This chapter contains section titled: What Is a Woman? “I Am a Viper Pilot” But Aren't Men and Women Different? Crossroads Notes.

Since Mill's seminal work On Liberty, philosophers and political theorists have accepted that we should respect the decisions of individual agents when those decisions affect no one other than themselves. Indeed, to respect autonomy is often understood to be the chief way to bear witness to the intrinsic value of persons. In this book, Sarah Conly rejects the idea of autonomy as inviolable. Drawing on sources from behavioural economics and social psychology, she argues that we are so often (...) irrational in making our decisions that our autonomous choices often undercut the achievement of our own goals. Thus in many cases it would advance our goals more effectively if government were to prevent us from acting in accordance with our decisions. Her argument challenges widely held views of moral agency, democratic values and the public/private distinction, and will interest readers in ethics, political philosophy, political theory and philosophy of law. (shrink)

Too often, we as individuals do things that harm us, that seriously interfere with our being able to live in the way that we want. We eat food that makes us obese, that promotes diabetes, heart failure and other serious illness, while at the same time, we want to live long and healthy lives. Too many of us smoke cigarettes, even while acknowledging we wish we had never begun. We behave in ways that undercut our ability to reach some of (...) our most valued goals, despite education and despite incentives to choose the right thing. What should be done?If I were to try to harm someone else in a way that alters his future seriously and perhaps irrevocably for the worse, I would be stopped. When it comes to hurting myself, though, we have a common belief that it is wrong to interfere, even if I foresee that I will very much regret what I have done, often when it is too late to fix what I have let happen. I think this makes no sense. If it is permissible, even obligatory, to stop me when I do something that seriously interferes with someone else's chances of achieving the life he wants, I think …. (shrink)

A compelling argument for the morality of limitations on procreation in lessening the harmful environmental effects of unchecked populationWe live in a world where a burgeoning global population has started to have a major and destructive environmental impact. The results, including climate change and the struggle for limited resources, appear to be inevitable aspects of a difficult future. Mandatory population control might be a possible last resort to combat this problem, but is also a potentially immoral and undesirable violation of (...) human rights. Since so many view procreation as an essential component of the right to personal happiness and autonomy, the dominant view remains that the government does not have the right to impose these restrictions on its own citizens, for the sake of future people who have yet to exist.Sarah Conly is first to make the contentious argument that not only is it wrong to have more than one child in the face of such concerns, we do not even retain the right to do so. In One Child, Conly argues that autonomy and personal rights are not unlimited, especially if one's body may cause harm to anyone, and that the government has a moral obligation to protect both current and future citizens. Conly gives readers a thought-provoking and accessible exposure to the problem of population growth and develops a credible view of what our moral obligations really are, to generations present and future. (shrink)

I argue that it can be morally permissible to coerce people into doing what is good for their own health. I discuss recent initiatives in New York City that are designed to take away certain unhealthy options from local citizens, and argue that this does not impose on them in unjustifiable ways. Good paternalistic measures are designed to promote people's long-term goals, and to prevent them from making short-term decisions that interfere with reaching those, and New York's attempts to ban (...) the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces and the use of trans fats fall within those parameters. Given our tendency to cognitive bias, we need help in making choices that truly instantiate our values. (shrink)

In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, the innocent Tess is the object of Alec d’Urberville’s dishonorable intentions. Alec uses every wile he can think of to seduce the poor and ignorant Tess, who works keeping hens in his mother’s house: he flatters her, he impresses her with a show of wealth, he gives help to her family to win her gratitude, and he reacts with irritation and indignation when she nonetheless continues to repulse his advances, causing her to feel shame at (...) her own ingratitude and confusion as to what is right. Tess, anchored both by her own sense of virtue and her distrust of Alec’s character, continues to hold out until one fatal night when, through Alec’s machinations, they are lost together in a wood. At Tess’s insistence Alec leaves her to scout out the path home. When he returns, he finds her asleep under a tree. Hardy does not go into detail at this critical juncture. Rather, he reflects “why it was that upon this beautiful feminine tissue, sensitive as gossamer, and practically blank as snow as yet, there should have been traced such a coarse pattern as it was doomed to receive; why so often the coarse appropriates the finer thus, the wrong man the woman, the wrong woman the man, many thousand years of analytical philosophy have failed to explain to our sense of order.”. (shrink)

