Jonathan Leighton

Jonathan Leighton is an ethics strategist, social change advocate and public speaker. He is the author of The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe (2011), in which he takes a methodical approach to answering the question "What matters?", tying in findings from physics, biology, psychology and philosophy. Since June 2016 he is the Executive Director of the Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS), a Swiss think-and-do tank he founded to promote the application of compassionate ethics to societal decision-making. OPIS has been advocating for better access to effective medications for people in severe pain, including patients with terminal cancer or cluster headaches, and more generally, for governments to prioritise the prevention of intense suffering of all sentient beings. Originally from Montreal, Canada, Leighton trained as a research molecular biologist, obtaining an AB from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of Basel. He has worked as a scientist studying the molecular basis of olfaction, as well as in global health and biotech communications. He is one of the leading proponents of a contemporary approach to ethics that focuses explicitly on the prevention and alleviation of suffering.

Works involving Jonathan Leighton

The Tango of Ethics

Intuition, Rationality and the Prevention of Suffering
(Author)

A key paradigm in The Tango of Ethics is the conflict and interplay between two fundamentally different ways of seeing and being in the world — that of the intuitive human being who wants to lead a meaningful life and thrive, and that of the detached, rational agent who wants to prevent unbearable suffering from occurring.

Laws of Form
Commentary and Remembrance for George Spencer-Brown
Immigration Control in a Warming World
Realizing the Moral Challenges of Climate Migration
Johannes Graf Keyserlingk
Freedom's Progress?
A History of Political Thought
Gerard Casey
Becoming Artificial
A Philosophical Exploration into Artificial Intelligence and What it Means to be Human
Danial Sonik
The Blind Guardians of Ignorance
Covid-19, Sustainability, and Our Vulnerable Future
Mats Larsson
The Jaynes Legacy
Shining New Light Through the Cracks of the Bicameral Mind
Lawrence Wile
The Psychology of the Bible
Explaining Divine Voices and Visions
Brian J. McVeigh
Iconoclasm, Identity Politics and the Erasure of History
Alexander Adams
The Architecture of Ideas
The Life and Work of Ranulph Glanville, Cybernetician
British Idealism and International Thought
The Development of Human Rights
Nazli Pinar Kaymaz

Works involving Jonathan Leighton

The Tango of Ethics

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