Ethics in the USSR revived in the middle of the twentieth century after more than twenty years of silence. The impetus for the development of research and teaching in this area was given by the supreme power, which considered ethics as one of the more effective tools of state propaganda, corresponding to the new social realities. But pretty soon, the very logic of research immersion in the subject required ethicists to deepen the philosophical and normative analysis of morality. This ultimately (...) led to the revision of the postulates of orthodox Soviet social science and to the formation of a strict moral theory within its framework. The latter, by the very fact of its appearance, called into question the agenda of moralizing ideologization. The renewal of Soviet ethics proceeded in several directions, but in theoretical perspective, the key one was the turn from understanding morality as a form of ideological superstructure (which was dogmatically asserted in historical materialism), to understanding it as a way of regulating human behavior with specific functional characteristics. Today one can trace that transition by a number of intermediate steps in the interpretation of morality, the reconstruction of which, based on the texts of the 1950s to early 1970s, is of interest not only in the context of the history of ideas, but also in terms of the development of the methodology of ethical research and understanding of how a rigorous moral theory can be formed. Some episodes of the history of Soviet ethics are relevant today as examples of emancipated thought and intellectual opposition to the domination of state ideology. (shrink)

Moral Constraints on War offers a principle-by-principle presentation of the transcultural roots of the ethics of war in an age defined by the increasingly international nature of military intervention.

As a moral principle toleration is universal, but only in the sense that potentially it is addressed to every rational and moral agent. The question is whether this principle is appropriate in all situations and what are those moral agents who recognize its practical actuality for them? Toleration is not an absolute ethical principle, but one among others in the context of a particular moral system. It should be given a proper place in the hierarchy of principles. Understanding toleration as (...) the absolute or even overriding principle may lead in the face of obvious and directly threatening wrong to its use as an umbrella for adoptive or escapist behavior. The limits to toleration are given by basic and minimal ethical task to resist evil. The principle of active opposition to evil by all possible means is prior to the principle of toleration. (shrink)

In the context of his advanced theory of ethics Aristotle like later Kant seems considering the Golden Rule as trivial and not bound to be articulated. It is possible that Aristotle did not feel necessity to mention the Golden Rule, because the very Golden Rule was spread out in his ethics. Though he did not use the formula ofthe Golden Rule in his texts, he often expressed his understanding of virtuous character and virtuous relations using intellective constructions evidently relevant to (...) the Golden Rule. The analysis of Aristotle’s reasoning on shame, social intercourse and, mainly, friendship shows that his ethics is saturated with the content andspirit of the Golden Rule, including such features agent’s initiative, activity, commitment and thus her/his responsibility for establishing relations, their potential reversibility, mutuality, and universalizability. (shrink)

Most of the features of modern Russian business are transient, determined by the transitional character of the Russian economy and drastic changes in the social structure, ideology, and consciousness of Russian society in general. There are three main normative experiences in the traditions of Russian business: a) the experience of pre-Revolutionary business, specifically developed and practiced by the merchants of the old-believers extraction; b) the experience of socialist economy, which was more or less oriented to the public good and presupposed (...) selfless aspirations by the economic agents; c) the experience of legally and administratively constrained private business and illegal shadow business, which expected businessmen to be vigorous, industrious and enterprising. The process of privatization was developed under the aegis of state, specifically the state bureaucracy. The influence of changes in the social-economic system has been ambivalent for social morals. However, the reforms could stimulate their improvement. The recent development in the cultural environment of business testify to the emerging space of civilized business, which manifests that it is practically useful for businessmen to be ethical. (shrink)

The idea of sociability - a person’s disposition and ability to communicate and live in the community - goes through the whole history of philosophy. Due to the peculiarity of translations, this term and the whole tradition related to it have been lost to the Russian reader. The article discusses some tendencies in comprehending the idea of sociability in early modern moral philosophy. The key to this consideration is F. Hutcheson’s essay On the Natural Sociability of Mankind, the title of (...) which contains the very term “sociability” and which presents the main essential points in a discussion of the issue in the first third of the 18 th century. One can distinguish two main approaches to the problem. According to one of them, sociability determined by various human natural needs is the basis of social relations, and a person becomes a moral agent as a social being (H. Grotius, T. Hobbes, S. Pufen-dorf, B. Mandeville). According to another approach, sociability is a manifestation of a person’s natural tendency to care for the good of others, and its consistent implementation leads to the formation of community and supports its stability (Cambridge Platonists, Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, J. Butler, D. Hume, A. Smith). Representatives of both approaches recognized contradiction in manifestations of sociability or in its nature. I. Kant theoretically overcame the confrontation between these approaches and conceptualized the contradiction and associated it with the human nature. According to Kant, the “unsociable sociability” is given in the fact that a person has a tendency to sociability but also a tendency to self-assertion at the expense of others. However, despite the presence of asocial features (evil principle), Kant considered the person’s inherent sociability (good principle) as a prerequisite for culture and as one of the most important conditions of possibility of morality. (shrink)

