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Proposing A Measure Of Ethicality For Humans And Ai, Alejandro Jorge Napolitano Jawerbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Smarter people or intelligent machines are able to make more accurate inferences about their environment and other agents more efficiently than less intelligent agents. Formally: ‘Intelligence measures an agent’s ability to achieve goals in a wide range of environments.’ (Legg, 2008)

In this dissertation we extend this definition to include ethical behaviour and we will offer a mathematical formalism and a way to estimate how ethical an action is or will be, both for a human and for a computer, by calculating the expected values of random variables. Formally, we propose the following measure of ethicality, which is computable, or …

Ethical Oversight Of Roles & Relationships In Treatment & Research In Advanced Disease States, Alexa Vercelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is often ethical analysis focusing solely on the care of the patient by the physician or on the protection of the research participant by the clinical investigator, but those two are often overlapping. By paralleling the analysis of treatment and research, it emphasizes the specific ethical approaches necessary for individuals facing advanced diseases states in the separate roles of being a patient or participant. It also gives guidance to the complexity of the ethics surrounding medical professionals who float between the roles of treating physicians and clinical investigators. As individuals with advanced disease states are considered a vulnerable population …

Exploring Moral Permissibility Of Nurse Participation In Limited Resuscitation, Felicia Stokes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers a novel approach to support nurses when they face conflict between clinicians and families or alternate decision-makers over potentially inappropriate end-of-life goals of care. This dissertation will provide a normative analysis of the moral permissibility of limited resuscitation, with arguments supported by analyses of families’ and nurses’ perspectives and actions in the EoL decision-making process. Limited resuscitation is a cardiopulmonary resuscitation effort where full pharmacologic and mechanical intervention is not used, or the length of the resuscitative effort is shortened. It is typically associated with deception because it is performed without the knowledge of patients and families. …

Stanley Hauerwas' Approach To Christian Marital And Sex Ethics: A Review And Speculative Expansion, Jeffrey A. Schooley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Few places in congregational and denominational life are more fraught with tension and division than conversations about marital and sex ethics. Systemic abuses mingled together with individual failures on this issue has led to confusion, conflict, and chaos. Worse yet, the remedies proposed—and they are many—tend to either double down on “Traditional” values or seek massive reformation of Christian convictions in light of Modern philosophical, anthropological, and sociological presuppositions. Interlocutors quickly come to an impasse and fragmentation occurs. The catalyst for these conflicts is often debates over same-sex marriage, but one does not have to wade far into this conversation …

Narrative Authority: A Narrative-Based Multicultural Ethics To Overcome Western Biases In The Current Models Of Care, Fahmida Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technological advances and globalization are transforming healthcare dramatically. But unfortunately, current medical practices remain blind to their multicultural patients’ varied worldviews and norms, especially in the West. As a result, patients often find themselves isolated, anxious, and resentful.

All the humanistic models in the current literature view the individual as a unique and autonomous being and, in turn, provide practices to access and recognize the patient’s personhood. These models—Narrative Medicine, Narrative Ethics, and Ethics of Care—attempt to catch sight of the individual, the person’s situation, and some semblance of the person’s story before diagnosing or offering prescriptions. However, all these …

The Contribution Of Bioethics To Home Healthcare (Hhc) In Saudi Arabia, Saeed Alghamdi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the contribution of bioethics to Home Healthcare (HHC) In Saudi Arabia (SA). Through exploring the critical bioethical issues that have influenced the implementation of home health care, the dissertation highlights the significance of incorporating bioethics in home health care. Organizational ethics has led to the regulation of healthcare professionals, patients, and the stakeholders within clinical care settings. Healthcare organizations and other stakeholders, such as global health bodies, should formulate laws and policies that promote bioethics in contemporary healthcare. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the Ministry of Health, should promote the adoption of home health care services …

Connecting Human Dignity, Non-Violence, And Environment For Healthcare Ethics In Nigeria, John Mark Ogu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Connecting Human Dignity, Non-violence, and Environment in Health Care for Nigeria

By

John Mark Chinaemerem Ogu

December 2021

Dissertation supervised by Peter Ikechukwu Osuji, Ph.D.

