Background: Advances in biomedical sciences, technologies and care practices have resulted in an increase in ethical problems and a resulting growth of difficulties encountered by health workers in their professional activity. Objective: The main objective of this study was to analyse knowledge in the ethical field and experience with and the propensity for using ethics consultations by nurses and physicians. Methods: Between March and June 2014, a cross-sectional observational study was conducted on a sample of 351 nurses and 128 physicians (...) in four central Italian hospitals. For data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire was used, consisting of 21 items divided into four sections exploring demographic and occupational characteristics, knowledge in the ethics field, experience with ethical issues and the propensity to use ethics consultation. Ethical considerations: Research ethics approval was obtained from the Italian Nurses Professional Board. Results: The results show that both nurses and physicians are faced with ethically sensitive situations. Nurses were found to have better judgement concerning their own knowledge than physicians, but more physicians were found to have a deeper level of specific training in ethics issues. The propensity to ask for ethics consultations to address ethical issues was found to be significantly associated with the degree to which ethical issues have deepened. Conclusion: The presence of a consulting service that can lead to shared choices may represent, together with basic and continuing education, a valid support for professional growth in the ethical field for both physicians and nurses. (shrink)

Sustainable investment, which integrates social, environmental and ethical issues, has grown from a niche market of individual ethical investors to embrace institutional investors resulting in £764 billion in assets under management in the UK alone [Eurosif, 2008: ‘European SRI Study 2008’ ]. Explaining this growth is complex, involving shifts in personal and collective values, reactions to corporate scandals, scientific and media pronouncements about climate change, Government initiatives, responses from financial markets and the influence of SI innovators in The City of (...) London. The article examines the influence of human agency through interviews with 14 SI champions who have variously been responsible for launching SI funds and changing investment processes and organisational structures in order to enhance SI. Interviewees were asked about their motivations and persuasive strategies, the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them as well as broader implications of SI for financial markets. The following key categories inform the results and the discussion: Values; Conservatism, Antipathy and Incredulity; Optimism and Sympathy from Insiders; The Social and Political Context; The Business Case; Organisational Constraints; Inappropriate forms of Remuneration; Short-termism; The Nature of Capitalism. Three discourses were also identified. The first is the necessity to make a business case for SI; the second is the benefits that SI can bring to the quest of overcoming short-termism; the third is a belief that for SI to have a significant influence, greater government intervention is required. (shrink)

Sustainable investment (SI), which integrates social, environmental and ethical issues, has grown from a niche market of individual ethical investors to embrace institutional investors (e.g. pension funds) resulting in £764 billion in assets under management in the UK alone [Eurosif, 2008 : ‘European SRI Study 2008’ (Eurosif, Paris)]. Explaining this growth is complex, involving shifts in personal and collective values, reactions to corporate scandals, scientific and media pronouncements about climate change, Government initiatives, responses from financial markets and the influence of (...) SI innovators in The City of London. The article examines the influence of human agency through interviews with 14 SI champions who have variously been responsible for launching SI funds and changing investment processes and organisational structures in order to enhance SI. Interviewees were asked about their motivations and persuasive strategies, the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them as well as broader implications of SI for financial markets. The following key categories inform the results and the discussion: Values; Conservatism, Antipathy and Incredulity; Optimism and Sympathy from Insiders; The Social and Political Context; The Business Case; Organisational Constraints; Inappropriate forms of Remuneration; Short-termism; The Nature of Capitalism. Three discourses were also identified. The first is the necessity to make a business case for SI; the second is the benefits that SI can bring to the quest of overcoming short-termism; the third is a belief that for SI to have a significant influence, greater government intervention is required. (shrink)

Returning genomic research results to family members raises complex questions. Genomic research on life-limiting conditions such as cancer, and research involving storage and reanalysis of data and specimens long into the future, makes these questions pressing. This author group, funded by an NIH grant, published consensus recommendations presenting a framework. This follow-up paper offers concrete guidance and tools for implementation. The group collected and analyzed relevant documents and guidance, including tools from the Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Consortium. The authors then (...) negotiated a consensus toolkit of processes and documents. That toolkit offers sample consent and notification documents plus decision flow-charts to address return of results to family of living and deceased participants, in adult and pediatric research. Core concerns are eliciting participant preferences on sharing results with family and on choice of a representative to make decisions about sharing after participant death. (shrink)

