scholarly journals Professional ethics and social responsibility: military work and peacebuilding

AI & Society ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Hersh

AbstractThis paper investigates four questions related to ethical issues associated with the involvement of engineers and scientists in 'military work', including the influence of ethical values and beliefs, the role of gendered perspectives and moves beyond the purely technical. It fits strongly into a human (and planet)-centred systems perspective and extends my previous AI and Society papers on othering and narrative ethics, and ethics and social responsibility. It has two main contributions. The first involves an analysis of the literature through the application of different ethical theories and the application of gendered analysis to discussion of masculinities in engineering and the military. The second is a survey of scientists and engineers to investigate their opinions and experiences. The conclusions draw together the results of these two contributions to provide preliminary responses to the four questions and include a series of recommendations covering education and training, ethical approval of work not involving human participants or animals, the need for organisational support, approaches covering wider perspectives and the encouragement of individual ethical commitment.

i-com ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Brandenburg ◽  
Michael Minge ◽  
Dietlind Helene Cymek

AbstractEthical aspects are of key importance in research and the development of technical systems. They play a major role when the societal impact of innovative products and new technologies is considered. However, ethics are already essential during technology development, especially when testing these technologies with human participants. The latter is becoming increasingly important when applying for project funding and for publishing peer reviewed journal papers. Responding to these needs, a local ethics committee at the Department of Psychology and Ergonomics at Technische Universität Berlin was founded in 2009. In this paper, we present an analysis of common pitfalls and blind spots that were detected by reviewers of this ethics committee. We studied the reviews of 98 applications for ethical approval. Results show that researchers (a) often lack concrete knowledge about potential ethical issues of their research and (b) that they might benefit from convenient tools to address relevant ethical challenges at early stages of product design. Based on the results of our analysis, we propose a set of six simple rules that can help to detect and to overcome most of the frequently appearing ethical issues.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Wray-Lake ◽  
Amy K. Syvertsen ◽  
Constance A. Flanagan

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
ALEXEY ROMAKHIN ◽  

This article reveals the problem of the role of the religious factor in the formation of the value orientations of the military personnel of the Russian army from its inception to the present state. In the article, the author reveals the significance of the Church in the formation of the value orientations of military personnel. The problem of religious situation in foreign armies is considered. The article presents data from sociological studies confirming the increase in the number of religious servicemen in the modern Armed Forces. The concept of “religious factor” is revealed. The author suggests considering the influence of the religious factor on the formation of value orientations through the functions of religion. The article provides examples of the influence of religion on the formation of value orientations of military personnel from the time of the Baptism of Russia to the present. Examples of writers of Russian classical literature about the influence of religion on the morale of troops are given. Examples of religious participation in major battles and wars of the past years are shown. The significance of the religious factor in uniting the people and the army is shown. The work of officials of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation in strengthening values among military personnel in modern conditions is demonstrated. The role of the Minister of defense of the Russian Federation, General of the army S.K. Shoigu in strengthening the faith of the Russian army is outlined. Issues related to the construction of the Main Temple of the Armed Forces and its impact on the public masses were discussed. In this study, the author aims to show the significant role of religion in the formation of value orientations in Russian military personnel. The analysis shows an increasing role of religion in the minds of military personnel in modern conditions.


Author(s):  
Michael Koortbojian

The ancient Romans famously distinguished between civic life in Rome and military matters outside the city—a division marked by the pomerium, an abstract religious and legal boundary that was central to the myth of the city's foundation. This book explores, by means of images and texts, how the Romans used social practices and public monuments to assert their capital's distinction from its growing empire, to delimit the proper realms of religion and law from those of war and conquest, and to establish and disseminate so many fundamental Roman institutions across three centuries of imperial rule. The book probes such topics as the appearance in the city of Romans in armor, whether in representation or in life, the role of religious rites on the battlefield, and the military image of Constantine on the arch built in his name. Throughout, the book reveals how, in these instances and others, the ancient ideology of crossing the pomerium reflects the efforts of Romans not only to live up to the ideals they had inherited, but also to reconceive their past and to validate contemporary practices during a time when Rome enjoyed growing dominance in the Mediterranean world. The book explores a problem faced by generations of Romans—how to leave and return to hallowed city ground in the course of building an empire.


Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Melia Frastuti ◽  
Dimas Pratama Putra ◽  
Erfan Effendi

Abstract     Almsgiving is one of the pillars supporting the upholding of Islam as the obligation for the adherents to improve horizontal relations between fellow humans and strengthen vertical relations with Allah SWT. The implementation of Islamic Social Responsibility (ISR) of the Islamic Bank gives a positive assessment in sharia agreement, justice and equality, responsibility for work, welfare, guarantee of nature preservation and benevolent assistance that is not profit-oriented.Proper almsgiving management and ISR implementation make Islamic banks trusted by the public in terms of service quality, satisfaction and loyalty of Muzzaki. It reduces bad images, and provides relevant impacts on social welfare and the progress of the era. The data analysis used to test the hypotheses is Multiple Linear Regression analysis. The data is collected by distributing questionnaires to Commissioners and Directors at 14 (fourteen) Islamic Commercial Banks spread throughout Indonesia. The result of this study shows partially prove the role of Islamic bank commissioners in the amsgiving management only, while the importance of the role of directors in Islamic banks in almsgiving management and the implementation of ISR partially. Keywords: Islamic Bank, Commissioners, Directors, Almsgiving and ISR


Author(s):  
Timur Gimadeev

The article deals with the history of celebrating the Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia organised by the state. Various aspects of the history of the holiday have been considered with the extensive use of audiovisual documents (materials from Czechoslovak newsreels and TV archives), which allowed for a detailed analysis of the propaganda representation of the holiday. As a result, it has been possible to identify the main stages of the historical evolution of the celebrations of Liberation Day, to discover the close interdependence between these stages and the country’s political development. The establishment of the holiday itself — its concept and the military parade as the main ritual — took place in the first post-war years, simultaneously with the consolidation of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Later, until the end of the 1960s, the celebrations gradually evolved along the political regime, acquiring new ritual forms (ceremonial meetings, and “guards of memory”). In 1968, at the same time as there was an attempt to rethink the entire socialist regime and the historical experience connected with it, an attempt was made to reconstruct Liberation Day. However, political “normalisation” led to the normalisation of the celebration itself, which played an important role in legitimising the Soviet presence in the country. At this stage, the role of ceremonial meetings and “guards of memory” increased, while inventions released in time for 9 May appeared and “May TV” was specially produced. The fall of the Communist regime in 1989 led to the fall of the concept of Liberation Day on 9 May, resulting in changes of the title, date and paradigm of the holiday, which became Victory Day and has been since celebrated on 8 May.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
N. V. Litvak

The article considers the scientific diplomacy — a relatively new phenomenon in international practice — as a type of diplomacy which took shape quite recently, in the 21st century, with the advent of both the term itself, and the corresponding concepts, and the Foreign Ministry units of some countries. However, it is necessary to clarify the terminology and essence of this practice, which has a much more long history. At the present time, there is a reassessment of this historical experience, as well as another attempt to put science in the civil service in one more — diplomatic aspect, as it has already happened with the military, educational and some other areas. At the same time, the scientific community itself in this process has the opportunity to play not only the role of an object or a passive performer. The demand for science is clearly manifested in periods of war and conflict, which in various forms do not stop today. This causes the urgency of the problem. At the same time, the conscious activity of politicians and scientists is combined with objective, independently developing, incl. latently, unobviously, by the processes of political struggle and scientific knowledge, which leads to complex combinations of interrelations between politics and science. The study of such events and processes allows us to draw some conclusions regarding relations between science and diplomacy, to determine the trend of consistent “scientification” of diplomacy, like of any other sphere of society, the transition from diplomacy-mail (communication) through diplomacy-art to diplomacy-science, formulate a hypothesis that diplomacy in general is a scientific project.


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