In this collection of essays on the metaphysical issues pertaining to death, the meaning of life, and freedom of the will, John Martin Fischer argues that death can be a bad thing for the individual who dies. He defends the claim that something can be a bad thing--a misfortune--for an individual, even if he never experiences it as bad. Fischer also defends the commonsense asymmetry in our attitudes toward death and prenatal nonexistence: we are indifferent to the time (...) before we are born, but we regret that we do not live longer. Further, Fischer argues, that immortal life could be desirable, and shows how the defense of the badness of death and the goodness of immortality exhibit a similar structure; on Fischer's view, the badness of death and the goodness of life can be represented on spectra that display certain continuities. Building on Fischer's previous book, My Way a major aim of this volume is to show important connections between issues relating to life and death and issues relating to free will. More specifically, Fischer argues that we endow our lives with a certain distinctive kind of meaning--an irreducible narrative dimension of value--by exhibiting free will. Thus, in acting freely, we transform our lives so that our stories matter. (shrink)

A definition of the concept of "Intuitionist Modal Analogue" is presented and motivated through the existence of a theorem preserving translation from MIPC to a bimodal S₄-S₅ calculus.

In this collection of essays -- a follow up to My Way and Our Stories -- John Martin Fischer defends the contention that moral responsibility is associated with "deep control." Fischer defines deep control as the middle ground between two untenable extreme positions: "superficial control" and "total control."Our freedom consists of the power to add to the given past, holding fixed the laws of nature, and therefore, Fischer contends, we must be able to interpret our actions as (...) extensions of a line that represents the actual past. In "connecting the dots," we engage in a distinctive sort of self-expression. In the first group of essays in this volume, Fischer argues that we do not need genuine access to alterative possibilities in order to be morally responsible. Thus, the line need not branch off at crucial points. In the remaining essays in the collection he demonstrates that deep control is the freedom condition on moral responsibility. In so arguing, Fischer contends that total control is too much to ask--it is a form of "metaphysical megalomania." So we do not need to "trace back" all the way to the beginning of the line in seeking the relevant kind of freedom or control. Additionally, he contends that various kinds of "superficial control"--such as versions of "conditional freedom" and "judgment-sensitivity" are too shallow; they don't trace back far enough along the line. In short, Fischer argues that, in seeking the freedom that grounds moral responsibility, we need to carve out a middle ground between superficiality and excessive penetration. Deep Control is the "middle way."Fischer presents a new argument that deep control is compatible not just with causal determinism, but also causal indeterminism. He thus tackles the luck problem and shows that the solution to this problem is parallel in important ways to the considerations in favor of the compatibility of causal determinism and moral responsibility. (shrink)

En la Crítica de la razón práctica, I. Kant dice: “Dos cosas llenan el ánimo de admiración y respeto, siempre nuevos y crecientes cuanto con más frecuencia y aplicación se ocupa de ellas la reflexión: el cielo estrellado sobre mí y la ley moral en mí”. En su último libro, Julia Iribarne utiliza esta frase para describir el fin de su propio camino: la creencia en el sentido del Todo de la vida. Con la misma convicción de que ésa es (...) la única vía que puede rescatar el sentido de la propia vida, este trabajo hace una lectura de su último libro bajo el horizonte esbozado por la pregunta, ¿qué escribe un filósofo al final de su vida?In the Critique of Practical Reason, I. Kant states: “Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.” In her last book, Julia Iribarne uses the same sentence to describe the goal of the course she has followed: the belief in the meaning of the totality of life. With the same conviction that this is the only way in which the meaning of life itself can be disclosed, this paper advances a reading for her latest book within the horizon outlined by the question: what does a philosopher write at the end of her life? (shrink)

