Moral Objections Research Articles

Aesthetic and moral objections to hand-painted films in the Scottish Highlands

ABSTRACT During the earliest years of cinema in Scotland, films of the serpentine dance (and its various iterations) were exceptional for their intricately hand-painted colours, imitating the lights of their theatrical antecedents. The popularity of the original stage routine transcended social classes, and was widely lauded as a poetic expression of modernity. Yet, such connotations were not ubiquitously upheld, especially in Inverness, where the routine was controversially executed in a den of lions. Public outcry deemed it a defamation of the female form, and as the town’s only local filmmaker and exhibitor, John Mackenzie omitted any associated hand-painted films from his screenings. The perceived moral case for this omission was compounded by Mackenzie’s aesthetic principles as a photographer. Late-nineteenth-century photographic journals reveal an aversion to hand-painted photographs; dyes corrupted the purity of light on emulsion, whilst the quest for a photographic colour process remained an elusive yet noble pursuit. As founder and president of the Highland Photographic Society, Mackenzie was sensitive to such discourses and beliefs. In addition to cementing John Mackenzie’s place in the historical record, this paper uncovers overlooked yet significant discourses in press and trade journal materials, which are crucial to our understanding of early colour cinema in Scotland.

Protecting fundamental values through the global human rights sanction regime: China's challenges to the EU's normative power

ABSTRACT In 2021, the European Council, implementing the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials and one entity believed to be responsible for human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. These sanctions marked the EU's resumption of a hard normative approach towards China, which responded with strong countermeasures. The exchange of sanctions and countersanctions, along with the ensuing debates, offered a valuable opportunity to observe the EU's normative power in international politics. A qualitative content analysis of documents from both China and the EU reveals that while the EU aims to uphold its moral objectives, it faces significant internal and external challenges. The EU's ability to effectively counter China is limited by institutional weaknesses, inconsistent policies, and diminished credibility. Furthermore, the EU is institutionally unprepared for the consequences of imposing sanctions on such a powerful partner and competitor. On the other hand, China has become increasingly assertive in defending its political system and values, responding to EU sanctions with strong countermeasures, thereby complicating the EU's efforts to maintain leverage in this diplomatic struggle..

Manhaj Tarbiyyah al-Aulād fī Sūrah Luqmān

This research aims to examine the curriculum of child education, specifically focusing on objectives, materials, methods, and media as outlined in Surah Luqman, verses 13 to 20. It is a library-based study employing a qualitative descriptive approach. The primary source for this research is Surah Luqman, verses 13 to 20, while secondary sources include books, studies, and scholarly articles relevant to the topic. Data was collected through documentation, and content analysis was applied to interpret the data based on its content. The findings indicate that the methods of child education in Surah Luqman verses 13 to 20 can be summarized as follows: Educational Objectives: These are categorized into doctrinal objectives, moral objectives, and worship objectives. Educational Materials: These include monotheism (the oneness of God), belief in the Day of Judgment, the beautiful names of God (Asmaul Husna), God's power, commendable morals, reprehensible morals, ethics of debate, and prayer. Educational Methods: These include advice, exemplary modeling, dialogue, repetition, and storytelling. Educational Media: This includes natural elements such as clouds, rain, snow, and ice in the sky, as well as solid dwellings, rivers, trees, plants, and fruits on earth.

EXAMEN CRÍTICO DE LOS ARGUMENTOS DE PLANTINGA EN DEFENSA DEL EXCLUSIVISMO RELIGIOSO

In "Pluralism: A Defense of Religious Exclusivism" Alvin Plantinga defends religious exclusivism from a variety of objections. In this paper I discuss two of those objections. First, where Plantinga set two grounds of their religious beliefs as exclusivist, they missed to mention a third important ground of exclusive believe which is ‘Holy Scriptures’. In this paper I'll try to show that this third ground can change the scenario. Second, in the against of moral objections, like Exclusivists, are guilty of moral failures and arrogant, elitist, egotistical, unjust, oppressive, and imperialistic etc.; Plantinga reply that: Religious exclusivism is not necessarily a moral or intellectual failure and, (because?) given the human condition, some exclusivism is inevitable in our lives. In other words, there is no alternative to religious exclusivism. I argue, in contrast to Plantinga, that there is a contradiction in their argument and a version of this principle is not absolutely correct.

