Prolonged solitary confinement has become a widespread and standard practice in U.S. prisons—even though it consistently drives healthy prisoners insane, makes the mentally ill sicker, and, according to the testimony of prisoners, threatens to reduce life to a living death. In this profoundly important and original book, Lisa Guenther examines the death-in-life experience of solitary confinement in America from the early nineteenth century to today’s supermax prisons. Documenting how solitary confinement undermines prisoners’ sense of identity and their (...) ability to understand the world, Guenther demonstrates the real effects of forcibly isolating a person for weeks, months, or years. -/- Drawing on the testimony of prisoners and the work of philosophers and social activists from Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty to Frantz Fanon and Angela Davis, the author defines solitary confinement as a kind of social death. It argues that isolation exposes the relational structure of being by showing what happens when that structure is abused—when prisoners are deprived of the concrete relations with others on which our existence as sense-making creatures depends. Solitary confinement is beyond a form of racial or political violence; it is an assault on being. (shrink)

Cliff Landesman provides a vivid description of a case where we have no best outcome available to us. He poses this as a problem for utilitarians who advise us to do the best we can. This does indeed make such advice impractical. I begin by contrasting older versions of utilitarianism with newer ones that have appeared in deontic logic and that were designed precisely to accommodate Landesman's sort of scenario. (I cast matters in terms of the Limit Assumption and world-theoretic (...) versions of utilitarianism.) I then make three points. First, Landesman's problem does not pose any special problem for these newer theories. Secondly, I note that it is an interesting consequence of these newer theories being utilitarian theories, that--contrary to the tradition--utilitarianism isn't automatically a no conflicts theory of obligation. Thirdly, and most importantly, I identify a new, deeper and wider theoretical problem: "The Confinement Problem". This problem infests the newer versions of utilitarianism. Worse still, the infestation spreads to satisficing consequentialism (cf. Scheffler, Slote), the direction Landesman points to for a solution to his problem, and this new problem is one where the theoretical rulings of these theories clearly conflict with intuition. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es examinar la postura sobre la cuestión del final de la vida humana en la obra del bioeticista español Diego Gracia. Para ello, primero trataremos el concepto de confín presente en su pensamiento bioético, para pasar después a preguntarnos sobre la determinación que desde la ciencia puede hacerse del momento de la muerte. Posteriormente, nos ocuparemos de la idea que el bioeticista tiene de la muerte desde la filosofía, mostrando las influencias recibidas del pensamiento de (...) su maestro Xavier Zubiri. Concluiremos nuestro artículo con la exposición de algunas consideraciones éticas que de los planteamientos de Gracia se desprenden. (shrink)

This text discusses the impact of immersive technologies on our identity and relationship to digital and analogue modalities in a non-normative way. It references the work of Joseph Beuys, specifically his iconic performance of being confined with a coyote in a gallery space for three days, to construct connections between borders, edges, limits and identity, face presentation, representation and projection towards ourselves and our audiences. We reference the works of Marcel Duchamp and George Orwell and compare the immersive devices of (...) the nineteenth century to current technology. Various works of art and literature are used to illustrate the impact of technology on society and the individual’s relationship to the collective imagination. The text raises questions about the limits or nonlimits of exposure of identity through machinic and technological devices or processes in the context of privacy of expression in a contemporary networked world. (shrink)

This paper aims to elucidate a kind of ignorance that is more fundamental than a momentary lack of information, but also not a kind of ignorance that is built into the subject’s cognitive apparatus such that the subject can’t do anything about it. The paper sets forth the notion of cognitive confinement, which is a contingent, yet relatively stable state of being structurally or systematically unable to gain information from an environment, determined by patterns of interaction between the subject (...) and the world. In order to unpack the idea of cognitive confinement the paper discusses niche construction theory, and then, in greater detail, the notion of cognitive niche once proposed by John Tooby and Irven DeVore. Cognitive confinement is here imagined as a pathologized form of cognitive niche. This posit is substantiated by referring to a case that has come to the fore in recent years and raised debate around the world: the rise of so-called filter bubbles. They turn out to be instantiations of a more general phenomenon of cognitive confinement. (shrink)

This article examines basic interests that animals have in liberty—the absence of external constraints on movement. It takes liberty to be a benefit for sentient animals that permits them to pursue what they want and need. Obviously farms, zoos, pets in homes, animals for sale in stores, circuses, and laboratories all involve forms of confinement that restrict liberty. The discussion aims to know the conditions, if there are any, under which such liberty-limitation is morally justified. It first lays out (...) the harms caused by confinement. It then examines and evaluates five possible standards for the justification of confinement: a basic-needs requirement; a comparable-life requirement; a no-unnecessary-harm standard; a worthwhile-life criterion; and an appeal to respect. (shrink)

_Confines of Democracy_ is a collection of critical assessments and interpretations of Richard J. Bernstein’s extensive and illuminating work on pragmatism, epistemology, hermeneutics, and social and political theory, including Bernstein’s replies to the contributors.

