Background Fifteen years have passed since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. At that time, there were reports of heroic acts among professionals who cared for these patients, whose bravery and professionalism were highly praised. However, there are concerns about changes in new generation of nursing professionals. Objective We aimed to examine the attitude of nursing students, should they be faced with severe acute respiratory syndrome patients during their future work. Research design A questionnaire survey was (...) carried out to examine the attitude among final-year nursing students to three ethical areas, namely, duty of care, resource allocation, and collateral damage. Ethical considerations This study was carried out in accordance with the requirements and recommendations of the Central Research and Ethics Committee, School of Health Sciences at Caritas Institute of Higher Education. Findings Complete responses from 102 subjects were analyzed. The overwhelming majority (96.1%) did not agree to participate in the intubation of severe acute respiratory syndrome patients if protective measures, that is, N95 mask and gown, were not available. If there were insufficient N95 masks for all the medical, nursing, and allied health workers in the hospital (resource allocation), 37.3% felt that the distribution of N95 masks should be by casting lot, while the rest disagreed. When asked about collateral damage, more than three-quarters (77.5%) said that severe acute respiratory syndrome patients should be admitted to intensive care unit. There was sex difference in nursing students’ attitude toward severe acute respiratory syndrome care during pregnancy and influence of age in understanding intensive care unit care for these patients. Interestingly, 94.1% felt that there should be a separate intensive care unit for severe acute respiratory syndrome patients. Conclusion As infection control practice and isolation facilities improved over the years, relevant knowledge and nursing ethical issues related to infectious diseases should become part of nursing education and training programs, especially in preparation for outbreaks of infectious diseases or distress. (shrink)

Marking a major new reassessment of Camus' writing, this book investigates the nature and philosophical origins of Camus' thinking on "authenticity" and "the absurd" as these motions are expressed in "The Myth of Sisyphus" and "The Outsider", showing these books to be the product not only of a literary figure, but of a genuine philosopher as well. Moreover, the author provides a complete English-language translation of Camus' "Metaphysique Chretienne et Neoplatonisme" and underlines the importance of this study for the understanding (...) of the early Camus. The book also contains analyses of the influence of St Augustine and Nietzsche on Camus. (shrink)

Academic dishonesty has been a frequent topic of research and discussion. In this article, we examine the differences between student volunteers and student non-volunteers in terms of their attitudes towards academic dishonesty as well as their cheating behaviors. We found that student volunteers held more serious attitudes towards cheating and academic dishonesty than did student non-volunteers; however there were not many significant differences between student volunteers and student non-volunteers when it came to cheating behaviors. We finally provide some suggestions for (...) future research in the topic of academic dishonesty. (shrink)

Ratzinger's Apology of Christianity can be characterized as an interpretation of the Bible based on spiritualist metaphysics. This paper is a critical analysis of the central theses and arguments of his book against the background of critical rationalism.

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In this eloquent guide to the meanings of the postmodern era, Albert Borgmann charts the options before us as we seek alternatives to the joyless and artificial culture of consumption. Borgmann connects the fundamental ideas driving his understanding of society's ills to every sphere of contemporary social life, and goes beyond the language of postmodern discourse to offer a powerfully articulated vision of what this new era, at its best, has in store. "[This] thoughtful book is the first remotely (...) realistic map out of the post modern labyrinth."—Joseph Coates, _The Chicago Tribune_ "Rather astoundingly large-minded vision of the nature of humanity, civilization and science."—_Kirkus Reviews_. (shrink)

Academic dishonesty and cheating by students has become endemic in higher education. In this article, we conducted a study on undergraduate business students (n = 162) to examine the impact of business ethics education and ethics training on student attitudes towards academic dishonesty as well as their cheating behaviors. We found that business ethics education in conjunction with business ethics training had a positive impact on students’ attitudes towardsacademic dishonesty and cheating; however there was no significant impact of either business (...) ethics education or training on actual cheating behaviors. In our discussion we suggest some implications of our findings, and make some suggestions about future research directions. (shrink)

