I argue that Malthus’s Essay on Population is more a treatise in applied ethics than the first treatise in demography. I argue also that, as an ethical work, it is a highly innovative one. The substitution of procreation for sex as the focus makes for a drastic change in the agenda. what had been basically lacking in the discussion up to Malthus’s time was a consideration of human beings’ own responsibility in the decision of procreating. This makes for a remarkable (...) change also in the approach, namely, the discussion becomes an examination of a well-identified issue, taking cause-effect relationships into account in order to assess possible lines of conduct in the light of some, widely shared and comparatively minimal, value judgements. This is more or less the approach of what is now called applied ethics, at least according to one of its accounts, or perhaps to the account shared by a vast majority of its practitioners. In a sense, both the subject matter, sexuality, was substituted with a more restricted issue, namely reproduction, and the traditional approach, moral doctrine, was substituted with a more modest approach, in Malthus’s own words, the “moral and political science”. Such a drastic transformation brought about a viable framework, for a discussion of ethical issues that were still unforeseen by Malthus, namely those having to do first with the technical feasibility of eugenics programs and secondly with the scientific discovery of genetics as a field of study but also of possible intervention. Malthus’s ethics had obviously enough nothing to say on those unforeseen issues in so far as it was meant to treat just the ‘quantitative’ dimension of procreation, that is, ‘how many’. Later discussions and controversies will arise around different dimensions, that is, not just ‘how many’ but also ‘how healthy, how strong, hoe empowered’, but what Malthus’s lesson could have taught and still can teach to partners defending opposite views in these controversies is that such issues may be framed in a way that possibly avoids unending controversy on incompatible ultimate principles once the strategy is turned upside down and a principle of responsibility becomes the overriding rule in the treatment of such ethical issues. -/- . (shrink)

A fronte del quotidiano rincorrersi di nuovi interrogativi che esigono una risposta dalla bioetica, si assiste alla difficoltà di trovare un solido fondamento al giudizio etico in bioetica. Si confrontano e si scontrano, infatti, teorie etiche tra di loro non sovrapponibili né conciliabili, che portano a soluzioni pratiche tra di loro divergenti e spesso, troppo spesso, dimentiche della centralità della persona umana. Edè proprio la riflessione sulla persona umana, con i suoi diritti, ma anche con i suoi doveri, secondo la (...) lettura del personalismo ontologicamente fondato, il filo conduttore dei contributi contenuti in questo volume...(Dalla quarta di copertina)- In sommario: La nuova genetica - La clonazione umana: aspetti tecnici e considerazioni - Le basi biologiche della sessualità - Natura e interpretazione dei disordini sessuali: l'omosessualità - I disorientamenti sessuali: il ruolo dell'educatore - La sindrome da immunodeficienza acquisita - Orientamenti metodologici nell'educazione sessuale. (shrink)

_Riassunto_: I bisogni sessuali degli astronauti rappresentano un tema lungamente trascurato delle missioni spaziali. Soltanto di recente la comunità scientifica ha incominciato a interessarsi alla vita sessuale degli astronauti e a rivolgere una qualche attenzione alle questioni che riguardano il sesso nello spazio. Comunque, il sesso è una questione centrale per gli astronauti impegnati nelle missioni spaziali. Noi sosteremmo che nella prima fase di esplorazione e di colonizzazione dello spazio e di nuovi pianeti, gli astronauti dovrebbero avere la possibilità (...) di fare sesso ma non dovrebbero avere figli. Affermeremo, inoltre, che un programma di colonizzazione di nuovi pianeti dovrebbe prendere in considerazione la possibilità di affiancare agli astronauti macchine sempre più intelligenti in grado non soltanto di assisterli nella missione, a livello operativo, ma anche di soddisfare i loro bisogni sessuali. Finora il dibattito sui sex robot ha considerato quasi esclusivamente il loro uso sul nostro pianeta. Tuttavia, i sex robot potrebbero rivelarsi una risorsa importante per le missioni spaziali che hanno l’obiettivo di avviare la costruzione di nuove stazioni spaziali o colonizzazione di nuovi territori. _Parole chiave_: Bioetica; Riproduzione; Sessualità; Spazio; Robot _ _ _Moral and psychological issues of reproduction, sex, and affective relationships in space missions_ _Abstract_: The sexual needs of astronauts have long been overlooked in space missions. Only recently has the scientific community begun to show interest in the sexual lives of astronauts and pay attention to the issues surrounding sex in space. However, sex remains a central concern for astronauts involved in space missions. We would argue that in the initial phase of space exploration and colonization of new planets, astronauts should have the opportunity for sexual activity but should not have children. Furthermore, we assert that a program for the colonization of new planets should consider the possibility of providing intelligent machines to accompany astronauts, capable not only of assisting them operationally in their mission but also of satisfying their sexual needs. So far, the debate on sex robots has primarily focused on their use on our planet. However, sex robots could prove to be a valuable resource for space missions aimed at establishing new space stations or colonizing new territories. _Keywords_: Bioethics; Reproduction; Sex; Space; Robot. (shrink)

