Marx y Nietzsche como marcos comprensivos de un ethos contemporáneo: responsabilidad individual y de Estado / Marx and Nietzsche as comprehensive frameworks of a contemporary ethos: individual and State responsibility

La ética contemporánea gira sobre dos grandes ejes problemáticos. Por una parte, las cuestiones acerca de la responsabilidad del Estado para habilitar y promover el desarrollo individual, y por la otra, el interés primordial de cada sujeto por realizar sus propios intereses. El presente ensayo aborda a dos pensadores importantes del siglo xix que brindaron marcos propicios para la reflexión ante estas cuestiones: Carlos Marx y Federico Nietzsche. Si bien estos filósofos de la sospecha no habilitaron una ética como tal, nos proporcionan elementos para la comprensión de un ethos contemporáneo comprendido como forja del carácter y cuidado de la casa (AU).

Contemporary ethics turns around two major problematic axes. On one side, the questions about the responsibility of the State to enable and promote individual development and, on the other side, the primary concern of each individual to realize his own interests. The current article approaches two important thinkers of the XIX century who provided enabling frameworks for reflecting on these issues: Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche. Although these philosophers of the suspicion did not create an ethical system as such, they provided elements for understanding the contemporary ethos, meaning character forgery and house caring (AU).

Marx y Nietzsche como marcos comprensivos de un ethos contemporáneo: responsabilidad individual y de Estado / Marx and Nietzsche as comprehensive frameworks of a contemporary ethos: individual and State responsibility

La ética contemporánea gira sobre dos grandes ejes problemáticos. Por una parte, las cuestiones acerca de la responsabilidad del Estado para habilitar y promover el desarrollo individual, y por la otra, el interés primordial de cada sujeto por realizar sus propios intereses. El presente ensayo aborda a dos pensadores importantes del siglo xix que brindaron marcos propicios para la reflexión ante estas cuestiones: Carlos Marx y Federico Nietzsche. Si bien estos filósofos de la sospecha no habilitaron una ética como tal, nos proporcionan elementos para la comprensión de un ethos contemporáneo comprendido como forja del carácter y cuidado de la casa (AU).

Contemporary ethics turns around two major problematic axes. On one side, the questions about the responsibility of the State to enable and promote individual development and, on the other side, the primary concern of each individual to realize his own interests. The current article approaches two important thinkers of the XIX century who provided enabling frameworks for reflecting on these issues: Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche. Although these philosophers of the suspicion did not create an ethical system as such, they provided elements for understanding the contemporary ethos, meaning character forgery and house caring (AU).

The culture war, modern economics, and environmental education in the United States / La guerra cultural, la economía moderna y la educación ambiental en los Estados Unidos

Teaching ethics in public schools in the United States has been made almost impossible because of the Culture War and Modern Economics. When Catholics began to migrate to the United States in the early nineteenth century, they found that Protestant religion and ethics were taught in public schools and they created their own parochial schools. This controversy has continued for two hundred years. To encourage the Catholics to send their children to the public schools, by 1860 religion and ethics had been removed from the public schools. Concern about the teaching of ethics spread to other religious and non-religious groups. These groups attack the teaching of ethics as the indoctrination of the personal values of teachers, and when teachers include alternative ethical views to avoid indoctrination they are accused of relativism. According to Modern Economics, value terms are meaningless unless they have been translated into economic terms based on willingness to pay. This approach overlooks the social values that make up the cultural heritage of a society. Although children acquire these social values tacitly, since they are not taught these values as a common heritage, they come to believe that they invented them ahistorically and that they are just how they feel (ethical emotivism). By teaching children social values as a common heritage, the charges of indoctrination and relativism and the replacement of these values with economic terms can be avoided, later permitting a more objective role for ethics in public affairs among adults

