ZusammenfassungWie ist die Auswahl zukünftiger Kinder in moralischer Hinsicht zu beurteilen? Der Beitrag untersucht diese Frage auf der Basis eines liberalen Prinzips der reproduktiven Freiheit, welches Handlungsspielräume und Privatsphäre in Fragen der Fortpflanzung verteidigt, wenn nicht gewichtige moralische Gründe aufgezeigt werden können, welche den Handlungen der beteiligten Personen Grenzen setzen. Er beschränkt sich auf die negative Auswahl, d. h. die Auswahl von gesunden Kindern anstelle von zukünftigen Kindern mit Behinderung oder gesundheitlicher Beeinträchtigung. Erörtert werden selektionsbefürwortende Überlegungen, welche das Wohlergehen des (...) zukünftigen Kindes in den Fokus rücken, und zwei grundsätzlich selektionskritische Argumente. Das erste verweist auf parentale Tugenden, welche mit der Auswahl zukünftiger Kinder unvereinbar wären. Bei dem zweiten handelt es sich um den Einwand der Diskriminierung von Menschen mit Behinderung. Das Ergebnis der Diskussion ist, dass es zukünftigen Eltern in den meisten Fällen freisteht, die Entscheidung über die Auswahl ihrer Kinder im Licht ihrer Ziele und Werte zu treffen. (shrink)

Zu Beginn der COVID-19-Pandemie mussten zahlreiche Frauen weltweit die Geburt ihres Kindes ohne die Unterstützung einer Vertrauensperson bewältigen. Ziel dieses Beitrages ist zu zeigen, dass die Anwesenheit solch einer Begleitperson unter der Geburt sich aus dem Recht jeder Gebärenden auf Selbstbestimmung ableiten lässt. Mit Verweis auf die internationale Forschung zur Gewalt in der Geburtshilfe wird erstens gezeigt, dass die Patientinnenautonomie sub partu bisher häufig nicht zufriedenstellend gewährleistet ist. Der Beitrag erläutert, inwiefern sich Geburt und Geburtshilfe von anderen medizinischen Gebieten unterscheiden (...) und warum einer Begleitperson eigener Wahl eine essentielle Rolle im Geburtsprozess zukommt. Es wird dafür argumentiert, dass der prinzipielle Rechtsanspruch auf Selbstbestimmung im medizinischen Kontext infolge der häufig eingeschränkten Entscheidungsfähigkeit von Gebärenden nicht immer wahrgenommen werden kann. Der psychophysische Ausnahmezustand der Gebärenden kann ihre Autonomiefähigkeit beeinträchtigen und sie vulnerabel für Menschenrechtsverletzungen wie Gewalt, Zwang und Manipulation machen. Deshalb plädiert der Beitrag für eine beziehungsgestützte Umsetzung der Selbstbestimmung und schlägt auf Grundlage der Theorie der relationalen Autonomie ein Modell der Entscheidungsassistenz durch eine Vertrauensperson eigener Wahl vor. Die Etablierung einer assistierten Selbstbestimmung in der Geburtshilfe könnte helfen, die Kommunikation zwischen Gebärenden und Geburtshelfer*innen zu verbessern, die Geburtshelfer*innen zu entlasten, Interventionen gegen den Willen der Frau zu reduzieren und damit eine Prävention gegen Gewalterfahrungen darstellen. (shrink)

Many problems that arise when providing pharmacy services may contain some ethical components and the aims of this study were to develop and validate a scale that could assess difficulties of ethical issues, as well as the frequency of those occurrences in everyday practice of community pharmacists. Development and validation of the scale was conducted in three phases: generating items for the initial survey instrument after qualitative analysis; defining the design and format of the instrument; validation of the instrument. The (...) constructed Ethical Issue scale for community pharmacy setting has two parts containing the same 16 items for assessing the difficulty and frequency thereof. The results of the 171 completely filled out scales were analyzed. The Cronbach’s α value of the part of the instrument that examines difficulties of the ethical situations was 0.83 and for the part of the instrument that examined frequency of the ethical situations was 0.84. Test–retest reliability for both parts of the instrument was satisfactory with all Interclass correlation coefficient values above 0.6,. The 16-item scale, as a self assessment tool, demonstrated a high degree of content, criterion, and construct validity and test–retest reliability. The results support its use as a research tool to asses difficulty and frequency of ethical issues in community pharmacy setting. The validated scale needs to be further employed on a larger sample of pharmacists. (shrink)

The purpose of this article is to discuss the criminalization of conduct based on human dignity arguments. It proposes a modest version of integrating human dignity into discussions about criminalization. After a critical examination of both the notion of “human dignity as an objective value” and the assumption that the meaning of human dignity can be explained by referring to Kant’s moral philosophy, human dignity violations are characterized as severe humiliations.

