This article reviews the Dutch societal debate on euthanasia/assisted suicide in dementia cases, specifically Alzheimer's disease. It discusses the ethical and practical dilemmas created by euthanasia requests in advance directives and the related inconsistencies in the Dutch legal regulations regarding euthanasia/assisted suicide. After an initial focus on euthanasia in advanced dementia, the actual debate concentrates on making euthanasia/assisted suicide possible in the very early stages of dementia. A review of the few known cases of assisted suicide of people with so-called (...) early dementia raises the question why requests for euthanasia/assisted suicide from patients in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease are virtually non-existent. In response to this question two explanations are offered. It is concluded that, in addition to a moral discussion on the limits of anticipatory choices, there is an urgent need to develop research into the patient's perspective with regard to medical treatment and care-giving in dementia, including end-of-life care. (shrink)

This article reviews the Dutch societal debate on euthanasia/assisted suicide in dementia cases, specifically Alzheimer's disease. It discusses the ethical and practical dilemmas created by euthanasia requests in advance directives and the related inconsistencies in the Dutch legal regulations regarding euthanasia/assisted suicide. After an initial focus on euthanasia in advanced dementia, the actual debate concentrates on making euthanasia/assisted suicide possible in the very early stages of dementia. A review of the few known cases of assisted suicide of people with so-called (...) early dementia raises the question why requests for euthanasia/assisted suicide from patients in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease are virtually non-existent. In response to this question two explanations are offered. It is concluded that, in addition to a moral discussion on the limits of anticipatory choices, there is an urgent need to develop research into the patient's perspective with regard to medical treatment and care-giving in dementia, including end-of-life care. (shrink)

Business schools, and universities providing business education, from across the globe have increasingly engaged in responsible management education (RME), that is in embedding social, environmental and ethical topics in their teaching and research. However, we still do not fully understand the institutional pressures that have led to the adoption of RME, in particular concerning under-researched regions like Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Hence, we undertook what is to our knowledge the most comprehensive study into the adoption of RME in CEE (...) to date (including 13 countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia and Ukraine). We find that, with regard to RME, isomorphic pressures seem to shape teaching and research in different ways, which suggests that the idea of a holistic approach to RME, promoted by, for example, the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), needs to be revisited; rather, different trajectories of organizational engagement may emerge for each principle. As a contribution to institutional theory, we discuss how a highly fragmented organizational field—like RME with its multiple dimensions—impacts on notions of actor centrality, where actors achieve centrality with regard to some dimensions of the field but fail to do so for others. In particular, we found that the European Union holds centrality in the area of RME teaching, but not in RME research. Our findings thus suggest that the concept of field centrality needs further clarification. (shrink)

This is a reply to Cees Maris. He wrote two articles in Dutch purporting to be a dialogue with Mogobe Ramose. The two articles have subsequently been compressed into one and published in the South African Journal of Philosophy. Mogobe’s reply is directed at all three articles, meaning the two published in Dutch together with the one published in English. The core of the argument is the meaning of ubu-ntu against ubuntu. The former is a philosophical concept and the (...) latter is the everyday language usage presupposing but not explicitly manifesting awareness of its reliance upon ubu-ntu. In elaborating upon his criticism of some of the writings of Mogobe on “ubuntu”, Maris appeals to other writers to support his position. Mogobe dismisses all this on the ground that neither Maris nor his supporters actually address and challenge the philosophical exposition of ubu-ntu in the various writings of Mogobe. Maris and his supporters have at best looked at Ramose but have not seen him. The result is that there never was “a dialogue” with Ramose, except the imaginary one by Maris. (shrink)

Based on a sociological survey carried out in a camp for asylum seekers in Belgium, the article questions the modes of existence in this “out of place” and “out of time” that is the camp. Behind the apparent emptiness of waiting in a decelerated present, the investigation highlights three temporalities that together shape the breathing of the camp and the living conditions of asylum seekers: the rhythm of the framework that holds together daily life, the cycle and the passage that (...) gives a sense of the ordeal and finally the singular time of the articulations between present, past and future which characterize the “being in time” of asylum seekers. After exploring these three temporalities, the author proposes a concept that allows them to hold together in order to understand the texture of time that unfolds in these “out of place”, “out of time” that are the camps. (shrink)