The article analyzes the concept of universality in Oleg Drobnitskii’s ethics. As opposed to most Soviet ethicists of the 1960s and early 1970s, Drobnitskii viewed this concept along the lines of the principle of universality presented in the moral theories of Immanuel Kant and Richard Hare. However, while they considered universality to be a feature of individual moral thinking in the forms of maxims, principles, and evaluations, Drobnitskii understood universality as the main feature of moral requirements and essentially external to (...) the moral agent, representing to her social relations and the ‘general laws of history.’ It was conceptually significant in Drobnitskii’s approach to universality that he analyzed it within the context of a more general concept of morality—as a mode of normative regulation of behavior. In this capacity, universality was presented as a characteristic of general appeal, or the general way in which a moral requirement is binding. The principle of equality is a normative correlate of universality understood in this way. Universality also characterizes judgments, whose moral adequacy is verified through the procedure of universalization. Regarding universality, Drobnitskii discussed important questions of the individualization of the universal moral requirement in the form of the moral agent’s personal task and the universality of class moral views. He tried to explain these differing, and not always interconnected, aspects of universality by appealing to certain ‘general laws of history,’ and thus offered a historicist basis of morality. This article shows that, despite this unprecedented analysis of the issue of universality, Drobnitskii did not achieve a systematic conclusion in his conceptualization of universality. Nevertheless, he was able to offer a number of significant insights, with the potential to aid our further comprehension of the phenomenon of universality and how it ought to be understood. (shrink)

In the Early Modern time, moral philosophy underwent substantial changes. The most important among them were growing opposition to the theonomous understand...

Don Juanism is a type of consciousness, value system, and mode of behavior specific to amorous–erotic relationships. It reflects an overall image of Don Juan as presented in Molière’s famous comedy...

We know the Golden Rule of morality from various formulations in the most ancient of literary sources. Having a certain philosophical–theoretical and normative-ethical concept of the Golden Rule, w...

The author questions the validity of Kant's insistence on the absoluteness of the requirement "Do not lie" as well as the very possibility of absolute moral principles in general. He argues for applied ethics, the object of which would be individual-situational behavior and the rules and requirements of which have a concrete situational character. He points out that Kant's insistence on the absoluteness contradicts the humanity imperative, especially its requirement to treat others as an end in itself. He stresses that (...) the requirement of the unconditional impermissibility of lying leads to a concealed justification of treachery, which should be considered another type of lying. (shrink)

By placing Jesus's commandment not to "resist evil" in its textual and religious context, the author demonstrates that it should not be interpreted in an absolute sense. Christianity does not condemn vengeance as such but makes it a divine prerogative. A critique is presented of Tolstoy's doctrine of nonviolence.

The meaning of morality lies in the coordination of private interests for the good of individuals and of society. Morally positive actions are those that affirm and contribute to the good of anothe...

In opposition to the absolutist ethics of non-violence, the author argues that in response to aggression and violence one has to use every means possible to prevent them. To resist violence is a moral duty of the individual. It would be desirable for violence to be prevented by strength of mind, but if strength of mind is not enough or the aggressor is insensitive to intellectual, spiritual and psychological impacts, one has to employ by accretion all necessary means. Ethics is (...) called upon to set limits to the employment of the means of countering violence. (shrink)

Although Aristotle did not use the formula of the Golden Rule in his texts, in his intellectual constructions he often presented interpretations of the virtuous character and virtuous relationships that are clearly related to the Golden Rule. Furthermore, Aristotle’s considerations of shame, social interaction, and friendship show that his ethics is saturated with the content and spirit of the Golden Rule.

This article discusses the theoretical core and evolution of Ruben Apressyan’s moral philosophy. The starting point in the development of his views was his clarification of the “idea of morality,”...

An analysis of the theses of social holism and individualism, and arguments for the metaphysical integrity and irreducibility of both social properties and social entities. The last chapter discusses explanation in social science.

To what extend do the standard tests for realism, say in the philosophy of mind, apply to the social sciences?

