The mission of the Center is to enable humanity to develop the ethics and institutions to adapt to the world that is increasingly impacted at all scales, from human health to climate change, by human decisions. It is to improve the ethical awareness and understanding of people and thereby their responsible decision-making and behavior, individually and collectively, in the public and private sector. Nothing is more crucial for humans to sustain the essential conditions for living fulfilling and fruitful lives. A society dominated by unethical, irresponsible, selfish individuals and organizations not only is an unpleasant place to live, it is not a society that can long endure.
- The Center is dedicated to exploring the various aspects of moral responsibility specific to various fields of human endeavor (e.g. engineering, law, religion, politics, government, science, business, healthcare, education, technology, etc.) that are or will likely be confronted by practitioners or collectively by the general population of the country or the globe.
- The Center has assembled a cohort of professors, fellows, and scholars on the campuses of ASU who are internationally recognized for their expertise in their various disciplines and their concern about the ethical issues that confront those in their diverse fields of knowledge and professional practice.
- The Center achieves its mission primarily by creating opportunities, supporting projects, and developing the capabilities of selected ASU faculty members to engage in applied ethics teaching, scholarship and service activities in various disciplines and professions. It fosters programs and projects that are likely to bring ethical considerations to bear on major issues confronting people, individually and collectively, as local, national, and global citizens.
Background - The Lincolns
Joan and David Lincoln founded the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Arizona State University in 1998.
Continuing public interest in ethics and the increasing importance of providing students an ethical education prompted Joan and David Lincoln of Paradise Valley to give Arizona State University a gift to initiate a university-wide applied ethics program developed and coordinated in the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics.