Methods of Practical Ethics

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Norbert Paulo
• Subject Area: Practical Philosophy
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 532782236

In light of current technological and socio-ecological change, there is a societal need for practical guidance. In this context, the involvement of ethicists seems right and necessary. More than ever, however, the methodological self-understanding of ethics seems to need clarification with regard to the task of practical guidance: What exactly should be the philosophical contribution to the practical orientation of stakeholders or the general public? And which philosophical methods are suitable and appropriate to make this contribution? Practical ethics, however, faces the methodological challenge of explaining which methods should be used to justify normative commitments in light of the controversial nature of normative background theories. The methodological debate in practical ethics, primarily shaped in the context of biomedical ethics, has produced a variety of methodological positions. However, these are so diverse that their choice can lead to substantially different results or recommendations. There is no consensus about the conditions of application of the methods. In academic discourse, the current state of methodological reflection is also relevant because in the debates of the recent fields of practical ethics, such as AI or climate ethics, there is only limited recourse to the methods that have already been developed, and there is hardly any detailed discussion of methodological issues within these fields. This reveals a methodological gap in the recent fields of practical ethics. The goal of the network "Methods of Practical Ethics" is therefore to initiate an intensified exchange, on the one hand about methods of practical ethics and on the other hand about the self-understanding of the contribution of ethicists outside of the philosophical ivory tower. This exchange should serve to identify ways of reanimating the debate on methods from the field of biomedical ethics and, in addition, to find out whether and how a systematic of methods of practical ethics can be developed that also provides orientation for the work of ethicists in currently discussed social issues such as AI and global environmental change.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Inken Titz