ABSTRACT:In this paper we examine how ethical values contribute to national economic prosperity. We extend the concept of an ethical wealth of nations first introduced by Donaldson in which he proposed four categories of ethical values—fairer distribution of goods, better government, ingrained social cooperation, and inculcation of economic duties—that can drive economic performance, but only if citizens ascribe “intrinsic value” to them independent of their economic interests. Our analysis draws on institutional economics and sociology research to show that if ethical (...) values are to drive economic performance, they must also be supported by the institutional fabric of the nation. We embed an expanded set of ethical values in a set of democratic, free market and civil society institutions spanning three sectors of society—political, economic and cultural respectively. We conclude by discussing the implications of our institutional framework for moral education. (shrink)

Since Barry Stroud's classic paper in 1968, the general discussion on transcendental arguments tends to focus on examples from theoretical philosophy. It also tends to be pessimistic, or at least extremely reluctant, about the potential of this kind of arguments. Nevertheless, transcendental reasoning continues to play a prominent role in some recent approaches to moral philosophy. Moreover, some authors argue that transcendental arguments may be more promising in moral philosophy than they are in theoretical contexts. Against this background, the current (...) volume focuses on transcendental arguments in practical philosophy. Experts from different countries and branches of philosophy share their views about whether there are actually differences between "theoretical" and "practical" uses of transcendental arguments. They examine and compare different versions of transcendental arguments in moral philosophy, explain their structure, and assess their respective problems and promises. This book offers all those interested in ethics, meta-ethics, or epistemology a more comprehensive understanding of transcendental arguments. It also provides them with new insights into uses of transcendental reasoning in moral philosophy. (shrink)

In der Rekonstruktion zentraler Gedanken beschranke ich mich auf die Philosophie des Organischen. Zunachst fuhre ich in Jonas' Stufenfolge des organischen Lebens und die "hochste" Stufe--d.i. seine Bestimmung des Menschen--ein und erganze diese Bestimmung; sodann rekapituliere ich seine Lesart der Stufen des Organischen uber die Stufe des einfachen Organismus bis zum hochentwickelten Tier unter Einbeziehung von moglichen naturwissenschaftlichen Einwanden. Endlich erortere ich Jonas' phanomenologisches Verstehen der Evolution "vom Hochsten aus" und konfrontiere es mit einer evolutionstheoretischen "Erklarung von unten" am Beispiel (...) einer evolutionstheoretischen Erklarung "von unten", die Wolf Singer in seiner neurophysiologisch-evolutionistischen Erklarung des menschlichen "Bewusstseins" aus Elementen, Strukturen und Funktionen des Gehirns vorgeschlagen hat. (edited). (shrink)

The Bohm-Bub hidden-variable theory is able to predict the results of measuring a quantum system only in the special case where the set of commuting observables being measured is complete. To handle the much more common case where the set is incomplete, Tutsch has proposed a generalization of the Bohm-Bub model. Unfortunately, as we show here, Tutsch's original method does not yield the correct quantum mechanical transition probabilities. On the other hand, Belinfante's modification of Tutsch's method does yield the correct (...) probabilities, and it gives a satisfactory hidden-variable theory of partial measurement for the case where one or more commuting variable(s) are measured at a single space-time point. In the case where the variables are measured at different space-time points, the theory is inadequate, due to the fact that it is not relativistically covariant, and does not take relaxation of the hidden variables into account. (shrink)

