Tōjisha research is a methodology intended to help psychiatric patients through dialogue. It was introduced in the context of community care in Bethel House (Hokkaido, Japan) in the early 2000s and later spread to other parts of Japan as well as abroad because of its originality and apparent therapeutic success. It offers patients a framework to investigate their own problems, symptoms, and delusions and to build a discourse around them. In this paper, I present a short account of tōjisha research (...) and I put it in the context of current debates over the benefits and drawbacks of narrative medicine. I argue that there is an original conception of the self and of empowerment of patients in tōjisha research compared to other models of narrative medicine. Finally, I mobilize these original aspects to address some rebuttals of narrative medicine. (shrink)

Having reviewed a considerable body of scholarly work in neuroethics related to DBS, Gilbert, Viaña, and Ineichen identify a major flaw in the debate—a “bubble” in the literature—and propose new directions for research. This comment addresses the authors’ diagnosis: What exactly is the nature of this bubble? Here, I argue that there are at least two different orientations in the “DBS causes personality changes” bubble. According to a first narrative, DBS is a special technology because its direct, causal action on (...) the brain leads to personality changes. This approach emphasizes the brain as the seat of personality, the locus of identity, or the center of agency. According to a second narrative, technology in general plays a major role in our lives and in our experiences as human subjects, and DBS is no exception. Technology matters up to the point that it reshapes, redefines, or re-determines traditional concepts such as personality, authenticity, or agency. I point out that both narratives are distinct components of the “DBS causes personality changes” bubble diagnosed by the authors of the target article and claim that the two narratives raise somehow different philosophical and empirical issues. (shrink)

How do we find out whether someone is conscious of some information or not? A simple answer is “We just ask them”! However, things are not so simple. Here, we review recent developments in the use of subjective and objective methods in implicit learning research and discuss the highly complex methodological problems that their use raises in the domain.

Neuroethics is a dynamic and still rather young interdisciplinary field involving neuroscience, philosophy, or bioethics, among other academic specialties. It is under a process of institutionalization on a global scale, although not at the same pace in every country. Much literature has been devoted to the discussion of the purpose and relevance of neuroethics as a field, but few attempts have been made to analyze its local conditions of development. This paper describes the advancement of neuroethics in Japan as a (...) case study on the ups and downs of the institutionalization of a new academic field. As one of the peculiarities of neuroethics is the diversity of its constituent subject areas, which range from ethics of neuroscience to neuroscience of ethics, the analysis relies on a framework delineating its different aspects. The discussion of the Japanese case study is embedded in several interpretations of the significance of the field proposed by various actors, proponents, or detractors of neuroethics. The history of neuroethics in Japan can be read as a contribution to meta-neuroethics by those interested in definitions of neuroethics, and as a study in science policy by those interested in the Japanese system of research. (shrink)

The advancement of and prospects for stem cell research raise a number of specific ethical issues. While navigating the ethical landscape of stem cell research is often challenging for biology researchers and biotechnology innovators, it is also difficult for the public and other persons of concern (from ethicists to policy-makers) to grasp the technicalities of a burgeoning field that develops in many directions. Organoids are one of these new biotechnological constructs that are currently eliciting a rich debate in bioethics. In (...) this guide, we argue that different types of organoids have different emerging properties with different ethical implications. Going from general properties to particular ones, we propose a typology of organoid technology and other associated biotechnology from a philosophical and ethical perspective. We point to relevant ethical issues and try to convey the sense of uncertainty peculiar to ongoing research and emerging technological objects. (shrink)

En "Science, Truth and Democracy" (2001) y Science in a Democratic Society" (2011a), Philip Kitcher propuso un modelo de "ciencia bien ordenada". A través del desarrollo de un ideal filosófico, la ciencia bien ordenada de Kitcher tiene como objetivo consolidar los requisitos de la democracia, así como de la práctica científica. El presente artículo trata de seguir este modelo ideal desde una perspectiva más empirica: ¿Hasta qué punto podemos aplicar dicha teoria en el plano de la política científica y de (...) los marcos institucionales? El enfoque se centra en un estudio de caso de un debate público sobre nanotecnología que tuvo lugar en Francia. (shrink)

Le droit de l arbitrage, plus encore que le droit international privé, se prête à une réflexion de philosophie du droit.