ResumenEl programa del siguiente estudio es esclarecer la eficacia histórica que la fenomenología de la conciencia del tiempo de Husserl tiene sobre la hermenéutica filosófica de Hans-Georg Gadamer; herencia que Gadamer mismo reconoce cuando afirma «que una clara línea conduce desde el concepto de síntesis pasiva y la teoría de la intencionalidad anónima a la experiencia hermenéutica […]».1Palabras claveFenomenología, hermenéutica, conciencia, tiempo.AbstractThe plan of this study is to clarify the historical efficacy of Husserl’s phenomenology of time consciousness in the philosophical (...) hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer. Gadamer himself accepts this legacy when he says that «a clear line leads from the concept of passive synthesis and the theory of anonymous intentionality to the hermeneutic experience […]».KeywordsPhenomenology, hermeneutic, conscience, time. (shrink)

ResumenSegún la hermenéutica filosófica nuestra pertenencia a la historia y al lenguaje determina paradójicamente nuestra indisponibilidad sobre ellos en tanto les pertenecemos más de lo que ellos nos pertenecen. A partir de este principio, la famosa expresión de Gadamer «el ser que puede ser comprendido es lenguaje» ha generado las más diversas interpretaciones en torno a la estructura ontológica que sostiene su propuesta hermenéutica. Comprender la productividad de esta máxima significa enfrentar el conflicto que tensiona el suelo que nos sostiene (...) entre el lenguaje del entender y el lenguaje de las cosas, y proyectar la resultante sobre la estructura del ser histórico.Palabras claveHermenéutica, lenguaje, historia, ontologíaAbstractAccording to philosophical hermeneutics our belonging to history and language determines our paradoxical unavailability over them as we belong to them more than they belong to us. Based on this principle, Gadamer’s famous expression «being that can be understood is language» has raised the most diverse interpretations about the ontological structure that supports the hermeneutical proposal. Understanding the productivity of this maxim means confronting the conflict that shakes the ground which sustains us between language of understanding and language of things, and projecting the result on the structure of historical being.KeywordsHermeneutics, language, history, ontology. (shrink)

ResumenSegún la hermenéutica filosófica nuestra pertenencia a la historia y al lenguaje determina paradójicamente nuestra indisponibilidad sobre ellos en tanto les pertenecemos más de lo que ellos nos pertenecen. A partir de este principio, la famosa expresión de Gadamer «el ser que puede ser comprendido es lenguaje» ha generado las más diversas interpretaciones en torno a la estructura ontológica que sostiene su propuesta hermenéutica. Comprender la productividad de esta máxima significa enfrentar el conflicto que tensiona el suelo que nos sostiene (...) entre el lenguaje del entender y el lenguaje de las cosas, y proyectar la resultante sobre la estructura del ser histórico.Palabras claveHermenéutica, lenguaje, historia, ontologíaAbstractAccording to philosophical hermeneutics our belonging to history and language determines our paradoxical unavailability over them as we belong to them more than they belong to us. Based on this principle, Gadamer’s famous expression «being that can be understood is language» has raised the most diverse interpretations about the ontological structure that supports the hermeneutical proposal. Understanding the productivity of this maxim means confronting the conflict that shakes the ground which sustains us between language of understanding and language of things, and projecting the result on the structure of historical being.KeywordsHermeneutics, language, history, ontology. (shrink)

Several studies show that healthcare professionals need to communicate inter-professionally in order to manage ethical difficulties. A model of clinical ethics support inspired by Habermas’ theory of discourse ethics has been developed by our research group. In this version of CES sessions healthcare professionals meet inter-professionally to communicate and reflect on ethical difficulties in a cooperative manner with the aim of reaching communicative agreement or reflective consensus. In order to understand the course of action during CES, the aim of this (...) study was to describe the communication of value conflicts during a series of inter-professional CES sessions. Ten audio- and video-recorded CES sessions were conducted over eight months and were analyzed by using the video analysis tool Transana and qualitative content analysis. The results showed that during the CES sessions the professionals as a group moved through the following five phases: a value conflict expressed as feelings of frustration, sharing disempowerment and helplessness, the revelation of the value conflict, enhancing realistic expectations, seeing opportunities to change the situation instead of obstacles. In the course of CES, the professionals moved from an individual interpretation of the situation to a common, new understanding and then to a change in approach. An open and permissive communication climate meant that the professionals dared to expose themselves, share their feelings, face their own emotions, and eventually arrive at a mutual shared reality. The value conflict was not only revealed but also resolved. (shrink)

Este estudo é uma investigação histórica dos pressupostos culturais e científicos doperíodo de Alfonso X, o Sábio, Rei de Leão e Castela. Alfonso X dá forte impulso à ciência e à cultura, principalmente por meio do apoio às escolas, traduções e pesquisas. O artigo enfoca a “resolução” dos conteúdos do assim chamado“Libro de las cruzes”, um tratado sobre astrologia que mostra a tradição teórica árabe do séc. XI e traça a relação entre questões culturais e interesses científicos da época.

