Israel has a long history of concern with chemical and biological threats, since several hostile states in the Middle East are likely to possess such weapons. The Twin-Tower terrorist attacks and Anthrax envelope scares of 2001 were a watershed for public perceptions of the threat of unconventional terror in general and of biological terror in particular. New advances in biotechnology will only increase the ability of terrorists to exploit the burgeoning availability of related information to develop ever-more destructive bioweapons. Many (...) areas of modern biological research are unavoidably dual-use by nature. They thus have a great potential for both help and harm; and facilitating the former while preventing the latter remains a serious challenge to researchers and governments alike. This article addresses how Israel might best (1) prevent hostile elements from obtaining, from Israel’s biological research system, materials, information and technologies that might facilitate their carrying out a biological attack, while (2) continuing to promote academic openness, excellence and other hallmarks of that system. This important and sensitive issue was assessed by a special national committee, and their recommendations are presented and discussed. One particularly innovative element is the restructuring and use of Israel’s extensive biosafety system to also address biosecurity goals, with minimal disruption or delay. (shrink)

How can criminal punishment be morally justified? Zisman addresses this classical question in legal philosophy. He provides two maybe surprising answers to the question. First, as for a methodological claim, it argues that this question cannot be answered by philosophers and legal scholars alone. Rather, we need to take into account research from social psychology, economy, anthropology, and so on in order to properly analyze the arguments in defense of criminal punishment. Second, the book argues that when such research (...) is properly accounted for, none of the current attempts to justify criminal punishment succeed. But that does not imply that the state should do nothing about criminal wrongdoing. Rather, the arguments that were supposed to justify criminal punishment actually speak in favor of an alternative approach to criminal law: restitution to the victim and restorative justice. That is to say, the state should coerce offenders to provide restitution for the harm inflicted on victims, and whenever possible restorative approaches should be taken to address criminal wrongdoing. (shrink)

Criticizing Lacan and Levinas, and starting from Freud and Lacan’s denial of the womb and from the Genius-Male-Hero (as theorized by Rank), who is self-creating and holds the power of creation and thus depends on the elimination of the birth-giving begetting mother, I continue my research to formulate a feminine difference that is neither dependency/disguise (Riviere, Butler) nor revolt and struggle in the phallic texture (Kristeva). Unlike other ideas concerning the difference of the feminine, the originary difference that I call (...) matrixial supplies a measure of difference that functions between a woman and a woman, and not only between a man and a woman. With the concepts of the Matrixial, metramorphosis, border-swerving, borderlinking, I outline how both male and female subjects have access to the matrixial sphere and might, as artists, become a ‘woman-artist’; how the Matrixial dissolves the concept of the unitary, separate phallic subject; and how female bodily specificity allows the conceptualization of a field of co-affectivity, shareability and transmissibility. I develop the aesthetic and psychic value of the matrixial voice and its resonance as trans-subjective, based upon a psychic Encounter-Event (rather than just unqualified Thing). Even though the matrixial difference refers both primarily and on the levels of the Imaginary and the Symbolic to the female body – womb, fetus, gestation, pregnancy provide its corpo-real basis – the Matrixial is formulated in terms of a transgressive stratum of subjectivation, where unconscious trans-subjectivity occurs due to particular links and transmission between partial-subjects and partial-objects in co-emergence and co-fading. (shrink)

Criminal law abolitionists claim that legal punishment cannot be morally justified and that we should therefore abolish criminal law. While this is still a minority position in the current debate, the number of proponents has been increasing, and even opponents have developed a certain degree of sympathy for such claims in recent years. Yet one of the reasons many remain hesitant regarding the abolition of criminal law appears to be the lack of a thought-through alternative, in addition to abolitionists disagreeing (...) considerably amongst themselves on what an alternative should look like. I will call this the missing alternative objection. To address this central concern, I will argue in this paper that the most prominent versions of abolitionism actually converge on the same alternative core to criminal law — even though they are driven by vastly different motivations. This core that current abolitionist theories converge on is two-fold: first, the claim that the state should compel offenders to provide restitution for the victim; second, the claim that restorative processes should be used wherever possible when addressing criminal wrongdoing. This common core is enough to reject the missing alternative objection. (shrink)

