Intentionally or not, everyone “does” ethics, oftentimes extraordinarily well. All you have to do is wonder or argue about how to act, what lives to emulate or honor, or which obligations to embrace or ideals to pursue. And, at its best, scholarship can sharpen and refine how we ask, and answer, such core moral questions.

At Duke, it isn’t hard to find faculty grappling with a remarkable range of moral questions: What constitutes good and evil? What are the biological or psychological origins of ethical judgment? What are the causes of moral catastrophes?

We want to highlight the work of these scholars whose research brings ethical questions to the fore and whose knowledge can be brought to bear on questions to which all of us can relate.

Over the course of this year, we’re featuring a series in conjunction with Duke Magazine that does just that. Good Question: An Exploration in Ethics will offer a neuroethicist’s views on moral and legal responsibility, an environmental scholar’s assessment of the role natural resources can play in peace-building efforts, and a philosopher’s analysis of whether it’s possible for “bad” people to become “good.”

Browse these pages to find out more about the questions, and the answers, that Duke faculty are pursuing.

Series Concept & Management: Aimee Rodriguez
Research, Interviews & Writing: Rebecca Dunning
Photography: Chris Hildreth/Duke Photography
Design: David Pickel/Addison-Design