Christian apologetics has recently gained a new impetus from authors such as Alister McGrath, who advocates a new, Trinitarian approach to natural theology, the main purpose of which is to confirm a resonance between scientific discoveries and Christian doctrine, thus confirming its credibility. In this article, we use Trinitarian natural theology, which has many advantages over classical natural theology, on the example of the surprising phenomenon of true love. This is manifested in the material world in The Principle of Insufficient (...) Reason, observable through observations of deeds of love, which lack reciprocity and, in the lifeworld in the essence of ratio-sui or selfexplicability of true love, experienceable through experiences of explanation of the reasons for love with love itself. The analysis of different layers of reality and its scientific methods, together with the postpositivistic recognition of the plurality of methods, has shown that the method of inference to the best explanation, which is used in the article, is a legitimate scientific method. The Christian doctrine of the Triune God of Love and the doctrine of perichoresis make perfect sense of the empirical observations and lifeworld experiences of true love. However, the question remains unanswered: which of the worldviews best explains the curious and surprising phenomenon of true love? (shrink)

The article draws from a personal clinical experience of two suicides, not far removed from each other in time. The first patient was a 33-year-old intellectual suffering from depression with narcissistic traits but no psychotic elements, while the second patient was a 21-year-old student with a manifest psychotic episode behind him and with characteristics of post-psychotic depression at the time of suicide. The two suicides had very different impacts on the therapist: the first left open some “space” for reflection, communication, (...) and working-through, while the second closed such a “space,” leaving only a tiny door to the existential roots of human beings and suffering. The therapist was able to find some “shelter” by talking to supervisors, colleagues, and friends in the first case; in the second, the only possible “shelter” was glimpsed in the philosophy of groundlessness (Ungrund) of the Russian existentialist Nicolai Berdyaev. The personal experiences of the therapist, along with some theoretical interpretations of the after-effects of both suicides, are presented using a psychodynamic and existential–phenomenological understanding of the therapeutic relationship with a psychotic and a non-psychotic patient. The main dilemmas exposed by a patient’s suicide, especially if the patient suffers from psychosis, are difficult to deal with in the usual clinical settings and call for resources beyond it. The authors propose that these can be found in philosophical and theological insights. (shrink)

It has recently been argued that a non-Bayesian probabilistic version of inference to the best explanation (IBE*) has a number of advantages over Bayesian conditionalization (Douven [2013]; Douven and Wenmackers [2017]). We investigate how IBE* could be generalized to uncertain evidential situations and formulate a novel updating rule IBE**. We then inspect how it performs in comparison to its Bayesian counterpart, Jeffrey conditionalization (JC), in a number of simulations where two agents, each updating by IBE** and JC, respectively, try to (...) detect the bias of a coin while they are only partially certain what side the coin landed on. We show that IBE** more often prescribes high probability to the actual bias than JC. We also show that this happens considerably faster, that IBE** passes higher thresholds for high probability, and that it in general leads to more accurate probability distributions than JC. (shrink)

Partial lying denotes the cases where we partially believe something to be false but nevertheless assert it with the intent to deceive the addressee. We investigate how the severity of partial lying may be determined and how partial lies can be classified. We also study how much epistemic damage an agent suffers depending on the level of trust that she invests in the liar and the severity of the lies she is told. Our analysis is based on the results from (...) exploratory computer simulations of an arguably rational Bayesian agent who is trying to determine how biased a coin is while observing the coin tosses and listening to a liar’s misleading predictions about the outcomes. Our results provide an interesting testable hypothesis at the intersection of epistemology and ethics, namely that in the longer term partial lies lead to more epistemic damage than outright lies. (shrink)

This paper introduces a novel method for the creation of ideas for disruptive innovations. It provides an application of innovation management techniques to specifics of disruptive technologies, which stand behind the Industry 4.0 changes that are taking place at present. Centered around the Ordo ab Chao technique, the paper presents how contemporary disruptive technologies can attain reflections in the complex creative process that has to lead to disruptive ideas and innovations. Quite some innovative thinking techniques already exist. However, they fail (...) to place emphasis on creation of ideas that are tied to emerging disruptive technologies so as to further deploy them in a focused, yet innovative manner. Hence, this paper presents an effective technique that facilitates creation of disruptive ideas with a focused potential for real-life implementations. Practical application of the method related to challenges in higher education processes amid the COVID-19 pandemic is also demonstrated. Based on the understanding of existing disruptive technologies, the technique is used for the adaptation and improvements of distance-learning processes to further add value for students and our society in general. In brief, the Ordo ab Chao technique is a promising tool for systematic development of disruptive solutions, representing a creative synergy between cutting-edge technologies and innovation management approaches. (shrink)

