Background Since the enactment of the euthanasia law in the Netherlands, there has been a lively public debate on assisted dying that may influence the way patients talk about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide with their physicians and the way physicians experience the practice of EAS. Aim To show what developments physicians see in practice and how they perceive the influence of the public debate on the practice of EAS. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of in-depth interviews with 28 Dutch (...) physicians who had experience with a complex case of EAS. Respondents were recruited both by the network of physicians working for SCEN as well as via a national questionnaire, wherein participating physicians could indicate their willingness to be interviewed. Results Three themes came up in analysing the interviews. First, the interviewed physicians experienced a change in what patients would expect from them: from a role as an involved caregiver to being the mere performer of EAS. Second, interviewees said that requests for EAS based on non-medical reasons came up more frequently and wondered if EAS was the right solution for these requests. Last, respondents had the impression that the standards of EAS are shifting and that the boundaries of the EAS regulation were stretched. Conclusions The perceived developments could make physicians less willing to consider a request for EAS. Our results also raise questions about the role of physicians and of EAS in society. (shrink)

BackgroundIn the Netherlands, Foundation De Einder offers counselling to people who wish to be able to self-determine the timing and manner of their end of life.AimThis study explores the experiences with counselling that counselees receive from counsellors facilitated by Foundation De Einder.MethodsOpen coding and inductive analysis of in-depth interviews with 17 counselees.ResultsCounselling ranged from solely receiving information about lethal medication to combining this with psychological counselling about matters of life and death, and the effects for close ones. Counselees appreciated the (...) availability of the counsellor, their careful and open attitude, feeling respected and being reminded about their own responsibility. Some counselees felt dependent on the counsellor, or questioned their competency. Most counselees collected lethal medication. This gave them peace of mind and increased their quality of life, but also led to new concerns. Few were inclined to use their self-collected medication. Counselling contributed to thinking about if, when and how counselees would like to end their life.ConclusionHaving obtained means to end their lives can offer people feelings of reassurance, which can increase their quality of life, but can also give rise to new concerns. Next to providing information on lethal medication, counsellors can play an important role by having an open non-judgemental attitude, providing trustworthy information and being available. These positively valued aspects of counselling are also relevant for physicians taking care of patients who wish to self-determine the timing and manner of their end of life. (shrink)

BackgroundMoral distress (MD) is an emotional and psychological response to morally challenging dilemmas. Moral distress is experienced frequently by nurses in the intensive care unit (ICU) and can result in emotional anguish, work dissatisfaction, poor patient outcomes, and high levels of nurse turnover. Opportunities to discuss ethically challenging situations may lessen MD and its associated sequela.ObjectiveThe purpose of this project was to develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of nursing ethics huddles on participants’ MD, clinical ethics knowledge, work satisfaction, and (...) patient care among ICU nurses.Sample and SettingThe sample, 32 nurses from three ICU settings in an 800-bed tertiary academic medical center, participated in six nursing ethics huddles over a two-month period.MethodsAlvita K. Nathaniel’s Theory of Moral Reckoning guided development of the nursing ethics huddle process.1 The Moral Distress Thermometer was administered at three data points: baseline level of MD, and pre- and post-huddle to determine changes in the subjects’ level of MD.2 Focused content analysis was used to analyze qualitative responses from questionnaires about the subjects’ perception of the effect of the huddles on work satisfaction and patient care. Knowledge attainment was evaluated via open-ended short-answer questions.ResultsOverall, use of nurse-ethicist-led nursing ethics huddles was associated with improved quality of work life, patient care, and clinical ethics knowledge. The change in pre- and post-nursing ethics huddles MD scores was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). (shrink)

