The need for explicit theoretical reflection on cross-cultural bioethics continues to grow as the spread of communication technologies and increased human migration has made interactions between medical professionals and patients from different cultural backgrounds much more common. I claim that this need presents us with the following dilemma. On the one hand, we do not want to operate according to an imperialist ethical framework that denies and silences the legitimacy of cultural values other than our own. On the other hand, (...) we do not want to backslide into a form of cultural relativism that is unable to critically appraise cultural practices that are harmful, unjust, or oppressive. I examine two prominent attempts – the principlism of Tom Beauchamp and James Childress and the Contractarianism of Robert Baker – to frame cross-cultural bioethics between these two extremes and argue that both approaches have significant flaws. The principlist approach fails to provide a non-question begging way to identify cross-cultural norms that does not already assume the universal legitimacy of moral principles dominant in North American society. Baker's contractarianism cannot grapple with the realities of political power imbalances that often characterize cross-cultural moral disputes. I suggest that a naturalized feminist framework, though not free of its own theoretical difficulties, provides the best alternative for approaching moral diversity respectfully and critically. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungDie von einem multiprofessionellen Behandlungsteam durchgeführte Symptombehandlung bei inkurablen Patienten am Lebensende erweist sich als hoch effektiv und verschafft den meisten Patienten eine ausreichende Linderung. Dennoch verbleibt ein Patientenanteil, bei dem auch unter Berücksichtigung physischer, psychischer, sozialer und spiritueller Bedürfnisse kein erträglicher Zustand erreicht werden kann. In diesen Extremfällen können Sedierungsmaßnahmen zur Linderung eingesetzt werden. Der Begriff und das Angebot der terminalen Sedierung sind in vielerlei Hinsicht umstritten. Eine Kasuistik soll die Problemstellung veranschaulichen und zeigen, wie die terminale Sedierung von (...) erfahrenen Behandlern als ergänzendes Instrument der Symptombehandlung eingesetzt werden kann, auch wenn sie keine perfekte Antwort auf unerträgliches Leiden in der Sterbesituation darstellt. Im Literaturvergleich werden aktuelle medizinische, rechtliche und psychosoziale Fragen diskutiert. (shrink)

Early-modern natural history has frequently been interpreted as a handmaid of natural philosophy. Mary Poovey, for example, has argued that seventeenth-century nuggets of information only became ‘m...

In 1856, Peter Andreas Hansen, one of the leading mathematical astronomers on the Continent, proposed a theory of the moon which included the possibility of an atmosphere and even of life on the far side. The theory was quickly endorsed by many in the scientific community, allowing in its brief life speculation about life on the far side to flourish. It attracted the attention of such notables as Sir John Herschel and was exciting enough to play a large role in (...) Jules Verne's fiction about the moon. The hypothesis met its end around 1870 when assumptions behind it were questioned by Simon Newcomb and others. (shrink)

El objetivo de esta investigación es explorar y organizar la bibliografía de estudios urbanos sobre el rendimiento urbano y los principales indicadores que se utilizan. Se analiza una muestra de 47 artículos recogidos en la base de datos Scopus que se refieren a estudios urbanos, de gestión y planificación urbana. Este artículo proporciona una guía para académicos y profesionales que muestra los principales indicadores utilizados para medir el rendimiento urbano de los principales enfoques de los estudios urbanos (socioeconómico y demográfico; (...) medioambiental; ciudades inteligentes; diseño urbano, entorno construido y territorio; administración pública, gobierno y gobernanza; eficiencia energética; sostenibilidad y desarrollo sostenible; transporte y movilidad; evaluación comparativa; y ciudades globales). Las aportaciones sociales y de gestión de este documento residen precisamente en la síntesis que ofrece de los indicadores de rendimiento urbano, que pueden ser útiles para que mejoren las investigaciones académicas, así como para que quienes planifican y gestionan el urbanismo trabajen de forma más eficiente con las políticas urbanas y mejoren así el rendimiento urbano deseado. (shrink)