Psychology and Ethical Epistemology

We examine a hitherto unstudied debate, turning on the epistemology of value judgements, between Ashʿarīs and Baṣran Muʿtazilīs of the late eleventh and twelfth centuries. Al-Ghazālī and al-Rāzī countered Muʿtazilī ethical realism, here defended by al-Malāḥimī, by developing an emotive subjectivism underpinned by increasingly sophisticated psychological accounts of ethical motivation. Value judgements, they maintained, arise not from knowledge of some ethical attributes of acts themselves, but from subjective inclinations, which are often elusive because they can be unconscious or indirect. We also argue against the widespread notion that Ashʿarīs espoused an anti-rationalist ethics, and we show that they were not only ethical rationalists, but also the more innovative side in this debate.

Three Questions of Methodology

Wight composed this note to make clear three caveats about his exposition of three main traditions of thinking about international politics in Western societies since the sixteenth century (Realism, Rationalism, and Revolutionism). First, the sources considered include not only works by theorists and international lawyers, but also statements and policies of politicians. Second, it is imperative to avoid ‘the hypostatization of categories’—that is, ‘taking a classificatory system too seriously and too concretely’ and attributing objective reality to intellectual concepts. The views of specific thinkers are more valuable than generalizations about shared opinions in categories or claims of progress in philosophical understanding over the centuries. Third, the scholar’s role concerning value judgements in this effort to elucidate the three traditions consists of ‘exposition and comparison, not criticism in any sense of propounding theory’ for the critical assessment of the ideas expressed in these traditions.

The Quantitative Problem for Theories of Dysfunction and Disease

Many biological functions allow for grades. For example, secretion of a specific hormone in an organism can be on a higher or lower level, compared to the same organism at another occasion or compared to other organisms. What levels of functioning constitute instances of dysfunction; where should we draw the line? This is the quantitative problem for theories of dysfunction and disease. I aim to defend a version of biological theories of dysfunction to tackle this problem. However, I will also allow evaluative considerations to enter into a theory of disease. My argument is based on a distinction between a biological and a clinical perspective. Disease, according to my reasoning, is restricted to instances that fall within the boundaries of biological dysfunctions. Responding to the quantitative problem does not require arbitrary decisions or social value-judgements. Hence, I argue for a non-arbitrary, fact-based method to address the quantitative problem. Still, not all biological dysfunctions are instances of disease. Adding a clinical perspective allows us to prevent the potential over-inclusiveness of the biological perspective, because it restricts the boundaries of disease even further.

Sexual health promotion messages for young people in Netflix most-watched series content (2015–2020): mixed-methods analysis study

IntroductionSexual health is a major issue for young people, and there is a need to promote it. Sexual health promotion messages may be included in Netflix series that are widely watched by young people, with important emotional dimensions in scenarios.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to investigate the explicit sexual health promotion messages integrated in Netflix series popular among young people, and to describe them and how they are delivered.MethodsWe selected two types of Netflix series, aimed at young people: (1) series whose synopsis is mainly about sexual health and (2) all-subject series. We extracted data from 65 episodes of 6 of the most-watched Netflix series. We used a data extraction grid on EpiData. We analysed sexual health themes and sexual health promotion messages. We described the series and listed all the sexual health and other health themes discussed. For each promotion message, we described scene contents and extracted dialogues.ResultsWe found 62 promotion messages in the 6 analysed series. The two series that highlight sexual health in their synopsis account for 81% (n=50/62) of these identified promotion messages. Messages mainly focus on sexual harassment and violence (19%), on sexually transmitted infections protection (18%) and on contraception (15%). Messages are mainly delivered as verbal information, and mostly feature 16–18 years old characters in school. Analysis highlighted four main points concerning scenarios in these series: (1) there are different ways to deliver sexual health promotion messages; (2) there is depiction of negative value judgements and gender norms; (3) some information may be incomplete or misleading and (4) risky behaviours are represented.ConclusionNetflix series incorporate diverse sexual health promotion messages for young people. Further research could assess how these messages are perceived and whether they increase the knowledge, skills and positive health behaviours of young people.

Methodological issues with value-based decision-making (VBDM) tasks: does trial wording matter?