Partisane de l'objectivité, notre culture n'envisage la science que sous l'angle de la neutralité, qui serait le seul chemin vers la vérité. Pourtant, les physiciens soutiennent depuis longtemps déjà que l'observateur modifie l'observé. Et qu'en est-il des sciences humaines, où l'objet observé est en même temps le sujet observant : l'homme? Allant à contre-courant des positions habituellement admises, ce livre pose la question de la place du sujet dans la recherche en sciences humaines. Le "sujet" dont il est question ici (...) est double, à la fois "observant" et "observé" : de ce fait, le chercheur ne peut être que partial. "On voit aussi bien de biais que de face" : les différents chapitres de cet ouvrage démontrent en quoi la partialité constitue en réalité un atout. Le chercheur doit la considérer comme l'unique moyen d'accéder au débat critique. Il faut se départir du désir de "saisir le réel" et accepter que la recherche gagne en profondeur lorsqu'elle assume d'être impliquée, engagée. Ainsi, la partialité assumée sans peur de s'éloigner des critères habituels de "scientificité" devient ressource, renouveau, transformation théorique. Un ouvrage de réflexion, à rebours des idées reçues. (shrink)

During the 19th century, the Belgian Liberal Party was frequently divided between its «progressive» or «radical» wing and its conservative majority.Between 1880 and 1900, the program of the progressive liberalism was worked out and stated precisely during seven political meetings.The one hold in 1887 put the headlines into shape, chiefly : big extension of the franchise, compulsory education, disestablishment of the Church.In spite of their small number of members, the progressists were surely most influential upon the adoption of the universal (...) franchise. (shrink)

In recent years, the long-standing questions of why, how, and which farm families continue farming in the face of ongoing changes have increasingly been studied through the resilience lens. While this body of work is providing updated and novel insights, two limitations, a focus on macro-level challenges faced by the farm operation and a mismatch between the scale of challenges and resilience measures, likely limit our understanding of the factors at play. We use the example of medical economic vulnerability, a (...) micro-level challenge traditionally confined to the household sphere of the agri-family system, as a way to call attention to these limitations. Focusing on United States farm households, we assess: To what extent are they experiencing medical economic vulnerability when using objective and subjective outcome measures? Which demographic and farm characteristics are associated with experiencing medical economic vulnerability? What is the association between institutional arrangements and medical economic vulnerability? Our analysis of over 900 surveys coupled with a conceptual framework merging complementary insights from three bodies of literature revealed seemingly large differences in the prevalence of medical economic vulnerability across the objective and subjective measures with the subjective measure indicating a general sentiment of medical economic vulnerability in a majority of respondents. Conversely, limited variations were noted in who experiences medical vulnerability on the basis of demographic and farm characteristics, with stronger associations being connected to the households’ health insurance arrangements. We conclude with three implications of our findings for the farm resilience literature. (shrink)