Este escrito es un esfuerzo investigativo de corte crítico que se mueve argumentativamente entre paradojas, en el que se describe una tendencia actual en la sociedad como patológica y deshumanizante. A tal tendencia le hemos llamado sedentarismo-nómada, primera paradoja, que no es más que la tendencia del hombre a ser sedentario de un lugar u objeto tecnológico de moda, mientras que está en la posibilidad de conocer el mundo mediante tal objeto, haciendo un clic, sin salir de su casa o (...) lugar de trabajo, pero al mismo tiempo viajando por todo el mundo. Tendencia que se da entre actores sociales caracterizados como singularidades-plurales-narrativas, segunda paradoja, que a su vez obedece a una política de la homogenización, un proceso de estandarización social en masa; una ética comerciante, un proceso de regulación y caracterización comportamental bajo la lógica del mercado en la instauración de una nueva forma de relacionarse con la vida, con el sí mismo y con el otro, una relación mercantil; como expresiones de una cultura pornográfica audio-visual, el otro hecho objeto de consumo; y una pedagogía del consumo, una cultura que educa por y para comprar y vender a través de objetos tecnológicos. La consideración de un mundo trágico y sin sentido pero al que, hay que hallarle razón de ser, es la última de las paradojas. Radiografía social que deja al hombre transformado en la única cosa que puede ser institucionalmente, mercancía de consumo, objeto prostituido. (shrink)

Research on deviant organizational practices has demonstrated that normative and cognitive institutional forces contribute to making deviance acceptable. Data from a survey of 3,751 Chinese firms were applied to test the idea that a clearly articulated alternative identity is necessary if a firm is to resist the normalization of deviance. Widespread acceptance of delinquency in repaying loans was shown to make it more likely that a firm adopts that practice, but this normalization process is less likely for firms with a (...) stronger anti-deviance identity. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungNach zwölf Jahren intensiver Forschung etablierte der Ophthalmologe Theodor Leber (1840–1917) am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in der Entzündungsforschung die Chemotaxis der Leukozyten. Obwohl sich seine Theorie damals reibungslos in die immunologische Forschung einschrieb, wird sein Name jedoch bis heute nur in der englischsprachigen Fachliteratur mit der Chemotaxis verknüpft. In seinem Experimentalsystem hatte Leber zwar schon Anfang der 1880er Jahre eine Theorie der chemischen Attraktion der Leukozyten beim Entzündungsprozess entwickeln können. Aber seine unkonventionelle Methodik—die Einführung von chemisch indifferentem Fremdmaterial zur (...) Auslösung einer Entzündung am Kaninchenauge—widersprach schon vom Ansatz her dem zu diesem Zeitpunkt dominant bakteriologischen Denkstil der Entzündungsforschung. In diesem Forschungsfeld hielt Leber an einer Forschungspraxis fest, die aus einer engen Verzahnung von experimenteller und theoretischer Arbeit bestand. Erst als eine Öffnung des bakteriologischen Denkstils eingetreten war, gelang es Leber seine auf losen Protokollseiten festgehaltenen Versuchsbeobachtungen in überzeugende Belege seiner Entzündungstheorie zu transformieren. Die mikrohistorische Rekonstruktion von Lebers experimenteller und schriftlicher Arbeit anhand seiner Laborprotokolle erschließt die Forschungspraxis eines Wissenschaftlers, der in der damals etablierten mikrobiologischen Entzündungsforschung kaum Anerkennung fand. Durch Verbindung der mikrohistorischen Rekonstruktion mit einer makrohistorischen Analyse lassen sich außerdem Beharrungsfaktoren im Prozess der Wissensentstehung offenlegen. Leber entwickelte eine spezifische Papiertechnik, durch die er seine experimentellen Erkenntnisse zwar mobilisierte und stabilisierte, aber nicht mit dem Fortschreiten der Wissenschaft mithalten konnte. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungNach zwölf Jahren intensiver Forschung etablierte der Ophthalmologe Theodor Leber (1840–1917) am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in der Entzündungsforschung die Chemotaxis der Leukozyten. Obwohl sich seine Theorie damals reibungslos in die immunologische Forschung einschrieb, wird sein Name jedoch bis heute nur in der englischsprachigen Fachliteratur mit der Chemotaxis verknüpft. In seinem Experimentalsystem hatte Leber zwar schon Anfang der 1880er Jahre eine Theorie der chemischen Attraktion der Leukozyten beim Entzündungsprozess entwickeln können. Aber seine unkonventionelle Methodik—die Einführung von chemisch indifferentem Fremdmaterial zur (...) Auslösung einer Entzündung am Kaninchenauge—widersprach schon vom Ansatz her dem zu diesem Zeitpunkt dominant bakteriologischen Denkstil der Entzündungsforschung. In diesem Forschungsfeld hielt Leber an einer Forschungspraxis fest, die aus einer engen Verzahnung von experimenteller und theoretischer Arbeit bestand. Erst als eine Öffnung des bakteriologischen Denkstils eingetreten war, gelang es Leber seine auf losen Protokollseiten festgehaltenen Versuchsbeobachtungen in überzeugende Belege seiner Entzündungstheorie zu transformieren. Die mikrohistorische Rekonstruktion von Lebers experimenteller und schriftlicher Arbeit anhand seiner Laborprotokolle erschließt die Forschungspraxis eines Wissenschaftlers, der in der damals etablierten mikrobiologischen Entzündungsforschung kaum Anerkennung fand. Durch Verbindung der mikrohistorischen Rekonstruktion mit einer makrohistorischen Analyse lassen sich außerdem Beharrungsfaktoren im Prozess der Wissensentstehung offenlegen. Leber entwickelte eine spezifische Papiertechnik, durch die er seine experimentellen Erkenntnisse zwar mobilisierte und stabilisierte, aber nicht mit dem Fortschreiten der Wissenschaft mithalten konnte. (shrink)

