In recent years, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) of IVF embryos have gained much traction in clinical assisted reproduction for preventing various genetic defects, including Down syndrome. However, such genetic tests inevitably reveal the sex of IVF embryos by identifying the sex (X and Y) chromosomes. In many countries with less stringent IVF regulations, information on the sex of embryos that are tested to be genetically normal is readily shared with patients. This would thus present Muslim patients with unintended opportunities for (...) sex selection based on personal or social biases without any pressing need or valid medical reason. Additionally, there are other patients who claim using PGT for preventing genetic defects as a pretext or “convenient excuse,” with a secret intention to do sex selection when it is banned in their home country. Currently, non-medical sex selection is a highly-controversial and hotly debated issue in Islam, because there is generally a strong preference for having sons over daughters due to widespread cultural norms of elderly parents depending on their sons for financial support, as well as the need for male heirs to continue the family lineage within the backdrop of local patriarchal cultures. There is a risk of gender imbalance and social disequilibrium occurring in Islamic societies due to prevalent sex selection. Hence, the question is whether opportunistic sex selection with PGT would contravene Islamic ethics and principles, which will thus be discussed here. (shrink)

Artificial womb technology for extracorporeal gestation of human offspring (ectogenesis or ectogestation) has profound ethical, sociological and religious implications for Muslim communities. In this article we examine the usage of the technology through the lens of Islamic ethico-legal frameworks specifically the legal maxims (al-Qawaid al-Fiqhiyyah) and higher objectives of Islamic law (Maqaṣid al-Shariah). Our analysis suggests that its application may be contingently permissible (halal) in situations of dire need such as sustaining life and development of extremely premature newborns, for advancing (...) fetal medicine and avoiding maternal co-morbidities during fetal treatment, and for enabling motherhood for women without functional wombs, or who face grave medical risks in pregnancy. However, its application may be proscribed (haram) for enabling healthy women to avoid pregnancy and childbirth, or to achieve parenthood equity. Specification of these views to particular policy, legal contexts and Fatwa will require multidisciplinary Shariah-based bioethical deliberations between jurists, policymakers, and scientists. (shrink)

The cognitive science of religion is an emerging field of cognitive science that gathers insights from different disciplines to explain how humans acquire and transmit religious beliefs. For the CSR scholars, the human mental tools have specific biases that make them susceptible to acceptance and transmission of religious beliefs. This article examines the characteristics of these biases and how they work, and shows that although our innate cognitive tendencies make our minds generally receptive to religion, they do not explain the (...) emergence and endurance of specific religious beliefs in a particular culture. We will also show that although advocates of CSR study religion as a 'natural' phenomenon, and seek to discover the natural causes of the formation, acceptance, transmission and prevalence of religious beliefs, their efforts do not lead to decrease the validity of religious beliefs and rejection of 'non-natural' explanations of religious beliefs. (shrink)

Although medical confidentiality is widely recognized as an essential principle in the therapeutic relationship, its systematic and coherent practice has been an ethically challenging duty upon healthcare providers due to various concerns of clinical, moral, religious, social, ethical and legal natures. Medical confidentiality can be breached to protect the patient and/or others if maintaining confidentiality causes serious harm. Healthcare professionals may encounter complicated situations whereby the divulgence of a patient’s confidential information may pose a threat to one party whereas the (...) concealment of such information may cause harm to another. After deliberating on the Islamic concept of harm (ḍarar), this paper focuses on the dual duty and conflicts of interests faced by healthcare professionals in the practice of medical confidentiality. Referring to serious infectious diseases with a special mention of AIDS, this study also provides discourse on how healthcare professionals deal with difficult scenarios of conflicts of interests and ethical dilemmas. (shrink)

In The Phenomenological Psychology of Mindfulness, Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi draws on the latest scholarly findings in Langerian psychology and examines their implications in clinical and social psychology.

