The aim of this study was to explore ethically problematic situations in the long-term nursing care of elderly people. It was assumed that greater awareness of ethical problems in caring for elderly people helps to ensure ethically high standards of nursing care. To obtain a broad perspective on the current situation, the data for this study were collected among elderly patients, their relatives and nurses in one long-term care institution in Finland. The patients (n=10) were interviewed, while the relatives (n=17) (...) and nurses (n=9) wrote an essay. Interpretation of the data was based on qualitative content analysis. Problematic experiences were divided into three categories concerning patients’ psychological, physical and social integrity. In the case of psychological integrity, the problems were seen as being related to treatment, self-determination and obtaining information; for physical integrity, they were related to physical abuse and lack of individualized care; and for social integrity, to loneliness and social isolation. This study provided no information on the prevalence of ethical problems. However, it is clear from the results that patient integrity warrants more attention in the nursing care of elderly patients. (shrink)

This essay is based on a double perspective provided by literary reading and philosophy for approaching the problem of evil through a critical analysis of certain texts and characters constructed and represented in them, particularly Kant’s theodicy essay and its most important pre-text, the Book of Job. This methodology yields a novel approach to the familiar issue of theodicy vs. anti-theodicy. Our methodology differs from the more standard ways of examining philosophical ideas expressed in literature. In the case discussed here, (...) the use of literary figures... (shrink)

This article analyses the first 20 years of the journal Philosophyof Management to provide insight into how the journal has developed and delineated the field of philosophy of management. Our content analysis uses an inductively developed combination of thematic and frequency analysis. We present our findings in a descriptive tone, inviting scholars to reflect upon how the journal has shaped the field over the past two decades, and to trigger a discussion on a more deliberately inclusive future shaping of the (...) field. (shrink)

There is no consensus over the proper definition of ‘scientific misconduct.’ There are differences in opinion not only between countries but also between research institutions in the same country. This is unfortunate. Without a widely accepted definition it is difficult for scientists to adjust to new research milieux. This might hamper scientific innovation and make cooperation difficult. Furthermore, due to the potentially damaging consequences it is important to combat misconduct. But how frequent is it and what measures are efficient? Without (...) an appropriate definition there are no interesting answers to these questions. In order to achieve a high degree of consensus and to foster research integrity, the international dialogue over the proper definition of ‘scientific misconduct’ must be on going. Yet, the scientific community should not end up with the definition suggested by the Swedish Research Council. The definition the council advocates does not satisfy the ordinary language condition. That is, the definition is not consistent with how ‘scientific misconduct’ is used by scientists. I will show that this is due to the fact that it refers to false results. I generalise this and argue that no adequate definition of ‘scientific misconduct’ makes such a reference. (shrink)

The internet, either as a tool or as an area of research, adds moral worries to an already complicated research ethical backdrop. Agencies, professional associations and philosophers have formulated research ethical norms designed to help scientists to arrive at responsible solutions to the problems. Yet, many criticize this reliance on norms. Somewhat more precisely, many claim that research ethical norms do not offer guidance. In the literature at least three arguments to that effect can be found. First, the research ethical (...) norms fail to guide since they are inconsistent. Second, they fail to guide since they are too opaque. Third, they fail to guide since they cannot handle the moral complexity of issues scientists doing e-research face. In this paper I argue that these arguments are weak. The arguments are, in their original formulations, rather unclear. I try to improve the situation by spelling out the arguments with reference to a certain set of research ethical norms, to a certain account of action-guidance and with reference to certain important distinctions. It then turns out that the arguments’ premises are either untenable or suffers from lack of relevance. The arguments do not force us to conclude that research ethical norms fail to guide. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to examine how different inquiry experiences affect in-service science teachers’ performance in terms of their questions and classroom actions. Teachers in a workshop experience proceeded through structured, guided, and full inquiry stations where materials to make foam were provided. Participants were 26 in-service science teachers who were enrolled in an 8-day workshop learning about science-technology-society (STS) approaches to teaching. Those who experienced full inquiry first resulted in more curiosity, more questions, and more unique experiments (...) than at the other two stations. Success in guided inquiry was observed when the guidance was provided by more open-ended questions posed by the leader teachers. The study raises questions concerning the limitations on student thinking when in structured and guided laboratories that characterize traditional science teaching. An analysis of this study may contribute important direction and information for science teaching and learning and encourage more moves for STS successes. (shrink)

