The Department of Ethics of Moscow State University: The Results of Half a Century of Work

The article deals with the history of the emergence and subsequent development of the Department of Ethics at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The Department was founded in December 1969 and is currently one of three independent departments of ethics in Russia. Many well-known philosophers-ethicists of the country worked in it. The Department has developed its own academic school and traditions in ethical education; its graduates include many successful scientists, educators and practitioners working in different socially relevant areas. Thanks to their efforts, the Department plays a prominent role in the Russian philosophical community and in public life. The author shows how the Department has changed in the early 1990s and at the turn of the millennium, and how it has responded to the various challenges posed by the long reform of education and science. Particular attention is paid to the scholarly perceptions of morality and ethics, and the research interests and theoretical views of the department’s staff. It looks at the department’s educational programme, teaching and methodological work, approaches to teaching and student life, which has always been very interesting. In recent years, the department has revised its approaches to teaching in many ways, making it more polemical and filled with the most controversial topics. Today, the Department is actively involved in various research and educational projects, advises civil society organisations and professional communities on ethical regulation practices, and is active in the media.