Applied Ethics

Framing ethical perspectives

Applied ethics refers to the practical applications of the moral principles that govern behavior. Carnegie Council focuses on this field, mostly through the realm of international affairs, by identifying and addressing the most critical ethical issues of today and tomorrow. Our initiatives, content, and experts analyze the way that governments, institutions, and individuals interact and make choices on global issues, such as climate change, emerging technology, and governance.

Featured Applied Ethics Resources

Practical conversations, decision analysis, and more

JUL 5, 2023 Article

A Framework for the International Governance of AI

Carnegie Council, in collaboration with IEEE, proposes a five-part AI governance framework to enable the constructive use of AI.

APR 12, 2022 Podcast

Surveillance Tech's Infinite Loop of Harms, with Chris Gilliard

In this discussion with Senior Fellow Arthur Holland Michel, Chris Gilliard explains why the arc of surveillance technology and novel AI bends toward failures that ...

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JUN 13, 2019 Podcast

Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet, with David Kaye

The original idea of the Internet was for it to be a "free speech nirvana," but in 2019, the reality is quite different. Authoritarians spread disinformation ...

JUN 12, 2019 Article

The Anti-Narrative

Among the electorate, especially since the 2016 election, there is a counter-narrative at play regarding the role of the U.S. in international affairs. This "anti-narrative" ...

MAY 22, 2019 Podcast

A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism, with Adam Gopnik

In his eloquent defense of liberalism, Adam Gopnik goes back to its origins and argues that rather than emphasizing the role of the individual, the ...

MAY 21, 2019 Podcast

Global Ethics Weekly: The Mueller Report & U.S. Foreign Policy, with Jonathan Cristol

A lot of the talk about the Mueller Report has focused on its political and legal implications, but how will it affect U.S. foreign ...

MAY 17, 2019 Podcast

Civic Responsibility in the Internet Age, with Michael H. Posner

Historian Ted Widmer and Michael Posner, an NYU Stern professor and former U.S. State Department official, discuss local politics, journalism, and money in elections ...

MAY 13, 2019 Podcast

Ethics in Business: In Their Own Words, with GPIF's Hiro Mizuno

Hiro Mizuno, executive managing director and CIO of Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), speaks about the role of ethics in managing one of the ...

Josephine Marrocco.  CREDIT: Amanda Ghanooni

MAY 10, 2019 Article

Sex, Drugs, and Propaganda: Why AIDS Persists in the Russian Federation

On May 3, 2019, Josephine Marrocco's presentation on HIV/AIDS in Russia was selected as the winner of the Council's fifth annual Student Research Conference. Afterwards, Carnegie ...

MAY 9, 2019 Podcast

Global Ethics Weekly: Ethics, Politics, & the Veteran Community, with Reed Bonadonna

Senior Fellow Reed Bonadonna, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, discusses the role of ethics in the transition to civilian life. With presidents Eisenhower ...

APR 22, 2019 Podcast

Human Rights, Liberalism, & Ordinary Virtues, with Michael Ignatieff

Central European University's President Michael Ignatieff is a human rights scholar, an educator, a former politician, and, as he tells us, the son of a ...

CREDIT: <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/LeandroDeCarvalho-2623015/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1682266">Leandro De Carvalho</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1682266">Pixabay</a>

APR 9, 2019 Article

Ethical Implications of Climate Change for Education

"Education is often tied with privilege and who has access," writes Brian Mateo, assistant dean of civic engagement at Bard College. "Let us not continue ...