It has been argued that if the rigidity condition is satisfied, a rational agent operating with uncertain evidence should update her subjective probabilities by Jeffrey conditionalization or else a series of bets resulting in a sure loss could be made against her. We show, however, that even if the rigidity condition is satisfied, it is not always safe to update probability distributions by JC because there exist such sequences of non-misleading uncertain observations where it may be foreseen that an agent (...) who updates her subjective probabilities by JC will end up nearly certain that a false hypothesis is true. We analyze the features of JC that lead to this problem, specify the conditions in which it arises and respond to potential objections. (shrink)

One of the open questions in Bayesian epistemology is how to rationally learn from indicative conditionals (Douven, 2016). Eva et al. (Mind 129(514):461–508, 2020) propose a strategy to resolve this question. They claim that their strategy provides a “uniquely rational response to any given learning scenario”. We show that their updating strategy is neither very general nor always rational. Even worse, we generalize their strategy and show that it still fails. Bad news for the Bayesians.

Brit. J. Phil. Sci. 0, 1–25. Published 14 March 2018.

This doctoral dissertation investigates what influence indicative conditionals have on belief updating and how learning from conditionals may be modelled in a probabilistic framework. Because the problem is related to the interpretation of conditionals, we first assess different semantics of indicative conditionals. We propose that conditionals should be taken as primary concepts. This allows us to defend a claim that learning a conditional is equivalent to learning that the relevant conditional probability is 1. This implies that learning a conditional can (...) be modelled as learning a material conditional. We then turn to a few competing approaches to the problem of learning from a conditional -- an approach that models these situations with regards to changes in the explanatory status of the antecedent, as minimising probability distances between the prior and posterior probability distributions, and, particularly, an approach based on epistemic entrenchment. It is argued that although all approaches are important for their pioneering contributions, none of them ultimately provides a fully satisfactory solution. We then formulate a proposal according to which learning a conditional may be modelled as learning a material conditional in conjunction with other contextually inferred or observed information. We show that the view has an intuitive appeal on the grounds of pragmatics and empirical research in psychology of reasoning. We also show that the proposed approach successfully resolves all standard cases from the literature. The proposal is then extended to left-nested conditionals. To do so, we first inspect some preliminary empirical data about actual reasoning with nested conditionals and then show that the proposed approach also successfully models these cases. We then investigate how the approach may be extended to the so-called imperative conditionals. We introduce a tripartite typology of imperative conditionals and argue that although imperatives cannot be probabilistically modelled in any straight-forward way, at least some general insights of the proposed method help us understand the influence that the three different types of imperative conditionals have on listeners’ beliefs. We conclude with a summary and some open questions that should be addressed in future work (e.g. the influence of counterfactuals on belief updating). (shrink)

Alongside science and law, argumentation is also of central importance in everyday life. But what characterizes a good argument? This question has occupied philosophers and psychologists for centuries. The theory of Bayesian argumentation is particularly suitable for clarifying it, because it allows us to take into account in a natural way the role of uncertainty, which is central to much argumentation. Moreover, it offers the possibility of measuring the strength of an argument in probabilistic terms. One way to do this, (...) implicit in much work, is to identify the strength of an argument with the degree to which the premises of the argument confirm the conclusion. We criticize this prima facie plausible proposal and suggest instead that the strength of an argument has something to do with how much the premises and the conclusion of the argument cohere with each other. This leads to a new probabilistic measure whose properties we examine in more detail. (shrink)

This paper outlines several of the challenges that are inherent in any attempt to communicate subjective experience to others, particularly in the context of a clinical interview. It presents the phenomenological interview as a way of effectively responding to these challenges, which may be especially important when attempting to understand the profound experiential transformations that take place in schizophrenia. Features of language experience in schizophrenia—including changes in interpersonal orientation, a sense of the arbitrariness of language, and a desire for faithful (...) communication of experience —are described, together with discussion of their relevance for the interview context. Furthermore, the interview presents a unique context in which both intersubjective and interpersonal aspects of experience will be described as well as evoked. It is proposed that phenomenological interviewers should not only be familiar with these and other experiences that can occur in schizophrenia, but also capable of applying the techniques of phenomenological and hermeneutic methods in order to understand the descriptions of interviewees with sensitivity and accuracy. (shrink)