La enseñanza de la ética en las escuelas públicas en los Estados Unidos se ha hecho casi imposible a causa de la guerra cultural y de la economía moderna. Cuando los católicos comenzaron a emigrar a los Estados Unidos a principios del siglo XIX, se dieron cuenta de que en las escuelas públicas se enseñaba la ética protestante y, por eso, crearon sus propias escuelas religiosas. Esta controversia ha continuado durante doscientos años. Para animar a los católicos a enviar a sus hijos a las escuelas públicas, en 1860 se quitó la enseñanza de religión y de la ética de las escuelas públicas. La preocupación por la enseñanza de la ética se extendió a otros grupos religiosos y no religiosos. Estos grupos consideran a la enseñanza de la ética como el adoctrinamiento de los valores personales de los maestros, y cuando los maestros incluyen puntos de vista éticos alternativos para evitar ese adoctrinamiento se les acusa de relativismo. De acuerdo con la economía moderna, las condiciones del valor carecen de sentido hasta que no se traducen en términos económicos basados en la disposición a pagar. Este enfoque no considera los valores sociales que conforman el patrimonio cultural de una sociedad. A pesar de que los niños adquieren estos valores sociales tácitamente, ya que no se enseñan estos valores como una herencia común, ellos mismos llegan a creer que los habían inventado a-históricamente y que no son más que cómo se sienten (emotivismo ético). Al enseñar a los niños los valores sociales como una herencia común, se pueden evitar los gastos del adoctrinamiento, del relativismo y de la sustitución de estos valores con términos económicos, permitiendo así un papel más objetivo de la ética en los asuntos públicos entre los adultos

Hans Jonas: conservación de la naturaleza, conservación de la vida / Hans Jonas: nature conservation, conservation of life

En este artículo se tratan varios problemas relacionados entre sí que el filósofo alemán Hans Jonas estudió. El primero de ellos es la necesidad de una ética específica dedicada a la dimensión moral de los problemas ambientales, desde una perspectiva distinta a la tradicional. El segundo problema ocupa un lugar central en la discusión en ética ambiental: el valor de la naturaleza. ¿Tiene valor intrínseco o sólo un valor instrumental (para satisfacer los intereses del ser humano)? A este respecto se expone la tesis de Jonas según la cual la naturaleza no sólo tiene valor intrínseco, sino que constituye un bien en sí misma. Y el tercer problema es la derivación de normas morales y el papel del hombre en esta ética que reconoce un bien en sí en la naturaleza. Según Jonas, el ser humano no se ve devaluado al reconocer el valor intrínseco de la naturaleza, pues la excepcionalidad y el valor de aquel son incuestionables. A partir de estas tres cuestiones centrales, se resalta la importancia de buscar los lazos que unen la bioética y la ética ambiental para encarar la crisis ambiental, social y económica del momento presente

This article discusses three of the problems that the German philosopher Hans Jonas studied. The first one addresses the need for a specific ethic dedicated to the moral dimension of environmental problems, from a different perspective to the traditional. The second problem is crucial in the discussion on environmental ethics: the value of the nature. Does the nature have an intrinsic value or an instrumental value only (to satisfy the interests of the human being)? The thesis of Jonas, which claimed that nature is a good in itself, were further elaborated here. And the third problem is the derivation of moral norms and the role of man in this ethic that recognizes a good in itself in nature. According to Jonas, the human being is not diminished by recognizing the intrinsic value of nature, since the man’s uniqueness and value are unquestionable. From these three central issues, the paper highlights the importance of seeking the links between bioethics and environmental ethics to address the current environmental, social and economic crisis

The life of Rudolf Nissen: advancing surgery through science and principle.

Rudolf Nissen (1896-1981) was a surgeon whose career began in Germany during the first third of the 20th century, a period of rapid progress in biomedical technology, during which neurosurgery, anesthesiology, and other specialties emerged. A protégé and later close colleague of thoracic surgery pioneer Ferdinand Sauerbruch (1875-1951), Nissen resigned from the Berlin Charité Clinic and left Germany in 1933, in response to the rise of Nazi fascism. Throughout his subsequent career in Istanbul, Turkey, the American cities of Boston and New York, and finally Basel, Switzerland, Nissen developed innovative surgical techniques, advocated for patient-centered medical education, and promoted surgical subspecialization. A lifelong proponent of clear scientific writing, Nissen expressed, in extensively published work, his philosophy that progress in surgery depends critically on rigorously applying the scientific method, upholding professional integrity, and respecting human dignity.

La fundamentación de la bioética en el concepto poliano de naturaleza humana / O fundamento da bioética no conceito de polo sobre a natureza humana / The foundation of bioethics in the polian concept of human nature

El presente trabajo busca, desde una perspectiva filosófica, analizar los fundamentos de la ciencia bioética en los niveles cognoscitivos de la naturaleza humana, tal y cual esta dimensión es entendida en la filosofía de Leonardo Polo y, más específicamente, en la teoría del conocimiento desarrollada por este autor.La conclusión a la cual se llega es que la Bioética no puede ser fundamentada en el nivel de la naturaleza humana, siendo necesario acceder a un nivel de conocimiento superior, radicado en la esencia del hombre.

