Conclusion

The book concludes by acknowledging that while just war realism provides resources for overcoming guilt, it simultaneously recognizes war’s inherent tragedy. Human beings rarely act with absolute purity of intention. It is here that the distinction between moral injury and moral bruising comes back into view. It is entirely likely—possibly even desired—that while warfighters can pass through the battlefield without suffering moral injury, they cannot, in fact, emerge without impact traumas of some kind. Therefore, this conclusion points to the need for social and institutional practices for the moral treatment of returning warfighters.

One hundred thirty years of Dom Pedro II’s death: “The emperor of the tropics” and the beginning of Brazilian Psychiatry

ABSTRACT Objective: Associate Dom Pedro II’s life trajectory and the beginning of Brazilian psychiatry through the Pedro II Asylum. Methods: We conducted a narrative review of the literature on three search databases: Google Scholar, Pub Med, and Web of Science (SciELO). Results: The first Brazilian psychiatry institution, the Pedro II Asylum (1841-1889), was created by the number 82 decree on 18 July 1841. The launching occurred at Dom Pedro II’s coronation ceremony. It was a celebration that aimed at enhancing the Brazilian monarch’s power and at legitimizing the emperor’s adulthood at the age of fourteen. Throughout the 48 years of the Dom Pedro II empire, his cultural and science interests influenced the emergence of incipient Brazilian scientific research. In this regard, the Pedro II Asylum was portrayed not only as a health care institution but also undertook an effort to attend the social and cultural modifications promoted at the Brazilian imperial court after the Portuguese Crown family arrived in 1808. It also represented the influence of French psychiatry based on Phillipe Pinel’s (1745-1826) principles of moral treatment. Conclusions: Concisely, the Pedro II Asylum was a representation of Dom Pedro II’s personality as a patron of science, the emergence of Brazilian psychiatry, and the imperial society hierarchy.

Théâtre et thérapie de la maladie mentale (France, 1790–1815)

The theatrical experience conducted by the Marquis de Sade (1803–1814) with the lunatics of the Charenton asylum is a known fact. This practice, which was considered scandalous though it attracted the “Tout-Paris”, was supposedly part of the so-called “moral treatment” initiated by the alienist-physician Philippe Pinel, founder of modern psychiatry in France. The transition period from the French Revolution to the Empire and the Restoration was, indeed, a time of many transformations in the treatment of mental illness. In its relation to mental illness, theatre may serve as a yardstick for measuring power issues related to divergent conceptions of man and his freedom. But this moment of history, observed through the prism of the problematic of theatre/mental illness, also makes it possible to question our constantly changing approaches to the French Revolution.

El impacto de la Beneficencia en la gestión, tratamiento y cuidado de los dementes alcalaínos en el s. XIX

During the 19th century, in Spain, different laws and orders for the establishment and organization of the Charity Public took place, being the public authorities who were to exercise social charity to the most vulnerable. In this context, further influenced by the emergence of Moral Treatment, a new philosophical and action concept was activated in management, treatment and care for the mentally ill, considered then insane and/or madness. Health care placed a greater emphasis on occupational activity as therapy, as well as improving healthiness and hygienic conditions. However, many factors made it impossible to consummate change, leading to the emergence of new asylum institutions with a marked asylating and custodial character. The aim of this historical study is to try to know the situation in health care to the demented of Alcalá la Real (Jaén) of the time. In the sources used, two fundamental pillars stand out in our study: the Municipal Archive of Alcalá la Real and the Archive of the Provincial Council of Granada. Fromthe data collected it is outlinedhowin the first two decades of the second half of the nineteenth century the madmen alcalaínos were transferred to the Hospital of Madness of Granada, section of the Royal Hospital. The absence of a hospital for these patients in Jaén justified such transfers. The latter were accompanied by a long bureaucratic process that began on the Municipal Board of Charity and ended with the approval of the governor of Jaén. Keywords: historiography, psychiatry, history, 19th century, madness, charity policy, nursing care.

Does Being Human Matter Morally? Five Correctives to the Speciesism Debate

This article argues for five correctives to the current ethical debate about speciesism, and proposes normative, conceptual, methodological and experimental avenues to move this debate forward. Firstly, it clarifies the Principle of Equal Consideration of Interests and points out limitations of its scope. Secondly, it disambiguates between ‘favouritist’ and ‘species-relative’ views about moral treatment. Thirdly, it argues that not all moral intuitions about speciesism should be given equal weight. Fourthly, it emphasizes the importance of empirical research to corroborate statements about ‘folk speciesism’. Fifthly, it disambiguates between the moral significance of species and the moral status of their individual members. For each of these issues, it is shown that they have either been overlooked, or been given inapt treatment, in recent contributions to the debate. Building on the correctives, new directions are proposed for ethical inquiry into the moral relevance of species and species membership.