Could Suicide Really Be a Fundamental Human Right?

Author(s):  
Margaret P. Battin

Could suicide be not just a right, but a fundamental right, rooted in dignity? A linguistic triple threat complicates this question: problems about “rights,” problems about “dignity,” and problems about what counts as suicide. For example, Thich Nhat Hanh’s insistence that the self-immolations of Buddhist monks and nuns in Vietnam are not suicides provides one sort of challenge; Valerius Maximus’s account of the self-elected death of a 90-year-old woman of Cea in good health and ample wealth, another. Linguistic variation also complicates the question of rights: English’s principal term for suicide, “suicide,” has strongly negative connotations; of German’s four major terms, one has comparatively positive connotations, giving German speakers greater linguistic flexibility than English speakers have. Because background intuitions, practices, and linguistic resources are so variable, establishing that there is a right to suicide and if so, whether it is a fundamental one, is a challenging task.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Goulart

Abstract While there have been many studies describing L2 academic writing, most of these studies have used corpora of first year or assessment writing (Crosthwaite 2016; Weigle & Friginal 2014). The present study seeks to describe linguistic variation in L2 writing for content classes and to compare these linguistic patterns to those found in L1 writing. A multi-dimensional (MD) analysis was conducted in two corpora, BAWE and BrAWE, extracting five dimensions. The L2 corpus contained 379 texts written by Brazilian students doing part of their undergrad in the UK and the L1 corpus contained 395 texts from BAWE. The results of this study indicate that L1 and L2 writers use similar linguistic resources to convey the purpose of university registers, with the exception of case studies, designs, exercises and research reports. This linguistic variation between L1 and L2 writers might be explained by students’ interpretation of these registers’ communicative purposes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Hlavac ◽  
Zhichang Xu ◽  
David Xiong Yong

AbstractInterpreters are expected to have an advanced command of not only the vocabulary and grammar of their working languages, but also the pragmatic norms that speakers of their working languages employ in communicative interactions. The aim of this paper is to explore the perceptions and practices of interpreters in relation to intercultural pragmatics at work in healthcare interactions. The paper employs two theoretical frameworks: the first is based on interpretations of behavior according to speakers' discourse-pragmatic features as representative of “high” or “low” context cultures (cf. Hall 1976); the second applies Celce-Murcia's (2007) more refined notion of “communicative competence.” The data sample of this paper focuses on cultural-pragmatic features of two linguistic and cultural groups – 25 Chinese speakers and 24 English speakers – and contrasts their selected responses to five features of Chinese-English interpreted healthcare interactions. Responses from 33 Chinese-English interpreters are matched against those from speakers of the two groups to examine the degree of congruence that interpreters have with the self-reported (para-)linguistic behavior of the two groups of speakers, for whom they interpret. This study shows that the self-reported (para-)linguistic behavior of both groups is determined by their adoption of a particular approach (doctor- vs. patient-centered approach) and other micro-level features (perceived time constraints, different notions of “small talk”) that limit elaborate pragmatic enactments. Over-arching cultural-pragmatic models based on “high” (or “low”) context communication, or “vertical” (vs. “horizontal”) hierarchical perceptions of role and status appear to have limited application to the data. Instead, local features specific to the healthcare situation co-determine both English and Chinese speakers' responses to questions about their use of pragmatics. Findings indicate that interpreters attend to each group's enactment of pragmatic features and, as expert language users, are able to recognize features and components of interactions and their functions to a greater degree than the Chinese and English speakers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 692
Author(s):  
Aires Garcia Dos Santos Junior ◽  
Jasmine De Oliveira Pedro ◽  
Mayara Chaves De Oliveira ◽  
Mara Cristina Ribeiro Furlan ◽  
Francielle Garcia Nascimento ◽  
...  

