
The gun debate has again reached a fever pitch in the shadow of several horrific mass shootings. Ethics Center staff and faculty interrogate the moral and ethical issues associated with gun use and regulation.
Featured Ethics Spotlights

While vaccines provide protection for individuals and communities against severe disease and death, this fight is far from over as we see infection rates climb, especially among children who cannot be vaccinated. Ethics Center staff and scholars analyze the critical questions in this Ethics Spotlight.

Racism and hate are not new to the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, but the onset and spread of COVID-19 has led to massive increases in both. Ethics Center staff and scholars unpack some of the many related ethical dilemmas in this Ethics Spotlight.

While advancements in vaccines for the novel coronavirus are pointing to a light at the end of the tunnel, numerous ethical dilemmas lie ahead. Ethics Center staff, scholars, and students analyze these critical issues in this Ethics Spotlight.

Ethics Helps Companies Operationalize ESG Reporting
Companies are under extreme pressure from customers, investors, and the government to begin accounting for how they are performing in these non-financial matters, and this new set of resources will help them more efficiently operationalize ESG reporting.
In this webinar, "Space Ethics" Author, Brian Patrick Green addresses the many ethical viewpoints on space exploration and travel, providing insight into both the future and the present of the human race to space. View the recording, or follow the Markkula Center on social media for information on future events!
All About Ethics: Perspectives From Across the Center

Adoption of public policy on responsible, common sense gun safety is not only overdue, its absence from bipartisan agreements has become morally untenable.

There is no ethical justification for owning automatic or semi-automatic guns by normal citizens.

Our current political system is hopelessly corrupt in that basic ethical principles, such as working for the common good rather than one’s own self-interests of power and money while ignoring conflicts of interest, prevent elected leaders from supporting and incorporating policies and laws to minimize gun violence.
Nonprofit organizations rely on charitable gifts, but often lack guidance on how to navigate gifts from controversial donors. This guide offers practical and ethical considerations for nonprofit organizations that face increasing scrutiny for gift acceptance decisions.


Materials to Support Donors with Gifting Decisions
Designed to help individual donors and family foundations think through their nonprofit giving decisions and to do it ethically, this guide outlines the steps to take with related ethical considerations and helps donors define their personal mission.
Center News

Julian Dreiman ’21 imagines a future driven by AI and becomes a finalist in world building contest.

Matthew Gaudet, lecturer, and Brian Green, director of technology ethics, co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Moral Theology focusing on artificial intelligence.

Denise Melone ’06 serves the Ethics Center Advisory Board and continues a family legacy of furthering ethics ideology at Santa Clara and beyond.
This teaching module for business ethics, leadership and management courses includes two videos, homework assignments, and class discussion, all designed to spark conversation about ethical issues associated with whistleblowers and corporate governance.

Our Culture Self-Assessment Practice recommends approaches to evaluating culture for ethics within companies and other types of organizations. The materials are primarily for members of an organization’s leadership team, including human resources and legal, but designed to engage a cross-section of leaders from various disciplines.
Media Commentary

John Pelissero, senior scholar, quoted by The Sacramento Bee.

Irina Raicu, director of the Internet Ethics Program, quoted by the South China Morning Post.

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics cited by Education Week as a resource for students studying the ethics of artificial intelligence.
...often difficult to spot, but noticed by those in search of them.
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University exists to help people see, understand, and work through ethical problems.
As an introduction to thinking ethically, we have created a framework for ethical decision making.
