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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MAY 17, 2018 Transcript

Moral Machines, with Wendell Wallach

Can artificial agents make moral decisions? Do we want them to make moral decisions? When? For what? If so, whose ethics, whose values, are going ...

MAY 8, 2018 Article

Engagement: What Do Voters Think

Ali Wyne notes that there is a disconnect between how Americans view U.S. foreign policy and whether or not it supports and sustains their ...

MAY 8, 2018 Podcast

Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, with Paul Scharre

"What happens when a predator drone has as much as autonomy as a self-driving car, moving to something that is able to do all of ...

MAY 1, 2018 Podcast

The Peacemakers: Leadership Lessons from Twentieth-Century Statesmanship, with Bruce Jentleson

What are the qualities and conditions that enable people to become successful peacemakers? At a time when peace seems elusive and conflict endemic, Bruce Jentleson ...

Indian infantry (58th Rifles) in Fauquissart, France, August 1915. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_infantry_in_the_trenches,_prepared_against_a_gas_attack_(Photo_24-300).jpg">H. D. Girdwood/British Library/Public Domain</a>

MAY 1, 2018 Podcast

The Living Legacy of WWI: Chemical Weapons from the Great War to Syria, with Zach Dorfman

"What you stopped seeing after World War I was great power conflict involving chemical weapons, and what you started seeing was asymmetric conflicts or regional ...

APR 24, 2018 Podcast

The Living Legacy of WWI: Jane Addams & Her Cosmopolitan Ethics, with Seiko Mimaki

"What distinguished Addams from other peace advocates was her strong emphasis on the crucial role of marginalized people, such as women, immigrants, and workers, in ...

Detail from John Singer Sargent's <i>Gassed</i> (1919). CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sargent,_John_Singer_(RA)_-_Gassed_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Google Cultural Institute/Imperial War Musem London (Public Domain)</a>

APR 17, 2018 Podcast

The Living Legacy of WWI: The Politics & Medicine of Treating Post-Traumatic Stress, with Tanisha Fazal

Although it has been written about for centuries, post-traumatic stress was not officially recognized as a medical condition until the 1980s. However World War I "...

Stephanie Sy and Rana Foroohar. CREDIT: Billy Pickett.

APR 3, 2018 Podcast

The Dangers of a Digital Democracy, with Rana Foroohar

The revelations about the misuse of Facebook data have started a pushback against the top five big tech companies: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. ...

APR 3, 2018 Article

How to Deal With Xi's China? Engage, but Be Wary

"With the recent moves aimed at consolidating power within the presidency of Xi Jinping, a new era may be beginning in terms of how China ...

French military hospital during World War I. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H%C3%B4pital_1914-1918.jpg">Yelkrokoyade/Public Domain</a>

APR 3, 2018 Podcast

The Living Legacy of WWI: Hidden Photographic Narratives, with Katherine Akey

Katherine Akey is researching "gueules cassées," soldiers who suffered facially disfiguring injuries on WWI battlefields, focusing on those who were treated at the American ...