Ethical Questions Research Articles

Giving Consent to the Ineffable

A psychedelic renaissance is currently taking place in mental healthcare. The number of psychedelic-assisted therapy trials is growing steadily, and some countries already grant psychiatrists special permission to use psychedelics in non-research contexts under certain conditions. These clinical advances must be accompanied by ethical inquiry. One pressing ethical question involves whether patients can even give informed consent to psychedelic-assisted therapy: the treatment’s transformative nature seems to block its assessment, suggesting that patients are unable to understand what undergoing psychedelic-assisted therapy actually means for them and whether it aligns with their values. The present paper argues that patients often have sufficient knowledge to give informed consent because they know that they want to change their negative status quo and that psychedelic-assisted therapy offers an effective way to do so. Accordingly, patients can understand what the transformative nature of psychedelic-assisted therapy means for them and a make a value-aligned choice even if they are unable to anticipate the manifestation of a psychedelic experience.

A Corpus Study of English Language Exam Texts: Vocabulary Difficulty and the Impact on Students' Wider Reading (or Should Students be Reading More Texts by Dead White Men?)

AbstractStudents in England sit an important gateway examination in English at age 16. Major changes were made to this exam in 2017 resulting in more emphasis on the comprehension of unseen literary texts. This paper uses corpus linguistic methods to identify the kind of vocabulary encountered in these exam texts and compares it to the kind of vocabulary encountered in other sources of written language (classic literary fiction, biographies, poetry, etc.). Results showed vocabulary in the exam texts was typically low in frequency and that older literary fiction texts contained similar types of vocabulary. This suggests that students and teachers should rely more on older literary fiction to best prepare for the exam. However, this raises ethical questions about whether an exam should dictate students' reading experience, especially when older literary fiction is likely to be less diverse and dominated by dead White men.

Ethical considerations and decision making in opioid prescribing for chronic pain: A case study in rheumatology practice.

Dilemmas regarding opioid prescribing for chronic pain frequently occur within health care settings. The ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice, as well as the principles of care ethics, can assist in addressing these opioid-related dilemmas. The purpose of this clinical case study is to provide a case study highlighting an opioid prescribing dilemma and then identify opioid-related transition considerations; address ethical questions that nurse practitioners (NPs) may encounter in clinical practice when providing care for individuals living with chronic pain who may need or use a prescribed opioid medication; and draw on the ethical principles and care ethics to provide guidance for NPs who face these challenging issues.

Understanding Artificial Agency

Abstract Which artificial intelligence (AI) systems are agents? To answer this question, I propose a multidimensional account of agency. According to this account, a system's agency profile is jointly determined by its level of goal-directedness and autonomy as well as is abilities for directly impacting the surrounding world, long-term planning and acting for reasons. Rooted in extant theories of agency, this account enables fine-grained, nuanced comparative characterizations of artificial agency. I show that this account has multiple important virtues and is more informative than alternatives. More speculatively, it may help to illuminate two important emerging questions in AI ethics: 1. Can agency contribute to the moral status of non-human beings, and how? 2. When and why might AI systems exhibit power-seeking behaviour and does this pose an existential risk to humanity?