Background Seeking assent from children for participation in medical research is an ethical imperative of numerous institutions globally. However, none of these organizations provide specific guidance on the criteria or process to be used when obtaining assent. The primary objective of this scoping review was to determine the descriptions of assent discussed in the literature and the reported criteria used for seeking assent for research participation in pre-adolescent children. Methods Medline and Embase databases were searched until November 2020 using the (...) term “assent” in the title or abstract. Inclusion criteria were (1) studies enrolling children which specifically described operationalization of the assent process and (2) studies of the assent process which provided a description of assent. Data collected included participant information, patient criteria for seeking assent, guidelines referenced, description of assent reported, how assent was obtained and assent information presented, and reported assent rate. For qualitative articles focusing on the assent process, important themes were identified. Results A total of 116 articles were included of which 79 (68.9%) operationalized assent and 57 studies (%) described the assent process. The most commonly reported criterion used to determine the ability of a child to assent was age (35.4%, 28/79). The reported minimal age for obtaining pediatric assent varied considerably across and within jurisdictions (5–13 years; median 7.5 years, IQR 7.0, 9.75). Cognitive ability was reported as a criterion for obtaining assent in 5.1% (4/79) of studies. Assent rates were only reported in 17.7% (14/79) of citations and ranged from 32.0 to 100%. Analysis of the 57 studies describing the assent process identified several themes, including age thresholds, assessment of capacity, variable knowledge of pediatric assent and parental roles. Conclusion We found significant variation in criteria used for assessment of patient capacity, delivery of information used to obtain assent and documentation of the assent process. While we acknowledge that individual children, settings and jurisdictions may require different approaches to obtaining assent, there should be agreement on important principles to be followed with resulting common guidance on assessing capacity, delivering information and documentation of the assent process for publication. (shrink)

Peu de philosophes sont issus des classes sociales défavorisées. Proudhon et Michel Onfray sont donc une exception. Cette situation les rapproche d’autant plus qu’ils sont tous deux fiers de cette origine et qu’ils estiment que ce parcours exceptionnel leur donne des devoirs envers ce peuple dont ils sont issus. Ainsi, devenus des intellectuels célèbres, ils conservent une grande proximité avec leur milieu d’origine, tout en se gardant de toute démagogie. Leur préoccupation principale est donc la mise en pratique de la (...) « démopédie », néologisme créé par Proudhon : il s’agit de donner la parole au peuple, c’est-à-dire l’outil intellectuel nécessaire pour exprimer sa pensée et ses besoins. Le rôle d’un philosophe plébéien consiste donc à aider le peuple à réfléchir sur le fonctionnement de la société et de la démocratie, afin qu’il cesse d’être dominé par l’élite politique et économique. Dans ce but, le philosophe plébéien propose des pistes pour instaurer une véritable démocratie grâce au mutualisme, et au fédéralisme appliqué aussi bien dans la vie économique que dans la vie politique. (shrink)

Drawing on the principle of subsidiarity, this article develops a framework for allocating medical decision-making authority in the absence of capacity to consent and argues that decisional authority in paediatric transgender healthcare should generally lie in the patient. Regardless of patients’ capacity, there is usually nobody better positioned to make medical decisions that go to the heart of a patient’s identity than the patients themselves. Under the principle of subsidiarity, decisional authority should only be held by a higher level decision-maker, (...) such as parents or judges, if lower level decision-makers are incapable of satisfactorily addressing the issue even with support and the higher level decision-maker is better positioned to satisfactorily address the issue than all lower level decision-makers. Because gender uniquely pertains to personal identity and self-realisation, parents and judges are rarely better positioned to make complex medical decisions. Instead of taking away trans youth’s authority over their healthcare decisions, we should focus on supporting their ability to take the best possible decision for themselves. (shrink)

Any attempt at consciousness assessment in organoids requires careful consideration of the theory of consciousness that researchers will rely on when performing this task. In cognitive neuroscience and the clinic, there are tools and theories used to detect and measure consciousness, typically in human beings, but none of them is neither fully consensual nor fit for the biological characteristics of organoids. I discuss the existing attempt relying on the Integrated Information Theory and its models and tools. Then, I revive the (...) distinction between global theories of consciousness and local theories of consciousness as a thought-provoking one for those engaged in the difficult task of adapting models of consciousness to the biological reality of brain organoids. The “microconsciousness theory” of Semir Zeki is taken as an exploratory path and illustration of a theory defending that minimal networks can support a form of consciousness. I suggest that the skepticism prevailing in the neuroscience community regarding the possibility of organoid consciousness relies on some assumptions related to a globalist account of consciousness and that other accounts are worth exploring at this stage. (shrink)

