HISTORICAL GENESIS OF MORAL AND ETHICAL REGULATION OF MEDICAL PROFESSION

Author(s): Mariya Mandryk-Melnychuk,Vita Kotsur / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

Moral and ethical regulation of the medical profession is an essential component of modern medicine. Its historical origins date back to the ancient times, when fundamentals of understanding this profession, its role and authority in society were laid. Moral principles and professional culture in general express the requirements developed by human society in ancient times, the times of antiquity, Renaissance and modern times, relating to the ethical nature of a doctor and his profession. Every epoch has formed its own criteria of morality and ethics, its own set of rules of behaviour and moral, understanding of vocation and commitment. Medical ethics has become an integrative science, which absorbed the knowledge of the activities of a doctor from sociology, anthropology, ethics, philosophy, biology and so on.

Az adakozó fa

Author(s): Erzsébet Kerekes / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2018

In the period 14–18th of August 2017 we organized Philosophy for children sessions at the “Tree of Life” Family Assistance Association in Cluj. During the first four days the activities took place at the Association’s headquarters and on the last day (18th of August) in the Cluj’s Central Park, during the Hungarian Cultural Days in Cluj. We talked about environmental philosophy topics with children and young people aged 5–16 years starting with the story of The Giving Tree. On 21st of September, we organized similar activities with 12th-grade high school students at the Böhm Károly Hall of the Hungarian Philosophy Department of Babeş-Bolyai University, , during the event called The Long Weekend of High School Students. The study presents the preparation, development and conclusions of these activities.

EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM IN OUR SOCIETY

Author(s): Andreea Elena Matic / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

In the present paper we aim to analyze two important ethical concepts altruism and generosity. Ourresearch will focus on the philosopher Peter Singer‘s ideas of efficient altruism and generosity becausewe consider that his insight regarding this matter is adequate and realistic. How much money do weactually need in order to live at a decent level and how much we can dispose of in order to help otherpeople and to increase the quality of life for everyone? In the second part of the paper we will refer to thesituation in the Romanian contemporary society in which the multiples flows in the medical system iscausing the necessity of important amount of donated money for medical investigation and treatments,mostly in foreign countries. It is clear that a generous attitude towards the other people (and not onlypeople) can be an important source of personal satisfaction as well as a real salvation for the ones in need.We will mostly refer to the possibilities of donating in Romania taking into account the specificity of oursocial problems. At the same time, we are aware of the fact that we are not the poorest or the mosthelpless country and that Romanian people can also be generous with the less fortunate persons from thethird world countries where children die of diseases that are now easily curable.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION AND SOCIETY FROM THE EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE; THE "EVOLUTIONARY WAGER OF RELIGION"

Author(s): Viorel Rotilă / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

The article analyses the social utility of religion from an evolutionary perspective, identifying someimportant contributions that religion may have had in the emergence of man and humanity. The articlecan be interpreted as a reformulation of Pascal's wager in which we bet on the social utility of religion: IfGod exists, I have won! If God does not exist, but we are immersed in a system of religious beliefs thatsupport community development we have also won! The condition is the social utility of religion. At thesame time, we propose "Rotilă's wager": in order to have a chance of survival, religion must bet on theevolutionary approach of its purpose in the history of humanity, namely on the identification of its owndomain of competence in the existence of the humane through scientific approaches. Religion risksfocusing on issues for which there is no evidence, missing the importance of what it can prove. Thechance of religion is to identify its own domain of competence in the existence of the humane throughscientific approaches. The truth about religion can be found through the understanding of the emergenceand evolution of religion. Religion is based on illusions that have generated useful social institutions;these are part of the category of social fictions, their role being similar to legal fiction. Religion is aprecursor to laic institutions, as it is part of their history. We also operate with the "religious mind"hypothesis: the social brain hypothesis includes the hypothesis of the religious brain; if the "dialogue"specific to social existence has led to the increase in the volume (and a form of structuring) of the brainthen we can consider that the complex relationships with the deities have played the same role.

