Teaching the Virtues: Justifications and Recommendations

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candace C. Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Healthcare Provider ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Current Interest ◽  
Respect For Persons ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Moral Theories ◽  
Moral Problems

The current interest in and discussion of virtue ethics suggests that this approach to moral decisionmaking has several distinct advantages as applied to ethical issues in healthcare delivery. For the most part, calls to incorporate the virtues of the healthcare provider in discussions of these issues have sought to supplement rather than totally replace traditional ethical theories, such as the utilitarian focus on maximizing the best overall consequences and the Kantian concern to act on the duty of respect for persons. Including virtue-based ethics in such discussions allows for a more eclectic view of what should be considered in resolving difficult moral problems. As many critics of the purely principle-based approach have noted, real moral dilemmas are usually quite messy and are not easily susceptible to satisfactory resolution solely on the basis of abstract moral theories or principles.

Artificial Identity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James DiGiovanna
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Intentional States ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Persistence Conditions ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Extreme Change ◽  
At Will

Enhancement and AI create moral dilemmas not envisaged in standard ethical theories. Some of this stems from the increased malleability of personal identity that this technology affords: an artificial being can instantly alter its memory, preferences, and moral character. If a self can, at will, jettison essential identity-giving characteristics, how are we to rely upon, befriend, or judge it? Moral problems will stem from the fact that such beings are para-persons: they meet all the standard requirements of personhood (self-awareness, agency, intentional states, second-order desires, etc.) but have an additional ability—the capacity for instant change—that disqualifies them from ordinary personal identity. In order to rescue some responsibility assignments for para-persons, a fine-grained analysis of responsibility-bearing parts of selves and the persistence conditions of these parts is proposed and recommended also for standard persons who undergo extreme change.

The Ethics of Human–Robot Interaction and Traditional Moral Theories

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Nyholm
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Kantian Ethics ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Moral Agents ◽  
Moral Theories ◽  
Domains Of Life

The rapid introduction of different kinds of robots and other machines with artificial intelligence into different domains of life raises the question of whether robots can be moral agents and moral patients. In other words, can robots perform moral actions? Can robots be on the receiving end of moral actions? To explore these questions, this chapter relates the new area of the ethics of human–robot interaction to traditional ethical theories such as utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and virtue ethics. These theories were developed with the assumption that the paradigmatic examples of moral agents and moral patients are human beings. As this chapter argues, this creates challenges for anybody who wishes to extend the traditional ethical theories to new questions of whether robots can be moral agents and/or moral patients.

Liberalism

Philosophy ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 49 (187) ◽  
pp. 13-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. McCloskey
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Major Elements ◽  
Respect For Persons ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Philosophical Basis ◽  
Reduction Of Pain ◽  
Historical Fact ◽  
Social Arrangements ◽  
Liberal Thought

Liberalism is commonly believed, especially by its exponents, to be opposed to interference by way of enforcing value judgments or concerning itself with the individual's morality. My concern is to show that this is not so and that liberalism is all the better for this. Many elements have contributed to liberal thought as we know it today, the major elements being the liberalism of which Locke is the most celebrated exponent, which is based upon a belief in natural, human rights; the liberalism of which Kant is the best known exponent, which is based on respect for persons as ends in themselves; and the liberalism of Bentham and the Mills, which is based upon utilitarian ethical theories and most especially with concern for pleasure and the reduction of pain. These different elements of liberalism have led to different emphases and different political and social arrangements, but all have involved a concern to safeguard values and to use force to that end. Today they constitute strands of thought which go to make up liberal thought as we now know it, hence it is not simply a historical fact about liberalism, but a fact about its philosophical basis, that liberalism is firmly involved in certain value and moral commitments. In the remainder of this paper I shall seek to bring this out.

Counter-Insurgency and Conscience: A British View

Itinerario ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-117
Author(s):  
Nigel de Lee
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Collective Memories

This article will take the British counter-insurgency campaigns in Palestine during the years 1936–1948 as a main focus of interest. This is because these campaigns presented those involved with complex ethical issues and intractable moral dilemmas. A variety of sources has been consulted; particular attention has been paid to collective memories and reflections recorded in regimental histories, and to individual recollections obtained from interviews with veterans.

scholarly journals Engaging Ethical Issues Associated with Research and Public Health Interventions During Humanitarian Crises: Review of a Dialogic Workshop

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anushree Dave ◽  
Julie Cumin ◽  
Ryoa Chung ◽  
Matthew Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Extensive Discussion ◽  
Health Ethics ◽  
Humanitarian Crises ◽  
Health Equity Research

On November 7th, 2014 the Humanitarian Health Ethics Workshop was held at McGill University, in Montreal. Co-hosted by the Montreal Health Equity Research Consortium and the Humanitarian Health Ethics Network, the event included six presentations and extensive discussion amongst participants, including researchers from Canada, Haiti, India, Switzerland and the US. Participants had training in disciplines including anthropology, bioethics, medicine, occupational therapy, philosophy, physical therapy, political science, public administration and public health. The objective of the workshop was to create a forum for discussion amongst scholars and practitioners interested in the ethics of healthcare delivery, research and public health interventions during humanitarian crises. This review is a summary of the presentations given, key themes that emerged during the day’s discussions, and avenues for future research that were identified.

