Traditional Ethics Research Articles

Socio-demographic Correlation among Patients with Deliberate Self-harm

Background: Deliberate self-harm is a complex behavior of maladaptive response to acute and chronic stress, and likely to be suffering from mental health problems as well as co-morbid general medical conditions, including several non-suicidal intentions to suicide. Deliberate self-harm was previously included in suicide. Sir Thomas Browne first used the word ‘Suicide’ in 1642 in his religion Medici. The word suicide originated from SUI (of oneself) CAEDES (murder). According to WHO ‘Suicide’ refers to the act of killing oneself intentionally, performed by the person with full knowledge or expectation of the fatal outcome. This study aimed to analyze the pattern of psychiatric disorders among patients with deliberate self-harm. This study aimed to analyze the socio-demographic correlation among patients with deliberate self-harm. Material Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine; emergency OPD, Rangpur Medical College, Rangpur, Bangladesh. The study duration was 1 year; July 2012- June 2013. A total of 116 deliberate self-harm cases were included in this study as per the inclusion criteria. A convenience sampling technique was undertaken in this study. Results: The correlation of age, sex, economic status, religion, educational status, occupation, marital status, family history of mental illness, previous H/O mental illness, previous H/O physical illness, nature of stress factors, and the total number of DSH was significant between psychiatric disorder and co-morbid general medical condition. Conclusion: There was a significant correlation between sociodemographic parameters among the patients with deliberate self-harm. Bangladesh is a country with a cultural heritage of thousands of years. Traditional values, and social and family bonding are the characteristics of the culture. Traditional value systems are being declined gradually due to the influence of western culture. The social structure is in a period of transition that is characterized by the waning of family ties and social support as well as an increase in urbanization and modernization. This factor together with psychiatric and co-morbid general medical conditions plays an important role in deliberate self-harm.

Rising to "The Highest Morals"-The Rich History of Nursing Ethics.

Modern nursing is supported by a rich ethical tradition dating back to the mid-19th century. Moving illustrations of nursing practice and "the highest morals" (McIsaac, 1901) relay the distinguished history and distinctives of nursing ethics from the 1860s to the present day. Of note is that nursing ethics is relationally focused, virtue-based, preventative, and central to the identity of nursing. A brief history of how bioethics emerged in the mid-20th century and an overview of the development of nursing ethics unveils differences between the two ethical paradigms.

Traditions of Spirituality of Byzantium and Russia in the Context of the Philosophy of Traditionalism of the 20th Century

Introduction. Modernization of society and tradition is manifested in the results of socio-cultural existence on a broader information base compared to the previous one. Such a base, in our opinion, is the entire world historical and philosophical process, in all its diversity and organic integrity of content. The purpose of the article is to examine the influence of the spiritual tradition of Byzantium on Russian philosophy, therefore, the problem of spirituality is one of the main ones in the heritage of Russian philosophers. Materials and Methods. The spiritual life of a person was at the center of the interests of thinkers and is primarily reflected in religious and moral literature. The theoretical basis was the basic concepts of the philosophy of traditionalism − a socio-philosophical direction, which is based on practical wisdom expressed in tradition. Traditionalism acts as the leading methodology of religious studies and theological research. The methodological tools of the work are comparative-historical, hermeneutic and axiological methods that allow a multidimensional interpretation of the problem from a philosophical point of view. Results. It is argued that Christian spirituality is characterized by traditionalism and in Byzantine Orthodoxy it was particularly consistent. In this regard, it is impossible to turn to the origins of the development of domestic spiritual and moral traditions without analyzing the factors of the successive influence of the Byzantine patristic tradition on the entire structure of the religious consciousness of Russians. When studying the factors of succession, the process of transferring spiritual heritage in the process to younger generations from previous generations is taken into account. Discussion and Conclusion. Despite the difference of ideas and views, Russian philosophy contains the deepest understanding of the problems of spiritual existence concerning the citizens of Russia of the twentieth century. One of the features of the modern social situation is the increased interest of a in confessional issues. The basis for the development and strengthening of each great civilization is both local traditions and a continuous dialogue of civilizations, societies and cultures. The research materials can be used in the creation of civilized concepts of such a dialogue.