In the first place, Hans Albert is famous as the spokesperson of Karl Popper’s critical rationalism in the German-speaking world. This is chronologically a bit odd, given that Popper’s first vintage, his Logik der Forschung, appeared in German in 1935 and that his The Open Society and Its Enemies of 1945 appeared in German in 1958. Yet Albert did much to earn this fame: his decades-long indefatigable response to criticisms of Popper’s views in the post-war German philosophical literature (...) and his constant contrast between Popper’s critical rationalism and competing views that were popular in Germany at the time. (shrink)

This article studies undergraduate students journeys in volunteering, and details the motivations of and challenges that these volunteers face during the journey. We conducted five focus groups on a total of 38 undergraduate volunteers, and obtained seven themes as we undertook an investigation of our three research questions. Our findings revolved around these seven themes, which ranged from motivations to experiences to challenges. Our findings have helped us understand the motivations and challenges that undergraduate volunteers have and face during the (...) journey of volunteering. Some of these challenges are particular to a university setting, but some others can certainly be generalized to other settings. Recommendations for future research are also included. (shrink)

In this eloquent guide to the meanings of the postmodern era, Albert Borgmann charts the options before us as we seek alternatives to the joyless and artificial culture of consumption. Borgmann connects the fundamental ideas driving his understanding of society's ills to every sphere of contemporary social life, and goes beyond the language of postmodern discourse to offer a powerfully articulated vision of what this new era, at its best, has in store. "[This] thoughtful book is the first remotely (...) realistic map out of the post modern labyrinth."—Joseph Coates, _The Chicago Tribune_ "Rather astoundingly large-minded vision of the nature of humanity, civilization and science."—_Kirkus Reviews_. (shrink)

The complex problems facing developing countries have often been attributed to the tendency of their people to maintain traditional beliefs and practices. Many contemporary philosophers have criticized traditional thought for failing to match the levels of efficiency and effectiveness achieved by modern science. However, other contemporary philosophers have suggested that modern science embodies tendencies that are as likely to exacerbate as relieve the problems of the developing world. I conclude that philosophers must be as wary of modern practices and beliefs (...) as they are of traditional practices and beliefs. Modernity rather than tradition is undoubtably a principal source of Africa's problems. Philosophers discussed include Kwame Gyekye, Robin Horton, Godwin Sogolo, Charles Taylor, Karl Popper, Joseph Rouse, Justen Habermas, and Segun Gbadegesun.. (shrink)

In Albert M. Hyamson’s invaluable reference work “The British Consulate in Jerusalem in relation to the Jews in Palestine 1838–1914” a letter from Sir Moses Montefiore is quoted. Montefiore was at that time President of the London committee of Deputies of the British Jews. The letter is addressed to Earl Russell, the Foreign Secretary, and in this letter Montefiore mentions that he is enclosing a Memorial from the Jewish Communities in Safed and Tiberias, complaining about the deplorable condition in (...) which they find themselves as a consequence of the withdrawal of British Protection which they had enjoyed during the preceding 10 years. The original Memorial is an address to Sir Moses Montefiore, sent by the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis of Safed and Tiberias in 1863. (shrink)