Coherence considerations play an important role in science and in everyday reasoning. However, it is unclear what exactly is meant by coherence of information and why we prefer more coherent information over less coherent information. To answer these questions, we first explore how to explicate the dazzling notion of ``coherence'' and how to measure the coherence of an information set. To do so, we critique prima facie plausible proposals that incorporate normative principles such as ``Agreement'' or ``Dependence'' and then argue (...) that the coherence of an information set is best understood as an indicator of the truth of the set under certain conditions. Using computer simulations, we then show that a new probabilistic measure of coherence that combines aspects of the two principles above, but without strictly satisfying either principle, performs particularly well in this regard. (shrink)

Should a scientist rely on methodological triangulation? Heesen et al. (Synthese 196(8):3067–3081, 2019) recently provided a convincing affirmative answer. However, their approach requires belief gambles if the evidence is discordant. We instead propose epistemically modest triangulation (EMT), according to which one should withhold judgement in such cases. We show that for a scientist in a methodologically diffident situation the expected utility of EMT is greater than that of Heesen et al.’s (2019) triangulation or that of using a single method. We (...) also show that EMT is more appropriate for increasing epistemic trust in science. In short: triangulate, but do not gamble with evidence. (shrink)

The East European Network for Philosophy of Science (EENPS) is a network of philosophers of science and researchers from related disciplines educated, affiliated, or working at the academic institu...

Characters in Richard II utter a number of neglected, yet philosophically interesting imperative conditionals. Based on a close reading of these examples, I provide a tripartite typology of imperative conditionals. The type 1 constitute the class of standard imperative conditionals; the type 2 implicate that the antecedent is false; and the type 3 implicate that the command in the consequent is to be complied with. I show how the type 2 and type 3 conditionals can be identified, and explain when (...) and why the speakers utter them. (shrink)

Some of the information that we learn comes to us in a conditional form. This has proven to be a problem for philosophers, who try to explain how probabilistic beliefs change when one learns from conditional sentences. The problem is that a straight-forward solution is not possible: the partial belief in the antecedent and the partial belief in the consequent either increase, decrease, or remain the same. Two existing approaches to learning from indicative conditionals are considered: an explanatory one, and (...) another that builds on relative information minimizing with regard to the causal structure. A novel method based on epistemic entrenchment is proposed to overcome the drawbacks of the competing approaches. The method solves all the standard examples and some other examples for which existing approaches have failed to provide adequate solutions. (shrink)

Although tranquility is a fundamental aspect of human life, the experiential nature of tranquility remains elusive. Traditionally, many philosophical, religious, spiritual, or mystical traditions in East and West have strived to reach tranquil experiences and produced texts serving as manuals to reach them. Yet, no attempt has been made to compare experiences of tranquility and explore what they may have in common. The purpose of this theoretical study is to explore the experiential nature of tranquility. First, we present examples of (...) what we consider some of the most central experiences of tranquility in Eastern and Western traditions. For the sake of simplicity, we sort these examples into four categories based on their experiential focus: the body, emotions, the mind, and mysticism. Second, we offer an exploratory account of tranquility, arguing that the different examples of tranquility seem to share certain experiential features. More specifically, we propose that the shared features pertain both to the content or quality of the tranquil experiences, which involves a sense of presence and inner peace, and to the structure of these experiences, which seems to involve some degree of detachment and absorption. (shrink)

The main aim of this study was to analyze the effects of availability of key information and intergenerational leadership on burnout divided into physical symptoms of burnout and emotional symptoms of burnout and work engagement regarding the firm size during the coronavirus disease 2019. The empirical study included 583 older employees in Slovenia who participated in the survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the effects between constructs. We analyzed structural paths for the entire sample (...) and for the two groups. According to the results concerning both groups, the impact of the availability of key information on emotional burnout is negative only for small companies. Contrary to that the negative impact of intergenerational leadership on emotional burnout is much stronger in large companies. Concerning the impact of physical burnout on emotional burnout, the positive impact of physical burnout exists in both types of companies but is stronger in small companies. The findings will contribute to a clearer picture and the adoption of further measures to prevent burnout in the workplace and increase work engagement concerning the firm size, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

