Political state and the dilemma of dignity, equality and freedom: Evidence from a sovereign state

Purpose: This study discusses the idea of political redefinition and its connection to dignity, freedom and equality in a sovereign state. This article concludes by briefly touching on some serious issues about sovereign communities that arise as a result of the fundamental dignity, freedom, and equality ideals of the sovereign state. Research methodology: The author decided to conduct theoretical research in a qualitative format using conceptual analysis as well as critical and rational argumentation. A deductive approach is used in reaching a prior opinion. Results: The sovereign state itself became the judge and restricted human dignity, equality and the freedom to contract by forcing citizens to make transfers they did not consent to and prohibiting certain private transactions on the sole pretext. Limitations: There are shortcomings in theoretical research, as the author used a deductive approach to conclude. Contribution: This study conceptualizes the proponents of a sovereign state to be drawn into the dilemma of dignity, freedom and equality.

In the Best Interest of the Child? Justifying Decisions on Adoption from Care in the Norwegian Supreme Court

By utilising theories of deliberation and rational argumentation, this article critically analyses the Norwegian Supreme Court’s best interest decisions in four judgments on adoption from care. How does the Supreme Court reason their decisions and are the decisions rational? The findings show that the decisions are reasoned similarly, and conclusions are guided by norms of biology, vulnerability and stability for the child. However, discretion is applied differently across decisions, and the reasoning and balancing of individual arguments vary. The critical evaluation displays weaknesses in all judgments: one important blind spot is the failure to include the child’s views in the decision-making process. The development in terms of delivering rational, well-reasoned and thorough judgments is nonetheless positive. Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s recognition and protection of the child’s de facto family situation correspond to observed developments in the European Court of Human Rights as well as in national state policy on adoption.

Applying Philosophy, Logic, and Rational Argumentation to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Pandemic Response

Part of philosophy is to subject assertions to critical scrutiny, clarifying exactly what the assertion is saying, its implications, and thus its direct plausibility. The goal is to ensure clarity, logical consistency, and rational argumentation in order to arrive at reasoned conclusions. A common problem is that arguments have missing implied premises that, unless explicitly stated, are mistakenly assumed to be true. Here we subject conclusions made regarding the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to critical scrutiny, revealing their implied premises so that these premises can be explicitly examined and refuted. Specifically, we refute the conclusions that “no one is protected until everyone is protected” and “population lockdowns are required to protect those at high risk of adverse outcomes.” In the end, we argue for the conclusion that “an Emergency Management principles based response to the pandemic, compared to population-wide lockdowns, offers a way to prevent more adverse outcomes from COVID-19, better prevent overwhelmed healthcare, and prevent most of the collateral damage to the wellbeing of the population that has resulted from the lockdowns.”

Argument of Against the Death Penalty

This chapter outlines the different views and arguments of Giuseppe Pelli's unfinished dissertation of Against the Death Penalty. It provides an analysis of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourses 'on the Sciences and Arts' and 'on Inequality', and Pelli's early indication of lack of sympathy with Transalpine Enlightenment philosophers, with the exception of Montesquieu. The natural law philosophers and jurists from Hugo Grotius provided the main foundation and stimulation for his own ideas. Pelli reveals himself as a close reader of, among others, Grotius, Heineccius, the Cocceji father and son and Vattel. The chapter also highlights Pelli's deep pessimism about human nature, and inclination to moralizing. Here he labels the punishment by execution of the 'vicious' as itself a vice, having its origins in the 'general corruption' of our hearts, our innate tendency to give way to capricious anger, cruelty and malice. Ultimately, in the course of his treatise, it explains his humanitarian instincts and motives and how his commitment to his cause come to the fore. But he is also insistent that his case rests on rational argumentation.

Promoting Commercialisation of African Indigenous Vegetables through Communication Strategies: lessons from Farm Concern International, Kenya.

The study sought to analyse the efficiency of Farm Concern International’s Communication strategies in promoting the commercialisation of African Indigenous Vegetables in Lari Sub-County, Kenya. Qualitative and quantitative research designs were adopted for the study and purposive sampling, followed by random sampling used to select 100 farmers from the five villages in Lari Sub County. The data was gathered from the primary source through the use of structured questionnaire for both quantitative and qualitative. The data was then processed and presented by the use of graphs, tables and pie charts and analysed by use of descriptive analysis. The study used two theories, Rational Argumentation Theory propounded by Cragan and Shields (1998) and Trans theoretical Model (TM) by Prochaska, Johnson and Lee (1998). The study established that the rate of commercialisation is currently high, with the majority of farmers earning between sh. 5, 000 to sh. 15, 000 per month. Majority of farmers sold AIVs to Uchumi Supermarket. The findings also indicated that FCI majorly used two forms of Ora-Media, barazas and demonstrations, to promote production, consumption and commercialisation of AIVs. However, a bit of Use of projector was also used, but no form of mainstream media or internet and drama was used. The study recommends that NGOs should liaise with financial institutions to train farmers on financial literacy and facilitate them to make savings to enhance production. Also, there is a need for more campaign by NGOs and other gatekeepers like the media, government leaders and local leaders to enhance increased production of AIVs.

