Derek Parfit influentially defends reductionism about persons, the view that a person’s existence just consists in the existence of a brain and body, and the occurrence of a series of physical and mental events. Yet some critics, particularly Mark Johnston, have raised powerful objections to Parfit’s reductionism. In this paper, I defend reductionism against Johnston. In particular, I defend a radical form of reductionism that Buddhist philosophers developed. Buddhist reductionism can justify key features of Parfit’s position, such as the claims (...) that personal identity is not what matters and can also be indeterminate. Furthermore, Buddhist reductionism can avoid Johnston’s objections to Parfit’s reductionism. I conclude that reductionists have good reasons to favor Buddhist reductionism over Parfit’s version. (shrink)

Welfare subjectivists face a dilemma. On the one hand, traditional subjectivist theories—such as the desire-fulfillment theory—are too permissive to account for the well-being of typical mature human beings. On the other hand, more “refined” theories—such as the life-satisfaction theory—are too restrictive to account for the well-being of various welfare subjects, including newborns, those with profound cognitive impairments, or non-human animals. This paper examines a class of welfare subjectivism that addresses this dilemma with sensitivity to the diversity in welfare subjects. First, (...) the most-sophisticated-attitude view (MSA) is introduced. MSA holds that an object, x, is good for a subject, S, in proportion to the strength of S’s pro-attitude towards x if and only if the pro-attitude at issue is S’s most sophisticated type. Typically, the well-being of typical mature human beings is assessed in terms of one’s authentic whole-life satisfaction, whereas that of human newborns is assessed in terms of something less sophisticated such as pleasure. MSA offers the rationale for this difference based on an underexplored version of perfectionism: procedural perfectionism. Next, provided that MSA may involve an implausibly strong claim, this paper examines two moderate variations of MSA that accept the partial relevance of less sophisticated types of valenced attitude. Finally, it is illustrated how MSA and its variations have plausible implications regarding the well-being of enhanced or dis-enhanced people. (shrink)

Punktem odniesienia mojego tekstu jest wystąpienie Ryszarda Panasiuka poświęcone idei świeckości państwa, którą traktuję jako składnik nowoczesności. W kontekście kryzysu wywołanego rozwojem nowoczesności stawiam pytanie o możliwość podjęcia działań prewencyjnych. Utrzymuję, że ich skuteczność zależy od tego, czy możliwe jest spojrzenie na obecną sytuację z perspektywy zewnętrzności (transgresja), do której odnoszą się światopoglądy często pozostające ze sobą w konflikcie. Twierdzę, że świeckie państwo stwarza szansę na owocny dialog tych światopoglądów stwarzając szansę na realizację działań prewencyjnych.

Według Jürgena Habermasa w warunkach eugeniki liberalnej ludzka samowiedza gatunku może ulec zmianie, dlatego należy wprowadzić regulacje, które pozwolą sprawować kontrolę nad wykorzystywaniem i nad rozwojem nowych biotechnologicznych metod. Zachowanie obecnej samowiedzy jest ważne, aby zapewnić podstawę dla funkcjonowania uniwersalistycznie pojmowanej moralności, pozwalającej osobom w sposób sprawiedliwy regulować swoje konflikty. Na dwie przesłanki samowiedzy gatunku składa się: postrzeganie siebie przez osoby jako wyłącznych autorów własnego życia oraz jako członków społeczeństwa, między którymi panują symetryczne relacje. Zachowanie takiej samowiedzy nie jest możliwe (...) w sytuacji, gdy genetycznymi zadatkami jednych osób przed ich urodzeniem rozporządzali inni. Habermas proponuje, aby rozwój biotechnologii poddać regulacjom zgodnym z etyką gatunku, która jest rekonstrukcją warunków samowiedzy do tej pory przez nas posiadanej. Sformułowana przez niego etyka gatunku zakłada nierozporządzalność genetycznymi cechami nienarodzonych, jednak nie przesądza o stosowaniu genetycznych ingerencji w celach terapeutycznych, na które, według Jürgena Habermasa, można zakładać zgodę przyszłych osób, nie naruszając samowiedzy stanowiącej podstawę uniwersalistycznej moralności. (shrink)

Niniejszy artykuł podejmuje dwie zasadnicze kwestie. Pierwsza to zagadnienie recepcji filozofii Schellinga w Polsce po drugiej wojnie światowej. Druga to pytanie, w jaki sposób należy rozumieć abstrakcje filozoficzne Schellinga. Za podstawę interpretacji przyjęto kontekstualne rozumienie filozofii, na jakim opierał się w swoich badaniach Ryszard Panasiuk. Z tych dwóch założeń podstawowych wynika struktura artykułu: część pierwsza dotyczy sposobu, w jaki ideologia marksistowsko-leninowska, wychodząc z klasowo-dialektycznego i „partyjnego” rozumienia filozofii, uznała idealizm filozoficzny za wroga. Punktem odniesienia będzie koncepcja Georga Lukácsa „Die Zerstörung (...) der Vernunft” oraz wykładnia filozofii Schellinga jako irracjonalizmu. Część druga skupia się na tym, dlaczego zaprzestano badań nad Schellingiem oraz idealizmem po drugiej wojnie światowej, oraz w jakich warunkach i kiedy pojawiły się pierwsze opracowania monograficzne. Część trzecia jest historyczno-krytyczną i kontekstualną interpretacją filozofii przyrody Schellinga. Filozofię Schellinga można rozumieć jako nową antropologię, integralnie łączącą człowieka i przyrodę. W tym sensie jest ona antytezą racjonalistycznego redukcjonizmu. (shrink)

Od połowy XIX w. w miastach przemysłowych Zachodu pojawiają się liczne detale architektoniczne eksponujące postać i atrybuty Hermesa-Merkurego, greckiego boga: handlu, kupców i złodziei, opiekuna podróżnych, posłańca bogów i psychopomposa, władcy pisma i komunikacji, pieniądza i wszelkich miar. W synkretyzmie aleksandryjskim Hermes objawia się jako prorok Trismegistos, strażnik wiedzy tajemnej (czarodziej i lekarz z różdżką kaduceuszem), patronuje alchemicznym przemianom i wraz z innymi tajemnicami sztuki królewskiej oraz ezoteryczną wiedzą współtworzy tradycje masońskie. Hermes-Merkury stał się patronem przemysłu, starożytną ikoną nowoczesności i (...) kapitalizmu, bohaterem grafik zdobiących dyplomy wystaw światowych, świadectwa buchalteryjne, etykiety towarów. Alchemiczny Hermes (zwany Merkuriuszem) to odpowiednik płynnej rtęci, intrygująca personifikacja nowoczesności postrzeganej jako płynna i ulotna, niosąca ze sobą upadek wielkich narracji opartych o transcendencję, co ilustruje wyparcie z uniwersum zachodniej kultury symbolu przez alegorię. Ta formacja kulturowa projektuje dzisiaj także wizję ponowoczesności jako maszynerii przemieniającej zasoby planety w towar. Tymczasem sięgnięcie do znaczeń wydobytych z głębokiej refleksji nad hermesową alegorią i wyjście ku posthumanistycznej wizji miasta i świata, pozwala dostrzec w dziedzictwie znaczeniowym Hermesa uwolniony od metafizyki potencjał zrównoważonego rozwoju, którego najprostszym znakiem jest metonimia postaci boskiego posłańca i jego atrybut (w kluczu symbolicznym i alegorycznym) – kaduceusz. (shrink)

