Purpose This paper aims to formalize long-term trajectories of human civilization as a scientific and ethical field of study. The long-term trajectory of human civilization can be defined as the path that human civilization takes during the entire future time period in which human civilization could continue to exist. -/- Design/methodology/approach This paper focuses on four types of trajectories: status quo trajectories, in which human civilization persists in a state broadly similar to its current state into the distant future; catastrophe (...) trajectories, in which one or more events cause significant harm to human civilization; technological transformation trajectories, in which radical technological breakthroughs put human civilization on a fundamentally different course; and astronomical trajectories, in which human civilization expands beyond its home planet and into the accessible portions of the cosmos. -/- Findings Status quo trajectories appear unlikely to persist into the distant future, especially in light of long-term astronomical processes. Several catastrophe, technological transformation and astronomical trajectories appear possible. -/- Originality/value Some current actions may be able to affect the long-term trajectory. Whether these actions should be pursued depends on a mix of empirical and ethical factors. For some ethical frameworks, these actions may be especially important to pursue. (shrink)

For over three decades, clinical ethicists in the United States have recorded their consulting activities to supplement documentation in the medical record, often using locally developed instrument...

v. 1. Nominalism and realism.--v. 2. A theory of universals.

In his last book, David Armstrong sets out his metaphysical system in a set of concise and lively chapters each dealing with one aspect of the world. He begins with the assumption that all that exists is the physical world of space-time. On this foundation he constructs a coherent metaphysical scheme that gives plausible answers to many of the great problems of metaphysics. He gives accounts of properties, relations, and particulars; laws of nature; modality; abstract objects such as numbers; (...) and time and mind. (shrink)

Philosophers have discussed virtue and character since Socrates, but many traditional views have been challenged by recent findings in psychology and neuroscience. This fifth volume of Moral Psychology grows out of this new wave of interdisciplinary work on virtue, vice, and character. It offers essays, commentaries, and replies by leading philosophers and scientists who explain and use empirical findings from psychology and neuroscience to illuminate virtue and character and related issues in moral philosophy. The contributors discuss such topics as eliminativist (...) and situationist challenges to character; investigate the conceptual and empirical foundations of self-control, honesty, humility, and compassion; and consider whether the virtues contribute to well-being. (shrink)

A strong tradition in philosophy denies the possibility of moral dilemmas. Recently, several philosophers reversed this tradition. In this dissertation, I clarify some fundamental issues in this debate, argue for the possibility of moral dilemmas, and determine some implications of this possibility. ;In chapter I, I define moral dilemmas roughly as situations where an agent morally ought to adopt each of two alternatives but cannot adopt both. Moral dilemmas are resolvable if and only if one of the moral oughts overrides (...) the other. ;In chapter II, I criticize several opponents of moral dilemmas, including utilitarians, Kant, Aquinas, and Ross. My main criticism is that no opponent of moral dilemmas can adequately justify moral residue . ;Chapters III and IV concern the two main arguments against the possibility of moral dilemmas. First, the argument for 'ought' implies 'can' runs as follows. If the agent cannot adopt both, then it is not the case that the agent ought to adopt both. But the agent ought to adopt both, since the agent ought to adopt each . Thus, the defining judgements of a moral dilemma seem to imply a contradiction. In response, I argue that the relation between 'ought' and 'can' is not a logical implication but a conversational implicature. ;Chapter IV concerns the argument from 'ought' implies 'permitted': If the agent ought to adopt one alternative, then the agent is permitted to adopt that alternative, which means that it is not the case that the agent ought not to adopt that alternative. But the agent ought not to adopt that alternative, since the agent ought to adopt the other alternative and cannot adopt both. I respond that 'ought' does not logically imply but conversationally implicates 'permitted'. ;In chapter V, I argue that, despite recent claims, both moral realism and anti-realism are compatible with the possibility of moral dilemmas. Thus, there are several reasons to accept and no reasons to deny the possibility of moral dilemmas. (shrink)

Illness creates a range of negative emotions in patients including anxiety, fear, powerlessness, and vulnerability. There is much debate on the ‘therapeutic’ or ‘helping’ nurse–patient relationship. However, despite the current agenda regarding patient-centred care, the literature concerning the development of good interpersonal responses and the view that a satisfactory nursing ethics should focus on persons and character traits rather than actions, nursing ethics is dominated by the traditional obligation, act-centred theories such as consequentialism and deontology. I critically examine these theories (...) and the role of duty-based notions in both general ethics and nursing practice. Because of well-established flaws, I conclude that obligation-based moral theories are incomplete and inadequate for nursing practice. I examine the work of Hursthouse on virtue ethics’ action guidance and the v-rules. I argue that the moral virtues and a strong (action-guiding) version of virtue ethics provide a plausible and viable alternative for nursing practice. I develop an account of a virtue-based helping relationship and a virtue-based approach to nursing. The latter is characterized by three features: (1) exercising the moral virtues such as compassion; (2) using judgement; and (3) using moral wisdom, understood to include at least moral perception, moral sensitivity, and moral imagination. Merits and problems of the virtue-based approach are examined. I relate the work of MacIntyre to nursing and I conceive nursing as a practice: nurses who exercise the virtues and seek the internal goods help to sustain the practice of nursing and thus prevent the marginalization of the virtues. The strong practice-based version of virtue ethics proposed is context-dependent, particularist, and relational. Several areas for future philosophical inquiry and empirical nursing research are suggested to develop this account yet further. (shrink)

