University of Windsor, Ontario: Open Journal Systems
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Genetic Discrimination, Life Insurance, and Justice as Fairness
No full textIn this paper, I use justice as fairness (JAF) to inquire whether any issues of liberal justice are raised by the practice of genetic discrimination in society, in particular from the standpoint of life insurance pricing in Canada. I present three ways in which JAF may apply. First and foremost, Rawls’ negative thesis can be interpreted to say that one’s genetic characteristics are morally arbitrary and therefore persons do not deserve to be advantaged or disadvantaged by the basic structure of society based on these characteristics. Second, as James W. Nickel observes, Rawls’ principle of equal basic liberties can be interpreted to include a right to privacy which is necessary, among other things, in order to protect other basic rights and liberties. Third, as Martin O’Neill maintains, life insurance is a gateway social good that allows individuals to access primary goods and to live a full human life. Therefore, securing this important good on non-discriminatory grounds is of fundamental importance for a society committed to social justice
Empathy, Asymmetrical Reciprocity, and the Ethics of Mental Health Care
No full textI discuss Young’s “asymmetrical reciprocity” and apply it to an ethics of mental health care. Due to its emphasis on engaging with others through respectful dialogue in an inclusive manner, asymmetrical reciprocity serves as an appropriate framework for guiding caregivers to interact with their patients and to understand them in a morally responsible and appropriate manner. In Section 1, I define empathy and explain its benefits in the context of mental health care. In Section 2, I discuss two potential problems surrounding empathy: the difficulty of perspective-taking and “compassion fatigue.” In Section 3, I argue that these issues can be resolved if examined through the lens of an ethics of care. Reciprocal relationships between patients and caregivers are an important element in the development of an ethics of care. In Section 4, I introduce two models of reciprocity that can be applied to a health care context: Benhabib’s symmetrical reciprocity and Young’s asymmetrical reciprocity. In Section 5, I demonstrate how asymmetrical reciprocity cultivates empathy and, in Section 6 and Section 7, I show how it overcomes the objections of empathy and improves therapeutic relationships
Decolonization: Resolving the Crisis in Indigenous Peoples’ Health Care
No full textWhen colonialism is invisible to the colonizer/settler, that one inevitably misdiagnoses the so-called “Aboriginal problem”. So, unsurprisingly, any proposed solution fails. Problems resulting from colonialism, including the health crisis in Indigenous communities, are so visible Canada cannot deny seeing them. Yet, the voices of Indigenous leaders, community workers, and scholars insisting Canada address colonialism to solve the problems fall on deaf ears. This paper argues that the justice requirement to address colonialism is not simply based in an Indigenous moral and legal perspective. Canada’s justice foundation is provided by liberal theory, and liberalism supports Indigenous solutions. Colonialism has made Indigenous communities unwell. Past assimilation and present reconciliation approaches to “curing” Indigenous communities fail because they ignore colonialism. Arthur Manuel and I demonstrate that only decolonization can heal Indigenous communities. Since the unjust relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada’s has always been the source of the problems, a just relationship alone can fix them
Conservatism and Communitarianism: Two or One?
No full textI argue that conservatism and communitarianism are not two distinct positions, but instead two names for the same approach to social and political arrangements and issues. Three reasons are offered for this claim: first, both conservatism and communitarianism can be understood as reactions to liberalism; second, both rely on communal traditions, rather than reason, to justify social and political prescriptions; and, finally, both are flexible in regard to their social and political prescriptions. Some practical applications of my thesis include a better understanding of how Donald Trump is the new face of conservatism in America and how a communitarian approach to political life could be divisive
The Nightingale Court Experiment: Lessons for Access to Justice in a Post-Pandemic World
No full textThe literature is yet to consider the contribution of Nightingale Courts to access to justice in England and Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nightingale Courts are courts that have been set up in repurposed buildings, such as town halls, hotels, and theatres, to facilitate socially distanced trials and hearings. I fill this gap by asking: to what extent have Nightingale Courts addressed access to justice concerns during the pandemic, and what lessons do Nightingale Courts hold for access to justice across jurisdictions and in the future? I argue that though costly and complex, Nightingale Courts have helped to prevent a further worsening of delay during the pandemic. Then, I explore the lessons of the Nightingale Court experiment for access to justice across jurisdictions and in a post-pandemic world. I consider Nightingale Courts as an experiment for legal architecture, informal justice, and adaptation and resilience. I conclude that Nightingale Courts have maintained and preserved access to the legal system during a time of crisis and thereby contributed to the resilience of the system.La mesure dans laquelle les tribunaux Nightingale ont favorisé l’accès à la justice en Angleterre et au pays de Galles pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 n’a pas encore été analysée dans la doctrine. Les tribunaux Nightingale sont des tribunaux temporaires établis dans des immeubles convertis comme des hôtels de ville, des hôtels et des théâtres, afin de faciliter la tenue de procès et d’audiences dans le respect de la distanciation sociale. Je me penche sur ce sujet en posant la question suivante : jusqu’à quel point les tribunaux Nightingale ont-ils atténué les problèmes d’accès à la justice pendant la pandémie et quelles sont les leçons à tirer de leur expérience pour l’accès à la justice à l’avenir et dans l’ensemble des juridictions? J’explique d’abord qu’à mon avis, malgré leur coût et leur complexité, les tribunaux Nightingale ont permis de freiner l’accroissement des délais pendant la pandémie. J’explore ensuite les leçons à tirer de leur fonctionnement pour ce qui est de l’accès à la justice dans l’ensemble des juridictions et dans un monde postpandémique. Je considère les tribunaux Nightingale comme une expérience sur le plan de la structure juridique, de la justice informelle, de l’adaptation et de la résilience. J’affirme en conclusion que ces tribunaux ont maintenu et préservé l’accès au système judiciaire pendant une période de crise et ont amélioré de ce fait la solidité du système
