Lifelong learning is flourishing as a contemporary cultural construct, driven at least in part by the transformation of culture into one increasingly defined globally by information and the accelerating rate of cultural change. Contemporary lifelong learning theory is argued here to suggest a particular conception of applied ethics as action characterised by the skilled and situationally sensitive application of humane commitments. That conception takes ethical knowledge and action to be culturally constructed, variable, developmental, knowable primarily through contextualised practice and critical reflection, and focused on performance. It stands opposed to codes of conduct, neo-tribalism, egoism and fundamentalism. It sees as inadequate traditional approaches to applied ethics. It indicates the importance of situated experience in the learning of ethical knowledge. Contemporary lifelong theory thus has important implications for the development of ethical expertise in lifelong learning and for the professional development of educators.