In conversation with Hortense Gallois’ recent essay on the importance of bioethicists participating in public discourse, I suggest that speaking up is as fraught as it is important. Focusing on the anti-trans movement’s misuse of expertise, I highlight the fine line between correcting misinformation and inadvertently causing harm through ill-timed speech. Drawing on the work of Eva Feder Kittay, I suggest that knowing when to speak up and when to stay silent starts with understanding the communities we speak about and (...) the consequences that our words can have on them. (shrink)

Assessment, new techno-scientific muse, which pilots the structural system reform and the style of management in schools today with hope of a greater efficiency, withdraws humanity to pedagogical practices and develop a anxiety’s climate, not conducive to learning. This impasse of desire, by a « case-file child » logic, threatens the very symbolic structures and the construction of thought. This perverse cycle uncovers the obscure side to good intentions, echoing the historical past of the Occident.

Tracer un parcours entre le début du XXe siècle et l'aube du XXIe siècle en compagnie de plusieurs artistes enseignants et de Rudolf Steiner en particulier, tel est l'objectif de cette étude. En mettant en connivence les grandes aventures que représentèrent la construction du Goethéanum près de Bâle à Dornach (1913-1918) et celle du Bauhaus à Weimar, Dessau, Berlin (1919-1933), l'auteur a voulu faire découvrir des territoires nouveaux d'où émergeait une Utopie de mission civilisatrice. Rudolf Steiner, tout comme Kandinsky, Klee (...) ou encore Beuys furent tout à la fois artistes et enseignants. Les témoignages de leurs contemporains permettent de les saisir dans cet instant fugace de la transmission, impalpable et magique à la fois, qui révèle la richesse de leurs êtres. Leur manière de vivre la transmission est imprégnée d'art : c'est un moment créateur dans l'échange. Alors que certains de ces idéaux perdurent d'un point de vue artistique, mais également pédagogique à travers l'existence des écoles Steiner-Waldorf, par exemple, qu'en est-il aujourd'hui de la question de la transmission par l'art? Cette immense liberté conquise par les artistes du XXe siècle ne devrait-elle pas faire valeur d'exemple lorsqu'il s'agit d'interroger son point de vue sur le monde? (shrink)

"An impressively reasoned and startlingly unorthodox treatise on religion." - Belles Lettres Florence Nightingale (1820-1920) is famous as the heroine of the Crimean War and later as a campaigner for health care founded on a clean environment and good nursing. Though best known for her pioneering demonstration that disease rather than wounds killed most soldiers, she was also heavily allied to social reform movements and to feminist protest against the enforced idleness of middle-class women. This original edition provides bold (...) new insights into Nightingale's beliefs and a new picture of the relationship between feminism and religion. Suggestions for Thought to the Searchers after Truth Among the Artisans of England (1860), which contains the novel Cassandra , is a central text in 19th-century history of feminist thought and is published here for the first time. Nightingale argues that work was the means by which every individual sought self-fulfillment and served God. She wrote influentially about the group most Victorians declared to be above work: unmarried, middle-class women. (shrink)

The question of the imperatives induced by the Gandhian concept of non-violence towards animals is an issue that has been neglected by specialists on the thinking of the Mahatma. The aim of this article is to highlight the systematic – and significant – character of this particular aspect of his views on non-violence. The first part introduces the theoretical foundations of the duty of non-violence towards animals in general. Gandhi's critical interpretation of cow-protection, advocated by Hinduism, leads to a general (...) reflection on the duty of non-violence towards animals, the cow being transformed into the representative of all dumb creation. The approach adopted by Gandhi to solving the problem of cow-protection focuses on its practical dimensions and is based primarily on reforming animal husbandry. What limits should be imposed on the exploitation of farm animals within the framework of non-violence? Gandhi devoted nearly 30 years to elaborating an animal husbandry system that would be both economically viable and in conformity with the universal ethical principles he drew from religions (especially Hinduism). The interdiction to kill is absolute, since Gandhi not only rejects the breeding of farm animals for the purposes of butchery but also the slaughtering of animals that are no longer capable of providing the services required of them. He therefore concentrated his efforts on drawing up a scheme to reorganize this activity on a national scale while taking into consideration these constraints, which are less contradictory than they may seem to be at first sight. Reviewing the age-old activity of animal husbandry in the light of non-violence is clearly based on the specific nature of Hindu traditions. However, it goes far beyond cultural or religious relativism, since it is also founded on universal ethical principles. (shrink)

