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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APR 6, 2000 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 2, No. 2 (Spring 2000): Litigating Human Rights: Promise v. Perils: Articles: What Does "International Justice" Look Like in Post-Genocide Rwanda?

"The Tribunal can make a difference for the future of human rights in Rwanda by exposing the truth of the genocide: It was not a ...

APR 6, 2000 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 2, No. 2 (Spring 2000): Litigating Human Rights: Promise v. Perils: Articles: Resisting Litigation in Umm El-Fahem

Several months after the Israeli Defense Forces informed residents of Umm El-Fahem that some of their lands were to become a military firing range, the ...

APR 6, 2000 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 2, No. 2 (Spring 2000): Litigating Human Rights: Promise v. Perils: Articles: Big Oil in Louisiana and a Community's Bottom Line

"Everyone was sick–sore throats, burning eyes, headaches, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea. Convoys of trucks were bringing in waste daily, and the smell was everywhere. In ...

DEC 5, 1999 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 2, No. 1 (Winter 2000): Human Rights for All? The Problem of the Human Rights Box: Articles: To Our Readers: Human Rights for All? The Problem of the Human Rights Box

In this issue we examine the barriers that prevent a broad cross-section of people from embracing and benefiting from human rights.

DEC 5, 1999 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 2, No. 1 (Winter 2000): Human Rights for All? The Problem of the Human Rights Box: Articles: Human Rights in the Aftermath of Kosovo

In the Balkans, where human rights discourse was used to morally justify the loss and destruction of thousands of lives, the human rights language, ...

DEC 5, 1999 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 2, No. 1 (Winter 2000): Human Rights for All? The Problem of the Human Rights Box: Articles: The Credibility Crisis of International Human Rights in the Arab World

International groups should collaborate with the local Arab movement to develop strategies to build the moral standing of human rights among the public and improve ...

SEP 5, 1997 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 10 (Fall 1997): Efforts, East and West, to Improve Human Rights Assessments: Articles: Bringing Women's Rights Back into the Human Rights Movement

Jessica Neuwirth would like to bring women's rights to the forefront in the human rights movement as most of the UDHR have a far more ...

JUN 5, 1997 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 9 (Summer 1997): Innovative Human Rights Strategies in East Asia: Articles: A People-Centered Approach to Human Rights

A "people-centered" approach to human rights is arising from the grassroots, making people in struggle the determinative players in human rights standard setting, monitoring, and ...

JUN 5, 1997 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 9 (Summer 1997): Innovative Human Rights Strategies in East Asia: Articles: Seeking to End Discrimination Through Dowa Education

Non-Japanese are treated as second-class citizens, the indigenous Ainu was forced to assimilate, and gender inequality still exists. Dowa (liberation) education, aims at persuading those ...

JUN 5, 1997 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 9 (Summer 1997): Innovative Human Rights Strategies in East Asia: Articles: Awarding Korean Companies for Social Responsibility

KEJI rewards companies after being evaluated for their ethical performance as large Korean corporations in hopes that, as Chun Byung-Hwa points out, can be used ...