1,720,969 research outputs found
Assisted dying and moral principles : the quest for just and legitimate norms in constitutional interpretation
Get PDFPhD (Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2016In this thesis the relationship between law and morality is examined, posing the question whether or not the law consists of - or to some extent at least includes - principles that can help an adjudicator to determine how the law ‘ought to be’ interpreted in a case where a moral dilemma arises and no legal rule clearly indicates a way forward. Initially, therefore, the relationship between law and morality is looked at from the point of view of representatives of (inclusive and exclusive) legal positivism, on the one hand, and the point of view of proponents of so-called principles theories of law, on the other. The latter theories postulate a consequential interaction between law and morality, holding that morals in actual fact constitute an element of law. Since principles theories furthermore propound to apply to Basic Law provisions in particular, these theoretical approaches are scrutinised more strictly than those that just seek to establish if (or to what extent) such principles are actually to be found in South African Constitutional Law.
The study then turns to the morally and legally controversial question concerning the permissibility of currently prohibited forms of assisted dying under South African law, with a focus on competent terminally ill patients. The law as it stands is discussed, whereupon the position in a number of related and comparable jurisdictions is briefly considered in an attempt to detect ‘the right approach’ and/or the principles most applicable to the adjudicative balancing required when dealing with controversial issues such as the non-coercive termination of the life of a terminally ill, a comatose or an injury-ridden patient. Recourse to the law as it stands in other jurisdictions as well as skilful adjudicative balancing do not, however, provide any satisfactory final answers to all ‘end of life’ controversies. It is therefore necessary also to include points of view and lines of reasoning of moral philosophers in the discourse. The question that then emerges is which one of the many approaches discussed in this thesis can actually claim to be ‘the correct one’ for South Africa. Having dealt with this question and having identified ubuntu within the meaning proposed by Thaddeus Metz as ‘the correct’ approach in South Africa, this study concludes with an inquiry into the existence of constitutional requirements, reflected in the law, with the potential to be obstacles to a preferred approach.Doctora
The effect of a constitution and bill of rights on abortion in South Africa: A comparative study
No full textDoctor Legum - LLDThis dissertation explores the effect that, the new democratic order could have on the abortion laws of South Africa. In particular, it investigates how the Transitional Constitution with its Bill of Rights may impact, on these laws, and some speculation on the import of the final Constitution is hazarded. The two major issues that are examined are therefore abortion and constitutionalism and it, is appropriate to begin with working definitions of these concepts. Abortion, sometimes known as termination of pregnancy, has both medical and IegaIly definitions. The selection of at definition has a lot to do with the definer, attitude towards abortion. An abortion can occur spontaneously or because it is induced. Medically it is usually used to describe the process whereby the contents of the uterus are expelled. This is usually deemed an abortion if it, occurs before viability, or the point after which a foetus can survive outside the womb independently. Medically, an induced abortion after viability is known as premature labour. Legally speaking an abortion can take place at any point during gestation. !!bile_ in the past it. was largely considered criminal, no matter at what, point, it occurred, whether it. is so characterised currently depends on the law in a particular country. Thus, the illegality of an abortion and when such illegality arises varies from country to country.
The point at which pregnancy commences is also the subject of debate. Some fix it after fertilisation or the moment. when the
ovum and sperm join. Others, however, see implantation, when the developing egg or blastocyst, is implanted in the waII of the
uterus, as the point which marks the beginning of pregnancy
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Human capital development in local government and the search for a capable state
Get PDFAny organisation’s functioning is dependent on the people involved in it and
their ability to optimally work towards the organisation’s mandate. In a highly
competitive world, career success and accompanying rewards play a significant role
in the lives of individuals. In return for contributing to the organisational mandate,
people would like to believe and feel that they are equally rewarded. These rewards
may of course take on many forms, what is important is that people want to feel
appreciated in their work environment.
In outlining the basic values and principles governing public administration,
Section 195(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
provides for the promotion and maintenance of a high standard of professional
ethics. Section 195(1)(h) furthermore provides for the cultivation of good human
resource management and career development practices to maximise human
potential. Linked to these constitutional provisions, chapter 13 of the National
Development Plan Vision 2030, deals with the strategic development and service
delivery blueprint of the South African government, for the creation of a capable
state, promoting the notion of “making the public service and local government
careers of choice”.
For any organisation to be regarded as capable, it can be assumed that it has
to achieve results attached to the functions associated with such an organisation.
According to a study conducted by Matebesi (2015), protest action by local
communities in South Africa had increased from approximately 10 in 2004 to
111 in 2010 to 173 in 2012. In the first nine months of 2014, 134 demonstrations
were recorded. The study defined service delivery protests as “collective action
taken by a community which was directed at a local municipality over poor or
inadequate provision of basic services”. Based on this study, one could easily be
tempted to argue against the capability of local government organisations in South
Africa. Although it would obviously be an unbalanced approach to use the number of service delivery protests as the only yardstick to measure local government
capability, it has to be recognised that the ability of South African municipalities to
provide in the basic service delivery and developmental needs of local communities,
is under constant scrutiny. The results of the recently concluded local government
elections, in which the governing African National Congress lost control in key
municipalities in the country, are seen by many, as an additional indication that the
supposed recipients of municipal services are not satisfied with the performance of
municipal organisations.
This article will, on the basis of the above, examine the issue of human
capital development in local government. It will attempt to ascertain how career
professionals in municipalities feature in the seemingly challenging environment
of local government. The article will furthermore, based on career development
literature, determine, what a career of choice as outlined in the NDP, constitutes.
The ultimate aim is to use the theoretical foundations of this article for follow-up
empirical research in local government
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Exploring the domain of spirituality in posttraumatic growth in women with traumatic brain injury : an interpretative phenomenological analysis
No full textAbstract : Please refer to full text to view abstract.M.A. (Clinical Psychology
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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