LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English. 本期探討宗教生命倫理學在當代的意義，涉及宗教生命倫理 學與世俗生命倫理學之問相互學習的BJ'能性、以及不同的宗教文 化之間進行對話的有益性，包括兩篇主題論文和15篇回應文章。(撮要取自內文首段) This issue of the journal covers two thematic essays and fifteen commentaries regarding the role of religious bioethics in contemporary society. Although bioethics was launched primarily by theologians in the last century, there have been debates about whether religious ideas are still relevant to today’s bioethical explorations. In addition, the essays in this issue indicate that bioethical dialogues do not occur only among peoples (such as Christians (...) and Confucians) embracing different religious convictions in attempting to understand each other, but they also take place between religious bioethics and secular bioethics so that they may be able to learn from each other and make further reflections on pressing bioethical challenges facing contemporary society. (shrink)

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English. 本期探討宗教生命倫理學在當代的意義，涉及宗教生命倫理 學與世俗生命倫理學之問相互學習的BJ'能性、以及不同的宗教文 化之間進行對話的有益性，包括兩篇主題論文和15篇回應文章。(撮要取自內文首段) This issue of the journal covers two thematic essays and fifteen commentaries regarding the role of religious bioethics in contemporary society. Although bioethics was launched primarily by theologians in the last century, there have been debates about whether religious ideas are still relevant to today’s bioethical explorations. In addition, the essays in this issue indicate that bioethical dialogues do not occur only among peoples (such as Christians (...) and Confucians) embracing different religious convictions in attempting to understand each other, but they also take place between religious bioethics and secular bioethics so that they may be able to learn from each other and make further reflections on pressing bioethical challenges facing contemporary society. (shrink)

Bu makale, Osmanlı siyaset düşünce geleneğinde fazilet temelli kendine has ılımlı bir siyasî realizmin var olduğunu savunmaktadır. Günümüz siyasî realizm literatürü ve Osmanlı fazilet ahlâkına dayalı karşılaş- tırmalı metotla, siyasetin mahiyeti ve insanın doğasına dair realist unsurları teşhis etmeden Osmanlı siyaset düşüncesinde ahlâkî argümanların siyaseti, devlet fikrini ve kurumları nasıl inşa ettiğini anlayamayacağı- mızı iddia ediyorum. Osmanlı fazilet ahlâkı geleneğinde ahlâkın her şeyi kapsadığına dair kanının aksine siyasetin mahiyeti itibariyle tekil, değişken, ahlâktan bir ölçüde bağımsız bir gerçeklik olarak anlaşıldığını gösteriyorum. (...) Bununla bağlantılı olarak Osmanlı siyaset düşünce geleneğinde fazilet ahlâkından gelen in- sanın acziyeti anlayışının, siyasî aktörleri ve eylemleri değerlendirmede onu realist yapan unsur olduğunu ifade ediyorum. Son olarak ahlâkın kapsamı ve siyasetin mahiyetini (gerek birbirleriyle olan ilişkileri açı- sından gerekse de birbirlerinden bağımsız olarak varlıklarını) açıklamada tümeller probleminin nasıl bir rol oynadığına işaret ediyorum. Tümeller probleminin siyaset ve ahlâk arasındaki karmaşık ilişkiye dair getirdiği analitik ayrımları ılımlı siyasî realizmin kaynağı olarak sunuyorum. (shrink)

In recent years, the genetic testing and selection of IVF embryos, known as preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), has gained much traction in clinical assisted reproduction for preventing transmission of genetic defects. However, a more recent ethically and morally controversial development in PGT is its possible use in selecting IVF embryos for optimal intelligence quotient (IQ) and other non–disease-related socially desirable traits, such as tallness, fair complexion, athletic ability, and eye and hair colour, based on polygenic risk scores (PRS), in what (...) is referred to as PGT-P. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning–based analysis of big data sets collated from genome sequencing of specific human ethnic populations can be used to estimate an individual embryo’s likelihood of developing such multifactorial traits by analysing the combination of specific genetic variants within its genome. Superficially, this technique appears compliant with Islamic principles and ethics. Because there is no modification of the human genome, there is no tampering with Allah’s creation (_taghyīr khalq Allah_). Nevertheless, a more critical analysis based on the five maxims of Islamic jurisprudence (_qawa'id fiqhiyyah_) that are often utilized in discourses on Islamic bioethics, namely _qaṣd_ (intention), _yaqın̄_ (certainty), _ḍarar_ (injury), _ḍarūra_ (necessity), and _`urf_ (custom), would instead reveal some major ethical and moral flaws of this new medical technology in the selection of non–disease-related socially desirable traits, and its non-compliance with the spirit and essence of Islamic law (shariah). Muslim scholars, jurists, doctors, and biomedical scientists should debate this further and issue a fatwa on this new medical technology platform. (shrink)