The right to health care is a right to care that is not too costly to the provider, considering the benefits it conveys, and is effective in bringing about the level of health needed for a good human life, not necessarily the best health possible. These considerations suggest that, where possible, society has an obligation to provide preventive health care, which is both low cost and effective, and that health care regulations should promote citizens’ engagement in reasonable preventive health care (...) practices. (shrink)

It has apparently become fashionable of late to criticize utilitarianism for what is thought to be, in a word, its insensitivity. Utilitarianism is said to ignore the complexities of character of its agents, and because of this to impose upon them a burden they cannot well bear—a failure which, in the end, renders the adoption of the utilitarian goal fundamentally unappealing, since the more utilitarian agents try to maximize utility the more happiness is destroyed. More traditional criticisms have, of course, (...) centered around the issue of rights, obligations, and justice. The claim that utilitarianism must tolerate such unappealing practices as the punishment of the innocent has led many to reject it. At the same time, of course, perhaps just as many have defended it, demonstrating that no form of utilitarianism would allow much of this; some forms would allow none of it; and that lastly, and most importantly, it is question-begging to reject the theory for failing to acknowledge the existence of a thing when it is the very aim of that theory to call that existence into question. The debate over justice, although stirring, has often seemed destined to end in stale-mate. (shrink)

I am grateful to the Journal of Medical Ethics for asking these critics to discuss my book, and am grateful to each of the critics themselves for raising interesting and often difficult issues for me to think about.Alan Wertheimer makes a number of good points. One of the most significant, to me, is how paternalism might function at what I will call an institutional level. In my book, I endorse paternalistic actions by the state, when the cost benefit analysis justifies (...) that. I have not supported paternalistic interventions by private individuals, though. For one thing, private individuals will make decisions without public input, and without their justification being examined by experts in the field, and for these reasons they are too likely to make mistakes as to when intervention is appropriate. For another, the interventions by random individuals haranguing us about our failure to eat our broccoli is likely to drive us crazy—unexpected interference from people with no particular authority will give us just that sense of harassment I say paternalists need to avoid.However, between the public, authorised actions of a democratic state and the private actions of individuals with no authority lies the significant area of non-state institutions. Such institutions develop regulations and standards their members are expected to act in accordance with, and these in turn can have a significant impact on private persons. Of course, there have also been legal actions, notably court decisions, that have played a role here, but much of the specific interpretation of things like consent has been determined by the medical community developing what it believes to be an appropriate ethic for itself. And we know, here, that in recent years there has been a movement away from the paternalism that was once common, and a reorientation towards respect for …. (shrink)

This is a really good book. Brettschneider’s When the State Speaks is both provocative and persuasive, resolving a stubborn conflict within democratic theory in a way many will initially reject, but which he argues for so effectively that, by the end, the controversial appears the commonsensical.The problem Brettschneider addresses is one with which we are all familiar. In democracies we believe in the right to free speech. We believe that this right is implied by the underlying principles of democracy, and (...) believe that the exercise of this right is essential for democracy to function. We are presented with a conflict when some people use their right to free speech to advocate values that are contradictory to democracy: to argue that not everyone should be allowed to speak, to argue that not all citizens are equal, to argue that some people should be discriminated against for reasons of race, religion, sex, or other distinctions that, in a democracy, we hold to be irrelevant. The probl. (shrink)

