I am immensely grateful to the artists and art world leaders who have so generously joined this exploration of Ethics & the Arts. Their unique insights and stories stretch our visions of artistic and ethical possibilities. They also inspire us to probe our ethical discipline, creativity, and commitment.

These leaders reassure us that we don’t need to be a world famous architect or violinist to consider challenging decisions we face individually and societally through the lens of the arts—one of the most fundamentally human ways we interpret, express, and influence our world.

But they all insist on our shared responsibility to define (and perhaps redefine) the boundaries and behaviors of humanity in today’s world of designer genetics and civilian space travel. They all agree that the ethics buck stops with each of us even if our refrigerators are “artificially intelligent” and our cars drive themselves. In sum, our ethics are not only universally pertinent and connecting, they also tether us to our humanity.