A self-fulfilling prophecy in neuroprognostication occurs when a patient in coma is predicted to have a poor outcome, and life-sustaining treatment is withdrawn on the basis of that prediction, thus directly bringing about a poor outcome for that patient. In contrast to the predominant emphasis in the bioethics literature, we look beyond the moral issues raised by the possibility that an erroneous prediction might lead to the death of a patient who otherwise would have lived. Instead, we focus on the (...) problematic epistemic consequences of neuroprognostic SFPs in settings where research and practice intersect. When this sort of SFP occurs, the problem is that physicians and researchers are never in a position to notice whether their original prognosis was correct or incorrect, since the patient dies anyway. Thus, SFPs keep us from discerning false positives from true positives, inhibiting proper assessment of novel prognostic tests. This epistemic problem of SFPs thus impedes learning, but ethical obligations of patient care make it difficult to avoid SFPs. We then show how the impediment to catching false positive indicators of poor outcome distorts research on novel techniques for neuroprognostication, allowing biases to persist in prognostic tests. We finally highlight a particular risk that a precautionary bias towards early withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment may be amplified. We conclude with guidelines about how researchers can mitigate the epistemic problems of SFPs, to achieve more responsible innovation of neuroprognostication for patients in coma. (shrink)

In this edited volume, authors from multiple academic and creative disciplines interrogate constructionist and new materialist paradigms to assess their adequacy when analysing entanglements and weavings of gender and love in diverse contexts where discursive and material elements intra-act.

Do the rich descriptions and narrative shapings of literature provide a valuable resource for readers, writers, philosophers, and everyday people to imagine and confront the ultimate questions of life? Do the human activities of storytelling and complex moral decision-making have a deep connection? What are the moral responsibilities of the artist, critic, and reader? What can religious perspectives—from Catholic to Protestant to Mormon—contribute to literary criticism? Thirty well known contributors reflect on these questions, including iterary theorists Marshall Gregory, James Phelan, (...) and Wayne Booth; philosophers Martha Nussbaum, Richard Hart, and Nina Rosenstand; and authors John Updike, Charles Johnson, Flannery O'Connor, and Bernard Malamud. Divided into four sections, with introductory matter and questions for discussion, this accessible anthology represents the most crucial work today exploring the interdisciplinary connections between literature, religion and philosophy. (shrink)

Pancreatitis is a complex, progressively destructive inflammatory disorder. Alcohol was long thought to be the primary causative agent, but genetic contributions have been of interest since the discovery that rare PRSS1, CFTR and SPINK1 variants were associated with pancreatitis risk. We now report two associations at genome-wide significance identified and replicated at PRSS1-PRSS2 and X-linked CLDN2 through a two-stage genome-wide study. The PRSS1 variant likely affects disease susceptibility by altering expression of the primary trypsinogen gene. The CLDN2 risk allele is (...) associated with atypical localization of claudin-2 in pancreatic acinar cells. The homozygous CLDN2 genotype confers the greatest risk, and its alleles interact with alcohol consumption to amplify risk. These results could partially explain the high frequency of alcohol-related pancreatitis in men. © 2012 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved. (shrink)

Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need (...) to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent. (shrink)

Trente-cinq ans après le numéro d'hommage que lui consacrait à sa mort La Nouvelle Revue française, cet ouvrage rassemble une matière inédite sur le philosophe, écrivain et éditeur Brice Parain. Il s'agit, d'une part, de textes et témoignages prononcés lors d'une journée d'études en juin 2002 organisée par la Bibliothèque nationale de France, détentrice de ses archives personnelles. On y a joint, d'autre part, un ensemble de documents éclairant d'un nouveau jour le parcours singulier d'une des grandes figures intellectuelles françaises (...) du siècle dernier. Les analyses des historiens se mêlent ici, documents et archives à l'appui, aux travaux des philosophes et des critiques pour porter un regard plus renseigné sur ses multiples interventions dans la vie intellectuelle, littéraire et politique du pays : son rapport au communisme et aux communistes français, son rôle exact dans l'histoire éditoriale de la NRF, son dialogue avec les nouvelles figures dominantes de la vie intellectuelle de l'après-guerre son célèbre affrontement avec Jean-Paul Sartre est l'épisode le plus souvent cité ; mais il y en aura d'autres... Et voilà bien sûr que, par d'autres voies, on interroge à nouveau, en s'efforçant de la saisir sous tous ses aspects et variations et dans sa grande profondeur, ce qui demeure la grande question de sa vie : qu'est-ce qu'un langage à la mesure et au service de l'homme? Homme de courage et de cœur autant qu'homme de lettres, Parain tire sans doute son opiniâtreté d'une enfance paysanne où l'on ne se payait pas de mots. Les témoignages abondent pour dépeindre la gentillesse, l'ouverture d'esprit, l'obstination aussi du " philosophe paysan " qui n'a jamais rien oublié de la campagne de son enfance. Ni de la Russie, d'ailleurs, qu'il connaissait intimement et dont il contribua à faire connaître les grands auteurs passés et contemporains en menant une politique active de publications et de traductions - des grandes traductions données par la " Pléiade " au Docteur Jivago de Boris Pasternak. Un Français à l'âme slave, donc. Et une personnalité très attachante. (shrink)