This dissertation presents a global public health ethical approach based on social justice that connects human dignity, non-violence, and the environment in Nigeria. Recently, different places globally are witnessing uprisings and violence; some of these are linked to environmental scarcity. These are threats to global health, peace, development, and security because violence of any type or form is a global public health and security menace and an affront to human dignity. Environmental scarcity, especially …

A Public Health Ethics Approach To Substance Use Disorder, Adele Flaherty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the dissertation is to undertake an analysis of substance use disorders that focuses on a public health ethics perspective. The ethical argument focuses upon justifying the use of harm reduction and is primarily concerned with the current opioid crisis. While substance abuse/misuse over the course of history has been identified as a public health concern, this dissertation presents substance use disorders over the course of the lifespan, examining various contexts in which it can affect daily living and health outcomes. It achieves this by analyzing substance use disorders through the lens of the socioecological model of public …

Professional Ethics For College Health Services, Dessa Mrvos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College health services provide a crucial resource for campus communities in the United States, substantially affecting student health, safety, and wellbeing. The impact and quality of campus clinical services impact student life through varied approaches to the delivery of services, health innovations, and business models. The role that campus health services plays in dealing with risk mitigation is essential: well-established public health principles of disease prevention, health promotion, and health education are sustained and advanced by campus clinical health services. Despite the widely recognized importance of college health services, there is very little literature on the contribution of ethics related …

The Ethical Justification Of Extracorporeal Interval Support For Organ Retrieval (Eisor) Within The Context Of Donation After Circulatory Determination Of Death (Dcdd), Jude Anyaeche

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

THE ETHICAL JUSTIFICATION OF EXTRACORPOREAL INTERVAL SUPPORT FOR ORGAN RETRIEVAL (EISOR) WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF DONATION AFTER CIRCULATORY DETERMINATION OF DEATH (DCDD)

ABSTRACT

Donation after Circulatory Determination of Death (DCDD) protocol contributes to the increase in the number of organs available for transplant. However, the primary practical limitation of the DCDD practice is that the retrieved organs are not of good quality. The organs retain long periods of warm ischemia between the cardio-circulatory arrest of donors and the cold preservation of the donated organs. Within the period, ischemic damage affects the organs, leading to the graft's primary non-function or delayed-graft …

An Ethical Foundation For Genetic Therapy And Gene Editing (Crispr), Nikolija Lukich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are many steps involved in the process of introducing CRISPR-Cas9 into the current health care system. This dissertation provides an ethical foundation for the uses of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic therapies and editing techniques, which organizations can utilize when implementing these new technologies. Multiple components must be examined, including the practical application of the concept of autonomy, which benefits from the inclusion of personalism and care ethics as it aims to provide a more effective method upholding the right to independent decision-making. In addition to individual considerations, population-based decisions and public health tools are explored, connecting the human right to health …

Friendship In The Digital Age: Implications From A Philosophy Of Communication Approach, Tiffany Petricini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Friendship is a central relationship-style that grounds us. Much of the literature on the effects of technology on our relationships, especially friendship, has taken a skeptical approach. The notion of friendship is historically-situated, thus, it requires attention in each era and has prompted questions throughout human history. Our time is no exception. Changing cultures and redefinitions of basic human institutions have led us to our current moment, in which we are experiencing a loud and continuing debate on the effect of technology on our lives. Advancements in science have allowed us to understand our past and present in new ways. …

Mission As Virtuous Practice: A Theology Of Mission Through The Lens Of Virtue Ethics, Michael Niebauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work uses theological virtue ethics as a guide both for critiquing various models of Christian mission and for constructing a model of mission that adequately addresses these criticisms. The first section of the dissertation (chapters one, two, and three) is devoted to an assessment of three major models of mission, which I have labeled mission as the missio Dei, mission as growth, and mission as dialogue. This assessment generates three recurring issues within the field of missiology that have remained largely unresolved: the problems of distinction, agency, and persuasion. The second half of the dissertation (chapters four, five, …

Natural Law, The Object Of The Act, And Double Effect: Moral Methodology For Catholic Health Care Ethics, Travis Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Veritatis Splendor is the first and only magisterial document that systematically articulates a moral methodology for Catholic moral theology. This dissertation makes explicit the methodological connection between Vatican teaching and the United States Bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. The thesis of the dissertation explains the systematic connection between Natural Law, the Moral Object of the Act, and the Principle of Double Effect and by extension the ethical Principle of Cooperation. Second, the thesis applies this complex moral method of official teaching to health care ethics.