Celem artykułu jest ukazanie wpływu Kantowskiej koncepcji wolności i zła na myśl Schellinga z tzw. pisma o wolności. W pierwszej części przedstawiam trudności wyjaśnienia zła jako kategorii moralnej na gruncie koncepcji wolności ujętej jako racjonalna autonomia i przedstawionej w Uzasadnieniu metafizyki moralności i Krytyce praktycznego rozumu: Kant utożsamia wolność z posłuszeństwem prawu moralnemu i tym samym nie jest w stanie ugruntować możliwości samego wyboru dobra i zła, jak również osobowego i jednostkowego charakteru wolności człowieka jako zmysłowo-rozumnej całości. Następnie pokazuję niesatysfakcjonującą (...) próbę rozwiązania tych trudności w Religii w obrębie rozumu, w której, na gruncie teorii maksym, podejmuje on problem możliwości zła jako aktu wolności: Kant nie jest w stanie określić statusu skłonności do zła jako pozaempirycznej podstawy zła, jak i tegoż powszechności. W drugiej części omawiam Schellinga oryginalną koncepcję wolności, która ukazuje jej osobowy i jednostkowy charakter na gruncie nowej ontologii ja jako bytu swobodnie się samookreślającego. Koncepcja ta pozwoliła mu podjąć próbę rozwiązania przejętego od Kanta problemu zła. (shrink)

Profesor Ryszard Panasiuk przez ostatnich kilka dekad należał do grona wiodących polskich filozofów. Jego książki na temat Hegla, ruchu młodoheglowskiego czy Marksa należą do kanonu historiografii idei. Publikowany tutaj obszerny wywiad z Profesorem może stanowić wartościowe i oryginalne źródło do historii inteligencji i humanistyki w tzw. Polsce Ludowej. Profesor Panasiuk opowiada w nim o swojej karierze naukowej, jednocześnie kreśląc obraz przemian akademickiego środowiska filozoficznego w powojennej Polsce. Wiele uwagi poświęca również swojej relacji z Bronisławem Baczką i innymi wybitnym reprezentantami Warszawskiej (...) Szkoły Historii Idei. Ponadto Profesor analizuje proces narastania prądów dysydenckich wśród zwolenników marksizmu po Październiku ’56 i wyjaśnia ostateczny rozkład post-stalinowskiej ortodoksji w polskim życiu intelektualnym tego okresu. Jak również dowodzi, że choć Marks stanowi ważny i wciąż warty badania rozdział w historii filozofii europejskiej, to marksizm, z uwagi na zawarty w nim koncept „radykalnej wspólnoty”, jest ideologią z gruntu utopijną. (shrink)

China, which has made a major economic breakthrough, has become one of the most important actors in international politics by increasing its military power in recent years. China's increasing power and influence in the international arena arouses increasing curiosity about the country's foreign policy. With Xi Jinping becoming president, China began to display a more assertive attitude or behavior on many issues. This study basically seeks an answer to the question of what differences Xi Jinping brought to Chinese foreign policy. (...) What kind of changes do these differences lead to in Chinese foreign policy? In this study, the general tendencies and directions of Chinese foreign policy during the Xi Jinping period are discussed. The assertive foreign policy approach that Xi Jinping is trying to implement is analyzed. In this context, the visions of "Chinese dream", "new type of great power relations", "new type of international relations", “Belt and Road Initiative" and "a community with a common future for humanity", which reflect Xi's assertive foreign policy approach, are examined. At the same time, challenges to the assertive foreign policy implemented under Xi Jinping are discussed. The study mainly questions the extent to which Xi Jinping's assertive foreign policy approach is successful. The study concludes that Xi Jinping's active foreign policy approach has not increased China's sphere of influence in the international arena to the extent expected. As China becomes more visible in the international arena, the country's foreign policy challenges seem to be increasing. (shrink)

Bu makalede, Abbâsî dönemi şairlerinden İbnu’r-Rûmî’nin Abbâsî hanedanlığının bir üyesi olan Abdülmelik b. Sâlih için nazmettiği methiyesinin tematik bir incelemesinin yapılması planlanmaktadır. Bu analiz, İbnu’r-Rûmî’nin methiyesinin karmaşık katmanlarına derinlemesine bir bakış sağlamaktadır. Methiye, bilhassa Abbâsî döneminin Arap edebî geleneğinde önemli bir yeri bulunan şiirsel bir ifade biçimidir. Yapılan çalışmanın konusu, methiyedeki tematik unsurların araştırılmasına ve İbnu’r-Rûmî’nin hem övgüsel hem de eleştirel anlayışa sahip bir anlatı oluşturmak için dili ve imgeleri nasıl kullandığının ortaya çıkartılmasına dayanmaktadır. Araştırmanın kapsamı, bahis mevzu methiyenin tarihî (...) ve kültürel arka planı bağlamında anlaşılmasının sağlanmasına kadar uzanmaktadır ve Abbâsî döneminin toplumsal normlarının, değerlerinin ve beklentilerinin anlaşılmasına da ehemmiyet vermektedir. Bu yaklaşım, metnin öneminin daha derinlemesine anlaşılmasını sağlamaktadır ve salt övgünün ötesine geçerek dönemin sosyopolitik dinamikleri hakkında bir yorum sunmaktadır. Öte yandan mevcut tarihî kayıtların İbnu’r-Rûmî ile Abdülmelik b. Ṣāliḥ arasındaki ilişki hakkında çok az ayrıntı sunduğunu ve mevcut belgelerde bu konuda kapsamlı bilgi bulunmadığını vurgulamak gerekir. Bu çalışmanın önemi, klasik Arap edebiyatı alanına yaptığı katkısından, özellikle de methiyelerin bu literatür geleneğindeki rolünün ve gelişiminin anlaşılması hususundaki önceliğinden kaynaklanmaktadır. İbnu’r-Rûmî’nin eserinin analizi vasıtasıyla bu araştırma, methiye nazmının karmaşık doğasına dikkat çekmesinin yanı sıra; şair, şiirde övülen kişi ve şaire verilen maddi ödül arasındaki ilişkinin ayrıntılı şekilde anlaşılmasını da sağlamaktadır. Araştırmada benimsenen yöntem, daha derinlemesine bir anlayış kazanmak maksadıyla, manzumenin temalarını parçalara ayırmaya odaklanan yakın bir metinsel analizi içermektedir. (shrink)

There has been much scholarly attention given to the role of women in the labor market throughout the years. While there are plenty of evaluations of ideas and perspectives regarding work-life concepts, there is limited understanding regarding the theoretical foundation of work-life concerns specifically about mothers. This study aims to provide an overview of theories used to investigate the work-life issues of working mothers. The data were collected from the Web of Science database. A total of 63 research studies examining (...) the work-life challenges faced by employed women were evaluated based on theoretical frameworks. It was seen that identity theory and gender perspective are dominant perspectives in the current literature. In addition, the prevailing work-life perspectives adopted in the studies are work-life balance and work-life conflict. The study offers a detailed examination of the various theoretical perspectives employed in understanding the work-life difficulties encountered by employed mothers. (shrink)

