Advance Car-Crash Planning: Shared Decision Making between Humans and Autonomous Vehicles.

In this article we summarise some previously described proposals for ethical governance of autonomous vehicles ('smart cars'), critique them, and offer an alternative solution. Rather than programming cars to react to crash situations in the same way as humans, having humans program pre-set responses for a wide range of different potential scenarios, or applying particular ethical theories, we suggest that decisions should be made jointly between humans and cars. Given that humans lack the requisite processing capacity, and computers lack the necessary ethical capacity, the medical paradigm of advance care planning can be retooled for this new context. Advance car-crash planning provides a way to combine humans' ethical preferences with the advanced data processing capacities of computers to enable shared decision making in collision situations.

Absolutely Right and Relatively Good: Consequentialists See Bioethical Disagreement in a Relativist Light.

BACKGROUND: Contemporary societies are rife with moral disagreement, resulting in recalcitrant disputes on matters of public policy. In the context of ongoing bioethical controversies, are uncompromising attitudes rooted in beliefs about the nature of moral truth? METHODS: To answer this question, we conducted both exploratory and confirmatory studies, with both a convenience and a nationally representative sample (total N = 1501), investigating the link between people's beliefs about moral truth (their metaethics) and their beliefs about moral value (their normative ethics). RESULTS: Across various bioethical issues (e.g., medically-assisted death, vaccine hesitancy, surrogacy, mandatory organ conscription, or genetically modified crops), consequentialist attitudes were associated with weaker beliefs in an objective moral truth. This association was not explained by domain-general reflectivity, theism, personality, normative uncertainty, or subjective knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: We find a robust link between the way people characterize prescriptive disagreements and their sensibility to consequences. In addition, both societal consensus and personal conviction contribute to objectivist beliefs, but these effects appear to be asymmetric, i.e., stronger for opposition than for approval.

Empirical Investigation of Ethical Challenges Related to the Use of Biological Therapies.

The aim of this study was to investigate the ethical dilemma of prioritising financial resources to expensive biological therapies. For this purpose, the four principles of biomedical ethics formulated by ethicists Tom Beauchamp and James Childress were used as a theoretical framework. Based on arguments of justice, Beauchamp and Childress advocate for a health care system organised in line with the Danish system. Notably, our study was carried out in a Danish setting.

Conflicting demands on a modern healthcare service: Can Rawlsian justice provide a guiding philosophy for the NHS and other socialized health services?

We explore whether a Rawlsian approach might provide a guiding philosophy for the development of a healthcare system, in particular with regard to resolving tensions between different groups within it. We argue that an approach developed from some of Rawls' principles - using his 'veil of ignorance' and both the 'difference' and 'just savings' principles which it generates - provides a compelling basis for policy making around certain areas of conflict. We ask what policies might be made if those making them did not know if one was patient, doctor, nurse or manager - in this generation or the next. We first offer a brief summary of Rawls' approach and how we intend to extrapolate from it. We examine how this adapted Rawlsian framework could be applied to specific examples of conflict within healthcare; we demonstrate how this framework can be used to develop a healthcare service which is both sustainable (in its training and treatment of staff, and in encouraging research and innovation) and open (to protect the powers and opportunities of those using the health service). We conclude that while Rawls' approach has previously been rejected as a means to address specific healthcare decisions, an adapted veil of ignorance can be a useful tool for the consideration of how a just health service should be constructed and sustained. Turning the theoretical into the practical (and combining Rawls' thought experiment with Scanlonian contractarianism), managers, doctors, patients, carers and nurses could come together and debate conflicting issues behind a hypothetical veil.

Beyond autonomy: Care ethics for midwifery and the humanization of birth.

The bioethical principle of respect for a person's bodily autonomy is central to biomedical and healthcare ethics. In this article, we argue that this concept of autonomy is often annulled in the maternity field, due to the maternal two-in-one body (and the obstetric focus on the foetus over the woman) and the history of medical paternalism in Western medicine and obstetrics. The principle of respect for autonomy has therefore become largely rhetorical, yet can hide all manner of unethical practice. We propose that large institutions that prioritize a midwife-institution relationship over a midwife-woman relationship are in themselves unethical and inimical to the midwifery philosophy of care. We suggest that a focus on care ethics has the potential to remedy these problems, by making power relationships visible and by prioritizing the relationship above abstract ethical principles.

