The earth, the abode of the only form of intelligent life in the universe of which we are aware, is a minor member of a system of nine planets, 40 or so moons and about 100 billion asteroids orbiting around the Sun, an average-size member of the 100-billion-star community making up our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is the third planet to the Sun, which it orbits, following an almost circular elliptical path maintaining an average distance of 1.5×108 km, with (...) the longest and the shortest radii now being 1.53×108 km and 1.47×10 km respectively (Fig. 1). This orbit is subject to changes in its “eccentricity” (i.e., in how much it deviates from a circle) with periods of 105 and 4×10 years5 years (Fig. 2A). In addition, the elliptical orbit itself slowly rotates as shown in Fig. 2B, in what we call the precession. (shrink)

The universe, of which our domicile the planet Earth forms but a minuscule part, has an architecture that changes and has been changing in time. In other words, it has a history of evolution. Lack of experimental evidence denies us the knowledge of what the universe was like “at the time of its origin,” as discussed by Hubert Reeves in the preceding chapter. Neither do we know much about its geometry, simply because our observatories are concentrated, for all practical purposes, (...) vanishingly close to a single point in an immensity whose size can only be measured by the billions of years required by light to go from one extremity to another! (shrink)

James's philosophy of religion reveals a great deal about his general philosophical position. Moreover, it provides insights concerning the epistemic priority of experience and feeling, the role of faith in the justification of belief, the nature of religious truth, and the limits of philosophic rationality. This essay tries to explain what it means, on James's view, to see the world in religious terms, and defends his pragmatic argument regarding the justification of belief.

The earth, the abode of the only form of intelligent life in the universe of which we are aware, is a minor member of a system of nine planets, 40 or so moons and about 100 billion asteroids orbiting around the Sun, an average-size member of the 100-billion-star community making up our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is the third planet to the Sun, which it orbits, following an almost circular elliptical path maintaining an average distance of 1.5×108 km, with (...) the longest and the shortest radii now being 1.53×108 km and 1.47×10 km respectively (Fig. 1). This orbit is subject to changes in its “eccentricity” (i.e., in how much it deviates from a circle) with periods of 105 and 4×10 years5 years (Fig. 2A). In addition, the elliptical orbit itself slowly rotates as shown in Fig. 2B, in what we call the precession. (shrink)

The universe, of which our domicile the planet Earth forms but a minuscule part, has an architecture that changes and has been changing in time. In other words, it has a history of evolution. Lack of experimental evidence denies us the knowledge of what the universe was like “at the time of its origin,” as discussed by Hubert Reeves in the preceding chapter. Neither do we know much about its geometry, simply because our observatories are concentrated, for all practical purposes, (...) vanishingly close to a single point in an immensity whose size can only be measured by the billions of years required by light to go from one extremity to another! (shrink)

Desiderius Erasmus who is known as a prominent philosopher of renaissance period has been mentioned as a humanist or pacifist in many sources. Nevertheless, it seemed that he articulated some different thoughts beyond the ideas attributed to him. About the point in question, this work aims to discuss how to position Erasmus in ideological terms through analyzing his ideas he revealed in his works about war and peace. Within this context, it will be examined to what extent the ascription of (...) humanist and pacifist frequently to him is coherent. Consequently, it will be tried to suggest a proposal about how we should describe him depending on the findings. (shrink)

Philosophers who produce ideas about the problem of liberty in general propounded various theories relating to feature, content, and boundaries of freedom. Immanuel Kant is a philosopher who made a name for himself with his thoughts concerning the problem of liberty as well as his ground-breaking ideas in philosophy. The primary purpose of this work is to discuss why he tried to address the freedom in the dual axes in the context of his practical philosophy. Within this framework, it will (...) be scrutinized why Kant founded the liberty by restricting in the philosophy of law while he sought absolute freedom in ethics. (shrink)

