Chicago
In recognition of his enduring work, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in association with the Australasian Association of Philosophy presents an annual Alan Saunders Memorial Lecture. The lecture aims to spread the joy of philosophy and make it accessible to the wider public.