We explore the various ethical challenges that arise during the practical implementation of an emergency resource allocation protocol. We argue that to implement an allocation plan in a crisis, a hospital system must complete five tasks: (1) formulate a set of general principles for allocation, (2) apply those principles to the disease at hand to create a concrete protocol, (3) collect the data required to apply the protocol, (4) construct a system to implement triage decisions with those data, and (5) (...) create a system for managing the consequences of implementing the protocol, including the effects on those who must carry out the plan, the medical staff, and the general public. Here we illustrate the complexities of each task and provide tentative solutions, by describing the experiences of the Coronavirus Ethics Response Group, an interdisciplinary team formed to address the ethical issues in pandemic resource planning at the University of Rochester Medical Center. While the plan was never put into operation, the process of preparing for emergency implementation exposed ethical issues that require attention. (shrink)

L'apparition de la poupée Barbie en 1959 ­ c'est-à-dire la substitution d'une poupée femme à une poupée enfant ­ marque une rupture dans la socialisation des petites filles. Pur produit des années 1950, la poupée Barbie s'adapte à toutes les décennies qui suivent car elle est avant tout le symbole d'une société de consommation qui sait récupérer toutes les modes, même celles qui paraissent les plus avancées. Elle est aussi le symbole du simulacre dans un monde qui est de plus (...) en plus le monde du faux-semblant. (shrink)

L'apparition de la poupée Barbie en 1959 ­ c'est-à-dire la substitution d'une poupée femme à une poupée enfant ­ marque une rupture dans la socialisation des petites filles. Pur produit des années 1950, la poupée Barbie s'adapte à toutes les décennies qui suivent car elle est avant tout le symbole d'une société de consommation qui sait récupérer toutes les modes, même celles qui paraissent les plus avancées. Elle est aussi le symbole du simulacre dans un monde qui est de plus (...) en plus le monde du faux-semblant. (shrink)

This introduction includes a short summary discussion of all the articles included in the volume. In addition to reprints of Rorty's essays about pragmatism and feminism, the volume includes essays by John C. Adams, Linda Martín Alcoff, Sharyn Clough, Nancy Fraser, Sabina Lovibond, Alessandra Tanesini, Georgia Warnke, and Steven Yarbrough.