Cross-Cultural Differences in the Influences of Spiritual and Religious Tendencies on Beliefs in Genetic Determinism and Family Health History Communication: A Teleological Approach.

Adopting a teleological approach, this study investigates how beliefs in genetic determinism, intentional spirituality, and religious tendencies are associated with family health history (FHH) communication among European American, Chinese, and Korean college students. The results indicate that intentional spirituality was negatively associated with beliefs in genetic determinism and FHH communication, while beliefs in genetic determinism were positively associated with FHH communication. Intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and paranormal beliefs showed interesting dynamics with beliefs in genetic determinism and FHH communication. An interaction effect regarding cultural identity, beliefs in genetic determinism, and FHH communication was likewise found. The findings have meaningful implications for future studies about religious influences on health behaviors.

Por el bien de la nación: discursos científicos en favor de la medicalización del parto en el Perú, 1900-1940 / For the good of the nation: scientific discourses endorsing the medicalization of childbirth in Peru, 1900-1940

Resumen A lo largo del siglo XX se sucedió una serie de cambios en la forma de concebir el parto que pasó de ser un fenómeno reproductivo natural propio del ámbito doméstico y femenino a un asunto médico y profesional del ámbito institucional. A través de procedimientos como el uso de anestesia, la cesárea, el ultrasonido y otras intervenciones técnico-científicas se han generado rápidas e importantes mejoras y cambios para la salud y vida de la sociedad y las mujeres. La medicalización del parto a comienzos del siglo XX fue parte de un proceso más amplio de construcción del Estado e institucionalización del patriarcado común en la región.

Abstract Over the course of the twentieth century, a series of changes occurred in the understanding of childbirth, which went from being a natural reproductive phenomenon belonging to the female, domestic sphere to a professional medical matter handled in an institutional setting. Through procedures like the use of anesthesia, Cesarean sections, ultrasound and other techno-scientific interventions, rapid and significant improvements and changes took place in the health and life of society and of women. The medicalization of childbirth in the early twentieth century was part of a broader process of constructing the state and institutionalizing the patriarchy that was common throughout the region.

The Just War Tradition: A Model for Healthcare Ethics.

Healthcare ethics committees, physicians, surgeons, nurses, families, and patients themselves are constantly under pressure to make appropriate medically ethical decisions concerning patient care. Various models for healthcare ethics decisions have been proposed throughout the years, but by and large they are focused on making the initial ethical decision. What follows is a proposed model for healthcare ethics that considers the most appropriate decisions before, during, and after any intervention. The Just War Tradition is a model that is thorough in its exploration of the ethics guiding a nation to either engage in or refuse to engage in combatant actions. In recent years, the Just War Tradition has expanded beyond the simple consideration of going to war or not to include how the war is conducted and what the post-war phase would look like ethically. This paper is an exploration of a healthcare ethics decision making model using the tenets of the Just War Tradition as a framework. It discusses the initial consult level of decision making prior to any medical intervention, then goes further in considering the ongoing ethical paradigm during medical intervention and post intervention. Thus, this proposal is a more holistic approach to healthcare ethics decision making that encourages healthcare ethics committees to consider alternate models and ways of processing so that ultimately what is best for patient, family, staff, and the environment is all taken into consideration.

¿Medicinas alternativas? / Alternative medicines?

No disponible

For the good of the nation: scientific discourses endorsing the medicalization of childbirth in Peru, 1900-1940. / Por el bien de la nación: discursos científicos en favor de la medicalización del parto en el Perú, 1900-1940.

Over the course of the twentieth century, a series of changes occurred in the understanding of childbirth, which went from being a natural reproductive phenomenon belonging to the female, domestic sphere to a professional medical matter handled in an institutional setting. Through procedures like the use of anesthesia, Cesarean sections, ultrasound and other techno-scientific interventions, rapid and significant improvements and changes took place in the health and life of society and of women. The medicalization of childbirth in the early twentieth century was part of a broader process of constructing the state and institutionalizing the patriarchy that was common throughout the region.

