Power, Social Inequities, and the Conversational Theory of Moral Responsibility

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael McKenna
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Competent Speaker ◽  
Speaker Meaning ◽  
Social Inequities ◽  
Asymmetrical Power ◽  
Interpretive Framework

According to the conversational theory, moral responsibility is essentially interpersonal and communicative. Indeed, it is not only communicative; it has a conversational dimension. On the conversational theory, an agent’s actions—those that are candidates for blameworthiness or praiseworthiness—are potential bearers of meaning, where meaning is a function of the quality of an agent’s will. This meaning is analogous to the meaning a competent speaker conveys when she engages in conversation. Call this “agent meaning.” Like speaker meaning, agent meaning can be affected by the interpretive framework whereby others interpret the meaning of an agent’s actions. One aspect of the conversational theory that remains unexplored is how asymmetrical power-dynamics, especially resulting from social inequities, shape the interpretive framework that in turn influences the context in which morally responsible agents act. This chapter explores this topic and thereby exposes an unpalatable side to the nature of our moral responsibility practices.

Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility Volume 6

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Moral Agency ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Moral Testimony ◽  
Quality Of Will ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Standing To Blame

This is the sixth volume of Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility. The papers were drawn from the fourth biennial New Orleans Workshop in Agency and Responsibility (NOWAR), held November 2–4, 2017. The essays cover a wide range of topics relevant to agency and responsibility: the threat of neuroscience to free will; the relevance of resentment and guilt to responsibility; how control and self-control pertain to moral agency, oppression, and poverty; responsibility for joint agency; the role and conditions of shame in theories of attributability; how one might take responsibility without blameworthy quality of will; what it means to have standing to blame others; the relevance of moral testimony to moral responsibility; how to build a theory of attributabiity that captures all the relevant cases; and how thinking about blame better enables us to dissolve a dispute in moral philosophy between actualists and possibilists.

scholarly journals Locked Out

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
VERONICA JOHANSSON ◽  
SURJO R. SOEKADAR ◽  
JENS CLAUSEN
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Social Barriers ◽  
Computer Interfaces ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Key Issues

Abstract:Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) can enable communication for persons in severe paralysis including locked-in syndrome (LIS); that is, being unable to move or speak while aware. In cases of complete loss of muscle control, termed “complete locked-in syndrome,” a BCI may be the only viable solution to restore communication. However, a widespread ignorance regarding quality of life in LIS, current BCIs, and their potential as an assistive technology for persons in LIS, needlessly causes a harmful situation for this cohort. In addition to their medical condition, these persons also face social barriers often perceived as more impairing than their physical condition. Through social exclusion, stigmatization, and frequently being underestimated in their abilities, these persons are being locked out in addition to being locked-in. In this article, we (1) show how persons in LIS are being locked out, including how key issues addressed in the existing literature on ethics, LIS, and BCIs for communication, such as autonomy, quality of life, and advance directives, may reinforce these confinements; (2) show how these practices violate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and suggest that we have a moral responsibility to prevent and stop this exclusion; and (3) discuss the role of BCIs for communication as one means to this end and suggest that a novel approach to BCI research is necessary to acknowledge the moral responsibility toward the end users and avoid violating the human rights of persons in LIS.

scholarly journals The relationship between inequitable gender norms and provider attitudes and quality of care in maternal health services in Rwanda: a mixed methods study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Doyle ◽  
Shamsi Kazimbaya ◽  
Ruti Levtov ◽  
Joya Banerjee ◽  
Myra Betron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Care Provider ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Gender Attitudes ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Men’S Involvement

