Staff publications

Xavier Symons

Selected publications

Books

Why Conscience Matters: A Defense of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (Routledge 2022)

Journal Publications

‘’. BMJ Global Health 2024 Dec 27;9(12):e017555.
Hernandez-Ojeda, J, Symons, X. ‘’. Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy 27(2024): 545-553.
Symons, X, Rhee, J, VanderWeele, T, et al.. ‘’. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 45(2024): 401-425.
Symons, X. ‘’. Bioethics 22 Jan 2025.
Long, K, Symons, X, Ko, H, et al. ‘’. Health Affairs 43;6(2024): 783-790.
Rodger, D, Hurst, D, Bobier, C, Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 742-743.
Rodger, D, Hurst, D, Bobier, C, Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 729-733.
Symons, X. ‘’. Cosmos and Taxis 12;11(2024): 32-36.
Rigby, B, Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 26(2023): 549-556.
Symons, X, VanderWeele, T. ‘’. Journal of Happiness Studies 25(2024): 26.
Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 347-348.
Jackson Meyer, K, Symons, X, Duffee, C. ‘’’. American Journal of Bioethics 23;4 (2023): 79-82.
Symons, X, Kha, H. ‘’. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 21;1(2024): 105-115.
Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 47;4(2022): 549-557.
Michael, N, Kissane, D, Mendz, G and Symons X. ‘’. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 64;5(2022): 438-448.
Symons, X. ‘’. Res Publica 29(2023): 1-21.
Symons, X, Poulden, B. ‘’. Asian Bioethics Review 14(2022): 259-270.
Chua, R, Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 49;3(2024): 298-312.
Pennings, S, Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medical Ethics 50(2024): 212-218.
Jones, K, Paal, P, Symons, X, and Best, M. ‘’. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 63:2(2021): 261-278.
Symons, X. “”. Journal of Moral Philosophy 18;4 (2021): 425-428.
Symons, X. ‘’. Bioethics 2021 35(5): 392-399.
Symons, X., Chua RM. ‘’. The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 2021 31(1): 53-76.
Symons X. ‘‘’. Journal of Medical Ethics 2021 47: 108-112.
Pennings, S, and Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medical Ethics 2021 47:709-711.
Symons, X. ‘’. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 2022 47(4):549-557.
Symons, X. ‘’. 2020 46: 57-58.
Symons, X., Chua, RM. “’. Bioethics 2020 34(3): 288-294.
O’Callaghan, C., Michael, N., Kissane, D., Symons X. et al. ‘’. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2019 58(6): 977-988.
Symons, X. ‘’. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 2019 40(3): 243-251.
Symons, X., Chua, RM. ‘’. Journal of Medical Ethics 2018 44(12): 868-871.
Symons, X. ‘(Vic)’. The Medical Journal of Australia 2017 207(9): 377-378.

Policy Briefings

Symons, X. ‘’. Anscombe Bioethics Centre Euthanasia Briefing Paper No.7 8^th April 2022.
Symons, X. ‘’. Anscombe Bioethics Centre COVID-19 Briefing Paper No. 4. Published 23^rd May 2020.