Les violences conjugales affectent durablement la santé psychique et physique des enfants qui y sont exposés. Dans le contexte de la covid-19, les auteures explorent, selon une étude longitudinale d’un an, le monde psychique interne de mères et de leurs enfants en repérant les enjeux qui relèvent de la crise sanitaire. La méthodologie est constituée d’entretiens semi-directifs, d’épreuves projectives (test-retest Thematic Apperception Test, Children’s Apperception Test ; dessins de famille) afin d’apprécier l’évolution des enfants et de leur mère dans le (...) cadre d’une mesure d’action éducative en milieu ouvert. Parmi les premiers résultats, les protocoles de Jérémy et de sa mère résonnent en écho, révélant en particulier l’éviction du père. L’exploration croisée montre une symbiose anxiogène entre mère et fils renforcée par le confinement, les privant de tiers familial et de tiers social. Ces résultats indiquent la nécessité d’une prise en charge éducative et thérapeutique. (shrink)

The capacity to distinguish reliable or rationally believable claims from a huge pool of views available within the public arena has never been as critical an issue as it is today. We live in a world full of bizarre, unwarranted beliefs and conspiracy theories, some of which may seem, at least on the face of it, quite well justified. Moreover, some of them may even turn out to be true. This poses a significant social-epistemological as well as practical problem. Here (...) I propose to single out a group of beliefs known as confined truths. These are true beliefs belonging to a pathological question-answer system. The paper first provisionally articulates this idea and then makes the case for an ecological account of questioning and answering, thought of as social pursuits made possible by the capacity for problematization. The latter shall be characterized as part of cognitive engineering or niche construction. In the final part of the paper, various possible dysfunctionalities of the social/ecological pursuit of problematization are elicited and suitable examples thereof are briefly discussed. (shrink)

AimThe aim of our study was to analyze physical activity levels, sitting time, physical fitness, and their relationship with depressive symptoms after home confinement in previously active older adults.MethodsThis cross-sectional study sample comprised 68 older adults from a community-based exercise program conducted in Porto, Portugal. After home confinement, participants were assessed in person for lower-body strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, agility/dynamic balance, handgrip strength, and anthropometry. Telephone interviews were performed to evaluate depressive symptoms with the Geriatric Depression Scale – 15 (...) items and physical activity levels through the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Individuals were also asked to self-report changes in their physical activity levels and time spent sitting.ResultsNinety percent of older adults self-reported a decrease in overall physical activity levels, and nearly 65% increased daily sitting time during the home confinement. However, previously active older adults still presented high levels of physical fitness after 11 weeks of home confinement. Overall, 52.9% of participants scored 5 or more points on GDS-15, which is suggestive of depression. Higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness were found in the non-depressed group compared with the depressed group. Finally, results from multiple regression analysis revealed that MVPA was negatively associated with depression. This model explained 16.4% of the variability seen in depression score, controlled for age, gender, and education.ConclusionEven reporting a decline in physical activity, older adults who previously participated in a formal exercise program, still presented high levels of physical fitness after 11 weeks of home confinement. However, MVPA, but not physical fitness, seems to be an associated depression score in previously active older adults. These results reinforce the importance of older adults to remain physically active, since higher levels of MVPA may have a protective effect on depressive symptoms and, therefore, mitigate the negative impact of home confinement on mental health. Future longitudinal research studies are needed to ascertain these results. (shrink)

Background: The vascular depression hypothesis emphasizes the significance of vascular lesions in late-life depression. At present, no meta-analytic model has investigated whether a difference in hyperintensity burden compared to controls between late-life and late-onset depression is evident. By including a substantial number of studies, focusing on a meaningful outcome measure, and considering several moderating and control variables, the present meta-analysis investigates the severity of hyperintensity burden in major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). A major focus of the present (...) meta-analysis refers to the role of age at illness onset. It is analyzed whether late-onset rather than late-life depression characterizes vascular depression. Method: In total, 68 studies were included in the meta-analysis and a multilevel random effects model was calculated using Hedges’ g as the effect size measure. Results: The severity of hyperintensity burden was significantly greater in the patient group compared to the control group. This effect was evident regarding the whole patient group (g = 0.229) as well as both depression subgroups, with a significantly greater effect in BD (g = 0.374) compared to MDD (g = 0.189). Hyperintensity burden was more pronounced in late-onset depression than in early-onset depression or late-life depression. A considerable heterogeneity between the included studies was observed, which is reflected by the large variability in effects sizes. Conclusion: In conclusion, the present meta-analysis underscores the association of hyperintensities with MDD and BD. Especially late-onset depression is associated with an increased hyperintensity burden, which is in line with the vascular depression hypothesis. The results suggest that it might be more feasible to confine the concept of vascular depression specifically to late-onset depression as opposed to late-life depression. Further research is needed to understand the causal mechanisms that might underlie the relation between hyperintensity burden and depression. (shrink)