Inventing safe sport: Comparing Swiss and global strategies

The revelations from the Magglingen Protocols article (Gertsch & Krogerus, 2020) brought a spotlight of Switzerland’s national attention to the issues concerning safeguarding against maltreatment in sport. The experiences of the athletes featured in the article were certainly not the first, nor the last, of their kind in Switzerland, and much less in the world. While the International Olympic Committee provided guidelines for international federations and national Olympic committees to follow in the development of their own safeguarding programs (Burrows, 2017), the implementation of such programs varies considerably. Few, if any, in the emerging field would claim to have found the “right” way to handle the many facets of safeguarding, which are complexified by sociocultural norms and definitions, sport-specific practices, and local jurisprudence. Questions about who within the sports ecosystem is responsible, and for what, in the safeguarding process lack consensus, and countries have answered them in their own ways. Fundamentally, the philosophical notions of what constitutes “abuse,” “maltreatment,” “care,” and “wellbeing” (among others) underpin any attempt to understand the safeguarding problem and respond to it with policy. The cultural differences in the meanings behind these notions leads consequently to the dissimilar implementation of efforts to address them. This presentation proposes a critical reflection on the strategic efforts globally and within Switzerland to understand and frame the issue of safeguarding to create a unified approach in policy making. While not an exhaustive comparison of every nation’s approach, the reflection will compare the Swiss strategy with certain notable examples, highlighting what pressing moral and philosophical questions the Swiss strategy has yet to answer.
 References
 Burrows, K. (2017). IOC Safeguarding Toolkit for IFs and NOCs. International Olympic Committee. https://d2g8uwgn11fzhj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/18105952/IOC_Safeguarding_Toolkit_ENG_Screen_Full1.pdf
 Gertsch, C., & Krogerus, M. (2020, October 31). Die Magglingen Protokolle. Tages-Anzeiger Das Magazin. https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wie-turnerinnen-in-magglingen-gebrochen-werden-170525604713

Opportunities and Challenges Of The Ethics Review Of Qualitative Health Services Research: A Survey Of Qualitative Researchers

Ethics committees ensure compliance with ethical principles in medical research. They are oriented towards clinical studies, but also review e. g., qualitative research. Using a semi-structured online survey, we collected data on experiences of qualitative researchers with the review by ethics committees and analysed them via content analysis. In July 2019, 73 researchers took part in the survey. Five main topics were derived from their statements regarding the ethics review of qualitative research: 1. relevance of qualitative research expertise; 2. cooperation between researchers and ethics committees; 3. transparency of review criteria; 4. dealing with formal review requirements; 5. evaluation of the review's significance for qualitative research. The results show the potential of ethics review for reflection on ethical questions in qualitative research. Prerequisites for this are the fit with the characteristics and quality criteria of qualitative research, the presence of qualitative research expertise in ethics committees, the transparency of the ethics review process as well as openness to different professional cultures and a constructive communication culture.

Ethics in Sustainability

ETHICS is evolving and becoming a conscious consideration in everyday life, while sustainability poses many long- and near-term existential questions for humanity. How do we raise the right ethical questions despite the existential choices we need to make?.

Goethe és Schiller találkozása a filozófiában

The meeting of Goethe and Schiller in philosophy
 Despite the fact that Plato did not consider poets to be explorers of truth, we find many examples of writers and poets being interested in philosophy and discussing questions of truth or morality in their literary works or studies. Likewise we know philosophers who have reflected on the truth manifested in art or literature, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Rorty or Donald Davidson. The legendary literary and philosophical friendship between Goethe and Schiller is well known in the history of literature, and their decisive intellectual relationship lasting eleven years. Their example clearly shows the influence of literature and philosophy on each other, their debate with each other, the tension or even harmony between them.

Effects of queen excluders on the colony dynamics of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) under biodynamic management

The evaluation of beekeeping management practices (BMPs) is important for beekeepers worldwide because their choice affects health and survival of managed honeybee (A. mellifera L.) colonies and touches ethical and economic questions. This study focusses on queen excluders, a common hive addition in contemporary beekeeping. Its impacts are controversially discussed but have not been studied scientifically yet. Within a 4-year participatory on-farm experiment, we assessed the effects on colony dynamics in 64 hives in 8 apiaries during one season in Germany using the Liebefeld estimation method. We found no significant deviation for parameters of colony dynamics between hives managed with and without queen excluders. A qualitative decision-making tool (Pugh decision matrix) facilitated concept selection only for specific beekeepers.