Media Engagement

. Public Discourse 2^nd January 2025.
. Public Discourse 10^th December 2024.
. Public Discourse 5^th September 2024.
ABC Religion and Ethics 19^th July 2024.
. Seeking the Good April 2024.
. Church Life Journal 26^th June 2023.
‘Conscientious objection and euthanasia’. Blog of the American Philosophical Association 11^th May 2023.
‘The new (biomedical) normal’. Genealogies of Modernity 2^nd March 2023.
‘Back to virtue? Effective altruism after FTX’. MercatorNet 16^th January 2023.
‘Should we allow conscientious objection in healthcare?’ ABC Religion and Ethics Report (interview with Andrew West) 23^rd November 2022.
‘Respect for autonomy in medical ethics: its more complicated than you think’. Journal of Medical Ethics Blog 11^th April 2022.
‘The Stoics: Antiquity’s answer to Jordan Peterson’. MercatorNet 10^th April 2022.
‘The end of the pandemic’. Public Discourse 13^th February 2022.
‘Rediscovering the practice of hospitality in the 21^st century hospital’. ABC Religion and Ethics 2^nd February 2022.
‘Love to the very end: towards a theology of dementia’. Church Life Journal 3^rd December 2021.
‘“An attitude towards a soul”: dementia and personhood’. ABC Religion and Ethics 18^th October 2021.
‘Discovering humanity and the common good in a post-pandemic world’. ABC Religion and Ethics 12^th June 2021.
‘I’m not anti-vaccine’: Why Genevieve is waiting for Pfizer’. The Sydney Morning Herald 23^rd May 2021 (interview with Caitlin Fitzsimmons).
‘COVID-19 and pandemic ethics’. Interview with Richard Wilkinson and Rebecca Maddern on The Today Show. 1^st of May 2021.
‘Informed consent and the vaccine roll-out in aged care’. Life Matters (ABC Radio National) 23rd Feb 2021.
‘COVID vaccine consent for aged-care residents: it’s ethically tricky, but there are ways to get it right’ The Conversation 19th Feb 2021.
‘The 'oversight' in our COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the vulnerable Australians who will have to wait’ ABC News 19th Feb 2021 (interview with Emily Clark).
‘Experts call on Federal Government for vaccine roll-out plan’. ABC News 18^th September 2020 (interview with Ros Childs).
‘Persuasion better than compulsion in vaccinating the nation’. Australian Financial Review August 20^th 2020.
‘Pandemic ethics, herd immunity and the protection of vulnerable members of the community’. ABC Religion and Ethics 8^th May 2020.
‘Who lives and who dies’. Interview with Andrew West. ABC Religion and Ethics Report 25^th March 2020.
‘Rationing care to cope with COVID-19 should never be based on age alone’. Sydney Morning Herald 14^th March 2020.
‘The delicate balance of enforcing quarantine laws’. Sydney Morning Herald 5^th March 2020.
‘Human enhancement: The promise and perils of gene-editing technology’. ABC Religion and Ethics 29^th October 2019.
‘The mystery of genealogy and the ethics of donor conception’. ABC Religion and Ethics 29^th April 2019.
‘Reason why we cared so much for trapped Thai boys’. Sydney Morning Herald 11^th July 2018.
With Udo Schuklenk. ‘Viewpoints: should euthanasia be available for people with existential suffering?, The Conversation, 6^th July 2017.
‘The Syrian war is normalizing the weaponization of health care’. The Conversation 11^th May 2017.
‘All children deserve to know who their parents are’, The Age, 2^nd March 2017.
‘Me Before You: life, disability and ‘inspiration porn’’, The Conversation, 15^th June 2016.

Bernadette Tobin

Selected publications

Chapters in Books

‘MacIntyre’s Paradox’ in The ethics of human enhancement: understanding the debate, eds Steve Clarke & CAJ Coady, 2016. Oxford University Press
‘I hope I believe in God’: some implications for contemporary ethics’ in Culture and Christianity in Dialogue, ed J Ozolins, Springer, 2016. Switzerland, 17-28
‘Just care at the end of life’ in Health Care Ethics: from theory to practice, eds J Ozolins & J Grainger, 2015. Cambridge University Press, 263-276
‘Contemporary Moral Philosophy and Happiness’ in Truth and Faith in Ethics, ed H Ramsey, St Andrews Studies in Philosophy and Public Affairs, Imprint Academic, 2011: 71-84
‘Our Genetic Future’ in Issues for Church and Society in Australia, ed M Whelan, 2006. St Paul’s Publications, Sydney, 33-4
‘John Hubert Plunkett’ in Passing the Torch, ed Peter Gray, 2005. Aisling Society, 150-152
‘Why we should have maintained a prohibition on destructive research on human embryos’ in God Down Under, Theological Conversations in the Antipodean, eds W. W H Lam & I. Barnes, 2003
‘Is there a distinctly surgical ethic?’ in Restoring humane values to medicine, eds I. Kerridge, C. Jordens, E.Sayers: Desert Pea Press, 2003. 203, pp18-20
‘Withholding and withdrawing treatment’ in Surgery Ethics and the Law, 2000. ed B Dooley, M Fearnside & M Gorton, Melb, Blackwells, 7-18
‘Can a patient's refusal of life-prolonging treatment be morally upright when it is motivated neither by the belief that the treatment would be clearly futile nor by the belief that the consequences of treatment would be unduly burdensome?’ in Issues for a Catholic Bioethic ed L Gormally, 1999, Linacre Centre, London, 334-340.
‘Why we should not remove the legal prohibition on euthanasia’ in The Last Right? Australian take sides on the right to die, 1995. eds S Chapman & S Leeder, Reed Books, Sydney

