In today’s globalized world, nations cannot be totally isolated from or indifferent to their neighbors, especially in regards to medicine and health. While globalization has brought prosperity to millions, disparities among nations and nationals are growing raising once again the question of justice. Similarly, while medicine has developed dramatically over the past few decades, health disparities at the global level are staggering. Seemingly, what our humanity could achieve in matters of scientific development is not justly distributed to benefit everyone. In (...) this paper, it will be argued that a global theoretical agreement on principles of justice may prove unattainable; however, a grass-roots change is warranted to change the current situation. The UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights will be considered as a starting point to achieve this change through extracting the main values embedded in its principles. These values, namely, respecting human dignity and tending to human vulnerability with a hospitable attitude, should then be revived in medical practice. Medical education will be one possible venue to achieve that, especially through role models. Future physicians will then become the fervent advocates for a global and just distribution of health care. (shrink)

Die Wissensvermittlung in Gesundheitsethik ermöglicht es Auszubildenden der Pflege, sich in ihrer zukünftigen Tätigkeit bei Entscheidungsprozessen des Behandlungsteams hinsichtlich pflegeethischer Fragestellungen einzubringen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde anhand der vorliegenden Studie die Entwicklung moralischer Positionen sowie pflegeethischer Kenntnisse von Pflegeauszubildenden sichtbar gemacht. An zwei Krankenpflegeschulen (Berlin und Fürth) wurden im Rahmen einer Panelstudie von August 2010 bis März 2011 Daten einer ersten Querschnittserhebung von Auszubildenden in der Pflege erhoben. Für die Studie wurde ein strukturierter Fragebogen verwendet. Die Studienteilnahme erfolgte freiwillig. Alle (...) Auszubildenden hatten vor der Befragung in unterschiedlichem Umfang Unterricht in Gesundheitsethik erhalten. An beiden Standorten zeigten die Teilnehmenden einen Zuwachs an pflegeethischen Kenntnissen. Auszubildende, die bislang keine praktische Erfahrung mit Sterbehilfe gemacht hatten, zeigten Schwierigkeiten in der theoretischen Handhabung dieser Maßnahmen. Für alle Auszubildenden zeigte sich ein allgemeiner Trend zu einer Befürwortung des partizipativen Interaktionsmodells und damit zu einer Förderung der Patientenselbstbestimmung. Zugleich schätzten die Studienteilnehmenden die Fähigkeiten von Patienten, medizinisch richtige Therapieentscheidungen zu treffen, als gering ein. Die Ausbildung in Gesundheitsethik besitzt ein großes Potential, Kenntnisse zu vermitteln und dadurch die ethische Kompetenzentwicklung zu befördern. Unsere Ergebnisse werfen die Frage auf, inwieweit es einer Integration praktischer Erfahrungen mit Fragestellungen der Gesundheitsethik bedarf, um eine praxisrelevante und wissenschaftlich fundierte Wissensvermittlung zu gewährleisten. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Digitale Programme unterstützen mittlerweile sowohl die Erhebung des Pflegebedarfs und die Pflegeplanung als auch die Dokumentation der geleisteten Pflege. Neben Verbesserungen ergeben sich jedoch auch Spannungen zwischen der Verrichtungsorientierung und Standardisierung der digitalen Systeme und dem Fürsorgeethos der Pflege. Daher sind digitale Systeme sowohl aus pflegefachlicher als auch aus pflegeethischer Sicht zu beleuchten, um Chancen und Risiken aufzuzeigen. Pflegeverständnis und Pflegeziele werden in digitalen Programmen nicht explizit gemacht. Bedingt durch die mangelnde Transparenz können sich professionell Pflegende mit gegebenenfalls anderen (...) Pflegeverständnissen nicht dazu verhalten und von den Gepflegten auch keine angemessene Zustimmung zu Pflegemaßnahmen und -zielen einholen. Die Analyse einiger gängiger Programme zeigt, dass digitale Systeme zur somatischen Verkürzung der Pflege tendieren. So werden derzeit Ziele und Maßnahmen zur Kommunikation, Beziehungsgestaltung und Begleitung in Phasen von Krankheit und Sterben kaum abgebildet. In der Einführung digitaler Systeme liegt im Grunde die Chance eines Neubeginns, da sie durch digitale Normierungen zu stärkerer Patientenorientierung und Partizipation beitragen könnten. Es sollte zugleich jedoch die Partizipation der Betroffenen gewährleistet und die Transparenz und Veränderbarkeit der Systeme gewährleistet sein. (shrink)