Toward electoral (ir)relevance of moral traditionalism? Religious decline and voting in Western Europe (1981–2017)

AbstractThis article tests two contrasting hypotheses about changes in the electoral relevance of moral traditionalism–progressiveness, which pertains to attitudes toward matters of procreation, sexuality, and family and gender roles. While the “cultural turn” literature expects the electoral relevance of moral traditionalism to increase over time alongside that of all other cultural issues, studies inspired by secularization theory rather predict a decrease in its relevance—due to religious decline. Analyzing the data from the European Values Study (1981–2017) for 20 West European countries, we find empirical evidence for a decrease and no indication of an increase in the electoral relevance of moral traditionalism. Religious decline weakened the effect of moral traditionalism on religious and conservative voting over time due to the most traditionalist voters shifting away from these parties. Our findings, therefore, highlight the need to differentiate between different types of cultural motives behind voting choice in Western Europe.

Philosophical discourse of information ethics of the future

Aims: The purpose of the study is a philosophical analysis of the information ethics of the future features in order to find ways of use and quality improvement of the information space. For this purpose, it is necessary to carry out an analysis of the conceptual vision of information ethics in the latest philosophical and other studies. Characteristics of the main peculiarities of information ethics as a philosophical and sociocultural phenomenon are defined. Ways of strengthening information ethics in the information space are described. Forecasting of trends in the development of information ethics for the next decade has been carried out. Methodology: The main methodology of research is empirical, particularly, analytical. In order to highlight aspects of the research problem, scientific methods of induction, deduction, generalisation, abstraction, synthesis and modelling were used. Results: Philosophical analysis of information ethics made it possible to make a forecast of the ethical development of humanity in the context of further globalisation and virtualisation of the cultural space. Ethical egoism carries the main resources for humanity's choice in favour of ethics. Scientific Novelty: Consideration of the characteristics of ethical ethics, which is at the "point of bifurcation" due to the annihilation of humanity, made it possible to outline the paths of its future progress. These paths are: awareness of the advantages of ethics; popularisation of positive ethical scenarios; creation of ethical codes of information communities; development of ethics of artificial intelligence; integration of traditional ethics and the needs of the information age. Conclusions: Pragmatism, utilitarianism and ethical egoism will become the main trends in the use of certain ethical scenarios. This will not lead to the degradation of humanity only if the quality of self-interests is raised to the stage when the public good is perceived as part of the personal one.

Spinoza’s Strong Eudaimonism

In this paper I defend an eudaimonistic reading of Spinoza’s ethical philosophy. Eudaimonism refers to the mainstream ethical tradition of the ancient Greeks, which considers happiness a naturalistic, stable, and exclusively intrinsic good. Within this tradition, we can also draw a distinction between weak eudaimonists and strong eudaimonists. Weak eudaimonists do not ground their ethical conceptions of happiness in complete theories of metaphysics, epistemology, or psychology. Strong eudaimonists, conversely, build their conceptions of happiness around an overall philosophical system that extends far beyond ethics, while nevertheless being directed at the promotion of a happy life. I will show that Spinozistic happiness is not only naturalistic, stable, and exclusively intrinsically good, but that Spinoza is also a strong eudaimonist because his ethical account of happiness is incomprehensible without appeal to metaphysical, epistemological, and psychological doctrines. As well, I will explain how the apparent subjective and relativistic features of Spinoza’s ethics do not undermine the eudaimonistic reading, because both Spinoza and the ancient eudaimonists grant that the beliefs/feelings of the subject play a necessary (but insufficient) role in happiness as the highest good.

Epistemology of the genesis and evolution of new, fourth and fifth generations of human rights

Considering today's processes of civilizational development of mankind and the obstacles that stand in the way of its further evolution, this research has a purely close connection and complementarity with the integration of sciences (scientific-theoretical and methodological justification) and practice (introduction and realization of components of new generations ).
 The author of the study makes an emphasis, namely: when solving this problem, a comprehensive approach is necessary, where in the process of historical development of human civilization, human rights and freedoms, there must always be a person. It is the epicenter of consideration of problems, and therefore the analysis is carried out and revealed in the plane of anthropocentrism: the place and role of man in the system "Man - society - state" and the development of civilizational processes on the planet.
 The scientist reveals the essence of the problem, the state of its research and draws conclusions against the background of globalization processes. And relations between the states of the world, as we have already noted, scientific and technical progress in various areas of social life also require new legal relations in order to provide humanity with legal norms for solving problems that have arisen at the modern stage of civilizational processes.
 The process of the evolution of rights takes place in accordance with the multifaceted development of human civilization and is an integral priority of the protection of a person as the highest social value - the creator of material and spiritual goods and values, and as a subject of legal protection. Human rights are expanding, their content and scope are being improved in accordance with modern needs and with the aim of realizing the concept of social justice.
 The concept of rights is developing, supplemented with new components, because the dynamics of life puts forward new and new requirements for ensuring human rights and freedoms in the 21st and following centuries.
 The researcher convincingly proves that the realization of the rights of the fourth generation proves that their moral and ethical aspects have already passed and will pass into the problems of the fifth generation, which will also need to be solved in an integrated manner. She notes that it will be difficult to find simple solutions right away.
 The researcher indicates ways to solve the problems that arise during the formation of the components of the fifth generation of rights.
 The scientist makes well-founded conclusions based on the cause-and-effect relationship - factors resulting in the formation of the fourth and fifth generation of human rights. Chief among them are globalization processes of transformation, scientific and technological progress, and others. At the same time, the theoretical and methodological foundations of philosophy, law, religious canons, moral and cultural traditions, the progress of human civilization and their implementation in practice are taken into account.

