ADAM H. GOLDING
Adam H. Golding is a dynamic personality based in Johannesburg, actively engaged in education, music, and public speaking. As an educator, he inspires high school students to develop critical thinking skills and articulate arguments effectively. In the realm of music, Adam is dedicated to introducing early music to broader audiences, enriching their cultural experiences. As a speaker, he addresses vital topics such as constructive argumentation, ethical reasoning, and the implications of AI on our future, aiming to foster understanding and dialogue among young minds.
BIOGRAPHY
BMus (WITS 2006), PGCE (Rhodes 2021), Master’s in Philosophy, Applied Ethics (in progress WITS 2025)
Adam is a musician and educator with a passion for philosophical reasoning and ethical thinking.
Adam has taught at Redhill School since 2006, where he has held many roles teaching Music, History, Design, Project-Based Learning, and Life Orientation. He currently teaches Theory of Knowledge as part of the IB curriculum and is preparing the first class in South Africa to take Philosophy as a Matric subject through the IB.
As a musician, Adam trained as a conductor and worked with the Johannesburg Youth Orchestra for many years, and is now the musical director of The African Renaissance Ensemble, a group of 20 musicians with a passion for performing music from the Renaissance period.
In 2020, Adam co-founded Deliberate, a consultancy that focuses on providing training and developing courses in ethical reasoning, philosophical thinking, and critical evaluation for professional organisations, schools, and corporations. In this capacity, he is a regular speaker and presenter.
Adam is currently completing his Master’s degree in Applied Ethics through the Philosophy department at Wits. One of the most important problems facing the AI world today is concerned with how we ensure that future artificial intelligences, orders of magnitude greater than our own, remain aligned with our goals and wellbeing. His research builds on Stuart Russell‘s proposed solution for the alignment problem by using the ethical theory of Virtue Ethics (in place of Utilitarianism) to avoid the fundamental root of the problem, being our inability to precisely and completely define goals.
As a teacher, Adam is dedicated to preparing his students for a future that is beyond our imaginations, by fostering an environment of listening, deep questioning, and intellectual humility.
BACKGROUND
Adam was born and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Throughout his life, music was a central part of each day. Following school, Adam completed a BMus degree at Wits with majors in French Horn performance and composition, but was already focusing on conducting.
After the completion of his degree, Adam took a teaching post at Redhill, and his love for education shifted his path from becoming a professional conductor, to focusing on working in schools. In 2007 he was selected as one of three South African’s to participate in The Fulbright Fusion Arts Exhcange at Northeastern University.
For a number of years, Adam conducted The Johannesburg Youth Orchestra and various other ensembles, before starting his own group, The Lewandowski Chorale in 2012. With the Johannesburg Youth Orchestra, Adam collaborated with some of the biggest names in South African music, including Jonas Gwangwa, Paul Hamner, Mafikizolo, Pops Mohamed, The Masote family, The Soweto String Quartet, and Benjamin Zander.
In 2017, Adam founded The African Renaissance Ensemble which has grown to attract some of the finest early music specialists in Johannesburg. In 2025, Adam led the ensemble in a collaboration with William Kentridge, Neo Muyanga, and The Centre for the Less Good Idea.
Adam is currently completing a dissertation towards his Master’s degree in Applied Ethics through the University of the Witwatersrand Philosophy department. He is researching the possibilities of using Virtue Ethics as a better alternative to Utilitarianism in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
QUALIFICATIONS AND AWARDS
QUALIFICATIONS
Masters in Philosophy
Applied Ethics
2025 (currently underway)
University of the Witwatersrand
AI Ethics
Postgraduate Certificate in Education
2021 (distinction)
Rhodes University
Bachelor of Music
2005
Unviersity of the Witwatersrand
Performance and Composition
ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS
Louis Lewandowski Festival Berlin
2011 & 2016
Conductor of the Lewandowski Chorale at the International Louis Lewandowski Festival.
Fulbright Scholarship Nominee
Conducting
2008 & 2009
UNESCO Performances
2008
Conductor of the multinational Fusion Arts Ensemble at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Fulbright Alumnus
2007
Conducting and Composition
Fusion Arts Exchange
Northeastern University, Boston
PROJECTS
ENSEMBLES
The African Renaissance Ensemble
Founder and musical director
2017 – Present
The Lewandowski Chorale
Founder and Musical Director
2012 – 2025
The Johannesburg Youth Orchestra
Conductor
2003 – 2011
EVENTS
Thinking in Monteverdi
Conductor
The African Renaissance Ensemble in collaboration with William Kentridge and The Centre for the Less Good Idea
Profeti della Quinta
2018
A National South African tour of the Swiss-based Profeti della Quinta
Four Choirs in Concert
2016
A choir festival in Johannesburg and Cape Town featuring the Synagogal Ensemble Berlin
RESEARCH
Applied Ethics and AI
My current research focuses on using Virtue Ethics to improve Stuart Russell‘s solution to the alignment problem.
In his 2019 book, Human Compatible, Stuart Russell proposed a potential solution to the alignment problem in the form of a three-principle framework:
1. The machine’s only objective is to maximize the realization of human preferences.
2. The machine is initially uncertain about what those preferences are.
3. The ultimate source of information about human preferences is human behavior.
Russel, 2019
The framework’s foundation is in Preference Utilitarianism, as encapsulated in the first principle. I worry that Preference Utilitarianism relies on the kinds of foundational claims that Russell is rightly trying to avoid. My proposal is to adapt the framework using Virtue Ethics, following in the footsteps of Rosalind Hursthouse’s paper Environmental Virtue Ethics, which expounds a bottom up approach to avoid foundational statements on inherent value.