In this paper I intend to analyze the possibility of social justice as fair maximal utility starting from two different perspectives about justice – justice as fairness and justice as social choice or mutual advantage. The thesis I defend and reconstruct here is that a co-operative solution can be implemented only in a democratic society where a certain kind of justice principles is applied. This solution, however, is not a solution, if we do not really understand the principles which are (...) being involved in it or if we do not use a proper concept of justice. My proposal here could bring some light both upon this issue and on the logical clarification. In order to realize this, I take into account at least two problems: 1) the problem of compatibility between the announced concept and the existence of social inequalities; 2) Nozick’s objection concerning the compensation of inequalities involved by this kind of justice. I intend to analyze Rawls’ solution of compensatory beneficial in order to test whether it could be considered dangerous for the preservation of equidistance of the rules and, hence, for the justice as impartiality, as Nozick claims in his work Anarchy, State and Utopia, the concept of reasonability which is used here as being complementary to the concept of rationality and useful for this matter. (shrink)

Transhumanism introduces from its very beginning a paradigm shift about concepts like human nature, progress and human future. An overview of its ideology reveals a strong belief in the idea of human enhancement through technologically means. The theory of technological singularity, which is more or less a radicalisation of the transhumanist discourse, foresees a radical evolutionary change through artificial intelligence. The boundaries between intelligent machines and human beings will be blurred. The consequence is the upcoming of a post-biological and posthuman (...) future when intelligent technology becomes autonomous and constantly self-improving. Considering these predictions, I will investigate here the way in which the idea of human enhancement modifies our understanding of technological innovation. I will argue that such change goes in at least two directions. On the one hand, innovation is seen as something that will inevitably lead towards intelligent machines and human enhancement. On the other hand, there is a direction such as “Singularity University,” where innovation is called to pragmatically solving human challenges. Yet there is a unifying spirit which holds together the two directions and I think it is the same transhumanist idea. (shrink)