In The City of Ladies and Bell in Campo, Christine de Pizan and Margaret Cavendish imagine women’s participation to war as a metaphor of the sexual conflict that they must fight in order to conquer their visibility in history. While Pizan rewrites history from women’s stand point and acknowledges the universal value of sexual difference for the plan of salvation, Cavendish moves within a modern frame and thinks history as the result of human action. In both cases, the tale of (...) women’s participation to war allows criticizing the moral and normative implications of «nature». (shrink)

"Se c’è un tratto dell’esperienza contemporanea che esemplifica le asimmetrie di potere che le donne continuano a subire, questa è la violenza. Violenza fisica e sessuale, ma anche (e soprattutto) violenza psicologica, morale, addirittura linguistica. Violenza come evento drammatico che nel suo improvviso accadere attualizza (e rende intelligibili) quei livelli più profondi e ancestrali della coscienza collettiva di cui la modernità non è riuscita purtroppo a liberare la nostra cultura. Ma violenza anche come indicatore (tragico) dei molteplici livelli (...) di tensione che si nascondono nelle relazioni di genere, sia a livello interpersonale che istituzionale: dalla famiglia, alle reti di prossimità, ai sistemi di educazione. Indagare il fenomeno della violenza sulle donne, come mostra il volume del Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche e Sociali dell’Università di Pisa (a cura di Luca Corchia), significa confrontarsi con un tema che affonda nel privato delle persone e, spesso, è ancora trattato in maniera inadeguata nel dibattito pubblico e politico. La violenza sulle donne striscia nella nostra quotidianità, il più delle volte in modo silenzioso, senza nessun riflettore. Da qui l’esigenza politica di costituire una rete integrata di servizi che prevenga, monitori e contrasti ogni forma di abuso, accolga e sostenga le vittime di tali violenze e sensibilizzi tutti i cittadini su di un problema la cui diffusione è tanto più allarmante nella misura in cui continua a rimanere una sorta di ‘sfondo oscuro’.". (shrink)

‘Social Purity’ appears in a part of the French and Anglo-Saxon nineteenth-twentieth century’s feminisms, as a mean for many claims: from the full recognition of sexual difference in Hubertine Auclert’s social and ‘differentialist’ republicanism in France to Josephine Butler’s refusal of any purity imposed from above in England, until the absolute turn of the idea of women’s moral superiority and the equal and opposite force to the final exit from ‘the social’ by the American ‘New Womanism’, individualizing and de-feminizing the (...) act of sexual liberation. All this in a continuous play of actions and reactions, sometimes paradoxical, weaving together suffragism and anti-suffragism, contestation of the conjugal complementarity and the never overcome temptations of hetero or self-control. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es realizar una revisión del estado de la cuestión sobre el concepto de estado de naturaleza en el pensamiento de Thomas Hobbes. Dicha revisión permite articular una comprensión de la naturaleza humana, puesto que a diferencia del realismo político el estado de naturaleza en Hobbes no tiene un rol meramente hipotético. Precisamente, la idea de naturaleza humana articula una proto-moralidad que permite comprender la transición hacia el estado civil. Las investigaciones Kavka, Gauthier y Hampton han (...) construido una compleja compresión de la naturaleza humana, la cual permite entender cierto sustrato de proto-moralidad en el pensamiento hobbesiano. (shrink)

Current frameworks on ethical decision-making process have some limitations. This paper argues that the consideration of moral competencies, understood as moral virtues in the workplace, can enhance our understanding of why moral character contributes to ethical decision-making. After discussing the universal nature of four moral competencies (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance), we analyse their influence on the various stages of the ethical decision-making process. We conclude by considering the managerial implications of our findings and proposing further research.