Das Selbstverständnis des demokratischen Rechtsstaates ist durch ein facettenreiches Spannungsverhältnis von Moral und Recht geprägt. So bindet etwa das Grundgesetz mit der Verpflichtung zur Achtung und zum Schutz der Würde des Menschen wie auch mit dem Bekenntnis zu”unverletzlichen und unveräußerlichen“Menschenrechten alles staatliche Handeln an zentrale Postulate einer universalistischen Moral. Wenn Menschenwürde keiner noch so mehrheitlichen Meinung zur Disposition stehen dürfen, müssen sie dem politischen Streit entzogen sein. Diesem konstitutionalistischen Verständnis des Rechtsstaates scheint ein radikaldemokratisches Modell der Republik entgegenzustehen, nach dem (...) eine politisch autonome Gesellschaft allein vermittels Gesetzen auf sich einwirkt, die aus Verfahren chancengleicher Teilnahme an politischer Willensbildung hervorgehen. Nach diesem Modell kann es keine außerpolitische Quelle rechtlicher Legitimität geben. Doch was bedeutet es für den Legitimitätsanspruch des demokratischen Rechtsstaates, wenn er gar nicht allen von der Herrschaft : etroffenen9 jene Rechte gleichumfänglich gewähren kann, die politische Autonomie konstituieren? Wie verträgt sich der idealisierte Gedanke einer vollständig inklusiven politischen Selbstbestimmung mit dem faktisch unausweichlichen Umstand, dass die Mehrheit der Rechtsadressaten immer einer Minderheit von Autoren gegenübersteht? Muss nicht jede realistische demokratische Lösung des juridischen Legitimationsproblems hinter dem kategorischen Anspruch zurückbleiben, den unverzagte Moraltheoretiker im Anschluss an Kant für das Menschenrecht reklamieren? Welche normative Rolle spielt dann der Begriff der Menschenwürde im diskurspragmatisch entschlüsselten Spannungsfeld von Moral und demokratisch erzeugtem Recht? (shrink)

With the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), global researchers were confronted with major challenges. The German National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON) was launched in fall 2020 to effectively leverage resources and bundle research activities in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We analyzed the setup phase of NAPKON as an example for multicenter studies in Germany, highlighting challenges and optimization potential in connecting 59 university and nonuniversity study sites. We examined the ethics application (...) process of 121 ethics submissions considering durations, annotations, and outcomes. Study site activation and recruitment processes were investigated and related to the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections. For all initial ethics applications, the median time to a positive ethics vote was less than two weeks and 30 of these study sites (65%) joined NAPKON within less than three weeks each. Electronic instead of postal ethics submission (9.5 days (Q1: 5.75, Q3: 17) vs. 14 days (Q1: 11, Q3: 26), p value = 0.01) and adoption of the primary ethics vote significantly accelerated the ethics application process. Each study center enrolled a median of 37 patients during the 14-month observation period, with large differences depending on the health sector. We found a positive correlation between recruitment performance and COVID-19 incidence as well as hospitalization incidence. Our analysis highlighted the challenges and opportunities of the federated system in Germany. Digital ethics application tools, adoption of a primary ethics vote and standardized formal requirements lead to harmonized and thus faster study initiation processes during a pandemic. (shrink)

The present study focuses on the association between peer integration and the development of depressive symptoms in secondary school students. A sample of 393 7th grade students (194 boys, 199 girl...

While in the beginning of the environmental debate, conflicts over environmental and technological issues had primarily been understood in terms of ‘‘risk’’, over the past two decades the relevance of ignorance, or nonknowledge, was emphasized. Referring to this shift of attention to nonknowledge the article presents two main findings: first, that in debates on what is not known and how to appraise it different and partly conflicting epistemic cultures of nonknowledge can be discerned and, second, that drawing attention to nonknowledge (...) in technology conflicts results in significant institutional effects and new constellations of actors in public debates. To illustrate and substantiate this political dynamics of nonknowledge we draw upon examples from the areas of agri-biotechnology and mobile phoning. In a first step, we develop in greater detail the concept of scientific cultures of nonknowledge and identify three such cultures involved in the social conflicts within the two areas. Subsequently, we analyze the specific dynamics of the politicisation of nonknowledge looking at the variety of actors involved and the pluralisation of perceptions and evaluations of what is not known. Then, we point out some of the institutional reactions to the political and cultural dynamics of scientific nonknowledge. We argue that the equal recognition of the diverse cultures of nonknowledge is a key prerequisite for socially legitimate and ‘‘robust’’ decision-making under conditions of politicised scientific nonknowledge. (shrink)