With growing opportunities for medical doctors to work either in academia and industry, research ethics education for health sciences research, meaning research which includes humans and animals and/or their tissues and cells with the goal to understand underlying mechanisms of disease occurrence and disease treatment, is of paramount importance, especially in regions, such as Serbia, where comprehensive research ethics curricula for physician researchers are lacking. This article addresses the spectrum of research ethics topics that were identified through analysis of the (...) existing research ethics curricula in medical schools, international organizations, Serbian legislative codes and the PubMed database applying the key search terms: ethics, research, biomedical, education, curriculum, program, course and their combinations. Selected topics were classified in eight syllabi based on their similarity: #1 Responsible conduct of research, #2 Justice in human subjects research, #3 Research on human subjects, #4 Vulnerable population groups, #5 Conflict of interest, #6 Research on animals, #7 Research on genes, cells and embryos, and #8 Organization of research ethics. Justifications for each syllabus are discussed based on empirical evidence and local context. Higher education authorities could use this framework to strengthen, adjust or refine research ethics education for physician researchers in Serbia. (shrink)

What are the intellectual origins of the ecological crisis? Which approach can offer an alternative? In the first part of this paper, I argue that the crisis was caused not by faith in reason as such, but instead by distortions of reason. Further, I consider the intellectual prerequisites for ecological destruction, the ultimate cause of which can be seen in the transitional state of our civilisation from a dependent to an interdependent mode of interaction with the biosphere. A possible remedy (...) to this can be the reconciliation of humankind with the biosphere by means of the Gestalt approach. (shrink)

The aim of this paper was to examine the professional burnout of professional associates (51 psychologists and 70 pedagogues) in primary and secondary schools in relation to socio‑demographic determinants. The MBI – Questionnaire for experts in helping occupations was applied. The most common symptoms of professional burnout are in the domain of personal achievement (76%), followed by emotional exhaustion (63.6%) and depersonalization (62%). The results indicate that there is a difference between school pedagogues and psychologists in terms of depersonalization and (...) personal achievement. When it comes to the level of the school where professional associates work, the difference is determined on the scale of depersonalization. Considering the location where the school is located, differences are present in relation to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, with professional burnout being higher in suburban schools. The research results point to the need for psychological‑pedagogical preventive work, encouraging social support and teamwork. In subsequent research, it is necessary to include expert associates from other institutions, and to apply other instruments related to professional burnout. (shrink)

An academic integrity policy usually specifies the university’s ethical principles and values, the forms of appropriate academic behaviour, the penalties for academic malpractice and the procedures for handling policy violations. However, the policy does not itself create academic integrity, but needs to be consistently and effectively communicated, implemented, and applied. This paper presents a case study investigating the extent to which students at Riga Technical University are informed about the university’s academic integrity policy. This quantitative research was performed by surveying (...) two groups of respondents: domestic students in the first year of their bachelor’s studies and the heads of the corresponding study programmes. The results revealed a low level of students’ awareness of the university policy on academic integrity and a lack of systematic institutional approach to promoting academic integrity. The study results also indicated that students with a higher awareness of the university policy on academic integrity were less tolerant towards violations and perceived academic integrity as an essential aspect for both the academic community and student life. These findings establish a foundation for a more extensive discussion of academic integrity issues in Latvia. They can also serve as impetus for similar studies in other Latvian universities, as well as research taking an international comparative perspective. (shrink)

The article examines whether state officials may shoot down a hijacked airplane which carries uninvolved passengers, if it is known that the plane will be used against the lives of other human beings. In its first sections, it explains the German Federal Constitutional Court’s verdict against such a permission, and it scrutinizes the crucial arguments in this ruling. The author then extends the discussion beyond the path taken by the court. She examines the defensive claims of passengers aboard the plane (...) and the protective claims of potential victims who are present at the hijackers’ target zone. In contrast to the German Federal Constitutional Court, she concludes that state officials must take the claims of both groups of potential victims equally serious, and that such conditions allow applying a consequentialist calculus because it is the only way out of a genuine dilemma. (shrink)