Challenges to Legal Theory offers the reader a fascinating journey though a variety of multi-disciplinary topics, ranging from law and literature, and law and religion, to legal philosophy and constitutional law. The collection reflects some of the challenges that the field of legal theory currently faces. It is compiled by a selection of international and Spanish scholars, whose essays are made available in English translation for the first time. The volume is based on a collection of essays, published in Spanish, (...) in honour of Professor José Iturmendi Morales, of Complutense University, Madrid, and brings the rich scholarship of pre-eminent Spanish scholars of law and legal theory to an international audience. (shrink)

Este trabajo se ocupa de algunas ideas éticas del filósofo latinoamericano Andrés Bello (1781-1865), en especial de su “teoría de los sentimientos morales”. En la polémica del siglo XIX entre el llamado racionalismo ético (representado por Théodore Jouffroy) y el utilitarismo (Bentham), Bello adopta una postura intermedia, que pudiera calificarse de “hedonismo moderado” o de “eudemonismo”. Sus puntos de vista sobre la motivación moral o la manera en que la razón y el sentimiento se entrelazan para formar nuestras creencias morales, (...) se revelan como muy próximos a las doctrinas de Aristóteles y de algunos autores contemporáneos. (shrink)

In recent years, character traits in general and virtue-related concepts in particular have been of considerable interest to philosophers, psychological researchers, and practitioners in the business ethics field. Three approaches to character traits can be used to incorporate ethics into organizations: virtues, character strengths, and competencies. The aim of this article is to clarify the concept of character traits, or virtues, and provide a unified operational version of it for incorporation into management. To this end, we first discuss the analogy (...) among virtues, character strengths, and competencies. Then, we propose a list of moral competencies that can be implemented in competency-based human resource management. (shrink)

En este artículo se recupera la noción de prosodia musical vinculada con el portugués brasileño y algunas manifestaciones músico-literarias, como fuente de irradiación hacia géneros musicales y textualidades, y en especial centrada en fragmentos narrativos del escritor brasileño Chico Buarque. Al mismo tiempo, se recorren aspectos semióticos que interesan en el análisis comparatista de la interferencia música/literatura.

Los Ökonomisch-philosophische Manuskripte de 1844 de Marx establecen las bases del proyecto marxista de superación del capitalismo. Para ello, desarrolla una crítica al trabajo asalariado desde el concepto de alienación procedente de la dialéctica hegeliana y de la crítica de Feuerbach a la religión. Este análisis le sirve para establecer otros conceptos como los de una alteridad materialista o la reducción a la animalidad, desde los cuales sería posible construir otro marxismo alternativo al de Das Kapital.

El presente escrito problematiza algunas experiencias artísticas y educativas, en tanto configuradoras de procesos de subjetivación de estudiantes y profesores de un programa de pregrado en la universidad. La investigación adelantada con diseño biográfico-narrativo y crítico, recurre al relato, la hermenéutica reflexiva de Paul Ricœur y asume la crítica desde la perspectiva de Foucault, como caminos o formas de ver, que en sano criterio pueden contribuir a comprender y transformar las prácticas de aula. Los participantes fueron seleccionados mediante un muestreo (...) probabilístico intencional o discrecional (bola de nieve). A través, de un análisis comprensivo de los relatos o sus extractos, se arriba a la conclusión de la importancia de implementar en las aulas estrategias didácticas centradas en la libertad e interés del estudiante, orientadas mediante diálogos expansivos. (shrink)

Politics is about managing conflict, about how we should live together. Many traditions of thought and political thinkers have nonetheless taken this shared space of conflict, this we the people, as a given. The people is considered as a necessary precondition for politics. What happens when a part of this we disagrees with that? When, for some, this shared community is not taken as a given and claim their right to secede and build their own independent political community. Such claims (...) bear on the fundamental questions: who is the “ demos ”? who are the people entitled to self-government?’. (shrink)