El objetivo de este trabajo es reflexionar sobre el sentido de la crisis de las ciencias en Husserl desde el punto de vista del positivismo para sostener la tesis que afirma que esta crisis es antropológica y al mismo tiempo es una crisis cultural que descansa en el olvido del mundo de la vida. Lo anterior permite pensar y fundamentar el sentido antropológico de la fenomenología y sus relaciones con la ética, lo que constituye dos de los ejes de mayor (...) relevancia dentro de las investigaciones fenomenológicas actuales. A partir de un análisis crítico e interpretativo de las obras, se pretende mostrar que el fin último de la fenomenología consiste en la recuperación o reconstrucción del sujeto racional. Al ser así, la fenomenología cobra un importante sentido ético y antropológico que abre líneas fundamentales de investigación fenomenológica. (shrink)

El texto trata de abordar la noción de «significante» lacaniano desde una hermenéutica filosófica. Para ello se recorrerán algunos momentos clave de la elaboración de Lacan sin dar por supuesto ningún uso o definición que se promueve del término en cuestión, todo ello con la intención de subrayar aspectos como el del sentido y la vedad que desde un análisis hermenéutico-filosófico pueden ser captados en toda su profundidad.

This paper presents an analysis and critique of Roger Penrose’s epistemological, methodological, and ontological positions. The analysis is relevant not only because Penrose is an influential scientist, but also because of the particular traits of his thought. These traits are directly connected with his background and approach to science: ontological and epistemological realism, mathematical Platonism, emphasis on the continuities of science, epistemological inclusiveness and essential openness of science, the role of common sense, emphasis on the connection between science, ethics, and (...) philosophy. The paper articulates Penrose’s position and criticizes some of its possible shortcomings. It contributes to the perception of science as an open activity, as illustrated in Penrose’s particular approach, and provides an interesting case-study that can contribute to understanding how epistemological and ontological positions are connected with particular scientific practices. (shrink)

Chantal Maillard ha sido una de las pensadoras más relevantes de los últimos años. Su método creativo yatrevido ha indagado en una de las tensiones más importantes de la cultura actual: aquella que resulta de los encuentros y conflictos entre filosofía y poesía. Partiendo de la perspectiva maillardiana, este artículo aborda el lugar de lo poético en el mundo actual. Para ello, se postula que la distinción entre poesía y poema es una de las hipótesis centrales de la propuesta de (...) Maillard y es la que permite comprender que lo poético hace parte del flujo existencial por el que un fenómeno concreto de mundo puede acabar y dar lugar a otro, respondiendo a las insatisfacciones que alimentan el deseo por algo distinto a lo que ya-está. (shrink)

Se explora el desarrollo del campo de la Alfabetización Mediática y Digital en México, entre 2000 y 2021, mediante el análisis bibliométrico de publicaciones en Scopus y Web of Science, a partir del uso de frases sinónimas. Se observa una incipiente y dispersa producción científica en dicha área del conocimiento para el periodo de estudio.

Happy cow messages are instances of commercial speech by the animal industry which, by action or by omission, mislead consumers about the harmful effects that the industry has for nonhuman animals, the environment, or human health. Despite their ubiquity, happy cow messages have received little philosophical scrutiny. This paper aims to call attention to this form of speech, and to make the case for its restriction. To do so we first conceptualize happy cow messages. Second, we argue that they encroach (...) upon individual autonomy in two particularly objectionable ways: by impairing our ability to behave according to our moral convictions, and by thwarting our capacity to identify and reason about our moral duties. This, we hold, grounds a pro tanto case for stricter and more comprehensive regulations of commercial speech by the animal industry. Third, and against the objection that restricting happy cow messages would violate freedom of speech, we contend that none of the most influential arguments for free speech grants them protection. Indeed, we suggest, those rationales seem to call for their restriction. Fourth, and finally, we review some possible ways to defuse the misleading potential of happy cow messages through commercial speech regulations. (shrink)

Segundo Bruno Latour, “a ecologia nos enlouquece; e é daí que precisamos partir” (LATOUR, 2020a, p. 31). Propomos, portanto, que as imagens do Antropoceno sejam pensadas através de seus afetos: em especial a tristeza profunda. Através dos conceitos de psicopolítica (Byung-Chul Han) e cosmopolítica (Isabelle Stengers), este artigo demarca uma investigação inicial a respeito das possíveis relações entre depressão e clima; melancolia e cosmologia. Abordamos a racionalidade diagnóstica dos Modernos, assim como potenciais críticos e criativos do sujeito depressivo diante à (...) intrusão de Gaia. Por fim, indicamos futuros caminhos desta pesquisa por meio de uma sondagem de riscos atrelados à incomensurabilidade entre múltiplas perspectivas. Pode a depressão traçar, para além dos sentimentos de paralisia e impotência, alguma linha de fuga da emergência climática? Há tratamento? Pharmakon adequado? Uma resposta que não seja bárbara?Palavras-chave: Depressão; Gaia; Psicopolítica; Cosmopolítica; Antropoceno. (shrink)