This article analyzes the way in which the Israeli military exercises control over life in Gaza by regulating who and what may enter or leave. Using primary source documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act proceedings, the article details a military bureaucracy that micro-manages requests to move people and goods through Gaza’s crossings. For example, the transfer of chickpea paste requires approval from a senior military official holding the rank of major general, and soldiers evaluate the quality of care (...) offered to an orphan by his or her surviving parent, as a condition of authorizing the child’s passage to his parent’s home. The article discusses the effects of such control on the lives of those inside Gaza, including their exercise of rights and their social and economic choices. It then explores the motivations behind the restrictions, relying on statements and actions by Israeli officials. The article extends the current literature on deliberately nonrational bureaucracies in the context of rule by a foreign power by showing how the Israeli military bureaucracy maintains some functions of control over the local population in Gaza, despite its withdrawal and dismantling of its military government. It concludes by noting that the effects of the travel restrictions and their purpose are relevant to the normative debate over their legitimacy and suggests areas for further research. (shrink)

Technological developments in recent years have brought about a rapid increase in the number and variety of organ transplants, leading to problems in finding enough organs to meet the need. Organ transplantation has also become a particularly significant issue in medical ethics, especially regarding the question of how and from whom organs are procured. Many methods have been tried in order to solve these problems and discussed from an ethical perspective. This study investigates the Spanish, Belgian and Iranian approaches to (...) solving the organ procurement problem. The Spanish model, which is based on persuading patients and their relatives, is ethically less problematic and is also an improved version of the model applied in Turkey. This study argues that an ideal solution can be found without disregarding ethical rules. In particular, nurses can contribute by helping to run the system more efficiently. The principal aim of this article is to demonstrate the contribution of nurses to solving the current organ procurement problem in Turkey and offer some reflections on what can be done to improve the efficiency of the system. (shrink)

Biofeedback mechanisms (a) between individuals, (b) between the individual and the society structures which shape individual cognitions, and (c) within the individual genetic biochemical circulation, may explain the diversity of trustworthiness potential and the option of mutual trust for every individual in any given society.

Aldo Leopold, the modern father of ethical holism, embraced the moral principle that the deontic status of an action is determined by its effect on the integrity, stability, and beauty of the bioti...

Was sind Prozesse und Strukturen, die in der theoretischen Ausrichtung des einflussreichen franzosischen Philosophen Louis Althusser nichts weniger als die Gegenstande bzw. Objekte der Wissenschaften darstellen? Es ist diese eminente Fragestellung, die das vorliegende Buch anleitet, welches sich damit mehreren, spezifischen Aufgaben gleichzeitig stellt: Erklarung der komplizierten Philosophie Althussers (und wie sie sich von bestimmten anderen Philosophien unterscheidet) und Bestimmung von Prozess- und Strukturbegriffen in aus-gewahlten Wissenschaften bzw. wissenschaftlichen Forschungsgebieten (mit unterschiedlicher Gewichtung namentlich in der Okonomietheorie, Ideologietheorie, Theorie der Geschichte (...) theoretischer Formationen, Ethnologie und in der Theorie des psychischen Unbewussten). (shrink)

This essay is concerned with piecemeal knowledge-formation and with the formation of syntheses of knowledge such as theories in physics. A formalism will be presented and employed. Basic notions in this formalism are those of information overlap and degree of truth.

Cancer care has transitioned from clinical-based to home-based care to support longterm care in a more familiar and comfortable environment. This care transition has put family caregivers (FCGs) in a strategic position as care providers. Cancer care at home involves psychological and emotional treatment at some point, making FCGs deal with the stress of cancer patients frequently. Due to their limited care competencies, they need supportive care from healthcare professionals in cancer stress management. This study aims to examine how types (...) of demanded healthcare information affect the FCG’s role in reducing the stress of female cancer patients. The mindsponge theory was used in conceptual development and interpretation. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics were used for statistical analysis on a dataset of 48 spouses (husbands) and 12 other family members in five congested communities of Surabaya, Indonesia. Results showed that among the six types of healthcare information, FCGs with higher demand for cancer-specific information were more likely to need support in reducing the stress of female cancer patients. Meanwhile, FCGs with a higher demand for information about support services were less likely to need support to reduce cancer patients’ stress. Other types of healthcare information have ambiguous effects on the need for support in reducing cancer-induced stress. This study reveals that the demanded cancer-specific information, e.g., cancer prognosis or likely outcome, must be prioritized to assist FCG’s role in managing cancer stress. (shrink)

This article analyses the discussion about the ‘new materialism’ or ‘material feminisms’ as an interplay between transdisciplinarity – moving beyond canons and disciplines – and affective interdisciplinary encounters. The previous discussion is taken in a slightly different direction, by arguing that a politics of materiality is at work in the debate, which is implied in affective interdisciplinary encounters. It is argued that despite the transdisciplinarity, the relations of natural science engagements to both social science and humanities feminisms are pivotal. Two (...) specific cases are analysed: the politics of definition, where ‘materiality’ tends to be equated with ‘natural science matters’, and the matter and politics of race. In the latter, race ‘sticks’ to the materiality of materialist feminism, which tends to be left out of the sphere of the presumably new and exciting material feminisms. (shrink)

This book explores the place of the sophists within the Greek wisdom tradition, and argues against their almost universal exclusion from serious intellectual ...