Background This study introduces an empirical approach for studying the role of prudence in physician treatment of end-of-life (EOL) decision making.Methods A mixed-methods analysis of transcripts from 88 simulated patient encounters in a multicenter study on EOL decision making. Physicians in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and critical care medicine were asked to evaluate a decompensating, end-stage cancer patient. Transcripts of the encounters were coded for actor, action, and content to capture the concept of Aristotelian prudence, and then quantitatively and qualitatively (...) analyzed to identify actions associated with preference-concordant treatment.Results Focusing on codes that describe characteristics of physician-patient interaction, the code for physicians restating patient preferences was associated with avoiding intubation. Multiple codes were associated with secondary measures of preference-concordant treatment.Conclusions Prudent actions can be identified empirically, and research focused on the virtue of prudence may provide a new avenue for assessment and training in EOL care. (shrink)

Se exponen las prácticas docentes de las educadoras de párvulos, que cumplen una función reproductora del nacionalismo que es internalizado en las niñas y niños como la ciudadanía chilena. Para ello, configuran un escenario lúdico que ritualiza la conducta cívica y patriótica, por medio de conmemoraciones cívicas fundadas en el belicismo de la guerra del Pacífico, sin considerar la realidad cosmopolita y de diversidad cultural presente en las aulas nortinas. A partir de esto, proponemos una nueva perspectiva respecto de la (...) realización de actos cívicos en la educación parvularia, para hacerlos más inclusivos y acordes a la realidad cultural de la región de Tarapacá, la más multicultural de Chile. This paper describes the teaching practices of pre-school teachers who play a reproductive role of nationalism internalized in children as Chilean citizenships. This happens as the result of a ludic scenario that ritualizes civic and patriotic conduct, through civic commemorations based on the Pacific war, regardless both the cosmopolitan reality and cultural diversity present in classrooms in the Northern part of Chile. Considering this, we propose a new perspective on conducting civic events in early childhood education, to make them more inclusive and consistent with the cultural reality of the region of Tarapacá, Chile's most multicultural region. (shrink)

La figura popular del mendigo se define por su alegría, comicidad y autoexclusión social. En el siglo xix, surgió una nueva visión, de carácter realista, en torno a este personaje. El objetivo del presente artículo es rescatar la obra poética del colombiano Joaquín Pablo Posada, ya prácticamente olvidada, para estudiar cómo conforma la figura del mendigo en un tiempo de transición. Los resultados señalan la existencia de un imaginario híbrido y de carácter joco-serio. Por un lado, se mantienen los rasgos (...) tradicionales, que incluyen al mendigo dentro de la tendencia festiva; por otro lado, se introduce una denuncia moderna sobre los padecimientos físicos y morales del mendigo, lo que cuestiona el discurso de las élites burguesas, sin salirse de su esquema central. En las conclusiones, se compara la complejidad del personaje de Posada frente a otros sujetos poéticos construidos durante los siglos xix y xx, que suelen adherirse a una sola faceta de esta figura. (shrink)

I put equality at the center of John Stuart Mill's practical philosophy. His principle of "perfect equality" embodies a substantive relational ideal, which I call "equality as reciprocity." This ideal requires removing injustices due to domination and subjection in human associations, including the family. Justice grounded on perfect equality must be the basis of personal, social, and political life, because the moral sentiments, chief among human beings' "higher" faculties, find adequate channels only under equality. Genuine happiness, which involves the exercise (...) and development of these faculties, is open only to those who relate as equals. Thus, on my account, equality as reciprocity adds substance to Mill's liberalism. ;In The Subjection of Women, Mill appealed to his view of human progress to argue for perfect equality. He maintained that this ideal is not appropriate for all times, but required for human improvement and a part of everyone's good under conditions of "modernity." Modern democratic cultures embrace such "progressive" human interests as equal justice, sympathy, and cooperation. Replacing the archaic command and obedience ethic with the nonhierarchical pattern of reciprocity would bring out human beings' "true virtue": living as equals. Inequality, and the exercise of unjust power generally, corrupts everyone's moral character and thwarts human flourishing. All other things equal, egalitarian relations are a critical part of anyone's autonomously chosen plan of life. Given human sociability, any other choice would impoverish a person's life. ;It is clear from Mill's argument for perfect equality that Mill was not a classical utilitarian. He conceived of utility broadly, as concerning progressive human interests, and argued for educating the "moral part" of human nature through just institutions and social practices. He believed that strengthening equal justice, the chief moral sentiment, is a central requirement of utility, because of the importance of other-regarding sentiments to a good human life. Thus, on my account, Mill's "enlarged" account of utility supports his substantive egalitarianism. His defense of perfect equality is utilitarian only in his idiosyncratic sense. (shrink)

