ETHICS IN PROGRESS
Not a member yet
351 research outputs found
Sort by
The Doctrine of Double Effect and Medical Ethics: A New Formulation
Full text linkThe standard version of the doctrine of double effect, a significant doctrine in applied ethics particularly medical ethics, not only fails to capture some morally significant components of Aquinas’ view, but it does not resort to proper complementary features in order to accommodate the doctrine to our moral intuitions. We attempt to offer a new formulation of the doctrine incorporating the main components of Aquinas’ view and also to extend the view using some complementary features. We will examine the strength of the formulation applying it into some ethically controversial situations, mainly in medical ethics
Lies, Lies, and Lies. On Truth, Dishonesty, Deception, and Self-Deception
Full text linkMy considerations are typological in nature. A lie is a disingenuous assertion made to another person with the intent of deceiving the other person into believing both that the assertion is true and that the liar believes it to be true. This definition is morally neutral. It requires a further, moral judgment to determine whether a lie is a good or a bad thing, or whether, in specified circumstances, a lie is morally right or wrong. However, what if the truth is not only occasionally contaminated but lies are spread en masse in order to make the addressees question their ability to judge or to induce collective self-deception? Beginning with small-scale use of lies, related variants of dishonesty – especially large scale, propagandistic uses of lies – are conceptually characterized and evaluated. Lies can be systematically distinguished via their purposes
The “Unhappy Consciousness”. A Paradigm of Reason’s Speculative Power
Full text linkOne way to address the question concerning the nature of reason consists in inquiring rational anxieties such as the tension between changeable and unchangeable. The yearning of the particular towards the universal, the iterative, interminable quest of the thinking is namely something which seems to be proper of many systems of classical German philosophy (but not only). In this paper I want to consider this problematic focusing on the figure of the unhappy consciousness which is perhaps the clearest expression of this tension and use it to approach Hegel’s account on speculative reason. After recalling – in the first section – the figures which precede the unhappy consciousness, I will address the question concerning the historicity and universality of the development of the consciousness, asking if it is the case that the unhappy consciousness belongs only to a particular historical age (and needs specific historical preconditions) or if it expresses a general feature of reason or of human experience. In the second and the third sections, namely, I will try to defend this second interpretation by showing that the unhappy consciousness not only is central in Hegel’s system and is re-echoed in several figures of the Phenomenology of the Spirit but it is also central in other philosophical systems. For instance, as I will show in the fourth section, Kant’s ethical thinking could be read under the light of the unhappy consciousness, whose unsatisfied yearning towards the universal is the expression and source of the speculative or metaphysical thinking
Hegel’s Concept of Action between Deflationary Approaches and The Science of Logic
Full text linkThe research in this paper attempts to outline the connection between Hegel’s concept of action and the contemporary philosophy of action. Hegel’s concept of action has some features in common with the ideas of analytical philosophers, and might open unexpected integration of these different philosophical traditions, which would contribute to the development of both of them. A brief overview of ways to comprehend Hegel’s concept of action (from Taylor to Brandom) shows that the cause of ambiguous understandings of this concept lies in the complexity of Hegel’s approach. The following article highlights the tension between “deflationary” interpretations and the complexity of Hegel´s original approach. Further, by revisiting the Section “Teleology” in Hegel’s Science of Logic, the article illustrates how deflationary interpretations of human action can be improved, so that they are topical for both contemporary practical philosophy and the philosophy of action, beyond the unnecessary split between analytical vs. continental philosophy. Such concepts as “purpose” and “mediation” become crucial, as they have sociological and normative extensions in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, as discussed in the last Section of this article. 