Representations of Unwelcomed Children – Public Discussion in Helsingin Sanomat Newspaper about Finnish Children Living in Camp of al-Hol in Eastern Syria in 2019
No full textIn this article, we examine the representations of Finnish children living in the al-Hol refugee camp in Eastern Syria. Our data consists of materials published in 2019 in the Helsingin Sanomat, the largest subscription-based newspaper in Finland, which we analyzed using discourse analysis. As a result of our analysis, we identified and named three discourses representing children in al-Hol from different perspectives. These discourses are the victim and threat discourse, the legal discourse, and the problem discourse. In the victim and threat discourse, children were portrayed as both in need of assistance and as a potential security threat in the future both if brought to Finland, but also if they remained in the camp. In the legal discourse, bringing children to Finland was justified as a legal obligation, leaving aside other perspectives related to helping children. In the problem discourse, bringing children to Finland was described as highly problematic. Across all discourses, children were represented as unwelcome. This representation was strengthened by describing children through their mothers, justifying assistance as a necessary evil, and highlighting children’s connections to Isis
Exploring the Importance of Criminal Legal Aid: A Canadian Perspective
No full textThere is a growing global recognition that, in order to address the current access to justice crisis, more research, together with a better understanding of data, is needed. This article, through an examination of existing legal aid research primarily in the area of criminal law, explores some of what we know and do not know about the relative benefits and costs of providing different kinds of criminal legal aid services. Although not a comprehensive review of all available research, this article identifies data strengths and gaps and the need for further research and reforms.Pour remédier à la crise actuelle qui touche l’accès à la justice, on reconnaît de plus en plus au niveau mondial la nécessité d’intensifier la recherche et de mieux comprendre les données. Cet article, à l’aide d’un examen des recherches existantes sur l’aide juridique, principalement dans le domaine du droit pénal, explore certains points connus et inconnus concernant les avantages et les coûts liés à la prestation de différents types de services d’aide juridique en matière pénale. Sans constituer un examen exhaustif de toutes les recherches disponibles, cet article relève les forces et les faiblesses des données, ainsi que le besoin d’approfondir les recherches et de poursuivre les réformes
Princesses, Pirates, and an Empress: Dressing the 18th Century Anachronistically on Screen
No full textThe costume designer for the Marie Antoinette (1938), Gilbert Adrian, researched the 18th century dress extensively, yet cut dress trimmings on bias, had shoulders revealed in court dresses, and wigs that were more 19th century than 18th. Marie Antoinette (2006) has more or less the same level of accuracy. “Anachronisms are found in almost every motion picture that portrays another period,” says costume and textile historian Edward Maeder, “… instead these costumes take elements of past styles and combine them with aspects of contemporary fashion,” (Landis, 2013). When the internet is filled with takedowns of the historical inaccuracies in films and TV, on screen depictions of the past continue to be anachronistic. Anachronisms are not always due to a lack of research, but sometimes quite the opposite! Good costume designers research their given period thoroughly, and, much like Maeder said, choose what to keep and what to change. Often these reasons are to better connect with modern sensibilities and styles, but these changes can also be done to elevate a piece of media into historical fantasy, or to say more about the themes and characters than any piece of completely historical costume could hope to do. With a focus on costume, three different pieces of recent media will be analysed: Marie Antoinette (2006) The Great (2020—) and Our Flag Means Death (2022—) and used as evidence of successful anachronistic costume that highlights their stories and character
A Case Study of Contextual and Emotional Modulation of Source-case Selection in Analogical Arguments
No full textIn making analogical arguments about actions, is more similarity between the source and target cases always better? No: all things considered, more similarity is not always better, even if the similarities are all relevant. The reason is that the context of the argument, including emotional considerations, modulates the selection of the source case to service the goals of the argument. If the goals of the argument include persuasion and even modifying someone’s emotional state, increasing the overall similarity between the source and target may be counterproductive.En avançant des arguments analogiques sur les actions, une plus grande similitude entre les cas source et cible est-elle toujours meilleure? Non : tout bien considéré, plus de similitude n\u27est pas toujours mieux, même si les similitudes sont toutes pertinentes. La raison en est que le contexte de l\u27argument, y compris les considérations émotionnelles, module la sélection du cas source pour atteindre les objectifs de l\u27argument. Si les objectifs de l\u27argument incluent la persuasion et même la modification de l\u27état émotionnel de quelqu\u27un, augmenter la similitude globale entre la source et la cible peut être contre-productif
Trait Attribution Error
No full textSometimes we make the choice to rely upon the trait of being on time over making the choice to rely upon the trait of driving safely. So Gerry can run the red light to respect Stephanie’s time, while striking Paul’s car and disrespecting his property and life in the process. It appears that there are single situations with two or more morally salient features where we can apply different and ordinarily positive traits to our moral choices and by selecting the wrong moral choice, we can be seen to behave abominably. Notice that when utilizing the trait attribution error as our excuse, we can still see ourselves as positive moral agents or “good persons” in the situation where we have behaved abominably. The trait attribution error takes place when we defend failing to perform the correct moral action with the motive of why we applied a specific positive trait to the wrong moral choice. So the Nazi soldier gets to remain “a good moral person” in his own eyes – because he applied the normally positive trait of following a superior’s orders – while at the same time performing horrific moral actions. In this paper I want to explain and explore aspects of the benefits of the phenomenon I call “trait attribution error,” with the two primary candidates being how it helps us both to avoid blame for improper moral acts and to dodge our negative psychology. The trait attribution error creates a cycle of error, preventing us from becoming virtuous moral agents by enabling us to make the same mistakes