Abstract Background Rwanda has made great progress in improving reproductive, maternal, and newborn health (RMNH) care; however, barriers to ensuring timely and full RMNH service utilization persist, including women’s limited decision-making power and poor-quality care. This study sought to better understand whether and how gender and power dynamics between providers and clients affect their perceptions and experiences of quality care during antenatal care, labor and childbirth. Methods This mixed methods study included a self-administered survey with 151 RMNH providers with questions on attitudes about gender roles, RMNH care, provider-client relations, labor and childbirth, which took place between January to February 2018. Two separate factor analyses were conducted on provider responses to create a Gender Attitudes Scale and an RMNH Quality of Care Scale. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted in February 2019 with RMNH providers, female and male clients, explored attitudes about gender norms, provision and quality of RMNH care, provider-client interactions and power dynamics, and men’s involvement. Data were analyzed thematically. Results Inequitable gender norms and attitudes – among both RMNH care providers and clients – impact the quality of RMNH care. The qualitative results illustrate how gender norms and attitudes influence the provision of care and provider-client interactions, in addition to the impact of men’s involvement on the quality of care. Complementing this finding, the survey found a relationship between health providers’ gender attitudes and their attitudes towards quality RMNH care: gender equitable attitudes were associated with greater support for respectful, quality RMNH care. Conclusions Our findings suggest that gender attitudes and power dynamics between providers and their clients, and between female clients and their partners, can negatively impact the utilization and provision of quality RMNH care. There is a need for capacity building efforts to challenge health providers’ inequitable gender attitudes and practices and equip them to be aware of gender and power dynamics between themselves and their clients. These efforts can be made alongside community interventions to transform harmful gender norms, including those that increase women’s agency and autonomy over their bodies and their health care, promote uptake of health services, and improve couple power dynamics.

Role and significance of responsibility in medical practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (88) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
K.P. Topalov ◽  
◽  
Ye.K. Skoromets ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Medical Practice ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
Quality Of Medical Care

The article analyzes 249 expert opinions on the quality of medical care from the standpoint of the responsibility of medical workers for their professional activities. The principles of moral responsibility for medical workers are outlined.

What stories to tell? A trilogy of methods used for knowledge exchange in a community-based participatory research project

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Community Based Participatory Research ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Indigenous Methods ◽  
Research Criteria

Researchers in the field of Aboriginal health generally have a keen interest in ‘participating in change’ to address the ongoing injustices experienced by Aboriginal peoples. Perhaps the most promoted methods for this purpose are those described as Indigenous methods and action research. Criteria of authenticity are generally used to assess the quality of research. In this essay, we reflect on how certain basic principles of action research, more notably ontological authenticity and educative authenticity can penetrate the process of knowledge exchange, creating spaces of ontological contamination and transformation. We reflect on the context of sharing ‘difficult knowledge’, knowledge that is encountered and shared in a post-colonial context of unequal power dynamics. We describe a trilogy of methods used for such knowledge exchange activities with three distinct audiences, and distinct goals. A commonality amongst the three described methods is the ‘unfinished’ and unorganised nature of what is transmitted, requiring the receptor to actively participate in the differentiation and reorganisation of information in a way that makes sense to him/her.

scholarly journals Healthy cities after COVID-19 pandemic: the just ecofeminist healthy cities approach

2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2021-216725
Author(s):  
Margarita Triguero-Mas ◽  
Isabelle Anguelovski ◽  
Helen V S Cole
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Healthy Cities ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Social Inequities ◽  
Approaches To Study

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has compromised the ‘healthy cities’ vision, as it has unveiled the need to give more prominence to caring tasks while addressing intersectional social inequities and environmental injustices. However, much-needed transdisciplinary approaches to study and address post-COVID-19 healthy cities challenges and agendas have been scarce so far. To address this gap, we propose a ‘just ecofeminist healthy cities’ research approach, which would be informed by the caring city, environmental justice, just ecofeminist sustainability and the healthy cities paradigms and research fields. Our proposed approach aims to achieve the highest standards of human health possible for the whole population—yet putting the health of socially underprivileged residents in the centre—through preserving and/or improving the existing physical, social and political environment. Importantly, the proposed approach recognises all spheres of daily life (productive, reproductive, personal and political) and their connections with inequities, justice and power dynamics. Last, the just ecofeminist healthy cities approach understands human health as interconnected with the health of non-human animals and the ecosystem. We illustrate the proposed new approach focusing on the implications for women’s health and public green spaces research and propose principles and practices for its operationalisation.

scholarly journals Walk the Talk: The Transforming Journey of Facility-Based Death Review Committee from Stillbirths to Neonates