The sources to which one has to turn for information about the lives of Hasidic masters belong to the hagiographical tradition. During its first stage of compilation in the early nineteenth century, this tradition preserved much authentic historical and biographical material, in spite of the explicit disavowal of any historiographical intent by its editors. They were apologetic about the publication of "mere tales and histories" whose value lay not in the preservation of historical records but rather in their capacity for (...) moral and religious edification. Up until then, this material had been circulating orally but, in contrast to speculative-homiletical works, was not recognized as a legitimate and useful tool for the propagation of Hasidism. However, from the second half of the nineteenth century, in response to the challenges of Jewish Enlightenment, secularization, and most directly in response to the scornful critique of Hasidism and its hagiography which was emanating from the new school of modern Jewish historiography, Hasidic authors, like the exponents of other nineteenth-century ideologies, were beginning to appeal to history for validation. They were adopting the scholarly mannerisms if not quite the historical methodology of their critics. Since the hagiographical tales, and the chain of oral transmission which had traditionally preserved and authenticated them, were both losing their credibility in the new atmosphere of rationalistic skepticism and scientific rigor, Hasidic hagiographers were now eager to present their morally edifying oral traditions as reliable historical records by anchoring them in concrete documentary evidence. The forgeries of the Kherson Genizah supplied what appeared to be incontestable "archival" verification of the tales. The Admor Joseph Isaac Schneersohn exploited the Kherson "documents" in his extensive histories of early Hasidism which reveal his anachronistic, typological thinking and are often incompatible with the facts. As a leader of HaBaD Hasidism at a time of crisis, he saw it as his duty to harness the powerful historiographical idiom to the tasks of rehabilitating the HaBaD movement and of campaigning for the preservation of Orthodox Jewish life in conditions of unprecedented adversity. (shrink)

Over the last several decades, slow travel has been garnering increasing attention, especially with regards to the climate crisis and the many harms that result from global tourism. The defenders of slow travel claim that traveling slowly benefits not only the environment but also the local communities most affected by tourism, as well as the travellers themselves. This kind of defence, while seeming to be intuitively correct, is missing a sustained argument that explains why this is the case. In this (...) paper, we fill this explanatory gap by relying on philosopher Albert Borgmann’s theory of devices and focal practices to provide a theoretical ground for the claims made about traveling fast and slow. (shrink)

Spiritualist ethics: The problem of evil, by L. Lavelle. On conscience, or On the pain of having-done-it, by V. Jankélévitch. Value and immortality; and, Dangerous situation of ethical values, by G. Marcel. The concept of fallibility, by P. Ricoeur.--Axiological ethics: Ethics and metaphysics, by R. Le Senne. Good and evil, by H. Reiner. Values and truths, by R. Polin. Values as principles of action, by G. Gusdorf.--Three contemporary conceptions of humanism: Jean-Paul Sartre: Sartre on humanism, by J. J. Kockelmans. Moral (...) perspectives in Sartre's thought, by F. Jeanson. Ambiguity, by S. de Beauvoir. Albert Camus: Albert Camus and the ethic of absurdity, by H. Hochberg. On humanism, by M. Heidegger. Existentialism's basic ethical position, by O. Bollnow.--Situation ethics: Systematic essentialist ethics and existential situation ethics, by T. Steinbüchel. The question of the Single One, by M. Buber. What is a Christian ethic? By D. Bonhoeffer. Meaning and analysis of the borderline situation, by H. Thielicke. (shrink)

Rousseau -- Karl Marx -- Dostoevsky -- Friedrich Nietzsche -- Henry Adams -- Emmanuel Mounier -- Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Simone Weil was a defining figure of the twentieth century; a philosopher, Christian, resistance fighter, Labour activist and teacher, described by Albert Camus as 'the only great spirit of our time'. In 1941 Weil was introduced to Father Joseph-Marie Perrin, a Dominican priest whose friendship became a key influence on her life. When Weil asked Perrin for work as a farm hand he sent her to Gustave Thibon, a farmer and Christian philosopher. Weil stayed with the Thibon family, (...) working in the fields and writing the notebooks which became _Gravity and Grace _and other posthumous works. Perrin and Thibon met Weil at a time when her spiritual life and creative genius were at their height. During the short but deep period of their acquaintance with her, they came to know her as she actually was. First published in English in 1953, and now introduced by J.P. Little, this unique portrait depicts Weil through the eyes of her friends, not as a strange and unaccountable genius but as an ardent and human person in search of truth and knowledge. (shrink)