Articles in Refereed Journals

William Sullivan, Heng, J. DeBono, C. Jamieson, C. Labrecque, C. Taboada, P.Tobin, B. Welie, J: Ethics and Pandemics: Integrating ethics and approaches to clinical care and public healthNational Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, 22, 2, 2022.
Tobin, B. Conscientious judgment in healthcare: scope and limits.J Paed Child Health, 2022: 58; 1729-1730
S. Matthews. X.Symons. B. Tobin. Why healthcare workers should receive priority access vaccines in a pandemic? BMC Medical Ethics, 2021:22;79: 1-9
William Sullivan, Heng, J. DeBono, C. Jamieson, C. Labrecque, C. Taboada, P.Tobin, B. Welie, J: Promoting capabilities to make healthcare decisions, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, 20, 2, Summer, 2020.D. Isaacs. B. Tobin. Female genital mutilation: how should doctors respond? J Paed Child Health, 2017
S. Matthews. B. Tobin. Human vulnerability in medical contexts. Theor Med Bioeth. 2016. 37.1-7.
K Gray. D. Isaacs. H. Kilham, B. Tobin, K. Waters. Use of guidelines when planning home care of a girl with severe congenital myopathy. J Paed Child Health, 2016. 52: 7-10.
B. Tobin. When doctors and parents disagree: a recent example of a morally-appropriate collaboration between parents, doctors and the court, J Paed Child Health, 2014. 50, 8. 586-587.
Gray, K. Isaacs, D. Kilham, HA. Tobin, B. Spinal Muscular Atrophy type I: Do the benefits of ventilation compensate for its burdens? J Paed Child Health, Vol 49, 2013, 807-812
Jordens, C. O’Connor M. Kerridge, I. Stewart, C. Cameron, A. Deown, D. Lawrence, J. McCarrity, A. Sachedina, A. Tobin, B. Religious perspectives on umbilical cord blood banking, Journal of Law and Medicine, Vol 19. No 3, 2012. 497-511
Isaacs, D. Fitzgerald, D. Tobin, B. Palivizumab: a debate about funding, J Paed Child Health, 48, 2012, 373-377
Gillis, J. Tobin, B. How certain are you, doctor? Pediatr Crit Care Med 2011, 12,1. 71-72
Isaacs, D. Tobin, B. Hamblin, J. Slaytor, E. Donaghue, K. Munns, C. Kilham, HA. Managing ethically questionable parental requests: Growth suppression and manipulation of puberty. J Paed Child Health 2011; 47: 9, 2011: 581-4
Tobin, B. That’s right, isn’t it? Old and new ethical issues in paediatric care, J Paed Child Health 2011; 47: 9, 2011: 579-5802
IH Kerridge, CFC Jordens, R Benson, R Clifford, R Ancheny, D Keown, B. Tobin, S Bhattacharyya, A Sachedina, L Lehmann, B Edgar. Religious Perspectives on embryo donation and research, Clinical Ethics, 2010; 5: 35-45.
D Fitzgerald, D Isaacs, B. Tobin. Palivizumab: A debate about funding, J Paed Child Health, Advance Access: 10 October 2010; doi: 10.1111/j. 1440-1754.2010.01865x
S. Alexander, L. Baur, R. Magnusson, B. Tobin: ‘When does severe childhood obesity become a child protection issue?’ MJA, (2009), 190 (3): 136-140
D. Isaacs, H. Kilham, J. Leask, B. Tobin: ‘Ethical issues in immunization’, Vaccine 2009 29; 27(5): 615-8
B. Tobin. Is the use of invasive ventilation in children with genetically proven spinal muscular atrophy type 1?, Pediatric Respiratory Reviews, Vol 9 Issue 1, March 2008, 55-56
D. Isaacs. M. Ryan, S. Jacobi. H. Kilham. B. Tobin. Consent to publication of ethics cases: children deserve a voice’, British Medical Journal, Vol 337, 13, 2008, 608-609