The traditional square of opposition is generalized and extended to a cube of opposition covering and conveniently visualizing inter-sentential oppositions in relational syllogistic logic with the usual syllogistic logic sentences obtained as special cases. The cube comes about by considering Frege–Russell’s quantifier predicate logic with one relation comprising categorical syllogistic sentence forms. The relationships to Buridan’s octagon, to Aristotelian modal logic, and to Klein’s 4-group are discussed.GraphicThe photo shows a prototype sculpture for the cube.

BackgroundMoral distress has been described as an emotionally draining condition caused by being prevented from providing care according to one’s convictions. Studies have described the impact of moral distress on healthcare professionals, their situations and experiences. The Measure of Moral Distress for Healthcare Professionals (MMD-HP) is a questionnaire that measures moral distress experienced by healthcare professionals at three levels: patient, system and team. The aim of this project was to translate and make a cultural adaption of the MMD -HP to (...) the Swedish context.MethodsThe questionnaire comprises 27 items, rated according to frequency and intensity on a five-point Likert scale (0–4). The procedure for translating MMD-HP followed WHO guidelines (2020). These entailed a forward translation from English to Swedish, a back translation, expert panel validation, pretesting and cognitive face-to-face interviews with 10 healthcare professionals from various professions and healthcare contexts.ResultsThe Swedish version of MMD-HP corresponds essentially to the concept of the original version. Parts of some items’ had to be adjusted or removed in order to make the item relevant and comprehensible in a Swedish context. Overall, the cognitive interviewees recognized the content of the items which generally seemed relevant and comprehensible.ConclusionThe Swedish version of MMD-HP could be a useful tool for measuring moral distress among healthcare professionals in a Swedish healthcare context. (shrink)

The current study examined the effects of cuing autobiographical memory retrieval in 12 older participants with dementia through immersion into a historically authentic environment that recreated the material and cultural context of the participants’ youth. Participants conversed in either an everyday setting or a museum setting furnished in early twentieth century style while being presented with condition matched cues. Conversations were coded for memory content based on an adapted version of Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, and Moscovitch coding scheme. More autobiographical (...) memories were recalled in the museum setting, and these memories were more elaborated, more spontaneous and included especially more internal details compared to memories in the control condition. The findings have theoretical and practical implications by showing that the memories retrieved in the museum setting were both quantitatively and qualitatively different from memories retrieved during a control condition. (shrink)