Cet article est né d'une double constatation, la première inspirée par l'étude du corpus d'Héraclite d'Éphèse, auteur ionien du 6ème siècle av. J.-C. dont il nous reste largement plus d'une centaine de Fragments considérés comme littéraux et censément extraits d'une œuvre dont la forme et l'ordonnance sont à ce jour inconnues, la seconde par la lecture des commentaires et interprétations qu'en proposent les spécialistes. C'est en effet en remarquant la variété des approches appliquées par les scientifiques pour parvenir à une (...) compréhension générale du corpus d'une part et les divergences d'interprétation qui en découlent souvent d'autre part que j'en suis venue à m'interroger sur l'importance du choix de la méthodologie au sein d'une activité faisant la part belle à un délicat travail de rapiéçage. Puis, c'est en tentant moi-même de restituer un sens à certains Fragments individuels d'Héraclite et, d'une manière plus globale, de les considérer comme les lambeaux épars d'une même toile déchiquetée que j'ai compris la difficulté de développer un commentaire à partir d'extraits émiettés dont ni l'organisation, ni la forme initiales ne sont déterminées. La prose poétique d'Héraclite ajoutant à ces difficultés engendrées par l'histoire de la transmission des problèmes de définition des termes-clefs d'une part et d'identification des figures littéraires qui jalonnent le corpus d'autre part, j'ai tenté d'illustrer dans cet article quelques questions méthodologiques représentatives de son oeuvre, et ce en prenant ancrage dans les hypothèses de polysémie et de niveau de lecture auxquelles nous confronte la notion de „feu“, récurrente au sein des vestiges de l'œuvre de l'Éphésien. En partant de l'analyse de deux Fragments ignés, à savoir B30 et B66, cet article tend donc à présenter principalement quatre problèmes ou questions méthodologiques que je crois avoir décelés aussi bien au sein des études héraclitéennes que dans mes propres recherches: (1) les méthodes d'interprétation choisies pour aborder des séquences parfois sibyllines et, par conséquent, difficiles à traduire ainsi que les principes qui les motivent, (2) le traitement de la polysémie et de l'oscillation entre sens littéral et sens littéraire d'une notion-clef que l'œuvre ne définit jamais explicitement, (3) la fiabilité de sources anciennes quant à l'interprétation des Fragments, (4) la difficulté d'établir des définitions stables et les postulats d'équivalence entre des termes-clefs se substituant aux ambiguités du texte. C'est en montrant, sur le terrain des Fragments même, comment se posent à nous ces questions méthodologiques que j'aborde les thèmes de la polysémie et des niveaux de lecture du terme „feu“ dans le corpus d'Héraclite pour illustrer, par quelques exemples, comment des choix méthodologiques peuvent conditionner l'ensemble d'une interprétation, selon les options que le chercheur décidera d'adopter ou non. (shrink)

Cet article est né d'une double constatation, la première inspirée par l'étude du corpus d'Héraclite d'Éphèse, auteur ionien du 6ème siècle av. J.-C. dont il nous reste largement plus d'une centaine de Fragments considérés comme littéraux et censément extraits d'une œuvre dont la forme et l'ordonnance sont à ce jour inconnues, la seconde par la lecture des commentaires et interprétations qu'en proposent les spécialistes. C'est en effet en remarquant la variété des approches appliquées par les scientifiques pour parvenir à une (...) compréhension générale du corpus d'une part et les divergences d'interprétation qui en découlent souvent d'autre part que j'en suis venue à m'interroger sur l'importance du choix de la méthodologie au sein d'une activité faisant la part belle à un délicat travail de rapiéçage. Puis, c'est en tentant moi-même de restituer un sens à certains Fragments individuels d'Héraclite et, d'une manière plus globale, de les considérer comme les lambeaux épars d'une même toile déchiquetée que j'ai compris la difficulté de développer un commentaire à partir d'extraits émiettés dont ni l'organisation, ni la forme initiales ne sont déterminées. La prose poétique d'Héraclite ajoutant à ces difficultés engendrées par l'histoire de la transmission des problèmes de définition des termes-clefs d'une part et d'identification des figures littéraires qui jalonnent le corpus d'autre part, j'ai tenté d'illustrer dans cet article quelques questions méthodologiques représentatives de son oeuvre, et ce en prenant ancrage dans les hypothèses de polysémie et de niveau de lecture auxquelles nous confronte la notion de „feu“, récurrente au sein des vestiges de l'œuvre de l'Éphésien. En partant de l'analyse de deux Fragments ignés, à savoir B30 et B66, cet article tend donc à présenter principalement quatre problèmes ou questions méthodologiques que je crois avoir décelés aussi bien au sein des études héraclitéennes que dans mes propres recherches: (1) les méthodes d'interprétation choisies pour aborder des séquences parfois sibyllines et, par conséquent, difficiles à traduire ainsi que les principes qui les motivent, (2) le traitement de la polysémie et de l'oscillation entre sens littéral et sens littéraire d'une notion-clef que l'œuvre ne définit jamais explicitement, (3) la fiabilité de sources anciennes quant à l'interprétation des Fragments, (4) la difficulté d'établir des définitions stables et les postulats d'équivalence entre des termes-clefs se substituant aux ambiguités du texte. C'est en montrant, sur le terrain des Fragments même, comment se posent à nous ces questions méthodologiques que j'aborde les thèmes de la polysémie et des niveaux de lecture du terme „feu“ dans le corpus d'Héraclite pour illustrer, par quelques exemples, comment des choix méthodologiques peuvent conditionner l'ensemble d'une interprétation, selon les options que le chercheur décidera d'adopter ou non. (shrink)

