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With the unsettled start to an uncertain century, the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics seeks to provide some answers to ethical problems in the modern world.

In the latter part of the 20th century, a host of ethical problems have arisen in the public and political spotlight.
Governments and other agencies have shown concern for corruption in public institutions, the impact of information technology on privacy, confidentiality and social justice, and the increase in international terrorism, to name but a few problems.

At the forefront of research in practical ethics is the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE), which provides policy input and promotes community discussion and professional dialogue.

 

Research into media ethics is part of CAPPE 's work.
photo: Lee Verrall

CAPPE began as a collaborative enterprise between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the University of Melbourne and was subsequently joined by the Australian National University (ANU).

Centre Director Professor Seumas Miller said an initial impetus for CAPPE came from work in applied philosophy in CSU’s range of professional courses, such as policing and journalism.

The Centre was established as a Commonwealth Special Research Centre in 2000 and is funded under the Australian Research Council’s Special Research Centre scheme.

 

CAPPE Director Professor Seamus Miller (left).
Photo: Sally Druitt

"Special Research Centres are widely regarded as the most prestigious and well funded of Australia’s university-based research bodies,” Professor Miller said.

“CAPPE also has the largest concentration of philosophers working on applied ethics in the English-speaking world who are responsible for a range of studies covering fields as diverse as policing, taxation, business and information technology.

The centre also hosts international conferences and workshops concerned with a variety of issues in practical ethics.

Late in 2003, CAPPE hosted the first international Computing and Philosophy conference outside the USA or Europe. Held at ANU in Canberra, the meeting gathered philosophers and computer professionals to discuss impacts of computers and philosophy on their respective fields, and highlight areas of mutual interest.

CAPPE is hosting the Third World Congress of the International Society of Business, Economics and Ethics to be held in Melbourne in July 2004, which Professor Miller describes as one of the biggest applied ethics conferences in the world.

With CAPPE professorial fellow Tom Campbell as convenor, the international forum will debate issues of ethics, justice and human rights within the realities of business practice.

 

CAPPE is a world leader in police ethics.
Photo: Shannon Dunn

“CAPPE brings together practitioners, philosophers, and other academics including scientists to focus on pressing practical ethical problems. Our underlying assumptions are that, given the depth and complexity of the ethical problems that concern us, public debate and public policy should be informed by relevant research in applied ethics,” Professor Millar said.

“Moral philosophers have an important and distinctive intellectual contribution to make, and that contribution must be firmly grounded in the work of social and natural scientists, and the experience of practitioners.”

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Media Officer	: CSU Media
Telephone	: 02 6338 4839

Editor's Note: According to the 2002 review of CAPPE by the Australian Research Council, since its inception in 2000 the organisation has become a world leader in the fields of political violence and terrorism, professional ethics and police ethics.

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