Principles Of Common Morality Research Articles

THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES: INSIGHTS FROM COVID-19 PRACTICESZarina Nurbekovna Amanzholova

The state of emergency imposed on the basis of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which had a significant impact on the normal way of life of society, during which the rights and freedoms of people and citizen, guaranteed and protected by the norms of normative legal acts at the international and national levels, were restricted. Within the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a temporary restriction on the right to free movement was imposed, which was justified by the implementation of temporary measures approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Upon studying the temporary measures outlined in the Decree of the President of Kazakhstan, it has been established that the right of individuals to free movement underlies all implemented measures. Therefore, based on this right, within the framework of the article there is a need to understand the relationship between the concepts of "human rights" and "civil rights", since the applicability of legislative acts and norms to limited rights and freedoms may vary depending on the category. These categories are based on common moral principles, have a common legal basis and are integral parts of the legal status of an individual. These rights form a complex system of interrelated phenomena. For this reason, it is obvious that a careful comparison of the categories of human rights and civil law, the disclosure of the links between them by considering their characteristics and classifications allows us to identify these concepts more deeply. Along this path, as the author studied the norms of normative legal acts at the international and domestic levels, it was determined that civil rights are based on human rights. Nevertheless, with regard to the procedure for restricting human and civil rights, shortcomings in the norms of legislative acts have been identified.

Becoming a legitimate actor: “Rainbow pastors” and same-sex marriage within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

This article explores the public discussion in the media where a group of religious activists who call themselves rainbow pastors are constructed as a legitimate actor in terms of the same-sex marriage debate within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF). Same-sex marriage was legalized in Finland in March 2017. The majority of the population and members of the ELCF support same-sex couples’ right to marry. However, it is not officially approved within the ELCF, which causes polarization. This study draws on a neo-institutionalist framework of epistemic governance to identify the discursive representations and justifications presented in the media. The activists aimed to convince the church decision-makers and general public of the need for institutional change regarding the religious understanding of marriage while the media pushed its own agenda. The data for this study consist of news articles in which the issue of the ELCF and same-sex marriage was discussed. Four discursive representations were identified: contesting the authority of the ELCF, creating heroic narratives, drawing on common moral principles, and normalizing same-sex marriage. The findings show that the debate also turned into a battle over authority, in which the rainbow pastors challenged the official power structures of the ELCF.

Alan Donagan and the Fundamental Principle of Judeo-Christian Morality

Alan Donagan, in The Theory of Morality, famously claims that the principles of “common morality” (i.e., the morality of the Judeo-Christian tradition) form a consistent system that can be derived from a single fundamental principle: It is impermissible not to respect every human being, oneself or any other, as a rational creature. In particular, I want to show that the prohibition contained in the fundamental principle is interpreted by appeal to prior convictions about particular sorts of cases, whether they involve the violation of “respect” or not, and that this has unfavorable consequences for Donagan’s claim that the principles of common morality form a truly deductive system of morality.

Проблема межконфессионального взаимодействия старообрядчества и ислама в творчестве А.С. Пушкина и Л.Н. Толстого

The issue of reflecting the ethno-cultural interaction between the Old Believers and Mus­lims in regions with a traditional prevalence of Islamic culture in the 18th—19th centuries is considered in the works of A. S. Pushkin and L. N. Tolstoy. The conclusion is substantiated that both writers leaned towards the necessity of uniting Christianity and Islam based on common moral principles inherent in these religions. The continuity of the artistic tradition of the 19th century is emphasized, and similar trends in the perception of confessional issues are identified, characteristic of both the early development of Russian classical literature and the turn of the 19th—20th centuries. Along with this, fundamental differences in the views of the two writers are clarified. In particular, A. S. Pushkin assigned a leading role in interreligious integration to official Orthodoxy, seeing in Old Believers purely destructive traits. L. N. Tol­stoy, on the other hand, considered Old Believers as the best example of religious tolerance (des­pite the negative traits inherent in his followers), capable of productive and lasting in­ter­faith collaboration.

Commentary: Beyond Common or Uncommon Morality

In "Medical Ethics: Common or Uncommon Morality,"1 Rosamond Rhodes defends a specialist view of medical ethics, specifically the ethics of physicians. Rhodes's account is specifically about the ethics of medical professionals, rooted in what these professionals do. It would seem to follow that other healthcare professions might be subject to ethical standards that differ from those applicable to physicians, rooted in what these other professions do, but I leave this point aside for purposes of this commentary. Rhodes's view includes both a negative and a positive thesis. The negative thesis is that precepts in medical ethics-understood as the ethics of physicians-cannot be derived from principles of common morality. The positive thesis is two-fold: that precepts in medical ethics must be derived from an account of the special nature of what physicians do, and that this account is to be understood through an overlapping consensus of rational and reasonable medical professionals. While I agree emphatically with, and have learned a great deal from, Rhodes's defense of the negative thesis, I disagree with both claims in Rhodes's positive thesis, for reasons I will now explain after a brief observation about the negative thesis.