This study aimed to describe and compare the views of nurses and older patients' relatives on factors restricting the maintenance of patient integrity in long-term care. The purposive sample comprised 222 nurses and 213 relatives of older patients in four Finnish long-term care institutions. The data were collected using a self-developed questionnaire addressing five sets of factors relating to patients, relatives, nurses, the organization and society. The maintenance of patient integrity was restricted by: (1) social factors, including lack of respect (...) for long-term geriatric care and lack of adequate resources; (2) patient factors relating to forgetfulness; and (3) factors relating to nurses and relatives in maintaining patient integrity. Better maintenance of patient integrity requires that more consideration is paid to issues of social respect and to the availability of adequate resources. Closer attention must be given to patients who are forgetful and unable to take part in decision making. (shrink)

With a focus on hormone treatments, this article contributes to recent problematizations of the ontology of bodies, illnesses and medication. Hormone treatment is conventionally understood to comprise preparations like pills, patches or injections, and following from this understanding, the materiality of risk is perceived as potential adverse effects of pharmaceuticals within individual bodies. By discussing Finnish trans persons’ experiences of hormone treatments, and drawing from material feminisms and trans/feminist studies, this article rethinks what ‘hormone treatments’ and their risks materially entail. (...) Stressing the importance of accounting for the relationality of risks, the article suggests that hormone treatment risks can be seen as Baradian ‘phenomena’ that materialize contextually within specific ‘treatment apparatuses’ and the power relations that saturate them. This process of materialization includes the gendering of risks and how the gender binary itself may at times constitute a risk. (shrink)

Notch signaling plays an essential role in the processes of embryogenesis and cellular differentiation, and it is believed that the oncogenic effects of dysregulated Notch signaling are an anomalous reflection of the normal functions of this cascade. Nonetheless, the cellular events associated with oncogenic Notch signaling have thus far remained elusive. In a recent report, Ferres‐Marco et al.1 described how they used the Drosphila eye as a model system and found that elevated Notch signaling in combination with activation of components (...) of the Polycomb complex of transcriptional repressors led to metastatic growth of tumors through epigenetic silencing of the Rbf gene. Rbf is the Drosophila homologue of the retinoblastoma tumor‐suppressor gene (Rb), thus it represents a novel link between Notch signaling, tumor growth and metastasis. BioEssays 28: 692–695, 2006. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

The article shows how merit has been used to highlight pensioners as a special population in the claims-making activities of the senior rights movement in Sweden, as well as in debates about issues concerning old age. Simply put, merit refers to the claim that pensioners have built the society and they are entitled to special treatment – for instance welfare, reverence – for this reason. Merit is concluded to be a rhetorical tool with the potential of countering images of older (...) people as a burden to the young. It portrays seniors as a population worthy of welfare and reverence. Social movements that emphasize merit among seniors will however risk isolation, since such claims to some extent have become associated with populist attacks on immigrants, politicians and other groups labeled as non-merited. (shrink)

During the past decade, women’s and human rights ‘language’ has moved from the margins to the ‘mainstream’ of international law and politics. In this paper, the author argues that while feminists and human rights activists criticise the ‘mainstream’s interpretation of women’s and human rights, ‘we’ do not question what becoming part of the mainstream and the cosmopolitan classes has meant for us. Drawing on examples of how women’s and human rights arguments have been used in the post-conflict state-building process in (...) Afghanistan, the author attempts to show how international women’s rights and human rights advocacy campaigns planned by well-meaning humanitarians in Western capitals can backfire when implemented in politically complex environments. (shrink)

Cawahiral-'Akaid of Hızır Bey, which is known as Kasidaal-Nuniyya, is paid special attention in Ottoman period by writing lots ofcommentaries. To study the commentaries of Nuniyya inclusively wouldhelp to understand Ottoman kalam thought. The commentaries written in OttomanTurkish and Arabic on Nuniyye, especially the commentary of Hayali andthe commentaries on Hayali's commentary, has an incomparable importance toinvestigate Ottoman kalam thought which has continued for five centuries. Oneof these commentaries is al-Cawahir al-Kalamiyya which has been wrote inArabic by Lalazari who is (...) known as Sufi scholar. This article aims to find outthe importance of al-Cawahir al-Kalamiyya in Ottoman kalam tradition, toenhance knowledge about the writer and the commentary, and finally tounderstand the tradition of Kasida al-Nuniyya's commentaries. (shrink)

Unconventionally fusing the the history of faith and reason in Islam, this book traces the Qur'an-inspired intellectual revolution that took off in the Islamic world of the seventh century, revealing its highlights and following it through to its sixteenth-century demise.