In recent years, a number of philosophers and social scientists have argued in favor of or against retributive theories of criminal punishment based on empirical findings about folk punitive judgment and decision-making. In this paper, we will argue that these arguments do not succeed. We will raise two objections. First, there are serious gaps between the empirical findings these authors cite and the descriptive premises these findings are meant to support. Second, in many cases, the existing research does not support (...) the specific empirical claims that feature in these arguments. Specifically, a large part of the existing psychological research and some philosophers claim that people are mainly driven by retributive motives. We will show that a large portion of the empirical research is not designed in a way to specifically test this claim, and to the extent that some studies are able to investigate this claim, we show that the evidence suggests that people are motivated by a variety of concerns, including consequentialist motives. We discuss possible responses and implications for the philosophy of criminal punishment, and provide suggestions for improved study designs. (shrink)

In order to receive controlled pain medications for chronic non-oncologic pain, patients often must sign a “narcotic contract” or “opioid treatment agreement” in which they promise not to give pills to others, use illegal drugs, or seek controlled medications from health care providers. In addition, they must agree to use the medication as prescribed and to come to the clinic for drug testing and pill counts. Patients acknowledge that if they violate the opioid treatment agreement, they may no longer receive (...) controlled medications. OTAs have been widely implemented since they were recommended by multiple national bodies to decrease misuse and diversion of narcotic medications. But critics argue that OTAs are ethically suspect, if not unethical, and should be used with extreme care if at all. We agree that OTAs pose real dangers and must be implemented carefully. But we also believe that the most serious criticisms stem from a mistaken understanding of OTAs’ purpose and ethical basis. (shrink)

Von Beginn menschlicher Reflexion war die Frage, was der Mensch seinem Wesen nach sei und welche Stellung er im Kosmos einnehme, von zentraler Bedeutung, denn schliesslich wird in ihr das Selbstverstandnis des Menschen thematisiert. Dabei wird die Komplexitat der Fragestellung deutlich, da auch nur der Versuch, diese zu beantworten, zahlreiche andere Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungsgebiete voraussetzt und somit auch immer von kulturellen Komponenten abhangt.Dabei spielen zwei Aspekte in der Deutung des Menschen eine wichtige Rolle: Zum einen erarbeiteten die modernen Naturwissenschaften zahlreiche (...) Erkenntnisse, die fur das Selbstverstandnis des Menschen hochst relevant sind. Zum anderen bilden weiterfuhrende Sinndeutungen, wie sie in religiosen Systemen durchgefuhrt werden, eine anthropologische Grundoption.Im Ausgang an die radikalisierte Moderne wurde deutlich, dass sowohl die Interpretation naturwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse als auch die religiosen Deutungen an kontingente Voraussetzungen geknupft sind, die eine Pluralitat von anthropologischen Bestimmungen nach sich ziehen. Mochte man diese Vielfalt nicht unverbunden nebeneinander stehen lassen, konnen diese Bestimmungen im Licht der unumganglich von allen Menschen zu leistenden Welt- und Lebensorientierung nur in einer philosophischen Analyse vernunftig aufeinander bezogen werden, wodurch mogliche Horizonte und Grenzen des anthropologischen Unternehmens deutlich werden. (shrink)

Registered nurses (RNs) employed in an urban medical center in the USA identified moral distress as a practice concern. This study describes RNs' moral distress and the frequency of morally distressing events. Data were collected using the Moral Distress Scale and an open-ended questionnaire. The instruments were distributed to direct-care-providing RNs; 100 responses were returned. Morally distressing events included: working with staffing levels perceived as `unsafe', following families' wishes for patient care even though the nurse disagreed with the plan, and (...) continuing life support for patients owing to family wishes despite patients' poor prognoses. One high frequency distressing event was carrying out orders for unnecessary tests and treatments. Qualitative data analysis revealed that the nurses sought support and information from nurse managers, chaplaincy services and colleagues. The RNs requested further information on biomedical ethics, suggested ethics rounds, and requested a non-punitive environment surrounding the initiation of ethics committee consultations. (shrink)