Critics have argued that utilitarians, by the very nature of the system they endorse, cannot maintain their integrity; and that they cannot, in the end, be individuals of the sort human beings want to be. In my dissertation I explore this criticism and argue that utilitarianism need not endanger integrity, that it need not undercut autonomy, and that it need not deny individuality of any sort. ;Bernard Williams is the major proponent of this criticism. Williams argues that a utilitarian cannot (...) maintain the commitment to projects and principles which is necessary for a person to be an individual. He cannot have what Williams calls "ground projects," projects which are so central to him that they are what give point to his life. The reasons Williams gives for this are varied, and the connections between his various criticisms are not always clear. In the thesis I first analyze the arguments Williams uses against utilitarianism. I show that Williams' arguments that a utilitarian cannot have ground projects depends on a false assumption about the emotional attachment required for a person to be committed to his projects in a way that individuates. I argue that Williams demands an emotional attachment that blinds one to rational consideration, in a way that we will find unacceptable. ;Williams offers an account of individuality which claims that utilitarianism does not allow the proper sort of emotional attachment to projects because it is too necessarily rational a system. W. D. Falk, on the contrary, offers a theory which if correct will show utilitarianism to be an insufficiently rational system. Falk argues that any moral system which declares that there are universal moral rules by which all people's behavior should be regulated undercuts the autonomy of the agents to whom it dictates. If one is to be autonomous, one must do only what one has reason to do. An agent has reason to do something only if he would be motivated to do it upon reflection. If utilitarianism does not motivate some particular agent, that agent, in order to preserve rationality and autonomy, ought not to follow utilitarianism. ;In response to these criticisms I suggest a more plausible notion of individuality which requires neither irrational emotional attachment nor Falk's subjective standard of rational choice. I then advocate a modified form of utilitarianism which does not pose the dangers to individuality which traditional forms of utilitarianism may. In this version, we broaden the notion of utility so that our evaluative beliefs are of special importance in our determination of what things have utility. When utility-maximization is construed in this way it does not pose special dangers for individuality. (shrink)

This research addresses a lack of evidence on the positive and negative health outcomes of competitive online gaming and esports, particularly among young people and adolescents. Well-being outcomes, along with mitigation strategies were measured through a cross sectional survey of Australian gamers and non-gamers aged between 12 and 24 years, and parents of the 12–17-year-olds surveyed. Adverse health consequences were associated with heavy gaming, more so than light/casual gaming, suggesting that interventions that target moderated engagement could be effective. It provides (...) timely insights in an online gaming landscape that has rapidly evolved over the past decade, and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, to include the hyper-connected, highly commercialized and rapidly growing online gaming and esports sector. (shrink)

Content externalism implies first, that there is a distinction between concepts and conceptions, and second, that there is a distinction between thoughts and states of mind. In this paper, I argue for a novel theory of self-knowledge: the partial-representation theory of self-knowledge, according to which the self-ascription of a thought is authoritative when it is based on a con-scious, occurrent thought in virtue of which it partially represents an underlying state of mind.

En este artículo se desarrolla el marco conceptual del “contextualismo sexual” para el estudio de las variables relacionadas con el sexo en la investigación biomédica. El contextualismo sexual ofrece una alternativa a los enfoques sexuales binarios y esencialistas del estudio del sexo como variable biológica. Específicamente, el contextualismo sexual reconoce el pluralismo y la especificidad contextual que tienen las operacionalizaciones de “sexo” a través de la investigación experimental de laboratorio. A la luz de recientes normativas para la consideración del sexo (...) como variable biológica, el contextualismo sexual ofrece una guía constructiva a los/as investigadores/as biomédicos/as para abordar la variación biológica relacionada con el sexo. En tanto alternativa y crítica al esencialismo binario del sexo biológico, el contextualismo sexual contribuye a los debates actuales en filosofía de la biología, estudios feministas de la ciencia y ontología social en torno a la construcción de categorías de la diferencia sexual/genérica en la investigación científica. (shrink)

