This survey report is a follow-up to the survey done by the Center for Business Ethics in 1984/85 which was published in the Journal for Business Ethics under the title of 'Are Corporations Institutionalizing Ethics?' (Volume 5, 1986, pp. 85-91). This 1989/90 survey was again sent to Fortune 1000 industrial and service companies to find out what they have done to build ethical values into their organizations. It reveals some interesting comparisons with the 1984/85 survey with regard to expanding efforts, (...) objectives, progress, and methods of implementation, along with some new information on their perception of public pressure for ethics programs and the need for ethics education. The survey shows where some progress in building ethics into corporations seems to be occurring and where much more work needs to be done. (shrink)

Mit der Entwicklung von Gen-, Nanotechnologie und Neurotechnolgie bekommt die Menschheit mehr und mehr die Mittel in die Hand, sich in Eigenregie evolutionär weiterzuentwickeln. Das ist gefährlich.

The objective of the new series, "Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Biophysics", of which this brochure forms the first volume, is to produce more than another compilation of data. It is hoped that the new series will help the individual "specialist" keep abreast of important developments in the natural sciences at the molecular and subcellular level in fields complementary to his own. The predominant aim is not so much to increase the ever-growing body of information in an encyclopedic fashion but rather (...) to give, in addition to a well rounded factual presentation of subjects which have reached a degree of maturation, a leitmotiv developed by the individual authors from a more personal point of view. The reader should thus be able to use these mono graphs not only for acquisition of knowledge but as a source of further motiva tion in his own work. This latter and more consequential aim of the monograph series is one of the reasons for presenting here a most unusual talk which should enable the reader to sit back and view his own efforts in the context of science and creative attempts as a whole. The lecture is the virtually unknown inaugural address of the Dutch physical chemist JACOBUS HENRICUS VAN'T HOFF. As is shown in his short biography presented on pages 3 and 4 the principal thoughts of the molecular biologist of today are akin to his own and he clearly recognized the universality of molecular life processes. (shrink)

The topic of this paper concerns corporate responsibility and worker safety. In particular it focuses on the notions of willing and intending and how these relate to risk-taking in the workplace. I discuss the metaphysical status of the corporation, the distinction between willing and intending and the motivations of each, and Austin's distinction between accidents and mistakes in light of a single industrial accident which occurred at the Texaco Oil Refinery, Port Arthur, Texas, in October, 1982. My aim is to (...) argue that corporations do not alleviate themselves from moral responsibility in the workplace solely because they might not intend to produce harm in a given situation. (shrink)

In Clinical Ethics, Robert Timko argues that the moral dilemmas of clinical medical practice can best be resolved within a framework of prima facie duties, and that the most stringent duty is that of nonmaleficence. Timko shows that respect for individual autonomy and the principle of beneficence are inadequate for the moral practice of medicine since simple adherence to either principle may be insufficient for the provision of "due care.".

In a recent article in this Journal Grant and Broom reported on a survey which they conducted concerning student attitudes toward ethics. They suggest that while their findings are only preliminary, such surveys can help instructors and schools to determine what type of ethical training a person from a particular demographic background might need. Likewise they may very well help a student's future employer determine the ethics he or she has based on the type of institution he or she attended. (...) However, it is my contention that there are a number of problems inherent in the process and the interpretation which Grant and Broom suggest. I discuss these problems herein. (shrink)

The focus of this article is to explain why there is still no qualified digital signature in Denmark as defined by the EU eSignatures Directive nor any other nationwide eID even though Denmark had an early start in eGovernment, and a high level of e-readiness compared to other nations. Laying out the technological, organizational and legal dimensions of eID in Denmark, and comparing these with a number of other European countries made it possible to explain this paradox. Thus, the three (...) main reasons for the special route development has taken in Denmark seems to be concerns over privacy, lack of intergovernmental coordination and lack of cooperation between public and private sector. However, with the recent tender on digital signatures won by the PBS and the roll-out of the NemID it seems that Denmark will finally—after twenty years of delay—have an eID which can be widely used in the public as well as the private sector. (shrink)