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Yousef S. Khader ◽  
Nihaya A. Al-Sheyab ◽  
Khulood K. Shattnawi ◽  
Mohammad S. Alyahya ◽  
Anwar Batieha
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Review Committee ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Neonatal Deaths ◽  
Modifiable Factors

Background. Facility-based death review committee (DRC) of neonatal deaths and stillbirths can encourage stakeholders to enhance the quality of care during the antenatal period and labour to improve birth outcomes. To understand the benefits and impact of the DRCs, this study was aimed at exploring the DRC members’ perception about the role and benefits of the newly developed facility-based DRCs in five pilot hospitals in Jordan, to assess women empowerment, decision-making process, power dynamics, culture and genderism as contributing factors for deaths, and impact of COVID-19 lockdown on births. Methods. A descriptive study of a qualitative design—using focus group discussions—was conducted after one year of establishing DRCs in 5 pilot large hospitals. The number of participants in each focus group ranged from 8 to10, and the total number of participants was 45 HCPs (nurses and doctors). Questions were consecutively asked in each focus group. The moderator asked the main questions from the guide and then used probing as needed. A second researcher observed the conversation and took field notes. Results. Overall, there was an agreement among the majority of DRC members across all hospitals that the DRC was successful in identifying the exact cause of neonatal deaths and stillbirths as well as associated modifiable factors. There was also a consensus that the DRC contributed to an improvement in health services provided for pregnant women and newborns as well as protecting human rights and enabling women to be more interdependent in taking decisions related to family planning. Moreover, the DRC agreed that a proportion of the neonatal deaths and stillbirths occurring in the hospitals could have been prevented if adequate antenatal care was provided and some traditional harmful practices were avoided. Conclusions. Facility-based neonatal death review audit is practical and can be used to identify exact causes of maternal and neonatal deaths and is a valuable tool for hospital quality indicators. It can also change the perception and practice of health care providers, which may be reflected in improving the quality of provided healthcare services.

scholarly journals Responsibility: The Epistemic Condition

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
High Time ◽  
Epistemic Condition ◽  
Quality Of Will ◽  
Independent Condition ◽  
Moral Ignorance ◽  
Full Volume

Philosophers have long agreed that moral responsibility might not only have a freedom condition, but also an epistemic condition. Moral responsibility and knowledge interact, but the question is exactly how. Ignorance might constitute an excuse, but the question is exactly when. Surprisingly enough, the epistemic condition has only recently attracted the attention of scholars, and it is high time for a full volume on the topic. The chapters in this volume address the following central questions. Does the epistemic condition require akrasia? Why does blameless ignorance excuse? Does moral ignorance sustained by one’s culture excuse? Does the epistemic condition involve knowledge of the wrongness or wrongmaking features of one’s action? Is the epistemic condition an independent condition, or is it derivative from one’s quality of will or intentions? Is the epistemic condition sensitive to degrees of difficulty? Are there different kinds of moral responsibility and thus multiple epistemic conditions? Is the epistemic condition revisionary? What is the basic structure of the epistemic condition?

The Black Diaries

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-80
Author(s):  
Alison Garden
Keyword(s):  
Racial Difference ◽  
Swimming Pool ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Sexual Encounters ◽  
The Erotic

The chapter explores Casement’s Black Diaries, and their reception, through a discussion of three novels: Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912), Alan Hollinghurst’s The Swimming-Pool Library (1988) and Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Dream of the Celt (2010). In a move that embodies the homophobia that has so often plagued Casement’s posthumous life, Vargas Llosa depicts Casement’s Diaries as little more than the fantasies of someone deeply ashamed of their sexual taste. In The Swimming-Pool Library, Hollinghurst is able to stage the uneven power dynamics that defined Casement’s sexual encounters while also illustrating the erotic thrill offered by racial difference, contextualised through a genealogy of queer desire. Finally, the chapter concludes by engaging the Black Diaries alongside Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, which features settings and a character inspired by Casement, and explicating the novella’s insistence on the erotic quality of racial difference while also highlighting the underlying queer energy inherent to the imperial romance of the Boy’s Book.

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