Animals and Business Ethics is an edited book that applies business ethical theory to nonhuman animals. It explores the ethics of commodifying animals in a business context, how stakeholder and social contract theories relate to animals, how business can be regulated to improve conditions for animals, how to create more humane jobs for humans and animals, and the linkages between human and animal well-being, in the context of human workers and consumers who interact with animals in business. Business ethics literature (...) has underrepresented animals, although this is beginning to change. This book is an introduction to how business ethics theory can be applied, through a range of theoretical chapters and case studies. Animals and Business Ethics is a valuable contribution to the literature, which opens space for additional research. (shrink)

This article discusses two complementary themes that play an important role in contemporary South African political philosophy: (1) the racist tradition in Western philosophy; and (2) the role of ubuntu in regaining an authentic African identity, which was systematically suppressed during the colonial past and apartheid. These are also leading themes in Mogobe Ramose’s African Philosophy Through Ubuntu. The first part concentrates on John Locke. It discusses the thesis that the reprehensible racism of many founders of liberal political philosophy has (...) lethally infected liberal theory. This view neglects the distinction between genesis and justification. Political liberalism has since cleansed itself of the prejudices of its spiritual ancestors. Liberal human rights exclude racism as a matter of principle. The second part discusses the claim that the ubuntu philosophy provides a better basis for a constitution in a modern society than political liberalism. A major problem is that ubuntu is an essentially contested concept. Some philosophers consider ubuntu to be a moribund notion (Matolino); others see it as a vital concept par excellence. In the latter case, it is elaborated from sundry incompatible political views, ranging from African nationalism (Ramose) via humanist communitarianism (Metz) to liberalism (Mboti). Conclusion: as an essentially contested ideological concept, ubuntu should not be a decisive constitutional standard for the application of state force. In contrast, the constitutional model of political liberalism provides a reasonable alternative, as it is designed precisely to solve the problem of social plurality and ideological contest. (shrink)

The question about truth, experience and sharing of truth can be addressed from the viewpoint of a shared sense of community. The search for truth is related to the sensus communis and the conscience – con scientia – that is formed in the community. The sensus communis is not only a general faculty in all men, but also the sense that founds community. Thereby the knowledge is true only in front of the other. Truth reveals itself in conversation. By conversation (...) it means that there are both someone who asks questions and someone who answers them, and that they change their roles. In order to understand each other, they have to share a common field of experience. The approach to the concept of truth as a representation of things loses its place and gives way to the understanding of truth as something where meaning as sense and truth as open and exposed concept appears in the foreground. Phenomenology reveals that community correlates and imposes a set of senses to the consciousness and conscience of the individual. This lets phenomenologists focus on life, culture and language. The truth transforms from meaning into sense. It becomes a dynamic determination of a human being. (shrink)

VIRGINIE MARIS,ÉLISE HUCHARD | : Considérant l’ubiquité de la souffrance dans le monde sauvage, la question se pose de notre obligation d’intervenir. Du simple devoir d’assistance dans des situations ponctuelles à des projets de transformation des conditions de vie animale à grande échelle, la défense de l’interventionnisme entre en conflit avec la pensée conservationniste qui valorise la naturalité ou l’autonomie des systèmes écologiques. Dans cet article, nous tentons de mettre en dialogue les intuitions interventionnistes et la pensée conservationniste. Nous (...) exposons tout d’abord l’argument interventionniste et ses limites épistémiques. Nous mitigeons ensuite le constat selon lequel les conditions de vie des animaux sauvages justifient notre intervention en replaçant le problème de la souffrance dans un cadre évolutif et écologique plus large puis en insistant sur d’autres obligations vis-à-vis des animaux sauvages comme le respect de leur autonomie ou de leur souveraineté. Enfin, nous défendons une conception pluraliste de nos relations au monde naturel dans laquelle le souci pour les animaux s’équilibre avec d’autres valeurs écocentrées. Nous concluons en présentant les ressources encore peu explorées d’une conservation compassionnelle qui intègre le souci pour les individus et le souci pour les collectifs écologiques dans les normes de ses actions. | : The ubiquity of suffering in the wild raises the question of our obligation to intervene. From a simple duty of assistance in particular situations to large-scale projects aimed at transforming animal living conditions, the defense of interventionism often conflicts with conservationist values, which emphasize the naturalness or autonomy of ecological systems. In this article, we attempt to open a dialogue between interventionist intuitions and the conservationist school of thought. We first expose the interventionist argument and its epistemic limitations. We subsequently mitigate the statement according to which the living conditions of wild animals justify human intervention by replacing the problem of suffering in a broader ecological and evolutionary framework, as well as by insisting on other obligations that we may have towards wild animals, such as the respect of their autonomy and sovereignty. Finally, we defend a pluralistic conception of our relationships to the natural world, in which care for animals has to be balanced with other, eco-centered, values. We conclude by presenting the resources of a compassionate conservation approach, which remains largely unexplored and integrates care for individual animals as well as for ecological entities in its norm for action. (shrink)