Bu çalışmanın amacı, kent kültürü ve kentlilik bilincinin gelişmesi noktasında kentin merkezi ve yerel yönetimlerine ait kurum ve kuruluşlarının, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım Üniversitesi akademik personelini ne derecede dikkate aldıklarını belirlemek, akademik personelin kent kültürü ve kentlilik bilincinin gelişimi konusundaki algı düzeylerini ortaya çıkarmak ve araştırma bulgularına dayalı olarak önerilerde bulunmaktır. Araştırmanın çalışma evrenini, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım Üniversitesi’nde görev yapan 1.086 akademik personel oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmaya Erzincan ilçelerinde bulunan yüksekokul ve meslek yüksekokulları zaman darlığı ve ulaşım zorluklarından dolayı dahil edilmemiştir. Gerek yerleşkede (...) gerekse yerleşke dışında bulunan tüm fakülte, yükse okul ve meslek yüksek okullarına anket formları elden ulaştırılmıştır. Tıp fakültesi ve Sağlık Hizmetleri yüksekokulu yöneticilerinin çalışmaya katkı vermek istememelerinden dolayı bu iki birim kapsamdışı tutulmuştur. Anket formları 268 kişi tarafından doldurulmuştur. Veri toplama aracı olarak nicel araştırma tekniği olan tarama deseni (anket deseni) kullanılmıştır. Anket soruları Belli ve Aydın’ın (2017) “Kent Kültürü ve Kentlilik Bilincinin Oluşumunda Üniversitelerin Rolü: Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Örneği” adlı çalışmasından alınmıştır. Araştırmada elde edilen verilerin çözümlenmesinde, sosyal bilimlerde istatistiksel analiz için oldukça yaygın olarak tercih edilen SPSS programı kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucuna göre; Erzincan Binali Yıldırım Üniversitesi akademik personeline, kent kültürü ve kentlilik bilincinin geliştirilmesi konusunda kentte yer alan diğer paydaşlar tarafından (merkezi ve yerel yönetimlere ait kurum ve kuruluşlar) hak ettikleri değerin verilmediği sonucu ortaya çıkmıştır. (shrink)

The European Union (EU) has been challenged by several crises lately. In addition to Brexit, the Euro crisis, and the migration crisis; global issues such as the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian attack on Ukraine affected the EU. The migration crisis, on the one hand, differs from the above-mentioned crises with one remarkable feature. The member states have no real consensus about forming a common migration policy. Besides, for geographic reasons, some member states put much more burden on immigrants. Agreeing (...) on immigration becomes impossible for the border countries on the migration route and also transit countries. The paper argues that, unlike the other crises of the EU, the migration crisis reinforces EU integration in such a way that disputes between member states prevent the EU from making institutional changes about the issue. The study results assume that the other above-mentioned crises, on the other hand, stimulated institutional change throughout the EU. In light of this information, this study evaluates, using a method of relevant literature review and comparing the arguments of the researchers, how the migration issue became a subject of dispute between member states by evaluating the 2015 crisis. (shrink)

Sosyolojinin yeni bir alt dalı olarak 1990’lı yıllarda ortaya çıkan sınır sosyolojisi, sınır ve toplum ilişkilerinin karşılıklı etkileşimini konu edinen ve sınır ve toplumsal değişme arasındaki ilişkiyi anlamayı amaçlayan bir bilimsel disiplindir. Soğuk Savaşın son bulması ve Sovyetler Birliği’nin çöküşü, Berlin Duvarı’nın yıkılması, yeni devletlerin ortaya çıkması, Avrupa Birliği’nin genişlemesi, küreselleşme ve teknolojik gelişmeler sınır sosyolojisinin ortaya çıkmasında doğrudan doğruya etkili olmuştur. Söz konusu gelişmeler sınırların yeniden düşünülmesini gerektirmiştir. Toplumların kuruluşunda sınırların nerede yer aldığı, sınırların kimlik ifade etmede nasıl bir (...) role sahip olduğu, sınırların nasıl algılandıkları ve sınırötesi ilişkilerin nasıl şekillendiği sınır sosyolojisinin temel sorularını oluşturur. Bu çalışmanın temel sorunsalı, sınır sosyolojisinin bağımsız bir disiplin olarak gelişiminde kapsamının, yönteminin ve tarihsel gelişiminin nasıl bir rol oynadığıdır. Bu sorunsal çerçevesinde sınırların farklı anlamları içerdiği, psikolojik, sosyolojik, siyasal, ekonomik, kültürel, dinsel, etnik, dilsel, toplumsal cinsiyet, mekân, güvenlik, milliyetçilik, göç ve küreselleşme gibi boyutları taşıdığı ve değişik toplumsal işlevlere sahip olduğu görülmüştür. Sınır sosyolojisinin sosyolojinin bir alt dalı olarak gelişim gösterdiği, sosyologların sınır ve toplum ilişkilerini görünür kıldıkları, sınırların tarihsel bir perspektiften inşa edildiği, genel sosyolojinin yanı sıra sınır sosyolojisinin kendisine özgü yönteminin olduğu ve sınırlarla ilgili sosyolojik çalışmaların bir tarihsel süreklilik taşıdığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu bağlamda, sınır sosyolojisinin sosyolojide yeni bir alan olarak geliştiği anlaşılmıştır. (shrink)

Teknoloji ve medya araçlarının gelişmesi ve farklılaşmasıyla birçok yeniliğin hayatlarımıza girdiğine, buna bağlı olarak markaların da reklam ve pazarlama stratejilerini değiştirdiklerine tanık olmaktayız. Geleneksel reklamcılık anlayışının haricinde son zamanlarda sosyal medya ortamlarında sıklıkla gördüğümüz ve markaların önemli yatırım bütçeleri ayırdığı influencer reklamcılık/pazarlama içerikleri hatırı sayılır bir şekilde çocukları ve ergenleri de hedeflemektedir. Bununla birlikte ergenlerin influencer pazarlama/reklamcılık karşısında reklam okuryazarlık becerilerini nasıl işe koştukları hakkındaki mevcut duruma ilişkin bilgimiz sınırlıdır. Bu çalışma, ergenlerin bilişsel, duygusal ve ahlaki reklam okuryazarlığı becerilerinin influencer (...) pazarlama/reklamcılığın ikna edici doğasıyla mücadelede nasıl kullandığını anlamak amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Yorumlayıcı nitel bir metodolojiyi benimseyen çalışmanın verileri 15-17 yaşları arasındaki ergen katılımcılardan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yoluyla elde edilmiştir. Yönlendirilmiş niteliksel içerik analiziyle irdelenen verilerden ulaşılan bulgular, ergenlerin bilişsel reklam okuryazarlığı becerilerinin gelişmiş olmasına karşın influencerlarla kurdukları parasosyal ilişkinin duygusal ve ahlaki reklam okuryazarlık becerilerinin devreye alınmasını engelleyebileceğini göstermektedir. (shrink)