IGG in the trenches: Results of an in-depth interview study on the practice, politics, and future of investigative genetic genealogy

Investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) is a new technique for identifying criminal suspects and unidentified deceased and living persons that has sparked controversy. In a criminal case, the technique involves uploading genetic information left by a putative perpetrator at the crime scene to one or more direct-to-consumer genetic genealogy databases with the intention of identifying the perpetrator's genetic relatives and, eventually, locating the perpetrator on the family tree. In 2018, IGG helped to identify the Golden State Killer, and it has since been used in hundreds of investigations in the United States. Here, we report findings from in-depth interviews with 24 U.S.-based individuals involved in IGG that are relevant to the technique’s current practice and predicted future. Key findings include: an emphasis on restricting IGG as a conceptual and technical matter to lead generation; the rapid growth of a private and largely self-regulating industry to support IGG; general recognition of three categories of cases associated with distinct practical, ethical, and policy questions, as well as varying degrees of controversy; and the significant influence of perceived public opinion on IGG practice. The experiences and perspectives of individuals in the IGG trenches related to these and other issues are potentially useful inputs to ongoing efforts to regulate the technique.

The foetal exome revealed

New developments in the analysis of maternal cell-free DNA now allow complete analysis of the foetal exome. This makes possible an important extension of the breadth of prenatal diagnostics but raises significant ethical questions.

Medical ethics questions of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant and lactating women in East Asia and Oceania.

We aimed to investigate some of the medical ethics issues that characterize the COVID-19 vaccination phase in pregnancy and breast-feeding. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, focusing mainly on the countries of East Asia and Oceania. Vaccination during pregnancy and breastfeeding appears to help protect babies from COVID-19 by enabling antibodies to pass from mother to baby. However, individual countries of the same continent may adopt conflicting policy positions. Not only that, indications on the type of vaccine sometimes vary, depending on whether a woman is pregnant or breastfeeding. In this review we have taken into considerationp the policy positions on pregnancy and lactation by country and type of Covid-19 vaccine in East Asia and Oceania. Ten out of the 18 countries considered (representing more than two thirds of the population of East Asia and Oceania) provide different vaccine indications for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Can this diversity of recommendations be seen as a form of optimal protection for women in these categories, or does it suggest that some countries have taken a defensive position to avoid compensation claims in the event of complications? Is it ethically correct to leave questions concerning informed consent open? Misin-formation during a health crisis leaves people without protection and with increased vaccine hesitancy, especially for vulnerable populations in hard-to-reach areas of East Asia and Oceania.

Advancements in robotics engineering: Transforming industries and society

Robotics engineering is a dynamic and multidisciplinary field that has undergone rapid evolution in recent years, transforming various aspects of our lives. This paper serves as a comprehensive exploration of robotics engineering, delving into its historical development, contemporary applications, and the exciting prospects that lie ahead. The history of robotics engineering is a fascinating journey, from the early automata and industrial robots to the cutting-edge autonomous systems and humanoid robots of today. It traces the evolution of technology and human ingenuity, showcasing how robotics has become an integral part of our modern world. Current applications of robotics engineering span a wide range of industries, from the manufacturing sector, where robots enhance efficiency and precision, to healthcare, where they assist in surgery and patient care. Furthermore, robots are venturing into hazardous environments, disaster response, and space exploration, expanding their utility. However, as robotics technology continues to advance, it raises ethical and societal questions. This paper will explore these concerns, such as the impact on employment, privacy, and human-robot interaction, emphasizing the importance of responsible development and use of robotic systems. In conclusion, robotics engineering is a transformative force, shaping industries and influencing society in profound ways. This paper seeks to shed light on its pivotal role in our world, inspiring discussions and responsible practices that ensure its positive impact on the future.

Dialogic discussions for enhancing children’s argumentation skills in Indonesian reading sessions

Dialogic discussions offer advantages in improving language and literacy skills. However, research in the Indonesian context on this topic is limited. Furthermore, existing studies also tend to overlook the challenges associated with children’s interactions. To bridge this research gap, this study investigated the role of dialogic discussions in advancing children’s argumentation abilities during Indonesian reading sessions. This study utilized a case study approach, involving sixteen fourth-grade children from a public elementary school. Data were collected through observations, field notes, and audio recordings. The children participated in small group discussions during six reading sessions. These sessions involved exploring both Indonesian fiction and non-fiction texts, centered on significant moral or social questions and dilemmas. The findings revealed an increased use of various argumentation strategies by the children, including presenting reasons, posing challenges, and responding to challenges. Using personally engaging texts proved beneficial for sustaining discussions, as it encouraged children to share their lived experiences and opinions. However, the findings also indicated that children who did not participate seemed distracted during individual tasks. The study provides valuable insights into the dynamics and complexities of small group discussions during Indonesian reading sessions.