A cross-cultural survey experiment revealed a dominant tendency to rely on a rule’s letter over its spirit when deciding which behaviors violate the rule. This tendency varied markedly across (k = 15) countries, owing to variation in the impact of moral appraisals on judgments of rule violation. Compared with laypeople, legal experts were more inclined to disregard their moral evaluations of the acts altogether and consequently exhibited stronger textualist tendencies. Finally, we evaluated a plausible mechanism for the emergence of textualism: (...) in a two-player coordination game, incentives to coordinate in the absence of communication reinforced participants’ adherence to rules’ literal meaning. Together, these studies (total n = 5,794) help clarify the origins and allure of textualism, especially in the law. Within heterogeneous communities in which members diverge in their moral appraisals involving a rule’s purpose, the rule’s literal meaning provides a clear focal point—an identifiable point of agreement enabling coordinated interpretation among citizens, lawmakers, and judges. (shrink)

In a pair of very important papers, namely “Space, Time and Individuals” in the Journal of Philosophy for October 1955 and “The Indestructibility and Immutability of Substances” in Philosophical Studies for April 1956, Professor N. L. Wilson began something which badly needed beginning, namely the construction of a logically rigorous “substance-language” in which we talk about enduring and changing individuals as we do in common speech, as opposed to the “space-time” language favoured by very many mathematical logicians, perhaps most notably (...) by Quine. This enterprise of Wilson's is one with which I could hardly sympathize more heartily than I do; and one wishes for this logically rigorous “substance-language” not only when one is reading Quine but also when one is reading many other people. How fantastic it is, for instance, that Kotarbinski1 should call his metaphysics “Reism” when the very last kind of entity it has room for is things —instead of them it just has the world-lines or life-histories of things; “fourdimensional worms”, as Wilson says. Wilson, moreover, has at least one point of superiority to another rebel against space-time talk, P. F. Strawson; namely he does seriously attempt to meet formalism with formalism—to show that logical rigour is not a monopoly of the other side. At another point, however, Strawson seems to me to see further than Wilson; he is aware that substance-talk cannot be carried on without tenses, whereas Wilson tries to do without them. Wilson, in short, has indeed brought us out of Egypt; but as yet has us still wandering about the Sinai Peninsula; the Promised Land is a little further on than he has taken us. (shrink)

Эта книга поможет пролить свет на метафизическое осмысление философии истории, подведет к более глубокому пониманию сущности добра и зла, предложенному известным русским философом и мыслителем Н. Ф. Федоровым.

Background The use of lengthy, detailed, and complex informed consent forms is of paramount concern in biomedical research as it may not truly promote the rights and interests of research participants. The extent of information in ICFs has been the subject of debates for decades; however, no clear guidance is given. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the perspectives of research participants about the type and extent of information they need when they are invited to participate in (...) biomedical research. Methods This multi-center, cross-sectional, descriptive survey was conducted at 54 study sites in seven Asia-Pacific countries. A modified Likert-scale questionnaire was used to determine the importance of each element in the ICF among research participants of a biomedical study, with an anchored rating scale from 1 to 5. Results Of the 2484 questionnaires distributed, 2113 were returned. The majority of respondents considered most elements required in the ICF to be ‘moderately important’ to ‘very important’ for their decision making. Major foreseeable risk, direct benefit, and common adverse effects of the intervention were considered to be of most concerned elements in the ICF. Conclusions Research participants would like to be informed of the ICF elements required by ethical guidelines and regulations; however, the importance of each element varied, e.g., risk and benefit associated with research participants were considered to be more important than the general nature or technical details of research. Using a participant-oriented approach by providing more details of the participant-interested elements while avoiding unnecessarily lengthy details of other less important elements would enhance the quality of the ICF. (shrink)