For historians of medicine, the professor Theodor Billroth of the University of Vienna was the leading European surgeon of the late nineteenth century and the personification of intervention by organ or body part removal. For social and political historians, he was a German nationalist whose book on medical education heralded the rise of anti-Semitism in the Austrian public sphere. This article brings together and critically reassesses these two hitherto separate accounts to show how, in a period of dramatic social and (...) political change, Viennese surgery split into two camps. One, headed by Billroth, was characterized by an alliance with the German educational model, German nationalism leading to racial anti-Semitism and an experimental approach to the construction of surgical procedure, which heavily relied on the methods of pathological physiology. The other, which followed a long Austrian tradition, stood for a clinically oriented and strictly organized medical education that catered to an ethnically and socially diverse population and, simultaneously, for an anatomically oriented surgery, largely of the locomotor apparatus. This study shows how, in a major centre of medical education and capital of a multiethnic empire, surgical and national identities were forged together. (shrink)

This study contributes to the exploration of self-rated spirituality by anchoring self-ratings of spirituality and religiosity in an integrative model of personality. For the measurement of personality dispositions and characteristic adaptations, the NEO Personality Inventory Revised and the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire have been administered to a sample of German-speaking students. A three-step study design is employed. First, previous findings on associations between personality and religiosity/spirituality are replicated and supplemented. Second, sources of meaning are shown to (...) explain a considerably higher amount of unique variance in religiosity and spirituality than do personality dispositions. Third, two types of spirituality—religious-and-spiritual and spiritual-but-not-religious—are identified and distinguished on the basis of personality traits. The spiritual-but-not-religious type shows significantly higher degrees of Neuroticism, and lower degrees of Agreeableness. Possible interpretations and lines of future research on ‘spirituality without religion’ are sketched out. (shrink)

To systematically compare welfare across species, it is first necessary to explore whether welfare subjects of different species have the same or rather a different capacity for welfare. According to what seems to be the dominant philosophical view, welfare subjects with higher cognitive capacities have a greater capacity for welfare and are generally much better off than those with lower cognitive capacities. Višak carefully explores and rejects this view and argues instead that welfare subjects of different species have the same (...) capacity for welfare despite different cognitive capacities. This book prepares the philosophical ground for comparisons of welfare across species. It will inform and inspire ethicists and animal welfare scientists alike, as well as a broader readership interested in wellbeing, animals, and ethics. (shrink)

This title examines the fields of value theory, normative and applied ethics on the issue of killing animals. It addresses a number of questions: Can painless killing harm or benefit an animal and, if so, why and under what conditions? Can coming into existence harm or benefit an animal? Is killing animals morally acceptable? Should animals have the legal right to life? In addressing these questions, animal rights and animal welfare positions are articulated and debated by some of the foremost (...) thinkers on these issues, with a distinction made between rights-based and utilitarian approaches. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to get from a phenomenology of birth towards an ethics of obstetric care: Human rights violations in obstetrics are currently a globally debated phenomenon. Research suggests that maltreatment is widespread and a global phenomenon. However, the prevalence cannot yet be clearly quantified. In view of this problem, it is necessary to take the subjective perspective of those affected seriously. Narrative and phenomenological accounts of birth experiences could help to foster the dialogue between persons giving (...) birth and health professionals. First, I will present narrative accounts of birth experiences recorded by feminist phenomenologists. Second, I will interpret these narrative accounts within a feminist phenomenological framework in order to contribute to a phenomenology of birth, which, in a third step, shall help to develop an ethics of obstetric care. In engaging with the phenomenology of care outlined by feminist care ethicists, I will analyze the elements and conditions of good care, and draw conclusions for an ethic of obstetric and midwifery care. Drawing additionally on the theory of relational autonomy, my paper argues for a relational implementation of self-determination in childbirth. Lastly, I will discuss to what extent the ethical ideal of care has an affinity to the midwifery model of childbirth, and how the current situation of obstetrics prevents a women-centered birth culture. (shrink)