Objective: Most value-based decision-making (VBDM) tasks instruct people to make value judgements about stimuli using wording relating to consumption, however in some contexts this may be inappropriate. This study aims to explore whether variations of trial wording capture a common construct of value. Method: Pre-registered, within-subject design. Fifty-nine participants completed a two-alternative forced choice task where they chose between two food images. Participants completed three blocks of trials: one asked which they would rather consume (standard wording), one asked which image they like more, and one asked them to recall which image they rated higher during a previous block. We fitted a drift-diffusion model to the reaction time and choice data to estimate evidence accumulation (EA) processes during the different blocks. Results: There was a highly significant main effect of trial difficulty, but this was not modified by trial wording (F = 2.00, p = .11, np2 = .03, BF10 = .05). We also found highly significant positive correlations between EA rates across task blocks (rs > .44, ps < .001). Conclusions: Findings provide initial validation of substitute wording for VBDM tasks that can be used in contexts where it may be undesirable to ask participants to make consummatory judgements.

The role of empathy in ethics of radiological protection

Radiological protection is often considered a matter of scientific and technological facts only, not of value judgements. This perception is now gradually changing, especially with ICRP Publication 138, which addressed the ethical foundation of the system of radiological protection. It identified values which have guided the Commission’s recommendations over the decades, but have not always been made explicit. Four core values are discussed (beneficence/non-maleficence, prudence, justice, dignity) as well as three procedural values (accountability, transparency, inclusivity). The latter are considered critical to the practical implementation of the system of radiological protection. Here we are exploring empathy as a procedural values complementing the three identified in ICRP Publication 138. Empathy can be defined as the “capability (or disposition) to immerse oneself in and to reflect upon the experiences, perspectives and contexts of others”. It is often understood as a skill that one either has or has not, but research has shown it can be taught and therefore can be required as an attitude of those working in health care, education, design, and technology. We suggest it is an essential prerequisite to the assessment and management of any radiological situation and the health problems accruing from it. The concerns of people affected, their needs and wishes need to be taken seriously from the very beginning of any decision-making process. Even if they are considered unfounded and exaggerated, the insights they provide will be valuable for the understanding of the overall situation. Without empathy, our practice of beneficence and non-maleficence as well as solidarity would be oddly limited.

Scientific Value Relativism

Relativism stresses that value judgements are statements about meaning and not about facts, about “ought” and not about “is”. Professor Arnold Brecht explained and substantiated the existence of a link between “is” and “ought”, which does not have a logical character, but does indeed have a “factual” one; a link that, being so evident and intersubjectively transmissible, makes doctrine based on logical separation less important. Suffice it to observe this factual link in a sufficient number of individual cases to arrive inductively at the conclusion of its universal presence with the same certainty or uncertainty as any other inductive conclusion. This paper studies the considerations made by Brecht in the first half of the twentieth century on universal elements that do not derive from arbitrary decisions on justice, but can stem from the necessary feelings inherent to human beings. Confirming this is within the bounds of scientific research. And if these elements are considered as a whole and combined with the two methods proposed by the relativists—clarifying the meaning of the proposed interpretations and analysing their implications—the demonstrable elements obtained are of considerable worth.

'To the Curious Enquirer': Depictions of Pacific Peoples in Popular Illustrated Books from Paris and London c.1775-1810

<p>This study considers a range of illustrated encyclopaedias published in London and Paris in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries depicting peoples of the Pacific or Oceania. Using a framework of curiosity, exoticism, and costume iconography, as well as considering relevant contemporary developments, I argue that, despite the widespread appeal to 'curiosity', the books reveal a fairly superficial interest, at a popular level, in other peoples: one that is mainly interested in contrasting 'civilised' Europe with less civilised or 'savage' others. The genres to which these books belonged developed in the sixteenth century, and the books considered in this study followed their genre traditions, fitting the 'new discoveries' of Oceania into these existing traditions. The frontispieces set the tone of the books, and embodied moral value judgements revealing European views of political, social and economic relations between Europe and other peoples and countries at that time. They were also following an iconographic tradition set down much earlier and generally failed to acknowledge recent events that challenged these prevailing views. I consider how the images of Oceanic peoples in the French costume books were developed (or as I argue 'invented') from the source material, which was mainly images in the published accounts of Captain Cook's three voyages. In inventing images designed to please the eye, the sources chosen reveal the prejudices and expectations of European readers. But how were the 'new' Oceanic peoples incorporated into these books? By seeing Oceanic peoples as part of America it was easy to fit them into existing prejudices about 'savages' and into existing pictorial conventions for depicting 'savages'. For an audience expecting to see 'savages' wearing grass skirts and feather headdresses these images would have appeared 'authentic'. My study will highlight more popular views rather than the views of philosophers, or the voyagers' accounts, which understandably have been given more academic attention. These books are overlooked today because they are derivative and their images are not necessarily ethnographically accurate; yet they were popular in their time. They represent a conservative Eurocentric viewpoint and their inclusion of new material from Oceanic voyages did not challenge these views. Images and texts such as these likely reinforced European views of their own superiority and made it easy to justify missionary activity and colonisation in various parts of the world, particularly Oceania.</p>