Judicial law-making as a way to overcome the "exceptional legal problem" in continental and general law

The article examines issues related to the enforcement process in civil proceedings both in the field of continental and common law. In particular, the work draws attention to the fact that today a new procedural and legal reality has essentially emerged in the civil justice system of Ukraine, when the settlement of disputed relations is carried out at the expense of judicial law-making in the presence of legislative gaps.
 At the same time, the author emphasizes that although courts do not make law, but in the presence of legal inconsistency of legal norms or their uncertainty regarding disputed relations, the court is forced to resort to judicial law-making in the presence of incompleteness, vagueness or contradiction of legal norms or their absence.
 The institution of judicial law-making also has a place in the field of general (precedent) law. Unlike continental law, the basis for such a law-making process is a legal case, which is overcome at the expense of the law-making process, based on the judge's perception of justice, existing social and moral values, customs or traditions.
 The work reveals the different legal nature of judicial law-making, which is inherent in both continental and common law. In particular, the work claims that judicial law-making in continental law is based exclusively on current legislation, within which there are legislative gaps. Thus, judicial law-making in continental law will always have a local character, as it is aimed exclusively at filling local legislative gaps (vacuities), and therefore it cannot go beyond a certain field of statutory law. At the same time, judicial law-making in common law is of a general nature and is not based on statutory law, as it is aimed at overcoming a legal case during which a new legal doctrine, principle or new rule or provision is formed. For these reasons, judicial law-making in continental law will never "pass" into the sphere of common law, although in both the first and second cases, legal formulas created by judges to settle disputed relations may be of an imperative nature for law enforcement practice and those other courts.
 Thus, the presence of the institution of judicial law-making in both of these legal families gives grounds for asserting that continental and common law, albeit slowly, are beginning to converge and penetrate each other's procedural matter.

От гуманизма к постгуманизму: трансформация представлений о человеке в философской мысли

Introduction. The article is devoted to the analysis of ideas about a human in modern philosophical movements of transhumanism and posthumanism. Once the highest value and the king of nature, the man-creator and the ruler of the world has turned into a many-sided and sexless creature that has lost passionarity and claims to leadership. Theoretical analysis. The process of dehumanization, which has globally declared itself in the information society, has formed a new system of values in which a person has ceased to be the center of the Universe, the image and likeness of God, on the contrary, his evolution has not been completed yet, and what he will become is still unknown. In modern realities, this transhumanistic message is realized in the form of a person losing his or her gender identity, striving to merge with nano-biotechnologies in their bodies and turning into a cyborg, creating their own digital twin. Conclusion. The posthuman value system is completely different from the traditional human value system. It is alien to the values of the family, motherhood and childhood, procreation. It is based on the values of technogenic civilization and digital culture. The posthuman is concerned only with his own existence and the quality of the technologies that support it. The man sung by the humanists is gradually leaving the stage of history.

Concept of developing a professional outlook of a future doctor based on an integrative approach

Modern technification of medical practice reduces the humanistic potential of medicine and reduces the effectiveness of treatment.Aim of the project. To create the concept of training medical personnel based on the synergy of the best spiritual and moral traditions of the past and breakthrough scientific, creative, innovative and educational technologies to graduate a new generation of specialists who meet the modern requirements, able to meet the healthcare challenges and ready to become leaders in the medicine of the future.Results. The experience of implementing such an interdisciplinary scientific direction as medical anthropology was used, which explains the influence of various factors on the health and well-being of both one individual and a group of people and is based on the idea of humanization of medicine. A project of a new teaching concept “Tver Spiral” is proposed, where the main idea is the development of a multifaceted personality of a future doctor from the standpoint of medical knowledge, philosophy of medicine, bioethics, and biopolitics. This combines not only the contribution of fundamental knowledge and digitalization in selected areas of medicine, but also the study of a holistic approach in understanding the psychological causes, consequences and ways of improving the health and well-being of the patient as a whole.