We work in set-theory without choice ZF. A set is Countable if it is finite or equipotent with ${\Bbb N}$ . Given a closed subset F of [0, 1] I which is a bounded subset of $\ell ^{1}(I)$ (resp. such that $F\subseteq c_{0}(I)$ ), we show that the countable axiom of choice for finite sets, (resp. the countable axiom of choice AC N ) implies that F is compact. This enhances previous results where AC N (resp. the axiom of Dependent (...) Choices) was required. If I is linearly orderable (for example $I={\Bbb R}$ ), then, in ZF, the closed unit ball of the Hilbert space $\ell ^{2}(I)$ is (Loeb-)compact in the weak topology. However, the weak compactness of the closed unit ball of $\ell ^{2}(\scr{P}({\Bbb R}))$ is not provable in ZF. (shrink)

Du moment où, en juin 1934, se noue entre eux une relation amoureuse et jusqu’à leur mariage en août 1937, les ethnologues Denise Paulme et André Schaeffner entretiennent une correspondance régulière. Si les lettres d’André Schaeffner n’ont pas été retrouvées, celles de Denise Paulme constituent une source essentielle pour observer les débuts d’une carrière scientifique féminine dans l’entre-deux-guerres. Elles nous révèlent que l’expérience de terrain, désormais située au cœur du parcours de l’ethnologue professionnel, a permis à Denise Paulme d’asseoir les (...) bases d’une légitimité qui ne lui était pas acquise. Mais elles mettent également en évidence la nécessité, pour une femme, de penser conjointement sa vie affective et sa vie scientifique, pour conquérir une place dans celle de ces deux vies où elle n’était pas attendue. (shrink)

In set theory without the axiom of choice math formula, three-space type results for the Hahn-Banach property are provided. We deduce that for every Hausdorff compact scattered space K, the Banach space C of real continuous functions on K satisfies the continuous Hahn-Banach property in math formula. We also prove in math formula Rudin's theorem: “Radon measures on Hausdorff compact scattered spaces are discrete”.

Alors que l’exercice est le plus souvent perçu comme ce qui permet d’assurer ou conforter une maîtrise, cet article propose à l’inverse de souligner les vertus et fonctions nécessaires de la déprise dans, par et pour l’exercice artistique, en insistant sur ces trois prépositions, et en donnant sa pleine valeur à la notion d’exercice. À partir d’analyses d’œuvres et de pratiques plastiques et littéraires, on développera l’oxymore proposé en prenant appui sur le double sens du verbe « déprendre » (sens (...) transitif, isoler quelque chose, et sens intransitif et pronominal, se détacher de). Ainsi entendu, l’exercice en art pourrait être comparé à un « exercice spirituel ». Pour autant, on invitera ultimement à nuancer une telle comparaison, en prenant appui sur les textes de P. Hadot, V. Chklovski, et C. Ginzburg. (shrink)

We argue that the effects of evaluative learning may occur (a) without conscious perception of the affective stimuli, (b) without awareness of the stimulus contingencies, and (c) without any awareness that learning has occurred at all. Whether the three experiments reported in our target article provide conclusive evidence for either or any of these assertions is discussed in the commentaries of De Houwer and Field. We respond with the argument that when considered alongside other studies carried out over the past (...) few decades, our experiments provide compelling evidence for a theory that posits a dissociation between evaluative learning and contingency awareness. (shrink)

