As our society continues to age, it struggles with a host of ethical issues with which previous generations were never confronted. Included are decisions about the extent to which succeeding generations should be responsible for one another, how care is provided and how decisions about end of life care are made, and how advances in genetic technology influence the kinds of lives we lead. This application requests support for three conferences designed to advance interdisciplinary research on aging and ethics. By providing a forum for scientists from diverse backgrounds and ethicists who are committed to understanding the intersection of aging and ethics to gather, a unique opportunity would exist for stimulating critical thinking, defining the salient questions that remain unanswered, and crafting the foundation for the next generation of empirical research studies to be conducted. Each conference would have an applied focus as it struggles with a major issue at the intersection of aging and ethics. Conference topics would include: (1) Responsibility and community across the generations, (2) End of life, and (3) Aging, genetic technology, and the future. Invited presenters would come from disciplines including, but not limited to, philosophy, ethics, theology, gerontology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, medicine, and law. Commissioned papers would have as their goal generating discussion and new empirical research based on theoretical and empirical knowledge bases. The proceedings from each of the conferences would form the basis of an edited volume.