'To the Curious Enquirer': Depictions of Pacific Peoples in Popular Illustrated Books from Paris and London c.1775-1810

<p>This study considers a range of illustrated encyclopaedias published in London and Paris in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries depicting peoples of the Pacific or Oceania. Using a framework of curiosity, exoticism, and costume iconography, as well as considering relevant contemporary developments, I argue that, despite the widespread appeal to 'curiosity', the books reveal a fairly superficial interest, at a popular level, in other peoples: one that is mainly interested in contrasting 'civilised' Europe with less civilised or 'savage' others. The genres to which these books belonged developed in the sixteenth century, and the books considered in this study followed their genre traditions, fitting the 'new discoveries' of Oceania into these existing traditions. The frontispieces set the tone of the books, and embodied moral value judgements revealing European views of political, social and economic relations between Europe and other peoples and countries at that time. They were also following an iconographic tradition set down much earlier and generally failed to acknowledge recent events that challenged these prevailing views. I consider how the images of Oceanic peoples in the French costume books were developed (or as I argue 'invented') from the source material, which was mainly images in the published accounts of Captain Cook's three voyages. In inventing images designed to please the eye, the sources chosen reveal the prejudices and expectations of European readers. But how were the 'new' Oceanic peoples incorporated into these books? By seeing Oceanic peoples as part of America it was easy to fit them into existing prejudices about 'savages' and into existing pictorial conventions for depicting 'savages'. For an audience expecting to see 'savages' wearing grass skirts and feather headdresses these images would have appeared 'authentic'. My study will highlight more popular views rather than the views of philosophers, or the voyagers' accounts, which understandably have been given more academic attention. These books are overlooked today because they are derivative and their images are not necessarily ethnographically accurate; yet they were popular in their time. They represent a conservative Eurocentric viewpoint and their inclusion of new material from Oceanic voyages did not challenge these views. Images and texts such as these likely reinforced European views of their own superiority and made it easy to justify missionary activity and colonisation in various parts of the world, particularly Oceania.</p>

Justice, Transparency and the Guiding Principles of the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the UK’s primary healthcare priority-setting body, responsible for advising the National Health Service in England on which technologies to fund and which to reject. Until recently, the normative approach underlying this advice was described in a 2008 document entitled ‘Social value judgements: Principles for the development of NICE guidance’ (SVJ). In January 2020, however, NICE replaced SVJ with a new articulation of its guiding principles. Given the significant evolution of NICE’s methods between 2008 and 2020, this study examines whether this new document (‘Principles’) offers a transparent account of NICE’s current normative approach. It finds that it does not, deriving much of its content directly from SVJ and failing to fully acknowledge or explain how and why NICE’s approach has since changed. In particular, Principles is found to offer a largely procedural account of NICE decision-making, despite evidence of the increasing reliance of NICE’s methods on substantive decision-rules and ‘modifiers’ that cannot be justified in purely procedural terms. Thus, while Principles tells NICE’s stakeholders much about how the organisation goes about the process of decision-making, it tells them little about the substantive grounds on which its decisions are now based. It is therefore argued that Principles does not offer a transparent account of NICE’s normative approach (either alone, or alongside other documents) and that, given NICE’s reliance on transparency as a requirement of procedural justice, NICE does not in this respect satisfy its own specification of a just decision-maker.