Killing and Allowing to Die: Insights from Augustine

One major argument against prohibiting euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is that there is no rational basis for distinguishing between killing and allowing to die: if we permit patients to die by forgoing life-sustaining treatments, then we also ought to permit euthanasia and PAS. In this paper, the author argues, contra this claim, that it is in fact coherent to differentiate between killing and allowing to die. To develop this argument, the author provides an analysis of Saint Augustine’s distinction between martyrdom and suicide, highlighting the relevance of intention in the assessment of an agent’s actions. As a general matter of ethics, the intentions of agents, not just the outcomes of their actions, matter enormously for drawing distinctions between what is permissible and what is impermissible. Constructing an Augustinian account of this distinction between killing and allowing to die, the author argues that it is coherent to hold that assisted suicide is wrong, while also accepting that it is permissible to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatments.

In Search of Meaning and Holy Redemption

This chapter analyzes the case of the Hilltop Youth, a radical, violent, and lawless group of young Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. The major argument is that an explanation to their extremist ideology and messianic activism can be found is their yearning for meaning in what they deem as an increasingly precarious and unstable reality. In their struggle to alleviate and solidify the world they live in, they opt for a very militant reading of their faith as a guiding and reassuring compass toward redemption. Such a path is fraught with violence and aggression toward Palestinians as well as toward Israeli authorities. On the road to what these unruly adolescents believe will lead them to their ultimate salvation, everyone else is a threat and every means is sacred. The chapter emphasizes the rapid degradation of recognized “truths” around them and their young age—malleable and vulnerable to unrestrained calls for action—as the Hilltop Youth main catalysts for embracing fierce lawlessness as their quest of choice for meaning.

BLAKE'S POISON TREE OF LIFE AND THE PERFECT FRUIT OF CRIME

This paper investigates and realigns William Blake's short, little known but hugely enigmatic poem “A Poison Tree” along the indices of his complex relationship with the Christian doctrine. A Poison Tree published in 1794 is a poem that is little understood even today given its cryptic and aporic imagery laden with irony and allusion. The unbridled vindictive passions of Blake's double work draw unapologetically from his views on temperance and restraint. I shall try to read Blake's poem like a detective suspecting the worst in literature as in life – without deception there is no plot and no progression. That the poem inverts the schema of good and bad, God and devil, Heaven and Hell, friend and foe, speaker and listener, writer and reader is the major argument of the paper.

Seeing the Window, Finding the Spider: Applying Critical Race Theory to Medical Education to Make Up Where Biomedical Models and Social Determinants of Health Curricula Fall Short

A professional and moral medical education should equip trainees with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively advance health equity. In this Perspective, we argue that critical theoretical frameworks should be taught to physicians so they can interrogate structural sources of racial inequities and achieve this goal. We begin by elucidating the shortcomings in the pedagogic approaches contemporary Biomedical and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) curricula use in their discussion of health disparities. In particular, current medical pedagogy lacks self-reflexivity; encodes social identities like race and gender as essential risk factors; neglects to examine root causes of health inequity; and fails to teach learners how to challenge injustice. In contrast, we argue that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a theoretical framework uniquely adept at addressing these concerns. It offers needed interdisciplinary perspectives that teach learners how to abolish biological racism; leverage historical contexts of oppression to inform interventions; center the scholarship of the marginalized; and understand the institutional mechanisms and ubiquity of racism. In sum, CRT does what biomedical and SDOH curricula cannot: rigorously teach physician trainees how to combat health inequity. In this essay, we demonstrate how the theoretical paradigms operationalized in discussions of health injustice affect the ability of learners to confront health inequity. We expound on CRT tenets, discuss their application to medical pedagogy, and provide an in-depth case study to ground our major argument that theory matters. We introduce MedCRT: a CRT-based framework for medical education, and advocate for its implementation into physician training.