Nicholas Magni of Jawor (de Jawor/Jauer, von Heidelberg) (1355–1435), a Silesian professor of theology, preacher, and diplomat, was one of the most interesting figures of the first generation of scholars from the University of Heidelberg. Of all his output, it is the treatise De superstitionibus that has attracted the greatest attention so far, while his less known anti-Hussite writings have long been only a research postulate. The work of Jiří Petrášek is, therefore, a long-awaited analysis of the insufficiently recognized writing (...) by Nicholas Magni: Contra epistolam perfidiae Hussitarum, which is a response to the Taborite Manifesto from 1430. In his work, Petrášek draws new conclusions: regarding Nicolas Magni’s views on indulgences, the author points to the borrowings from Henry of Langenstein, and he does not share the earlier statement of Franz X. Bantle about the originality of the Heidelbergian theologian’s views on indulgences and their essence confined to the notion of “communication”. Thus, we receive a work that verifies the previous findings on the anti-Hussite views of Nicholas Magni, and which thoroughly introduces us into the less known areas of the 15th century Catholic anti-Hussite polemics. (shrink)

In this article Troels Norager discusses the subject of sacrifice in the context of Kierkegaard's Works of Love and Fear and Trembling. The first section argues that contrary to contemporary attempts to turn Kierkegaard into a phenomenologist of love, Kierkegaard should be regarded as a radical Christian thinker who (partly for biographical reasons) deliberately emphasized the necessity of being willing to sacrifice one's most precious love object. The second part deals with Abraham's dilemma in Genesis 22 and argues, critically surveying (...) the intriguing interpretation proposed by Ingolf Dalferth, that no credible solution to this deeply troubling story is to be found. In the final section the author ponders the contemporary significance of Abraham's sacrifice and briefly points to insights from eminent political philosophers like Rawls and Habermas. This leads to the conclusion that theology should finally be taking leave of Abraham by rejecting Abraham as the 'Father of faith' and as a paradigm to be emulated. Instead, theologians and philosophers of religion are called upon to embrace our post-secular modernity without surrendering to the demands of authoritarian religion. (shrink)

The Java® programming language is a general-purpose, concurrent, object-oriented language. Its syntax is similar to C and C++, but it omits many of the features that make C and C++ complex, confusing, and unsafe. The Java platform was initially developed to address the problems of building software for networked consumer devices. It was designed to support multiple host architectures and to allow secure delivery of software components. To meet these requirements, compiled code had to survive transport across networks, operate on (...) any client, and assure the client that it was safe to run. (shrink)

This article explores the properties of formulations in a corpus of Hebrew radio phone-ins by juxtaposing two theoretical frameworks: conversation analysis and dialogic syntax. This combination of frameworks is applied towards explaining an anomalous interaction in the collection – a caller’s marked, unexpected rejection of a formulation of gist produced by the radio phone-in’s host. Our analysis shows that whereas previous CA studies of formulations account for many instances throughout the corpus, understanding this particular formulation in CA terms does not (...) explain its drastic rejection by the caller. We therefore turn to an in-depth examination of strategies for lexical and syntactic resonance as a stance-taking device throughout the interaction. In so doing, we not only shed light on the anomalous interaction, but also offer an answer to a provocative question previously put forward by Haddington concerning which of the two – stances or actions – have more meaningful consequences for the description of the organization of interaction. In the particular interaction analyzed here, stances play the more significant role. We propose that the intersubjective stance-taking of participants may be viewed as a meta-action employed among participants as they move across actions, sequences, and activities in talk. (shrink)