This study examines the complex dynamics of communication in the changing field of journalism influenced by the use of media. It specifically focuses on how thoughts and perceptions are expressed in this evolving landscape. Information and communication technologies significantly influence journalism by rapidly disseminating news, updates, and societal impacts. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, the study aims to reveal systematic language usages and uncover latent meanings beyond news texts. Focused on the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election, news texts from four prominent international (...) newslets Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, and Euronews are analyzed. The comprehensive analysis of international media coverage investigates the interplay of linguistic and thematic choices in shaping narratives. With a dual focus on macro and micro levels of discourse, the study uncovers diverse approaches among foreign media outlets. Each outlet adopts a distinctive thematic approach at the macro level, emphasizing key figures and sociopolitical contexts. Al Jazeera spotlights competition, BBC underscores post-election polarization, CNN focuses on Erdogan's victory, and Euronews provides insights into national challenges. Visual elements, like photographs, contribute significantly to framing events, offering nuanced political messaging. Micro-level analysis explores linguistic choices, syntax, and rhetoric, emphasizing the active voice to underscore leaders' agency. Deliberate use of the passive voice in presenting election results maintains a neutral tone. The way sentences are structured and the cause-and-effect connections help readers understand political developments by providing context. The study underscores the importance of media literacy in decoding political event representations, emphasizing the multifaceted complexities of media discourse. (shrink)

A novel advantage of the use of machine learning (ML) systems in medicine is their potential to continue learning from new data after implementation in clinical practice. To date, considerations of the ethical questions raised by the design and use of adaptive machine learning systems in medicine have, for the most part, been confined to discussion of the so-called “update problem,” which concerns how regulators should approach systems whose performance and parameters continue to change even after they have received regulatory (...) approval. In this paper, we draw attention to a prior ethical question: whether the continuous learning that will occur in such systems after their initial deployment should be classified, and regulated, as medical research? We argue that there is a strong prima facie case that the use of continuous learning in medical ML systems should be categorized, and regulated, as research and that individuals whose treatment involves such systems should be treated as research subjects. (shrink)

Mobile health tools are often said to empower users by providing them with the information they need to exercise control over their health. We aim to bring clarity to this claim, and in doing so explore the relationship between empowerment and autonomy. We have identified three distinct models embedded in the empowerment rhetoric: empowerment as information, empowerment as control, and empowerment as values. Each distinct model of empowerment gives rise to an associated problem. These problems, the Problem of Interpretation, the (...) Value Alignment Problem, and the Priority Problem, show that mobile health tools in their current form are either insufficient for empowerment or are self‐defeating. These digital health technologies encourage users to adopt an individualized conception of autonomy, one that may weaken the doctor–patient relationship and undermine practices in shared decision making, and ultimately may not deliver on improving the health outcomes for those that need it the most. (shrink)

In his extensive and revolutionary work, the biologist and philosopher Jakob von Uexküll examined the animal kingdom, laying the first foundations for a wider reflection on non-human animal agency in ecosystems. However, the scientist did not include in his reflection on Umwelt plants and fungi, widely considered passive organisms in the 1900s. In this paper, we will try to find the contact points between the biologist’s theories and contemporary botanical discoveries, taking into account some of the findings on plant agency, (...) communication, and interaction even with fungi, crucial actors in the vegetal organization of the territory. The core of the work will be to demonstrate that plants could fit in an integrated and extended theory of Umwelt abandoning the “zoocentric” perspective that permeated the studies on botanical species. To achieve this aim, it will be necessary to first deconstruct the historical theorization of plants’ passivity, which has ancient roots and was enforced in some philosophical perspectives of the 20th century. Consequentially, with two focuses, the first one on communication and the second one on agency, the paper will highlight the possibilities and horizons that could be opened through a comparison between the theories of von Uexküll and nowadays botanical breakthroughs. (shrink)

A vital step to successfully orienting Deleuze with biosemiotics (and theories of biological complexity overall) is to discover a coherent scientific throughline in his work that also accounts for the aesthetic/creative dimension of his philosophy. This requires the heterodox move (from a Deleuzean point of view) of giving priority to the organism. I argue that Deleuze’s treatment of the organism does more than signal a superficial relation to biological complexity theory that, as a result of his nuanced take on the (...) matter, undermines the value of the organic body to his system. Instead, we can recognize a working theory of autopoiesis in the early Deleuze that scaffolds as well as substantiates his later ethological and biosemiotic observations and reveals a definite, albeit minimal, notion of subjectivity in his work. Most importantly, reorienting his logic of sense as a logic of sense-making, or the context-dependent signification between system and environment (Thompson, 2007), allows us to begin the work of mining a scientific throughline in Deleuze’s work akin to biological complexity theory that is of value to both Deleuze studies and biosemiotics. (shrink)

The article reconciles contentious issues between code biology and biosemiotics. The framework of semantic biology and molecular meaning woven around organic codes by Marcello Barbieri defied classical informational conceptualizations of meaning in the biological realm while the discourse on meaning and agency and their respective (in)dependency on interpretation continues. Whereas the role of codes in agency is often secondary to other aspects, I present here a more consistent picture– integrating codes and artifacts to smoothly transcend from the world of mechanistic (...) molecular meaning to organismic agency. Interpretation is presented as a call-to-action based on intraindividual states, and sense-making as call-to-change based on interindividual communication. (shrink)