Moral asepsis in education Abstract: The purpose of this article is to question the alleged dissociation between ethics and morals and its consequences for the education, from a hermeneutic perspective. Starting from the hypothesis that theorizations and educational and pedagogical ramifications have been disregarding the discussions on morals and their normative, prescriptive and even pragmatic demands, for the adoption of a posture of permanent suspension, relativization and criticism, at theoretical and practical levels. Such a perspective, in educational contexts, would lead (...) to the abandonment and refusal of reasonable and minimally stable values, which are essential to the justification of the very reason for educating. Consequently, these writings have three key purposes: to understand the causes of the controversial, although necessary, dissociation between ethics and morals; to question the relationship between human becoming, its educational capacity and the moral subject; and to demonstrate the correspondence between ethics, morals and education. Keywords: Ethics; Moral; Education; Human Condition. De la asepsia moral en la educación Resumen: El presente artículo problematiza, a la luz de una perspectiva hermenéutica, el supuesto de la disociabilidad entre la ética y la moral y sus consecuencias para la educación. Parte de la hipótesis que las teorizaciones y desdoblamientos educativos y pedagógicos han pasado a través de los debates sobre la moral y sus demandas normativas, prescriptivas y hasta pragmáticas, en el nombre de la adopción, tanto a nivel teórico como práctico, una postura de permanente suspensión, relativización y crítica. En contextos educativos, tal perspectiva conduciría al abandono y rechazo de valores razonables y mínimamente estables, indispensables para la justificación de la propria razón para educar. Ante esto, estos escritos se orientan según tres propósitos fundamentales: comprender las causas de la controvertida, aunque necesaria, disociación entre ética y moral; problematizar la relación entre el devenir humano, su educabilidad y la cuestión moral; y demostrar la copertenencia entre ética, moral y educación. Palabras clave: Ética; Moral; Educación; Condición humana. Da assepsia moral na educação Resumo: O presente artigo problematiza, à luz de uma perspectiva hermenêutica, o suposto da dissociabilidade entre ética e moral e suas consequências para a educação. Parte da hipótese de que as teorizações e os desdobramentos educacionais e pedagógicos têm preterido as discussões sobre a moral e as suas demandas normativas, prescritivas e até pragmáticas, em nome da adoção, tanto em nível teórico quanto prático, de uma postura de permanente suspensão, relativização e crítica. Em contextos educativos, tal perspectiva estaria conduzindo ao abandono e à recusa de valores razoáveis e minimamente estáveis, indispensáveis à justificação da própria razão de educar. Diante disso, estes escritos orientam-se segundo três propósitos fundamentais: compreender as causas da controversa, apesar de necessária, dissociação entre ética e moral; problematizar a relação entre o devir humano, a sua educabilidade e a questão moral; e demonstrar a copertença entre ética, moral e educação. Palavras-chave: Ética; Moral; Educação; Condição Humana. Data de registro: 21/05/2020 Data de aceite: 29/09/2021. (shrink)

O presente artigo pretende investigar de que forma a alienação social acarreta o processo de desnaturação do indivíduo e propugna pela formulação de uma nova existência. O “eu” social é corrompido pelo meio no qual vive sendo impossível viver solitariamente. A “luz” da razão acarreta a decadência moral, proporcionando um desequilíbrio entre razão e sentimento. A dicotomia entre aparência e autenticidade realizada por Rousseau será analisada sob o ponto de vista antropológico e suas consequências políticas.

Intentionality plays a fundamental part in human social interactions and we know that interpretation of behaviours of conspecifics depends on the intentions underlying them. Most of the studies on intention attribution were undertaken with primates. However, very little is known on this topic in animals more distantly related to humans such as birds. Three hand-reared African grey parrots were tested on their ability to understand human intentional actions. The subjects’ attention was not equally distributed across the conditions and their behavioural (...) pattern also changed depending on the condition: the parrots showed more requesting behaviours when the experimenter was unwilling to give them seeds, and bit the wire mesh more that represented the obstacle when the experimenter was trying to give them food. For the first time we showed that a bird species, like primates, may be sensitive to behavioural cues of a human according to his intentions. Keywords: Grey parrots; intention attribution; theory of mind. (shrink)

Is there a feminist ideological undertone when women choose to organise separately, or are their motivations purely instrumental? While this question has been addressed by numerous researchers, most studies are mono-national; most extrapolate meaning from different types of networks/groups, and most do not carry out close examination of network members’ orientations. This article explores varieties of orientations to feminism among members of four networks for business and professional women in the UK and Germany. The findings suggest that even within a (...) single network, members’ feminist orientations can vary, and can be different from the publicly/officially declared organisational position. (shrink)