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Are the laws of nature real? Do they belong to the world or merely reflect the way we speak about it? If they are real, what sort of entity are they? This study contributes to the ongoing discussion of these questions by emphasizing the importance of a cosmological perspective on them. I argue that the evidence coming from modern evolutionary cosmology presents difficulties for certain currently fashionable philosophical accounts of laws, in particular, for the Dretske-Tooley-Armstrong theory. I defend, in (...) light of this evidence, the idea of laws as grounded in irreducible nomic properties of basic objects and examine its cosmological implications and consequences for the philosophy of modality. ;If the laws of nature are real, they must represent an integral aspect of the universe as a whole. From a cosmological point of view, these two totalities, the laws of nature and the universe, may be related. I begin by showing that a concern about the consequences of such possible relationship was an important factor in the historical rivalry between the steady-state and big bang cosmologies . ;The cosmological perspective on laws has still more striking implications in the context of the contemporary interplay between big-bang cosmology and high energy physics in the effort to understand the processes at work during the first moments of cosmic evolution. In a sense, the evolution of the physical state of the universe as a whole may have "carried" with it the evolution of certain nomic properties of matter. I contend that this poses problems for some nomic ontologies, such as the relations-between-universals theory, and favors the view of laws as grounded in causal powers of particulars. I show how the universe of causally powerful basic substances provides a natural framework for an interesting sense of modality characteristic of laws and how this illuminates the notoriously difficult problems of essential properties and natural kinds. (shrink)

코플스톤(F. C. Copleston), 고티에(R. A. Gauthier), 브레들리(. M. Bradley)를 비롯한 몇몇 학자들은 기본적으로 이교도로 대표되는 아리스토텔레스와 그리스도교로 대표되는 아우구스티누스 사이의 조화에 대한 성 토마스 아퀴나스의 시도가 단지 외관상의 조화에 불과하다고 주장한다. 이들의 이러한 입장의 이면에는 그리스도교의 ‘계시’의 문제가 그 중심에 있는 것을 볼 수 있다. 성 토마스 아퀴나스의 양심의 교설에 관한 제이퍼(Harry V. Jaffa)의 견해도 이와 같은 그의 기본적인 입장의 범주 안에 있다. 왜냐하면 언뜻 보기에도 양심이라는 용어는 아리스토텔레스의 용어가 아닌 그리스도교의 계시와 관련된 용어처럼 보이기 때문이다. 이와 같이 몇몇 학자들의 (...) 양심의 개념은 불행한 전개를 가지고 있다. 오늘날 대부분의 사람들은 계시와 관련되어 있는 것처럼 보이는 양심을 하나의 판단하는 그리고 자책하는 기능으로 간주하고 있다. 그러나 이러한 성 토마스 아퀴나스의 양심에 관한 개념은 상당히 다른 관점들로부터 전개되어 왔음을 알 수 있다. 이 연구에서는 몇몇 학자들 중에서 특히 제이퍼의 양심에 관한 이러한 중심적인 주장들과 이에 대한 반론에 관해서 두 가지로 나누어서 전개할 것이다. 첫째, 성 토마스 아퀴나스의 양심과 아리스토텔레스의 교설과의 관련성에 관한 문제이다. 이에 관하여 연구자는 성 토마스의 양심과 계시의 관련성을 주장함으로써 성 토마스 아퀴나스의 양심이 아리스토텔레스의 교설과의 관련성에 관하여 제이퍼와 머켄(P. Mercken)이 지적한 내용들을 먼저 살펴볼 것이다. 그리고 나서 연구자는 웨스트버그(D. Westberg), 랭스턴(D. C. Langston), 파츠(T. C. potts), 넬슨(D. Nelson) 등의 주장들을 중심으로 해서 성 토마스의 양심과 아리스토텔레스의 교설 사이의 밀접한 관련성들을 제시함으로써 그들의 주장에 대한 반론을 전개할 것이다. 둘째, 성 토마스의 양심의 진리 됨에 관한 증거의 문제이다. 이에 관하여 먼저 연구자는 이에 관한 제이퍼의 주장을 소개할 것이다. 그리고 나서 본 연구자는 크로우(M. Crowe)와 암스트롱(R. A. Armstrong)의 주장들을 중심으로 해서 이에 대한 반론을 제시할 것이다. 그리하여 연구자는 비록 아리스토텔레스가 양심에 관하여 명확하게 언급하고 있지는 않을지라도, 성 토마스의 교설 안에서 실천적 지혜, 덕들, 그리고 의지의 연약함과의 관련성 가운데 논의 되고 있는 성 토마스의 양심에 관한 교설은 아리스토텔레스의 교설들을 기반으로 하여 행위에 관한 교설을 하나의 실용적인 관점에서 설명함으로써 더 풍성한 공헌을 하고 있다는 것을 밝힐 것이다. 이어서 성 토마스 아퀴나스는 양심이라는 용어를 ‘자명’이라는 개념으로 설명함으로써 양심의 진리 됨에 대한 증거를 명확하게 제시하고 있다는 것을 드러낼 것이다. 결론적으로, 연구자는 성 토마스 아퀴나스가 언뜻 보기에는 그리스도교의 계시와 밀접하게 관련되어 있는 것처럼 보이는 양심에 관한 교설을 가능한 한 아리스토텔레스적으로 해석하려고 시도함으로써 그의 아리스토텔레스의 교설과 그리스도교의 양심에 관한 교설과 화해 및 발전시키려는 노력은 성공적이었다는 것을 단언할 것이다. (shrink)