A lo largo del siglo XX se sucedió una serie de cambios en la forma de concebir el parto que pasó de ser un fenómeno reproductivo natural propio del ámbito doméstico y femenino a un asunto médico y profesional del ámbito institucional. A través de procedimientos como el uso de anestesia, la cesárea, el ultrasonido y otras intervenciones técnico-científicas se han generado rápidas e importantes mejoras y cambios para la salud y vida de la sociedad y las mujeres. La medicalización del parto a comienzos del siglo XX fue parte de un proceso más amplio de construcción del Estado e institucionalización del patriarcado común en la región.

How Should We Respond to Non-Dominant Healing Practices, the Example of Homeopathy.

The debate around the ethics of homeopathy in recent issues of the journal has been approached as a binary question; is homeopathy ethical or not? This paper suggests that this is an unhelpful question and instead discusses a framework to establish the extent to which the dominant (medical) culture should tolerate non-dominant health practices such as homeopathy. This requires a sophisticated understanding of the placebo effect, a critical evaluation of what evidence is available, a consideration of the harm that the non-dominant practice might cause, and a consideration of how this might be affected by the culture of the patient. This is presented as a matter of cultural competence. At a clinical level clinicians need to respect the values and beliefs of their patients and communicate with all the practitioners involved in a patient's care. At a societal level there are a number of factors to be considered when a community decides which practices to tolerate and to what extent.

A Not-So-Gentle Refutation of the Defence of Homeopathy.

In a recent paper, Levy, Gadd, Kerridge, and Komesaroff attempt to defend the ethicality of homeopathy by attacking the utilitarian ethical framework as a basis for medical ethics and by introducing a distinction between evidence-based medicine and modern science. This paper demonstrates that their argumentation is not only insufficient to achieve that goal but also incorrect. Utilitarianism is not required to show that homeopathic practice is unethical; indeed, any normative basis of medical ethics will make it unethical, as a defence of homeopathic practice requires the rejection of modern natural sciences, which are an integral part of medical ethics systems. This paper also points out that evidence-based medicine lies at the very core of modern science. Particular arguments made by Levy et al. within the principlist medical ethics normative system are also shown to be wrong.

El proceso de jerarquización de valores en la adolescencia y juventud / The process of values hierarchization in adolescence and youth

Se realizó un análisis de las temáticas adolescencia y valores morales, desde una perspectiva etimológica y, luego, se contextualizó en Cuba. Para ello, se realizó una revisión cronológica desde 25 años atrás hasta el presente. Se abordó los orígenes de la bioética en Cuba como condición para la comprensión, desde la axiología, de los valores, dirigidos, sobre todo, a la adolescencia como etapa de la vida de un sujeto. Se bosquejó resultados de trabajos científicos desde las ciencias sociales y las ciencias médicas, que abarcan la influencia del desarrollo de la ciencia en el paradigma médico vigente, sus particularidades en la atención al adolescente de nuestro medio. Se mostró fortalezas de algunos valores que hoy prevalecen y también las condiciones para el florecimiento de otros, apenas visibles en nuestros días(AU)

It was carried out an analysis of the themes adolescence and moral values from an etymological point of view, and them it was contextualized in Cuba. For that, a chronological review was made since 25 years ago to current days. We treated the origin of bioethics in Cuba as a condition for values comprehension, from the axiological point of view, aimed on the adolescence as a subjects life stage. There it were reviewed the outcomes of scientific works of both, the social sciences and the medical sciences, including the influence of sciences development on the in force medical paradigm, and its particularities in teenagers care in our settings. The strength of several values prevailing today was showed, and also the conditions for the increment of others barely seen in our days(AU)

Scientism and Pseudoscience: A Philosophical Commentary.

The term "scientism" is used in a variety of ways with both negative and positive connotations. I suggest that some of these uses are inappropriate, as they aim simply at dismissing without argument an approach that a particular author does not like. However, there are legitimate negative uses of the term, which I explore by way of an analogy with the term "pseudoscience." I discuss these issues by way of a recent specific example provided by a controversy in the field of bioethics concerning the value, or lack thereof, of homeopathy. I then frame the debate about scientism within the broader context of C.P. Snow's famous essay on the "two cultures."