Moral Certainty instead of Moral Objectivity

This paper argues that although Dworkin’s aim of developing a more practical understanding of moral truth is plausible, his attempt to do that while keeping the concept of moral objectivity remains deeply problematic. Because of its opposition to everything subjective, moral objectivity stands in an inherent conflict with the practical reality that we experience as persons from a first-person perspective; therefore, Dworkin’s attempt to reconceptualize moral objectivity from within a first-person perspective is inherently contradictory. The paper suggests that we should go one step further than Dworkin and give up the concept of moral objectivity altogether. A notion of moral certainty instead of moral objectivity would satisfy Dworkin’s intention of finding a practical conception of moral truth more adequately. A brief preliminary conception of it is developed while invoking the German philosopher Robert Spaemann’s ontology of a person.

Harmonizing Maqasid al-Shari’ah with sustainable waste management practices: a conceptual framework for principles and implementation

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the principles guiding sustainable waste management practices within the framework of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. The purpose is to address the environmental challenges arising from economic expansion, population growth and resource consumption, which often lead to unsustainable waste management practices and hinder economic growth. The focus is on aligning waste management principles with the ethical objectives outlined in Shari’ah. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a qualitative content analysis method and an inductive approach to outline the constituent elements that formulate the framework, this study investigates the objectives of Maqasid al-Shari’ah to identify underlying elements crucial for sustainable waste management. Findings The study reveals how the principles embedded in Maqasid al-Shari’ah provide a foundation for effective waste management practices. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating these principles into human behavior to ensure that waste management aligns with the Shari’ah viewpoint. The insights shed light on the role of Maqasid al-Shari’ah in managing waste sustainably and contributing to environmental conservation efforts. Originality/value This research contributes to the field by offering a unique perspective on waste management practices through the lens of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. The study’s originality lies in its exploration of how Islamic ethical objectives can guide sustainable waste management, providing a framework that goes beyond conventional approaches. The incorporation of a comprehensive literature review enhances the authenticity and novelty of the proposed waste management framework.

Development of Public English Teachers in Chinese Vocational Colleges via the Mechanism of “One Body, Two Wings and Three Parties Collaborations”

A good public English teaching faculty is an essential requirement for the development of high-quality vocational education and is urgently needed to achieve the objectives outlined by the “New Curriculum Standards” in Chinese colleges. The current challenges faced by the construction of the public English teaching faculty in the colleges include improper professional development orientation, unreasonable teacher structure ratios, imbalanced teacher ability development, indistinctive faculty characteristics, and inadequate fulfillment of moral cultivation objective. To address these issues, this study based on the questionnaire survey and cases collected mainly from higher vocational colleges in Jiangxi’s province explores repositioning the new professional role of public English teachers under the “New Curriculum Standards” by implementing the working mechanism: “one body (public English teachers), two wings (recruiting & training public English talents), and three parties (government, schools and enterprises) collaboration.” It aims to comprehensively enhance the integrated qualities of “professional knowledge + foreign language skills + cultural literacy” among teachers, thus improving the moral and intellectual nurturing capacity of public English courses in higher vocational education.

Professional Ethics in the Commodity Economy

Research on professional ethics in the conditions of commodity economy aims to clarify the systematic transformation of natural functions into social tasks, thereby clarifying the moral life governed by standards and measured by money; profession is the object of life. The content of the article uses the methodology of humanistic and social philosophy, and combines qualitative methods in the study of moral life, in which humans are both the subject and the object of morality. The result has clarified the object of morality, which is the truth of life. However, the truth of life is standardized and measured by money, causing the truth to be distorted. Profession is joy, the mission of life, the truth, creativity, and freedom in profession, but working for money is suffering; that is, forced labor. The conclusion is that the right to own life in all species is the instinct of survival. Property rights make each individual a product of the family, religion, state, economic unit, and professional organization. Standards are the measure of occupation, and social status in the division of labor becomes the appropriation of money from each other, giving rise to class morality. The struggle is not to abolish humans but to abolish everything that is not human for sustainable development in a commodity economy.

Evaluation of Health Service Quality in City Hospitals

In Turkey, city hospitals play a significant role in the provision of healthcare services. This survey looked at the level of satisfaction with various hospitals. In the study, social media was one of the tools. The hospitals' websites were used to compile satisfaction ratings. After that, content analysis was used to look at the hospitals' indicators for technological, communicative, and physical quality. The study considered hospitals with 1200 beds or greater as a sampling factor in hospital selection. Hospitals are classified with the designation "Hospital" in objectives of information security and ethics. Encoding was carried out like Hos1, Hos2, Hos3, etc. for every hospital. The results of this article, which are considered significant research findings, are believed to had an important effect on improving hospital service requirements. Additionally, improvements can be made in health service delivery in line with the opinions of stakeholders. Additionally, the importance of patient satisfaction in terms of health tourism was emphasized.