Gender issues in Confucian ethics in contemporary Vietnam

Confucianism like Taoism is a part of the treasury of the world spiritual culture as created by the “axial age” (K. Jaspers); however, time affects even the most humanistic teachings, many of the provisions of which can be formalized, become obsolete, requiring both a “return to the origins” and clarification or reinterpretation and renewal. These processes of both positive and negative nature affected the norms of Confucian ethics in Vietnam. The article aims at examining the gender content of the Vietnamese Confucian ideals and their impact on the contemporary Vietnamese society. Confucian ethics was introduced in Vietnam during the Chinese colonization and had a great influence on both feudalism in general and on the social perception of the woman and her position in the family, determining gender roles and corresponding gender stereotypes for a millennium. The article identifies both general and special features of the gender issues in the Chinese and Vietnamese traditional Confucian ethics. In addition to many negative aspects (such as restraining women’s personal development and limiting their participation in feudal ceremonies), the Vietnamese Confucian ethics regarding women was changed for the better, contributing to the humanization of gender relations. Confucian gender principles continue to have both beneficial and detrimental influence on the Vietnamese society today. The study of the distribution and dynamics of changes in gender roles in the traditional and contemporary Vietnamese society can provide empirical data for gender sociology, as it is hard to analyze gender relations without considering national traditions and culture in general.

In the name of God and Christianity: mapping parties’ and candidates’ religious communication in Latin America

ABSTRACT Politics and religion are usually considered to be strongly interlinked in Latin America. Despite the fact that discourses about religion, Christianity, and God are assumed to play an important role in political competition, we are still confronted with a gap of systematic comparative large N analyses. This work attempts to map the religious discourses of 87 parties and presidential candidates in 15 Latin American countries based on quantitative content analyses of 14,379 posts on Facebook. We found that religious references serve to emphasise one’s own closeness to God and Christianity, to promote traditional morality, and to portray competitors as immoral and corrupt. Religious discourses mainly occur in Central America and Brazil, where evangelical groups are on the rise and where societies are particularly religious. The evangelical rise may therefore have a substantial impact on society and political campaigning. Religious discourses in society without relevant evangelical groups can be explained by strongly conservative parties and an extremely religious population.

Bioethics and the thorny question of diversity: The example of Qatar‐based institutions hosting the World Congress of Bioethics 2024

In 2022, the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) submitted a proposal to host the 17th edition of the World Congress of Bioethics. After announcing that the CILE-WISH proposal was the winning bid, concerns were raised by bioethicists based in Europe and the USA. To address these concerns, the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) developed a dedicated FAQ section, in coordination with the host institutions, for the first time in IAB history. One-to-one communication ensued and individual responses were shared with these colleagues. As a continuation of this conversation, we (CILE Acting Director, WISH Research Fellow and Head of Content, and WISH CEO) address the concerns raised in the Letter-to-the-Editor of Bioethics by Graaf et al. As we support the call to revisit some contentious issues within the global community of bioethicists, we maintain that this should be based on meticulously discussed, informed, consistent and equitable criteria. We also argue that mutual learning from diverse cultures and moral traditions is the optimal way for our scholarly community to be truly global and to eschew the flaws ensuing from ethnocentric discourses.

Technology, Virtue and the Good Life: Between Production and Consumption


 
 
 This paper explores recent developments in the virtue ethics approach to human flourishing in technological societies. I discuss the merits of virtue ethics in a broader context of various philosophies of technology. I propose that a distinction can be made between two broad approaches to the question of the good life and technology: the production approach that focuses on the roles technologies could and do play in production for the elimination of various forms of labour and the consumption approach that focuses on the role of technology in everyday social settings and interactions outside the workplace. Finding that the virtue ethics approach currently remains almost exclusively focused on consumption, I conclude the article with a suggestion for how virtue theory can be advanced beyond consumption using the resources of the same virtue ethics tradition.
 
 

Love affairs: The piccola posta in the age of social media

The piccola posta, which are reader’s letters to women’s magazines, represent a noteworthy phenomenon for the analysis of social, cultural and communicative practices particularly in relation to representation and self-representation, also in terms of gender. Through a brief reconstruction of its evolution, the piccola posta was identified as a space of interaction, exchange and hybrid sharing which managed to depict the contradiction between the stability of traditional morals based on nineteenth-century models and the increasing need to acquire a new awareness in the personal experience. This article focuses on the social, cultural and media role of piccola posta today, developing a qualitative and quantitative analysis of columns currently active online in, for example, traditional web newspapers, blogs and social media. The aim is to understand how the piccola posta of today could still be a worksite to process innovation about relations, self-perception and sexuality.