Dans plusieurs passages, Épicure mentionne des durées infraperceptibles saisies par la raison, ce qui conduit à envisager un atomisme du temps, c’est-à-dire l’existence de durées indivisibles ou quanta de temps. Cette hypothèse, nulle part explicite chez Épicure et Lucrèce, a été évoquée par quelques doxographes. L’objet de cet article est de l’étayer et de la préciser, en lisant les textes épicuriens sur le temps à la lumière des trois grandes objections antiatomistes de la Physique. Notre analyse conclut que l’atomisme du (...) temps permet de répondre aux objections d’Aristote, mais doit être limité au seul niveau des atomes, par opposition à celui des agrégats. Il permet alors en effet de justifier l’isotachie des atomes, de rendre concevable la communauté de structure de la grandeur, du mouvement et du temps, et de garantir le caractère fini de la vitesse atomique. Deux lignes argumentatives se superposent : une conception proprement atomiste du mouvement et une reprise des termes de la physique aristotélicienne destinée à mieux en réfuter les objections. (shrink)

Children who live on the margins of society are disadvantaged in achieving their developmental potential because of the lack of a necessary stable environment and nurturing care. Many early prevention programs aim at mitigating such effects, but often the evaluation of their long-term effect is missing. The aim of the study presented here was to evaluate such long-term effects in two prevention programs for children-at-risk growing up in deprived social environments focusing on child attachment representation as the primary outcome as (...) well as on self-reflective capacities of teachers taking care of these children. The latter was a key component for promoting resilient behavior in children. Five hundred and twenty-six children aged 36 to 60 months at risk due to immigration status, low family socio-economic status and child behavior were examined in a cluster-randomized study comparing two preventions, the psychodynamic, attachment-based holistic approach EARLY STEPS (ES) with the classroom based FAUSTLOS (FA) for their efficacy. Primary outcome was the child attachment representation measured by the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST). Secondary outcomes were derived from (a) the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF: problem behaviors, including anxiety/depressive symptoms, emotional-reactive and somatic problems, social withdrawal, aggressive behavior, and attention deficit), from (b) the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, parent version: resilience and wellbeing) and (c) Self-Reflective Scales for teachers (SRS: self-reflective capacities of teachers). Compared to baseline, attachment and behavioral problems improved in both programs. ES led to more secure and more organized attachment representations (medium effect sizes). Aggressive behavior and externalizing problems were reduced in the FA group compared with ES, particularly in boys (medium effect sizes). Self-reflective capacities of the teachers increased only in the ES group. High correlation between children’s attachment type with the number of social risk factors and the increase of problematic social behavior strongly indicate that an increase in teachers’ self-reflective capacities helps to change children’s attachment patterns which thus strengthens the resilience of these children-at-risk [An ethical vote from LPPKJP 2009-02-25 was obtained and the trial registered; Clinical trial registration information: The trial was registered 14.02.2012 (DRKS00003500;https://www.drks.de)]. (shrink)

Phenomenology has been adapted for use in qualitative health research, where it’s often used as a method for conducting interviews and analyzing interview data. But how can phenomenologists study subjects who cannot accurately reflect upon or report their own experiences, for instance, because of a psychiatric or neurological disorder? For conditions like these, qualitative researchers may gain more insight by conducting observational studies in lieu of, or in conjunction with, interviews. In this article, we introduce a phenomenological approach to conducting (...) this kind of observational research. The approach relies on conceptual grounding to focus a study on specific aspects of the participants’ experiences. Moreover, the approach maintains the openness to novel discoveries that qualitative research requires while also providing a structured framework for data collection and analysis. To illustrate its practical application, we use examples of hemispatial neglect—a neurologic disorder in which patients characteristically lack awareness of their own illness and bodily capacities. However, the approach that we describe can be applied more broadly to the study of complex illness experiences and other experiential alterations. (shrink)