Why Not Phase Out Animal Experimentation? Considering Objections from Freedom of Inquiry and Cross-Border Displacement.

Animal experimentation raises value conflicts between animal protection and other goods, such as freedom of inquiry or health and safety. If governments can phase out the practice by non-prohibitive incentive-setting, the pro tanto moral rationale for doing so is obvious. So why should they not? This article first sketches a fictional scenario in which a government adopts a phase-out plan for animal experimentation. It then considers two moral objections to this plan: First, the plan unduly restricts freedom of inquiry, and second, it merely displaces animal experimentation across borders and thus fails to reduce animal suffering. Both arguments are refined premise by premise to articulate their strongest versions. The two objections can help to narrow down desiderata for good phase-out plans. However, they do not provide a compelling case against phase-out planning as such because they miss its incremental and constructive nature. Unless better arguments can be provided, it appears that government inaction on phasing out animal experimentation lacks moral justification.

Objectivity and truth in Ernst Cassirer’s ethics

Cassirer’s view on ethical objectivity is puzzling. In his scarce comments on Kantian ethics, he defines the “pure will” as a “function of consciousness,” which he considers a prerequisite for the possibility of objective ethical normativity embedded in empirical reality. In the existing body of literature, we find two different interpretations of Cassirer’s account of ethical objectivity. The “meta-philosophical” interpretation takes objectivity as a telos that humanity gradually approaches, thereby emphasizing the historically relative truth standards to which the teleologically-evolving symbolic forms respond. The “Kantian” interpretation takes objectivity as a concept inherent to the conduct of the moral law, highlighting the evaluative and prescriptive aspects of his philosophical method. In this paper, I defend the thesis that, by interpreting Cassirer’s ethics through the lens of Hermann Cohen’s mature ethical theory, we can see that ethical deliberation in Cassirer involves a notion of universality that is a priori and depends on a substantiated concept susceptible to change. The proposed “contingent conception of universality” thesis accounts for both: the evaluative and teleological features of Cassirer’s ethical theory, grounding an a priori account of ethical objectivity conceptualized relative to contingent truth standards that gradually improve.

Pentingnya Pertimbangan Pastoral dalam Pelayanan Pastor Paroki: Pendekatan Tanggung Jawab Menurut Bernard Haring

Pastoral discernment is an important process in accompanying people, which enables the parish priest to provide appropriate moral guidance in appropriate situations. Bernard Haring emphasized objective moral principles and objective moral principles and religious teachings as the basis for appropriate pastoral discernment. This article explores this concept in more depth and provides concrete examples of how Haring's approach can be applied in pastoral life. Haring's approach can be applied in everyday pastoral life. In addition, the article highlights the importance of integrating pastoral wisdom with the parish priest's responsibility to embrace and accompany people in complex situations. complex situations. By looking at the relevance and practical application of these concepts, this article provides valuable insights on how the ministry of parish priests can be more effective and meaningful in accompanying parishioners in terms of moral especially family moral and spiritual.

Sexual assault victims face a penalty for adjacent consent

Across 11 experimental studies ( n = 12,257), we show that female victims of sexual assault are blamed more and seen as less morally virtuous if their assault follows voluntary sexual intimacy, a factor we term “adjacent consent”. Moreover, we illuminate a psychological mechanism contributing to this penalty: When a woman who provided no consent whatsoever is assaulted, people tend to see her as more moral than if she were not victimized (the “Virtuous Victim Effect”)—yet people do not extend the same moral elevation to victims who consented to sex-adjacent activity before they were assaulted. Adjacent consent plays a unique role in undermining the moral elevation of rape victims; respondents continue to elevate victims when, in the absence of adjacent consent, we introduce other information that makes the perpetrator seem less abhorrent or that makes the victim seem promiscuous, reckless, or sexually interested in her perpetrator. Furthermore, adjacent consent disqualifies rape victims from moral elevation in the eyes of a wide swath of respondents—including political liberals and undergraduates who, when no assault occurs, have no moral objection to (or even applaud) the victim’s voluntary sexual intimacy. Our results thus illuminate how sexual assault victims may be penalized for adjacent consent by even progressive or “sex-positive” communities. Finally, we identify a potential real-world consequence of adjacent consent: using field data from over 180,000 students across 33 U.S. universities, we find evidence that victims are less likely to report their sexual assaults in cases involving adjacent consent.