POLITICAL TOLERANCE VERSUS MORAL TOLERANCE

Author(s): Mihail Rarita / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

In this article, we would like to show that tolerance as a political ideal tends to disappear, disappearancewhich is undeniably linked to a crisis of politics both in terms of nature and its importance. First of all, itis about a crisis of its nature, since politics, often conceived as being related to moral concerns, seemsincreasingly guided by logic of war, which makes use of force to become more and more banal,legitimizing it by a reasonably rational speech, which is not without problems. Secondly, we are talkingabout a crisis of the importance of politics, since its legitimacy is increasingly provoked by the marketdue to economic globalization, which weakens the politics, by replacing the concern for the public wealthor good with the rush of private goods. Starting from this discussion of the nature and importance ofpolitics, we advocate in this article both for rehabilitation of politics as well as for an ethicalaccountability of political action, so that politics prevails over the economy and upon the violence thatoften accompanies it

CURRENT TRENDS IN EUROPEAN POLICIES ON THE RECONCILIATION OF WORK AND FAMILY LIFE

Author(s): Felicia Cordoneanu / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

During the last decade, the legislative changes made by the EU in the field of social policies have been, toa great extent, the result of the need to prevalently abide by two fundamental principles: equalopportunities for women and men (at all levels of social life, but especially in what labour market isconcerned) and gender equality, in the context of an escalating necessity of solving social, economic andpolitical issues caused by gender inequality in European societies. An issue with multiple effects inpresent-day social life is the imbalance between professional life and private/ family life, whichnegatively affects the quality of life of both men and women. This study aims at surveying the mostrecent legislative and social policies documents (henceforth, informative documents and legislativedocuments) of the European Union, with regard to the reconciliation of work and private and family life,an acknowledged right of European citizens which calls for a legal framework for the implementation andapplication of the associated measures and solutions. The synthetic analysis of the official documentsundertaken in this paper is the result of a thorough investigation carried out on the European Unionwebsite. The study raises several significant question for the proposed framework, but it comes down tooutlining a number of essential elements present in the documents selected, without advancing answers.The field of work-life balance policy is currently undergoing a transformation process and formulatingdefinitive answers is still untimely.

FUNDAMENTE LOGICE ALE DECIZIEI SOCIALE ÎN PRACTICA JURIDICĂ ȘI POLITICĂ

Author(s): Petre Bieltz / Language(s): Romanian,Moldavian Issue: 5/2019

If we are to discuss the creation of laws (legal action), or we look at the debates and actions through which a certain jurist or Parliament member values current laws (legal norms) to solve different problems (to evaluate from a legal perspective different actions, facts etc.), problems which end with a legal solution specific to each case, the process of making a decision, a choice, of adopting a choice from multiple choices imposes itself as an irreplaceable step of the activity of jurists and politicians. This paper translates in formal logical language the way in which the social decision is made under the shape of choice of preferrence for a choice or another, according to certain laws preestablished by those who decide (individuals of individual groups).

EPISTEMOLOGIA SOCIALĂ ORIENTATĂ DE INTERES

Author(s): Francis Remedios / Language(s): Romanian,Moldavian Issue: 5/2019

Interest-oriented social epistemology was initiated by naturalistic philosophers of science and sociologists of scientific knowledge, such as David Bloor, Barry Barnes, Steve Shapin, and David Edge of the Strong Program (SP), who hold that scientific methods are means for achieving social goals. In this perspective, social factors such as interests and aims, things that are specific to a society, play a primary causal role in the explanation of scientific belief. SP plays the role of a descriptive naturalistic metascience (that is, a science of science), a successor to traditional philosophy of science. For SP seen as a representative main branch of the sociology of scientific knowledge, scientific rationality is found in the social context of scientists. The main opponent of the SP is rationalist philosophy of science, represented by Larry Laudan and Ernan McMullin. They hold that rational explanation explains the success of science, and that social explanation explains the failure of science. This chapter examines whether the SP lives up to its own standards and then whether it avoids the charge of a self-refuting relativism. In addition, I explicate Fuller’s solution to the problem of relativism, a problem that Fuller must address. („Interest-Oriented Social Epistemology”, chapter 2 of the book: Francis Remedios, Legitimizing Scientific Knowledge: An Introduction to Steve Fuller’s Social Epistemology, Lexington Books, 2003, p. 29–46. Translation into Romanian by Henrieta Anișoara Șerban).