Since some AI algorithms with high predictive power have impacted human integrity, safety has become a crucial challenge in adopting and deploying AI. Although it is impossible to prevent an algorithm from failing in complex tasks, it is crucial to ensure that it fails safely, especially if it is a critical system. Moreover, due to AI’s unbridled development, it is imperative to minimize the methodological gaps in these systems’ engineering. This paper uses the well-known Box-Jenkins method for statistical modeling as (...) a framework to identify engineering pitfalls in the adjustment and validation of AI models. Step by step, we point out state-of-the-art strategies and good practices to tackle these engineering drawbacks. In the final step, we integrate an internal and external validation scheme that might support an iterative evaluation of the normative, perceived, substantive, social, and environmental safety of all AI systems. (shrink)

Background: In Hospital Emergency Department and Emergency Medical Services professionals experience situations in which they face difficulties or barriers to know patient’s advance directives and implement them. Objectives: To analyse the barriers, facilitators, and ethical conflicts perceived by health professionals derived from the management of advance directives in emergency services. Research design, participants, and context: This is a qualitative phenomenological study conducted with purposive sampling including a population of nursing and medical professionals linked to Hospital Emergency Department and Emergency Medical (...) Services. Three focus groups were formed, totalling 24 participants. We performed an inductive-type thematic discourse analysis. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by ethical committees of Ethical Commitee of Clínic Hospital (Barcelona) and Comittee of Emergency Medical Services (Barcelona). The participants received information about the purpose of the study. Patients’ anonymity and willingness to participate in the study were guaranteed. Findings: There were four types of barriers that hindered the proper management of patients’ advance directives in Hospital Emergency Department and Emergency Medical Services: personal and professional, family members, organisational and structural, and those derived from the health system. These barriers caused ethical conflicts and hindered professionals’ decision-making. Discussion: These results are in line with those of previous studies and indicate that factors such as gender, professional category, and years of experience, in addition to professionals’ beliefs and the opinions of colleagues and family members, can also influence the professionals’ final decisions. Conclusion: The different strategies described in this study can contribute to the development of health policies and action protocols to help reduce both the barriers that hinder the correct management and implementation of advance directives and the ethical conflicts generated. (shrink)

virgilee's smile brightens the gloaming, some sunlight penetrates the low-lying clouds, but a persistent mist hides merchants from one another. She sweeps her arm around this eerie scene and conjures up the attraction of the Market. So many people learned about business here, their kids are now in business all over the City. You're free here; everybody is doing their own thing at their own pace. Folks working here want to be successful. At work you go by the other guys' (...) rules, you're free here for a few hours, like being out in the woods, you can come in the middle of the week and it's private here and people don't notice you, it's therapeutic like being in an oasis. You meet so many people it really is the melting... (shrink)

Background When conducting qualitative research, participants usually share lots of personal and private information with the researcher. As researchers, we must preserve participants’ identity and confidentiality of the data. Objective To critically analyze an ethical conflict encountered regarding confidentiality when doing qualitative research. Research design Case study. Findings and discussion one of the participants in a study aiming to explain the meaning of living with HIV verbalized his imminent intention to commit suicide because of stigma of other social problems arising (...) from living with HIV. Given the life-threatening situation, the commitment related to not disclosing the participant’s identity and/or the content of the interview had to be broken. To avoid or prevent suicide, the therapist in charge of the case was properly informed about the participant’s intentions. One important question arises from this case: was it ethically appropriate to break the confidentiality commitment? Conclusion confidentiality could be broken if a life-threatening event is identified during data collection and participants must know that. This has to be clearly stated in the informed consent form. (shrink)

Si les questions éthiques sortent de l’ombre, il faut reconnaître que la réflexion morale a connu un long discrédit. Les progrès scientifiques semblaient détrôner les références morales ; la modernité y contribuait avec l’idée de l’autonomie d’un sujet se donnant à lui-même et par lui-même sa loi ; le droit fut aussi ébranlé sous la pression de ces évolutions. Mais nos pouvoirs commandent-ils nos devoirs? Ne faudrait-il pas nous interroger sur ces pouvoirs techniques, scientifiques, politiques? Dès lors c’est bien (...) la question morale qui fait retour. Mais avons-nous les moyens de relever les défis? (shrink)