In Pakistan, as in many non‐Western cultures, decisions about a patient's health care are often made by the family or the doctor. For doctors educated in the West, the Pakistani approach requires striking a balance between preserving indigenous values and carving out room for patients to participate in their medical decisions.

In this book, Masooda Bano presents an in-depth analysis of a new movement that is transforming the way that young Muslims engage with their religion. Led by a network of Islamic scholars in the West, this movement seeks to revive the tradition of Islamic rationalism. Bano explains how, during the period of colonial rule, the exit of Muslim elites from madrasas, the Islamic scholarly establishments, resulted in a stagnation of Islamic scholarship. This trend is now being reversed. Exploring (...) the threefold focus on logic, metaphysics, and deep mysticism, Bano shows how Islamic rationalism is consistent with Sunni orthodoxy and why it is so popular among young, elite, educated Muslims, who are now engaging with classical Islamic texts. One of the most tangible results of this revival is that Islamic rationalism - rather than jihadism - is emerging as one of the most influential movements in the contemporary Muslim world. (shrink)

In theory, a commercial market for kidneys could increase the scarce supply of transplantable organs and give impoverished people a new way to lift themselves out of poverty. In‐depth sociological work on those who opt to sell their kidneys reveals a different set of realities. Around the town of Sarghoda, Pakistan, the negative social and psychological ramifications of selling a kidney affect not only the vendors themselves, but also their families, communities, and even the country as a whole.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has a population of more than 145 million people, about 95% of whom are Muslims . Although it has a few large cities such as Karachi, almost 65% of the country is still rural, with a per capita income of $408 per year. The overall literacy rate is estimated to be 41.5% but is much lower for women in many of the provinces. Pakistan has a complex culture with many ethnic groups and socioeconomic strata, but (...) overall the society is characterized by hierarchical systems in both private and public domains. The population is religious and family centered with the “family” understood as extending beyond the nuclear; it is not uncommon to have three generations residing under one roof or within close proximity to each other and pooling their resources. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Although a preference for sons is reportedly a universal phenomenon, in some Asian societies daughters are considered financial and cultural liabilities. Increasing availability of ultrasonography and amniocentesis has led to widespread gender screening and selective abortion of normal female foetuses in many countries, including India. Feminists have taken widely divergent positions on the morality of this practice. Feminists from India have strongly opposed it, considering it as a further disenfranchisement of females in their patriarchal society, and have agitated successfully (...) for legislative prohibitions. Libertarian feminists on the other hand, primarily from the United States, have argued that any prohibition of the use of this technology is a curtailment of a woman's reproductive choices and a violation of her right to make autonomous decisions regarding procreation. Using India as an illustrative case, this paper argues that in the context of what prevails in some societies, an ethical argument that hinges on the principle of autonomy as understood in the West can be problematic. Furthermore, a liberal theoretical assumption that it is always better to have more rather than fewer choices may not hold up well against the realities of life for such women. Although feminists have little disagreement concerning substantive matters, it is in the area of strategy that differences of opinion have arisen, their moral reasoning and responses shaped by the culture, ethnicity, class and race to which they belong. A view that a single ‘orthodox’ feminism of any variety can embody the aspiration of all women reverts to the problematic issues in the evolution of the rationalistic, individualistic, ‘male’ ethics against which women have consistently raised objections. (shrink)

This essay provides a brief overview of the rise of organ trade in Pakistan towards the end of the last century and the concerted, collective struggle—of physicians and medical associations aided by the media, journalists, members of civil society, and senior judiciary—in pressuring the government to bring about and implement a national law criminalizing such practices opposed by an influential pro-organ trade lobby. It argues that among the most effective measures to prevent re-emergence of organ trafficking in the country is (...) increasing ethical live donations and above all, establishing sustainable, public supported deceased donor programs. To do this, the transplant community must recognize that organ transplantation is not merely a donor-recipient-physician transaction but a complex issue in which decisions to donate an organ are influenced by indigenous values and belief systems about human illness, life and death. (shrink)