A conjunction of two hypotheses may provide a better explanation than either one of them individually, even if each already provides a good explanation on its own. An appropriate measure of explanatory power should reflect this, but none of the measures discussed in the literature do so because they only consider how much an explanatory hypothesis reduces our surprise at the evidence – which is problematic. This chapter introduces and defends a class of coherentist measures of explanatory power, and shows (...) that one particular such measure that combines different intuitions underlying the epistemological notion of coherence overcomes the aforementioned problems of surprise reduction measures. (shrink)

Im Beitrag wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob sich in den Geistestheorien der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts die Gründe aufspüren lassen, die dazu führten, dass wir in der so genannten Postmoderne vom Ende des Geistes, des Menschen und des Ethischen sprechen können bzw. ob in diesen Konzepten womöglich etwas übersehen wurde, wovon wir heute, vor allem im ethischen Sinne, Gebrauch machen könnten. Im ersten und zweiten Teil des Beitrags wird unser Interesse in erster Linie der Cassirer’schen Geistestheorie gewidmet sein, um (...) mit Hilfe dieses repräsentativen Denkers und seiner Kritik womöglich ein besseres Verständnis davon gewinnen zu können, wo die eigentlichen Gründe für den ,Tod des Geistes’ zu suchen sind. Der postmoderne Diskurs selbst gibt keine und kann auch keine Antwort auf die bereits schon mehr als hundert Jahre andauernde Krise geben, weil er eben auch selbst nur ein Symptom derselben ist. Aufgrund der Tripelaspektivität der Dialektik des Geistes , seiner extremen Ungewissheit und Fragilität, wird im dritten Teil des Beitrags die Möglichkeit des Ethischen eingeführt. Durch die spezifische Behandlung dieses Problems glaube ich besser gerüstet der Frage nachgehen zu können: Wie ist die Rede vom Ethischen heute noch möglich, und worin könnte sein möglicher Sinn liegen? (shrink)

U ovom se članku razmatra pitanje da li se u teorijama duha u prvoj polovici 20. stoljeća mogu pronaći razlozi koji bi nas naveli na to da u takozvanoj postmoderni govorimo o kraju duha, čovjeka i etičkoga, odnosno da li se bilo gdje u ovim konceptima previdjelo nešto što bismo mi danas mogli iskoristiti, prvenstveno u etičkom smislu. U prvom i drugom dijelu članka posvećujemo se u prvom redu Cassirerovoj teoriji duha, kako bismo uz pomoć ovog reprezentativnog mislitelja i njegove (...) kritike mogli bolje razumjeti gdje bi se trebali tražiti pravi razlozi za »smrt duha«. Sam postmoderni diskurs ne pruža nikakve razloge i ne može dati odgovor na krizu koja traje već više od stotinu godina, jer je i on sam simptom te krize. Na temelju trostruke aspektivnosti dijalektike duha , njegove neizvjesnosti i fragilnosti, u trećem dijelu ovog teksta se uvodi mogućnost etičkoga. Vjerujem da se kroz specifičnu obradu ovog problema može istražiti pitanje: kako je danas uopće još moguće govoriti o etičkome i u čemu bi se mogao sastojati njegov mogući smisao? (shrink)

This article considers the question whether in theories of the spirit, from the first half of the 20th century, we can find reasons that would lead us to discuss about the ending of the spirit, mankind and the ethical in the so-called postmodernism, or whether it has been left unnoticed, anywhere in these concepts, something we might make use of, above all, in ethical sense. In the first and the second part of this article we turn to Cassirer’s theory of (...) the spirit as to be able to, through this representative philosopher’s works and his critics, better perceive where to search for the reasons of “the death of the spirit”. Postmodernistic discourse itself does not give any reason and cannot give any answer to the crisis lasting for more than a hundred years, because it is in itself a symptom of that very crisis. On grounds of a three-fold aspectuality of dialectics of the spirit , its uncertainty and fragility, in the third part of this discourse we introduce the possibility of the ethical. My believe is that through specific treatment of the issue the question can be explored: how the ethical is still possible to talk about and what would its possible meaning be? (shrink)