The traditional philosophical doctrine of double effect claims that agents’ intentions affect whether acts are morally wrong. Our behavioral study reveals that agents’ intentions do affect whether acts are judged morally wrong, whereas the temporal order of good and bad effects affects whether acts are classified as killings. This finding suggests that the moral judgments are not based on the classifications. Our results also undermine recent claims that prior moral judgments determine whether agents are seen as causing effects intentionally rather (...) than as side effects. (shrink)

(No abstract is available for this citation).

This paper reviews the published empirical evidence concerning journal peer review consisting of 68 papers, all but three published since 1975. Peer review improves quality, but its use to screen papers has met with limited success. Current procedures to assure quality and fairness seem to discourage scientific advancement, especially important innovations, because findings that conflict with current beliefs are often judged to have defects. Editors can use procedures to encourage the publication of papers with innovative findings such as invited papers, (...) early-acceptance procedures, author nominations of reviewers, structured rating sheets, open peer review, results-blind review, and, in particular, electronic publication. Some journals are currently using these procedures. The basic principle behind the proposals is to change the decision from whether to publish a paper to how to publish it. (shrink)

This volume gives an overview of the rising field of Experimental Ethics. It is organized into five main parts: PART I – Introduction: An Experimental Philosophy of Ethics? // PART II – Applied Experimental Ethics: Case studies // PART III – On Methodology // PART IV – Critical Reflections // PART V – Future Perspectives. Among the contributors: Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Eric Schwitzgebel, Ezio di Nucci, Jacob Rosenthal, and Fernando Aguiar.

In standard times, approximately 20% of children and youth experience significant emotional, behavioral, or social challenges. During COVID-19, however, over half of parents have reported mental health symptoms in their children. Specifically, depressive symptoms, anxiety, contamination obsessions, family well-being challenges, and behavioral concerns have emerged globally for children during the pandemic. Without treatment or prevention, such concerns may hinder positive development, personal life trajectory, academic success, and inhibit children from meeting their potential. A school-based resiliency program for children for children (...) was developed, and the goal of this study was to collaborate with stakeholders to translate it into an online-live hybrid. Our team developed a methodology to do this based on Knowledge Translation-Integration, which incorporates stakeholder engagement throughout the entire research to action process. KTI aims to ensure that programs are acceptable, sustainable, feasible, and credible. Through collaboration with parents and school board members, qualitative themes of concerns, recommendations and validation were established, aiding in meaningful online-live translation. Even though the original program was developed for intellectually gifted children, who are at greater risk for mental health concerns, stakeholders suggested using the program for both gifted and non-gifted children, given the universal applicability of the tools, particularly during this pandemic time period when mental health promotion is most relevant. An online-live approach would allow students studying at home and those studying in the classroom to participate in the program. Broader implications of this study include critical recommendations for the development of both online-live school programs in general, as well as social-emotional literacy programs for children. (shrink)

At first glance, legislation intended to shape American adult Iiteracy programs appears egalitarian and hopeful. After a more thorough reading, the legislative objectives are Iimited, culturally biased, and largely unattainable. In order to develop coherent Iiteracy pedagogy, we explore Paulo Freire’s definition of critical thinking. From a critical theory perspective, we argue that a vocational education of learning basic skills is insufficient. Furthermore, we believe that more is needed to help adult learners beconle self-sufficient in a modern, dynamic economy. Critical (...) thinking, as defined by Freire, along with vocational education allows individuaIs to develop their ontological right to become aware of historical and social forces. (shrink)