M. Ryan, H. Kilham, S. Jacobe, D.Isaacs. B. Tobin. Spinal muscular atrophy type 1: Is long-term mechanical ventilation ethical? J Paed Child Health, 43, 2007, 237-242
D. Isaacs, H. Kilham, A. Gordon, H.Jeffery, W. Tarnow-Mordi, J. Woolnough, J. Hamblin. B. Tobin. ‘Withdrawal of neonatal mechanical ventilation against the parents’ wishes’, J Paed Child Health, 2006. 42, 311-315
P. Cooper, J. Collins, V. Levearux, D. Isaacs, H. Kilham. B. Tobin. Rebecca’s Story, J. Paed Child Health, 2005. 41, 453-455
B. Tobin. Australian Consequentialism: An Australian Critique, Theor Med Bioeth. 2005. 26, 3, 165-173
D Isaacs. HA Kilham. HM Somerville. EV O’Loughlin: B. Tobin. Nutrition in cerebral palsy, J.Paed & Child Health, 2004. 40, 5/6, 308-310)
D Isaacs, R Garsia, B Peat, RS Magnusson. B Tobin. HIV in pregnancy: the interests of the mother and the baby, J Paed Child Health, 39, 1, 2003, 60-66
B. Tobin. Reasoning about Embryos, Cloning and Stem Cells: a response to Malcolm Parker, Monash Bioethics Review, 2003. 22, No1, January 2003, 8-21
P. Glare. B. Tobin End of life issues: case 2, MJA, 2002.176/21, 80-81
S R Leeder. E Somerville. B. Tobin. Community v individual benefit, MJA, 176, 279-280
B. Tobin. Editorial, Contemporary Nurse, 2002. 12, No3, June 2002, 209-212
B. Tobin. Advancing the field of clinical ethics: particularity and practicality, MJA,174, 269-270.
M. Parker. B. Tobin. Refusal of Treatment, MJA, 2001. 174, 21 May, 531-532
I. Cameron. B. Tobin. End-of-life issues: Case I, MJA, 2001. 175, 424-425
B. Tobin. Patient-requested treatment, J Paed Child Health, 2001. 37, 501-503.
B. Tobin. The Principle of Justice: a Bioethical Perspective, Philippiana Sacra, XXXVI, 2001. 41-61.
B. Tobin. Challenging our inventiveness: ethics today, Australasian Catholic Record, 2000. 77, 2, April, 148-157.
B. Tobin. Hydration in a dying patient, J Paed. Child Health, 2000. 36, 4, 395-396.
B. Tobin. Why we should maintain a prohibition on destructive research on human embryos, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine, 2000. 30.4, August, 498-502.
B. Tobin. The virtues in John Wilson’s approach to moral education, Journal of Moral Education, 2000. 29, 3, 301-311.
B. Tobin. The new genetics: some metaethical and normative issues, Interface, 1998. 1, 2, 66-92.
B. Tobin. Comment on 'Unity and diversity in psychiatry: Some philosophical issues', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 1996. 30, 3
B. Tobin. Drugs and brain death: A matter of 'practical certainty', Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, 1996. 23, 8, Supp 2
M. Kennedy et al. B. Tobin. Controversies in health care: drugs and brain death: ethical considerations, MJA, 1996. 165, 394-398
B. Tobin. Did you think of buying her a cat? Some reflections on the concept of autonomy, Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy, 1995. 100- 110
B. Tobin. Reply to Christopher Ryan, Australasian Psychiatry, 1994. October, 2, 5
B. Tobin. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the role of cognition in Christian life, Australasian Catholic Record, 1994. LXX1, October
B. Tobin. Moral Development: a key to human happiness, J.Institute of Catholic Education, 1990. 11
B. Tobin. Peters’ Theory of Moral Development, J Phil Education, 1989. 23, 1
B. Tobin. An Aristotelian Theory of Moral Development, J Phil Education, 1989. 23, 2
B. Tobin. Development in Virtues, J Phil Education, 1987. 22, 2