Brand Blanshard is one of the contemporary famous philosophers, especially because of his Ideas on religious epistemology. He defends rationalism and evidentialism in religious epistemology and therefore criticizes fideism. He holds that rationality is the main character of all kinds of beliefs, including religious belief. But, in his Idealism, Blansahrd finds a place for the source of being and universe, which stands in sharp contradiction with traditional concept of God. In this paper we show that some times, his evidentialism is (...) very radical and in compatible with contemporary steams. Some of his claims are not acceptable, such as this assertion that today scientific approach is absolutely dominate and religious approach is absolutely condemn. (shrink)

Publication date: 14 June 2017 Source: Author: Muhammad Hussein Oroskhan, Sayyed Mohammad Anoosheh By the 1930s, the Iranian society was driven toward modernization. Consisted with the concept of modernization, feminism ushered a whole new era in Iranian history. Besides, the outbreak of World War II and the consequent abdication of Reza Khan afforded women a golden opportunity to fight for their rights and emancipations. This movement was also supported by the famous male writers of the time among whom Jalal Al-e-Ahmad (...) marked a prominent place. He was keen enough to properly explore women's situation in his works and notice the drastic effect of modernization upon women's situation. Hence, in this study, we try to investigate Al-e-Ahmad's short story entitled “Pink Nail Polish” 1948 with respect to Bakhtin's Carnivalesque's theory. Furthermore, it is shown how Bakhtin's new literary mode can create the excellent chance of studying Iranian women's situation properly. Finally, we explain that due to the drastic change of Iranian women's situation towards modernity, they may lead a double life if their rights are not respected. This can lead to a disproportionate relationship between the husband and the wife as the marital infidelity becomes rampant. (shrink)

This article aims at showing the potentiality of Transcendent Theosophy in the creation of peace and denial of religious violence. Belief in Necessary Being that is identical to beauty and perfection is one of the central issues in Islamic philosophy, particularly Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Theosophy. This belief has different stages, the highest one of which is a love-based sense of humbleness before God who is the source of beauty. Thus, faith in the thought of Mulla Sadra is one of the (...) aesthetic categories. Surrender to such a Being leads to love in him and his effects. Thus, in Transcendent Theosophy, love in God is followed by the love in people. This love is associated with the sense of responsibility and the effort for the realisation of people’s rights. In the final part of the article under the title ‘Mulla Sadra and Confrontation of Two Types of Religious Understanding’, through the analysis of Mulla Sadra’s dialogue with a religious radical, we have criticised the discourse of religious violence and concluded that Transcendent Theosophy is a defender of human rights and a pioneer of peace and a despiser of religious violence. The most important finding of this study is that according to Mulla Sadra, religious radical interpretations are the source of the emergence of religious violence, and the solution to this problem is the promotion of rational and conscious religiosity. The method used in this research is of descriptive-analytic type.Contribution: The article brought to fore the potentiality of Islamic philosophy for the realisation of peace and the denial of religious violence. The authors analytically studied Mulla Sadra’s pacifist foundations in order to ascertain its relation with non-violence towards humans. The main contribution of this article is that the teachings of Transcendent Theosophy are very useful for creating peaceful coexistence between human beings. (shrink)

Non-medical or Social egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) is currently a controversial topic in Islam, with contradictory fatwas being issued in different Muslim countries. While Islamic authorities in Egypt permit the procedure, fatwas issued in Malaysia have banned single Muslim women from freezing their unfertilized eggs (vitrified oocytes) to be used later in marriage. The underlying principles of the Malaysian fatwas are that (i) sperm and egg cells produced before marriage, should not be used during marriage to conceive a child; (ii) (...) extraction of mature egg cells from single women being unacceptable; and (iii) fertility preservation in anticipation of late marriage is a conjecture that has not yet occurred. Ovarian tissue freezing can potentially be a more Shariah-compliant alternative to social egg freezing, because once the frozen ovarian cortical tissue sections have been re-transplanted back into the woman, mature egg cells can readily be produced, collected, and fertilized by the husband’s sperm only during the period of marriage contract (′akd al-nikāḥ). Unlike accidental mix-ups with frozen eggs, muddling of lineage (nasab) would be automatically avoided in ovarian tissue freezing due to immunological rejection. However, upon critical analysis based on Qawā’id Fiqhiyyah (Islamic Legal Maxims), Maqāṣid-al-Shariah (Higher Objectives of Islamic Law), and Maslaḥah-Mafsadah (benefits versus harmful effects on society), elective ovarian tissue freezing by healthy single women for social reasons would likely be a highly contentious and controversial issue within Muslim communities that may conflict with conservative social-religious norms. This thus needs further debate among Islamic jurists in dialogue with medical doctors and biomedical scientists. (shrink)