Is the Miranda warning, which lets an accused know of the right to remain silent, more about procedural fairness or about the conventions of speech acts and silences? Do U.S. laws about Native Americans violate the preferred or traditional "silence" of the peoples whose religions and languages they aim to "protect" and "preserve"? In Just Silences, Marianne Constable draws on such examples to explore what is at stake in modern law: a potentially new silence as to justice.Grounding her claims (...) about modern law in rhetorical analyses of U.S. law and legal texts and locating those claims within the tradition of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Foucault, Constable asks what we are to make of silences in modern law and justice. She shows how what she calls "sociolegal positivism" is more important than the natural law/positive law distinction for understanding modern law. Modern law is a social and sociological phenomenon, whose instrumental, power-oriented, sometimes violent nature raises serious doubts about the continued possibility of justice. She shows how particular views of language and speech are implicated in such law.But law--like language--has not always been positivist, empirical, or sociological, nor need it be. Constable examines possibilities of silence and proposes an alternative understanding of law--one that emerges in the calling, however silently, of words to justice. Profoundly insightful and fluently written, Just Silences suggests that justice today lies precariously in the silences of modern positive law. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 65 Heft: 2 Seiten: 349-355.

Depuis la nuit des temps, les relations homme-animal ont reposé sur un principe d'inégalité et de domination. Pourtant, la place et le statut des animaux ont récemment connu de grandes évolutions. L'animalisme, à l'instar de l'antispécisme ou de l'abolitionnisme est progressivement entré dans le débat public, poussé par une actualité brûlante (scandales des abattoirs, vidéos L214, émergence d'un véganisme de masse, etc.). A l'origine, ce courant d'éthique proposant de défendre les droits des animaux était considéré comme une mouvance violente et (...) radicale. Comment cette doctrine a-t-elle séduit un public de plus en plus large? Que nous raconte cet engouement quant à nos valeurs, aux croyances de notre société? Cet ouvrage constitue la première analyse sociologique de ce phénomène émergent. En embrassant les points de vues politiques, écologiques, religieux ou encore celui des contre-cultures, Marianne Celka jette un regard neuf et, pour la première fois, neutre et objectif sur cette question aussi profonde que troublante du rapport entre l'homme et l'animal. (shrink)

The legalization of cannabis in Canada instantiates principles of harm-reduction and safe supply. However, in-depth understanding of values at stake and attitudes toward legalization were not part of extensive democratic deliberation. Through a qualitative exploratory study, we undertook 48 semi-structured interviews with three Canadian stakeholder groups to explore opinions and values with respect to the legalization of cannabis: (1) members of the general public, (2) people with lived experience of addiction and (3) clinicians with experience treating patients with addiction. Across (...) all groups, participants tended to be in favor of legalization, but particular opinions rested on their viewpoint as stakeholders. Clinicians considered the way legalization would affect an individual’s health and its potential for increasing rates of addiction on a larger scale. People with lived experience of addiction cited personal autonomy more than other groups and stressed the need to have access to quality information to make truly informed decisions. Alternatively, members of the public considered legalization positive or negative in light of whether one’s addiction affected others. We elaborate on and discuss how scientific evidence about drug use impact values relates and how can different arguments play in democratic debates about legalization. (shrink)

With disagreement, doubts, or ambiguous grounds in end–of-life decisions, doctors are advised to involve a clinical ethics committee. However, little has been published on doctors’ experiences with discussing an end-of-life decision in a CEC. As part of the quality assurance of this work, we wanted to find out if clinicians have benefited from discussing end-of-life decisions in CECs and why. We will disseminate some Norwegian doctors’ experiences when discussing end-of-life decisions in CECs, based on semi-structured interviews with fifteen Norwegian physicians (...) who had brought an end-of-life decision case to a CEC. Almost half of the cases involved conflicts with the patients’ relatives. In a majority of the cases, there was uncertainty about what would be the ethically preferable solution. Reasons for referring the case to the CEC were to get broader illumination of the case, to get perspective from people outside the team, to get advice, or to get moral backing on a decision already made. A great majority of the clinicians reported an overall positive experience with the CECs’ discussions. In cases where there was conflict, the clinicians reported less satisfaction with the CECs’ discussions. The study shows that most doctors who have used a CEC in an end-of-life decision find it useful to have ethical and/or legal aspects illuminated, and to have the dilemma scrutinized from a new perspective. A systematic discussion seems to be significant to the clinicians. (shrink)