The Concept of Enhancement and its Ethical Aspects

Author(s): Andrzej M. Kaniowski,Florian Steger / Language(s): English Issue: 32/2018

Promises and Perils of Neuroenhancement and its Perspectives for Military Ethics

Author(s): Marcin Orzechowski,Florian Steger / Language(s): English Issue: 32/2018

Current developments in the area of neuroenhancement pose multiple ethical and societal questions. Improvements in general cognitive capacities can have important positive effects. With the use of several interventions, ranging from pharmaceutics through microsurgery to non-invasive and invasive methods, new possibilities of enhancing human abilities can be achieved. Yet, they have to be critically evaluated from the point of view of both individual and societal consequences that are involved. The aim of this paper is to address societal benefits and challenges that are related to these interventions. These new developments, especially in the specific area of their military application, pose important questions with regard to safety of their use, long-term results, coercion to use them, and issues of inequality. Often, these consequences are unforeseeable at the present moment and can greatly interfere with development of both individuals and societies. Therefore, as in both areas – civilian and military – the long-term consequences are still difficult to predict, prudency is prescribed. Consequently, any use of the methods of enhancement should be under exceptional scrutiny from the ethical as well as legal and social point of view.

Ethical Underpinning and Implications of “Nootropic” Concept

Author(s): Pranab Rudra / Language(s): English Issue: 32/2018

The current generation paving the path for new research marks a milestone to attain the ancient goal of improving our cognition. To date, increased prevalence of cognitive enhancers by healthy people has raised the scientific community’s attention as well as media coverage. In particular, nootropics such as piracetam promise to offer modest improvements in cognitive performance. The long-lasting impetus of this “holistic enhancer” convinced scientists as well as ethicists to discuss its potential ethical implications and future directions. Moreover, there are discrepancies in the concept of a true nootropic between pharmacology and contemporary public culture. Here, I review the ethical aspects of nootropics raised by its potential use in cognition enhancement and substantiate the epistemological commentary on the concept of nootropic.

Transhumanism as a Challenge to the Medical Doctor-Patient Relation

Author(s): Joanna Miksa / Language(s): English Issue: 32/2018

In this paper I undertake to analyze the way in which the arrival of HETs may influence the therapeutic relationship between the medical doctor and the patient. I begin with presenting he notion of transhumanism, insisting especially on the fact that some of the technologies that can be classified as HETs are already in use. As a result, the traditionally difficult task of defining health and a disease is becoming even more complicated. This circumstance poses the risk that medical doctors in their relationship with the patient, because of the possibilities offered by new technologies, will oscillate in their professional practice between helping the patient to recover and satisfying needs that are not justified by the considerations of health. I will try to show how the therapeutic relationship between the medical doctor and the patient may be transformed because of new technologies by using the example of IVF procedure applied to postmenopausal patients. In order to understand why the relationship between the medical doctors and their patients is so vulnerable in the context of transhumanism, I propose to re-analyze the most basic notions which help us understand the nature of the therapeutic relationship: the status of medicine as contrasted with technology, basic principles of medical ethics, the notion of a disease and an illness.

Artistic Enhancement. Literature and Film as Mirror and Means of Human Enhancement

Author(s): Katharina Fürholzer / Language(s): English Issue: 32/2018

Human enhancement affects all members of society and is thus closely linked to issues of social justice: up to now, the promises and perils of enhancement are usually only known to, and thus used, by few members of society. This can lead to individual competitive advantages that create or widen social gaps. Broad public information is, therefore, key to ensure that enhancement does not conflict with the principle of equality of opportunities. As possible means of public information, literature and films are able to counter such possible social injustice, which is why they may be allotted a central role in the ethical debates on human enhancement. Two aspects will be considered in this regard: 1) enhancement in art and 2) through art. 1) The extent to which artistic depictions and public information and perceptions of enhancement may be intertwined will be illustrated by two examples where both texts and their accompanying paratexts had a particular bearing on the public debate on enhancement: the film Gattaca of 1997 and the novel Never let me go (2005) by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. 2) The second part of the paper is dedicated to the question of how far enhancing selected groups of society may contribute to a greater common good and which potentials art can offer in this regard. Three groups of persons will be taken into account: 1) clinical ethics committees, 2) physicians, and 3) patients.