North American writer Joan Didion’s eloquent testimonial speaks to the significance of storytelling in our lives. Personal storiesmake our lives meaningful. Part of this is because our stories, wittingly or not, become the means through which we fashion our identities for listeners. Or, as scholars from many disciplines have argued, identity and selfhoodare narrative accomplishments. In this formulation, an individual constructs a sense of self by telling stories or “personal narratives,” which describe “the evolution of an individual life over time (...) and in social context” (Maynes et al. in Telling stories: the use of personal narratives in the social sciences and in history. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 2008, 2). While personal narratives contain unique autobiographical elements, the logics of storytelling and the values and beliefs of a particular time and place also influence the kinds of stories people tell. As feminist historian Mary Jo Maynes and her coauthors argue: “The stories that people tell about their lives are never simply individual, but are told in historically specific times and settings and draw on the rules and models in circulation that govern how story elements link together in narrative logics” (2008, 2). Put another way, even the most idiosyncratic story is always in some way social: what narrators decide to tell is often guided by the expectations of audiences (real or imagined); the conventions of various genres (such as life history or autobiography); as well as the broader cultural narratives located in particular historical times and places. In this light, personal narratives at once provide evidence of a storyteller’s viewpoint and experiences as well as the social and cultural milieu in which they live. (shrink)

A intenção deste texto é articular dois temas pouco trabalhados juntos nas interpretações de Kant, embora sejam, segundo nosso entendimento, de fundamental importância para uma plena compreensão da filosofia kantiana e do conhecimento filosófico em geral: a disciplina da razão pura e a filosofia teórica. Pretendemos nos utilizar de algumas outras noções, no entanto, para responder a seguinte pergunta: é possível a formação sem a disciplina filosófica? Isto é, seria possível uma formação teórica sem uma disciplina ou uma “contribuição negativa” (...) proveniente da filosofia? O conceito de formação está, segundo gostaríamos de defender, de um ponto de vista teórico, associado intrinsecamente à disciplina da razão. Assim, indicando como esta é, em geral, relacionada, nas interpretações de Kant, apenas com a pedagogia e com a filosofia prática, gostaríamos de, indo no sentido contrário, tratar do lugar da disciplina da razão em relação ao conceito de formação em seu sentido teórico, isto é, de fundamentação do conhecimento. A disciplina da razão pura revela-se, portanto, uma condição necessária para o filosofar e para a formação do conhecimento em geral. (shrink)

In this article, I will try to explain the meaning of the word zihâr, translated as oath of the back, trying only to situate it in its context and to bring an elucidation of the subject`s origin. The zihâr is a type of repudiation used by a husband against his wife in the times of gâhiliyya (the ante-Islamic period), by using a solemn divorce formula which consists in saying: "let (her) be from now on as the back of my mother". (...) Therefore, backing up on this formula, I want to try to clarify this concept. (shrink)

It has been a little over three months since I returned. My day begins with an altercation with a new security guard who stops me as I drive up to the gate of the brand-new university hospital. He tells me that I am to use the other entrance, as only the chairman’s car is allowed through this gate. I inform him that I am the chairman. He peers at me suspiciously. The chairman sahib is a man not a woman, he (...) says. I put on a stern face and tell him that I am the chairman and he will get into trouble for not letting me through. He looks uncertain but eventually lets me drive in through the gate. I pick up my white coat and stethoscope from my... (shrink)

Despite the majority opinion of Muslim jurists that organ donation is permitted in Sharia, surveys indicate continuing resistance by lay Muslims, especially to donating organs following death. Pakistan, a country with 165 million Muslims, currently reliant on live donors, is considering steps to establish deceased donor programs which will require public acceptance and support. This article analyzes the results of in‐depth interviews with 105 members of the public focusing on opinions and knowledge about juristic rulings regarding kidney donations, donor‐family dynamics (...) in deceased donation decisions, and attitudes towards buying kidneys. The objective was to determine the influence if any of cultural and religious values, and norms of traditional family structures and kinships, on decisions to donate. Study participants view donation of kidneys, particularly from the deceased, through a different lens from that used by jurists and physicians, one that also does not conform to familiar paradigms defining ethical organ donation. A socially modulated understanding of Islam passed down the generations, and longstanding family‐centric norms, shape the moral worldview of many rather than academic juristic rulings or non‐contextual concepts of autonomy and rights. The results of this study also highlight that medical science may be universal but its application occurs within particularities of cultural and religious values, social constructs of the self and its relationship with others, and different ways in which humans comprehend illness, suffering, and death. These findings are of relevance both to transplant related professionals and bioethicists involved with this field. (shrink)

La tesis principal de este trabajo es que los modelos estadísticos facilitan explicaciones acerca de los errores que pueden cometer nuestros procedimientos de inferencia de datos a fenómenos, en el contexto de la estadística clásica o frecuentista. La explicación del error es una operación que, a su vez, ayuda a evitarlo en donde es evitable e intolerable; tolerarlo donde es inevitable y tolerable; y suspender el juicio donde es inevitable e intolerable. Todas estas operaciones son elementos de una práctica generadora (...) de evidencia confiable. Se ilustra esta tesis con el modelo lineal en econometría, el estimador de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios, el estimador y modelo de variables instrumentales y con los conceptos relacionados con las pruebas de hipótesis. Se pone especial énfasis en las propiedades de insesgadez, consistencia y precisión como caracterizaciones del tipo de error que se puede cometer usándo un estimador. Se sostiene que los modelos explican identificando patrones de dependencia contrafáctica entre características del mecanismo estocástico representadas por el modelo y características de los procedimientos inferenciales. (shrink)