The nineteenth-century pioneer and only expert in Byzantine Studies in the territory of presentday Latvia, the Baltic German classical philologist Eduard Kurtz, was born in Mitau (Mītava, Jelgava) on December 20, 1845 into the family of a local teacher, Johann Heinrich Kurtz and Wilhelmine Auguste (née Jacobi), as the seventh of eleven children.

As recently as 1970 about one-fifth of the children living in single-parent households resided in ones created by the death of a father. In colonial and nineteenth-century America, death was a much more important factor in disrupting parent-child relationships than it is today. Past societal reaction to the death of a parent continues to influence social policy; for example, widows and their dependent children receive more public assistance than divorced mothers or single mothers with children born out-of-wedlock. Although the material (...) conditions for widows have improved over time, the social network available to help them cope with the emotional distress caused by the death of a husband probably has diminished. (shrink)

This article provides some historical perspectives on parental investment and childbearing. Scholars are debating whether parents always loved and nurtured their children. The historical record provides some support for both sides. Parents who abandoned their children often did so with the hope that someone else would be able to raise them. But others, like the ancient Carthagians, sacrificed their own children to appease the gods. Colonial Americans appear to have been particularly solicitous of the well-being of their children. The paper (...) then traces the changes in the role of women in facilitating the process of childbirth in America. Scholars are cautioned not to idealize the childbirth experiences of women in the past as they experienced considerable pain and fear. (shrink)

Book reviewed in this article: Censuses, Surveys & Privacy. Edited by Martin Bulmer.

Devant le constat du déclin toujours plus rapide de la diversité biologique et les limites des res- sources disponibles pour l’enrayer, il est nécessaire de déterminer quels moyens devraient être engagés dans sa protection. Pour ce faire, une méthode efficace serait d’évaluer les bénéfices tirés de la biodiversité afin d’estimer rationnellement les coûts légitimes de sa protection. L’évaluation économique, qui se présente d’emblée sur un mode quantitatif, serait alors un outil précieux. Dans ce texte, nous présentons différentes méthodes d’évaluation économique (...) de la biodiversité ainsi que certaines de leurs limites méthodologiques. Par la suite, nous montrons qu’en dépit de ses avantages pratiques, l’évaluation économique échoue à représenter l’ensemble des valeurs en jeu dans la protection de la biodiversité. Nous décrivons alors trois types de valeurs incommen- surables avec des bénéfices économiques : la valeur de legs, qui renvoie aux obligations de trans- mission du patrimoine naturel dont nous avons hérité ; la valeur d’existence, qui renvoie à la considération morale d’intérêts autres que ceux des êtres humains ; la valeur de transformation, qui renvoie à la capacité d’examiner et de critiquer nos préférences et inclinaisons afin d’inclure celles-ci dans une vision du monde rationnelle et cohérente. Pour conclure, nous plaidons en faveur de l’élaboration de méthodes de concertation et d’évaluation participatives et pluralistes permettant de rendre compte de la diversité et de l’hétérogénéité des valeurs de la biodiversité. (shrink)

a. 'Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within. ' Thus Kant formulates his attitude to morality (Critique of Practical Reason, p. 260). He draws a sharp distinction between these two objects of admiration. The starry sky, he writes, represents my relationship to the natural, empirical world. Moral law, on the other hand, is of a completely (...) different order. It ' . . . begins from my invisible self, my personality, and exhibits me in a world which has true infinity, but which is traceable only by the understanding and with which I discern that I am not in a merely contingent but in a universal and necessary connection (. . . ). ' (p. 260). So Kant sees morality as a separate metaphysical order opposed to the world of empirical phenomena. Human beings belong to both worlds. According to Kant, the personality derives nothing of value from its relationship with the empirical world. His part in the sensuous world of nature places man on a level with any animal which before long must give back to the rest of nature the substances of which it is made. (shrink)