The chapter asks how political protest that falls under the definition of a criminal offense should be evaluated, for instance, protest against the insufficiency of measures against climate change. It takes the perspective of criminal law theory and assumes that criminal law theory should integrate debates in moral philosophy and political philosophy. The author analyses the notion of civil disobedience and argues that it would be preferable to avoid this term. She is also critical regarding both the rediscovered focus on (...) conscience and recent literature in the field of political theory that proposes to supplement or replace civil disobedience with uncivil disobedience. Other than these current debates postulate, the author assumes that the judgment „politically legitimate“ is more demanding than the notion of civil disobedience. It requires a close examination of goals and the means that are used to put pressure on decision-makers. Attempts to deal with macro level risks such as the risks of climate change have to recognize that this requires genuinely political coordination and that it is not legitimate to instrumentalize third parties for the purpose of political protest. For the application of criminal law, this means that the term “danger” in the necessity defense (§ 34 German Criminal Code) must be interpreted narrowly. Punishment should not be mitigated based solely on the argument that protesters act with altruistic motives but only if protest is moderate and politically legitimate. (shrink)

Researching ethical problems and their frequency could give us a complex picture and greater insight into the types of ethical issues that pharmacists face in providing health care. The overall aim of this study was to assess the pharmacist’s perception of difficulty and frequency of selected ethical issues encountered by the community pharmacists in their everyday practice. A quantitative cross sectional multicenter study was performed using a validated survey instrument - Ethical Issue Scale for Community Pharmacy. The results of the (...) analysis of 690 completely filled out instruments showed the difference between the ethical issues which always occurred, and the ones that pharmacists found most difficult. The majority of respondents were familiar with the Code of Ethics but the correlation between the familiarity and the perceived usefulness of the code in resolving problems in everyday practice was negative. Results showed that patients’ well-being had a high influence on pharmacists’ behavior. The results provided quantitative data by the examination of specific ethical issues and their occurrence. Further empirical research is recommended in order to systematically identify the ethical issues faced by community pharmacists. (shrink)

The article compares the famous fairy tale “Th e Snow Queen” by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen with a Soviet play of the same title by Evgenij Schwartz. Schwartz changed the original ideas and narrative structure of Andersen’s complex and religious text in order to make the play more attractive, spectacular and relatable for Soviet viewers. With the help of A. J. Greimas’ actantial model and semiotic square, the article tries to distinguish and analyse the discursive transformations of the (...) source text in the process of adaptation.В данной статье мы сравниваем знаменитую сказку Ханса Кристиана Андерсена ≪Снежная Королева≫ и одноименную пьесу, написанную советским драматургом Евгением Шварцем. Шварц переосмыслил и переработал нарративную структуру и основные идеи сложной религиозной сказки с целью сделать ее более понятной, захватывающей и привлекательной для советского зрителя. При помощи актантной модели и семиотического квадрата А. Ж. Греймаса мы попытались проанализировать дискурсивные трансформации текста-источника в процессе интерпретации.Artiklis vorreldakse Taani kirjaniku Hans Christian Anderseni kuulsat muinasjuttu “Lumekuninganna” Noukogude kirjaniku Jevgeni Švartsi samanimelise naidendiga. Švarts muutis Anderseni keeruka ning religioosse teksti algseid ideid ja narratiivset struktuuri, et muuta seda Noukogude publikule koitvamaks ja vaatemangulisemaks ning holbustada sellega suhestumist. A. J. Greimase aktantide mudeli ja semiootilise ruudu abil puutakse artiklis eristada ja analuusida lahteteksti diskursiivseid teisenemisi adapteerimise kaigus. (shrink)

The paper is devoted to applications of algebraic logic to databases. In databases a query is represented by a formula of first order logic. The same query can be associated with different formulas. Thus, a query is a class of equivalent formulae: equivalence here being similar to that in the transition to the Lindenbaum-Tarski algebra. An algebra of queries is identified with the corresponding algebra of logic. An algebra of replies to the queries is also associated with algebraic logic. These (...) relations lie at the core of the applications.In this paper it is shown how the theory of Halmos (polyadic) algebras (a notion introduced by Halmos as a tool in the algebraization of the first order predicate calculus) is used to create the algebraic model of a relational data base. The model allows us, in particular, to solve the problem of databases equivalence as well as develop a formal algebraic definition of a database's state description. In this paper we use the term "state description" for the logical description of the model. This description is based on the notion of filters in Halmos algebras. When speaking of a state description, we mean the description of a function which realizes the symbols of relations as real relations in the given system of data. (shrink)