Contemporary trends in professional development of teachers: importance of recognising the context

PurposeWhereas the achievement of students has closely been linked with the quality of teachers and there is a bulk of literature supporting the need of teachers' preparation in enhancing their quality, professional development (PD) of teachers has been a central focus of reform initiatives in education across the globe. This paper aims at analysing the existing literature on PD of teachers to reflect on the models and characteristics of effective PD, and to highlight the importance of context in PD of teachers.Design/methodology/approachTo respond to the aim of the paper, a search in the field of pedagogy in Education Resource Information Centre (ERIC) was undertaken. The search strings used were “models of teachers' professional development”, “characteristics of teachers professional development” and “context in professional development” restricted to time period from 2000 to 2020.FindingsThe major argument this paper presents is that the models and characteristics of PD are relative and there is no uniform model to be implemented across contexts. Instead of debating the models and characteristics of effective PD, academics and practitioners have to be watchful to the context and the real needs of teachers in a particular context.Originality/valueThe paper critiques the generalisation of Western generated PD models to the developing world especially Pakistan which the existing research and literature is silent about.

Introduction

The Introduction outlines the basic paradox addressed in this book. On the one hand, transatlantic relations appear to be in a constant state of crisis; the “death” of the transatlantic partnership has been declared with confidence many times over. On the other hand, the links that bind the United States and Europe together—institutional, cultural, political, military—have so far prevailed. In short, the Introduction asks whether the transatlantic partnership of liberal democracies has become more fragile in the three decades since 1990? The Introduction foreshadows the major argument of the book: that the transatlantic relationship draws its long-term strength from the constant disagreements. Last, the Introduction outlines the book’s structure and defines the conceptual framework used.

Jadeitite and Related Rocks in Serpentinite Mélanges from the Rio San Juan Complex, Dominican Republic: Evidence for Both Isochemical Replacement and Metasomatic Desilication of Igneous Protoliths with Fluid-Assisted Jadeite Growth

—This study presents an overview of the systematic petrography, mineralogy, and geochemistry of jadeitite and jadeite-rich rocks found as blocks in the serpentinite mélanges of the Rio San Juan Complex (RSJC) of the northern Dominican Republic. The RSJC is one of the remnants of the subduction/accretionary complex of the Great Caribbean Arc that once spanned the gap between North and South America, moved relatively eastward to its present position as the Lesser Antilles island arc, and left collisional fragments along the two continental margins. Our systematic collection of heterogeneous samples ranges from jadeitite s.str. (sensu stricto) with ≥90 vol.% jadeite to quartz-rich rocks with jadeite and lawsonite. Two suites of rock types can be recognized. In the matrix-quartz-free rock suite, albite is the principal vein-filling or interstitial phase. Quartz is present only as inclusions in the cores of some jadeite crystals. In the matrix-quartz-bearing rock suite, quartz is abundant and albite is relatively rare. The first-order question concerning jadeite-rich rocks is whether jadeite precipitated from a high-pressure aqueous fluid (“vein precipitation” or “P-type”) or whether the jadeite-rich rock formed through comprehensive metasomatic replacement of an igneous protolith (“R-type”). Some examples occur as discordant veins and are clearly P-type. For most, however, classification has been equivocal. The systematic data on the petrography and whole-rock chemistry of jadeite rocks from the RSJC presented in this paper leads to significant clarification. A major argument against R-type genesis is that the metasomatic mass transfer required to produce jadeitite and jadeite-rich rocks from any normal igneous protolith is prohibitively complex. Using whole-rock, major-element compositions, we show that many members of the matrix-quartz-bearing rock suite from the RSJC can be derived by isochemical HP/LT metamorphism of normal oceanic plagiogranites subducted together with oceanic crust. Isocon analysis shows, furthermore, that more jadeite-rich rock types and also members of the matrix-quartz-free suite can be derived from such plagiogranites primarily by straightforward desilication, a realistic scenario in a serpentine-rich environment. The quartz inclusions found in jadeite crystals of the matrix-quartz-free suite corroborate a genetic path in which the plagioclase in a plagiogranite protolith reacts to jadeite + quartz. Later desilication and the formation of albite in the Si-undersaturated rock matrix leave tell-tale quartz inclusions as relics in jadeite crystals.