I denne artikel undersøges kroniske patienters beslutninger om forsøgsdeltagelse og betydningen af deltagerinformation. På baggrund af et års feltarbejde på fire danske forskningsklinikker argumenterer jeg for, at de observerede patienter opererer efter andre logikker, når de tager beslutninger om at deltage i kliniske forsøg, end hvad der antages i den gældende forskningsetiske regulering. Feltarbejdet fulgte et klinisk lægemiddelforsøg og inkluderede observationer af forsøgskonsultationer; interviews med investigatorer, projektsygeplejersker, forsøgsdeltagere og virksomhedsrepræsentanter; samt en mindre spørgeskemaundersøgelse blandt de danske forsøgsdeltagere. Resultaterne indikerer, at (...) for en gruppe af erfarne forsøgsdeltagere handler beslutningerne om forsøgsdeltagelse ikke om forsøget i sig selv, men om at opretholde en nær relation til forskningspersonalet. Disse patienter orienterer sig ikke efter deltagerinformation, men i forhold til tillidsrelationer. De agerer ikke som autonome individer, men oplever, at de er afhængige af sundhedssystemet. De udtrykker altruistiske motiver, men håber samtidig, at forsøgsdeltagelse vil give dem bedre helbredskontrol. For dem er forsøgsdeltagelse blevet en måde at leve med kronisk sygdom. Mulige implikationer af denne situation diskuteres, idet det understreges, at tillidsfulde relationer er en forudsætning både for god behandling og god forskning, men at de tætte relationer samtidig kan bevirke, at patienter bliver mindre kritiske, i forhold til hvilke forsøg de accepterer at deltage i, og at en bevidsthed om forsøgsrelaterede risici fortrænges fra forsøgssituationen.Nøgleord: informeret samtykke, deltagerinformation, deltagermotivation, kliniske forsøg, kronisk sygdom, DanmarkEnglish summary: Informed consent in clinical trials: technicalities, trust and intimate relationshipsThis article explores decisions about clinical trial participation in a group of patients with chronic conditions, focusing especially on motivation for trial participation and trial information. Based on ethnographic research in four Danish hospitals in conjunction with a clinical drug trial, I argue that these patients’ decisions follow logics other than those anticipated in research ethics regulations. I build on observations, interviews with physician-investigators, project nurses, patient-participants and trial sponsors, and a survey of the participants. The results indicate that for a group of experienced trial participants, trial information plays a very limited role because their decisions do not concern the trial per se but the sustainment of a close relationship with the research staff. They do not act as autonomous individuals weighing pros and cons based on the written information they receive. Rather, they feel dependent on the healthcare system and navigate in trust relations. For them, trial participation has become a way of living with chronic disease. I discuss implications of this situation underlining that trustful relationships constitute a precondition for high quality chronic care and research, yet the social dynamics may also lead patients to pay less attention to risks associated with trial participation. (shrink)

