Due to the rapid advance of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, several countries perceived that human and material resources would be insufficient to meet the demand of infected patients. The aim of this study is to analyze the knowledge of health professionals working in the pandemic about the application of ethical criteria in decision-making in situations of resource scarcity. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and quantitative survey study, conducted from June to December 2020, with health professionals working in the COVID-19 (...) pandemic in Brazil. We applied a questionnaire to assess the professionals’ knowledge about ethical criteria in decision-making in the allocation of scarce resources during the pandemic, containing 14 questions and possible score from 0 to 70, which was developed by researchers from documents and protocols validated by organizations from various countries, available in the first months of the pandemic, a sociodemographic characterization questionnaire and a self-assessment questionnaire regarding knowledge about bioethics. A total of 197 health professionals participated in the study, 37.6% of whom were nurses and 22.8% of whom were physicians, working in the Family Health Unit (28.4%) with a degree at the level of specialization (46.2%). Moreover, (9.5%) of nurses, (18.2%) of dental surgeons and (24.4%) of physicians reported that they have no prior knowledge about bioethics. Physicians and hospital workers scored higher on the knowledge assessment questionnaire. The mean score of the participants was 45.4 (SD = 7.2). Investments in training and professional education in the field of health focused on Bioethics are necessary, considering models and ethical theories that help professionals, managers and society to better position themselves in the face of pandemic contexts. (shrink)

One of the most debated questions surrounding Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions is the search for the structural unity of its thirteen books. In this article, based on an analysis of the of Augustine’s ecstasies in Milan and Ostia, and of the influence of Plotinian Neoplatonism and Pauline theology on Augustinian thought, we intend to offer a new interpretative hypothesis, according to which the ternary division of the Confessions (Books I-IX, Book X, Books XI-XIII) reflects the Christian conception of the anagogic (...) stages of the human soul towards divinity. (shrink)

Uma leitura do verso 179 da Medeia de Sêneca sob o enfoque processual do Direito Romano, vinculado às diversas disposições legais relativas às actiones noxalis , permite o alargamento da compreensão do estatuto da protagonista trágica. Nessa nova possibilidade tradutória, Medeia adquiriu, de modo claro, a feição de injustiçada, com o realce da perfídia de Jasão e da tirania de Creonte. Por outro lado, essa leitura processual do texto literário senequiano ainda permite a percepção da prática da contaminatio efetuada pelo (...) autor, que atualizou a narrativa grega para a realidade latina por meio de sua adequação jurídica à realidade romana. (shrink)

O artigo discute as principais questões morais colocadas pelo descarte de embriões necessário para a pesquisa com células-tronco embrionárias e para a fertilização in vitro e pela seleção de embriões usando diagnóstico genético pré-implantação. Depois de apresentar as principais teorias sobre o status moral do embrião, é defendida a tese de que embriões humanos não têm direito à vida, embora devam ser tratados com respeito. Em seguida, a revisão dos quatro principais argumentos contra a seleção de embriões levou à conclusão (...) de que eles não são suficientes para justificar a proibição dessa tecnologia. Por fim, algumas aplicações muito controversas dessa tecnologia são apresentadas e discute-se brevemente qual princípio moral é mais adequado para decidir qual embrião deve ser implantado. (shrink)

This article seeks to clarify the value of the Christian faith improvements through well founded arguments, in order to protect it from a certain lessening to the immanent and temporal ideas, aiming to the existentiality of the Christian being who reads up on what is eschatological. The proposed itinerary is achieved by the authentic awareness of sin, so that the sinner recognizes himself as such one and experiences the saving presence of God, both personally and socially. The methodology used was (...) based on bibliographical and electronic researches related to the proposed theme. Basically there was the usage of some renowned authors like Zygmunt Bauman, on his expressiveness of the liquid modernity, Alonso Schökel, on his biblical approach, and also several pronouncements of the Magisterium of the Universal and Latin American Church, as well as references to Sacred Scripture. The route passed through the present liquidity in today's reality to the firmness of spirituality, more specifically the one concerning the people of Israel through the Psalms, in the revisiting of such spiritual genesis. Among these, one opted for the penitential sphere, with a greater focus on Psalm 32. A deep-rooted and permanent spirituality was achieved through the cultivation of communion with God, assuring master pilasters to live the faith extensively in the midst of the contemporary times swifts. (shrink)