This article aims to read feminist new materialisms (Barad), together with ‘postulated’ linguistic or cultural primacy of Queer Theory (Butler), to show how both are engaged in similar critical-ethical endeavours. The central argument is that the criticism of Barad and new materialisms misses Butler’s materialistic insights due to a narrow interpretation of Butler's alleged social-constructivist position. There is, therefore, a specific focus on where they both make similar ethical appeals. Moreover, the article relies on Adorno's negative dialectic to highlight an (...) interpretation of Barad and Butler as being part of the same dialectical movement, in which materialism and idealism fluctuate in their mutual criticisms, thus continuing the procession towards 'new knowledge' and emancipation, or freedom, through their motions back and forth. (shrink)

Sequences play a great role in mathematical communication. In mathematical notation, we use sequence ellipsis (. . . ) to denote "obvious" sequences like 1, 2, . . . , 7, and in conceptualizations sequence constructors like (i 2+1) i∈N. Furthermore, sequences have a prominent role as argument sequences of flexary functions. While the former cases can adequately be represented and reasoned about as domain objects in Open- Math and MathML, argument sequences are at the language level, and can only (...) be represented, but not reasoned with, since the necessary (sequence-schematic) axioms cannot be represented in the language. (shrink)

Throughout the twentieth century, the automation of formal logics in computers has created unprecedented potential for practical applications of logic—most prominently the mechanical verification of mathematics and software. But the high cost of these applications makes them infeasible but for a few flagship projects, and even those are negligible compared to the ever-rising needs for verification. One of the biggest challenges in the future of logic will be to enable applications at much larger scales and simultaneously at much lower costs. (...) This will require a far more efficient allocation of resources. Wherever possible, theoretical and practical results must be formulated generically so that they can be instantiated to arbitrary logics; this will allow reusing results in the face of today’s multitude of application-oriented and therefore diverging logical systems. Moreover, the software engineering problems concerning automation support must be decoupled from the theoretical problems of designing logics and calculi; this will allow researchers outside or at the fringe of logic to contribute scalable logic-independent tools. Anticipating these needs, the author has developed the Mmt framework. It offers a modern approach towards defining, analyzing, implementing, and applying logics that focuses on modular design and logic-independent results. This paper summarizes the ideas behind and the results about Mmt. It focuses on showing how Mmt. provides a theoretical and practical framework for the future of logic. (shrink)

The development of transplantation technology increasingly places before society a multitude of diverse, complex ethical and legal problems. The subject is the more complex because of the various divergent interests involved. There are the interests of the donor of organs, who has a right to protection of his legal position, and those of the patient in need of an often lifesaving organ. There are also the interests of the donor’s relatives, after his death, and those of the transplantation surgeons. The (...) international dimension of transplantation technology makes the picture even more complicated. Though this article is devoted to the European situation, the problems are similar all over the world. (shrink)

The development of transplantation technology increasingly places before society a multitude of diverse, complex ethical and legal problems. The subject is the more complex because of the various divergent interests involved. There are the interests of the donor of organs, who has a right to protection of his legal position, and those of the patient in need of an often lifesaving organ. There are also the interests of the donor’s relatives, after his death, and those of the transplantation surgeons. The (...) international dimension of transplantation technology makes the picture even more complicated. Though this article is devoted to the European situation, the problems are similar all over the world. (shrink)

After completing or dropping out of school, many young people leave their family households and in some cases they move from rural or semi-rural areas to urban centres. Faith-based organisations in major cities in South Africa sometimes act as a safety net for marginalised youth, especially as government departments are overburdened and not addressing all the needs of youth at the margins. This qualitative research is based on an analysis of individual and focus group interviews undertaken with young people living (...) in the central areas of Pretoria. It is shown how families and FBOs engage as separate, although at times not unrelated, entities in the lives of youth at the margins. In certain cases, the FBO became an institution of last resort and only in rare cases is a certain synergy achieved between FBOs and families. (shrink)

Seit dem 2. Nachchristlichen Jahrhundert werden die Schriften von Aristoteles kommentiert. DIese Ausgabe enthalt griechische Kommentare zu seinem Werk vom 3. Bis 8. JAhrhundert n. CHr., u. A. Von Alexander von Aphrodiensias, Themistios, Joh. PHiloponus, Simplicius in griechischer Sprache.

Art opens itself to many different functions. In principle, one cannot exclude that a work of art acts as stimulant or relaxant, that it provides cognitive benefits or serves social aims. However, the fact that it fulfills a certain function does not transform a product into an artistic creation, nor does it prevents it from being art. Rather the capacity to open an unlimited functional and meaningful space is what comprises the autonomy and the artistic quality of a work.