: Within the otherwise lively debate on neuroethics, little attention has been devoted to the peculiar methodological issues and challenges it faces. My aim is to track down its methodological specificities. Firstly, I will investigate to which traditional debates neuroethics bears similarity and to what extent it actually represents a novelty in ethical thinking. While the ethics of neuroscience is akin to bioethics, the neuroscience of ethics seems akin to moral psychology. And yet they differ as far as the level (...) of explanation of human moral behavior and reasoning is concerned. Thus, while the neuroscience of ethics and moral psychology share a family resemblance, they cannot be reduced to one another. Secondly, I will explore three different philosophical temperaments towards the role empirical findings can and should have in normative ethics and in metaethics. Prudential reasons would recommend openness to new sources of evidence without risking either reductionism nor neglect. Keywords: Neuroethics; Methods; Moral Psychology; Empirical Ethics; Levels of Explanation I metodi della neuroetica: la neuroscienza dell’etica è davvero una nuova sfida per la filosofia morale? Riassunto: Nonostante il dibattito in ambito neuroetico sia molto vivace, poca attenzione è stata dedicata alla questione relativa al suo metodo specifico e ai problemi a cui va incontro. Il mio scopo è quello di identificare le specificità metodologiche di questa disciplina. Anzitutto cercherò di determinare a quali dibattiti tradizionali la neuroetica può essere avvicinata e in che misura invece questa costituisce una novità all’interno del pensiero etico. Mentre l’etica della neuroscienza ha delle affinità con la bioetica, la neuroscienza dell’etica appare maggiormente simile alla psicologia morale, sebbene tali discipline siano diverse fra loro per via del livello a cui spigano il comportamento morale umano e il ragionamento. Pertanto, nonostante la neuroscienza dell’etica e la psicologia morale rivelino una certa somiglianza di famiglia, non è possibile ridurre l’una all’altra. In secondo luogo esplorerò tre diversi atteggiamenti filosofici rispetto al ruolo che i risultati empirici giocano o dovrebbero giocare rispetto all’etica normativa e alla metaetica. Ragioni di prudenza suggeriscono di rimanere aperti verso nuove fonti di evidenza evitando tanto il riduzionismo quanto la trascuratezza. Parole chiave: Neuroetica; Metodi; Psicologia morale; Etica empirica; Livelli di spiegazione. (shrink)

Los códigos éticos humanos no son coherentes en su diseño ni tampoco tienen una distribución universal. Por lo tanto, la imposible universalidad ni completitud de los sistemas éticos para la inteligencia artificial es algo evidente que tan sólo fue apuntado someramente por el estudio reciente del MIT. Al tener toda ética un matiz cultural inequívoco, y también incluir grados de interpretación en sus principios. Al mismo tiempo se produce un problema formal: un sistema de IA no siempre cuenta con suficientes (...) datos ni tiempo óptimo para procesar una situación, por lo que un factor de azar ético debe tenerse en cuenta en el diseño de tales sistemas. (shrink)

Introducción: El examen estatal escrito evalúa la competencia del egresado y debe cumplir los requisitos de su confección y de su análisis informar las deficiencias en el proceso docente educativo para su perfeccionamiento. Objetivo: Caracterizar el examen estatal ordinario escrito y los resultados obtenidos en la Facultad de Estomatología. Camagüey durante el período 2011-2012. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo del examen estatal ordinario escrito aplicado a 146 estudiantes. Se elaboró una base de datos con las calificaciones obtenidas, índice académico (...) y una guía con las variables tipo de examen, de preguntas, nivel de asimilación, claridad de formulación, correspondencia con los objetivos de la carrera, clave de calificación y cumplimiento de los criterios de Guilbert, analizados por grupo de expertos. Resultados: En los resultados se aproximó la nota de los excelentes (27,4 %) con el índice académico de los altos rendimientos (28,1 %). La mediana general fue de 86,3. Los temas más explorados fueron Endodoncia (18,8 %), Prótesis y Odontopediatría (10,4 %). Las preguntas con más valor fueron de temas curativos. El nivel de asimilación fue reproductivo y el 35,4 % de preguntas tipo selección múltiple complemento agrupado. Existieron dificultades de diseño del examen y autopreparación de los estudiantes. Conclusiones: Los resultados se aproximaron a los rendimientos académicos. No hubo equidad entre el número, valor de las preguntas por temas y nivel de asimilación. Los errores se asociaron en frecuencia al diseño y redacción de algunas preguntas, insuficiente estudio y en menor grado a la falta de sistematicidad en el proceso docente, que permitieron determinar las deficiencias para su intervención. Introduction: The State written exam evaluates the competence of seniors and must meet the requirements of its preparation and analysis in order to report deficiencies in the educational teaching process for its further development. Objective: To characterize the written regular state exam and the results obtained at the Faculty of Stomatology. Camaguey during the period of 2011-2012. Methods: A descriptive study of the written regular state exam was conducted to 146 students. A data base was developed with the grades obtained, academic index and a guide with the exam- type variables, questions, level of assimilation, clarity of formulation, correspondence with the objectives of the career, key qualification and compliance with the criteria of Guilbert, all analyzed by groups of experts. Results: In the results the excellent notes (27.4%) approached to the academic index of high yield (28.1%). The general average was 86,3. The most explored themes were Endodontics (18.8%), Prosthesis and Pediatric Odontology (10.4%). healing topics were the questions with more value. The level of assimilation was reproductive and 35.4% of multiple choice type questions complement clustered. There were difficulties according to the test design and the students' self study. Conclusions: The results were close to academic performance. There was no equality between the number, value of the questions by topic and level of assimilation. Errors were often associated with the design and wording of some questions, insufficient study and in a lesser extent to the lack of systematic fashion in the teaching process, which allowed to determine deficiencies for its intervention. (shrink)