Purpose: Performance measurement systems (PMS) in Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) are more complex than in for-profit organizations. NPOs have an orientation towards social mission and values, and they consider not only organizational efficiency and viability, but also the social impact of the organization. This research provides a comprehensive synthesis of PMSs in NPOs. Design/methodology/approach: Using a literature review, supported by bibliometric and network analyses. A paper set of 240 articles related to this research field is examined. Topics that are the most (...) prevalent in this research area and their interrelationships are identified, presenting an outline of current efforts. Findings: Despite the descriptive analyses for the paper set, a framework is proposed for organizing the design-implementation factors of PMSs in nonprofit organizations, identifying the main requirements for their successful development. Originality/value: Investigation on performance measurement in nonprofit organizations is still in its early stages of development with many opportunities to further develop the field. Conceptual frameworks and models, as well as specific theories, are being generated for this field of research, and the process of adapting models from the general field of performance measurement is taking place. The meta-framework that organizes the main research topics of PMS in nonprofit organizations and the framework that consolidates factors that influence the design-implementation of PMSs in nonprofit organizations developed represents this paper contribution. (shrink)

Analogies between Newtonian mechanics and evolutionary processes are powerful but not infinitely versatile tools for generating explanations of particular biological phenomena. Their explanatory range is sensitive to a preliminary decision about which processes count as background conditions and which as special forces. Here I argue that the defenders of the zero-force evolutionary law are mistaken in defending their decision as the only appropriate one. The Hardy–Weinberg principle remains a viable option that is consistent with the epistemic role of Newton’s own (...) first law, and the strengths and weaknesses of each analogy are sufficiently distinct to justify their continued coexistence. (shrink)

The term ‘homology’ is persistently polysemous, defying the expectation that extensive scientific research should yield semantic stability. A common response has been to seek a unification of various prominent definitions. This paper proposes an alternative strategy, based on the insight that scientific concepts function as tools for research: When analyzing various conceptualizations of homology, we should preserve those distinguishing features that support particular research goals. We illustrate the fruitfulness of our strategy by application to two cases. First, we revisit E. (...) Ray Lankester’s celebrated (1870) evolutionary reappraisal of homology and argue that his analysis has been distorted by assimilation to modern agendas. His ‘homogeny’ does not mean the same thing as modern evolutionary ‘homology,’ and his ‘homoplasy’ is no mere antonym. Instead, Lankester uses both new terms to pose a question that remains strikingly relevant—how do mechanistic and historical causes of morphological resemblance interact? Second, we examine the puzzle of avian digit homology, which exemplifies disciplinary differences in homology conceptualization and assessment. Recent progress has been fueled by the development of new tools within the relevant disciplines (paleontology and developmental biology) and especially by increasing interdisciplinary cooperation. Conceptual unification has played very little role in this work, which instead seeks concrete evolutionary scenarios that integrate all the available evidence. Together these cases indicate the complex relationship between concepts and other tools in homology research. (shrink)

Recent philosophical work on biological homology has generally treated its conceptual fragmentation as a problem to be solved by new accounts that either unify disparate approaches to homology or specify sharp constraints on its meaning. I show that several proposed solutions either misunderstand or ignore central features of comparative biological research, despite attempts to capture scientific practice. I conclude that the problem is incorrectly framed and that disagreements about homology may be epistemically fruitful. Empirically tractable debates are more likely to (...) occur among biologists who share theoretical perspectives on homology. Philosophers should consider homology not merely as a generator of inductive generalizations but also as a scaffold for meaningful empirical comparisons. (shrink)

The central aim of science is to make sense of the world. To move forward as a community endeavor, sense-making must be systematic and focused. The question then is how do scientists actually experience the sense-making process? In this chapter we examine the “practice turn” in science studies and in particular how as a result of this turn scholars have come to realize that models are the “functional unit” of scientific thought and form the center of the reasoning/sense-making process. This (...) chapter will explore a context-dependent view of models and modeling in science. From this analysis we present a framework for delineating the different aspects of model-based reasoning and describe how this view can be useful in educational settings. This framework highlights how modeling supports and focuses scientific practice on sense-making. (shrink)

