This volume examines a variety of philosophical approaches that seek to formulate practical guidelines or norms for human actions and behavior in different areas of society, including politics, cultural traditions, the environment, business management, architecture, and medicine. Written by a team of international authors, this volume features thirteen surveys. It begins with an exploration of ethics in politics and cultural traditions. From genocide to the unequal distribution of wealth, it examines many of the harms that currently affect societies throughout the (...) world and considers a way that those in politics can follow to provide better care for all their populations. Next, the book looks at the relation between ethics and cultural traditions. It features a paper that examines the tension that often exists between the past and the present, with a special focus on the history of India. This volume also considers the idea of a universal system of ethics, presents a practical approach to value-based management in private and public organizations, and examines ethics in medicine. In addition, this volume includes coverage of a new type of ethics called Eco-ethica, proposed by the Japanese philosopher Tomonobu Imamichi, which seeks to answer the question of how men and women can live better or live together with each other in a systematized, technological age. (shrink)

Norway’s liberal abortion law allows for abortion on social indications, yet access to screening for fetal abnormalities is restricted. Norwegian regulation of, and public discourse about prenatal screening and diagnosis has been exceptional. In this study, we wanted to investigate whether the exceptional regulation is mirrored in public attitudes. An electronic questionnaire with 11 propositions about prenatal screening and diagnosis was completed by 1617 Norwegian adults (response rate 8.5%). A majority of respondents supports increased access to prenatal screening with ultrasound (...) (60%) and/or full genome sequencing of fetal DNA (55%) available for all pregnant women. Significant minorities indicate, however, that a public offer of prenatal screening for all pregnant women would signal that people with Down syndrome are unwanted (46%) or could be criticized for contributing to a ‘sorting society’ (48%). Results indicate deeper ambivalences and a cultural sensitivity to the ethical challenges of prenatal screening and subsequent abortions. The specific diagnosis of Down syndrome and the fear of becoming a ‘sorting society’ which sorts human life due to diagnoses, appear to play prominent roles in citizen deliberations. The low response rate means that a non-response bias cannot be excluded, yet reasons why results are still likely to be of value are discussed. (shrink)

Guttorm Fløistad. therefore fundamentally misunderstand both freedom and force (power). They presuppose that words have a force or power that they do not have , that is, coercive power. In addition, of course, such laws express a lack of ...

In recent decades there has been an increased emphasis on non-technical skills in medical teams. One promising approach that relates teamwork to medical efficiency is the theory of Shared Mental Models. The aim of the present study was to investigate the suitability of the Shared Mental Model approach for teamwork between operators in emergency medical communication centers and the first line ambulance personnel in real-life settings. These teams collaborate while working from geographically dispersed positions, which makes them distinct from the (...) kinds of teams examined in most previous research on team effectiveness. A pressing issue is therefore whether current models on co-located teams are valid for medical distributed teams. A total of 240 participants from 80 emergency medical teams participated in the study. A team effectiveness model was proposed based on identified team coordinating mechanisms and the “Big five” team processes. Path analyses showed that SMM was positively associated with team effectiveness and negatively related to mission complexity. Furthermore, the coordinating mechanisms of SMM and Closed Loop Communication was positively related to “Big five” team scores. However, no effects were found for the “Big five” team processes on effectiveness, which could indicate that the model needs to be adjusted for application to geographically dispersed teams. Possible implications for team training of distributed emergency response teams are discussed. (shrink)

This paper is a discussion of which kinds of knowledge Spinoza himself employs in developing the system of the Ethics. The problem is raised by Professor D. Savan and further discussed by G. H. R. Parkinson. The thesis is (1) that no occurrence of the first kind of knowledge is to be found in the Ethics (against Parkinson), (2) that the main part of the analysis in the Ethics is conducted on the level of the second kind of knowledge (in (...) agreement with Parkinson), and (3) that the third kind of knowledge occurs frequently and plays a most important role in the Ethics (in part against Parkinson). The relation between knowledge and language, the distinction between two types of imagination, or two ways of imagining things, the translation of knowledge of modes of extension into knowledge of the mind, and the relation between the second and third kind of knowledge are main parts of the argument. The third kind of knowledge derives its significance in the Ethics from the definitions and axioms, particularly in Part 1. These definitions and axioms form the basis of the whole system of the Ethics, and at least some of them, it is suggested, belong to the third kind of knowledge. (shrink)