This article focuses on the 1952 visit to the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project, the first large-scale water infrastructure built on the Yangzi river after the founding of the People's Republic of China, by a foreign delegation from the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference. Serving as a form of technology diplomacy, this trip advanced two main purposes for the newly established country – to build up closer ties with ‘foreign friends’ who advocated international peace in the context of the Korean War, and to (...) demonstrate China's own technical capabilities and achievements as part of the national campaign of ‘peaceful construction’ of the early 1950s. I argue that vernacular technologies, which were grounded in indigenous knowledge and practices for water control in the mid-Yangzi region, were essential in shaping China's self-reliant modernization and China's public diplomacy, which targeted individuals without scientific or technical backgrounds. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. The article is devoted to the study of confirmatory distortion as a cognitive bias within the framework of the modern theory of argumentation. In the context of this study, the effectiveness of the critical questioning technique as an argumentation strategy aimed at reducing the negative impact of confirmatory bias is considered. M e t h o d s. To achieve the goals of the research, the method of critical questions is (...) used, which is based on the traditional principles of logic, dialectics and rhetoric. Specific lists of critical questions are developed for each argumentative scheme. R e s u l t s. The article demonstrates that standard critical questions for schemes of practical reasoning, developed by eminent specialists, are able to minimize the negative impact of confirmation bias. This is achieved by taking into account information that may conflict with the agent's action plan. C o n c l u s i o n s. The study highlights the importance of using critical questions as a tool to minimize confirmation bias. Such an approach not only contributes to the substantiation of arguments, but also stimulates self-control and the search for information that may cause doubts about one's own views. The final part of the article examines propaganda as the deliberate use of confirmatory distortion and points to the need for attention to language patterns where it occurs rather unintentionally. In connection with the specificity of the studied phenomenon, the term "confirmation bias" is proposed as a translation of the English "confirmation bias". (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. The article is devoted to the analysis of the key directions of the study of the possible influence of the specifics of Chinese language culture on the content and nature of intellectual discourse, which is recognized as philosophical. Logic and ontology are the key areas of analysis of the possible influence of linguistic determinants on the intellectual discourse of China. Three main topics that attract the attention of researchers are the (...) structure of judgment, the semantics of lexical units, and the specificity of the pragmatics of the Chinese language. M e t h o d s. The author applied general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and description of the works of researchers of Chinese philosophy, which justify and argue the fruitfulness of studying the peculiarities of Chinese language to explain the reasons of the fundamental difference between the problems actualized in the history of Chinese philosophy and those that formed the basis of the development of the history of philosophy in the Western world. R e s u l t s. It is generally accepted that for the worldview of representatives of Chinese culture, the world is a structural whole, consisting of elements that continuously interact in the dynamics of changes and transformations, we find a reflection of this feature in the semantics of the corresponding symbolic system. Polysemy in the Chinese language mostly reveals a complex and multi-layered "web" of associative and correlative connections between meanings, which in fact cannot be argued outside the context of the relevant cultural tradition indicating common features or similarities of the signified. The doubt about the typicality of understanding the denotations as fixed and atomized for the Chinese language culture is reasonable, even in those cases when it comes to the designation of empirically accessible objectivity. The main specific features of polysemy in the Chinese language are the complete heterogeneity of what is signified, and the lack of transparent grounds for identifying the genus-species subordination of the scope of general concepts. This can also serve as an explanation for the fact that we do not find a completely obvious and nondisputable analogue of the problem of universals of the Western model in the history of Chinese philosophy. C o n c l u s i o n s. Based on the peculiarities of the Chinese language culture, we can recognize as a reasonable a statement that the seemingly natural understanding of the essence – the subject, as something that remains the same (at least for a certain time), but it undergoes some changes through its manifestations – a predicate (properties and actions). It is not as necessary and axiomatic for Chinese thinkers as, for example, for ancient Greek philosophers. In addition, we can recognize the fact that the verb "to exist" does not fulfill the role of a necessary copula in judgments in the Chinese language, as a probable reason for the lack of fundamental problematization of the concept of "being" in the Chinese history of philosophy. In general, the context of the use of a certain word-sign in the Chinese language plays a determining role. The actualization of one or another meaning in an expression is formed not only by its integration into a certain text, but also by its purpose in accordance with the specific practice of application. Therefore, this can serve as an explanation for the absence of an original and axiomatic interpretation of truth as absolute, that is, unchanging and non-relative in the history of Chinese philosophy. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. According to the genre characteristics, the article is a form of publicizing analytical conclusions from the experience of research in the field of the history of philosophy in the local community of philosophers of Ukraine. The material for understanding was supplied from the environment of educational and scientific professional activity of the authors and was based on the long experience of using a certain type of historical and philosophical sources, which (...) even now constitute the main resource of sources of Ukrainian philosophical education. The article explores the concept of "physical object" in the context of the history of philosophy and examines its relevance for philosophical reflections. It is noted that the variety of interpretations of the term in the history of philosophy creates the need for new methods of revealing its essence M e t h o d s. Problems with establishing the authenticity and verifiability of such sources prompted the search for methods and techniques of source studies in related fields of knowledge, in particular analytical philosophy and philosophy of science. The article uses an analytical approach based on the study of historical and philosophical sources. Methods of source studies are used to solve problems related to the authenticity and reliability of sources R e s u l t s. With this in mind, the purpose of scientific research was to justify the appropriateness of using such a phenomenon as a "physical object" in historical-philosophical research. It was established that, despite the significant unusualness of the presence of a terminological counterpart to this phenomenon in the historical-philosophical realm, its implementation and application has significant creative potential. C o n c l u s i o n s. After a concise inquiry, the authors have reached a consensus that, in contemporary research on the history of philosophy within the Ukrainian philosophical community, it is pertinent and essential to develop a methodology. This methodology should be founded on the imperative of establishing the initial point for comprehensively studying the philosophical primary source, treating it as a "physical object". (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. This article reveals the understanding of the concept of nature in the works of the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau. Henry David Thoreau is an American philosopher, poet, essayist, naturalist and political activist. Together with Ralph Waldo Emerson, his friend and mentor, he is considered one of the founders of the transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalism was a powerful movement of American philosophy of the 19th century. It was characterized by focusing on (...) the problem of human self-knowledge, human's returning to own essence, living in harmony with nature, as well as criticism of modern society and active abolitionism. M e t h o d s. The article uses both general scientific methods and special methods, such as – the method of historical-philosophical reconstruction, which made it possible to reproduce the ideas of the American thinker, the hermeneutic method – for explaining individual positions of the philosopher. In addition, literary-critical methods were used, for the possibility of using various primary sources, and systematic method – to identify a systematized structure in the philosophical work of H. D. Thoreau. R e s u l t s. One of the main features of transcendentalism is a special interest in reflection on nature and a special approach to it. Thus, the concept of nature is present in most of H. D. Thoreau's works, and it is the central topic of his philosophical searches. The concept of nature in his works appears in different contexts, acquires different meanings. Thus, H. D. Thoreau talks about nature in the context of nature, in the context of poetic creativity, in his philosophical searches, in his vision of man and in his argumentation of his own political position. However, the different meanings that H. D. Thoreau attaches to the concept of nature do not contradict each other, but, on the contrary, complement and clarify his understanding of nature. C o n c l u s i o n s. This article proposes to consider the use of the concept of nature by H. D. Thoreau in the following aspects: Nature and Peculiarities of nature as a subject of scientific knowledge. Nature and The relationship between nature and culture through the relationship between "the wild" and society. Nature and From naturalism to humanism. Nature as an inner essence of man and solitude with nature as a return to this essence. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. Genre-wise the article is a form of publication of analytical conclusions resulting from researching religious symbolism within the movie. The material for interpretation was derived from mass media, in particular cinematography. The article describes religious symbolism within the movie "Barbie" (2023). It is made apparent that the wide array of religious symbols in modern cinema requires a new approach. M e t h o d s. Issues with defining religious symbolism (...) in cinema have inspired a search of appropriate methods and research methodology. The article utilizes analytical approach based on religious symbolism found in the artistic source material – in this case a movie. R e s u l t s. With that considered the goal of the scientific research was to track down instances of religious symbolism in "Barbie" movie; such was confirmed to be abundant within otherwise mundane work. Barbieland symbolises paradise withiin the movie's fictional universe: it's a perfect place with no diseases or suffering, populated by perfect people ignorant of sorrow, problems, and worries. Naturally, the exile from paradise is a theme that is also predent. C o n c l u s i o n s. Brief research concludes that the "Barbie" movie features disguised religious symbolism – a common trope for many works within modern cinema. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. The purpose of this article is to reveal the concept of philosophical cosmology as a new metaphysics based on ideas proposed by Gilles Deleuze in his work "The Logic of Sense". For this, it is necessary to get rid of the interpretation of philosophical cosmology as an exclusively philosophical-scientific discipline and begin to perceive it as a basic theory of order that can replace ontology. To implement this strategy, Deleuze turns (...) to the ideas of the philosophy of Stoicism. This choice is primarily due to the first concept of sense (lekton theory), as well as the doctrine of space (khora) and the living, renewable cosmos (palingenesia). The relevance of Stoicism is reinforced by the historical and civilizational perspective, where the emergence and renewal of interest in the Stoics' thoughts corresponds to periods of violent crisis. M e t h o d s. The hermeneutic analysis of the works of Gilles Deleuze, the Stoics and researchers of Stoicism makes it possible to include the concept of philosophical cosmology in the foundations of spatial phenomenology which is implemented in the topographic method of researching its main subject, which is the world, and culture in particular. R e s u l t s. In this way, the philosophical cosmology of Gilles Deleuze provides grounds for a better understanding of the cultural and intellectual situation of today, which includes information overload and the essential uncertainty of the prospects of civilizational development, in which culture appears more as a spontaneous performative formation than a logical projected system of valid norms and rules. C o n c l u s i o n s. That is why philosophical cosmology has applied value, as it responds to the spatial and performative turn in modern culture. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. The article demonstrates the development and influence of the main diagnostic systems in psychiatry, such as the DSM and the ICD, on the concept of psychiatric diseases. The problem of classification of psychiatric disorders is one of the main topics that is the field of study of the philosophy of psychiatry. The correct diagnosis within a particular diagnostic system directly affects the choice of appropriate drug treatment, psychotherapy and social support (...) for people suffering from mental disorders. Misdiagnosis has not only negative medical but also social consequences, leading to stigmatization and avoidance of people suffering from mental disorders. M e t h o d s. The research uses an integrated approach to the analysis of psychiatric diagnostic systems, including historical, comparative and interdisciplinary methods. The application of the historical method contributed to a detailed study of the evolution of psychiatric diagnostic systems and changes in approaches to the classification of mental disorders. A comparative analysis of the main diagnostic systems was carried out, considering their structure, diagnostic criteria and interaction. The interdisciplinary method involves the integration of knowledge from psychiatry, philosophy, medical history, cultural studies, and psychology, providing a deep understanding of the medical, philosophical, social, and cultural aspects of mental disorders. R e s u l t s. The article analyzes the historical development of ideas and methodology for the classification of mental disorders from ancient Greece to the present. From Hippocrates and Plato to Sydenham, Kabanis, Pinel, and Eskierol, the authors trace the evolution of understanding of mental disorders, emphasizing the shift in emphasis from etiological theories to more descriptive and categorical models. The authors describe the current state of the DSM and ICD classification systems, which play a dominant role in psychiatric science and subsequent social support and welfare for people suffering from mental disorders. Changes that have occurred in these systems and their impact on psychiatric practice and research are discussed. Considerable emphasis is placed on the history of the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which becomes a symbolic indicator of the complexities and challenges associated with the modern classification of mental illness. The authors consider the phenomenological method as a tool for a deeper understanding of PTSD, especially in the context of the constant psychotraumatic factors of war, the consequences of which generate new challenges for Ukrainian psychiatric practice. The authors present a case study using the phenomenological approach to diagnose PTSD, which demonstrates the need for a detailed analysis of patients' internal experience for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. C o n c l u s i o n s. The conclusions emphasize the importance of integrating philosophical methods into the diagnosis and analysis of mental illness in clinical practice. The authors call for the development of interdisciplinary research involving both philosophers and mental health professionals to develop more detailed and person-centered approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. The ordinary language philosophy should be considered as a set of different but interconnected research projects within the Anglo-American analytical philosophy of the first half and middle of the 20th century. A common factor for these studies is the application of the method of linguistic analysis of natural language expressions to solve many classical problems for philosophy. This method replaced the prevailing idealistic concepts, and was picked up and developed in (...) Great Britain by the works and scientific explorations of J. Moore and B. Russell. It is a generally accepted opinion that the sphere of interests of representatives of the ordinary language philosophy is divided between two poles, represented by the works of L. Wittgenstein and D. Austin. M e t h o d s. In the article, the author used the method of historical-philosophical reconstruction to clarify the role, place and genesis of the ordinary language philosophy as a dominant methodology within the Anglo-American analytical philosophy of the middle of the 20th century, general scientific methods of cognition: analysis, synthesis, generalization to clarify key ideas and concepts, which is the basis of the methodology of the ordinary language philosophy, as well as methods of systematization and comparison. R e s u l t s. The article clarifies the genesis of the main ideas and concepts of the philosophy of everyday language, as well as gives an example of the modern strategy of criticism of this methodological direction. The key postulates of the ordinary language philosophy age are clarified, namely: (i) the thesis that philosophical problems arise due to the incorrect use of language and must be solved by clarifying the meanings of words, (ii) philosophical analysis should not be based on the discovery of hidden logical forms of expression, and on the clarification of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the use of the expression, including the analysis of the situation of use, (iii) meaning as use, (iv) the philosophical analysis of the meaning should be carried out informally, taking into account the analysis of each specific case of the use of the expression, (v) criticism systematic theories of meaning. C o n c l u s i o n s. At the current stage of the development of analytical philosophy, there is a noticeable increase in attention to the achievements of the ordinary language philosophy. Among modern researchers and critics of this direction, the names of A. Baz, D. Nagel, S. Somes, and T. Williamson can be singled out. The presence of the interest of modern researchers indicates premature statements about the completion of the ordinary language philosophy. This concept should be rehabilitated, and its methodological apparatus should enrich the arsenal of scientific methods of modern analytical philosophers. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. Sinicized Marxism involves the utilization of Marxist theory to address issues specific to China and the transformation of China's rich practical experience into theory, combined with Chinese history and traditional culture. This can be observed in the context of the exploration of philosophical-anthropological issues. M e t h o d s. The key methods employed to address the outlined tasks were comparative and dialectical. The use of the comparative method allowed (...) for the identification of commonalities and differences in the understanding of the human problem in Western European and contemporary Chinese philosophy. The inclusion of the dialectical method helped reveal contradictions in the explication of the nature and meaning of human existence by various contemporary Chinese thinkers. R e s u l t s. It has been found that contemporary Chinese thinkers perceive a dichotomy in human nature–social and natural. Considering not only Karl Marx's works but also those of other Western philosophers, particularly Immanuel Kant, Marxist philosophers in China emphasize the social component of human nature, which is crucial to individuality. C o n c l u s i o n s. It is argued that Sinicized Marxism, like its Soviet counterpart, also incorporates the concept of the "new man" whose life's purpose is to exist exclusively based on the principles and values of Marxist philosophy. The formation and functioning of this concept are influenced by extensive discussions regarding the role of humans in history. Sinicized Marxism emphasizes that each individual, living in society, pursues their own specific values and, guided by them, acts to achieve their realization. Although these goals and actions are diverse, varied, and contradictory, there is a common essence underlying this mass of individual goals and actions. Accordingly, contemporary Chinese thinkers assert that within a specific historical society, people are integrated independently of their will and desire into a unique system of material relations that constitutes their social existence. As a result, they are in a certain way connected within each formation and with the means of production. Production relations organize people, stimulate their activities, generate certain relationships and dependencies among social groups. Common interests, reflected in consciousness, more or less consciously, unite people, motivating them to strive for the realization of certain social goals. The thesis is substantiated that although Sinicized Marxism emphasizes the social goal of human life, it also encompasses considerations about the existential aspect, manifested in living for self-improvement and for the sake of others. (shrink)

