Summing Up: My theory of everything

Prof. Stan van Hooft (Deakin University )

Stan van Hooft is retiring Professor of Philosophy at Deakin University. Studying under Max Charlesworth, he gained his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Melbourne in the seventies and taught philosophy in a number of colleges before joining Deakin University, where he has been central to the development of the philosophy program over many years. He has been involved with the British Society for Consultant Philosophers, the Victorian Association for Philosophy in Schools, the Australian Bioethics Association and the Australian Society for Professional and Applied Ethics, among other professional philosophical societies. In 1998, he introduced Modern Socratic Dialogue into Australia and has conducted dialogues with students in the higher education sector and in secondary schools, along with professional groups and members of the public. He has authored numerous books, including, most recently, Hope (Acumen, 2011) and Cosmopolitanism: A Philosophy for Global Ethics (Acumen, 2009), which was shortlisted for the Australian Museum Eureka prize for research in ethics in 2010. He has also published widely on moral philosophy, politics, religion, philosophical psychology, bioethics, business ethics and the nature of health and disease, and has edited or co-edited several important collections including the Handbook of Virtue Ethics, recently published by Acumen. Stan is also a jazz bassist, and is the founder and band leader of “Standing Tall”.