The aim of this article consists in presenting an interpretation of the Critique of Pure Reason that begins with the notion of method in philosophy and it is way of exposition. This interpretation obeys the imperative of comprehending Kant’s philosophy as a whole and intends, doing do, point out the importance of the method in the study of kantian philosophy. After getting into the preliminary discussion about the possible interpretation of Kant’s method of philosophy and its importance, we present the (...) method, distinguishing it from the way of exposition. After that, we present the difference between the hole of definition in mathematics and philosophy. (shrink)

Resenha de: Blumenbach, J. F. Sobre o impulso de formação e a geração. Tradução, introdução e notas de Isabel Coelho Fragelli. Revisão técnica de Luciana Valéria Nogueira. Santo André: Editora UFABC, 2019.

El desarrollo local desde principios de los años noventa se encuentra influenciado por una corriente sociológica que propone el replanteamiento teórico de lo que la teoría ha llamado el sector rural. La Nueva Ruralidad en su perspectiva latinoamericana ubica aspectos de cambio fundamental en el territorio rural: encadenamientos urbano-rurales, el empleo rural no agrícola, la provisión de servicios ambientales, las certificaciones agroambientales o “sellos verdes”, los pueblos como centros de servicios, el papel activo de las comunidades y organizaciones sociales, y (...) la diversidad ecológica-cultural como patrimonio (Rojas, 2008). El objetivo de este documento es mostrar que existe un debate al interior de esta corriente que ha derivado en dos modelos de desarrollo regional sustentable contrapuestos, el enfoque basado en la participación del mercado y el que aboga por la autonomía, la autogestión y la autodirección del progreso de las comunidades rurales. (shrink)

Despite growing evidence that production of cartoons and caricatures of Muhammad causes deep hurt to Muslims across the world, European leaders are refusing to restrict their publication in the name of free speech. This article questions this position on three counts: one, the hurt these cartoons cause to the Muslims and the resulting frictions between Europe and leaders of the Muslim countries; two, the harm they cause to European societies by increasing the tension between Muslims and ordinary citizens and the (...) state at a time when Islamophobia and anti-immigrant feelings are already high; and, three, the need to question the intent of those publishing the cartoons given the overwhelming evidence on the first two counts. The article also questions the legitimacy and usefulness of labelling attacks triggered in response to these publications as ‘Islamic terrorism’ when the profiles of those perpetuating these attacks show criminal and deviant behaviour than evidence of religious devotion. The usefulness of using labels that make actions of a few taint whole of Islam, and Muslims as a collective, needs to be debated. (shrink)

The arrival of the Covid‐19 pandemic in Pakistan necessitated that the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture in Karachi realign its activities to changing realities in the country. As Pakistan's only bioethics center, and with no guidelines available for allocation of scarce medical resources, CBEC developed “Guidelines for Ethical Healthcare Decision‐Making in Pakistan” with input from medical and civil society stakeholders. The CBEC blog connected to the center's bioethics programs for students from Pakistan and Kenya shifted to Covid‐related issues specific (...) to the context of existing social and political realities within these countries. As part of its outreach activities, CBEC initiated a popular Facebook series, #HumansofCovid, as an experience‐sharing platform for health care professionals and members of the public. Narratives received vary from those by frustrated physicians under quarantine to those concerning street vendors left jobless and a transsexual person in whose opinion “social distancing” is not a new phenomenon for their communities. (shrink)

SummaryThis paper examines the official abortion statistics for South Australia since the legalization of abortion in January 1970. The incidence of abortion is shown to be increasing steadily—in 1976 more than half of the extramarital pregnancies were terminated and the overall ratio of abortions to live births was nearly 1:6. Most abortion patients were single, young women. Comparison of fertility levels in South Australia with the rest of Australia shows that the fertility decline has been much more rapid in South (...) Australia, suggesting that unless the South Australian women are more efficient users of contraception than other Australian women, a significant proportion of the fertility decline in South Australia has to be attributed to legalized abortion. (shrink)

Gabriel Rezende est à Jacques Derrida ce que Reiner Schürmann est à Martin Heidegger. Comme l’essai fondateur de Schürmann, Le principe d’anarchie. Heidegger et la question de l’agir, posait « la question du rapport entre théorie et pratique telle qu’elle résulte de la “déconstruction” » heideggérienne, celui de Rezende, Droit et normativité chez Jacques Derrida, pose celle des rapports entre éthique et morale telle qu’elle résulte de la déconstruction derridienne, c’est-à-dire d’une pensée «...