Volume 1 in the new series, Philosophical Problems Today, contains articles on standard problems in European and American philosophy. Quine writes on truth and discusses various difficulties connected with the clear definition of the correspondence theory of truth. Strawson, in his articles on individuals, disputes the empiricist test for the status of entity of object. Sufficient identity-conditions are satisfied by a much wider range of objects. The concept of meaning is further extended and differentiated in the article by Habermas on (...) speech acts and actions. The notion of communicative action is central to his argument. The study of formalism, by Agazzi, is in an important sense also a study of meaning. Although for the most part developed within mathematics, formal ways of thinking have been a basic tenet within philosophy and science ever since Aristotle. In his article, Ricoeur observes that the present philosophy of history no longer engages in the speculative system building as presented in the philosophy of Hegel, Marx and Toynbee. Our philosophy of history is rather a critical reflection of various issues connected with the transmission of historical meaning. (shrink)

This paper is a presentation and discussion of Spinoza's view on the knower, or the mind, as an agent. The knower is on his view to be regarded as an active or generative complex cognitive experience. Imagination, reason and intuition are the cognitive principles. On account of their intrinsic relation to “the first law of nature”, that of selfpreservation, together with the thesis of the mind as constituted by ideas or knowledge, these principles function at the same time as moral (...) principles. Consequently, it makes sense to speak of an individual's moral attitude toward everything be knows. A discussion of imagination, reason and intuition mainly as cognitive principles is followed by some concluding remarks on the cognitive and moral relation between human beings: To know another human being is to know his knowledge. The moral attitude of individuals to each other is a function of their mutual knowledge of knowledge. (shrink)

This paper begins by critically examining the inadequacies of production culture in organizations based primarily on impersonal, professional relationships and argues that many of the ills of modern industry like absenteeism and interpersonal conflicts stem from this culture. The author suggests that the culture of community characterized by social competence, personal relationships, cooperation, care and recognition can best serve the real purpose of organizations than mere professionalism. Culture of community implies values-based management or ethical management whereby an indi vidual or (...) an organization is bound to accept certain norms for the well-being of the community. Thus, ethics ought to become a project for commitment to values which have gradually been eroded in our mass media society where religions no longer inspire men to live ethically. The author delves into Norwegian history and recalls the case of Hans Nielsen Hauge, whose inspirational leadership was summed up in his simple gospel: 'Fear of God, temperance and hard work'. Hauge's leadership style of management by building community cultures has, according to the author, great significance for modern enterprises. (shrink)

Truth, adequacy and error, the Mind-Body relation and the meaning of "having" an idea are issues still at the center of philosophical debate. Spinoza belongs to those past masters whose work always inspires renewed insights on these as on other philosophical issues. This volume revolves around Part II of Spinoza's _opus magnum_, the _Ethics_ where he offers his theory of knowledge and the human mind. Stuart Hampshire writes about "Truth and Correspondence"; Alexandre Matheron discusses "Ideas of Ideas and Certainty"; Alan (...) Donagan writes on "Language, Ideas and Reasoning"; Jonathan Bennett tackles the difficult one substance — two attributes issue, and Yirmiyahu Yovel analyzes 'common notions' and error. Papers are also presented by Jean-Luc Marion, Pierre-François Moreau, Guttorm Fløistad, Wallace I. Matson, Wim Klever, Elhanan Yakira, Marcelo Dascal, Wolfgang Bartuschat, Amihud Gilead and Filippo Mignini. This book is based on the second Jerusalem Conference. Each conference in this series, and the ensuing volume, focuses on a specific 'family' of issues: the first five follow Spinoza's own division in his _Ethics_, and the other two deal with Spinoza's social and political theory and his life and sources. An outcome of a long-standing interest in Spinozistic thought by a group of first-rate scholars, this volume is sure to join the first one as indispensable reading for Spinoza students and scholars. (shrink)