Adaptive seamless phase II/III design with sequential estimation-adjusted urn model

Clinical trials are an essential component of the drug development process, providing crucial data on the efficacy and safety of new treatments. However, traditional clinical trial designs can be inefficient and ineffective, leading to increased costs and a higher risk of failure. The FDA Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) has recently initiated Project Optimus to reform the dose selection paradigm for oncology treatments. We propose the adaptive seamless phase II/III clinical trial designs (ASD) with the sequential estimation-adjusted urn (SEU) model for randomization to achieve efficient and ethical objectives. However, the combination of ASD and SEU poses a challenge in controlling the type I error rate: ASD exerts a dual influence of multiplicity and selection; all the responses and treatment assignments are not independent due to SEU. In this paper, we investigated how to overcome these difficulties, utilize the two adaptive approaches’ advantages, and control the type I error rate. We provide a theoretical foundation for this procedure, and numerical studies demonstrate that our methods can assign more people to better treatments, leading to fewer failures while still controlling the type I error rate and preserving power.

Whistleblowing likelihood scale in the lights of Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop a new whistleblowing scale considering the conventional and Islamic perspectives in combating corruption. Whistleblowing has received great attention because it helps the corruption prevention process by revealing bad practices, improving transparency and ensuring accountability. However, not many scholars have focused on the concept of whistleblowing in the Islamic context.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a theoretical inquiry design, delving into the literature to thoroughly examine whistleblowing likelihood, Kohlberg’s theory and Maqasid Shariah. Through qualitative content analysis, relevant concepts are scrutinized and synthesized. The integration of Kohlberg’s theory and Maqasid Shariah aims to offer a comprehensive framework for comprehending whistleblowing likelihood, integrating perspectives from both Western and Islamic traditions.FindingsThis study has conceptualized the integration of the six stages of Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah to understand whistleblowing likelihood. The study offers a scale to explain whistleblowing likelihood based on the two theories.Research limitations/implicationsThe correlation between Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah reveals a nuanced relationship between individual moral evolution and Islamic ethical imperatives, in the context of whistleblowing likelihood. As individuals progress through Kohlberg’s stages, aligning with Maqasid Shariah’s emphasis on societal well-being, their inclination to blow the whistle evolves from early considerations of fear and conformity to a commitment to universal ethical principles and justice.Practical implicationsThe new scale integrating Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah aids ethical climates in organizations by assessing employees’ moral development and promoting ethical leadership through tailored training. Aligned with Islamic values, the scale becomes a tool for fostering ethical behavior and organizational culture, emphasizing justice and commitment to higher ethical objectives. Managers must delicately balance justice and community harmony when implementing whistleblowing initiatives to ensure a positive impact on both ethical principles and organizational cohesion.Social implicationsBy integrating the six stages of moral development proposed by Kohlberg, the new scale plays a role in promoting transparency and accountability for sustainable development. Furthermore, its alignment with Maqasid Shariah contributes to addressing corruption and advocating for social justice, making the scale a catalyst for societal well-being that respects cultural and religious values. Ultimately, the scale supports a socially responsible approach, reinforcing ethical behavior and contributing to the broader global agenda for sustainable and just societies.Originality/valueThe new scale integrating Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah offers an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to assessing whistleblowing likelihood. This fusion provides a nuanced understanding of individuals’ ethical reasoning, aligning universal moral principles with Islamic ethics. The scale not only broadens the conceptual framework for evaluating ethical decision-making but also respects cultural diversity, making it inclusive and applicable across diverse global contexts.

Dasar Keilmuan Bimbingan Konseling dalam Perspektif Filsafat Ilmu (Ontologi, Epistimologi dan Aksiologi dalam Bimbingan Konseling)

This research aims to explore the scientific foundation of counseling guidance from the perspective of the philosophy of science, focusing on three main aspects: ontology, epistemology, and axiology. In the ontology study, this research analyzes the nature and existence of entities that are the objects of counseling guidance, such as individuals, psychological issues, and the process of behavioral change. Epistemology in counseling guidance examines how knowledge about counseling is acquired, validated, and applied, encompassing the scientific approaches, theories, and practices used by counselors. The axiological aspect examines the ethical values and objectives underlying the practice of counseling guidance, including the role of moral values, professional ethics, and the social impact of counseling. This research uses a qualitative approach with literature analysis as the main method. The results indicate that the scientific foundation of counseling guidance is greatly influenced by an ontological understanding of humans as complex and dynamic beings, an interdisciplinary epistemological approach, and an axiological commitment to individual and community well-being

CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY ON PROTECTIVE FACTORS AGAINST SUICIDE IN INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE DEPRESSION