RESUMOObjetivo: descrever as características sociodemográficas e a autopercepção das condições de saúde de idosos. Método: estudo quantitativo, descritivo, de corte transversal, realizado com idosos de um Centro de Convivência. Para a análise dos dados, optou-se pela realização de dupla digitação em banco de dados para a codificação, permitindo a elaboração de um dicionário de códigos em planilha do Excel. Resultados: dos 106 (100%) entrevistados, a sua maioria é do sexo feminino, 67 (63,20%). Sobre a autopercepção de saúde, os idosos relataram em sua maioria ser “BOA” com 63 (59,42%). Em relação aos problemas de saúde, 78 (73,58%) idosos confirmaram ter algum tipo de doença: Hipertensão Arterial, 29 (27,35%); doenças osteomusculares, 17 (16,03%); e Diabetes Mellitus, 13 (12,26%). Conclusão: a maioria foi do sexo feminino, com faixa etária em maior índice entre os 60 e 69 anos. Entre os idosos entrevistados, a maioria referiu possuir uma boa percepção de saúde, 63 (59,42%). A importância para a enfermagem de se criar um perfil sociodemográfico e conhecer a autopercepção de saúde dos idosos colabora com o desenvolvimento assertivo de ações a essa população. Descritores: Idoso; Saúde do Idoso; Longevidade; Perfil de Saúde; Autoimagem.ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the sociodemographic characteristics and the self-perception of the health conditions of the elderly population. Method: this is a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out with elderly people from a Living Center. For the analysis of the data, it was chosen to perform double digitalization in the database for coding, allowing the elaboration of a code dictionary in Excel spreadsheet. Results: of the 106 (100%) interviewed, most of them were female, 67 (63.20%). Regarding self-perception of health, the elderly reported mostly being “GOOD” with 63 (59.42%). Regarding health problems, 78 (73.58%) elderly confirmed having some type of disease: Hypertension, 29 (27.35%); osteomuscular diseases, 17 (16.03%); and Diabetes Mellitus, 13 (12.26%). Conclusion: most were female, with the highest age group between 60 and 69 years old. Among the elderly interviewed, most of them reported having a good health perception, 63 (59.42%). The importance of the nursing of creating a sociodemographic profile and knowing the self-perception of the health of the elderly collaborates with the assertive development of actions to this population. Descriptors: Aged; Health of the Elderly; Longevity; Health Profile; Self Concept.RESUMEN Objetivo: describir las caracteríticas sociodemográficas y la autopercepción de las condiciones de salud de ancianos. Método: estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo, de cohorte transversal, realizado con ancianos de un Centro de Convivencia. Para el análisis de los datos, se optó por la realización de doble digitación en banco de datos para la codificación, permitiendo la elaboración de un diccionario de códigos en planilla de Excel. Resultados: de los 106 (100%) entrevistados, su mayoría es del sexo femenino, 67 (63,20%). Sobre la autopercepción de salud, los ancianos relataron en su mayoría ser “BUENA” con 63 (59,42%). En relación a los problemas de salud, 78 (73,58%) ancianos confirmaron tener algún tipo de enfermedad: Hipertensión Arterial, 29 (27,35%); enfermedades osteomusculares, 17 (16,03%); y Diabetes Mellitus, 13 (12,26%). Conclusión: la mayoría fue del sexo femenino, com edad en mayor índice entre los 60 y 69 años. Entre los ancianos entrevistados, la mayoría dijo poseer una buena percepción de salud, 63 (59,42%). La importancia para la enfermería de criarse un perfíl sociodemográfico y conocer la autopercepción de salud de los ancianos colabora con el desarrollo asertivo de acciones a esa población. Descriptores: Anciano; Salud del Anciano; Longevidad; Perfil de Salud; Autoimagen.


2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Galliker

The article presents a sociolinguistic analysis of dialectal conversations in the German part of Switzerland. It focusses on an adolescent peer group, whose members position themselves socially using a wide range of stylistic variation. The highschool students’ community situat-ed in a rural area in the middle of the Swiss Alps co-construct their group identity deliberately combining various types of linguistic variants, styles and languages. Thus, they resort to ele-ments of a widely spread young urban street style as well as to traditional and to some extent outdated dialectal variants simultaneously. On the one hand, it is the width of the linguistic resources which is remarkable. On the other hand, it is impressive to observe the youths’ competence in combining different variants creating their new and own communicative style. The study sheds light on the subtle stylistic techniques at work and demonstrates how much knowledge about the peer group’s linguistic practices, preferences and resources is necessary to interpret and understand their conversations and social contextualisations. The methodolog-ical approach to the analysis of linguistic variation is a conceptual one: the main communica-tive practice in the young men’s talk are conceptualised by means of bricolage – a specific way of incorporating and adapting linguistic elements to create a new and individual speech style. The conceptual approach also allows for a comparison of the peer group’s linguistic practices with speech styles of other young peer groups all over Europe: even if the specific resources used by the youth might differ to some extent, the way in which young urban and young rural pupils deal with linguistic variation is surprisingly similar.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 268-285
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Lowe

