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
MAY 10, 2022 • Podcast
Making Decisions When Values Conflict or Are Prioritized Differently, with Paul Root Wolpe
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 ...
Related Initiatives
Carnegie Ethics Accelerator
The Carnegie Ethics Accelerator is a new kind of incubator designed to empower ethics in the face of swiftly evolving challenges in technology and public policies.
Ethics & International Affairs Journal
Ethics & International Affairs is the quarterly journal of Carnegie Council. It aims to close the gap between the theory and practice of ethics.
Carnegie Ethics Fellows
The Carnegie Ethics Fellows program (CEF) seeks to cultivate the next generation of ethical global leaders across business, policy, technology, NGOs, and academia.
Explore Our Applied Ethics Resources
AUG 21, 2015 • Podcast
Global Tax Avoidance: Who's Responsible?
We investigate the complex world of tax avoidance, starting with the mining industry in Zambia. Activists, documentarians, and economists give perspectives on how corporations avoid ...
AUG 20, 2015 • Article
Compromise and Rotten Compromises: A Reflection on the Iran Deal
Ultimately, will the Iran nuclear deal be a good compromise or a rotten one? For an ethicist, one question lingers. Why did the American-led negotiators ...
AUG 17, 2015 • Article
Possible Future Worlds: Essays by Carnegie Council's Ethics Fellows for the Future
This booklet is the result of a six-month online course taken by the Ethics Fellows for the Future, based on Carnegie Council Fellow Thong Nguyen's ...
AUG 6, 2015 • Article
Ethics on Film: Discussion of "Gandhi"
This film is a textbook on Gandhi's political philosophy and the Indian quest for statehood. And for many, Ben Kingsley's performance in the title role, ...
JUL 29, 2015 • Article
Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Commentary: Creating Standards for Multi-Stakeholder Governance
Many people in civil society and in governmental circles feel ambivalent about this new global governance approach. Should multi-stakeholders be in charge of "solving" global ...
JUL 28, 2015 • Article
To Sow the Wind: An Argument Against the War on Terror
The just war tradition--a tradition that once thought war tragically endemic and sometimes justified, but never simply, unambiguously just--has lost its profound Augustinian political skepticism ...
JUL 24, 2015 • Article
The Ethics of Nuclear Power: Reflections on Carnegie Council Site Visit to Fukushima, Japan
As part of Carnegie Council's Global Ethical Dialogues site visits to eight countries around the world, in June 2015 the Council led a team of researchers, ...
JUL 24, 2015 • Article
Namie Township, Fukushima, Japan, Case Study
This case study of ethical decisions, developed by Learning Initiative Inc., is based on archival data at Namie Township, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, from the March 2011 ...
JUL 21, 2015 • Podcast
When CEOs Become Activists
Corporate leaders' influence reaches beyond the walls of their businesses. How do they use that power, and what are the ethical, business, and political consequences? ...
JUL 9, 2015 • Article
Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Innovations: "The problems are so huge I can't be pessimistic"
A conversation with Cesar Harada, inventor, environmentalist, and entrepreneur, on oceans, the difficulties of founding a startup, and letting curiosity guide your learning.