BackgroundMoral distress is a problem and negative experience among health-care professionals. Various instruments have been developed to measure the level and underlying reasons for experienced moral distress. The moral distress thermometer (MDT) is a single-tool instrument to capture the level of moral distress experienced in real-time.AimThe aim of this study was to translate the MDT and adapt it to the Swedish cultural context.Research designThe first part of this study concerns the translation of MDT to the Swedish context, and the second (...) part the psychometric testing of the Swedish version.Participants and research context89 healthcare professionals working at a hospital in northern Sweden participated. Convergent validity was tested between MDT and Measure of Moral Distress-Healthcare Professionals (MMD-HP), and construct validity was tested by comparing MDT scores among healthcare professionals. MDT was compared with responses to the final questions in MMD-HP. One-way ANOVA, Welch’s ANOVA, Games–Howell post-hoc test and Pearson’s correlation analysis were done.Ethical considerationsThe study was approved by the Swedish Ethics Review Authority (dnr 2020-04120) in accordance with Helsinki Declaration.ResultsThe translated Swedish version of MDT was described as relevant to capture the experience of moral distress. The mean value for MDT was 2.26, with a median of 2 and a mode value of 0. The result showed moderate correlations between the MDT and MMD-HP total scores. There was a significant difference when comparing MDT and healthcare professionals who had never considered leaving their present position with those who had left and those who had considered leaving but had not done so, with the latter assessing significantly higher moral distress.ConclusionThe MDT is an easily available instrument useful as an extension to MMD-HP to measure the real-time experience of moral distress among healthcare professionals in a Swedish context. (shrink)

Book written to preserve the wisdom of the ancient healing sages of China, and to provide the conceptual tools needed for its practical application in healing diseases of the modern world.

Background Ethics communication has been described as a pedagogical form, promoting development of ethical competence among nursing students. The ‘one to five method’ was developed by this research group as a tool for facilitating ethical communication in groups among healthcare professionals but has not yet been evaluated. Aim To explore post-graduate nursing students’ experiences of practicing ethical communication in groups Research design The study design is qualitative. Participants and research context The study comprised 12 nursing students on a post-graduate course (...) for Registered Nurses focusing on palliative care. After education the students engaged as participants and facilitators in ethics communication in groups, with support from the ‘one to five method’. Data were derived from the students written reflections and subjected to thematic analysis. Ethical considerations The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards in the 2013 Helsinki Declaration and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty at Umeå University Results An overall theme was identified, ‘being supported to achieve a democratic dialogue concerning ethical problems’ and five themes, related to each step of the ‘one to five method’. The themes concerned: putting the experience of an ethical dilemma into words; being confirmed by shared emotions; defining the value conflict using ethical principles; expressing virtues of empathy and raised awareness; jointly finding various action approaches. Discussion Regular ethics communication in groups encourages nursing students to actively seek understanding and clarification of ethically difficult situations. Conclusions The results indicate that ethics communication in groups could be a way of developing virtues during education. Interventions using the ‘one to five method’ need to be further studied among student groups from other healthcare contexts. (shrink)

O projeto crítico de Axel Honneth, até meados da década de 2000, ressaltava o papel de uma concepção antropológica assentada em uma psicologia moral. Tal empreendimento foi criticado tanto por Nancy Fraser como por Judith Butler. Argumento que as objeções formuladas por duas filósofas de linhagens muito distintas possuem algo em comum: apontam para a ausência de um conflito genuíno ou um “déficit agonístico” na teoria de Honneth. Segundo Butler, a luta não estaria presente em todo seu vigor na vida (...) psíquica e, de acordo com Fraser, seria também amansada na vida social. Concluo que mesmo após a recente “virada histórica” honnethiana tal deficiência permanece presente. (shrink)

This article embarks on ethical trade-offs at the sustainability/finance interface by contrasting shareholders’ interest in short-term financial returns with society’s interest in counteracting ecological and social grievances. Scrutinizing share repurchases, we investigate a firm’s communicated sustainability orientation (i.e., its environmental and social value orientation) as well as its environmental and social sustainability performance. Our results are based on a large-scale panel dataset of 491 U.S. firms observed from 2004 to 2016. The dataset combines share buyback data with sustainability orientation scores (...) from shareholder letters and sustainability performance ratings. The econometric models suggest no association between social value orientation and repurchase volumes, but a significantly negative relationship between environmental value orientation and buybacks in a cubic form. Executive stock options partially attenuate this relationship. Share repurchases in turn negatively affect future environmental and social performance. This study grasps the consequences of firms’ short-term shareholder satisfaction and discusses its ethical implications in the context of firms’ contribution to sustainable development, thereby providing important insights to the business ethics discourse. (shrink)