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on the lives of everyone, but in particular on the health and well-being of older people. It has also disrupted the way that individuals access services and interact with one another, and physical distancing and “Stay at Home” orders have seen digital interaction become a necessity. While these restrictions have highlighted the importance of technology in everyday life, little is known about how older adults have responded to this change. Methods: Two (...) surveys, one in 2019 and another in 2020 collected data on a combined total of 1923 older adults aged 65 years and older in Canada. These looked at how older adults think about and use technology, with the 2020 survey additionally questioning how COVID-19 has impacted their use and attitudes towards technology. Results: While older adults feel more isolated in 2020, many feel positive about the benefits of technology and have increased technology use during the pandemic to support their health, wellness, and communication needs. Discussion: The results highlight the potential of technology for supporting older adults in various aspects of healthy aging. While these results point to the opportunities afforded by technology, challenges remain, such as how social and economic factors influence technology uptake. (shrink)

Catherine Clement, Julia Kristeva, Femeia si Sacrul Editura Albatros, Bucureoti, 2001., 244 pg.

Soon after December 1989, the Romanian political power and the Romanian Orthodox Church have established that they had common interests regarding the preservation of several elements of the old leadership structures. A radical severance with the past has never been accomplished, for, a certain fear for a complete unbalance and of an uncontrollable evolution of the State’s institutions and of the Church’s hierarchy became manifest at that time. Thus, the Orthodox Church and the leading political post-communist party have made a (...) series of mutual good turns, with a view to maintaining the status-quo. At the same time, the political leadership manifested occult trends in order to control the Orthodox Church and to monopolize its huge sphere of influence for political purposes, since the State had no interest in the existence of a very strong and independent Church. This article shortly analyzes some of these cases. (shrink)

Moshe Idel, Maimonide şi mistica evreiască Trad. rom. Mihaela Frunză, Ed. Dacia, Cluj, 2001.

Stephane Moses, Sistem si revelatie. Filosofia lui Franz Rosenzweig Bucuresti, Ed. Hasefer, Colectia Judaica, 2003.

The perception of sensory effects generated by one’s own actions is typically attenuated compared to the same effects generated externally. However, it is unclear whether this specifically relates to self-generation. Recent studies showed that sensory attenuation mainly relies on action preparation, not actual action execution. Hence, an attenuation of sensory effects generated by another person might occur if these actions can be anticipated and thus be prepared for.Here, we compared the perceived loudness of sounds generated by one’s own actions and (...) actions of another person that either could or could not be anticipated. We found an attenuation of the perceived loudness for self- as compared to other-generated sounds. This difference was independent of whether the sound-eliciting actions of the other person could be anticipated or not. Thus, sensory attenuation seems to be specifically tied to self-generation instead of being a secondary effect of agent-independent preparation for an upcoming action. (shrink)

Ser, pensar, ver, mirar son el sustrato de la escritura de María Zambrano, que se apoya y brota de una irrenunciable voluntad de pensar y trazar la palabra que la vida necesita. Por ello escribe con la intención de reconducir la filosofía a la concreción de la existencia, para hacer del pensamiento, como ha dicho Wanda Tommasi, una instancia mediadora capaz de llevar a la luz de la conciencia las realidades oscuras del cuerpo, del sentir, de la pasión. María Zambrano (...) se mueve en la frontera entre filosofía y poesía. En los ensayos de Entre el alba y la aurora alienta algo de la investigación filosófica que los unifica: la voluntad de hacer de la lectura experiencia y de la escritura su articulación. En todos ellos la investigación ha sido reflexión sobre el modo en el que la obra de esta autora nos interpela y sobre el porqué de esta interpelación, dirigiendo la atención al contexto de las propias expectativas, a lo que el encuentro con sus páginas obliga a recomponer, al sentido que de aquí nace abriendo posibilidades de comprensión e interpretación. María Zambrano ayuda a pensar el fondo originario del vivir personal y enseña a darle un cauce, pone así de manifiesto el sentido del filosofar, acción reflexiva dirigida a la apertura de un futuro en tarea de creación que no es impositiva, sino liberadora. Carmen Revilla Guzmán es profesora de Filosofía contemporánea en la Universidad de Barcelona. Sobre María Zambrano, entre otras cosas, dirige la revista Aurora y ha editado el libro Claves de la razón poética (Trotta, 1998); recientemente ha publicado Simone Weil: nombrar la experiencia (Trotta, 2003). (shrink)

Data are lacking with regard to participants' perspectives on return of genetic research results to relatives, including after the participant's death. This paper reports descriptive results from 3,630 survey respondents: 464 participants in a pancreatic cancer biobank, 1,439 family registry participants, and 1,727 healthy individuals. Our findings indicate that most participants would feel obligated to share their results with blood relatives while alive and would want results to be shared with relatives after their death.