This paper analyzes the internet policy discourse regarding the German Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) in different media settings. We examine the conversation about this highly controversial anti-hate speech law on IT blogs, websites, and in daily German newspapers. We compare the positions brought forward in these different media environments concerning one of the most important topics within the discussion about the NetzDG, specifically the question of whether or not the law will result in censorship, limiting users’ freedom of expression. We (...) employ pretrained transformer-based language models to detect and quantify recurring arguments in the debate. (shrink)

This article discusses ethnoveterinary medical pluralism in Western Kenya. Qualitative methods of data collection such as key informant interviews, open-ended in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), narratives, and participant and direct observations were applied. The study shows that farmers in Nyang’oma seek both curative and preventive medical services for their animals from the broad range of health care providers available to them within a pluralistic medical system. Kleinman’s model of medical pluralism, which describes the professional, folk, and popular sectors, informs (...) this discussion because of its relevance and appropriateness to the study. It is, however, important to note the overlap in the three sectors and to point out that livestock farmers engage in multiple “consultations” based on a combination of their own characteristics and the cost, availability and specialization of health care providers. The study concludes by recognizing the complexity of ethnoveterinary medical pluralism and calls for the integration of a pluralistic perspective into the planning and implementation of animal health care interventions and services. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Jahrbuch für Wissenschaft und Ethik Jahrgang: 18 Heft: 1 Seiten: 173-198.

Provability, Computability and Reflection.

The aim of this paper is to use a frame-based account to explain some empirical findings regarding the accessibility of synaesthetic metaphors. Therefore, some results of empirical studies will be discussed with regard to the question of how much it matters whether the concept of the source domain in a synaesthetic metaphor is a scalar or a quality concept. Furthermore, typed frames are introduced, and it is explained how the notion of a minimal upper attribute can be used in the (...) analysis of adjective-noun compounds. Finally, frames are used to analyze synaesthetic metaphors; it turns out that they offer an adequate basis for the explanation of different accessibility rates found in empirical studies. (shrink)

Background: In modern society, death has become ‘forbidden’ fed by the medical technology to conquer death. The technological paradigm is challenged by a social-liberal political ideology in postmodern Western societies. The question raised in this study was as follows: Which arguments, attitudes, values and paradoxes between modern and postmodern tendencies concerning treatment and care of older persons with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator appear in the literature? Aims: The aim of this study was to describe and interpret how the field of (...) tension concerning older persons with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator – especially end-of-life issues – has been expressed in the literature throughout the last decade. Methods: Paul Ricoeur’s reflexive interpretive approach was used to extract the meaningful content of the literature involving qualitative, quantitative and normative literature. Analysis and interpretation involved naive reading, structural analysis and critical interpretation. Ethical considerations: The investigation complied with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Findings and discussions: The unifying theme was ‘Normativity under change’. The sub-themes were ‘Death has become legitimate’, ‘The technological imperative is challenged’ and ‘Patients and healthcare professionals need to talk about end-of-life issues’. There seems to be a considerable distance between the normative approach of how practice ought to be and findings in empirical studies. Conclusion: Modern as well as postmodern attitudes and perceptions illustrate contradictory tendencies regarding deactivation of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator and replacement of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator in older persons nearing the end of life. The tendencies challenge each other in a struggle to gain position. On the other hand, they can also complement each other because professionalism and health professional expertise cannot stand alone when the patient’s life is at stake but must be unfolded in an alliance with the patient who needs to be understood and accepted in his vulnerability. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungNeben grundsätzlichen konzeptionellen Fragen der sog. Individualisierten Medizin, prägen ethische Bedenken und Fragen die aktuellen Debatten um die IM. Allerdings ist bislang noch nicht geklärt, in welchem methodischen Rahmen diese Fragen verortet werden können. Für die Entwicklung eines solchen Rahmens wird das Modell der First- und Second-Wave-Bioethics diskutiert und an zwei konkreten Herausforderungen – 1) dem Verhältnis der IM zur evidenz-basierten Medizin und 2) am Konzept der genetischen Risikoperson – aufgezeigt. Eine solche Kontextualisierung der IM-Debatte legt den Grundstein für eine (...) adäquate Erfassung und Bearbeitung sozialethischer Fragen. (shrink)