The “right to belong” is a human right in two ways. First, there is the right to belong in a limited sense, i.e., to the extent necessary for individuals to secure all other human rights, such as those recognized by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Second, there is a deeper aspect of the right to belong, that which is necessary to flourish as a human being. To establish, first, that the right to belong in a limited sense should be a human right, I draw upon Hannah Arendt’s claim that stateless persons are without rights, as only communities can grant them. I argue that this limited level of belonging is a necessary but insufficient condition for human flourishing. Full human flourishing requires belonging on a deeper level. To articulate the nature of this deeper level of belonging I draw on Simone Weil’s definition of the “need for roots” and John Dewey and Jane Addams’ constructions of the self as social. I then show how “belonging” in a deeper sense necessarily connects with how a person is perceived and received by individuals and institutions in a community and argue that full perception by and participation in a community is necessary for humans to flourish. Thus, the right to belong imposes an ethical obligation on other members of the community to perceive undocumented immigrants as full human persons with the potential to lead flourishing lives.


Author(s):  
Juris Porozovs ◽  
Aija Dudkina ◽  
Alvis Valdemiers

Students is a group of population, who experience psychological overload and emotional strain. These factors could have a negative impact on student's health, but good health level and positive mood are important factors for high learning outcomes. The survey of Riga 2nd Gymnasium 9th grade basic school students and University of Latvia 1st course pedagogical speciality students was carried out. The self-estimation of health level, physical activities and feeling at school and at home of the both group students was compared. The results of the survey showed that the majority of students have good health level or they have minor health problems. Physical activity of basic school students is higher than the physical activity of university students. A part of students regularly experience strain. More basic school students in comparison with university students are regularly in the state of stress.  Overall university students feel better at university than basic school students at school. The majority of both group students feel good at home. Students consider that important factors for maintaining of the health are: correct sleep regimen, proper nutrition regime, enough physical activities, avoiding from stress and overload.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Philpott ◽  
Timothy Samuel Shah

Not so very long ago, the idea of religious freedom enjoyed all the self-evident virtue of a Norman Rockwell painting. Sure, Americans disagreed about what it meant in practice, leaving their Supreme Court to hash out the details. Still, however Americans differed in their religious beliefs, they espoused religious freedom and insisted that it cannot be government's job to promote any one religious sect over others or coerce anyone's conscience in religious matters. “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation,” thundered Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson in 1943, “it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”1For a time, this consensus seemed poised to embrace the entire world. When in November 1949 Eleanor Roosevelt proudly held up for public view a poster-size copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including its article on “freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” one might have been forgiven for thinking that all the peoples of the earth were ready to follow her matronly instruction.2


2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean McMahon

This statement to the second World Social Forum, presented in Porto Alegre on January 30, 2002, summarizes the conclusions of the first International Forum for the Defense of the Health of People. The statement denounces macroeconomic adjustment policies and the militarization of international relationships for their devastating effects on people's health and quality of life, and proposes a wide public debate and action on a development model that moves toward equity and promotes health and well-being as a human right and a public good.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3120
Author(s):  
M. Isabel Sanchez-Hernandez ◽  
Juan José Maldonado-Briegas ◽  
Ramón Sanguino ◽  
Ascensión Barroso ◽  
M. Cristina Barriuso

Access to safe drinking water is essential to good health, a basic human right, and a component of effective policy for health protection. Improving the quality of local public water and waste services is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation). This study aims to know the degree of satisfaction of domestic users who receive services related to water and waste in municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants in the province of Badajoz (Spain). We carry out this research because the perception of municipal services provided by the public administration is usually negative and deficient. The case study PROMEDIO, the consortium formula, is described as a successful partnership to improve the quality of local public water and waste services. For this purpose, a detailed analysis of the different aspects involved in the relationship between the users and the services provided is carried out. The consortium was found to increase citizens’ satisfaction with the services provided, given the close relationship between the municipality and the users.


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