Im Zentrum der Ästhetik und Kulturtheorie des nahezu vergessenen jüdischen Aufklärers Lazarus Bendavid (1762-1832) steht das Verhältnis von moralischem und ästhetischem Fortschritt. Dieser Aufsatz stellt drei komplementäre Theorien Bendavids vor, denen zufolge ästhetische Phänomene Moralität befördern: Erstens behauptet Bendavid, dass die ästhetische Selbsterfahrung auch die Einfühlung in andere Menschen ermögliche und deshalb zu deren Anerkennung einen entscheidenden Beitrag leiste. Zweitens geht er davon aus, dass der Ästhetiker sich nicht nur theoretisch erkennt, sondern auch praktisch-autopoietisch bestimmt. Zugleich Künstler und Kunstwerk, verwirklicht (...) er durch kulturelle Artefakte seine Autonomie. Drittens verbindet sich mit der Ästhetik eine Rechtfertigung des Menschen: Trotz aller menschlichen Unzulänglichkeiten sieht die ästhetische Einstellung die Gleichheit und Zusammengehörigkeit aller Menschen und verheißt damit einen moralisch besseren Zustand in der Zukunft. The works of Jewish enlightenment thinker Lazarus Bendavid (1762-1832) are virtually forgotten today. His aesthetic and cultural theory focused on the relationship between moral and aesthetic progress. The present essay discusses Bendavid’s three complementary theories on how aesthetic phenomena promote morality: Firstly, he claims that aesthetic self-experience leads to empathy and therefore to social recognition. Secondly, he suggests that aesthetics do not only facilitate theoretical self-knowledge, but also practical, autopoietic self-determination. At once artist and artwork, the human subject realizes autonomy through cultural artefacts. Thirdly, he associates aesthetics with a justification of man: Despite all human shortcomings, an aesthetic attitude helps recognizing the equality and shared identity of all people and thereby promises a morally superior state in the future. (shrink)

Das in der Tierethik sehr prominente Argument der Grenzfälle beruht auf dem in der Ethik recht allgemeinen Problem der Grenzfälle. In der Ethik wird häufig argumentiert, dass Menschen aufgrund bestimmter Eigenschaften moralisch zu berücksichtigen seien. Immanuel Kant beispielsweise wird im Allgemeinen so verstanden, dass er die Moralfähigkeit für die relevante Eigenschaft hält, aufgrund derer Menschen eine Würde und damit moralischer Stellenwert zukommt. Nun geht es in solchen Argumenten zur Begründung des moralischen Stellenwerts von Menschen allerdings oft um Eigenschaften, die nicht (...) alle Menschen haben. Es gibt zum Beispiel Menschen, die nicht moralfähig sind, weil sie dafür noch zu jung sind, oder weil ihnen aufgrund von schweren kognitiven Behinderungen die dafür notwendigen Fähigkeiten fehlen. Das Problem der Grenzfälle bezieht sich auf die Herausforderung, vor der viele Theorien stehen, nämlich aufzuzeigen ob und, wenn ja, aufgrund wovon auch solchen Menschen, welche die genannten Eigenschaften nicht haben, ein moralischer Stellenwert zukommt. (shrink)

