Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Review Of Ethical Theory By Russ Shafer-Landau, Matthew Pianalto

Matthew Pianalto

Any anthology on a topic as broad as moral philosophy risks committing sins of omission. In lieu of what Shafer-Landau calls the "point-counterpoint" approach usually taken in ethics readers, in which the audience is presented with positive accounts of particular views and critical responses, Shafer-Landau has chosen, particularly the sections on distinctive moral theories (such as consequentialism and deontological ethics), to focus on various defenses and articulations of the moral theories under consideration. Thus, "Readers will not have criticisms of the theories presented and ready to hand. As a compensation, however, they will have a more nuanced target to aim …

Ethics Of Surgical Training In Developing Countries, Kevin Ramsey, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

The practice of surgical trainees operating in developing countries is gaining interest in the medical community. Although there has been little analysis about the ethical impact of these electives, there has been some concerns raised over the possible exploitation of trainees and their patients. An ethical review of this practice shows that care needs to be taken to prevent harm. Inexperienced surgeons learning surgical skills in developing countries engender greater risk of violating basic ethical principles. Advanced surgical trainees who have already achieved surgical competence are best qualified to satisfy these ethical issues. All training programs need to develop a …

Looking Up From The Gutter: Pop-Culture And Philosophy, Stephen Asma

Stephen T Asma

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Benefits And Harms In Intensive Care Research, Charles Weijer, Paul Miller

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Revisiting Equipoise: A Response To Gifford, Paul Miller, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

The authors respond to objections Fred Gifford has raised against their paper "Rehabilitating Equipoise." They situate this exchange in the wider context of recent debate over equipoise, highlighting substantial points of agreement between themselves and Gifford. The authors offer a brief restatement of "Rehabilitating Equipoise" in which they amplify some of its core arguments. They then assess Gifford's objections. Finding each to be unfounded, they argue that there is no justification for "pulling the plug" on clinical equipoise.

Presentism And The Objection From Being-Supervenience, Brian Kierland, Bradley Monton

Brian Kierland

In this paper, we show that presentism—the view that the way things are is the way things presently are—is not undermined by the objection from being-supervenience. This objection claims, roughly, that presentism has trouble accounting for the truth-value of past-tense claims. Our demonstration amounts to the articulation and defence of a novel version of presentism. This is brute past presentism, according to which the truth-value of past-tense claims is determined by the past understood as a fundamental aspect of reality different from things and how things are.

Refuting The Net Risks Test: A Response To Wendler And Miller's "Assessing Research Risks Systematically", Charles Weijer, Paul Miller

Charles Weijer

Earlier in the pages of this journal (p 481), Wendler and Miller offered the "net risks test" as an alternative approach to the ethical analysis of benefits and harms in research. They have been vocal critics of the dominant view of benefit-harm analysis in research ethics, which encompasses core concepts of duty of care, clinical equipoise and component analysis. They had been challenged to come up with a viable alternative to component analysis which meets five criteria. The alternative must (1) protect research subjects; (2) allow clinical research to proceed; (3) explain how physicians may offer trial enrolment to their …

Doing Ethics In A Diverse World, Robert Traer, Harlan Stelmach

Harlan Stelmach

Unfettered Or Tempered Capitalism? How Best To Promote Virtuous Characters, Earl Spurgin

Earl W. Spurgin

The article reviews the book "The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce," by Deirdre N. McCloskey

Review Of In Search Of Happiness Understanding An Endangered State Of Mind By John F. Schumaker, Matthew Pianalto

Matthew Pianalto

As Aristotle noted in the Nicomachean Ethics, we all want to live happy lives, but there is vast disagreement about what happiness consists in. Some say that the happy life is a life of pleasure, others that it consists in living virtuously (or morally). Yet others believe it involves the renunciation of earthly things in favor of intellectual and spiritual contemplation, and some declare that happiness is secured through money and honor. Subjectivists will claim that there is no answer to the question, "Which of these conceptions of happiness is the true conception?" because happiness is a purely subjective phenomenon. …

On The Rates Of Differentiation: Derrida On Political Timing, Antonio Calcagno

Antonio Calcagno

No abstract provided.

The Return Of Research Results To Participants: Pilot Questionnaire Of Adolescents And Parents Of Children With Cancer, Conrad Fernandez, Darcy Santor, Charles Weijer, Caron Strahlendorf, Albert Moghrabi, Rebecca Pentz, Jun Gao, Eric Kodish

Charles Weijer

PURPOSE: The offer to return research results to participants is increasingly recognized as an ethical obligation, although few researchers routinely return results. We examined the needs and attitudes of parents of children with cancer and of adolescents with cancer to the return of research results.

METHODS: Seven experts in research ethics scored content validity on parent and adolescent questionnaires previously developed through focus group and phone interviews. The questionnaires were revised and provided to 30 parents and 10 adolescents in a tertiary care oncology setting.

RESULTS: The content validity index for individual questions and the overall questionnaires scored as 0.86 …

Equipoise And The Duty Of Care In Clinical Research: A Philosophical Response To Our Critics, Paul Miller, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

Franklin G. Miller and colleagues have stimulated renewed interest in research ethics through their work criticizing clinical equipoise. Over three years and some twenty articles, they have also worked to articulate a positive alternative view on norms governing the conduct of clinical research. Shared presuppositions underlie the positive and critical dimensions of Miller and colleagues' work. However, recognizing that constructive contributions to the field ought to enjoy priority, we presently scrutinize the constructive dimension of their work. We argue that it is wanting in several respects.

The Black Metropolis In The Twenty-First Century: Race, Power And The Politics Of Place, Robert Bullard

Robert D Bullard

This book brings together key essays that seek to make visible and expand our understanding of the role of government (policies, programs, and investments) in shaping cities and metropolitan regions; the costs and consequences of uneven urban and regional growth patterns; suburban sprawl and public health, transportation, and economic development; and the enduring connection of place, space, and race in the era of increased globalization. Whether intended or unintended, many government policies (housing, transportation, land use, environmental, economic development, education, etc.) have aided and in some cases subsidized suburban sprawl, job flight, and spatial mismatch; concentrated urban poverty; and heightened …

The Transgression Of Maacah In 2 Chronicles 15:16: A Simple Case Of Idolatry Or The Threatening Poesis Of Maternal Speech?, Julie Kelso

Julie Kelso

Extract:

In this essay, I shall argue that in Chronicles Maacah is not simply deposed because she is an idolater. Rather, in an important sense Maacah’s act of producing an idol for the goddess Asherah threatens patrilineal, patriarchal social order itself, as it is constructed and understood in Chronicles. Specifically, her act undermines the dominant (unconscious) phantasy at work in Chronicles: that of masculine, monosexual (re)production. To sustain itself, this phantasy requires the ‘silence’ or non-representation of the maternal body. In other words, it is not simply Maacah’s idolatry that sees her punished; it is her daring production of the …

Holy Toyland, Stephen Asma

Stephen T Asma

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Just War Tradition, Michael Brough, John Lango, Harry Van Der Linden

Harry van der Linden

Democracy, Racism, And Prisons, Harry Van Der Linden

Harry van der Linden

Editorial: What Is The Bible And Critical Theory?, Roland Boer, Julie Kelso

Julie Kelso

No abstract provided.

Abolishing Time And History: Lazarus And The Possibility Of Thinking Political Events Outside Time, Antonio Calcagno

Antonio Calcagno

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Benefits And Harms In Clinical Research, Paul Miller, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.