The Epistemology of Justice

AbstractIn arguing about justice, different sides often accept common moral principles, but reach different conclusions about justice because they disagree about facts. I argue that motivated reasoning, epistemic injustice, and ideologies of injustice support unjust institutions by entrenching distorted representations of the world. Working from a naturalistic conception of justice as a kind of social contract, I suggest some strategies for discovering what justice demands by counteracting these biases. Moral sentiments offer vital resources to this end.

Rzeka jako symbol Kościoła

River as a symbol of the Church From the historical point of view of settlement development, the community of people could be linked to the symbolism of a river valley which created the most favourable conditions for human existence and promoted the development of civilization. In the biblical context, the symbolism of the river could be referred to the Church community, based on the image of the river flowing out of Jerusalem, described by the prophets Ezekiel and Zechariah. This article presents an attempt to develop the image of a river as a symbol of the Church based on contemporary geomorphological and theological knowledge and using allegorical method of interpretation adapted by the Church Fathers. The purity of spring waters can be a symbol of doctrinally and morally clean societies that are necessary in the formation of man’s spiritual life. The three-dimensional connectivity of natural river channels could be considered as a symbol of the three dimensions of the Church community: the family, the local community and the universal Church. The need to create communities that go beyond families and refer to the incipient Christian communities should now be emphasized. A multi-thread river is a proper symbol of the early Christian Church, because with the same doctrine of faith and common moral principles, the incipient local Churches differed, among others, in liturgical forms or organizational principles. Contemporary human activities degrading river ecosystems could be compared to destructive actions of a church community. Symbolically, restoration activities conducted in river channels could be considered as a symbol of the necessity to make efforts in the Church to return Christians to the original faith sources. Particular attention should be paid to the need of rebuilding the faith environment of the local Church.

Code of Ethics in a Multicultural Company and its Legal Context

Abstract The entry of foreign investors and simultaneous expansion of different national cultures, religions, rules, moral and ethical standards is bringing up problems of cooperation and coexistence of different nationalities, ethnicities and cultures. Working in an international environment therefore requires adaptation to a variety of economic, political, legal, technical, social, cultural and historical conditions. One possible solution is to define a code of ethics, guidelines which find enough common moral principles, which can become the basis for the adoption of general ethical standards, while respecting national, cultural differences and practices. In this article, the authors pay attention not only to the analysis of the common ethical rules in a multicultural company, but also to the legal aspects of codes of ethics. Each code of ethics is a set of standards, which, like the legal norms, regulate the behaviour of individuals. These standards, however, must simultaneously meet certain statutory criteria that define the boundaries of regulation of employee’s behaviour.