: The Islamic jurists utilized the discipline of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah,in its capacity as the philosophy of Islamic law, in their legal and ethicalinterpretations, with added interest in addressing the issues of modern times.Aphoristically subsuming the major themes of the Sharīʿah, maqāṣid play apivotal role in the domain of decision-making and deduction of rulings onunprecedented ethical discourses. Ethics represent the infrastructure of Islamiclaw and the whole science of Islamic jurisprudence operates in the lightof maqāṣid to realize the ethics in people’s lives. (...) Scrutinizing the key themesof maqāṣid-based ijtihād and scope of ethics in maqāṣid, this article delvesinto the discourse on the application of maqāṣid to medical ethics. As a casestudy, this research analyses the extent of medical confidentiality in the light ofmaqāṣid and arrives at the conclusion that limited confidentiality goes more inline with the maxims of maqāṣid. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be (...) preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

Singapore, a highly affluent island city-state located in Southeast Asia, has increasingly leveraged new assisted reproductive technologies (ART) to overcome its dismal fertility rates in recent years. A new frontier in ART is preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) for polygenic risk scores (PRS) to predict complex multifactorial traits in IVF (in vitro fertilisation) embryos, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and various other characteristics like height, intelligence quotient (IQ), hair and eye colour. Unlike well-known safety risks with human genome editing, (...) there are negligible risks with PGT-P, because there are no man-made genetic modifications that can be transmitted to future generations. Nevertheless, the current efficacy of using PGT-P to select IVF embryos for either increased or decreased probability of developing specific polygenic traits is still far from certain. Hence, the regulatory safeguards proposed here will be based on the assumption that the efficacy of this new technology platform has already been validated. These include: (1) restricting the application of PGT-P only for prevention of clinically relevant polygenic disease traits, (2) securely blocking patients’ access to the raw genomic DNA sequencing data of their IVF embryos, (3) validating diagnosis of polygenic disease traits in the prospective parents/grandparents of IVF embryos, and restricting PGT-P only for preventing specifically diagnosed polygenic disease traits and (4) mandating rigorous and comprehensive genetic counselling for IVF patients considering PGT-P. There is an urgent and dire need to prevent abuse of the PGT-P technique, as well as protect the interests and welfare of patients if its clinical application is to be permitted in the country. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to diagnose and analyze the gap between philosophy of technology and engineering ethics and to suggest bridging them in a constructive way. In the first section, I will analyze why philosophy of technology and engineering ethics have taken separate paths so far. The following section will deal with the so-called macro-approach in engineering ethics. While appreciating the initiative, I will argue that there are still certain aspects in this approach that can be improved. In (...) the third, fourth, and fifth sections, I will point out three shortcomings of engineering ethics in terms of its macro-level discourse and argue that a number of certain insights taken from the study of philosophy of technology could be employed in overcoming those problems. In the concluding section, a final recommendation is made that topics of philosophy of technology be included in the curriculum of engineering ethics. (shrink)

