scholarly journals Ethics without theory? On advantages of the Pyrrhonian over the dogmatic way of life.

Author(s):  
Denis Maslov

The paper discusses two interrelated problems pertaining to the Pyrrhonian way of life. We try to rise to the challenge and play devil’s advocate, arguing from the skeptical point of view. The first part portrays a reconstruction of central skeptical arguments against the dogmatic ethics that attack some epistemological, metaphysical and ethical issues of the central dogmatic concept “the good by nature”. The second part considers the arguments suggested by G. Striker and R. Bett who claim that the sceptic cannot have ethics nor be an ethical agent. Against it, we try to formulate minimal conditions for ethics without theory, namely, the conceptual ability to distinguish between “right” and “wrong” actions grounded upon the notion of “private good” and the skeptical criteria for actions. This is made possible by relativizing the criteria of the ethical and connecting it with the customs and traditions of a given community. Though Pyrrhonism is quite different from ethical relativism or ethical realism, a striking comparison to H. Putnam’s ethical approach is drawn at the end of the paper.

Moreana ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (Number 205- (3-4) ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Guillaume Navaud

Utopia as a concept points towards a world essentially alien to us. Utopia as a work describes this otherness and confronts us with a world whose strangeness might seem disturbing. Utopia and Europe differ in their relationship to what is other (Latin alienus) – that is, that which belongs to someone else, that which is foreign, that which is strange. These two worlds are at odds in regards to their foreign policy and way of life: Utopia aspires to self-sufficiency but remains open to whatever good may arrive from beyond its borders, while the Old World appears alienated by exteriority yet refuses to welcome any kind of otherness. This issue also plays a major part in the reception of More’s work. Book I invites the reader to distance himself from a European point of view in order to consider what is culturally strange not as logically absurd but merely as geographically remote. Utopia still makes room for some exoticism, but mostly in its paratexts, and this exoticism needs to be deciphered. All in all, Utopia may invite us to transcend the horizontal dialectics of worldly alterity in order to open our eyes to a more radical, metaphysical otherness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Schröder-Bäck ◽  
T Schloemer ◽  
K Martakis ◽  
C Brall

Abstract Background The outbreak of SARS in 2002 lead to a public health ethics discourse. The crisis management of that time was ethically analysed and lessons to be learned discussed. Scholarship and WHO, among others, developed an ethics of pandemic preparedness. The current “corona crisis” also faces us with ethical challenges. This presentation is comparing the two crises from an ethical point of view and a focus on Europe. Methods An ethics framework for pandemic preparedness (Schröder et al. 2006 and Schröder-Bäck 2014) is used to make a synopsis of ethical issues. Ethical aspects of 2002 and 2020 that were discussed in the literature and in the media are compared. For 2020, the focus is on interventions in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Results Topics that emerged from the 2002 crisis were, among others, revolving around aspects of stigmatisation and fair distribution of scarce resources (esp. vaccines, antivirals). Currently, most urgent and ethically challenging aspects relate to social distancing vs. autonomy: Isolation and quarantine are handled differently across Europe and the EU. Questions of transferability of such interventions prevail. Contexts vary vertically over time (2002 vs. 2020) and horizontally (e.g. between Italy and Germany at the same time). Furthermore, trust in authorities, media and health information is a key issue. Conclusions Ethical aspects are key for good pandemic preparedness and management. The context of the crises between 2002 and 2020 has slightly changed, also based on “lessons learned” from 2002. This has implications on ethical issues that are being discussed. New lessons will have to be learned from the 2020 crisis. Key messages Pandemic preparedness and outbreak management entail many ethical tensions that need to be addressed. Currently, questions of trust and transferability are key to the crisis management, further ethical issues could still emerge.


1927 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-258
Author(s):  
G. Baksht

From a social point of view, the problem of abortion was and is, perhaps, more topical today than ever before. The comprehensive coverage of this problem, which involves the most intimate aspect of human life, social and domestic conditions, and ethical issues, can only be the product of the collective efforts of physicians, sociologists, and lawyers.


Author(s):  
Anni Lappela

Mountains and City as Contrary Spaces in the Prose of Alisa Ganieva I analyze Alisa Ganieva’s novel Prazdnichnaia gora (2012) and her novella Salam tebe, Dalgat! (2010) from a geocritical (Westphal, Tally) point of view. Ganieva was born in 1985 in Moscow, but she grew up in Dagestan, in North Caucasia. Since 2002, she has lived in Moscow. All Ganieva’s novels are set in present-day Dagestan, not only in the capital Makhachkala but also in the countryside.  I study the ways the two main spaces and main milieus, the mountains and the city, oppose each other in Prazdnichnaia gora. I also analyze how this opposition constructs the utopian and dystopian discourses of the novel. In this high/low opposition, the mountains appear as the utopian place of a better future, and the city in the lowlands is depicted as a dystopian place of the present-day life. The texts’ multilayered time is also part of my analysis, which follows Westphal’s idea of the stratigraphy of time. Furthermore, the mountains are associated with the traditional way of life and the Soviet past. In this way, the mountains have two kinds of roles in the texts. Nevertheless, the city is a central element of the postcolonial dystopian discourse of Prazdnichnaia gora. In my opinion, Ganieva’s texts problematize referentiality, one of the key concepts of geocriticism. Whilst the city tends to be very referential, the mountains escape the referential relationship to the “real” geographical space.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
João Gentil