In three parts, this volume in the AP-LS series explores the phenomena of captivity and risk management, guided and informed by the theory, method, and policy of psychological jurisprudence. The authors present a controversial thesis that demonstrates how the forces of captivity and risk management are sustained by several interdependent "conditions of control." These conditions impose barriers to justice and set limits on citizenship for one and all. Situated at the nexus of political/social theory, mental health law and jurisprudential ethics, (...) the book examines and critiques constructs such as offenders and victims; self and society; therapeutic and restorative; health; harm; and community. So, too, are three "total confinement" case law data sets on which this analysis is based. The volume stands alone in its efforts to systematically "diagnose" the moral reasoning lodged within prevailing judicial opinions that sustain captivity and risk management practices impacting: (1) the rights of juveniles found competent to stand criminal trial, the mentally ill placed in long-term disciplinary isolation, and sex offenders subjected to civil detention and community re-entry monitoring; (2) the often unmet needs of victims; and (3) the demands of an ordered society. Carefully balancing sophisticated insights with concrete and cutting-edge applications, the book concludes with a series of provocative, yet practical, recommendations for future research and meaningful reform within institutional practice, programming, and policy. (shrink)

We distinguish two conceptions of confinement – the agential conception and the comparative conception – and show that the former is intimately related to use in a way that the latter is not. Specifically, in certain conditions, agential confinement constitutes use and creates a special relationship that makes neglect or abuse especially egregious. This allows us to develop and defend an account of one important way in which agential confinement can be morally wrong. We then discuss some (...) of the account’s practical implications, including its usefulness for decision-making in real-world contexts in which animals are confined. (shrink)

The World Health Organization has declared a world pandemic due to COVID-19. In response, most affected countries have enacted measures involving compulsory confinement and restrictions on free movement, which likely influence citizens' lifestyles. This study investigates changes in health risk behaviors with duration of confinement. An online cross-sectional survey served to collect data about the Spanish adult population regarding health behaviors during the first 3 weeks of confinement. A large sample of participants from all Spanish regions completed (...) the survey. Binomial logistic regressions adjusted for socioeconomic characteristics, body mass index, previous HRBs, and confinement context were conducted to investigate associations between the number of weeks confined and a set of six HRBs. When adjusted, we observed significantly lower odds of experiencing a higher number of HRBs than before confinement overall in a time-dependent fashion: OR 0.63; 95% CI: 0.49–0.81 for the second and OR 0.47; 95% CI: 0.36–0.61 for the third week of confinement. These results were equally consistent in all age and gender subgroup analyses. The present study indicates that changes toward a higher number of HRBs than before confinement, as well as the prevalence of each HRB except screen exposure, decreased during the first 3 weeks of COVID-19 confinement, and thus the Spanish adult population may have adapted to the new situational context by gradually improving their health behaviors. (shrink)

Continued confinement of those most vulnerable to COVID-19—e.g., the elderly, those with chronic diseases and other risk factors—is presented as an uncontroversial measure when planning exit strategies from lockdown measures. Policies for deconfinement assume that these persons will remain confined even when others will not. This, however, could last quite a long time, and for some this could mean that they will remain in confinement for the rest of their lives.In a policy brief on ethical, legal, and social (...) issues of transition strategies, the Swiss national COVID-19 science task force stated that:Specific interventions should target the risks associated with isolation... (shrink)

Historically, prisoners in the United Stateshave served as an inexpensive and readilyavailable source of human subjects forresearch. Coinciding with the civil rightsmovement, however, was an emerging conceptionof prisoners'' rights that led to the NationalCommission for the Protection of Human Subjectsof Biomedical and Behavioral Research beingcharged with investigating the use of prisonersas research subjects. The recommendations thatevolved and the subsequent guidelines that havebeen implemented by the Department of Healthand Human Services significantly curtail theuse of prisoners as research subjects. Whilethese measures are (...) designed to protect inmatesfrom the abuses of the past, of particularconcern to many health care officials isexclusion of inmates from experimental HIV/AIDSand hepatitis treatments. This paper addresseswhether the vulnerability of prisoners in theUnited States due to their incarceration issufficient to prohibit them from participationin clinical trials that offer the possibilityof life-saving treatment. It first outlinesthe evolution in moral thinking that has led tolaws broadly prohibiting prisoners frombiomedical research studies and then analyzescases in the law to develop ethical argumentsin support of the view that prisoners should beallowed to participate in clinical trials. Theconclusion is that prisoners should be allowedto participate in such trials. (shrink)