The 1981 Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) established the validity of both cardio-respiratory and neurological criteria of death. However, many religious traditions including most forms of Haredi Judaism (ultra-orthodox) and many varieties of Buddhism strongly disagree with death by neurological criteria (DNC). Only one state in the U.S., New Jersey, allows for both religious exemptions to DNC and provides continuation of health insurance coverage when an exception is invoked in its 1991 Declaration of Death Act (NJDDA). There is yet (...) no quantitative or qualitative data on the frequencies of religious exemptions in New Jersey. This study gathered information about the frequency of religious exemptions and policy in New Jersey that was created out of respect for religious beliefs. Literature and internet searches on topics related to religious objections to DNC were conducted. Fifty-three chaplains and heads of bioethics committees in New Jersey hospitals were contacted by phone or email requesting a research interview. Respondents answered a set of questions about religious exemptions to DNC at the hospital where they worked that explored the frequency of such religious exemptions in the past five years, the religious tradition indicated, and whether any request for a religious exemption had been denied. This study was approved by the Northeastern University Institutional Review Board (IRB #: 16–03-15). Eighteen chaplains and bioethics committee members participated in a full research interview. Of these, five reported instances of religious exemptions to DNC occurring at the hospital at which they worked for a total of approximately 30–36 known exemptions in the past five years. Families sought religious exemptions because of faith in an Orthodox Judaism tradition and nonreligious reasons. No failed attempts to obtain an exemption were reported. Religious exemptions to DNC in New Jersey do occur, although very infrequently. Prior to this study, there was no information on their frequency. Considering religious exemptions do occur, there is a need for national or state policies that addresses both religious objections to DNC and hospital resources. More information is needed to better understand the impact of granting religious exemptions before new policy can be established. (shrink)

In this article I analyze how journalistic codes of ethics in the United States wrestle with the matter of leaks. After assessing how leaks-particularly from government sources-can compromise journalistic independence, I discuss strengths and weakness of ethics codes. Four research questions are explored via a systematic analysis of 47 codes. Although leaks are never explicitly addressed in these codes, the treatment of confidential sources and the need to maintain journalistic independence are addressed.

The present study explores a neglected area of ethical leadership: lateral behavioral effect from peer team leaders as a key predictor of ethical leadership. Using the lens of social learning theory, we posit that peer team leader ethical voice fosters focal team leader ethical leadership through team leader moral efficacy. In line with social learning perspective, we also posit the moderating effect of ethical role modeling of peer team leader in relationship between peer team leader ethical voice and team leader (...) moral efficacy. We conducted a two-wave study over a 6-week interval between waves from military teams. Our results provided support for all of our hypotheses. In addition, we also found an incremental validity of peer ethical voice behavior by controlling other relevant factors such as upper leaders’ ethical role modeling and peer ethical leadership. Our findings contribute to the advancement of ethical leadership literature by articulating a novel antecedent as well as its boundary condition. (shrink)

This article is a critical review of The Technological Bluff, the last book on technology by Jacques Ellul. Although this work has attracted little attention, the concept oftechno-logical bluff1 provides a new perspective to understand contemporary technological society. After presenting Ellul’s exposition of the concept of techno-logical bluff, its original contribution to technology studies is emphasized. It is also examined how the analysis of techno-logical bluff is connected with other major Ellulian notions such as autonomous technique and the efficiency principle. (...) This is followed by a suggestion that the analysis of techno-logical bluff could function as a basis for a constructive dialectic relationship between classical and more recent discourses on technology. The last section is devoted to the Ellulian solution for the technological society suggested in this work, namely, the paradox of nonfreedom. (shrink)

The notion of optimality is often invoked informally in the literature on metacognitive control. We provide a precise formulation of the optimization problem and show that optimal time allocation strategies depend critically on certain characteristics of the learning environment, such as the extent of time pressure, and the nature of the uptake function. When the learning curve is concave, optimality requires that items at lower levels of initial competence be allocated greater time. On the other hand, with logistic learning curves, (...) optimal allocations vary with time availability in complex and surprising ways. Hence there are conditions under which optimal strategies will be relatively easy to uncover, and others in which suboptimal time allocation might be expected. The model can therefore be used to address the question of whether and when learners should be able to exercise good metacognitive control in practice. (shrink)

