The ‘right to the truth’ involves disclosing all the pertinent facts to a patient so that an informed decision can be made. However, this concept of a ‘right to the truth’ entails certain ambiguities, especially since it is difficult to apply the concept in medical practice based mainly on current evidence-based data that are probabilistic in nature. Furthermore, in some situations, the doctor is confronted with a moral dilemma, caught between the necessity to inform the patient (principle of autonomy) and (...) the desire to ensure the patient's well-being by minimising suffering (principle of beneficence). To comply with the principle of beneficence as well as the principle of non-maleficence ‘to do no harm’, the doctor may then feel obliged to turn to ‘therapeutic privilege’, using lies or deception to preserve the patient's hope, and psychological and moral integrity, as well as his self-image and dignity. There is no easy answer to such a moral dilemma. This article will propose a process that can fit into reflective practice, allowing the doctor to decide if the use of therapeutic privilege is justified when he is faced with these kinds of conflicting circumstances. We will present the conflict arising in practice in the context of the various theoretical orientations in ethics, and then we will suggest an approach for a ‘practice of truth’. Last, we will situate this reflective method in the broader clinical context of medical practice viewed as a dialogic process. (shrink)

Social media platforms offer convenient, instantaneous social sharing on a mass scale with tremendous impact on public perceptions, opinions, and behavior. There is a need to understand why information spreads including the human motivations, cognitive processes, and neural dynamics of large-scale sharing. This study introduces a novel approach for investigating the effect social media messaging and in-person discussion has on the inter-brain dynamics within small groups of participants. The psychophysiological impact of information campaigns and narrative messaging within a closed social (...) media environment was assessed using 24-channel wireless EEG. Data were acquired from three- or four-person groups while subjects debated contemporary social issues framed by four scenarios of varying controversy: investing in ethical vs. unethical corporations, selecting travel destination based on social awareness, determining verdict in a murder trial and the punishment of life in prison or death penalty, and decision to vaccinate. Pre-/post-scenario questionnaires assess the effects of the social media information. Inter-brain coherence between subject pairs on each social issue discussed by subjects was analyzed by concordance, agreement vs. disagreement, and by group unanimity, unanimous vs. not unanimous. Subject pairs that agreed on the social issues raised in the scenarios had significantly greater inter-brain coherence in gamma frequency range than disagreeing pairs over cortical regions known to be involved in social interactions. These effects were magnified when comparing groups where subject pairs were unanimous in their stance on the social issues for some but not all scenarios. While there was considerable overlap between scenarios in what EEG channels were significant, there was enough variability to indicate the possibility of scenario-specific effects on inter-brain coherence. (shrink)

Moi, je, ego, personne, individu... autant de termes par lesquels nous désignons le sujet substantiel que nous croyons être. Seulement, peut-on trouver en nous une quelconque unité singulière et constante? Notre identité est-elle réellement constituée de mêmeté, d'ipséité et de continuité? Contre toute attente, certains philosophes osèrent en douter, mais c'est surtout le Bouddha, au VIe siècle avant notre ère, qui fit peser les plus graves soupçons sur notre prétendue subjectivité. Si le sage indien ne nia pas l'existence de notre (...) moi empirique, il remit en cause l'idée qu'il s'agissait d'une substance. Le moi existerait donc sans pour autant être réel. Comprendre la nature de cet ego permettrait dès lors de se libérer des souffrances qu'il engendre. Il en va ainsi de notre bonheur... (shrink)

Analysant de façon claire et précise ce que recouvrent ces différentes catégories, typiquement occidentales, Christophe Richard nous ouvre ici les portes de cette forme singulière de spiritualité qu'est le " Bouddhisme ".

Il est urgent, selon Christophe Richard, de repenser notre système éducatif et d'imaginer ce que pourrait être une éduction matérialiste, c'est-à-dire une éducation tenant enfin compte du corps. Force est de constater que, jusqu'à présent, il ne fut question que de l'esprit des apprenants. Et pourtant, dispenser un enseignement ne relève-t-il pas davantage du corps à corps que du tête à tête? Car enfin, qui ne voit que l'on apprend par corps et que l'on ne pense qu'avec le corps? C'est (...) du moins la thèse de l'auteur qui a le mérite d'attirer l'attention sur la réalité corporelle et de vouloir lui donner droit de cité. Mieux : l'auteur n'hésite pas à faire du corps l'enjeu éducatif majeur. (shrink)

The Battle for the American Mind brings together religion, politics, economics, science, and literature to present a compelling history of the American people. In this brief and entertaining book, noted historian Carl J. Richard argues that there have been three worldviews that have dominated American thought—theism, humanism, and skepticism. By clearly explaining what Americans believed, exploring why they did so, and showing how that impacted the nation's development, Richard presents a unique portrait of the United States—past and present.

The present study fills a void in research on passion by examining for the first time the role of passion in physiological responses. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of passion, and the mediating role of cognitive appraisals, in the psychological and physiological responses to a stressful situation related to one’s passion. Students, who were passionate for their studies, completed the Passion Scale for their studies and the Cognitive Appraisal Scale. Then, they engaged in an education (...) task under stressful conditions, and a subsequent unrelated leisure task under no-stress. Physiological reactivity was measured throughout the entire session and their perceptions of situational vitality and positive and negative emotions were assessed directly after the education task. Results showed that harmonious passion positively predicted challenge appraisals that, in turn, were positively related to positive emotions, vitality, and positive cardiovascular adaptation while engaging in the stressful education task, but less so with the leisure task. On the other hand, obsessive passion positively predicted threat appraisals. In turn, threat appraisals were positively related to negative emotions, negatively associated with vitality, and not related to cardiovascular reactivity. The present findings suggest that HP creates the onset of an adaptive psychological and physiological response whereas the response is less adaptive with OP. (shrink)