Im ersten Teil des Beitrags wird das Problem der Weltanschauung innerhalb von Schweitzers Ethik der Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben dargestellt, im zweiten Teil werden die Grenzen seines Konzeptes sichtbar gemacht und anschließend die möglichen weltanschaulichen Perspektiven für die Zukunft behandelt. Aufgrund der Philosophiekritik und ihrer Untauglichkeit, eine allgemein praktizierbare Ethik zu erstellen, versucht Schweitzer die traditionelle Philosophie zu einer Weltanschauung zu transformieren, um somit den Prozess einer ethischen Renaissance der Kultur in Bewegung zu setzen. Der Großteil seiner ethischen Bemühungen dient (...) dem Projekt der Begründung und zugleich der möglichen Verwirklichung einer tätigen und bejahenden ethischen Beziehung zur Welt und zum Leben, die nicht nur auf einzelne, hochsensible, oder gar erleuchtete Individuen setzt, sondern womöglich die ganze Gesellschaft zu mobilisieren fähig wäre. Schweitzer versucht die Weltanschauung, nicht wie üblich, aus der Gesellschaft heraus zu begründen, sondern aus einer unmittelbaren Anschauung des Lebens und seiner erkenntnistheoretischen Unergründlichkeit , um damit den gesellschaftlichen Raum für eine unmittelbare, optimistische, alle Lebensformen bejahende Handlungsorientierung zu eröffnen. Das Bemühen um den enthusiastischen Charakter der moralischen Handlungen, der aus dem denkenden Erleben des Willens zum Leben zur ethischen Weltanschauung aufsteigen sollte, war das große Novum Schweitzers.In the first part of this paper we present the problem of worldview within Schweitzer’s ethics of reverence for life, in the second we delineate the limits of his concept, followed by the discussion on possible worldview perspectives for the future. Based on the critique of philosophy and its inability to create a universally practicable ethics, Schweitzer tried to transform the traditional philosophy into a worldview, thus trying to initiate a process of ethical renaissance of culture. Most of his ethical efforts serve for the project of grounding and simultaneously possible realising an active and affirmative ethical relationship toward world and life which focuses not only on particular, highly sensible or even enlightened individuals, but which could also be capable for mobilising the entire society. Schweitzer tried to justify the worldview not according to the society, as it is usual, but from a direct view of life and its epistemological inscrutability , thereby opening the social space for a direct, optimistic action orientation which accepts all forms of life. The effort for the enthusiastic character of moral actions, the character that should rise from the thinking experience of the will to live to the level of ethical worldview, was Schweitzer’s great novum. (shrink)

The fact that ethics, as understood and practiced in our Western culture, has definitively come to a dead end, is overlooked only by those academic philosophers for whom it is still an esoteric and self-sufficient matter of proper reasoning regarding morality. Both religiously and secularly conceived theories have failed; it is especially evident in the fact that we have never thought about ethics as much and acted according to moral principles as rarely as today. Ethical reflection and moral conduct have (...) long ago become incompatible worlds, and relate to each other in an inversely proportional relationship. On this background an eternal question is raised once again: Can the difference between ethical thought and moral action on one side, and secular and religious approaches on the other, be overcome within a single ethical-moral concept? This paper presents an investigation of a postsecular ethics together with examining its basis and possibilities of bringing action motivated beliefs together with critical, responsible thinking based on personal autonomy in a consistently experienced and, at the same time, reflexive constellation. (shrink)

Le fait que l’éthique, telle qu’elle est conçue et pratiquée dans notre culture occidentale, soit incontestablement dans l’impasse, n’est plus ignoré que par des philosophes universitaires pour qui elle continue d’être une question ésotérique et auto-suffisante de raisonnement correct en matière de moralité. Les théories éthiques, qu’elles soient conçues du point de vue religieux ou laïque, ont échoué. Cela est particulièrement évident dans le fait que nous n’avons jamais autant réfléchi sur l’éthique qu’aujourd’hui, alors qu’en même temps nous agissons rarement (...) en accord avec des principes moraux. La réflexion éthique et la conduite morale sont depuis longtemps devenues des mondes opposés et existent dans un rapport inversement proportionnel. Dans ce contexte, une question éternelle se pose à nouveau : peut-on, à l’intérieur d’un schéma éthico-moral, surmonter les différences entre, d’une part, la pensée éthique et l’action morale, et d’autre part, entre les approches laïques et religieuses ? Cet article tente d’examiner l’éthique post-laïque ainsi que les causes et les possibilités de réunir les convictions motivant l’action avec une pensée critique et responsable, fondée sur une autonomie personnelle dans le cadre d’une constellation à la fois réflexive et vécue de manière consistante. (shrink)