B a c k g r o u n d. According to the genre characteristics, the article is a form of publicizing analytical conclusions from the experience of research in the field of the philosophical Chinese studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine from 1991 to the present day. The material for understanding was supplied from the environment of scientific professional activity of prominent figures of Ukrainian philosophical Sinology from the H. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the NAS (...) of Ukraine and the A. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies of the NAS of Ukraine. The scientific achievements of academic Sinologists, who are leading researchers of Chinese philosophical education, science and culture from the archaic to modern times, are highlighted. They are, namely: V. Kiktenko, V. Pyrohiv, V. Hamianin, S. Kapranov, Y. Hobova and A. Usyk. M e t h o d s. The article uses an analytical approach based on the study of historical and philosophical sources. The methodological basis of the research is the main methods of historical and philosophical science: problem-categorical analysis, socio-cultural analysis and biographical analysis. At the same time, the methods of situational and contextual analysis of scientific texts are applied. R e s u l t s. Four conditional thematic vectors of the progress of academic philosophical Sinology in modern Ukraine are classified, namely the study of: 1. the history of ancient Chinese philosophy, especially Confucianism; 2. the history of Chinese philosophy in the 19th – early 21st centuries; 3) the history of Ukrainian Sinology in the 18th – early 21st centuries; 4. the history of modern foreign Sinology. The director of the A. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies of the NAS of Ukraine and the head of the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists V. Kiktenko very effectively studies all these vectors, especially the last three of them. His colleagues at the institute V. Pyrohiv, V. Hamianin and Y. Hobova mainly research the first of these vectors, and primarily the history of Confucianism. Employees of the H. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the NAS of Ukraine S. Kapranov and A. Usyk are also focused scientific attention on the history of Confucianism, in particular, the second of them studies social ethics and anthropology of Confucius. C o n c l u s i o n s. As a result it was established that modern domestic philosophical academic Sinology is a qualitatively new and innovative direction of Oriental studies in independent Ukraine. This discipline was formed as a result of the two-century progress of Ukrainian Chinese studies from the era of Hetmanshina until now. V. Kiktenko and his colleagues have made a significant and already internationally recognized contribution to the study of both the classical philosophical schools of Ancient China and their ideological heirs, in particular, the leaders of the PRC and the CCP from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping during these thirty years. V. Kiktenko also laid the foundations for the study both of the history of Ukrainian Chinese studies and of modern foreign, primarily Western European and North American, Sinology. (shrink)