Following the introduction, chapter …

The Ethics Of Occultic Communication: An Invocation Of Joshua Gunn And Sissela Bok, James Thomas Begley Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Occultic rhetoric, according to Joshua Gunn, is a genre of discourse concerned with the study and practice of secret communications. The strategic sharing of secret messages involves a host of methods and conventions designed for the selective disclosure of hidden knowledge, thus controlling the boundaries of (and accessibility to power between) insider and outsider groups. Occultic rhetoric has its uses in everyday encounters, but the abuse of such manipulative strategies, especially by those in the academy and other positions of power and trust, calls for an ethical response. This dissertation submits occultic rhetoric to moral investigation by incorporating the works …

A Rhetoric And Philosophy Of Interprofessional Healthcare Education: Communication Ethics In Action, Matthew Corr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare professionals belong to a moral community. Caring for patients is a community act carried out by healthcare professionals working in teams within complex political and organizational systems. This teamwork is crucial to quality patient outcomes; however, incivility threatens to derail necessary and effective collaboration towards the common organizational good. Necessarily, interprofessional healthcare education is becoming a required element for pre-health professionals. Currently, schools are using competency-based approaches to interprofessional education to teach ethics/values, roles/responsibilities. communication, and teamwork. For reasons explicated throughout this dissertation, the categorizing of these particular elements as competencies is problematic and cultivated within a positivistic and …

Precision Medicine And It's Ethical And Social Implications: Public Health And Gobal Persepctives, Evangel Sarwar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ever since President Obama's launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) in 2015, precision medicine (PM) has been anticipated as the new paradigm for healthcare with the capacity to “empower patients, researchers, and providers to work together toward the development of individualized care,” through research, technologies, and policies (President Obama, 2015). Precision Medicine (PM), in the form of genomics, offers unprecedented promise of providing new tools for improving health and reducing the burden of diseases, not just for the U.S. - but also globally. According to World Health Organization, genomics research and precision medicine will play a major part in …

The Creative Feud Of Andy Warhol: A Philosophy Of Communication Ethics, Sarah Deiuliis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Creative Feud of Andy Warhol: A Philosophy of Communication Ethics begins with the assumption that the current historical moment is defined by Gilles Lipovetsky’s philosophical project known as hypermodernity. The dominant paradigm of hypermodernity, as consumption and commodity culture, elicits particularity of embedded responsiveness situated within history. Ronald C. Arnett and Pat Arneson contend that communication ethics are “value-laden philosophies of communication” uniting background narratives with foreground communicative practices (Philosophy xi). This dissertation positions Andy Warhol as a hypermodern communicative prophet. Through his life, works, and human communication, Warhol utilized art to communicate embedded ethical questions, responding to …

An Ethics Of Care Approach To Managing The Burden Of Alzheimer's Disease, Carrie L. Stott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease for which there is currently no cure or effective treatments. The disease has devastating effects on the individuals whom it strikes and because its prevalence continues to rise, it significantly threatens the public good. Throughout its lengthy duration from diagnosis to death there are numerous ethical issues concerning patients individually as well as society generally. The management of the burdens of Alzheimer’s disease presents a formidable ethical challenge from the perspective of patients and society. The ethics of care is adopted to address this problem because of its flexibility to integrate personal care …

Toward A New Reading Of Cicero's De Finibus, Kelsey Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I argue that Cicero has two primary, interdependent aims in De finibus: the critical assessment of the dominant ethical positions, and the education of his readers. These aims are accomplished through four key devices. First, Cicero develops flat, useful readings of the dominant ethical positions without rejecting eudaimonism itself. This allows Cicero to demonstrate Academic practices while also insisting upon the importance of virtue, which suggests the best ethical view for Cicero is a skeptically grounded eudaimonism. Second, the arrangement of the text in reverse chronological order dramatically enacts Cicero’s own alternative to the cradle argument on …

The Contribution Of Ethical Reasoning Skills In Forensic Science, Lyndsie Ferrara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forensic science applies scientific methods to matters related to the legal system. Members of the forensic field are part of the criminal justice system charged with upholding justice through science. Numerous wrongful convictions and ethical issues involving forensic science indicate a need to dissect the field from a different perspective. Stories in the media regularly identify ethical issues in forensic science ranging from individual misconduct to systemic organizational failures that lead to injustice. Even with these journalistic investigations, a lack of awareness remains regarding the contribution of ethical reasoning skills in forensic science. This dissertation addresses that gap in the …

Enhancing Quality Ethics Consultations In Pediatric Medicine, Ariel Clatty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical ethics consultations occur predominantly in the adult realm of medicine, alternatively in Pediatric Medicine there is a widespread lack of training and skilled professionals to service these requests. Most of the literature in pediatric ethics consultations revolves around mirroring adult ethics consultations. This dissertation seeks to identify and address the issues related to quality of ethics consultations in a clinical setting regarding the organizational and research settings for Pediatric Medicine, and how adopting and applying the guiding standards for ethics consultation using the Core Competencies of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities will better assist all parties to …