Citizen petitions and legislative bills in seven states in the US have established space and movement limitations for selected species of farm animals. These actions show Americans becoming concerned about the humane treatment of confined farm animals, and willing to use governmental intervention to preclude existing confinement practices. The individual state provisions vary, including the coverage of species. All seven states deal with sow-gestation crates, five states address veal calf crates, and two states’ provisions also apply to battery cages (...) used for egg-laying hens. The actions show citizen and legislative opposition to current animal production practices, and suggest a movement to provide better treatment for farm animals. Accompanying the actions are challenges for animal production industries in remaining competitive while meeting social expectations on the ethical treatment of food animals. While the actions are only a small step in addressing welfare issues, they may be the beginning of a significant movement to do more to address human and animal welfare issues. (shrink)

Michel Foucault’s modes of power have dominated both our understanding of power and norm. It is pretty impossible to think of the organisation of life outside his thinking. Here I argue that the idea and practice of mutual aid, articulated by Peter Kropotkin in his 1902 book Mutual Aid stirs us towards a different understanding of the management of life, bereft of hierarchies and bestowed with co-operation and care. Moreover, as I argue, the existence of mutual aid groups and practices (...) challenges the very idea of the norm. This has become even more apparent during the Covid19 pandemic with the surfacing of mutual aid groups globally. It is therefore rather misleading to understand our present as generator of the ‘new normal’; such claims are mere rhetorical devices aiming at keeping us in our place. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Millennium Jahrgang: 10 Heft: 1 Seiten: 385-434.

My purpose in this paper is to show that current legal criteria for paternalistic involuntary psychiatric confinement of the mentally ill are both too narrow and too broad. I do this by first developing a principle of justified paternalistic interference with adults, which I take to be acceptably protective of individual liberty, but which does not require unnecessary sacrifices of individual welfare. After offering an analysis of current legal criteria for involuntary confinement, 1 argue that an acceptable theory (...) of paternalistic interference reveals that those criteria (1) exclude some cases where confinement would be morally permissible, and (2) allow paternalistic confinement of many whose detention is not morally justifiable. Keywords: paternalism, incompetence, involuntary civil confinement, liberty, beneficence, harm CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

We present a refinement ofthe bounded modified realizability which provides both upper and lower bounds for witnesses. Our interpretation is based on a generalisation of Howard/Bezem's notion of strong majorizability. We show how the bounded modified realizability coincides with our interpretation in the case when least elements exist . The new interpretation, however, permits the extraction of more accurate bounds, and provides an ideal setting for dealing directly with data types whose natural ordering is not well-founded.

This paper posits the concept of cognitive confinement as a useful tool for understanding the idea of decolonization of knowledge and the opposite notion of epistemic colonization. For the sake of...

Les périodes de confinement sont des moments éprouvants. On a la sensation de perdre nos repères. Nous nous sentons déboussolés. On peut cependant saisir l’occasion de faire le point. Sous le regard de la réflexion philosophique, ce petit livre est une tentative pour éviter de perdre le nord. L’auteur propose de courtes réflexions puisées à même la littérature philosophique. Sans prétention, il s’agit de fournir des pistes rendant intelligibles nos conditions d’êtres confinés.

RésuméCet article expose et analyse la notion de référentielà laquelle Gonseth avail consacré son dernier livre. II distingue un référentiel personnel qui comporte deux aspects et un référentiel de groupe qui lui aussi présente diverses modalités . Entre les référentiels personnels et les référentiels de groupe s'établit une symbiose existentielle favorisant les interactions. Cette notion de référentiel peut être utilisée avec profit pour décrire et interpréter les relations que ľhomme entretient avec ses semblables, avec les collectivités dont il fait partie (...) et avec le milieu naturel dans lequel il se trouve engagé.SummaryThis article presents and analyses the notion of reference frame, to which Gonseth devoted his last book. A personal reference frame involving two aspects is distinguished from a group reference frame which also takes various forms . Personal and group reference frames are in an existential symbiosis fostering interactions. This notion of reference frame may be used to advantage in describing and interpreting the relations between man and his fellow man, his organizations, and his natural environment. (shrink)

How to respond justly to the dangers persistent violent offenders present is a vexing moral and legal issue. On the one hand, we wish to reduce predation; on the other, we want to treat predators fairly. The central theme of this paper is that it is difficult to achieve both goals without compromising one of them, and that both are being seriously undermined. I begin by explaining the legal theory, doctrine and practice governing dangerous offenders and demonstrate that the law (...) leaves a gap in the ability to confine them. Next I explore the means by which the law has overtly or covertly sought to fill the gap. Many of these measures, especially the new form of civil commitment for sexual predators, dangerously conflate moral and medical categories. I conclude that pure preventive detention is more common than we usually assume, but that this practice violates fundamental assumptions concerning liberty under the American constitutional regime. (shrink)