Motherhood, Mental Incompetence, and the Denial of Reproductive Autonomy in the Early Years of Israeli Statehood

Abstract As the State of Israel defined citizenship rights for its Jewish population after independence in 1948, it also began to articulate the rights of those affected by disabilities of the mind—i.e., psychiatric, cognitive, and learning disabilities—by issuing, for example, the “Law for the Management of Institutes” (1952) and the “Law for the Treatment of the Mentally Ill” (1955). Due to haphazard state-building and insufficient funding, however, this process was slow and uneven. In the meantime, people with mental and cognitive disabilities often remained vulnerable to abuse and sexual violence in domestic and institutional spaces and suffered from a lack of proper care and accommodation. Operating on the assumption that disability of the mind could be transmitted from generation to generation, some medical professionals contemplated sterilization as a way to prevent the reproduction of mental disability in the children of affected parents, but the lingering trauma caused by the Holocaust and Nazi racial hygiene hindered their plan. This article examines a 1954 case involving a cognitively disabled woman who was brought to court for neglecting her children. Due to her delinquent parenting, she was slated to undergo sterilization, but her legal incompetence raised a host of ethical questions that tested the psychiatrists’ and judicial authorities’ assumptions about cognitive competence, civic fitness, and reproductive autonomy. By examining contemporary press reports of the legal proceedings, their larger context, and their consequences, this article shows how the woman remained hostage to male-dominated power structures that devalued her dual status as a mother and as a cognitively impaired citizen. While this case study shows how easily overridden were the liberties and protections of those affected by disabilities of the mind, it can also be viewed as a situation that impelled the Israeli public to contemplate the rights of the cognitively disabled, foreshadowing later movements aimed at expanding the boundaries of society to include members of many degrees of ability.

Strategic determinants of international economic activity development in the context of digitization

Due to the rapid development of digital technologies, the international economic sphere is facing significant changes and challenges. Digital innovations are permeating all aspects of business, from management to marketing, from logistics to customer communication. One of the key determinants of this process is constant technological progress, which stimulates the adoption of new tools and strategies. Enterprises operating in the international market are compelled to adapt to this new environment by improving their processes, optimizing production, and enhancing efficiency. Digital technologies enable the automation of many processes, making businesses more flexible and competitive. However, along with the advantages of digitization come new challenges. Cybersecurity becomes increasingly relevant as companies must protect their data from cyber attacks and information leaks. Regulatory issues are also becoming more complex, as the legal environment does not always keep pace with the speed of technological development. Moreover, ethical questions arise regarding the use of personal data and the impact of technologies on society. The article highlights the main strategic determinants and drivers that contribute to the development of international economic activity in the context of digitization. It synthesizes a range of factors and forces that encourage the adoption and integration of digital technologies and practices across various sectors of the global economy. It is demonstrated that the driving forces of digitization in international economic activity are interconnected and reinforce each other, while technological progress shapes a new paradigm of consumer behavior and expectations, stimulating demand for further technological innovations. The main problems and challenges faced by enterprises in the global market in the context of digitization are analyzed and summarized. In the digital age, it is important to have an open mind and be prepared for constant change. Enterprises that successfully integrate digital technologies into their strategy can gain a significant competitive advantage in the international market. However, this requires continuous improvement and readiness for innovation. Keywords: digitization, digital economy, globalization, organizational and economic support, international economic activity.