This volume is a superb addition to the voluminous literature engendered by the enigmatic treatise--"Job." The first section is an introduction by the editor to the study of "Job." It briefly outlines the various traditions of interpretive material. Glatzer's major criticism of this literature is two-fold: there is a general avoidance of direct confrontation with the text; interpreters tend to abuse "Job" to validate a previously held intellectual stance. Glatzer also provides the reader with a sketch of his own viewpoint, (...) but unfortunately the sketch is skeletal. The second section provides thirty-two modern selections on various aspects of "Job." The editor has combined these selections under headings designed to define more precisely an area of interest or to demonstrate the spectrum of thought among one tradition's spokesmen. Glatzer's familiar thoroughness is manifest right down to the index and bibliography.--F. J. N. (shrink)

A persuasive attack on Ryle's notion that "remember" is an achievement verb, and on Russell's view that all acts of memory might be entirely misleading. Although we can never be sure in any particular case that our memories are veridical, we need not adopt total scepticism. The book suffers from awkwardness of style and unnecessary repetition.--F. W. N.

The author manages to work in quite a bit of ethics among numerous examples and illustrations. Both classical and modern views are considered. Great simplicity and clarity.--F. W. N.

A simple presentation of an epistemology operating in the Thomistic tradition but revealing the influence of the phenomenological movement. The major portion of the book is devoted to a severe critique of scientific method--so severe that the conclusion that science and metaphysics complement each other seems unexciting.--F. W. N.

A symposium by twelve English thinkers of various Christian backgrounds. The papers investigate the possibility of incorporating traditional metaphysics and the insights of contemporary continental philosophers into the empirical and analytic tradition. The concept of intuition or immediate apprehension is explored in several of the papers as a possible key to the problem. Though the writers often fail to face up to hard problems, the book offers an important, if cautious, effort at integration.--F. W. N.

A previous critique of the relevance of Piron's questions-propositions system as a generator of quantum mechanics by interpretation is reinforced and brought to a close by further investigation.

But a body of rigorous mathematical theory has also gradually developed, and this is the first book to present that theory.

After some preliminaries on the logic of change and the logic of action the author develops an extended theory of norms in this companion volume to his The Varieties of Goodness. Although the book will be of particular interest to deontic logicians, its philosophic value is greatly enhanced by a concern for broader issues, including problems in the ontology of norms. The usefulness of the work is very much decreased by numerous undeveloped suggestions and unanswered questions.—F. W. N.

An elementary analysis, both historical and systematic, of the two topics mentioned in the title. Although the book presents difficulties in both phases of its analysis, readers concerned with the topics should find it an interesting presentation of a Catholic view.--F. W. N.

Over the past years, in books and journals (this journal included), N. Maxwell launched a ferocious attack on B. C. van Fraassen’s view of science called Constructive Empiricism (CE). This attack has been totally ignored. Must we conclude from this silence that no defence is possible and that a fortiori Maxwell has buried CE once and for all? Or is the attack too obviously flawed as not to merit exposure? A careful dissection of Maxwell’s reasoning will make it clear that (...) neither is the case. This dissection includes an analysis of Maxwell’s ‘aberrance–argument’ (omnipresent in his many writings) for the claim that science implicitly and permanently accepts a substantial, metaphysical thesis about the universe, which then paves the way for his own metaphysical-realist hierarchy-view of science. This aberrance-claim, which Maxwell directs against a widely shared and harmful ideology of science called ‘Standard Empiricism’, generally has been ignored too, for more than a quarter of a century. Our conclusions will be that (i) Maxwell’s attacks on CE can be beaten off, and (ii) his ‘aberrance–arguments’ do not establish what Maxwell believes they establish, but (iii) we can draw a number of valuable lessons from these attacks about the nature of science and of the libertarian nature of CE. (shrink)

This book contains eight essays, the first seven of which are revised, expanded, and edited from articles previously published by the author. The essays focus on Eliade's academic discipline like an adjustable lens-zooming in on a special area for particular detail, panning back to provide a breathtaking overview. A prime example of the former is "Paradise and Utopia: Mythical Geography and Eschatology;" of the latter--"The History of Religions in Retrospect: 1912 and After." In all eight gems, Eliade exhibits his thoroughly (...) disciplined research as well as his efforts towards scholastic objectivity. The selections and enlargements of the various articles press home the author's two-fold desire to stress the development of a systematic hermeneutics of the sacred and to point out the creative cultural function which the history of religions could realize. The most resolute expression of these two foci can be found in the fourth essay: "Crisis and Renewal." There is a short index.--F.J.N. (shrink)