This study examined the influence of the executive board of directors’ gender diversity on the financial performance of listed companies on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, for the period 2011 to 2019. The analysis of the composition and different characteristics of the board and the executive directors proved to be effective tools for corporate governance in countries with an emerging capital market. Therefore, a disclosure index on directors’ characteristics was used to moderate the interaction between gender diversity and financial performance, based (...) on the theoretical framework provided by upper echelon theory. The study contributes to the enrichment of the literature both by using the composite indicator built by applying the multiway PCA method on panel data to express financial performance and by designing the ten EGLS panel models involving five financial indicators and two proxies for gender diversity. The results showed that there is a positive impact of the proportion of women on the executive board of directors on financial performance, measured through the composite index, ROA, ROE, and SOL. A statistically significant impact of gender diversity on financial performance was found only for SOL, in the case of the Blau index. Also, using the random-effects model to perform the panel data analysis, the results showed that a higher executive board size can be associated with better financial performance measured through the composite index, ROA, ROE, and EPS. Practical implications are significant for the board of executives’ composition, the complexity of the relationship with the board, and reshaping governance practices. (shrink)

Drawing on stakeholder theory and the evolutionary approach to institutions, this paper investigates the channels through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is developed in post-communist economies by focusing on the employee background factors that shape the employees' expectations with regard to corporate socially responsible behaviour. We identify three channels through which exogenous and endogenous CSR are developed: employees with work experience in multinational enterprises (MNEs) (leading to exogenous CSR), employees with CSR knowledge (leading to exogenous CSR) and employees with experience (...) of the socialist system (leading to endogenous CSR). Furthermore, we argue that the interactions between these channels lead to hybrid CSR in transition economies. We use a questionnaire-based survey with employees of domestic and MNEs in Romania and we conduct regression analysis. We find that employees with work experience in MNEs act as channels for exogenous CSR, while employees with experience of the socialist system act as channels for endogenous CSR. Furthermore, employees with experience of the socialist system and CSR knowledge or work experience in an MNE act as channels for hybrid CSR in transition economies. Based on our results, we put forward implications for theory, managers and policy makers. (shrink)

Drawing on stakeholder theory and the evolutionary approach to institutions, this paper investigates the channels through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is developed in post‐communist economies by focusing on the employee background factors that shape the employees' expectations with regard to corporate socially responsible behaviour. We identify three channels through which exogenous and endogenous CSR are developed: employees with work experience in multinational enterprises (MNEs) (leading to exogenous CSR), employees with CSR knowledge (leading to exogenous CSR) and employees with experience (...) of the socialist system (leading to endogenous CSR). Furthermore, we argue that the interactions between these channels lead to hybrid CSR in transition economies. We use a questionnaire‐based survey with employees of domestic and MNEs in Romania and we conduct regression analysis. We find that employees with work experience in MNEs act as channels for exogenous CSR, while employees with experience of the socialist system act as channels for endogenous CSR. Furthermore, employees with experience of the socialist system and CSR knowledge or work experience in an MNE act as channels for hybrid CSR in transition economies. Based on our results, we put forward implications for theory, managers and policy makers. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the presence of Pascal’s thought in the work of the Spanish writer José Jiménez Lozano (1930-2020). In fact, it could be considered that this writer is almost a kind of Pascal come alive, especially in terms of understanding and experiencing Christianity, since, for both Pascal and Jiménez Lozano, the orientation of the human soul towards God is not only a part of the essence of man but also is his most (...) definitory anthropological constituent. (shrink)