The Donahue Center for Business Ethics & Social Responsibility hit the ground running in its first year, expanding ethics-related education and research to students and faculty across the university.

Philosophy Chair John Kaag loves to ask students the big questions – such as “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” – and answers them for himself in his upcoming book, “American Philosophy: A Love Story.”

Should your self-driving car protect you at all costs? Or should it steer you into a ditch - potentially causing serious injury - to avoid hitting a school bus full of children? Those are the kinds of questions that preoccupy Nicholas Evans, a UMass Lowell assistant professor of philosophy who teaches engineering ethics and studies the ethical dilemmas posed by emerging technologies, including drones and self-driving vehicles.

Should your self-driving car protect you at all costs? Or should it drive you into a ditch to avoid hitting a school bus? The National Science Foundation has awarded a $556,000 grant to three philosophers, a transportation engineer and two public health experts so they can figure out ethical safety algorithms for self-driving cars.