Institute for Ethics & Society
The Institute for Ethics & Society (IES) is a national research institute based on the Sydney campus. Informed by the resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition, our research aims at better understanding how cultivating the virtues can strengthen civil society and support human flourishing. We’re also committed to engaging with key issues in bioethics and with the significant role that religion plays in questions of ethics and society. We work with a wide range of partners outside the University, especially in the healthcare and education sectors.
The IES has three Research Focus Areas:
- Moral Philosophy & Ethics Education (MPEE)
- Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics (BHE)
- Religion and Global Ethics (RGE)
New Director of the IES – Professor John Lippitt
Professor Lippitt was research leader for Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire since 2013 and is a leading Kierkegaard scholar. His research interests include virtue ethics and the moral psychology of individual virtues, forgiveness, and the philosophy of love, friendship and education. He has recently finalised a monograph titled Love’s Forgiveness, supported by a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (2018-2020) and due to be published by Oxford University Press in 2020.
New IES Research Fellow – Dr Tracy Llanera

Tracy has also worked as a Visiting Research Fellow at Keele University in the UK, and as a Research Fellow at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. She has also taught graduate and undergraduate courses at Macquarie, Connecticut and the University of Santo Tomas (Philippines).
Tracy commenced her role with IES in early December 2020.
Book launch for Love’s Forgiveness by Professor John Lippitt, IES Director

The Institute for Ethics & Society is delighted to host an online book launch for Love’s Forgiveness: Kierkegaard, Resentment, Humility, and Hope (OUP) by IES Director, Professor John Lippitt.
Published by Oxford University Press, Love’s Forgiveness explores key questions raised by recent philosophers of forgiveness, and connects their discussions with New Testament passages on forgiveness and reflections from the Christian tradition, especially in the writings of Kierkegaard. The book draws on philosophy, theology, memoirs, and fiction to argue for a view of forgiveness as a 'work of love', and shows the connections between forgiveness and such qualities as humility and hope.
John Lippitt is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Institute for Ethics & Society at The University of Notre Dame Australia. His research for Love's Forgiveness was supported by a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship (2018–2020).
Christopher Cordner, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne and author of Ethical Encounter: the Depth of Moral Meaning, will give a response to the book on the night.
C. Stephen Evans, University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Baylor University, and currently directing a three-year US$2 million Templeton Religion Trust grant on ‘Accountability as a Virtue’, will also offer brief comments via video on the book.
The launch will conclude with an interactive Q&A time.
To register and receive the Zoom meeting link, please email ies@nd.edu.au
Industry-Funded Research Fellow

Fulbright Australia Senior Scholar Award

Recent Events & Activities
- 2020 Notre Dame School of Virtue and Character
- 2020 Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics Annual Lecture
- 2020 Religion and Global Ethics Annual Lecture
- IES Podcast – Virtues for the Times
- Book Launch – Love’s Forgiveness by John Lippitt
What our partners are saying
“We partnered with the IES on a highly specific and innovative ethics education program in the hope that they would be able to help us measure its effectiveness in a meaningful way and give us concrete suggestions for improvement. They delivered on all of this and more by tailoring their expertise to suit our needs and ultimately delivering a high quality report, which has been an enormous help to the leadership of St Vincent’s as part of our broader ethics strategy. The staff at the IES have a high level of professionalism and mix this with a focus on adaptability and contextual sensitivity, which make them the perfect partners for work in professional ethics.”
Dr Dan Fleming
Visiting Fellow | Faculty of Law | The University of Technology, Sydney
Associate Member | Law, Health and Justice Research Centre | The University of Technology, Sydney