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to find out “factors that prohibit those suffering from severe depression with suicidal ideation of committing suicide”, admitted to the psychiatric unit of a tertiary care hospital in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar. STUDY DESIGN Cross sectional study PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY This study was conducted in psychiatry department of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar from May 2023 till November 2023. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We conducted this study on 230 admitted patients, and they were diagnosed with severe depression according to ICD-10 and beck scale for suicidal ideation was applied and a score of ≥ 8 was considered positive for the presence of suicidal ideations and then a “modified version of reasons for living scale” to identify protective factors against suicide. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. RESULTS The most common protective factor found in our study was religious and moral objections in 37.4% patients followed by fear of social disapproval in 17.4%, hopefulness and fear of suicide in 15.7% each and responsibility towards family was present in 13.9% patients. Data stratification for protective factors and other demographic characteristics including gender, residential, socioeconomic, marital, educational statuses and family system were statistically significant with their P-values of <0.001. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that religious and moral objections were the most common protective factors in prevention of suicide, followed by fear of social disapproval, hopefulness, fear of suicide and responsibility towards family. Gender, residential, socioeconomic, marital, and educational statuses along with family system were significantly associated with the presence of protective factors against suicide.

[Kripal, Jeffrey J. The superhumanities: historical precedents, moral objections, new realities]

[Kripal, Jeffrey J. The superhumanities: historical precedents, moral objections, new realities]

Is Moore’s Moral Objectivist Argument Sufficient Against Moral Relativism?

This study aims to expose certain weaknesses in Moore’s moral objectivist argument against moral relativism and subjectivism. It suggests that a moral objectivist argument has to explain moral diversity against moral relativism. Moral relativism is one of the most critical debates in metaethics, and it can be interpreted in two different ways: one as moral realism and the other as moral anti-realism. Moral realism, when reduced to moral objectivism, excludes moral relativism and subjectivism beyond moral realism. I will refer to this interpretation as narrowed moral realism. But moral realism can be extended in an inclusive way such as moral subjectivism and relativism. I will refer to this as extended moral realism. Due to the focus of the study, I will introduce both extended moral realism and narrowed moral realism in the introduction section. Then, I will address G. E. Moore's narrowed moral realism. I will criticize his arguments for their failure to explain the diversity of moral codes. Finally, I suggest that moral subjectivism and moral relativism can be appropriately addressed within extended moral realism. Contrary to Moore's claims, I contend that moral relativism and moral subjectivism would be claims within moral realism. I also evaluate the two main claims from a moral realist perspective. Moral subjectivism claims that moral reality is constructed by an individual’s mental state. Moral relativism argues that social codes of human conduct completely determine moral reality. In the first section of the study, I discussed moral relativism from a Moorean perspective, which asserts that there are self-evident and indefinable truths at the foundation of objective morality. The second section contends that if Moore is correct, however, it necessitates an explanation for why different cultures accept different moral codes. The third section argues the fact that Moore fails to provide any explanation for this. In the conclusion part, I claim that moral relativism and moral subjectivism can be viewed as moral realist theories based on the failure of Moore's arguments.

Evaluating community pharmacists awareness, perception and roles in providing emergency contraceptives in Jordan

ObjectiveThis cross-sectional study aimed to assess Jordanian community pharmacists' awareness, perception, and roles concerning emergency contraceptives provision. Study designWe administered a structured questionnaire to community pharmacists in Jordan using convenience sampling. The questionnaire included sections on demographic information, knowledge about emergency contraceptives, perception towards emergency contraceptive, and prior experience in emergency contraceptives provision. ResultsA total of 299 community pharmacists responded to the study. Most pharmacists had a Pharm D/BPharm degree (94.6%) and worked in independent community pharmacies (75.6%). While pharmacists demonstrated relatively high knowledge scores regarding emergency contraception, with a median score of 10 out of 14, misconceptions persisted, particularly regarding the mechanism of action and side effects of emergency contraception. Pharmacists expressed mixed perceptions regarding emergency contraception, with a significant proportion advocating for prescription-only access (76.6%) and expressing ethical reservations (48.2%). Only 38.1% reported prior experience in emergency contraceptives provision. Regression analyses revealed that attendance at emergency contraceptives-focused workshops significantly increased the likelihood of pharmacists providing emergency contraceptives (Adjusted Odds Ratio=2.569, p = 0.001). ConclusionsJordanian community pharmacists exhibit readiness to provide emergency contraceptives, but persistent misconceptions and regulatory barriers hinder optimal provision. Targeted educational interventions, particularly through workshops, are crucial in enhancing pharmacists' knowledge and promoting emergency contraceptives provision. ImplicationsResponding pharmacists often reported the misconception that emergency contraceptives can cause abortion. Also, some pharmacists expressed religious or moral objections to prescribing oral emergency contraceptives. Thus, this study underscores the importance of receiving comprehensive training on ethical and religious considerations in healthcare practice.