In this interview, poet practitioners and scholars Akhil Katyal and Aditi Angiras, traverse the intersections of queer identities, poetry/literature, digital spaces, and activism. Katyal and Angiras revisit/rethink the complexities of queer progress, emphasising a ‘capacious hermeneutics’ and deconstructing monolithic narratives that centres on same-sex marriage or assimilation into heteronormative structures. They reflect on the fluidity of queer identities, highlighting the evolving relationship individuals have with the names/labels they choose for themselves. The interview further explores the disparity in queer representation within (...) academic versus popular culture, with a focus on the underrepresentation of queer women and trans men in media/television/popular culture, in contrast to their prominence in academia. Katyal and Angiras accentuate the transformative potential of digital platforms, examining how they both amplify queer voices and expose individuals to heightened vulnerability, ‘accelerated versions of reality’, and trolling. The poets emphasise the need to embrace heterotopias, diverse, coexisting spaces of queer expressions and activism, while acknowledging the ongoing struggles for trans/queer safety, homelessness, and marginalised communities within the larger queer movement. As well, the conversation informs the ongoing evolution of queer narratives both in literature, poetry, and broader cultural spaces, advocating for inclusivity, intersectionality, and a departure from monolithic understandings of queer progress. (shrink)

Kripke-Putnam argument for natural kind essentialism can be said to depend on placeholder essentialist intuitions. But some argue that such philosophical intuitions are merely preschooler cognitive biases which are not supported by scientific knowledge of natural kinds. Chemical substances, for instance, whether elements or compounds do not have such privileged set of underlying properties (‘same substance’ relation) which are present in all members of the kind and which provide necessary and sufficient condition for kind membership. In this paper, I argue (...) that placeholder essentialism works for at least some of the scientific natural kinds especially for the basic chemical natural kind, i.e., element. I argue that the dual sense of the element (the basic substance and the simple substance) along with microstructuralism helps explain the essence of an element not only at the abstract level but also at the more concrete level. Based on this essentialist account of element, I conclude that placeholder essentialism is not completely without merit, and it fits nicely with at least some of our scientific natural kinds. (shrink)

Philosophy & Social Criticism, Volume 48, Issue 4, Page 544-555, May 2022. Despite growing evidence that production of cartoons and caricatures of Muhammad causes deep hurt to Muslims across the world, European leaders are refusing to restrict their publication in the name of free speech. This article questions this position on three counts: one, the hurt these cartoons cause to the Muslims and the resulting frictions between Europe and leaders of the Muslim countries; two, the harm they cause to European (...) societies by increasing the tension between Muslims and ordinary citizens and the state at a time when Islamophobia and anti-immigrant feelings are already high; and, three, the need to question the intent of those publishing the cartoons given the overwhelming evidence on the first two counts. The article also questions the legitimacy and usefulness of labelling attacks triggered in response to these publications as ‘Islamic terrorism’ when the profiles of those perpetuating these attacks show criminal and deviant behaviour than evidence of religious devotion. The usefulness of using labels that make actions of a few taint whole of Islam, and Muslims as a collective, needs to be debated. (shrink)

El Programa Interuniversitario de la Experiencia (PIE) de la Universidad de Burgos (UBU), como programa de educación no formal para personas adultas, ha buscado ampliar las oportunidades de sus estudiantes y personal a través del desarrollo de asociaciones internacionales en el marco del Programa Erasmus+. Teniendo en cuenta las prioridades del Programa, como son la inclusión y la diversidad, la transformación digital, el medio ambiente y la lucha contra el cambio climático y la participación en la vida democrática, se ha (...) articulado un completo proyecto KA122-ADU de movilidad de corta duración de Educación de Personas Adultas. (shrink)

Contemporary bioethics has evolved over the past 40 years predominantly as a “Western” construct drawing fundamental inspiration for its conceptual and methodological frameworks from secular, Anglo-American philosophical traditions. American bioethicists can be credited with playing a defining role in the globalization of this new discipline to the developing countries of the world, but in this process, in the words of LaFleur, “Bioethics has become international without becoming internationalized.” Among the criticisms leveled against the dominant American model of bioethics is that (...) in its focus on universalism it ignores local cultural and religious influences that are vital to the comprehension of the moral life in many societies. Medical sociologist Renée C. Fox and historian Judith P. Swazey have termed this as a form of “cultural myopia.”. (shrink)