Integrated Marketing Communication As Epideictic Rhetoric And Its Implications For Ethical Branding, Tricia Mcfadden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traced to ancient scholarship, rhetoric, and the philosophy of communication and through interpretive perspectives, rhetoric, narrative and ethics have been established grounding of communication and social structures. IMC has emerged as a contemporary genre of epideictic rhetoric with ethical obligations to our postmodern polis. Through the redefining of the branding metaphor within an ethical, grounded and narrative framework, the focus on ethos and connection to the audience through Schrag’s “fitting response” may combat the previous challenges of narrative and marketing and its deconstructive effects. IMC as communicative praxis engages branding discourse in action with texture as the bonding agent between …

The Ethics Of Futility Across The Age Continuum, Katherine D. Mccord

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much has been written on the topic of medical futility with reports of its existence dating back to the time of Hippocrates. However, the majority of the research on the topic has been on the adult population. Very little literature addresses the presence of medically futile treatment across the age continuum identifying issues that impact neonates, pediatrics, as well as adults.

This dissertation addresses the gap in the literature by considering the ethical problem of medical futility across the age continuum. By addressing the common thread of futility, there is an imperative for a call to action that encompasses the …

Solidarity With The Vulnerable: Global Healthcare Ethics In Spiritan Perspective, Chike Anyigbo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on global healthcare ethics from a Spiritan perspective. As the Spiritan Congregation developed over centuries, its core charism has been implemented in a variety of ministries articulated in terms of solidarity with the vulnerable (SWV). There has been very little discussion of the contribution of the Spiritan charism to ethics in general or healthcare ethics more specifically, as discussed in this work. Nevertheless, from the outset, the Spiritan ministry emphasized the importance of individual dignity as a foundation for a commitment to the poor. The focus clarified the importance of respecting the vulnerable. Over time, the Spiritan …

An Organizational Ethics Framework To Balance Individual Privacy And Population Interests Regarding Genetic Technologies, Christine Trani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The American culture holds the right to privacy as one of the most esteemed rights for individuals. As such, the culture adamantly defends the right to privacy to ensure individuals have the opportunity to live freely. In the American healthcare system, the right to privacy is critical for individual autonomy. However, genetic science has pushed this boundary as it emphasizes the interdependency between individual and population health. Genetic technologies for healthcare have been increasing at an exponential rate since the early 2000s. Their implantation into clinical care has been a slower process due to ethical dilemmas. Specifically, ethical dilemmas revolve …

The Normative Approach Of The Catholic Tradition In The Ethical And Religious Directives For Resolving Ethical Dilemmas Regarding Medical Technology, David G. Garvis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation engages the Catholic Tradition enunciated in the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services to provide a normative approach for resolving ethical dilemmas regarding pivotal breakthroughs in medical technology.

This normative ethical approach has two components: a normative framework for Catholic health care ethics that adopts practical ethical principles as enunciated in the Ethical and Religious Directives (Chapter 2) and secular decision-making models in organizational and clinical ethics that are consistent with the Catholic Tradition (Chapter 3).

At the end of the theoretical analysis in these chapters, the conclusion to Chapter 3 explains how this normative …

A Study On Conscience: The Content And Function, Nalan Sarac

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of conscience by critically examining turning points of the traditionalist approach that conceptualizes conscience primarily as a cognitive capacity. The basic assumption of this approach is that there is a built-in mechanism in human beings that enables us to judge the rightness of our actions. This mechanism is a part of reason that deals with the ethical value of the actions. Conscience judges an action with reference to a set of principles. These principles constitute the content of conscience. My study follows this track and puts forth its findings …

Casey's Hope: A Communication Ethics Response To Baseball's Fall And Its Future, Matthew David Fazio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Baseball was once seen as America's pastime, but somehow lost its way. Baseball was inherently American, and stood for more than a game. Yet a number of events caused baseball to fall from grace. Using Ernest Thayer's poem "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of Republic Sung in the Year 1888" as a frame work, this project identifies three events that caused baseball's fall and three additional events that currently threaten the game, which will be evaluated according to Aristotle's doctrine of the mean. Understanding the game's past and present will help to develop a methodology to apply to threats …

Mary Parker Follett: Toward Organizational Communication Ethics In A Flattening And Fearful World, Stephen Kriss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On September 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York City, Washington, DC and Somerset County, Pennsylvania, initiated a new global awareness and fear among citizens of the United States as well as others around the world. In this context of a flattening and fearful world described by Thomas Friedman in his two post 9/11 books, organizational communication has been responding to and participating within a widening scope of change and fear. In recognizing this tumultuous time, there's a desire to find a constructive way forward and to consider possible theorists from other historical moments who might guide our way. This …