Nanotechnology (NT)‐enabled disease‐free life is a form of reconstruction of the human body that promises a paradigm shift toward a new form of human existence in an imaginable life. However, as human reconstruction may be within the limits of the concept of “human enhancement,” it is not clear to what extent “enhanced humans” will be ethically acceptable or desired. This study discusses the ethical implications of NT‐embedded enhanced humans and this new imaginable life. First, ethical concerns arising from the existence (...) of a grey zone of certain dilemmas regarding benefits and possible/unpredicted risks are addressed in terms of the four main principles of bioethics. Then, we focus on the ethical problems in human nano‐enhancement. Finally, we study the methods of analyzing these ethical problems within the framework of principlism to conceive a comprehensive and coherent bioethical understanding. (shrink)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is leading a global effort to deliver improved diagnostic testing to people living in low‐resource settings. A reliance on the healthcare technologies marketplace and industry, shapes many aspects of the WHO project, and in this situation normative guidance comes by way of the ASSURED criteria — Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User‐friendly, Rapid and robust, Equipment‐free, and Delivered. While generally improving access to diagnostics, I argue that the ASSURED approach to distributive justice — efficiency — and assessment (...) of worth — productivity — may constrain efforts to deliver timely and accurate diagnosis in the developing world equitably by holding back new and innovative diagnostics and indirectly encouraging program and device design that may unfairly discriminate against certain groups. Even as we try to overcome the problem of global healthcare injustice, we may be entrenching disadvantage. I present my critique of ASSURED by 1) referencing Boltanski and Thévenot's theory of orders of worth to highlight the industrial and market foundations of the ASSURED guidelines; 2) comparing ASSURED with other normative guides that elevate the importance of civic responsibility in evaluations of distributive justice; 3) presenting a case study of the failed promise of microfluidic diagnostic devices. I conclude that a new approach to normative guidance is required to assess the value of developing world diagnostics, preferably, one that does not force global public goods into the marketplace. (shrink)

The need to understand the systems that support ethical health research has long been recognized, but there are limited descriptions of actual health research ethics (HRE) systems. Using participatory network mapping methods, we empirically defined Malaysia's HRE system. 13 Malaysian stakeholders identified 4 overarching and 25 specific HRE system functions and 35 actors internal and 3 external to the Malaysian HRE system responsible for those functions. Functions requiring the most attention were: advising on legislation related to HRE; optimizing research value (...) to society; and defining standards for HRE oversight. Internal actors with the greatest potential for more influence were: the national network of research ethics committees; non-institution-based research ethics committees; and research participants. The World Health Organization, an external actor, had the largest untapped potential for influence overall. In summary, this stakeholder-driven process identified HRE system functions and actors that could be targeted to increase HRE system capacity. (shrink)

Effective vaccines for COVID‐19 are already available to humankind. In Peru, 86 million doses were administered to cover the demand for 33 million Peruvian people. Hence, vaccination has been prioritized in groups: health personnel, subjects with pre‐existing health conditions and those over 65 years of age. However, given the social problems and the public health situation in Peru, this work defends that the priority of vaccination should be focused on the population living in extreme poverty. The method used was an (...) ethical argumentation on the distribution of scarce antiSARS‐CoV2 vaccine in Peru. This argument is based on the analysis of the Peruvian population living in extreme poverty, which presents different layers of vulnerability, and that, in the face of an eventual SARS‐CoV2 infection, these would be exacerbated one after the other, through a cascade effect. This scenario would give rise to new vulnerabilities to those already existing, causing greater damage. Vaccination efforts on this key population would give them the opportunity to continue to find ways to bring food to their homes, significantly reducing the risk of contagion in their environment and mitigating the devastating effect of the local diseases to which they are already exposed. Four objections related to this argument are raised with their corresponding responses. Priority access to the vaccine would significantly reduce the humanitarian harm to people living in extreme poverty, prevailing the principles of justice and equity. (shrink)

La humanidad ya dispone de vacunas eficaces contra el COVID‐19. En Perú se administraron 86 millones de dosis para cubrir la demanda de 33 millones de peruanos. Para ello, se ha priorizado la vacunación en grupos clave: personal de salud, sujetos con condiciones de salud preexistentes y mayores de 65 años. Sin embargo, dada la problemática social y la situación de la salud pública en Perú, este trabajo defiende que la prioridad de la vacunación debe centrarse en la población que (...) vive en extrema pobreza. El método utilizado fue una argumentación ética sobre la distribución de la vacuna contra el COVID‐19 en Perú. Esta argumentación se basa en el análisis de la población peruana que vive en extrema pobreza, la cual presenta diferentes estratos de vulnerabilidad, y que, ante una eventual infección por SARS‐CoV‐2, se irían agravando uno tras otro, a través de un efecto en cascada. Este escenario daría lugar a nuevas vulnerabilidades de las ya existentes, causando mayores daños. Los esfuerzos de vacunación en esta población clave les brindaría oportunidad de seguir encontrando formas de llevar alimentos a sus hogares, reduciendo significativamente el riesgo de contagio en su entorno y mitigando el efecto devastador de las enfermedades locales a las que ya está expuesta. Se plantean cuatro objeciones relacionadas con este argumento, con sus correspondientes respuestas. El acceso prioritario a la vacuna reduciría significativamente el daño a las personas que viven en la extrema pobreza, haciendo prevalecer los principios de justicia y equidad. (shrink)