[Teaching Bioethics to Students of Medicine with Problem-Based Learning (PBL)]. / Enseñar Bioética a Estudiantes de Medicina Mediante el Aprendizaje Basado en Problemas (ABP).

We present the experience of the introduction of the subject of bioethics in a medical school in order to give to the 73 students of 5th degree skills to handle ethical conflicts in their practice. The main teaching method used was problem-based learning (PBL). Skills objectives are described. The course was structured with a theoretical seminar (2 hours of duration), a workshop (2 hours of duration), 4 cases of PBL (24 hours of duration in total) and a role playing workshop (2 hours of duration). The seminar was aimed at the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. The PBL cases provided critical appraisal, obtaining knowledge, and application. The Role Playing set out for the practical demonstration of skills acquired in a simulated environment. A continuous assessment of students was performed throughout their practice on the PBL cases (40% of the final score) and also a final evaluation of the course was carried out via exam (60% of the final score). Students completed a course and faculty evaluation anonymously, which came out with positive results (median score of 8.5/10).

Sidetracked by trolleys: Why sacrificial moral dilemmas tell us little (or nothing) about utilitarian judgment.

Research into moral decision-making has been dominated by sacrificial dilemmas where, in order to save several lives, it is necessary to sacrifice the life of another person. It is widely assumed that these dilemmas draw a sharp contrast between utilitarian and deontological approaches to morality, and thereby enable us to study the psychological and neural basis of utilitarian judgment. However, it has been previously shown that some sacrificial dilemmas fail to present a genuine contrast between utilitarian and deontological options. Here, I raise deeper problems for this research paradigm. Even when sacrificial dilemmas present a contrast between utilitarian and deontological options at a philosophical level, it is misleading to interpret the responses of ordinary folk in these terms. What is currently classified as "utilitarian judgment" does not in fact share essential features of a genuine utilitarian outlook, and is better explained in terms of commonsensical moral notions. When subjects deliberate about such dilemmas, they are not deciding between opposing utilitarian and deontological solutions, but engaging in a richer process of weighing opposing moral reasons. Sacrificial dilemmas therefore tell us little about utilitarian decision-making. An alternative approach to studying proto-utilitarian tendencies in everyday moral thinking is proposed.

Collectivizing rescue obligations in bioethics.

Bioethicists invoke a duty to rescue in a wide range of cases. Indeed, arguably, there exists an entire medical paradigm whereby vast numbers of medical encounters are treated as rescue cases. The intuitive power of the rescue paradigm is considerable, but much of this power stems from the problematic way that rescue cases are conceptualized-namely, as random, unanticipated, unavoidable, interpersonal events for which context is irrelevant and beneficence is the paramount value. In this article, I critique the basic assumptions of the rescue paradigm, reframe the ethical landscape in which rescue obligations are understood, and defend the necessity and value of a wider social and institutional view. Along the way, I move back and forth between ethical theory and a concrete case where the duty to rescue has been problematically applied: the purported duty to regularly return incidental findings and individual research results in genomic and genetic research.

A gentle ethical defence of homeopathy.

Recent discourses about the legitimacy of homeopathy have focused on its scientific plausibility, mechanism of action, and evidence base. These, frequently, conclude not only that homeopathy is scientifically baseless, but that it is "unethical." They have also diminished patients' perspectives, values, and preferences. We contend that these critics confuse epistemic questions with questions of ethics, misconstrue the moral status of homeopaths, and have an impoverished idea of ethics-one that fails to account either for the moral worth of care and of relationships or for the perspectives, values, and preferences of patients. Utilitarian critics, in particular, endeavour to present an objective evaluation-a type of moral calculus-quantifying the utilities and disutilities of homeopathy as a justification for the exclusion of homeopathy from research and health care. But these critiques are built upon a narrow formulation of evidence and care and a diminished episteme that excludes the values and preferences of researchers, homeopaths, and patients engaged in the practice of homeopathy. We suggest that homeopathy is ethical as it fulfils the needs and expectations of many patients; may be practiced safely and prudentially; values care and the virtues of the therapeutic relationship; and provides important benefits for patients.