Este trabalho busca, a partir de uma perspectiva filosófica, analisar os fundamentos da bioética nos níveis cognitivos da natureza humana, como essa dimensão é compreendida na filosofia de Leonardo Polo e, mais especificamente, na teoria do conhecimento desenvolvida por este autor.A conclusão é que a Bioética não pode basear-se no nível da natureza humana, y é necessário aceder a um nível mais elevado de conhecimento, fundado na essência do homem.

The following work is an attempt to analyze, from a philosophical perspective, the fundamentals of the science of bioethics at the cognitive levels of human nature, as this dimension is understood in the philosophy of Leonardo Polo and, more specifically, in the theory of knowledge he developed.The conclusion is that Bioethics cannot be based or founded at the level of human nature. Rather, a higher level of knowledge rooted in the essence of man must be attained.

Children's "euthanasia" in Nazi Germany.

Children with disabilities were killed during the Nazi era, often by nurses. Some nurses killed children, saying that they were under orders. Propaganda about the need for "racial purity" was all pervasive and influenced much of the population, including nurses. The German people accepted the "mercy" killing of children with disabilities. We describe the children's "euthanasia" program, explore the influence of propaganda, ask why it was acceptable to kill children, and provide historical context demonstrating "slippery slopes" which can lead to abrogation of ethical principles. Discussion of such history is essential as the ethical principles which were breached are still the cornerstone of nursing practice today. Only by openly discussing past wrongs can we attempt to ensure that they do not happen again. Archival documents from Germany and Israel, including trial depositions and transcripts, provided material, supplemented by secondary classic sources.

Consumo de drogas en adolescentes. Dilema ético en el abordaje diagnóstico-terapéutico / Adolescent drug use. Ethical dilemma in the diagnostic-therapeutic approach

El consumo de drogas ilegales entre los adolescentes ha aumentado durante los últimos años y, paralelamente, se ha evidenciado un aumento de las problemáticas y conductas de riesgo típicas de la adolescencia. Los resultados de los estudios sobre el consumo de drogas durante esta etapa de la vida ponen de manifiesto las graves y múltiples consecuencias que pueden generar. Uno de los primeros receptores son los servicios de urgencias, donde sus profesionales deben afrontar situaciones que plantean contradicciones entre 2 de los principios éticos básicos: el principio de autonomía y el principio de beneficencia; dilema ético que se aborda en este trabajo (AU)

Illegal drug use among adolescents has increased in recent years in Spain, as well as has the risk behaviours and problems typical of adolescence. The results of studies on drug use during this stage of life reveal the serious and wide-ranging consequences that can arise. Emergency services are often the first to receive and deal with these and its professionals must face situations that pose contradictions between two of the basic ethical principles, the principle of autonomy and the principle of beneficence; an ethical dilemma that is addressed in this work (AU)

History of bioethics in Brazil: pioneering voices, educational programs and future perspectives.

Although Brazilian bioethics has appeared in a globalized and dynamic context in which the main problems on the current agenda of bioethical questions had already been formulated (e. g., abortion, euthanasia, organ transplants, etc.), it contributed to the bioethics questions agenda by bringing in specific and original problems, linked to the socio-economic-political and cultural reality of Latin America countries and especially the Brazilian one, for instance, public health problems and the accompanying challenges stemming from unjust situations and social exclusion. Historically, first there was a dependence on a foreign ethical model, the North-American principialist bioethical paradigm, almost hegemonic in the first 25 years of world bioethics history. This would be Brazilian bioethics "infancy", the 1990s stage. There follows a movement with a critical attitude about "imported" models, particularly the principialist model, when it comes to public health. We enter here into the "adolescence" of Brazilian bioethics. As we arrive at "the adult" phase, we begin to make a deep evaluation, where the main challenge to face will be complex, involving knowing how to distinguish without severing, and to unite without confounding, bioethical problems of a personal character and those of a public one, that is, knowing how to distinguish among relevance types and scopes of some problems to be faced, in order for us to integrate them in a domain marked by a greater understanding.