Striving after interdisciplinary collaboration among ethicists and specialists from diverse sciences, Ethical Perspectives primarily intends to be an international forum for the promotion of dialogue between fundamental and applied ethics.

The word 'forum' is key

The forum: that ancient marketplace in the centre of town where people gather not only to exchange goods but also to exchange ideas on various social concerns and problems. The forum has always been the place for political oratory, religious celebrations, and jurisprudence. To witnesses events through the forum is to feel the heartbeat of community life.

A forum can degenerate into a place dominated by rhetoric and sophistry, where well-thought-out positions are replaced by superficial legitimization. As a result, a social forum is unthinkable without the critical contribution of ethics. Debates about society demand a systematic reflection on its moral foundations.

Not only for ethicists: Interdisciplinarity

Ethical Perspectives is for ethicists but not just for ethicists. Systematic reflection about ethical foundations demands careful attention to all dimensions of the issues and problems. By definition, therefore, ethical reflection must be interdisciplinary. (Anyone, for instance, who is concerned about ethical questions about family life must also address questions about the psychology of human relations, socio-economic issues, gender issues, etc.)

This interdisciplinary approach, so important for ethical reflection, encounters opposition today in scientific circles where the movement is toward an even greater specialization, threatening to compartmentalize the work of ethicists. Through Ethical Perspectives, specialists in their respective areas of professional life and scientific research are invited to dialogue with each other.

In-depth reflection and dialogue

Ethical Perspectives thus aims to stimulate in-depth reflection and dialogue among researchers and decision-makers in all areas of human endeavour who are conscious of the deep-seated ethical questions in areas such as contemporary economics, sociology, medicine and health care, politics, law, business, labour relations, cultural life, and other perennial and emerging questions. In keeping with its stress on interdisciplinarity, Ethical Perspectives is also interested in publishing ethical reflection upon the pedagogy of ethics at university and other levels of higher-education.