Articles in Conference Proceedings

'Più parole e meno pezzi di carta: I fiduciari: uno strumento più valido dei testamenti biologici per includere nuove realtà nella moralità tradizionale’, in Le dichiarazioni anticipate di volontà sui trattamenti sanitari, 12a Commissione permanente del Senato (igiene e sanità) Palazzo della Minerva, Marzo 2007, 46-62 [‘More talk, less paper: health care proxies: a better means for extending traditional morality than are living wills’, Proceedings of the Senate of the Italian Republic, 29th March 2007]
Patients’ Rights, Forum in Bioethics 8: Justice, Patients’ Rights, Psychoethics, eds F B Gomez, OP & A Yu-Soliven, UST Publishing House, 45-61, 2001
The Principle of Justice: a Bioethical Perspective, Forum in Bioethics 8: Justice, Patients’ Rights, Psychoethics, Fausto B Gomez OP & Anniela Yu-Soliven, MD editors, UST Publishing House, 2001, 3-26,
Why the return to a virtues-based ethics of health care? Ethics Fatigue: the Fracturing of Medical Ethics, Proceedings of Conference conducted by the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney, 1998. 35-41.
Tolerance: its meaning, value and limits, Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association of Canon Lawyers, 1995. Perth
People who express a wish to die: what do they really want? Proceedings of the Australian Bioethics Association Conference, 1994 Adelaide (with Dr Paul Glare)
Dying with Dignity: an evaluation of the interim guidelines from NSW Department of Health, Proceedings of the Philosophy and Applied Ethics Conference, 1993. University of Newcastle, 197-203
Practical Wisdom and Health Care: an account of the contribution of Virtues Ethics to the Practice of Medicine and Nursing, Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, 1992. UNSW Press
Organ Transplantation: Consent and Consensus, Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Centre 1992: for Human Bioethics, 1992. Monash University
Why Prefer a Virtues-Based approach to health care ethics? Proceedings of the Australian Bioethics Association Conference, 1992, Sydney

Other Articles

Surrogacy laws may be a bridge too far for Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, 26th April, 2015
‘Voluntary Euthanasia: it can only be a way station to the non-voluntary’. ABC Religion and Ethics, 13 November 2015
The truly seminal work of Pellegrino: a synthesis by Sulmasy, Bioethics Outlook, 26.3. 2015: 1-4
Voluntary euthanasia: why it can only be a way station, Bioethics Outlook, 2015 26.4; 1-3
Surgeon report cards: a desirable development? Bioethics Outlook, 2015. 26.4; 11-12
‘I just need to be able to talk to someone I know the patient trusted!’ Why Catholic Health Australia has prepared a new brochure for advance care planning, Bioethics Outlook, 25, 2, 2014, 1-4
Anticipate and Communicate: Presidential Commission’s advice on ethical management of incidental and secondary findings in clinical, research and direct-to-consumer contexts. Bioethics Outlook, 25, 3, 2014, 1-5
Advance Care Planning Explained, Health Matters, 65, 2013; 22-23