Abstract Background In 2019, WHO classified vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health. Vaccination is an area of excellence in nursing that has gained a new focus and has become a challenge in the provision of care and in the management field. Vaccine hesitation raises questions about mandatory vaccination, individual versus collective freedom that are highlighted in the current context due to the emergence of new vaccines. In this paper, we want to analyze and update knowledge about vaccines hesitancy from an ethical and bioethical perspective. Methods A combination of literature reviews on vaccine refusal/hesitancy, ethics and COVID-19 vaccine confidence, accessed on SciELO and PubMed databases and analysis of documents from General Directorate of Health and Ordem dos Enfermeiros (National Nurses Association). Results Vaccination programs aim is a collective protection. The desirable effects at individual level do not have the same ethical value at collective level, leading to cost-benefit imbalances. Moral conflicts between the individual and the collective, cost-benefit imbalances and the insufficiency of bioethics principles, lead us to the use of other moral values and principles, such as responsibility, solidarity and social justice, as a tool for ethical reflection problems related to COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusions There are no perfect solutions to ethical dilemmas and some optimal solutions could depend the context. In a pandemic situation, one of the most relevant ethical issues is the herd immunity since it leaves public health at risk. Equity and the principle of justice in vaccination campaign are shown daily in the nursing profession.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 737-740
Author(s):  
Cabangile N. Ngwane

: Traditional cultural practices reflect values and beliefs of members of a community. Culture is an umbrella term, which explains common things people share such as language, customs, beliefs and the way of life. This paper seeks to look at male circumcision culture of a certain indigenous group in South Africa. Male circumcision is associated with ethnic marks, virility, masculinity, rite of passage to manhood however, there are many ethical concerns centering on male circumcision. Hence, this paper seeks to explore the ethical concerns surrounding male circumcision culture of a selected ethnical group in order to contribute to ethical execution of the practice. Little has been done on ethical issues surrounding male circumcision. The fallacy surrounding this phenomenon needs further investigation. The paper intends to contribute to the debate on male circumcision as a way of mitigating HIV/AIDS infections. The Social Norm Theory has been used to explain the phenomenon under study. The constructivist research paradigm enabled the interviewing of participants from the target population, as the study is inductive in nature. The key finding was that they do male circumcision mostly in an unethical way that it also affects women and children. They also do it based on the misconception and the fallacy that they will not get HIV/AIDS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Светлана ХУСНУТДИНОВА ◽  
Svetlana KHUSNUTDINOVA ◽  
Юлия ЗАКИРОВА ◽  
Yuliya ZAKIROVA

The article is devoted to the study of the possibilities and peculiarities of the city environment from the point of view of providing the necessary conditions for the active city lifestyle and active tourism. Cities are interested in the develop- ment of tourism, as an industry that actively attracts investments in the economy, creating a huge variety of workplaces and selfemployment, contributing to the growth of the tax base, preserving local uniqueness and historical and cultural heritage that stimulates creative industries. Obviously, it is impossible, and it is not necessary to create two different cities – “for tourists” and “for citizens”. It means that infrastructure, including transport, street network, cafes and restaurants, entertainment and shopping centers, parks and embankments are actively used by both citizens and tourists. Moreover tourists are attracted by the same objects and events that are in demand among local residents. Accordingly, the creation of a comfortable, safe, friendly city environment is a prerequisite for development, both in terms of improving the quality of life of citizens and attracting tourists. Cities are interested in diversifying the offer for tourist and should contribute to the formation of material and unmaterial factors for the active tourism development. Material factors include the corresponding infrastructure, high-quality ecological situation and a number of others. Unmaterial factors are formed on the basis of city culture, one of the values of which is the active way of life. Priority should be given to the development of the infrastructure of safe school routes, stimulating active modes of movement in the daily regime, creating accessible and safe areas for various sports and outdoor activities.


Author(s):  
Madina Arif kyzy Mekhdieva

The article deals with the issues of urban settlements and urban lifestyle from the point of view of structural changes under the influence of transformational processes in the development of productive forces, tools and means of production. The author notes the historical nature of this process associated with the geographical environment, resources and migration flows under the influence of the development of capitalist relations. Some peculiarities of lifestyle in Baku as a city with an ancient history, with a number of characteristic features of a distinctive way of life, combining the traditions of several generations and different civilizations, are analyzed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1199-1212
Author(s):  
Syeda Erfana Zohora ◽  
A. M. Khan ◽  
Arvind K. Srivastava ◽  
Nhu Gia Nguyen ◽  
Nilanjan Dey

In the last few decades there has been a tremendous amount of research on synthetic emotional intelligence related to affective computing that has significantly advanced from the technological point of view that refers to academic studies, systematic learning and developing knowledge and affective technology to a extensive area of real life time systems coupled with their applications. The objective of this paper is to present a general idea on the area of emotional intelligence in affective computing. The overview of the state of the art in emotional intelligence comprises of basic definitions and terminology, a study of current technological scenario. The paper also proposes research activities with a detailed study of ethical issues, challenges with importance on affective computing. Lastly, we present a broad area of applications such as interactive learning emotional systems, modeling emotional agents with an intention of employing these agents in human computer interactions as well as in education.


2008 ◽  
pp. 2432-2447
Author(s):  
Barbara Paterson

Computer ethicists foresee that as information and communication technology (ICT) increasingly pervades more and more aspects of life, ethical issues increasingly will be computer-related. This view is underpinned by the assumption that progress is linear and inevitable. In accordance with this assumption, ICT is promoted as an essential component of development. This notion ignores the cultural origin of computing. Computer technology is a product of the Western worldview, and consequently, the computer revolution is experienced differently by people in different parts of the world. The computer revolution not only threatens to marginalize non-Western cultural traditions, but the Western way of life also has caused large-scale environmental damage. This chapter argues that computer ethics has to critically analyze the links between computing and its effects on cultural diversity and the natural environment and proposes that the Earth Charter can function as a framework for such holistic research.


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