In this interdisciplinary examination of the discourse of environmentalism, the authors explore the linguistic, philosophical, psychological and cultural-historical aspects of environmental discourse; rather than environmental phenomena themselves. This volume is not advocacy on environmentalism, rather, it is an analysis of the means of persuasion and the techniques of advocacy used by both sides of the environmental debate between `conservationists' and `conservatives'. The book includes an analysis of the concepts of time and space in their linguistic manifestations. Another theme is the (...) interdependencies of the natural world with political and economic institutions. (shrink)

Biobanks, collecting human specimen, medical records, and lifestyle-related data, face the challenge of having contradictory missions: on the one hand serving the collective welfare through easy access for medical research, on the other hand adhering to restrictive privacy expectations of people in order to maintain their willingness to participate in such research. In this article, ethical frameworks stressing the societal value of low-privacy expectations in order to secure biomedical research are discussed. It will turn out that neither utilitarian nor communitarian (...) or classical libertarian ethics frameworks will help to serve both goals. Instead, John Rawls’ differentiation of the “right” and the “good” is presented in order to illustrate the possibility of “serving two masters”: individual interests of privacy, and societal interests of scientific progress and intergenerational justice. In order to illustrate this counterbalancing concept with an example, the five-pillar concept of the German Ethics Council will be briefly discussed. (shrink)

Neben grundsätzlichen konzeptionellen Fragen der sog. Individualisierten Medizin (IM), prägen ethische Bedenken und Fragen die aktuellen Debatten um die IM. Allerdings ist bislang noch nicht geklärt, in welchem methodischen Rahmen diese Fragen verortet werden können. Für die Entwicklung eines solchen Rahmens wird das Modell der First- und Second-Wave-Bioethics diskutiert und an zwei konkreten Herausforderungen – 1) dem Verhältnis der IM zur evidenz-basierten Medizin und 2) am Konzept der genetischen Risikoperson – aufgezeigt. Eine solche Kontextualisierung der IM-Debatte legt den Grundstein für (...) eine adäquate Erfassung und Bearbeitung sozialethischer Fragen (z. B. im Hinblick auf das Problem der Eigenverantwortung). (shrink)

Monetary Intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the bright side of Monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics, frames money attitude in the context of pay and life satisfaction, and controls money at the macro-level and micro-level. We theorize: Managers with low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior will have high subjective well-being: pay satisfaction and (...) quality of life. Data collected from 6586 managers in 32 cultures across six continents support our theory. Interestingly, GDP per capita is related to life satisfaction, but not to pay satisfaction. Individual income is related to both life and pay satisfaction. Neither GDP nor income is related to Happiness. Our theoretical model across three GDP groups offers new discoveries: In high GDP entities, “high income” not only reduces aspirations—“Rich, Motivator, and Power,” but also promotes stewardship behavior—“Budget, Give/Donate, and Contribute” and appreciation of “Achievement.” After controlling income, we demonstrate the bright side of Monetary Intelligence: Low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior define Monetary Intelligence. “Good apples enjoy good quality of life in good barrels.” This notion adds another explanation to managers’ low magnitude of dishonesty in entities with high Corruption Perceptions Index. In low GDP entities, high income is related to poor Budgeting skills and escalated Happiness. These managers experience equal satisfaction with pay and life. We add a new vocabulary to the conversation of monetary intelligence, income, GDP, happiness, subjective well-being, good and bad apples and barrels, corruption, and behavioral ethics. (shrink)