Jedes Jahr werden weltweit mehr als 65 Milliarden Landtiere für den menschlichen Verzehr getötet. Für einen durchschnittlichen amerikanischen Fleischkonsumenten sind das jährlich etwa 25 Landtiere, vor allem Hühner. Hinzu kommen etwa 12 Fische und 137 andere Meerestiere. Nicht nur für Fleisch werden Tiere getötet. Auch die Milch- und Eierproduktion geht mit dem Töten von Tieren einher. So werden zum Melken verwendete Kühe meist nach wenigen Lebensjahren wegen abnehmender Produktivität getötet, und deren männliche Kälber enden direkt in der Fleischindustrie. Ohne jährlich (...) geschwängert zu werden, geben die Kühe nämlich keine Milch, und die Hälfte der Kälber ist männlich und daher zur Milchproduktion ungeeignet. Auch die männlichen Küken der Legehennen werden direkt geschreddert oder vergast, da sie keine Eier legen und sich für die Fleischproduktion nicht eignen. Auch in anderen Kontexten töten Menschen Tiere, sowohl direkt – z. B. im Rahmen von Tierversuchen oder Automobilität – als auch indirekt, z. B. durch Umweltverschmutzung, den Klimawandel und die Vernichtung von natürlichen Lebensräumen. Unsere Essgewohnheiten gehen einher mit massiven, routinemäßigen und intentionalen Tötungen. Da es sich bei der Ernährung mit tierlichen Produkten meist nicht um eine Notwendigkeit handelt, sondern vielmehr Gewohnheit und geschmackliche Vorzüge eine Rolle spielen, und da den betroffenen Tieren im Allgemeinen ein moralischer Stellenwert zugesprochen wird, drängt sich die Frage nach der Rechtfertigung dieses Tötungszwecks auf. (shrink)

BackgroundPrevious studies suggest that engagement in any type of physical activity can be protective against mental health issues, whereas elite-level athletes can endure various mental health challenges. The aim of this study was to determine variations in the prevalence of psychological distress among elite sambo athletes and their recreational counterparts.MethodsA sample consisting of 245 athletes was chosen. Out of the total sample, 105 were elite-level athletes while 140 were recreational athletes. Participants were accessed via the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 to (...) determine their stress in various domains at a given time.ResultsData indicated that all tested differences between elite sambo athletes and recreational athletes were statistically significant; recreational athletes had a higher score on the depression scale, anxiety and stress, and a general distress score than sambo athletes. Although there are no gender differences in psychological distress in the total sample of athletes, elite sambo athletes achieve significantly lower scores in all tested variants than recreational ones. Women who engage in recreational activities have stood out as a vulnerable subsample in psychological stress.ConclusionFuture epidemiological and interventional studies should explore optimal strategies to identify mental health needs based on specific sport activity, especially in terms of gender. There is a need to place special emphasis on psychological distress in the context of combat sports. (shrink)

Since the late 1980s, the fetal origins of adult disease, from 2003 developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), has stimulated significant interest in and an efflorescence of research on the long-term effects of the intrauterine environment. From the start, this field has been interdisciplinary, using experimental animal, clinical and epidemiological tools. As the influence of DOHaD on public health and policy expanded, it has drawn criticism for reducing the complex social and physical world of early life to women’s reproductive (...) bodies as drivers of intergenerational ills. This paper explains this narrowing of focus in terms of a formative and consequential exchange between David Barker, the British epidemiologist whose work is credited with establishing the field, and the discipline of fetal physiology. We suggest that fetal physiologists were a crucial constituency of support for Barker’s hypothesis about early life origins of disease. Their collaborations with Barker helped secure and sustain the theory amid considerable controversy. The trajectory of DOHaD and its focus on the maternal body can be understood, we argue, as a consequence of this alliance, which brought together two distinct conceptualizations of the intrauterine environment, one from epidemiology and the other from fetal physiology. Along the way, we trace the histories of these conceptualizations, both of which were products of mid-to-late twentieth century British science, and show how Barker’s early emphasis on social and economic conditions was superseded by a narrower focus on physiological mechanisms acting upon the autonomous fetus. (shrink)

This article pursues the earlier analysis by the same author concerning the use of ἁπλόω and ἅπλωσις in the texts of Plotinus and Marcus Aurelius. It shows that, in the Platonic tradition after Plotinus, the verb ὑπερ-απλοῦμαι, originally signifying: ‘to be spread out over’, acquires the particular philosophical meaning ‘surpass in simplicity’, but it does not have this meaning in De mysteriis Egyptorum of Iamblichus. Later, in Damascius, the philosophical signification of verbs of the root ἁπλ- is extended to ἀναπλόω, (...) which begins to signify ‘simplify’, and not ‘unfold’. (shrink)

Platonas, 2022. Iš senosios graikų kalbos vertė, įvadą ir komentarus parengė Mantas Adomėnas. Opera Platonis. Vilnius: Phi knygos, 128 p. ISBN 9786098236255.