The ability to develop and use models to explain phenomena is a key component of the Next Generation Science Standards, and without examples of what modeling instruction looks like in the reality of classrooms, it will be difficult for us as a field to understand how to move forward in designing curricula that foreground the practice in ways that align with the epistemic commitments of modeling. In this article, we illustrate examples drawn from a model-based curriculum development project to problematize (...) and bring to the fore issues and tensions we observed through the course of modeling instruction. In doing so, we argue that instruction that is model-based may not be actualizing modeling as an epistemic practice to support student sensemaking. We suggest that this kind of enactment may be a result of the tensions between viewing models as content to be learned and modeling as a scientific practice in which the end products are not known ahead of time. We discuss the implications of our analysis for teacher learning and curriculum development. (shrink)

Este texto trata de uma experimentação na formação de professoras da educação infantil e dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública da região metropolitana de Porto Alegre (RS), por meio de práticas de leitura, escrita e conversação, as quais se desdobram em experimentações com as crianças. Tal processo é pensado nas companhias de Sêneca (2018), com seu conceito de leitura e escrita, de Kopenawa (Kopenawa; Albert, 2015), a partir do conceito de palavra, e de Foucault (2004, 2011), (...) considerando-se o conceito de subjetivação. Tal experimentação, que se deu no encontro entre a escrita e a oralidade, foi tomada para pensar nas contribuições para os estudos que compõem a filosofia com crianças. Nesse sentido, a leitura, a escrita e a contação de histórias teriam menos a ver com informações, e mais com o que estamos nos tornando, com a agilidade do nosso pensamento, com nossa sabedoria. Desse modo, conceitos da antiguidade greco-romana e das comunidades ameríndias brasileiras são tomados como ferramentas potentes para pensar a escola contemporânea como possibilidade, ainda, de formação humana. Para tanto, defende-se a conversação entre os vivos e os mortos via texto na escola, espaço público e coletivo, o que poderia ser tomado como uma perspectiva de subjetivação para um pensamento e uma vida mais afirmativos em tempos de tanta pobreza narrativa. (shrink)

Does national success with an emerging technology require ethical sacrifices? This question is considered through the simultaneous consideration of ethics, investment, and outcomes in the nine jurisdictions that are making the largest investments in nanotechnologies—an important emerging technology. It is found that while ethical environment has no notable effect on pure and applied research, a more positive ethical environment is associated with measures associated with invention and commercialization. In summary, a race-to-the-top supports invention and commercialization of emerging technologies. A critical (...) finding as it suggests that issues such as corruption and regulation could be critical in limiting the extraction of social and economic benefit from emerging technologies (like nanotechnologies). (shrink)

I argue that culpable ignorance can be irreducibly collective. In some cases, it is not fair to expect any individual to have avoided her ignorance of some fact, but it is fair to expect the agents together to have avoided their ignorance of that fact. Hence, no agent is individually culpable for her ignorance, but they are culpable for their ignorance together. This provides us with good reason to think that any group that is culpably ignorant in this irreducibly collective (...) sense is non-distributively collectively responsible for subsequent unwitting acts and consequences. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction: From Continental Europe to Latin America The First Generation The Second Half of the Twentieth Century Conclusion References Further Reading.

This paper focuses on Kant's account of physical geography and his theory of the Earth. In spelling out the epistemological foundations of Kant's physical geography, the paper examines 1) their connection to the mode of holding-to-be-true, mathematical construction and empirical certainty and 2) their implications for Kant's view of cosmopolitan right. Moreover, by showing the role played by the mathematical model of the Earth for the foundations of Kant's Doctrine of Right, the exact relationship between the latter and physical geography (...) is highlighted. Finally, this paper shows how, in Kant's view, the progress of physical geography can be assured if and only if the free circulation of human beings is established and regulated by law. Therefore, examining the mutual relationship between the theory of Earth and the foundations of right opens new perspectives on the relationship between epistemology and practical philosophy within Kant's system. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Abstract Introduction Relativism and Apparent Faultless Disagreement The Many Relativisms: Moderate vs. Radical Moderate Relativisms: Indexical vs. Non ‐ indexical Contextualism Radical Relativism: Content vs. Truth Relativism The Many “Relativism”s References.

This chapter contains sections titled: Abstract The Model ‐ Theoretic Argument Difficulties and Differences Putnam's Progress Implications Objections and Replies References.