Background: Although convolutional neural networks (CNNs) achieve high diagnostic accuracy for detecting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, they are not yet applied in clinical routine. One important reason for this is a lack of model comprehensibility. Recently developed visualization methods for deriving CNN relevance maps may help to fill this gap as they allow the visualization of key input image features that drive the decision of the model. We investigated whether models with higher accuracy (...) also rely more on discriminative brain regions predefined by prior knowledge. Methods: We trained a CNN for the detection of AD in N = 663 T1-weighted MRI scans of patients with dementia and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and verified the accuracy of the models via cross-validation and in three independent samples including in total N = 1655 cases. We evaluated the association of relevance scores and hippocampus volume to validate the clinical utility of this approach. To improve model comprehensibility, we implemented an interactive visualization of 3D CNN relevance maps, thereby allowing intuitive model inspection. Results: Across the three independent datasets, group separation showed high accuracy for AD dementia versus controls (AUC ≥ 0.91) and moderate accuracy for amnestic MCI versus controls (AUC ≈ 0.74). Relevance maps indicated that hippocampal atrophy was considered the most informative factor for AD detection, with additional contributions from atrophy in other cortical and subcortical regions. Relevance scores within the hippocampus were highly correlated with hippocampal volumes (Pearson’s r ≈ −0.86, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The relevance maps highlighted atrophy in regions that we had hypothesized a priori. This strengthens the comprehensibility of the CNN models, which were trained in a purely data-driven manner based on the scans and diagnosis labels. The high hippocampus relevance scores as well as the high performance achieved in independent samples support the validity of the CNN models in the detection of AD-related MRI abnormalities. The presented data-driven and hypothesis-free CNN modeling approach might provide a useful tool to automatically derive discriminative features for complex diagnostic tasks where clear clinical criteria are still missing, for instance for the differential diagnosis between various types of dementia. (shrink)

Material culture, strictly speaking, is substance culture. Nevertheless, studies on material culture are almost exclusively concerned with things. The specificities in the perception of substances and the related everyday practices are rarely taken into consideration. Although this can be explained by the history of anthropology, the bias towards associating material culture with “formed matter” is a foundational shortcoming. In consequence, particular perspectives on the material remain understudied, and the cultural relevance of substances as such is rarely taken into consideration. Taking (...) a perspective grounded in anthropology and phenomenology, this article intends to provide new approaches to substances that elucidate the particular modes of their perception, reveal their characteristics and reflect on particular notions implicit to substances. The final section of this contribution discusses two exemplary studies on substances and proposes transformation and incorporation as new fields of research that would contribute to a more explicit engagement with substances in material culture studies. (shrink)

This broad and insightful book presents current scholarship in important subfields of philosophy of science and addresses an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary readership. It groups carefully selected contributions into the four fields of I) philosophy of physics, II) philosophy of life sciences, III) philosophy of social sciences and values in science, and IV) philosophy of mathematics and formal modeling. Readers will discover research papers by Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Keizo Matsubara, Kian Salimkhani, Andrea Reichenberger, Anne Sophie Meincke, Javier Suárez, Roger Deulofeu, Ludger Jansen, (...) Peter Hucklenbroich, Martin Carrier, Elizaveta Kostrova, Lara Huber, Jens Harbecke, Antonio Piccolomini d'Aragona and Axel Gelfert. This collection fosters dialogue between philosophers of science working in different subfields, and brings readers the finest and latest work across the breadth of the field,illustrating that contemporary philosophy of science has successfully broadened its scope of reflection. It will interest and inspire a wide audience of philosophers as well as scholars of the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. The volume shares selected contributions from the prestigious second triennial conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science/ Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsphilosophie (GWP.2016, March 8, 2016 - March 11, 2016). (shrink)