The Islamic government of Iran recently passed and announced a new law titled “Rejuvenation of the Population and Protection of the Family.” This legislation is a noteworthy example of biopolitics‐influenced biolaw. In terms of abortion, contraception, prenatal screening, and population control, this law clearly contrasts with women's fundamental rights and freedoms and has significant health‐related consequences for different sectors of the population. A historical review of the population policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran shows the occurrence of multiple abrupt (...) and radical changes in such policies over the past four decades. This new law, promoted by religious biopolitics, is the most recent example, and places stringent limits on abortion. According to it, all decisions concerning abortion must be made in courts rather than in health clinics. Such courts are typically presided over by male religious scholars. This law also limits prenatal screening to the degree that will increase the rate of genetic defects, especially in the population's lower socioeconomic strata. By strictly limiting access to contraception, this law will increase the rate of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. This paper argues that such an influence of biopolitics on biolaw contrasts with the principles of bioethics. Still, Iran's current institution of bioethics cannot address it effectively. Therefore, a new model of interaction between bioethics, biopolitics, and biolaw is needed to prevent the detrimental consequences of such pieces of legislation. Such a paradigm shift is demanded by the current “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement of the Iranian people. (shrink)

ResumenEl Senado Federal de Brasil creó una Comisión Parlamentaria de Investigación (CPI) para investigar las irregularidades del gobierno de Bolsonaro en la gestión de la pandemia de COVID‐19. Uno de los casos que llamó la atención fue la investigación llevada a cabo por Prevent Senior, una empresa privada de seguros de salud, sobre el tratamiento temprano de COVID‐19. Este artículo analiza la validez científica de la investigación y los problemas éticos relacionados con su implementación. Se basa en un análisis del (...) informe del estudio clínico de Prevent Senior, de los registros de ensayos clínicos de Brasil y Estados Unidos, del informe de la CPI del Senado y de información difundida por los medios de comunicación. Este caso de fraude científico y sesgo político‐ideológico ejemplifica cómo Prevent Senior, utilizando un protocolo cuestionable para mejorar su reputación y obtener el apoyo del gobierno, contribuyó a la construcción de la narrativa de “tratamiento temprano” para COVID‐19, y muestra cómo sirvió de base para una política pública del gobierno que promovió el uso de medicamentos ineficaces. (shrink)

Predatory journals offer the promise of prompt publication to those willing to pay the article submission or processing fee. However, these journals do not offer rigorous peer review. Studies have shown that a substantial share of corresponding authors in predatory journals come from South Asia, particularly India. This scoping review aims to assess what is known about the reasons why healthcare researchers working in South Asia publish in predatory journals. 66 reports (14 editorials, 20 letters, 5 research reports, 10 opinion (...) articles, 14 reviews, 2 commentaries and 1 news report) were included in the data charting and analysis. The analysis of the reports identified three main reasons that made South Asian healthcare researchers publish in predatory journals: pressure to publish, lack of research support, and pseudo benefits. The review shows that predatory publishing in South Asia is a complex phenomenon. Combating predatory publications requires a holistic strategy that supersedes merely blacklisting these journals or listing criteria for journals that do meet academic standards. (shrink)

Bio‐banking in research elicits numerous ethical issues related to informed consent, privacy and identifiability of samples, return of results, incidental findings, international data exchange, ownership of samples, and benefit sharing etc. In low and middle income (LMICs) countries the challenge of inadequate guidelines and regulations on the proper conduct of research compounds the ethical issues. In addition, failure to pay attention to underlying indigenous worldviews that ought to inform issues, practices and policies in Africa may exacerbate the situation. In this (...) paper we discuss how the African context presents unique and outstanding cultural thought systems regarding the human body and biological materials that can be put into perspective in bio‐bank research. We give the example of African ontology of nature presented by John Samwel Mbiti as foundational in adding value to the discourse about enhancing relevance of bio‐bank research in the African context. We underline that cultural rites of passage performed on the human body in majority of communities in Africa elicit quintessential perspective on beliefs about handling of human body and human biological tissues. We conclude that acknowledgement and inclusion of African indigenous worldviews regarding the human body is essential in influencing best practices in biobank research in Africa. (shrink)

This paper investigates the concept of emotion and its relevance to education via character education through the medium of poetry. The objective is to demonstrate the potential implementation of character education through poetry, and to show the intrinsic link between poetry and virtue, knowledge and reasoning. It is argued that poetry serves as a bridge between emotion and character education. The philosophy of emotions is explored through the works of Aristotle, Karin Bohlin and David Carr. Character education is understood in (...) terms of a Neo-Aristotelian approach, drawing on Kristján Kristjánsson, Bohlin and Carr. My position is that, through exercising the craft of poetry, children and young students are provided with tools for exploring emotions, and for discerning and deliberating about virtues and moral contextual nuances in the broader context of human experience. (shrink)

Theories of graded causation attract growing attention in the philosophical debate on causation. An important field of application is the controversial relationship between causation and moral responsibility. However, it is still unclear how exactly the notion of graded causation should be understood in the context of moral responsibility. One question is whether we should endorse a proportionality principle, according to which the degree of an agent’s moral responsibility is proportionate to their degree of causal contribution. A second question is whether (...) a theory of graded causation should measure closeness to necessity or closeness to sufficiency. In this paper, we argue that we should indeed endorse a proportionality principle and that this principle supports a notion of graded causation relying on closeness to sufficiency rather than closeness to necessity. Furthermore, we argue that this insight helps to provide a plausible analysis of the so-called ‘Moral Difference Puzzle’ recently described by Bernstein. (shrink)

Los pacientes con somatoparafrenia reportan que una extremidad no les pertenece. En filosofía, esta psicopatología motiva la discusión sobre el autopercatamiento, entendido como el sentido de propiedad que acompaña nuestras experiencias mentales. También motiva reflexiones sobre el autopercatamiento corporal; es decir, sobre la experiencia de un miembro como parte del propio cuerpo. Propongo que la somatoparafrenia involucra una dimensión intercorporal anómala. A diferencia de otras patologías de la espacialidad del cuerpo, en la somatoparafrenia se gana alteridad dentro de los límites (...) del cuerpo orgánico: el miembro pertenece a otro. Desarrollo mi propuesta en dos partes: en la primera, retomo discusiones de la filosofía sobre la autopercatamiento corporal usando la somatoparafrenia como ejemplo. En la segunda parte, planteo algunas reflexiones para entender el problema de la alteridad en la somatoparafrenia, y por qué este trastorno puede ubicarse dentro de las discusiones actuales sobre las vivencias intercorporales. (shrink)