“Kakistocracy”: An Ethical Challenge to Christian Character Formation in Ghana

The pressing need to tackle the alarming erosion of moral standards in Ghana has been advocated. This comes in the wake of recent media reports of Ghana’s rapid deterioration in moral values. In a country where 71% of the population identifies as Christians, the moral character of the nation has witnessed inefficiencies, displayed by incompetent leadership at all levels, spanning from family units and chieftaincy, and education to religious and political spheres. This article argued that these degradations raise an ethical question for the Church in Ghana as far as the Character formation of the Church is concerned. The question that this article sought to address was, why is Kakistocracy on the ascendancy, if indeed 71% of Ghanaians are Christians? What is happening? Through a review of some existing literature, the article discussed the concept of Kakistocracy and the challenges it poses to Christian Character Formation in Ghana. Through the lens of the ethical theory of virtue ethics, as the conceptual taxonomy, this article argued that the degradation of moral values means the Church in Ghana has not been able to shape the moral character of its members. Worded differently, the Church’s influence on shaping her member’s moral character has been low, or adulterated. The article, therefore, challenges the Church to critically examine her Character Formation agenda. The paper affirmed that the Church’s nurturing ministry has been adulterated and shaken by unpredictable political, social, technological, and cultural developments in the country. This article further argued that the Church, as one of the socialisation institutions in Ghana, has a role to play in preparing leaders with moral fortitude in society. Therefore, an urgent need is to strategically (re)construct the Church’s Character Formation programme for its members. So that they would be able to steer the nation’s social transformation. Keywords: Kakistocracy, Nurturing, Christianity in Ghana, Character, Formation, Virtue Ethics.

Ethical questions of withdrawing ECMO treatment

A tanulmány – egy eset elemzésén keresztül – vizsgálja azt a kérdést, hogy súlyos légzési elégtelenség miatt 60 napja ECMO-kezelésben részesülő, öntudatánál lévő beteg esetén milyen lehetőségei vannak az ECMO-kezelés megszüntetésének akkor, ha a betegnél az alapbetegség gyógyulására, illetve tüdőátültetésre nincs lehetőség, s ezért az ECMO-kezelésre a beteg haláláig szükség lesz, a beteg pedig az ECMO-kezelésnek a haláláig történő folytatását szeretné. A közlemény vizsgálja, hogy az ECMO-kezelés, illetve egyéb intenzív osztályos kezelés esetén lehetőség van-e megszüntetni életmentő/életfenntartó kezelést? Milyen módon vehető figyelembe a beteg/hozzátartozó tiltakozása, illetve beleegyezése? Vizsgálja az igazságossági szempontok szerepét a ritka eszközök elosztásában. A kezelés el nem kezdésének/abbahagyásának morális ekvivalenciája mellett vizsgálja azokat az okokat, amelyek miatt a klinikusok nem értenek egyet ezzel az ekvivalenciatézissel. A tanulmány konklúziója az, hogy a kezelés további eszkalációjáról való lemondás általában járhatóbb út, mint az ECMO-kezelés egyszerű megszüntetése. Orv Hetil. 2024; 165(4): 132–137.

Aging in light of digitalization of healthcare

With the advancements in digital technologies, notions such as aging in place have gained currency. But, next to technical issues concerning the extent to which full-blown aging in place is possible, philosophical and ethical questions have been also raised. An important dimension of the digitalization of healthcare is how would aging look to both older adults and the public in the wake of such systems. In this article, I will suggest integrating postphenomenology into Age Studies to explore how aging comes to be conceptualized. An advantage of postphenomenology is that it is anchored in a first-person perspective, and in this sense, it may be a perfect fit to enhance our awareness about the impacts of the digitalization of health on older adults from their own point of view. I will also argue that postphenomenlogy can throw light on digital technologies in their actual use. This may help researchers go beyond merely exploring conditions of use and adoption implemented through notions such as usability, trust, privacy, dignity, and the like, and gain knowledge of how users’ relationship with their surroundings reconfigures after exposure to digital assistive technologies.

Sin and moral offense: The lady of the camellias in The tragedy of the street of flowers

This paper comparatively analyzes the novels The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers (1980), by Eça de Queirós, and The Lady of the Camellias (1848), by Alexandre Dumas Fils. The works portray the moral questioning of love relationships between bourgeois men and high society courtesans that endanger their basis of moral and socioeconomic constitution: i.e. the family. The analysis is concluded with the different consequences faced by these characters, which vary according to bourgeois social values and hierarchy, and highlights the behavior patterns in the societies of Paris and Lisbon.