This descriptive study explores the elementary school computer teachers’ attitudes and awareness regarding ethical computer use in classrooms and the differences in teachers’ attitudes and awareness in terms of demographic variables including gender, teaching experiences, pre-service/in-service education about ethical computer use. In order to measure computer teachers’ attitudes, awareness, and teaching practices regarding computer ethics, an adopted version of Cyberethics Questionnaire (CEQ), originally developed by Yamano (2004), was used in this study. The CEQ was administered to 150 teachers working for (...) elementary schools in Hatay, Turkey. After incomplete and erroneous forms were discarded, a total number of 141 questionnaires completed by 60 female and 81 male computer teachers were considered for analysis. Results show that the opinions of male and female teachers are significantly different. (shrink)

A. M. Celâl Şengör, Is the Present the Key to the Past or the Past the Key to the Present? James Hutton and Adam Smith versus Abraham Gottlob Werner and Karl Marx in Interpreting History. Special Paper No. 355. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America, 2001. x+51 pp. US$40.95 (pbk). ISBN 0-8137-2355-8.

INTRODUCTION[|]This paper has been planned as a critical response to Murat Civaner's article entitled 'Medical Ethics arguments should be concordant with scientific knowledge and certain values', published in the Autumn 2015 issue of Turkish Journal of Bioethics. It also aims to provide an evaluation of the way the authoritarian discourse manifests itself in ethical arguments.[¤]METHODS[|]For this purpose, the paper first presents the views of Orhan Hançerlioğlu on Karl Marx and Karl Popper and treats these views as a written example of (...) such authoritarian discourse, which is essentially a problematic attitude that results from an inability to acknowledge the value-laden aspects of a given perspective. [¤]RESULTS[|]In order to show that problems in Hançerlioğlu's approach is also present in Civaner's arguments, several examples where the author did not recognize the value-laden aspects and the subjective nature of information are provided. The paper then examines the recent claim by Celal Şengör, who asserted that force feeding of feces to individuals do not qualify as torture. Based on the presentation and the justification of this reductionist claim, it is emphasized that the relationship between information and values is much more complicated than those presented by Civaner. Civaner's claim, which asserts that the concept of conscience should have no place in medical ethics arguments, is also evaluated on this basis and the dangers of excluding the moral agent in ethical evaluation are underlined. In addition, the relationship of the paternalist tradition with the perspective which I refer to as the 'macro axis' is examined. Last but not least, the paper deals with the concept of 'ethics of ethics' by using examples from national and international ethics literature and emphasizes the reason why it is important for the ethicist to become aware of her own scheme of values. [¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]The paper concludes that contrary to what Civaner has asserted, it is not possible to exclude subjective aspects from ethical argumentation and that such an appraoch will inevitably have an authoritarian quality. For this reason, the need for other approaches for revealing, rather than repressing or ignoring, the subjective aspects of ethical inquiry is underlined.[¤]. (shrink)

BackgroundMidwives frequently encounter ethical dilemmas in a critical unit such as a delivery room. Determining these ethical dilemmas is very important to prevent ethical problems and develop an ethical approach.AimThis study aims to identify the ethical dilemma experiences of midwives working in delivery rooms in Turkey.Research designThis study follows a qualitative phenomenological research design.Participants and research contextThe sample comprised 13 midwives with at least two years working experience in delivery rooms, having completed the midwifery program of Manisa Celal Bayar (...) University Health Sciences Institute in the 2017–2018 academic year. Data were collected through audio-recorded semi-structured interviews to reveal their experiences. Content analysis was done using the Nvivo software package program. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and transferred into NVivo for analysis.Ethical considerationsEthical approval was granted by Manisa Celal Bayar University University Health Sciences Ethics Committee (Date: 16.12.2016 No: 372). Participation in this study was voluntary. Written and verbal consent was gained. These consents include protecting midwives’ privacy, keeping information confidential, and/or allowing the participant to remain anonymous.FindingsFour themes were identified: differences of approach to the birth process, hospital management, communication, and differences in ethical approach. Several factors explained these ethical dilemmas while the midwives adopted different approaches to ethical decision making.DiscussionThese midwives experienced various dilemmas while working in the delivery room and are aware of most of them. They also took responsibility in the decision-making process and experienced many intense emotions that they had to cope with.ConclusionThe ethical dilemmas faced by these midwives while working in delivery rooms were mainly caused by hierarchy. Future studies could investigate clarifying job descriptions of midwives, who are authorized to manage normal births under their own responsibility, within the hospital management and the health care team. (shrink)