Leading paradigms of clinical ethics consultation closely follow a biomedical model of care. In this paper, we present a theoretical reflection on the underlying biomedical model of disease, how it shaped clinical practices and patterns of ethical deliberation within these practices, and the repercussions it has on clinical ethics consultations for patients with chronic illness. We contend that this model, despite its important contribution to capturing the ethical issues of day-to-day clinical ethics deliberation, might not be sufficient for patients presenting (...) with chronic illnesses and navigating as “lay experts” of their medical condition(s) through the health care system. Not fully considering the sources of personal knowledge and expertise may lead to epistemic injustice within an ethical deliberation logic narrowly relying on a biomedical model of disease. In caring “for” and collaboratively “with” this patient population, we answer the threat of epistemic injustice with epistemic modesty and humility. We will propose ideas about how clinical ethics could contribute to an expansion of the biomedical model of care, so that important aspects of chronic illness experience would flow into clinical-ethical decision-making. (shrink)

Als die Swissair 1931 gegründet wurde hob der helvetische Nationalstolz ab. Die Fluggesellschaft mit dem weissen Kreuz auf rotem Grund wurde nach dem Grounding von 2001 endgültig zum Mythos. Während der siebzig Jahre ihres Bestehens verwandte sie viel Sorgfalt darauf, Menschen und Maschinen, den Betrieb an Bord und am Boden sowie die Sicht aus dem Flugzeug zu dokumentieren. Die Fotografen der Swissair bzw. ihrer Vorgängerfirmen rückten den Alltag der Fluglinie ins Bild - Flotte und Flugplätze, Piloten und Stewardessen, die Alpen (...) und ferne Destinationen, Passagiere, Verpflegung, Werkstätten und Technik. 'Swissair Souvenirs' präsentiert die schönsten Fotografien aus diesem Bestand des Bildarchivs der ETH-Bibliothek mit einem Text des Historikers Ruedi Weidmann zur Geschichte der Fotografie bei der Swissair. Die für Werbung und Pressearbeit erstellten Fotografien prägten das Bild der Swissair als Inbegriff der Eleganz des Fliegens entscheidend mit. 'Swissair Souvenirs' ist die reich illustrierte Hommage an den Mythos Swissair. (shrink)

How long new biomedical technologies are welcome paths for treatment of diseases or reduction of sufferings and where does the aspiration of human enhancement start? Are there basic criteria and standards for a demarcation or has this question to be answered pragmatically, based on a deliberated experience, open for the respective situation? In any case, a common understanding about boundary lines between elemental self-development and forced self-optimization is essential. The volume contains contributions to this burning issue given and debated during (...) the Berlin conference of the Protestant Research Academy (Evangelische Forschungsakademie) in January 2018 to stimulate a public discourse beyond pure scientific discussions. (shrink)

Aerial photography had a special place in the business of the legendary former Swiss airline, "Swissair." Walter Mittelholzer, aviation pioneer and one of the founders of "Swissair," first trained as a photographer before joining the Swiss army s flying corps during WW I and later turning to civil aviation because of his keen interest in aerial photography. Photography was also the more profitable part of "Ad Astra Aero," one of "Swissair s "preceding companies which continued to exist as a subsidiary (...) of the newly formed "Swissair" under the name "Swissair Photo AG" as of 1931 until 2001, when the famous airline ceased operations. "Swissair Photo + Vermessung AG" was saved from liquidation in a buyout in 2001 and still operates as" BSF Swissphoto." The heritage of Walter Mittelholzer and "Swissair Photo AG" is kept at ETH Zurich s Image Archive, alongside Swissair s corporate "Swissair Photo Archive". The collection comprises around 100,000 pictures taken between 1918 and 2011. In includes mainly vertical and oblique aerial photographs of landscapes, towns and villages, and mountains, but also industrial plants, infrastructures, and individual buildings in Switzerland and abroad, from the 1960s onward in color. About 15,000 of them were taken by Walter Mittelholzer. A remarkable aspect is the vast number of views of the Swiss mountains: pure landscape photography, many of them with a horizontal or slightly oblique perspective. This was caused by personal interest of the photographers, many of them also keen mountaineers, but probably also by a high demand for such pictures for postcards and other commercial use. During the 1970s there was a notable change, when a more aesthetic view of the land became dominant that rather looked vertically at shapes and colors of the cultivated landscape than at the wilderness. Around 200 of the most beautiful, most striking, and most informative photographs were selected for the new book "Swissair Aerial Photography." They show the many changes in the landscape and in settlements over nearly a century. They also are an inventory of lost elements making a landscape, such as untamed rivers, orchards, receding glaciers and moors, shrinking agricultural areas, vanished historical buildings. And they document the growth of industrial plants and other infrastructure and urban sprawl in general. The book shows how an idyllic agricultural country has turned into one of the most densely inhabited places in the world in a matter of decades. The introductory essay looks at the history and content of the collection at the Image Archive at ETH Bibliothek, the history and a range of aspects of aerial photography in general, the changing aesthetics and use of the images and what can be read from them today, technical developments and a brief history of aerial photography in Switzerland." " Series The series "Pictorial Worlds. Photographs from the Image Archive, ETH-Bibliothek, "published in cooperation by "ETH-Bibliothek" and Scheidegger & Spiess, aims at building a bridge between analytical treatment of historical image sources and the interest in individual photographs for any possible reason. Whereas the library s online database simplifies research and enables search inquiries going beyond the mere inventory, the books are meant to present the contours of specific collections of images, to embed them in the context of their origin, and to offer an introduction to the multitude of possible historical interpretations. Each volume of the series comprises an introductory essay on the given subject and presented material. Detailed captions offer additional information on individual images. This subject-guided approach and carefully selected examples are meant to give a representative view of the sometimes extensive range of a particular collection within the Image Archive. The entire series is conceived for a general audience interested in cultural history and visual aesthetics, rather than for a specialized and scientifically interested one. ". (shrink)

Many asexual individuals are in long-term satisfying romantic relationships. However, the contributors to relational commitment among asexual individuals have received little attention. How do investment model characteristics and attachment orientations predict relationship commitment among asexual individuals? Our study looked at a sample of 485 self-identified asexual individuals currently in a romantic relationship. Individuals reported on Investment Model characteristics and their attachment orientations. Satisfaction, investment, and fewer alternatives were associated with greater commitment. Attachment orientations only occasionally moderated the results: for people (...) low in anxiety, satisfaction and investment were more strongly related to commitment compared to people high in anxiety. The current study provided an extension of the Investment Model to describe romantic relationships among asexual individuals. (shrink)