Ethical concerns and dilemmas are prominent and enduring features of contemporary life. They are encountered in the spheres of personal affairs, professional activities and public policy-making. Scientific expertise may answer questions about what could be done, and what would result from this, but it cannot resolve the question what should be done. Questions concerning permissibility and obligation are essentially ethical and they call for philosophical analysis informed by empirical knowledge.

Philosophy has been taught and practised at the University since its foundation. Recognising the need to bring it into dialogue with matters of broad public interest, in 1984 the University established the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs (CEPPA), the oldest such centre in the UK.

CEPPA has established an international reputation for its programme of academic visits, fellowships, lectures, seminars and conferences, and research projects. It also hosts a major publication series, St Andrews Studies in Philosophy and Public Affairs, and provides a forum for public discussion both within and outwith the University.

Building on this reputation, the University is now creating a chair in Philosophy and Public Affairs. This new post will allow us to engage more widely with the public, the media and fellow academics and researchers around the globe, and to address the complex ethical dilemmas faced by policy-makers in government, business and public life.