Ethics & Public Policy

Ethics & Public Policy (22nd Murdoch Colloquium)

Organised by Murdoch Philosophy Program in partnership with Murdoch University Singapore with support from the Indo-Pacific Research Centre

Location: Murdoch University Singapore Campus Dates: 14–15 December 2026

Description: Policymakers are confronting rapidly evolving social challenges in areas ranging from demographic policy, AI-driven automated decision-making, and sustainability to public health, inequality, labour governance, issues of trust, and the digital economy. Whereas policies in these areas must be informed by a solid evidence base, they also need to be guided by social and ethical values. This workshop focuses on how values do and ought to guide public decision‑making. Its goal is to foster interdisciplinary exchange at the intersection of philosophy, political theory, and economics and public policy, with a particular focus on the role of values in policy development and implementation. Drawing on the methodological strengths of PPE disciplines, this workshop will discuss research that explores both normative frameworks and their practical policy implications, or engage critically with the distinctive institutional, cultural, and political contexts of Southeast Asia, or both. Methodologically, conceptual and empirical approaches, and practitioners’ perspectives will be represented, including case studies with a regional focus in Southeast Asia.

Themes include

• Integration of values and evidence in policy-making
• Normative foundations of public policy more broadly
• Intergenerational justice and long‑term public decision‑making
• Ethical challenges in the use of AI for governance and policy-design
• Epistemic (in)justice in evidence-based policy-making
• Value conflicts in public‑health policy and crisis governance
• Political trust & legitimacy vis-à-vis the misinformation crisis
• Values and policy design in multi‑ethnic societies
• Case studies on value-guided policy design with a regional focus

The workshop program will feature early‑stage work and contributions from emerging scholars or scholars that belong to underrepresented groups.

Workshop / Presentation Format

• The workshop will be fully in‑person at Murdoch Singapore. There is no online / virtual attendance option.

Key Dates

• Workshop: 14–15 December 2026
• Register for catering purposes by 10 Dec by emailing the organiser.

Venue Murdoch University (Kaplan), Singapore, Odeon 333, Northbridge Rd

Organiser: Associate Professor Anne Schwenkenbecher, Murdoch University