Steve Matthews is Senior Research Fellow at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics. He has previously worked at Macquarie University, Charles Sturt University, and Monash University, where he wrote his doctorate in philosophy on the metaphysics of personal identity and its implications for ethics. He now works mainly at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and psychiatry, publishing widely on questions of ethics in relation to these areas. The focus of his research concerns how selfhood and agency is understood in contexts of psychopathology (where the biological self is under threat) and online contexts (where the social self comes under threat). These vulnerabilities lead to losses in the capacity to secure primary goods, such as careers, and relationships. A series of ARC-funded projects have applied this framework to the cases of mental illness, addiction, and dementia. In addition, he has published over fifty peer-reviewed articles, guest-edited a range of journal special issues, and has organized a number of workshops and conferences on these and related ethical issues.

Selected publications

"Memory and Moral Reasoning". (with Jeanette Kennett). In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Memory. Oxford University Press. Eds. André Sant'Anna and Carl F. Craver. Under contract.
"Compassionate Understanding". The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. Forthcoming.
"". Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. Published online 2024:1-10.
"" (With Jeanette Kennett), The Journal of Philosophy, 121 (2), 61-88, 2024.
"". (With Matthew Tieu). The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 2024, 49, 85-101.
"Why should HCWs receive priority access to vaccines in a pandemic". (With Xavier Symons (lead author), Bernadette Tobin.) BMC ethics, 22, article 79. 2021..
"The impact of dementia on the self: do we consider ourselves the same as others?". (With Sophia Harris, Amee Baird, Jeanette Kennett and Celia Harris), Neuroethics. 14 (3), 281-294. 2021.
"" (With Jeanette Kennett), Journal of Applied Philosophy, 39 (1), 117-131. 2021.
"". Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. 30(2), 141-166, 2020.
"Diminished autonomy, consent, and chronic addiction". In Beyond consent: limits and alternatives to informed consent in research ethics and law. Bernadette Richards & David Kirchhoffer (eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2019.
"," (With Anke Snoek and Robyn Dwyer) Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 14(2), 275-286, 2017.
"," Journal of Moral Philosophy 14 (4), 394-415, 2017.
"," Bioethics, 29, 573-9. 2015.
"," Ethical theory and moral practice, 17, pp791-805, 2014.
"," Co-authored with Jeanette Kennett. American Philosophical Quarterly, 49 (4), 301-15, (2012).
"," American Philosophical Quarterly, 47 (4), 351-363 (2010)
"". Co-authored with Jeanette Kennett. Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives. Matthew Broome, Lisa Bortolotti (eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press. (2009), pp327-351.
"" Co-authored with Jeanette Kennett. Practical Identity and Narrative Agency, Catriona MacKenzie, Kim Atkins (eds). New York: Routledge. (2008)
"Privacy, Separation, and Control," The Monist, vol 91 (1), 130-150 (Jan 2008).
"Delusion, Dissociation and Identity," Co-authored with Jeanette Kennett. Philosophical Explorations VI, 31-49, (January, 2003).
"," Co-authored with Jeanette Kennett. Philosophical Psychology, 15, 509-526 (December, 2002).
"Unreal Friends," Co-authored with Dean Cocking. Ethics and Information Technology, 2, 223-231 (2000).
"," Philosophical Studies, 98, 279-303, (April, 2000).

Marija Kirajanenko

Selected Publications

Hutton, J., Michael, V., Miller, S.M., Baines, B., Kirjanenko, M., Sher, L., Lawrence, J., Boyd, J., Semciw, A., Jessup, R. and Talevski, J. (2024), '. Emergency Medicine Australasia.
Kirjanenko, M. (2024). 'e.' The American Journal of Bioethics, 24(12), 71–73.
Cordeiro, J. J., & Kirjanenko, M. (2023). . AJOB Neuroscience, 14(3), 244–246.

Other

Other Publications

Policy Briefings

"A Relational Care Framework for Dementia: Person-centred care post the Royal Commission." Steve Matthews and Philippa Byers, 2022.

Submissions

Submission to UK House of Commons Committee re: Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Xavier Symons and Bernadette Tobin, Jan 2025.

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