The rules of engagement

The rules of engagement

Medical research ethics in China

Medical research ethics has been a growing issue in China over the past two decades. In the 1990s, many relevant documents were translated into Chinese, and many ethics workshops were held in major Chinese research centres. Initially, momentum was generated by the need for ethical review in collaborations funded by international scientific agencies and the drug industry. The Ministry of Health issued requirements for good clinical practice in 1999 (revised in 2003) that also included ethical review. Another factor has been the recent trend toward documentation by ethics committees before publication in international journals. The protection of human participants in international medical research collaborations in China, and in other developing countries, has been a focus of attention in the mass media in developed countries and in the scientific literature. These moves have provided models for ethical implementation1 and brought attention to the controversies around the protection of participants in clinical trials and observational studies.2,3 Recently, as research funding from Chinese governmental sources has increased, so also has the requirement for ethical review of domestic research protocols. Currently, most of the ethical codes for medical research, including the regulations issued by the Ministry of Health in 2007,4 are based on the principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice. Autonomy includes situations when consent might be compromised by low literacy or mistaking research for routine health-care services.5 Justice considerations can arise when large drug-company trials are done in less developed regions (the findings might not be reported back to participants and their communities, or the standard of care in such trials might be measured by domestic rather than global standards). There are two major criticisms of the principle-based framework in China. The first concerns whether, and how, a framework that focuses on individual autonomy can coexist with a traditional ethic that emphasises social harmony over individual interests. This debate is part of the worldwide critique of ethical imperialism,6 to which some have responded that principle-based ethics are universal and compatible with other ethical systems7 whereas others have argued that many medical moralities coexist in all societies.8 As with virtue-based ethics in developed countries,9 traditional Chinese ethics focus on relationships and the responsibility of a person to work for the good of others, rather than adherence to general principles of common morality. Some contend that this ethic undermines the protection of individual participants in medical research.10 However, leading Chinese bioethicists argue that virtues and ethical principles are compatible, and that respect for people, non-maleficence or beneficence, and justice are principles and virtues for a good person.11 For medical research, major ethical responsibility is placed on the researcher. Thus a signed consent form might be seen less as protection for participants’ rights than as a legal mechanism that will relieve researchers from their important virtue-based responsibilities. To further the goals of the ethical conduct of medical research, it is essential to continue to clarify how principles and virtues can be used together to enhance the protection of participants. The second critique takes a broader view of the purpose of medical research ethics, beyond both the function of institutional review boards and their principle-based reasoning, and assessment of actions based on good intentions or achieving good outcomes. Reflecting recent discussions of professional ethics in the context of market reforms,12 this critique encourages consideration of ethical aspects of the entire research domain, from funding to dissemination of findings,13 thus capturing the influences underlying economic and social changes within China today and locating potential participants within a broader domain of power and influence. In recent years, economic incentives in medical practice and research exacerbate the potential for conflicts of interest, which can undermine ethical relations between medical professionals and researchers, drug companies, or other research funders, patients who become research participants, and even the regulatory agencies whose mandate is to protect participants’ safety. Although forces at play in China might aid advocacy for research participants through the rise of civil society and non-governmental organisations, others might act to undermine essential human rights. The most crucial threat to the protection of human participants in research lies in failing to be aware of and to counteract these dangers. Essential here is maintenance of the independence of ethics committees, and fostering their ability to develop community-engagement mechanisms. The future looks promising. As China’s role in research continues to expand, principle-based ethical review of protocols will become increasingly widespread and standardised. The key issue is not whether, or to what extent, foreign versus traditional ethical theories are relevant in the Chinese context. Rather, it is more vigilant regulation of the business of medical research that is needed to ensure protection of research participants.

HASTENING DEATH AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE SELF

When applying moral principles to concrete cases, we assume a background shared understanding of the boundaries of the persons to whom the principles apply. In most contexts, this assumption is unproblematic. However, in end-of-life contexts, when patients are receiving 'artificial' life-support, judgments about where a person's self begins and ends can become controversial. To illustrate this possibility, this paper presents a case in which a decision must be made whether to deactivate a patient's pacemaker as a means to hasten his death. After discussing some common moral principles that are often applied to resolve ethical problems at the end of life and after explaining why they are of no help here, the paper argues that the correct analysis of this case, and of cases of this sort, turns on considerations that relate to the constitution of the self. These considerations, the paper further argues, sometimes resist resolution. The constitution of the self is fixed in large measure by our concepts and social conventions, and these do not always provide determinate grounds for delimiting the boundaries of the self.

Measuring Biotechnology Employees’ Ethical Attitudes towards a Controversial Transgenic Cattle Project: The Ethical Valence Matrix

What is the relationship between biotechnology employees' beliefs about the moral outcomes of a controversial transgenic research project and their attitudes of acceptance towards the project? To answer this question, employees (n=466) of a New Zealand company, AgResearch Ltd., were surveyed regarding a project to create transgenic cattle containing a synthetic copy of the human myelin basic protein gene (hMBP). Although diversity existed amongst employees' attitudes of acceptance, they were generally: in favor of the project, believed that it should be allowed to proceed to completion, and that it is acceptable to use transgenic cattle to produce medicines for humans. These three items were aggregated to form a project acceptance score. Scales were developed to measure respondents' beliefs about the moral outcomes of the project for identified stakeholders in terms of the four principles of common morality (benefit, non-harm, justice, and autonomy). These data were statistically aggregated into an Ethical Valence Matrix fo the project. The respondents' project Ethical Valence Scores correlated significantly with their project acceptance scores (r=0.64, p<0.001), accounting for 41% of the variance in respondents' acceptance attitudes. Of the four principles, non-harm had the strongest correlation with attitude to the project (r=0.59), followed by benefit and justice (both r=0.54), then autonomy (r=0.44). These results indicate that beliefs about the moral outcomes of a research project, in terms of the four principles approach, are strongly related to, and may be significant determinants of, attitudes to the research project. This suggests that, for employees of a biotechnology organization, ethical reasoning could be a central mechanism for the evaluation of the acceptability of a project. We propose that the Ethical Valence Matrix may be used as a tool to measure ethical attitudes towards controversial issues, providing a metric for comparison of perceived ethical consequences for multiple stakeholder groups and for the evaluation and comparison of the ethical consequences of competing alternative issues or projects. The tool could be used to measure both public and special interest groups' ethical attitudes and results used for the development of socially responsible policy or by science organizations as a democratizing decision aid to selection amongst projects competing for scarce research funds.