Fundamento: La ampliación de matrícula con la diversidad de vías de ingreso ha constituido un reto en la educación médica y la evaluación de graduación implica la certificación de la competencia de los egresados, por eso se hace necesario analizar los resultados obtenidos en estas etapas. Objetivo: Comparar los resultados de los ejercicios prácticos, teóricos y notas finales obtenidas por los estudiantes presentados a Exámenes Estatales Ordinarios de los cursos del 2006 al 2012 de la Facultad de Estomatología en la (...) Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Camagüey. Métodos: Se realizó una investigación descriptiva con 410 estudiantes presentados a exámenes estatales ordinarios en el período 2006-2012. Se clasificaron los grupos con menos o más de 40 estudiantes por cursos. Se obtuvieron las calificaciones de cada ejercicio y nota final estatal por cursos. Se utilizó el método porcentual, media aritmética y mediana obtenida en cada curso. Resultados: Los cursos del 2006-2009 sumaron 99 estudiantes y en los cursos del 2009-2012 se incrementaron hasta 311 educandos. En los exámenes estatales prácticos, los grupos pequeños obtuvieron calificación media de 99,2 y una mediana de 99 y 100; en los grupos numerosos las calificaciones disminuyeron hasta llegar a una media de 93 y una mediana de 95. En los exámenes teóricos, en los tres primeros cursos la media de calificación fue 83,5 y en el grupo numeroso de 83,7. Conclusiones: En los resultados se mantiene la calidad de la base científica de la actuación en todos los cursos, pero ha disminuido la del desempeño en los cursos con incremento de estudiantes. Background: The extension of registration with the diversity of entrance ways has been a challenge in medical education. Graduation assessment involves the certification of the competence among seniors, therefore it is necessary to analyze the results obtained in these stages. Objective: To compare the results of theoretical, practical exercises and final notes obtained by the students submitted to Regular State examinations in the courses from 2006 to 2012 of the Dentistry Faculty at the Medical Sciences University of Camaguey. Methods: A descriptive research with 410 students submitted to Regular State examination was conducted in the period of 2006 to 2012. The groups were classified with less or more than 40 students per courses. The ratings of each exercise and state final note by courses were obtained. The methods used in each course were the percentage method, arithmetic mean and median obtained. Results: The courses from 2006 to 2009 totaled 99 students and in the courses from 2009 to 2012 the number of students increased up to 311. In the State practical tests small groups obtained qualification average of 99.2 and a median of 99 and 100; numerous groups' ratings fell to an average of 93 and an average of 95. In the theoretical tests, in the first three courses the average rating was 83.5 and in the large group it was 83.7. Conclusions: The results maintain the quality of the scientific basis of the performance in all courses, but the performance in courses with students increase has declined. (shrink)

