Collaborative research practices in the field of plant genetic resources must follow the principles of fairness and equity as defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). In this context the concepts of fairness and equity generally refer to the substantive and procedural dimensions associated with sharing the benefits of this research. But neither term is clearly defined by these international treaties, and the meanings attributed to (...) the concepts vary among different societies. This paper looks at the question of how to account for the diversity among value systems when conducting research that implicates diverse stakeholders and respects the requirements of fairness and equity. We incorporated an auto-ethnography method developed as part of a multi-stakeholder network involved in research projects on plant genetic resources in West Africa. A theatrical device was used as a framework for testing the principles of fairness and equity, helping us to collectively identify feelings of injustice, and explore the conditions for making collaborative research practices more ethical in ways that respect the perspectives of different stakeholders. In an environment of extensive political and socio-cognitive inequality, this approach makes it possible to explain the criteria relating to interactional justice and expectations in terms of socio-political and socio-emotional benefits. It also invites us to consider the principles of fairness and equity in a framework of ethical competence that goes beyond international directives. (shrink)

Global soft law, multistakeholder norms, the business practices and policies of leading companies, the expectations of...

Lecture II first considers Thomson’s proposal for why many people believe—mistakenly, she thinks—that a bystander may turn the trolley. It then considers an alternative proposal, and a possible justification of it, that would explain why both the conductor and the mere bystander may turn the trolley, thereby killing someone else. The principle focuses on how the trolley comes to be turned or otherwise stopped from killing the five. While some criticisms of the principle are presented, the lecture considers how something (...) like this principle relates to the moral distinction between killing and letting die, and whether crucial parts of it can help justify sometimes killing more people to save fewer. The lecture concludes by considering whether cases that involve redirecting a threatening agent rather than a device should be considered as “trolley problems.”. (shrink)

razdel I. Istoriko-filosofskie issledovanii︠a︡ -- razdel II. Filosofskie i sot︠s︡ialʹno-politicheskie problemy -- razdel III. Istorii︠a︡ v lit︠s︡akh.