Research at the IZEW

Scientific findings and technologies change the foundations of our lives. These developments carry complex ethical questions, which makes an interdisciplinary and integrative approach an absolute necessity: only when researchers and ethics experts are able to collaboratively tackle challenges can a clear picture of their moral dimensions be discovered and an appropriate ethical judgement be found.

The IZEW has devoted itself to this goal with its program “Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities:” scientists from diverse disciplines work here on the most pressing ethical questions. Focus here is placed on these six primary fields:

Ethics and Education

Focus here is placed on theories regarding the formation of ethical judgement as well as questions of the ethical relevance of specific structures in organizations. Communication between the IZEW and areas of education, from elementary school to the university to adult education, is of great importance within this framework.

Nature and Sustainable Development

Questions of justice and responsibility between the generations of today and tomorrow as well as the conditions of their natural surroundings constitute the two main focal points for this field.

Society, Culture and Technological Change

Research in this field is concentrated on four main focal points: security ethics, media ethics and information technology, technological ethics and societal cohesion.