Even though many people have been looking for the origin of human beings, we still don’t know how human beings came into existence. So far, there are two major theories to explain human beings’ starting point – creationism and the theory of evolution. These theories are so abstract that it is hard to accept either one.This essay presents a new theory which explains how human beings and all beings come into existence and carries implications bearing on human conduct. The theory (...) is called “The Principle of Human Essence,” and it was first proposed by Hungduk Bokyoung Son. He points out everything in the world was created by human beings, for nothing can be mentioned or described without them. Then he asks what the human being is, and defines it as a living thing which thinksand speaks. Next, he tries to determine where human consciousness came from, and shows that language is the source of consciousness. Finally, he explains that language can exist only where it is formed between at least two people, and that consciousness is the ability to discern words. Through his unique concept, summed up in the maxim “Words and Earth are simultaneous existence,” Hungduk shows that two living things become human beings through communication, that mind and body exist simultaneously, and that human beings and space exist at the same time. If words are the origin of thoughts, and none of us can possess language without communication with other people, it follows that no one can be a human being by himself or herself. For this reason, Hungduk claimseach person is the cause of each other’s being, so people exist as mutual causations at the same time. I think that, through his metaphysical principle, he offers clear reasons why we must trust each other, solve conflicts between people, and make a world where people live well together, so I hope to introduce his philosophy to other philosophers around the world. (shrink)

U.S. immigration policies history in the early 20th century has mostly been thought through the linear growing power of restrictionists versus liberals, resulting in 1917 Burnett law - containing the literacy test - and then 1921 and 1924 Quota laws. The latter has been described by scholars as the product of direct infuence of Eugenist activists or of Eugenists mixed with Racists . Yet, the thorough study of the policy process permit to trace the origin of the quota laws in (...) the mind of a key civil servant: William Walter Husband and in the activism of Sydney L. Gulick, a theology professor who spent his whole life searching for quelling American-Japanese relations. The latter conceived an immigration quotas plan whose aim was to give equal treatment to all ‘races’ and peoples. The Immigration Restriction League, had no other choice than to recognize Gulick's large success in loobying his plan. Yet, in a last move, the IRL succeeded to maintain the exclusion of Asians in what became the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Far from Eugenist influence, this Act is the product of a battle between non racist and racist restrictionists upon the means and goals of immigration control. During years, they were permanently engaged into fierce political battles whose outcome had a significant impact on immigration restriction policies. (shrink)

셸링의『인간자유의 본질에 관한 철학적 탐구』는 자유에 대한 혁신적인 규정을 통해 인간행위의 본성에 대한 연구에서 획기적 전기를 마련했고, 악을 선 못지않게 적극적인 것으로 규정함으로써 악에 대한 새로운 성찰의 가능성을 제공하였다. 셸링은 신이 자신의 본질을 구분하여 세계를 생성하는 과정을 역동적으로 그려내며 지성과 근거의 두 원리가 다양한 피조물을 형성하는 원리를 밝혀냈고 이러한 신의 자기계시는 인간에게서 그 정점에 달하는데, 정신으로서의 인간은 이 두 원리를 구분하여 분리할 수 있는 독특한 능력을 부여받은 것으로 묘사된다. 인간의 자유는 개별의지와 보편의지로 표현되는 두 원리 사이의 위계질서를 조정하는 능력으로 이해된다. (...) 본래적 질서는 근거의 개별의지가 지성의 보편의지 아래에 놓여있는 것인 반면, 인간은 자신의 개별의지를 보편의지보다 상위에 두는 ‘악’을 감행할 수 있는 유일한 존재가 된다. 이를 통해 계시의 존재론적 구조는 이러한 악이 가능하도록 돼 있고, 그런 의미에서 악은 신의 자기계시에 필연적이라는 이해가 가능하다. 하지만 악을 허용하는 것을 넘어서서 계시에 필요한 것으로 만드는 것은 신의 정당성과 완전함을 훼손하는 일이라는 비판이 있어왔다. 이에 본 논문은 셸링의 이론이 이러한 비판을 효과적으로 반박하고 악의 주체는 어디까지나 인간이라는 점을 밝히고자 한다. 하지만 악을 선택하고, 또한 극복하는 진정한 원인에 관한 물음에서는 셸링의 답변이 부족함을 또한 지적할 것이다. 이를 통해 윤리적 관점에서 악의 주체를 밝히는 작업의 성공적인 결과와는 달리 악에 대한 최종 결정과 해방에 있어서는 무기력하고 신에게 기대야 하는 인간의 모습을 그리는 셸링 이론의 한계가 드러날 것이다. (shrink)

For Pyun, Minjung theology is a "religion-neglect" and indigenization theology or han philosophy is "politics-neglect." However, he conceded that ...