Dass die Ethik, wie sie in unserer westlichen Kultur verstanden und praktiziert wird, endgültig in die Sackgasse geraten ist, verkennen nur noch diejenigen akademischen Philosophen, für die die Ethik nach wie vor eine esoterische und selbstgenügsame Angelegenheit des richtigen Argumentierens in Sachen der Moralität geblieben ist. Sowohl religiös als auch säkular konzipierte Ethiktheorien haben versagt; das wird nicht zuletzt auch daran deutlich, dass wir noch nie so viel über Ethik nachgedacht haben und zugleich so wenig moralisch gehandelt haben wie heute. (...) Ethische Reflexion und moralisches Handeln sind schon längst zu unvereinbaren Welten geworden, und stehen zueinander in einem umgekehrt proportionalen Verhältnis. Auf diesem Hintergrund wird erneut die ewige Frage aktuell, ob sich die Differenz zwischen dem ethischen Denken und moralischen Tun einerseits und den säkularen und religiösen Ansätzen andererseits innerhalb eines einheitlichen ethischmoralischen Konzeptes überwinden lässt? Im Beitrag wird der Versuch einer postsäkularen Ethik unternommen, in dem nach Gründen und Möglichkeiten gefragt wird, Handlungsmotivierende Überzeugungen mit dem auf persönlicher Autonomie basierenden kritischen und verantwortlichen Denken in eine widerspruchsfreie erlebte und zugleich reflexive Konstellation zu bringen. (shrink)

Da je etika – kakvom je poimaju i prakticiraju u našoj zapadnjačkoj kulturi – neopozivo zašla u slijepu ulicu, previđaju samo još oni akademski filozofi za koje je ona i nadalje ezoterična i samodostatna stvar valjanog argumentiranja po pitanju moralnosti. Zakazale su kako religiozno, tako i sekularno koncipirane teorije etike. To je osobito razvidno u okolnosti da o etici nikada nismo toliko umovali kao danas, a istodobno se tako rijetko povodili za moralnim načelima. Etička refleksija i moralno postupanje već su (...) poodavno postali oprečni svjetovi i egzistiraju u međusobno obrnuto proporcionalnom odnosu. Uz takvu se pozadinu iznova aktualizira vječito pitanje: Mogu li se unutar jedinstvene etičko-moralne sheme prebroditi neslaganja između etičkog mišljenja i moralnog djelovanja s jedne strane te sekularnih i religioznih polazišta s druge strane? U članku će se pokušati istražiti postsekularna etika te uzroci i mogućnosti grupiranja poticajnih uvjerenja s kritičkim, odgovornim i na osobnoj autonomiji zasnovanim mišljenjem u okviru neproturječne, iskušane i paralelno refleksivne konstelacije. (shrink)

L’article se penche sur la question de savoir si les théories de l’esprit de la première moitié du XXème siècle comportent des motifs qui pourraient nous permettre d’évoquer la fin de l’esprit, de l’homme et de l’éthique en cette période qu’on appelle postmoderne, ou plutôt de savoir si quelque chose de susceptible de nous servir aujourd’hui, surtout dans le sens éthique, aurait été omis. La théorie de l’esprit de Cassirer, penseur représentatif dont la critique nous permet de mieux comprendre où (...) chercher les vraies raisons de « la mort de l’esprit », est largement évoquée dans la première et la deuxième partie de l’article. Le discours postmoderne en soi n’offre aucune raison et ne peut donner aucune réponse à la crise qui dure depuis plus de cent ans car lui-même est symptomatique de cette crise. Dans la troisième partie du texte, les trois aspects de la dialectique de l’esprit , avec leurs incertitudes et leurs fragilités, introduisent la possibilité de l’éthique. Je considère qu’à travers une étude spécifique de ce problème, il est possible d’examiner la question suivante : comment est-il encore possible aujourd’hui de parler de ce qui est éthique et en quoi pourrait consister son sens ? (shrink)