Language, Time, and Death. An Ethico-Philosophical Perspective Following Hegel, Heidegger, Lévinas, and Blanchot
Full text linkOur daily existence is affected by how we perceive death, be it our own’s death tocome or others’ death. The intimidating nature of death has the potential to affect our daily ethical existence in relation to the other, as is seen in various crises in human history. In such a context, since expansive literature in various approaches such as biological, sociological, psychological, and political addressing the question of death is already available, this essay presents an ethico-philosophical perspective on death and argues if death should be seen as the worst event that is to be experienced by being. In this essay, I correlate language, time, and death, contrasting popular analogies, i.e., death is possibility of impossibility (Hegel and Heidegger), and death is impossibility of possibility (Lévinas and Blanchot). Firstly, the essay stages the discussion with contrasting synchronic and diachronic perspectives of language, i.e., historical understanding of language and time in Hegelian terms and the messianic time in Lévinasian terms, to see how sensibility, i.e., universal meaning, is expressed through concept. Secondly, the essay sees how sensibility is expressed through a concept beyond dialectic opposition and negativity while acknowledging that the question of ethics arises only after the end of philosophy, for something is always inexpressible through expression; there is always remnant beyond philosophical significance. This essay not only argues language, time, and death as the ethical responsibility of the self towards the other, but also contributes to the understanding of language as ethics beyond philosophy, and death as passivity beyond ontology following Lévinas’s idea of messianic time and Blanchot’s views on literature and death
The COVID-19 Pandemic Between Bio-Ethics, Bio-Law and Bio-Politics: A Case Study on The Italian Experience of The DuPre Commission
Full text linkThe aim of this qualitative study was to consider the question of whether the Italian political management of the pandemic respected the European bio-ethical and bio-juridical approaches in light of the principles of autonomy, dignity, integrity and vulnerability. As no specific consolidated literature exists on the subject, the Italian situation was taken into consideration, specifically the work of a spontaneous commission (DuPre) that collected the reflections of academics and researchers interested in discussing political decisions for the management of the emergency, which was the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The analysis took into account the contributions of scholars during two conferences (without proceedings), which were transcribed and examined. From the texts processed with a thematic analysis, three main themes emerged: ‘pandemic as a state of exception, sovereignty and crisis of democracy’, ‘the value of doubt and refutation’ and ‘elimination of informed consent between persuasion and blackmail’. In this paper, the final bio-political considerations on the European approach and the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy are presented
The Central Role of Schools in Promoting Death Education Interventions
Full text linkAvoidance of discussion about death is common in contemporary Western societies. Plenty of literature substantiates that (at the beginning of the sentence), the actual tendency toward death denial can produce many negative effects such as the suppression of death-related thoughts and emotions. Death Education aims to strengthen the psychological anchors that allow us to recognize the profiles of anguish, prevent the decompensating factors of pathological mourning and process the experiences of loss at all ages. The article aims to support the usefulness and use of Death Education interventions in schools and their central role in promoting these interventions
Ars Moriendi. Ethical Challenges of the Ultimate Realities of Life
Full text linkThe aim of this issue of Ethics in Progress is to provide a provisional, open-ended view on the ultimate realities of life and the ethical challenges they pose in medical, sociological, and existential contexts. The issue explores axiologies and meta-ethical narratives related to the art of dying, or in other words the moral domain encompassing the quest for a good life and a good death. Two problematic aspects emerge from the latest body of research: (1) the difficulty involved in tackling ethical challenges in medical and sociological contexts; and (2) the marginal role of the patient’s agency and narrative-ownership of end-of-life decision-making. A direction is pointed out that suggests that interventions across interdisciplinary groups involved in medical aid to dying should focus on promoting ethical behaviour on the side of healthcare personnel. Finally, attention to language, discourse, communication, and the narratives of death and dying call this edition of Ethics in Progress to examine the ontological and epistemological categories that underlie the study of lifeworlds and ‘discourse communities’, which are those associated with moral agents interlacing historical motives, language, communication, normative beliefs, social norms and roles, power relations, hard clinical evidence, and contested values in the context of medical practices and, broadly speaking, practices surrounding death
Cross-Cultural Reflections on Citizen’s and Mankind’s Moral Identity as a Foundation of Community with a Shared Future
Full text linkCitizens’ moral identity is not only reflected on the individual level, but also in terms of belongingness, community, and even cosmopolitanism. It is the basic demand of a community with a shared future in morality. Moral identity is closely related to moral behavior, and the study of moral identity can predict one’s moral behavior. Community is the cultural basis of citizens’ moral identity. To study citizens’ moral identity in the community can also enable one to predict people’s moral behavior in that community. At present, the construction of a community with a shared future still lacks a species moral identity generally recognized by all cultures and countries. In order to achieve that goal, we must strengthen cultural inclusion, advocate and practice species moral identity of a community with a shared future. Species moral identity is based on the existence of humankind as a species with autonomous identity, so it is necessary to establish the mechanism of cultural respect and equal discussion, and to strengthen the construction of the species moral identity. Only in that way can we accomplish the mission of establishing species moral identity. In the following paper, I will advocate for these ideas with Kant’s and Marx’ thoughts.