Ethical Frames Of Reference Research Articles

Neo-Aristotelian Naturalism, Local Ethical Supervenience, and the Beneficial Character of Virtue

This article explores the ambivalent relationship of neo-Aristotelian naturalism to ethical supervenience. One of the main proponents of this approach, Michael Thompson, holds a position that leads to a rejection of local ethical supervenience. It is argued that this rejection implicitly undermines a premise held by other prominent neo-Aristotelian naturalists, such as Philippa Foot or Rosalind Hursthouse, who implemented Thompson’s species-relative logic of ethical evaluations into their theories. This premise—that there is a systematic connection between the virtuous life and the benefit of the individual—could be re-established if neo-Aristotelian naturalism abandoned the species-essentialist understanding of life-forms and instead accepted local ethical supervenience as an ethical frame of reference. Although this article derives its problem from the main works of the aforementioned authors, its interest lies not mainly in exegesis, but in the systematic discussion of the logical status and the functionality of the concept of life-form in neo-Aristotelian naturalism. This discussion will be enriched by the inclusion of the logical distinctions and insights from modern philosophical biology.

Minding Rights: Mapping Ethical and Legal Foundations of 'Neurorights'.

The rise of neurotechnologies, especially in combination with artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods for brain data analytics, has given rise to concerns around the protection of mental privacy, mental integrity and cognitive liberty - often framed as "neurorights" in ethical, legal, and policy discussions. Several states are now looking at including neurorights into their constitutional legal frameworks, and international institutions and organizations, such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe, are taking an active interest in developing international policy and governance guidelines on this issue. However, in many discussions of neurorights the philosophical assumptions, ethical frames of reference and legal interpretation are either not made explicit or conflict with each other. The aim of this multidisciplinary work is to provide conceptual, ethical, and legal foundations that allow for facilitating a common minimalist conceptual understanding of mental privacy, mental integrity, and cognitive liberty to facilitate scholarly, legal, and policy discussions.

Who protects participants in non-inferiority trials when the outcome is death?

A non-inferiority design accepts the possibility of some efficacy loss, as part of a “successful”, statistically significant result. That loss may be excessive when the non-inferiority threshold is lenient. However, even stringent significance thresholds and safety monitoring may fail to adequately protect study participants when the primary outcome is death. The OPTIMAAL trial, a large randomized clinical trial performed in high-risk patients, is discussed as an example, using the Belmont Report principles as an ethical frame of reference. OPTIMAAL compared losartan, a new drug, to captopril, a drug known to reduce the risk of death in patients with heart failure after a myocardial infarction. Serious ethical challenges occurred in that study. Firstly, subjects had to tolerate captopril to participate, meaning that participation implied the possibility of higher risk of death if randomized to the losartan arm, as compared to the standard of care. Additionally, the stopping rules had to ensure enough power to detect non-inferiority, and potentially tolerated additional participant deaths as the study went on. There may have been fifty additional deaths in the losartan arm by the end of the trial—deaths that perhaps could have been prevented if participants took captopril. Those features represent a challenge to the beneficence principle. Finally, it is unclear whether the consenting process adhered to the respect of persons principle, because consent forms were not published, and we cannot determine whether a clear description of the risk of death during participation was provided.

The Contribution of the Un Information Dissemination Mechanism to the Awareness of Global Issues

The United Nations (UN) is a representative, authoritative and legal organization, which plays a dominant role in spreading the information of global issues. With its organizational properties, an ideal mechanism for the dissemination of information on global issues has been established. From the perspective of communication, by adhering to the ideas of objectivity, fairness and balance, the UN has almost implemented global communication, the core feature of which is to transcend national and ethical frame of reference. From the perspective of global politics, the UN information dissemination mechanism has helped establish regulations for world players, remedying viewpoint and ideological conflicts between countries.

Koop as an Exemplar of Moral and Democratic Decision Making

This study-examines the problems addressed by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in order to extract the virtues or values-the moral point of view-embedded in his actions. These are then compared to competing theoretical approaches in public administration ethics to determine the ethicalframe of reference of Koop 's decisions. The analysis reveals that Koop followed a personal ethic as well as a public service ethic. The authors argue that his approach not only makes democratic and moral deliberations possible but in fact defines them. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of thefindings for ethical theory in public administration.

Introduction: New cultural and ethical frames of reference

Introduction: New cultural and ethical frames of reference

Defining Pastoral Psychotherapy II

Defends his previous definition of pastoral psychotherapy as “a psychotherapeutic activity in which a pastoral psychotherapist observes, understands, and interprets the psychological, religious, and moral dimensions of the ongoing process through psychological, theological, and ethical frames of reference.” Responds to criticisms of the definition by drawing on Tillician notions and by emphasizing the essential interdisciplinary nature of the pastoral psychotherapeutic project.

Defining Pastoral Psychotherapy

Notes the problems involved in attempting to define pastoral psychotherapy by using descriptive attributes. Defines pastoral psychotherapy as “a psychotherapeutic activity in which a pastoral psychotherapist observes, understands, and interprets the psychological, religious, and moral dimensions of the ongoing process through psychological, theological, and ethical frames of reference.” Offers a brief clinical illustration of how such a definition may find expression in the actual clinical practice.

The role of the symptom in psychopathological states.

Abstract.— Four approaches to the role of symptoms in psychopathological states are discussed. These are: Prepsychoanalytic psychiatry, psychoanalysis, family communication theory, and the view that symptoms as a sign of mental illness do not exist. The latter comprises labelling theory and social learning theory. Particular interest is attached to the contentions of symptom substitution and symptomatic treatment. Both are rejected as myths. A theory of action is briefly outlined, and on the basis of this, an alternative interpretationof phenomena ordinarily conceptualized as mental pathology is suggested. The concepts of “psychopathology” and “symptoms” are redefined in accordance with present knowledge, and the importance of formulating human action in an ethical frame of reference is pointed out.