During the last decades several tools have been developed to anticipate the future impact of new and emerging technologies. Many of these focus on ‘hard,’ quantifiable impacts, investigating how novel technologies may affect health, environment and safety. Much less attention is paid to what might be called ‘soft’ impacts: the way technology influences, for example, the distribution of social roles and responsibilities, moral norms and values, or identities. Several types of technology assessment and of scenario studies can be used to (...) anticipate such soft impacts. We argue, however, that these methods do not recognize the dynamic character of morality and its interaction with technology. As a result, they miss an important opportunity to broaden the scope of social and political deliberation on new and emerging technologies.In this paper we outline a framework for building scenarios that enhance the techno-moral imagination by anticipating how technology, morality and their interaction might evolve. To show what kind of product might result from this framework, a scenario is presented as an exemplar. This scenario focuses on developments in biomedical nanotechnology and the moral regime of experimenting with human beings. Finally, the merits and limitations of our framework and the resulting type of scenarios are discussed. (shrink)

Hellmut Flashar, Inszenierung der Antike : das griechische Drama auf der Bühne der Neuzeit, 1585-1990, Verlag C.H. Beck, ISBN - 9783406353284Marianne McDonald, Ancient Sun, Modern Light: Greek drama on the modern stage, Columbia University Press, ISBN - 9780231076548.

In this paper, we are interested in the effects of institutional context on public attitudes towards climate policies, where institutions are defined as the conventions, norms and formally sanctioned rules of any given society. Building on a 2014 survey experiment, we conducted thirty qualitative interviews with car-owners in Oslo, Norway, to investigate the ways in which institutional context and political-value orientation affect public attitudes towards emissions policies. One context (presented as a text treatment) highlighted individual rationality, emphasising the ways in (...) which local pollution impacts the individual citizen; the other highlighted social rationality, emphasising the wider significance of carbon emissions and global responsibility for climate change. We analysed the effects of these contexts on attitudes, finding that institutional context influenced individuals' perspectives as well as their attitudes towards climate policies. Groups with different value orientations differed in terms of their evaluations but not their interpretations of these contexts. (shrink)

This contribution presents an adult education workshop implemented in the field of early childhood education. One of the specificities of education and care practices lies in the competences of the professionals to give a central role to the detailed observation of situations, in order to adjust their modalities of action. How can such observational work be developed and transformed? A participatory research-training approach aims to support the co-construction of an analytical view on observable phenomena in the course of interactions. In (...) a perspective of interactional analysis, it focuses on the modalities that favor the construction of such an analytical posture. (shrink)

Adult-infant early dyadic interactions have been extensively explored by developmental psychologists. Around the age of 2 months, infants already demonstrate complex, delicate and very sensitive behaviors that seem to express their ability to interact and share emotions with their caregivers. This paper presents 3 pilot studies of parent-infant dyadic interaction in various set-ups. The first two present longitudinal data collected on two infants aged between 1 and 6 months and their mothers. We analyzed the development of coordination between them, at (...) the motor and at the vocal level. The 3rd pilot study aims to explore interpersonal coordination in both vocal behavior and motor activity for one infant and his mother at 2, 4 and 6 months. These pilot studies however leave a number of questions open concerning developmental changes and infants’ progressive mastery of interaction. We identify areas worth examining and try to tease out specific issues that may help develop new methodological pathways for the study of early naturalistic social interaction. We assume that a continuous, rather than discrete, approach would better capture the changes taking place in the various communicative modalities, while also displaying each dyad’s specificity and the narrative dimension of social engagement between infants and caregivers. (shrink)