Introduction Les femmes n'ont eu véritablement accès au pastorat dans les Églises protestantes françaises qu'en l966. Certes, une femme avait été consacrée en 1948, mais à condition de rester célibataire et sans enfants. Celles qui dans les années suivantes exercèrent exceptionnellement la fonction pastorale ne furent pas consacrées. L'accès des femmes au ministère féminin vient couronner de succès les efforts de plusieurs générations de partisans de l'égalité des sexes au sein du pro..

As global warming continues to attract growing levels of attention, various stakeholders have put climate change on corporate agendas and expect firms to disclose relevant greenhouse gas information. In this paper, we investigate the consistency of the GHG information voluntarily disclosed by French listed firms through two different communication channels: corporate reports and the Carbon Disclosure Project. More precisely, we contrast the amounts of GHG emissions reported and the methodological explanations provided in each channel. Consistent with a stakeholder theory perspective, (...) we find that GHG amounts are significantly lower in the CR than in the CDP. We also find that firms increase the CR figures’ traceability when there is a discrepancy between disclosures in the two channels. We suggest that the aim of this greater traceability is to enhance information credibility across the different channels used. (shrink)

Despite 40-year-old evidence of childcare challenges limiting women’s participation in agriculture in the United States, it was not until a major societal crisis, COVID-19, that farm organizations and policy makers began to recognize that these challenges negatively impact the farm enterprise. Among farm persistence and farm transition scholars, farm households’ social and economic needs, including childcare, have also been underappreciated despite the constant exchange of time, money, and energy between the farm household and the enterprise. We use survey responses from (...) 729 U.S. farm families to understand how children and their childcare needs shape the farm enterprise and the extent to which childcare arrangements, farm individuals and households, and farm enterprise characteristics interact with these decisions. A high proportion of respondents made changes to adapt to the needs of children with the greatest impact on farm productivity, followed by impact on the structure of labor on- and off- the farm, and impact on the farm enterprise structure. These impacts likely have short- and long-term consequences on the trajectory of the farm enterprise and well-being of the household. Different decisions required a different calculus and the trade-offs that respondents considered were shaped by access to a support system, access to financial resources, and specific needs of the children. Last, the limited variations across the four decisions for a number of farm individual and household characteristics hint both at the universality of being a farm parent needing to constantly adapt amid high rates of childcare challenges and inadequate social safety nets. We conclude our article by discussing the implications of our findings along with future research avenues. (shrink)

How to account for participants’ psychological and emotional exhaustion with research has been under‐explored in the research ethics literature. Research fatigue, as it is known, has significant impacts on patients’ well‐being and their ongoing and future participation in studies. From the perspective of researchers and researched communities, research fatigue also creates selection bias and opportunity costs, negatively impacting the collective scientific enterprise. Institutional Review Boards should systematically consider research fatigue during the research approval process and strive to mitigate it.

Volume 19, Issue 6, June 2019, Page W3-W4.

Scholars have noted persistent high rates of agricultural health and safety incidents and the need to develop more effective interventions. Participatory research provides an avenue to broaden the prevailing research paradigms and approaches by allowing those most impacted to illuminate and work to solve those aspects of their lives. One such approach is photovoice, an emancipatory visual narrative approach. Yet, despite its broad appeal, photovoice can be hard to implement. In this article, we leverage our experience using photovoice for a (...) farm children safety project to describe and reflect on the ethical and methodological aspects broadly relevant to agricultural health and safety topics. We first contextualize the tensions of navigating between photovoice, the research ethics committees (RECs) regulatory frameworks, and competing views on visual representations in agriculture. We then discuss the sources of risks to participants and researchers, how we addressed these risks, and how these risks unfolded during the research phase of the photovoice activity. We conclude with three lessons we (re)learned: the importance of collaborating with RECs, the need to increase preparation to limit psychological risks to participants and researchers, and avenues to augment the emancipatory power of photovoice in a virtual environment. (shrink)