Este artículo pretende analizar, el proceso de mercantilización y comercialización del carnaval de Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais (MG), Brasil, en el cual la juventud y las características que le son socialmente atribuidas emergen en un escenario festivo, influenciado principalmente por la industria del entretenimiento. Para ello, se realizó un estudio del carnaval de esta ciudad del año 2009, desde un enfoque cualitativo, combinando las investigaciones bibliográfica, documental y de campo. Sin desconsiderar las múltiples posibilidades de apropiación de los sujetos en (...) el diverso y plural tiempo-espacio de la fiesta, se identificó que las variadas formas específicas de ser joven, sus looks y estilos de vivenciar el carnaval, son el principal producto a ser vendido en el mercado de la diversión y del entretenimiento. La fiesta, que hasta hace muy poco tiempo ocurría en las calles de la ciudad, con posibilidad de participación gratuita, se transforma así en mega-producciones pagadas, privadas y destinadas principalmente al público joven. (shrink)

Los métodos productivos de enseñanza preparan a los estudiantes para resolver problemas semejantes a los que se enfrentarán en el ejercicio laboral. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo fundamentar la pertinencia de la utilización del caso clínico como herramienta didáctica para la enseñanza en las ciencias básicas biomédicas, mediante un sistema de tareas para abordar los contenidos del tema Fisiología de la sangre de la asignatura Sangre y Sistema Inmune de la carrera de medicina. El caso clínico permite la vinculación de (...) las ciencias básicas biomédicas con las ciencias clínicas. Su utilización contribuye a la aproximación del estudiante de las ciencias básicas al estudio de estas durante su formación médica. El aprendizaje se logra a lo largo del proceso de resolución del mismo, se estimula la incorporación de conceptos necesarios para resolver el problema y se aprende un método para abordar situaciones en la práctica. Se elaboró un sistema de tareas y preguntas derivadas del problema profesional síndrome anémico. El problema docente se basó en un artículo médico que expone un caso de lesiones por empalamiento que produjo un gran sangramiento en un individuo. Se elaboraron preguntas problémicas relacionadas con la fisiología de la sangre y el tratamiento que recibió el paciente con eritropoyetina, factores de la coagulación y soluciones cristaloides en sustitución de la sangre. Se incluyó una pregunta que aborda un conflicto ético para sistematizar los conocimientos adquiridos en la asignatura Sociedad y Salud II. Productive teaching methods train students to solve problems similar to those they will face in their work life. The objective of the paper is to argue pertinence in the use of the clinical case as a didactic tool in biomedical basic sciences teaching by means of a task system that deals with the contents of the Blood Physiology subject in the Blood and Immune System subject matter of the medicine degree. Clinical cases enable the link between biomedical basic sciences and clinical sciences. Their use contributes to basic sciences students' approach to the study of the latter during their medical training. Learning is achieved through its solving process; the introduction of necessary problem-solving concepts is encouraged and a method to deal with in-practice situations is learned. A task and questions system derived from the anemic syndrome professional problem was made. The teaching problem was based on a medical article which presents a case of an individual who suffered impaling injuries which caused a great bleeding. Problem questions related to blood physiology and to the erythropoietin-based treatment the patient received, coagulation factors and crystalloid fluids used as blood substitutes, were prepared. It was included a question that deals with an ethical conflict in order to systematize the knowledge acquired in the Society and Health II subject matter. (shrink)

There are too many people on the planet. This isn’t a popular thing to say, but it’s becoming more and more obvious that it’s true, and that we need to do something to address it. Even in our radically unjust world, where billions of people do not have adequate access to food, water, energy, and other resources, we’re still living unsustainably—overcharging our ecological credit card and torching the climate. But discussing the link between these environmental problems and the population is (...) uncomfortable, because many people believe that procreation is an essentially private act that is morally and politically off-limits. In her new book, One Child, Sarah Conly argues that this belief is false: If... (shrink)

Sarah Conly's One Child is a substantive treatment of the extent to which procreative freedom is curtailed by rising global population and the environmental problems to which it contributes. This review provides an overview of the book's content and closes with a few critical remarks. The book is highly recommended for those interested in the intersection between environmental ethics and the ethics of procreation.