Weisheit. Historische Deutungen und modernes Begriffsverständnis

Author(s): Andrzej M. Kaniowski,Christoph Horn / Language(s): German Issue: 32/2018

Über Sokratische Weisheit als intellektuelle Bescheidenheit

Author(s): Guido Löhrer / Language(s): German Issue: 32/2018

In Plato’s Apology of Socrates, a humanly wise person is distinguished by her ability to correctly assess the epistemic status and value of her factual opinions. She knows whether she possesses knowledge or has mere opinion or is ignorant. It is also a widely shared view that intellectual humility, albeit not the same as wisdom, is one of a humanly wisdom’s necessary features. However, if the considerations presented here are valid and cover the spectrum of relevant interpretations, this is not tenable for Socratic wisdom. Fallible beings who claim to possess second-order knowledge of the epistemic status of their beliefs cannot be other than epistemically immodest. If Socratic wisdom requires epistemic humility, Socrates is not wise.

Was macht Entscheidungen zu weisen Entscheidungen?

Author(s): Gerhard Schönrich / Language(s): German Issue: 32/2018

It is methodologically easier to gain access to the concept of wise decisions than to the general concept of wisdom. Once we know what wise decisions are, the corresponding properties and abilities of the deciding person can be inferred. This paper will show that the analysis of wise decisions must not be restricted to the attributive reading of “S makes a wise decision”, but must be extended to the adverbial reading of “S decides wisely”. The externalistic perspective of the former reading exposes a necessary qualitative requirement (a long-range improvement of the situation for all parties involved) which must be met by the outcome of any wise decision. Only the internalistic perspective of the latter reading complies with our intuitions that the outcome must not be achieved by chance, but by the agent’s epistemic abilities such as his competence of judging and reflecting the reasons for the decision. These abilities include in particular the agent’s meta-competence of distinguishing first-order and second-order reasons that pertain not to the value of the object of the decision but rather to the value of the attitude underlying the decision.

Ethical Relativism and Morality

Author(s): Demush Bajrami,Blerina Demiri / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

As an egoistic nature, the human being finds it difficult to be relative to others and absolute to himself, while he is inclined to believe that others should be relative to him. The moment we want to make a step in our life, perhaps at an early age, we face another idea, desire or belief. It is this period which proves that our beliefs are personal creations that take life when we allow ourselves to engage in the broader social circle. The individual is unable to accomplish himself if he does not become part of the nucleus to which he belongs, where he also gets the energies needed in adapting his ego to the universal one, which is the world itself. This paper provides in-depth analysis of what moral is in the ethical relativism: different for every human being, depending on the view point of the person affected and the conditions a person is placed in. None the less, all of these are also affected by the society, a person is born and raised in, being it the ruling norm in the family, the social interactions, traditions and customs executed, which determine the concept of moral actions to everyone.

Winners and Losers of the Process of Transformation as an Etic Category versus Emic Biographical Perspective

Author(s): Kaja Kaźmierska / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2019

One of the common and schematic descriptions in the perspective of the 1989 breakthrough are two ways of dealing with it by people who are respectively called winners or losers of transformation. These stereotypical characteristics are not only the tool to draw the general image of effects of the transition, but are also based on the specific way of interpretation deeply rooted, for example, in neoliberal thinking. Yet, from the perspective of an individual—so-called Schütz’s man on the street—the categorization of winners and losers not only simplifies the description of social reality, but also it cannot be easily biographically justified because the etic categorization is not always relevant to the emic perspective. In other words, the life history of an individual, showing the main phases and events of biography, and life story—the way that one interprets his/her biographical experiences— may not correspond to each other. The analysis of these two aspects of biography (what is lived through and how it is interpreted) shows how people have dealt with the process of transformation. In the paper, it is presented on the basis of one case study.

Моральный идеал свободы: рабство и наемный труд в античности

Author(s): Igor Larionov,Vadim Perov,Vladislav Semenov / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2019

This paper discusses the relation of the concepts of slavery and wage labor in classical antiquity. The authors emphasize the dependence of this relation on the conception of a free citizen with the moral ideal of freedom at its center. The article attempts to provide a new explanation of the essence of classical slavery, which takes into account the ethical attitudes of ancient society. As the main thesis, it has been proved that according to the moral ideal of a free person in antiquity, hired labor was more despised than slavery.

MORALA ȘI LIBERTATEA DE CONȘTIINȚĂ

Author(s): Claudia Buda / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2017

The man believed in the essential freedom of individuals and people are responsible for all elements of themselves, their consciousness, and their consciousness, and their actions. Sartre’s moral philosophy maintains that ethics are essentially a matter of individual conscience. Every individual person is a „being-for-itself ”1 possess an essential nature and has only consciousness, which is eternaly changealble.