Une semaine, a l'ecart, a Cerisy: il ne fallait pas moins d'un tel retrait, dans ce lieu prestigieux de la reflexion, pour pouvoir, en suivant l'itineraire de Francois Jullien, examiner comment rouvrir des possibles de la pensee. Pour deranger la pensee, en effet, les textes reunis ici croisent les points de vue les plus divers. Repartant de l'investissement initial du travail de Francois Jullien, ils s'interrogent sur l'ecart des langues et des pensees de la Chine et de l'Europe et ce (...) que celui-ci apporte pour envisager a nouveaux frais des questions telles que celles de la morale et de la strategie. Mais ils font egalement voyager d'un pole a l'autre, comme entre les pensees de l'universel et de l'intime; ou entre la pensee de l'immanence et son expression poetique; et d'abord entre les ressources premieres de la pensee: les langues et leur traduction. Du fait que Francois Jullien ne prend pas seulement la Chine comme un objet d'erudition, mais fait jouer a cette reference le role d'un operateur theorique, le champ balaye est logiquement des plus larges. Il peut aller de la pensee du commencement et du changement en physique a ce qui se redessine des enjeux politiques contemporains. Autant d'approches de prime abord dispersees mais qui font apparaitre que c'est, non du semblable, mais de l'ecart et de la tension qu'il organise, que peut se produire du commun. (shrink)

The “dynamic developmental” theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has come full circle from Wender's (1971) reinforcement hypothesis. By specifying the principle of time constraints on reinforcement and extinction, the present theory allows for empirical validation. However, the theory implies, but does not discuss, implications for the neurophysiology of comorbidity in ADHD. The authors' attribution of comorbid oppositional behavior to parental and societal reinforcement leaves out biological factors.

Numerous mediators are involved in both the control and the transmission of nociceptive messages, and several lines of research have been developed in the management of pain. Complete enkephalin- degrading enzyme inhibitors, which produce naloxone-reversible analgesia in all tests where morphine has been found to be active, remains the most promising way. CCK compounds, especially the CCKB antagonists also may be interesting drugs. Indeed, they are able to strongly potentiate the antinociceptive effects of the opioids. [dickenson, wiesenfeld-hallin et al.].

Does phenomenal consciousness overflow access consciousness? Some researchers have claimed that it does, relying on interpretations of various psychological experiments such as Sperling's or Landman's, and crucially using alleged subjective reports from participants to argue in favor of these interpretations. However, systematic empirical investigations of participants' subjective reports are scarce. To fill this gap, we reproduced Sperling's and Landman's experiments, and carefully collected reports made by subjects about their own experiences, using questionnaires and interviews. We found that participants' subjective reports (...) do not support the overflow thesis, but rather suggest alternative interpretations of the experiments. (shrink)

Although it has been recognized that employees regularly engage in non-green behaviors, little research has been conducted to explain how these behaviors may be avoided. Using data from a three-wave study, this study tested a moderated-mediation model in which trust in the immediate manager was expected to increase the indirect effect of supervisory support for the environment on non-green behaviors through employee environmental commitment. While the findings showed, as predicted, that exchange relationships with the immediate manager reduce the tendency of (...) employees to engage in non-green behaviors, the indirect effect of supervisory support on non-green behaviors through employee environmental commitment was moderated at a low level of trust in the manager, contrary to predictions. Though unexpected, this result seems less surprising when discussed in the light of negotiated exchange, suggesting that employee efforts to avoid non-green behaviors need to be seen as the result of a deal between managers and subordinates. The findings of this study contribute to the emerging literature on social exchange in an environmental context and have implications for organizations seeking to achieve environmental sustainability. (shrink)