Centre for Applied Ethics


Centre for Applied Ethics at Hong Kong Baptist University was founded in 1992. It is the first of its kind established in China and one of the earliest in Asia. The Centre strives to stimulate critical reasoning about fundamental ethical concerns in contemporary society, to raise awareness of moral values, and to further strengthen the University's commitment to research and whole person education. To accomplish its mission, the Centre has been active in organizing various academic activities, publishing research results in different fields of Applied Ethics and developing a co-operation network with other institutions.
WWW cae.hkbu.edu.hk

Background

The development of ethical centre is urgently needed in Hong Kong as it is undergoing unprecedented rapid economic and socio-cultural changes, bringing ethical tension and disorientation. And although similar centres abound in Europe and North America, the results of their research are not always immediately useful to Asian societies in general and Hong Kong in particular. At the same time social-ethical issues relevant to them are not always identical to those in Hong Kong's situation. The centre, while seeking to formulate ethical solutions on the basis of universal principles, aims to be culturally sensitive in its endeavors.

Objectives

  • The Centre is committed to research which covers the whole range of applied ethics. It is particularly concerned with different areas which are of high importance to our society.
  • The Centre will take keen interest in avoiding any sort of ivory-tower mentality and make sure that its efforts benefit society and public at large. This will be achieved particular by organizing symposia, conferences and individual lectures open to the public and publishing research papers and articles in academic journals and taking up ethical topics in newspapers.

Research Areas

The Centre actively promotes and coordinates research in the areas of bioethics, business ethics, professional ethics, and social ethics. It encourages the development of ethics across the curriculum.

Academic Activities

The "Public Lecture Series: Applied Ethics in Hong Kong" was launched on 1992 and regularly invites local and overseas scholars to deliver public lectures on bioethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, family ethics etc. Distinguished international speakers, include Jürgen Habermas and Hans Küng. In order to foster research in the field of Bioethics in the Chinese context, since 2007 the centre has organized an annual Summer Class on "Sino-American Perspectives in Bioethics" and Symposium on "Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives."
  • Seminar on Animal Ethics - Status of Animals: A Dialogue between Theology and Philosophy
  • The 16th Symposium on “Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives"
  • Public Lecture on "Just War Theory and Ukraine War"
  • Conference on "New Debates on Human Rights and East Asian Philosophical Traditions: Confucianism and Beyond"
  • The 15th Symposium on "Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/ Religious Perspectives"
  • Public Lecture on "Chinese and Cross-Cultural Health Humanities Lecture Series: Why is this Pandemic Unprecedented?"
  • The 14th Conference on Constructing Bioethics in China
  • Public Lecture on "COVID-19 Vaccine: Hopes, Hypes and Fairness"
  • The 13th Symposium on “Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives”
  • Public Lecture on "Big Data, Algorithms and Education - On the Ethical Challenges of Educational Technology"
  • Conference on "Christianity and Modern Chinese Constitution Politics"
  • The 12th Symposium on “Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives”
  • The Eleventh Symposium on “Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives”
  • The Ninth Symposium on “Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives”
  • The Eighth Symposium on “Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives”
  • The Seventh Symposium on “Bioethics from Chinese Philosophical/Religious Perspectives”
  • Public Lecture on Hospital Clinical Ethics Committee: What Went Right and What Went Wrong?
  • Public Lecture on Health Care and the Common Good
  • Public Lecture on Why is Ethics relevant to Public Health?
  • Public Lecture on Allocation of Medical Resources: What it means for Hong Kong
  • Public Lecture on Caring for Nature: From Respect to Reverence

Research Publications

The Centre has published the since 1998. It also publishes a newsletter annually to facilitate the exchange of ideas between the local academic community and other institutions worldwide. Some of the Centre’s recent publications include:
Books
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Journals
*

Co-operation Networks

In order to establish and coordinate regional and international network of Applied Ethics, the Centre has co-organized symposia and conferences with other institutions such as:
  • Conference on Military Ethics: China in Dialogue with the West
  • Symposium on Family-Friendly Policy: A Holistic Approach to Enhance Hong Kong Families
  • Symposium on Human Rights from the Perspective of Applied Ethics
  • International Conference on Genethics in East Asian And Western Context
  • Conference on Confucian-Christian Dialogue in Contemporary Contexts: Thought and Praxis