Het antieke sceptische oeuvre van Sextus Empiricus werd in de tijd van het humanisme herontdekt en verder ontwikkeld. De Engelse denken Hume nam de draad op in de achttiende eeuw en sindsdien is het scepticisme in het Europese denken een rol blijven spelen. Wittgenstein heeft dit rationalistisch scepticisme van richting doen veranderen en het de weg van postmoderne pluraliteit opgedreven.

Although there exists a strong uncertainty surrounding the evaluation of the decline of biodiversity, and a larger uncertainty still regarding projections of the decline to come, there is no controversy on the fact that the current rate of extinction is in a crisis. The fact that this decline is above all of anthropic origin is the object of a consensus within the scientific community. This text thus takes as a starting point the existence of a true crisis of biodiversity. This (...) crisis of biodiversity must conclude in the adoption of a principle of protection of the biodiversity, a normative principle which would constrain the relation of man with nature with regard to its diversity. I will show in this text that the principle of sustainable development is not sufficient to adequately define a principle of protection of the biodiversity. (shrink)

Este artigo visa a apresentar sucintamente o modelo teóricometodológico para a descrição do sentido do discurso – criado por Azevedo (2006), com base na Semântica Argumentativa, de Ducrot – cuja testagem constituiu-se no cerne da pesquisa1 desenvolvida por Azevedo e Rowell desde 2007. O corpus da pesquisa são textos de tipo explicativo veiculados em livros didáticos destinados aos anos finais (6º ao 9º) do Ensino Fundamental. Dito isso, nos propomos, neste artigo, a apresentar o referido modelo, a fim de: (a) (...) divulgar, ao menos parcialmente, os resultados da referida pesquisa, que se encontra em fase de conclusão; e (b) apontar mais uma possibilidade de, após a devida transposição didática, subsidiar professores para uma intervenção pedagógica mais significativa e eficaz no que tange ao desenvolvimento das habilidades de leitura desse tipo de texto, já que é pela compreensão leitora que se dá, no contexto escolar, a maior parte das aprendizagens em todos os componentes curriculares. (shrink)

Legal reasoning settles morally pressing matters through a technique that largely bypasses open-ended moral argument. That technique makes central what certain persons validly decided in the past, for example in creating statutes, judicial resolutions, contracts, or wills. Identifying valid decisions is a lawyerly skill and, echoing legal practice, legal philosophy has paid considerable attention to validity criteria. But it has neglected to explore validity's point: whether, and if so exactly how, the special technique of validity contributes to a legal system's (...) ability to realise justice and human rights. Even the most sensible defences of the moral need for positive law have insufficiently probed this key step in the argument. This book lays bare the workings of legal validity, and shows why, and within what general limits, this technique equips legal systems with privileged tools to foster human well-being. In so doing, the book explains how power-conferring norms setting out validity criteria endow agents' intentions with 'performative' effect ('I hereby.') and can secure the requirement of justice that there be widespread convergence on specific patterns of conduct shaped through a cooperative effort. Legal meaning is accordingly systemic, resulting from the valid acts of multiple agents whose decisions can, by virtue of exercising legal power, also exercise moral power (authority). In short, the book articulates why it is morally necessary that validity does not primarily turn on moral considerations. (shrink)

Se analiza la relación y la distinción entre los conceptos de regulación, autodeterminación y libertad, y se presentan las influencias teóricas que condujeron a su identificación. La cuestión se acota al tratamiento de la teoría de la autodeterminación y la teoría relacional de las necesidades. Se intenta mostrar que la autorregulación no puede identificarse con la autonomía, ni el concepto de autonomía es sinónimo de autodeterminación, porque la autonomía refiere a la propiedad de la voluntad de ser la fuente de (...) la ley, en sentido kantiano, y el concepto de autodeterminación refiere a la propiedad de la voluntad de ser dominio de sí y del resto de las capacidades. El concepto de autorregulación tiene su lugar de origen en la biología y luego se aplica, por extensión, al campo de la psicología. (shrink)