Russell Blackford

Conjoint Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Newcastle
I am a philosopher, legal scholar, literary critic, author, and editor, based at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Recent books include:

* 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009; co-edited with Udo Schuklenk).

* Freedom of Religion and the Secular State (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).

* 50 Great Myths About Atheism (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013; co-authored with Udo Schuklenk).

* Humanity Enhanced: Genetic Choice and the Challenge for Liberal Democracies (MIT Press, 2014).

* Intelligence Unbound: The Future of Uploaded and Machine Minds (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014; co-edited with Damien Broderick).

* The Mystery of Moral Authority (Palgrave, 2016).

* Philosophy's Future: The Problem of Philosophical Progress (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017; co-edited with Damien Broderick).

* Science Fiction and the Moral Imagination: Visions, Minds, Ethics (Springer, 2017).

* The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism (Bloomsbury, 2019).

* At the Dawn of a Great Transition: The Question of Radical Enhancement (Schwabe, 2021).

* How We Became Post-Liberal: The Rise and Fall of Toleration (Bloomsbury, 2024).

I'm a prolific essayist and commentator with interests including legal and political philosophy, philosophical bioethics, philosophy of religion, and debates involving visions of the human future.

I have also had some success as a science fiction and fantasy author, including my fantasy story "The Sword of God" (which won both a Ditmar Award and Aurealis Award in 1997) and an original trilogy written for the Terminator franchise. I've won the William Atheling, Jr., Award for Criticism and Review (in the fantasy and science fiction field) on three occasions, including for my co-authored book Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction (Greenwood Press, 1999; co-authored with Van Ikin and Sean McMullen).