Este trabajo analiza los discursos de científicos españoles residentes en Bochum (Alemania), y de parte de ellos que, tras pasar una larga etapa en dicha ciudad, habían retornado. El mismo muestra cómo experimentan una dificultosa adaptación caracterizada por un sentimiento de infravaloración laboral, una falta de estabilidad y la añoranza de ciertos aspectos propios de la cultura española como la calidad del ocio y la mayor sociabilidad de su población. Por otro lado, se observa un retorno singularizado por la desincronización (...) con sus lugares de origen, debido a que sienten que el tiempo ha pasado muy rápido en los mismos, mientras que para ellos sus vidas se ha ralentizado. (shrink)

The link between leadership and mental health at the workplace is well established by prior research. However, most of the studies have addressed this relationship from a single-source perspective. The aim of this study was to examine how supervisor and employee ratings of health-oriented leadership correspond to each other and which sources are predictive for employee mental health. We assessed data within 99 teams containing 713 employees in 11 different companies in Southern Germany. Supervisors and their staff completed questionnaires on (...) the supervisors’ health-oriented staff-care dimensions awareness, value of health and health behavior and current mental distress. Hierarchical linear models revealed that supervisors’ self-ratings were significantly related to their employees’ ratings only on the health behavior dimension, but not on the health awareness and value of health dimensions. Also, supervisors rated themselves significantly higher on HoL compared to their employees. Employee ratings of HoL significantly predicted their own level of mental distress, whereas supervisor ratings of HoL did not predict employees’ mental distress at the team level. Supervisors’ self-ratings of HoL did not influence the relationship between employee ratings of HoL and their mental distress on an individual level. These results highlight the complex relationship between multisource assessments of HoL and employee mental health, emphasizing the importance of subjective perception for mental health. Future studies should investigate under which conditions supervisor and employee ratings correspond to each other and are predictive for mental health at the workplace. (shrink)

Lo que aquí se presenta es una introducción a las posibles implicaciones de una «estética freudiana», estética que estaría atravesada por el proyecto inacabado de Freud: la fundamentación de la Trieblehre.

NOTA DEL EDITOR: Bioética en práctica incluye también el texto “Criterios para la asignación de asistencia mecánica respiratoria en pacientes con Covid 19, un mirada bioética” del P. Rubén Revello, del Instituto de Bioética de la Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, quien amablemente autorizó su reproducción para esta sección de la revista. El Dr. Carlos A. Gómez Fajardo, docente de Bioética de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana y miembro del Comité editorial de la revista Persona y Bioética (...) agradece y comenta brevemente el texto: “Agradezco y recibo con gran atención sus valiosos contenidos. Son pertinentes y acertados los principios mencionados sobre el bien global del paciente y el respeto a la vida de toda persona, sin discriminación, como parte esencial del ethos hipocrático. Es innegable la necesidad del uso de criterios objetivos en la asignación de asistencia mecánica respitatoria. Para ello, en la disciplina de los cuidados críticos se dispone de las herramientas soportadas en la evidencia, de gran valor práctico y como es obvio en el uso de elementos de diagnóstico y terapia, también con sus limitantes, como sucede con las limitaciones de valores predictivos de las mismas. Encuentro que el uso del concepto “preservar la mayoría de los años de vida”, por parte de Jakie Powder del Jhon Hopkins Center of Bioethic, se puede prestar a equívocos, pues podría entenderse como un intento de reducción de criterios utilitaristas para la asignación de recursos de ARM; el autor se hace cargo del tema e indica que “cabe aclarar que ‘preservar la mayoría de los años de vida’ no significa hacer un triage que excluya de la AMR a pacientes que sobrepasan una cierta edad, sino que no se incluya a pacientes cuya prolongación de la vida solo resulte precaria y penosa”. En el ámbito académico-filosófico de la disciplina de la bioética se encuentran en contradicción esencial dos visiones: la utilitarista materialista y la realista; es de difícil conciliación racional el intento de cuantificación objetiva de “calidad de vida”, pues ello conduciría a posibles decisiones injustas. Creo que es pertinente reconocer que el ejercicio práctico de la medicina se enmarca, generalmente -no solo en situación de pandemia- en un entorno de escasez de recursos. Estos, por supuesto, siempre han de asignarse dentro del marco de la racionalidad, la proporcionalidad terapéutica y la justicia, pero es pertinente reconocer que existen variables que determinan resultados fatales y que no pueden ser atribuibles a los procesos de decisión del clínico, quien no ha de ser obligado a lo imposible cuando el volumen y complejidad de las circunstancias de triage son apremiantes. Ello no deroga el imperativo racional hipocrático del respeto a la vida de todos como inspiración del quehacer”. Este escrito fue publicado por el Centro de Bioética: Persona & Familia, en su portal web, el 22 de abril de 2020. El autor autorizó a la revista Persona y Bioética publicarlo en su sección de Bioética en práctica. Se hicieron modificaciones ortotipográficas leves al texto y una adaptación de las referencias para hacerlo compatible con las pautas editoriales de la revista. (shrink)