THE REDUCED NORMATIVE PROGRAMMING OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAWS IN BRAZIL AND THEIR POORLY ORGANIZED METHODICALLY INTERPRETATION

The article addresses an issue poorly discussed by the Brazilian Environmental Law, namely: its low legislation normative programming level. An analysis of legal texts about fields such as licensing shows that formal laws have only few rules that drive clear decisions about conflicts due to conflicting interests. Rules that open wide discretionary room for the interpretation/application of managerial and judicial bureaus often prevail. A documental, bibliographic and jurisprudential research will show that lack of minimum hermeneutical reasoning standard in doctrine and jurisprudence, whose content mostly depends on the individual convictions of public agents judging the claim, causes low decision predictability. The act of weighing the principles follows a rational argumentation line and impairs juridical safety. It would be useful and viable to revalorize classical elements of Law interpretation in combination with modern constitutional hermeneutical techniques in order to replace a complex “environmental hermeneutics”.

Digital health and digital information in the context of big data. An ethical insight on interests

Background Health data is the key link between the prospects we face in improving health services and the context of current information reality. In the field of public health, the sheer scale of data collecting, digitalization and use is already raising questions related to the ethical norms among different stakeholders. The fact that it is personal data at stake, confronts at least two views: the individual versus the public interest. The more we ease the process of health data aggregation and use, the more risks of possible harms we face. So, whose interest is a priority? Aim To consider if it is possible to balance the conflicting interests of individuals and society in the digital health era by advocating for mutual compromises and rational argumentation. Methods Ethical, documental and historical research. Results The amount of digital health related personal data transforms both opportunities for improved healthcare and research, and possible uncertainties related to improper use, harms, abuses, injustice. This nourishes individuals' doubts and potentially restricts the public interest by putting limits on future use of data. A balance between the confronting interests is needed. Granting ownership rights over data requires entirely new legal frame, since property rights hardly encompass the unique nature of information. Moreover, data is a valuable artefact, and ownership could provoke further commercialization. On the other hand, it is virtually impossible to put a separating line between commercial and ideal use of health data for care improvements and science. Our focus should be on the ideal use and essentially on insuring individual's privacy and confidentiality, but not at the expense of public benefits and scientific progress. Conclusions Health information is a powerful tool, and its utilization suggests compromises, which are possible if rational argumentation and support is provided to individuals with the aim to overcome the existing discrepancies. Key messages The appearance of digital health fully represents the dynamic information reality in which constructing a balance between different stakeholder’s interests is vital and not impossible to achieve. Healthcare prospects depend on our individual responsibility and willing to share as we have the data and the means to use and secure it, and we have the duty to do it.

Resolution of Deep Disagreement: Not Simply Consensus

Robert Fogelin has argued that in deep disagreements, resolution cannot be achieved by rational argumentation. In response, Richard Feldman has claimed that deep disagreements can be resolved in a similar way to more everyday disagreements. I argue that Feldman’s claim is based on a relatively superficial notion of “resolution” of a disagreement whereas the notion at stake in Fogelin’s argument is more substantive. Furthermore, I argue that Feldman’s reply is based on a particular reading of Fogelin’s argument. There is an alternative reading, which takes the central concern to be the role of common ground in argumentation. Engaging with this version of Fogelin’s argument is also a worthwhile endeavour.

Seeing the Other Side? Perspective-Taking and Reflective Political Judgements in Interpersonal Deliberation

A healthy democracy needs citizens to make reflective political judgements. Sceptics argue that reflective opinions are either nonexistent or rare. Proponents of deliberative democracy suggest that democratic deliberation is capable of prompting reflective political reasoning among people. Yet, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. This article offers a bridge between psychology and political theory and proposes a theory of perspective-taking in deliberation. It argues that under the right conditions, deliberation induces more reflective judgements by eliciting the process of perspective-taking – actively imagining others’ experiences, perspectives and feelings – in citizen deliberators. Two institutional features of deliberative forums are emphasized: the presence of a diversity of viewpoints and the interplay of fact-based rational argumentation and storytelling. I test the plausibility of this theory using a case study – the Irish Citizens’ Assembly – thereby, relying on qualitative in-depth interview data and quantitative survey data. I further substantiate my findings with a laboratory experiment.