El presente artículo parte del presupuesto de que el trabajo de la memoria tiene un efecto transformador y liberador, si es llevado a cabo de forma dinámica, creativa y participativa. Como se verá, las experiencias y producciones estéticas adquieren aquí una función destacada, especialmente cuando se comparten de manera abierta y solidaria en una comunidad. Se argumentará que el fomento del trabajo productivo de la memoria con medios estéticos es una labor que no puede ni debe terminar nunca, puesto que (...) tiene una importancia vital para los procesos emancipadores del ser humano. Cuando se activa el potencial productivo y transformador de la memoria, se trascienden historias cerradas, unívocas y homogéneas, como las que propaga una memoria meramente reproductiva, puesta al servicio de una ideología imperante. Esta tesis central será analizada en sus implicaciones filosóficas y discutida contraponiendo la «memoria comunitaria», esencialmente productiva y transformadora, a la «memoria oficial» que procede de manera reproductiva y manipulativa. Ejemplos de iniciativas comunitarias del contexto colombiano ilustrarán finalmente de qué manera medios estéticos pueden despertar y fomentar una memoria crítica y transformadora, capaz de convertir historias cerradas, ignoradas o reprimidas en posibilidades que se abren a la vida. PALABRAS CLAVE: rememoración ; transformación. (shrink)

Resumen: Espacio y tiempo son conceptos inseparables. La relación que los une es tan estrecha que el espacio puede considerarse la otra cara del tiempo, y viceversa. La unidad y a la vez alteridad espacio-temporal representa un problema fundamental tanto para la ciencia, especialmente la física, como para la filosofía y el arte. Aunque puede haber puntos de encuentro entre las concepciones de las diferentes áreas, se observan diferencias fundamentales en la manera de entender ambos conceptos y la relación entre (...) ellos. El espacio y tiempo de la física clásica y el espacio lógico de Wittgenstein, ligado al presupuesto de la simultaneidad, son presuposiciones teóricas necesarias para establecer leyes físicas o bien para lograr representaciones exactas. Frente a la noción científica y transcendental está la concepción ontológica de Heidegger y la artística de Chillida. Renunciando al ideal de la exactitud, de lo medible y comprobable, el filósofo y el escultor entienden la mutua pertenencia de espacio y tiempo como algo que tiene una importancia fundamental para la vida humana y que representa un reto que hay que buscar.: Space and time are inseparable concepts. The relationship that joins them is so close that one can understand space as the opposite side of time, and vice versa. Unity and otherness of space and time constitute a fundamental problem for science, especially physics, as well as for philosophy and art. Although there may be connecting lines between the conceptions those different fields hold on space and time, one observes fundamental differences in the way they understand these two concepts and the relation between them. The conception of space and time in classical physics, as well as in Wittgenstein’s notion of logical space connected with the principle of simultaneity, represent necessary theoretical premises in order to establish physical laws and precise representations. Opposite to the scientific and transcendental concepts, we find Heidegger’s ontological and Chillida’s artistic conceptions. Giving up the ideal of precision, of measurement and verification, the philosopher and the sculptor understand the mutual belonging of space and time as something that has a fundamental importance in human life, and that constitutes a challenge that one can only search for. (shrink)

Catastrophic risk raises questions that are not only of practical importance, but also of great philosophical interest, such as how to define catastrophe and what distinguishes catastrophic outcomes from non-catastrophic ones. Catastrophic risk also raises questions about how to rationally respond to such risks. How to rationally respond arguably partly depends on the severity of the uncertainty, for instance, whether quantitative probabilistic information is available, or whether only comparative likelihood information is available, or neither type of information. Finally, catastrophic risk (...) raises important ethical questions about what to do when catastrophe avoidance conflicts with equity promotion. (shrink)

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This study described the relationships between academic class and student moral sensitivity and reasoning and between curriculum design components for ethics education and student moral sensitivity and reasoning. The data were collected from freshman (n = 506) and senior students (n = 440) in eight baccalaureate nursing programs in South Korea by survey; the survey consisted of the Korean Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire and the Korean Defining Issues Test. The results showed that moral sensitivity scores in patient-oriented care and conflict were (...) higher in senior students than in freshman students. Furthermore, more hours of ethics content were associated with higher principled thinking scores of senior students. Nursing education in South Korea may have an impact on developing student moral sensitivity. Planned ethics content in nursing curricula is necessary to improve moral sensitivity and moral reasoning of students. (shrink)

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The book challenges the values of much of contemporary bioethics and health care policy by confronting their failure to secure the moral norms they seek to apply.

Suppose that a decision-maker's aim, under certainty, is to maximise some continuous value, such as lifetime income or continuous social welfare. Can such a decision-maker rationally satisfy what has been called "continuity for easy cases" while at the same time satisfying what seems to be a widespread intuition against the full-blown continuity axiom of expected utility theory? In this note I argue that the answer is "no": given transitivity and a weak trade-off principle, continuity for easy cases violates the anti-continuity (...) intuition. I end the note by exploring an even weaker continuity condition that is consistent with the aforementioned intuition. (shrink)