Fewer Mistakes and Presumed Consent

“Opt-out” organ procurement policies based on presumed consent are typically advertised as being superior to “opt-in” policies based on explicit consent at securing organs for transplantation. However, Michael Gill (2004) has argued that presumed consent policies are also better than opt-in policies at respecting patient autonomy. According to Gill’s Fewer Mistakes Argument, we ought to implement the procurement policy that results in the fewest frustrated wishes regarding organ donation. Given that the majority of Americans wish to donate their organs, it is plausible that a presumed consent policy would result in fewer frustrated wishes compared to the current opt-in policy. It follows that we ought to implement a policy of presumed consent. In this paper, I first consider and find wanting an objection to the Fewer Mistakes Argument developed recently by Douglas MacKay (2015). I also consider an objection put forth by James Taylor (2012) but argue that there is a methodological reason to prefer my own argument to Taylor’s. Finally, I argue for two theses: first, that Gill’s major argument in favor of the crucial premise of the Fewer Mistakes Argument is flawed, and second, that the major premise of the Fewer Mistakes Argument is false.

Mechanization in sugarcane production and other agricultural activities: an econometric analysis of employment and income

Several studies argue that agricultural mechanization has reduced employment and wages. However, there is a lack of studies analyzing employment and income over time, especially comparing the agricultural activities. Our major argument is the structural change in the employment - from un-skilled to skilled workers which has to be understood because of the overall decrease in the number of jobs. This study aims to analyze the labor market evolution in sugarcane farming and other agricultural activities, from 1992 to 2015. Using the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD/IBGE), we compared sugarcane and other Brazilian crops using econometrics techniques. We analyzed the Heckman's procedure and models with fixed effects panel data, controlling the unobservable characteristics of workers. Methodologically, our equations show convergence, since the Heckman procedure and pooled regression present similar estimates. We showed that fixed-effect regression captures the same trends of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique, using the Heckman method. Our main findings suggest that the wage of sugarcane workers is higher than wages in other crops, even after we control the observable and regional characteristics. This finding is important because the sugarcane sector has faced criticism regarding the low level of employment and income due to the mechanization process. Finally, we pointed out the decrease in unskilled jobs in sugarcane, which demands for policy intervention to improve the human capital in the sugarcane sector.

Problems of Assimilation and Difficulties of Becoming a Man in LeRoi Jones’s Dutchman

This article attempts to explore the obstacles of an African American in becoming a Man in the white community in LeRoi Jones’s play Dutchman. In doing so, it analyzes the text from African American perspective, which is a black cosmological lens applied to critically examine African American history, culture and the literature, primarily with its focus on cultural assimilation and its aftermath. LeRoi Jones, also known with his new name Amiri Baraka, in this play exposes how the black Americans fall victim of racial hatred in the process of assimilating themselves with the mainstream white ways of life. The major argument of this article is an African American’s process of assimilation with the white culture is not only a detachment from his/her origin but also his/her failure to be accepted by the new culture. It argues that in adopting a new culture, a colored American is twice the victim of his/her past and the present. To justify this stark predicament of colored American population, the article briefly looks back at the situation of the American blacks in the 1960s. It ponders on the entire behavior of Clay, a twenty years old black boy in the play, his fondness in choosing to imitate the white world as a model. His craze for white way of life is reflected in the dress up he is putting on, his mastery over the use of cosmetic language of the whites, his eating of apple given by Lula, a thirty years old white lady who morbidly tempts him for sexual intercourse, his attempt to forget his own ancestral history to make him look more like an American than a descendent of slave. The article also analyses Lula’s stereotyping of Clay and the way she dictates white values and norms.