The interpretive and subjective nature of qualitative research has led to growing utilization of arts-based strategies for data collection, analysis and dissemination. The defining characteristic of all such strategies is that they are largely subjective and intended to invoke personal responses in the ‘audience.’ Following that direction, many qualitative researchers are using metaphor to capture themes emerging from their analysis. In this article, we explore ethical aspects of using metaphor in describing results of qualitative health research and illustrate some of (...) the complexities using a case study of research conducted by one of the authors. Our analysis is designed to sensitize researchers and ethics reviewers to some unique ethical issues inherent to this approach towards data analysis and presentation. Issues related to participant dignity, respect and vulnerability led us to suggest that researchers should take these points into consideration in designing their research and seeking informed consent. Metaphors can be linguistic devices, but also conceptual aids that help develop patterns in analysis or that facilitate re-interpretation. However, there is a thin line between artistic licence for better expression and distorting the participants’ actual experience and meanings. Researchers, and reviewers, must be aware of the danger to participant dignity and integrity when aesthetics overshadow actuality. The use of metaphor may also trigger tensions between researchers and participants, especially if member checking is used. The implications of participant withdrawal must be considered and conveyed to ethics reviewers and participants. It is important to have a plan in place for dealing with some of these issues. These should be detailed in the proposal and communicated to participants. Institutional research ethics boards should, on their part, be prepared to ask questions if such details are lacking in the proposal. (shrink)

Background:Scholarly work is needed to develop the conceptual and theoretical understanding of trust to nursing practice. The transition from hospital care to complex pediatric homecare involves nurses in myriad roles, including management and care provision. Complex pediatric homecare transforms children, families, professionals, and communities, but its exact implications are unclear.Research objectives:To conduct an ethical inquiry into the role and responsibilities of nurses in the qualitative experience of adults involved in the hospital-to-home transition of young, ventilator-dependent children.Research design:We followed methods described (...) by Franco Carnevale. We used a sociologically grounded theoretical orientation—trust—to re-interpret qualitative data for an ethical inquiry into a specific facet of that data.Participants and study context:The participants included 26 adults, including 14 nurses, involved in the hospital-to-home transition in a Canadian province. Participants represented family, hospital, home, and government.Ethical considerations:The Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board at the University of Calgary approved this study.Findings:First, the concept and practice of trust was salient to the experience of transition. For example, responsibilities’ allocation between hospital-based professionals to mothers, home-based nurses, and non-professionals necessitated reliance and vulnerability. Second, the consequences of distrust connected to recognized challenges. For example, tensions along rural–urban, medical-family, and professional–personal divide each revealed suspicion and uncertainty that led to isolation and anxiety for all involved. Third, recommendations to improve the experience and mitigate the challenges of transition can be grounded in trust promotion. For example, transition-specific education programs and codes of ethics would promote openness, recognize mutual vulnerability, and advance trust in transition.Conclusions:The challenges to transition evidenced distrust, while trust represents a powerful tool to counter these challenges and their implications. A climate of trust could bridge divides between mothers and professionals; rural and urban professionals; and professionals with differing relationships with the family. (shrink)

BackgroundPersonal health information and biospecimens are valuable research resources essential for the advancement of medicine and protected by national standards and provincial statutes. Research ethics and privacy standards attempt to balance individual interests with societal interests. However these standards may not reflect public opinion or preferences. The purpose of this study was to assess the opinions and preferences of patients with kidney disease about the use of their health information and biospecimens for medical research.MethodsA 45-item survey was distributed to a (...) convenience sample of patients at an outpatient clinic in a large urban centre. The survey briefly addressed sociodemographic and illness characteristics. Opinions were sought on the research use of health information and biospecimens including consent preferences.ResultsTwo hundred eleven of 400 distributed surveys were completed. Respondents were generally supportive of medical research and trusting of researchers. Many respondents supported the use of their information and biospecimens for health research and also preferred consent be sought for use of health information and biospecimens. Some supported the use of their information and biospecimens for research without consent. There were significant differences in the opinions people offered regarding the research use of biospecimens compared to health information. Some respondent perspectives about consent were at odds with current regulatory and legal standards.ConclusionsClinical health data and biospecimens are valuable research resources, critical to the advancement of medicine. Use of these data for research requires balancing respect for individual autonomy, privacy and the societal interest in the greater good. Incongruence between some respondent perspectives and the regulatory standards suggest both a need for public education and review of legislation to increase understanding and ensure the public’s trust is maintained. (shrink)