scholarly journals Voice-Based Screening For SARS-CoV-2 Exposure In Cardiovascular Clinics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhinav Sharma ◽  
Emily Oulousian ◽  
Jiayi Ni ◽  
Renato Lopes ◽  
Matthew Pellan Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Provider ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Signs And Symptoms ◽  
Kappa Statistic ◽  
Cohen’S Kappa ◽  
Cohen's Kappa ◽  
Mcgill University ◽  
Strongly Agree

Abstract Aims Artificial intelligence (A.I) driven voice-based assistants may facilitate data capture in clinical care and trials; however, the feasibility and accuracy of using such devices in a healthcare environment are unknown. We explored the feasibility of using the Amazon Alexa (‘Alexa’) A.I. voice-assistant to screen for risk-factors or symptoms relating to SARS-CoV-2 exposure in quaternary care cardiovascular clinics. Methods We enrolled participants to be screened for signs and symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 exposure by a healthcare provider and then subsequently by the Alexa. Our primary outcome was interrater reliability of Alexa to healthcare provider screening using Cohen’s Kappa statistic. Participants rated the Alexa in a post-study survey (scale of 1 to 5 with 5 reflecting strongly agree). This study was approved by the McGill University Health Centre ethics board. Results We prospectively enrolled 215 participants. The mean age was 46 years (17.7 years standard deviation [SD]), 55% were female, and 31% were French speakers (others were English). In total, 645 screening questions were delivered by Alexa. The Alexa mis-identified one response. The simple and weighted Cohen’s kappa statistic between Alexa and healthcare provider screening was 0.989 (95% CI: 0.982, 0.997) and 0.992 (955 CI 0.985, 0.999) respectively. The participants gave an overall mean rating of 4.4 (out of 5, 0.9 SD). Conclusion Our study demonstrates the feasibility of an A.I. driven multilingual voice-based assistant to collect data in the context of SARS-CoV-2 exposure screening. Future studies integrating such devices in cardiovascular healthcare delivery and clinical trials are warranted. Registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04508972

Affordances and Constraints of Analog Games for Ethics Education

2016 ◽  
pp. 219-237
Author(s):  
Spencer P. Greenhalgh
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Ethics Education ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Wide Range

Today's students face a wide range of complex moral dilemmas, and games have the potential to represent these dilemmas, thereby supporting formal ethics education. The potential of digital games to contribute in this way is being increasingly recognized, but the author argues that those interested in the convergence of games, ethics, and education should more fully consider analog games (i.e., games without a digital component). This argument draws from a qualitative study that focused on the use of an analog roleplaying game in an undergraduate activity that explored ethical issues related to politics, society, and culture. The results of this study are examined through an educational technology lens, which suggests that games (like other educational resources) afford and constrain learning and teaching in certain ways. These results demonstrate that this game afforded and constrained ethics education in both ways similar to digital games and ways unique to analog games.

The Lives That Matter

2020 ◽  
pp. 135-156
Author(s):  
Anna L. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Racial Equality ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Life Challenges ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
White Supremacists

This chapter examines the moral problems raised by the “campus tour” of white nationalist Richard Spencer. This provides a way to reflect on some of the issues raised in and by moral dilemmas as a strategy within ethical theory, including their helpfulness for addressing real-life challenges. It also shows the power of practice to put familiar moral dilemmas in a new light. In the case of Spencer, and hate speech generally, a practice-focused approach enables us to see beyond the tension between two competing values of racial equality and free speech. That familiar framing leaves out the lived experience of people who are concretely threatened by white supremacists, the actual practices of those supremacists, and the relationships and structures of the society in which both racists and their victims live.

Descriptive Moral Theories

2020 ◽  
pp. 45-72
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Søndergaard Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ludwig Wittgenstein ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Moral Problem ◽  
Moral Language ◽  
Moral Theories ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Moral Philosophers

This chapter develops an alternative, descriptive understanding of moral theory in order to reconcile two apparently conflicting insights; the insight of the critics of moral theory into the problems of the dominant conception of moral theory and the insight into the relevance that we still attribute to the positions traditionally conceived as theories such as Kantianism and utilitarianism. Building on the work of theory-critics, but without giving up the notion of moral theory, the chapter presents a view according to which theories are descriptive rather than prescriptive and serve heuristic and elucidatory purposes. Inspired by the notion of grammar found in the later work of Ludwig Wittgenstein, it is furthermore claimed that theories are descriptions which provide overviews of various normative structures of concerns—or moral grammars—and which may serve two different purposes, providing either general descriptions of the logic of our moral language or descriptions that elucidate a specific moral problem. According to this view, moral philosophers must accept the co-existence of a plurality of moral theories that describe a plurality of moral grammars, and they must give up the idea that moral theories are mutually exclusive. Moreover, the development of the second purpose reveals that theories cannot be the sole tool of moral philosophy, they need to be supplemented with grammatical investigations of the particularities involved in moral problems. Moral theories can be helpful, but they are never sufficient when addressing a problem in moral philosophy.

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