Liberal Arts Accounting Education in Accordance with ‘21st Century Corporate Ethics’

This study divided college students who received liberal arts accounting education into two groups (a traditional accounting-educated group, and a traditional accounting and corporate ethics-educated group) to analyze how traditional accounting education and corporate ethics education affect college students' corporate ethics.As a result of the analysis, there was no statistically significant results showing that traditional accounting education had a effect on the formation of college students' ‘21st Century Corporate Ethics’. On the other hand, in the case of the group that received both traditional accounting education and corporate ethics education, statistically significant results were obtained showing that corporate ethics related education had a positive effect on the formation of values that conform to ‘21st Century Corporate Ethics’.What the research results mean is that in order for college students to form the corporate ethics required in the 21st century, supplementary education related to corporate ethics is needed. As confirmed in the ‘2020 Davos Declaration,’ the formation of the ‘21st Century Corporate Ethics’ will have a great impact on the college students themselves, as well as on companies and communities. Therefore, future research regarding the contents of education and teaching methods that will allow students to better adapt to the ‘21st Century Corporate Ethics’ is also required for liberal arts accounting education.

Traditional Ethics for Intercultural Dialogues in Ethiopia: Anecdotes from the Oromo, Amhara, and Gurage Peoples’ Moral Languages

Traditional Ethics for Intercultural Dialogues in Ethiopia: Anecdotes from the Oromo, Amhara, and Gurage Peoples’ Moral Languages

A Tale of Two Chimeras: Applying the Six Principles to Human Brain Organoid Xenotransplantation.

Cerebral organoid models in-of-themselves are considered as an alternative to research animal models. But their developmental and biological limitations currently inhibit the probability that organoids can fully replace animal models. Furthermore, these organoid limitations have, somewhat ironically, brought researchers back to the animal model via xenotransplantation, thus creating hybrids and chimeras. In addition to attempting to study and overcome cerebral organoid limitations, transplanting cerebral organoids into animal models brings an opportunity to observe behavioral changes in the animal itself. Traditional animal ethics frameworks, such as the well-known three Rs (reduce, refine, and replace), have previously addressed chimeras and xenotransplantation of tissue. But these frameworks have yet to completely assess the neural-chimeric possibilities. And while the three Rs framework was a historical landmark in animal ethics, there are identifiable gaps in the framework that require attention. The authors propose to utilize an expanded three Rs framework initially developed by David DeGrazia and Tom L. Beauchamp, known as the Six Principles (6Ps). This framework aims to expand upon the three Rs, fill in the gaps, and be a practical means for assessing animal ethical issues like that of neural-chimeras and cerebral organoid xenotransplantation. The scope of this 6Ps application will focus on two separate but recent studies, which were published in 2019 and 2020. First, they consider a study wherein cerebral organoids were grown from donors with Down syndrome and from neurotypical donors. After these organoids were grown and studied, they were then surgically implanted into mouse models to observe the physiological effects and any behavioral change in the chimera. Second, they consider a separate study wherein neurotypical human embryonic stem cell-derived cerebral organoids were grown and transplanted into mouse and macaque models. The aim was to observe if such a transplantation method would contribute to therapies for brain injury or stroke. The authors place both studies under the lens of the 6Ps framework, assess the relevant contexts of each case, and provide relevant normative conclusions. In this way, they demonstrate how the 6Ps could be applied in future cases of neural-chimeras and cerebral organoid xenotransplantation.

Value of Goal Predicts Accolade Courage: More Evidence that Courage is a Taking a Worthwhile Risk

ABSTRACT Is courage more than just facing fear? We tested the hypothesis that perceived value of the goal, in addition to the perceived riskiness of the action, predicts the extent to which an action is rated as courageous. Participants (300 US undergraduates and 1,254 US residents recruited online) read about either Caitlyn Jenner’s public gender transition or Kim Davis’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Participants then rated how courageous, risky, and valuable the action was. They also completed a Moral Traditionalism scale. Results indicated that across both samples and both conditions, courage was significantly predicted by the value of the goal, with risk of the action a smaller but mostly significant predictor. Adding Moral Traditionalism as a predictor did not alter these patterns. Results of this study support the inclusion of goal value as an important component of accolade courage.

Review: Religion and Culture in Native America, by Suzanne Crawford O’Brien with Inés Talamantez

Review: <i>Religion and Culture in Native America</i>, by Suzanne Crawford O’Brien with Inés Talamantez