The proposed hesitant fuzzy linguistic set is a powerful tool for expressing fuzziness and uncertainty in multiattribute group decision-making. This paper aims to propose novel aggregation operators to fuse hesitant fuzzy linguistic information. First, we briefly recall the notion of HFLS and propose new operations for hesitant fuzzy linguistic elements. Second, considering the Muirhead mean is a useful aggregation technology that can consider the interrelationship among all aggregated arguments, we extend it to hesitant fuzzy linguistic environment and propose new hesitant (...) fuzzy linguistic aggregation operators, such as the hesitant fuzzy linguistic Muirhead mean operator, the hesitant fuzzy linguistic dual Muirhead mean operator, the hesitant fuzzy linguistic weighted Muirhead mean operator, and the hesitant fuzzy linguistic weighted dual Muirhead mean operator. These operators can reflect the correlations among all HFLEs. Several desirable properties and special cases of the proposed operators are also studied. Furthermore, we propose a novel approach to MAGDM in a hesitant fuzzy linguistic context based on the proposed operators. Finally, we conduct a numerical experiment to demonstrate the validity of our method. Additionally, we compare our method with others to illustrate its merits and superiorities. (shrink)

We analyse the reception of Niklas Luhmanns social metatheory in Slovenian social. The first part outlines the intellectual climate that prevailed in the decade before the post-socialist transition. The decline of the previously dominant Marxist ideology created space for other social theories. Luhmanns ideas were the most prominent among social macro theories in the initial phase. The second part describes variations in the reception of his ideas. The initial affirmative approach was upgraded by a number of more selective and critical (...) approaches. The third part shows that, although his ideas are no longer quite so prominent, his work is both well recognized and firmly embedded in Slovenian social thought. (shrink)

The research presented in this article aims to contribute both quantitatively and qualitatively to the discussion on family versus non-family businesses' differences in ethical core values, culture and ethical climate. The purpose of our article is to better understand the association between the degree of involvement of a family in an enterprise and its influence on the enterprise's core values, culture and ethical climate as the constitutional elements of enterprise ethical behaviour. The research indicates that family as well as non-family (...) enterprises maintain positive attitudes towards the core values with ethical content. Regarding the type and strength of culture as well as the type of ethical climate, our research results indicate significant differences between family and non-family enterprises. (shrink)

Many methodologies for systematic study of lived experience have been proposed in recent decades. These methods are typically calibrated in terms of the depth and complexity of data collection, and whether they consider reports on pre-reflective experience admissible. Even though it has been shown that lived experience occurs at different timescales (elementary, integrative, narrative), contemporary methods tend to focus on momentary experience. We trace the focus on momentary experience to the current cultural milieu and attitudes in the history of psychology. (...) We point out the need for studying temporally extended experiences in the field of psychopathology. We propose that lived experiences at different timescales are nested within each other and that this principle can be used to organize data collected with qualitative methods for the study of experience. We suggest that temporally extended experiences occur at the narrative level of description (i.e. they consist of experiential reports and sense-making). (shrink)

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to set an example of how people with severe learning difficulties could be more integrated into our society.Design/methodology/approach– The installation consists of puzzles in the form of a specially designed table with an integrated touch screen. As the visual templates for the puzzles serve pictures painted by a person with severe learning difficulties. The pieces of the puzzles are manipulated directly by the player on the touch screen presenting an intuitive and easily learned (...) user interface.Findings– The framework for the work was a creation of an interactive art installation in the form of a game where users assemble puzzles on a touch monitor, housed in a specially designed table. Paintings by a person with severe learning difficulty served as visual templates for the puzzles. The pieces of the puzzles can be manipulated directly by the user on a touch screen presenting an intuitive and easily learned user interface, which stimulates the learning of fine motor skills and encourages practice, thus making it suitable for persons with severe learning difficulties in an art therapy setting.Practical implications– As the work has the format of an interactive art installation, this enables it to gain publicity through exhibitions in art galleries.Social implications– The installation demonstrates how people with severe learning difficulties can be integrated into the broader society. At the same time, these people are encouraged to use modern computer information technology, which is becoming a necessity also for this group of users. Ethical issues regarding how this group of people can get involved in such work are also discussed.Originality/value– Combining the habituation of people with severe learning difficulties with computer technology in the form of a game, and framing the whole process as a fine art undertaking, to win the public recognition, is a novelty in addressing the needs of these people. (shrink)