Ética, bioética e deontologia no ensino da naturologia no Brasil / Ethics, bioethics and deontology in naturology teaching in Brazil

Objetivou-se discutir, pelo prisma da bioética social, como se configura a inserção das disciplinas de ética, deontologia e bioética no ensino da naturologia no Brasil. Sob abordagem qualitativo-descritiva e por meio de investigação documental e de campo, realizou-se o estudo em duas universidades brasileiras. Participaram seis docentes mediante entrevistas semiestruturadas que permitiram analisar os seis planos de ensino, três de cada curso. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo e resultaram em quatro categorias: 1) características gerais das disciplinas que envolvem o estudo da ética, bioética e deontologia; 2) bioética como disciplina no curso de naturologia: temas e referenciais de análise; 3) abordagens teóricas da ética estudadas na naturologia; 4) estudo da deontologia no ensino da naturologia. Considera-se necessário ampliar a carga horária das disciplinas de ética e bioética e assinala-se a necessidade da constante reflexão sobre a prática profissional voltada para a realidade social brasileira...

The aim of this study was to discuss how the disciplines of ethics, deontology and bioethics are configured within the scope of Naturology teaching in Brazil from a Social Bioethics point of view. A qualitative-descriptive approach was used by means of documental and field investigations, based on two Brazilian universities. Six lecturers participated in this study via semi-structured interviews analyzing six teaching projects, three from each of the two courses. The data collected underwent content analysis, which resulted in four categories: 1) General aspects of the disciplines that include the subjects of ethics, bioethics and deontology; 2) Bioethics as a discipline in the course of Naturology: themes and references for analyses; 3) Theoretical approaches in ethics within Naturology; 4) The study of deontology in Naturology teaching. The need to increase teaching hours in the disciplines of ethics and bioethics was highlighted, as well as the need for constant reflection on professional practice within the social reality of Brazil...

Se objetivó discutir, bajo el prisma de la bioética social, cómo se configura la inserción de las asignaturas de ética, deontología y bioética en la enseñanza de la naturología en Brasil. Bajo un abordaje cualitativo y descriptivo y a través de investigación documental y de campo, se llevó a cabo el estudio en dos universidades brasileñas. Los participantes fueron seis docentes, por medio de entrevistas semi-estructuradas que pertieron sus planes de enseñanza, tres de cada curso. Los datos recogidos fueron sometidos al análisis de contenido y resultaron cuatro categorías: 1) características generales de las disciplinas que involucran el estudio de la ética, la bioética y la deontología; 2) bioética como disciplina en el curso de naturología: temas y marcos de análisis; 3) abordajes teóricos de la ética estudiados en la Naturología; 4) el estudio de la deontología en la enseñanza de la naturología. Se considera la necesidad de ampliar la carga horaria de las asignaturas de ética y bioética y se señala la necesidad de constante reflexión acerca de la práctica profesional centrada en la realidad social brasileña...

Edmund Pellegrino's philosophy and ethics of medicine: an overview.

It might seem ironic that the author in this mini-symposium who knew Edmund Pellegrino the best should be the one whose essay is the least personal,eschewing anecdote and reminiscence and concentrating on the substance of his scholarly contribution. I think, however, that for Ed, an exposition of his ideas would be the most fitting tribute one could offer. Accordingly, I will attempt to outline his main ideas and bring together his disparate writings in a constructive manner. I do this firstly because there really is no other such brief exposition of his main ideas anywhere in the bioethics literature. Moreover, Pellegrino himself made no attempt to provide an explicit synthesis of his various writings on various topics, and so I will attempt to make explicit a number of implicit connections.Lastly, inasmuch as bioethics has developed dramatically as a field over the last 40 years, there may be young scholars who are unfamiliar with Pellegrino's truly seminal work. A brief overview of his body of scholarship might spur them togo to the primary sources. If I succeed in interesting such persons in reading the work of Edmund Pellegrino, or inspire others to look again at that work with fresh eyes, I believe they will be richly rewarded.