As part of a European Erasmus Plus project entitled Death Education for Palliative Psychology, this study assessed the ways in which Master’s Degree students in psychology and the creative arts therapies self-rated their confidence and interest in death education and palliative and bereavement care. In five countries (Austria, Israel, Italy, Poland, Romania), 344 students completed an online questionnaire, and 37 students were interviewed to better understand their views, interest, and confidence. The results revealed some significant differences between countries, and showed (...) that older respondents with previous experience as formal caregivers for end-of-life clients showed greater interest in obtaining practical clinical competence in these fields. A mediation analysis indicated that students’ previous care experiences and past loss experiences were related to students’ current interest in death education and palliative and bereavement care through the mediation of their sense of confidence in this field. The qualitative findings identified five shared themes: life and death, learning about death, the psychological burden, personal experience and robust training, and four key training needs. Overall, students’ interest in studying and working with terminal illness and death are rooted in internal resources, a preliminary sense of confidence, but also external requirements. (shrink)

An experience of helplessness during the production of a collective autobiographical narrative offers an opportunity to explore points of convergence between Adriana Cavarero's postural philosophy and Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger's matrixial borderlinking. The narrative is treated as a live scene that enfolds the movement of the drive conceptualized in such a way as to avoid the prioritization of death over life. Five successive moves, inspired by Ettinger's rotation of the phallic prism, illuminate affinities between the two thinkers. The first rotation (...) explores the matrixial and relational qualities that compose the scene. The second rotation approaches death from a notional beginning, prioritizing the presence of the mother and her assymmetrical relationship to the infant. The third rotation emphasizes the transformational character of Ettinger's matrixial movement and border-crossing, especially when examined in conjunction with Cavarero's maternal inclination. In the fourth rotation we show how inclination in Lacanian psychoanalysis is linked to the disappearance of the mother from the scene. The introduction of the mother disrupts the Lacanian logic with the possibility of a beginning just as immanent as desire and lack. Movement, qua embrace and unity-disunity, becomes an indispensable component of feminist ontology that captures the immanence of sharing in the matrixial-maternal plane. (shrink)

The fragility of the subject is a recurring issue in the work of Anne Enright, one of Ireland's most remarkable and innovative writers. It is this specific interest, together with her attempt to make women into subjects, that inevitably links her work to Bracha Lichtenberg-Ettinger's theory of the matrixial borderspace, a feminine sphere that coexists with the Lacanian symbolic order and that, even before our entrance into this linguistic system, informs our subjectivity. By turning to a point in time (...) before language—the encounter between “self” and “other” during pregnancy—both Enright and Ettinger test the boundaries of and the gaps within the linguistic system. It is the going before language that ultimately enables both to go beyond some of the most persistent dualisms present within the linguistic system and to create room for an alternative—a feminine—understanding of the ethical relationality between self and other. (shrink)

This article aims at introducing the matrixial theory of Bracha L. Ettinger to the field of academic teaching. As it intends to prove, feminist pedagogy would benefit from a matrix-informed approach to teaching, especially in the times of social distancing imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since of all student groups it is the university students who have been most directly affected by precarity and employment instability, they seem to be in an urgent need of openness, compassion, and understanding; the (...) matrixial theory – as this article demonstrates – responds to this necessity. Bracha L. Ettinger is a psychoanalyst, feminist, artist, and daughter of Holocaust survivors; her matrixial theory, based on the notions of the matrix and subjectivity-as-encounter, is a feminist supplement to psychoanalysis. The article begins with introducing the underpinnings of this psychoanalytical system and outlining its application in various areas, ranging from art history to trauma studies. Subsequently, the research joining Ettinger’s work and pedagogy is analysed; as it is shown, while these studies recognise the pedagogical potential of the matrixial theory, their scope is currently reduced to art-related disciplines. The next part is devoted to selected matrixial concepts that come out as especially relevant in the pedagogical context. What the article offers is a theoretical incentive to reflect on an approach to teaching based on reciprocity, responsibility, and participation despite the limit posed by the computer screen: an approach which – in the times of global precarity – can help define anew the student–teacher partnership. (shrink)