Ethical Blindness

Many models of (un)ethical decision making assume that people decide rationally and are in principle able to evaluate their decisions from a moral point of view. However, people might behave unethically without being aware of it. They are ethically blind. Adopting a sensemaking approach, we argue that ethical blindness results from a complex interplay between individual sensemaking activities and context factors.

Climate Change, Neutrality and the Harm Principle

This paper aims at evaluating the compatibility of coercive climate policies with liberal neutrality. More precisely, it focuses on the doctrine of state neutrality as associated with the "harm principle". It argues that given the difficulty of attributing causal responsibilities for climate harms to individuals, the harm principle doesn't work in this case, at least if one endorses a liberal atomistic ontology. Furthermore, the definition of what constitutes climate harms implies making moral assumptions, which makes it impossible to justify climate policies in a neutral way. Finally, the paper shows another consequence of applying neutrality to the case of climate change, that is the risk of a shift from political forms of decision-making to technocracy. Focusing too much on liberty of choice may (paradoxically) be to the detriment of political freedom. The paper concludes that climate change is an intrinsically moral issue and that it should be the occasion of a political debate about our current values and lifestyles. It should not be reduced to a mere question of carbon metric.

Raising the Level of Moral Thinking among Managers Will Not Help. Kohlberg's Conventionality and Systemic Ethical Flaws in Business

Business ethicists often assume that unethical behavior arises when individuals deviate from the norms and responsibilities that are institutionalized to frame economic activities. People's greed motivates them to violate the rules of the game. In Kohlberg's terms, it is assumed that such actors make decisions in a preconventional way and act opportunistically. In this article, we propose an alternative interpretation of deviant behavior, arguing that such behavior does not result from a lack of conventional moral guidance but rather from the fact that characteristics attributed to preconventional morality by Kohlberg - the purely incentive and punishment driven opportunistic morality - have become the conventionalized morality. The prevailing norms that economic actors have internalized as their yardstick are those of the preconventional Homo economicus. Not the deviation from, but the compliance with the rules of the game explains many forms of harmful and illegal decisions made in corporations.

Enjeux ethiques de la psychiatrie sous contrainte [Ethical issues in psychiatry under coercion].

Psychiatry is now subject to two apparently contradictory movements. On the one hand, the need to respect the autonomy and rights of patients is reinforced and coercive measures are strictly defined and limited. On the other hand, security concerns in our society leads to prosecution of psychiatric disorders, especially when accompanied by behavioral problems or criminal acts. In these situations of compulsory treatment or care provided in prisons, a number of dilemmas emerge. The place of the healthcare professional in treatments ordered by the Justice and problems related to administrative detention are discussed in more detail.

Subaortic ventricular septal defect closure: is the principle of harmony for a longer function no longer valid?

Comment on : Results of two different approaches to closure of subaortic ventricular septal defects in children. [Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2014]

Das Holprinzip in der Pädiatrie und Neonatologie [The collecting principle in pediatrics and neonatology]

Quality medical care during transport of critically ill pediatric and neonatal patients is only possible if the referring hospital and the regional center cooperate closely. The experience of physicians and nurses involved is of great importance, and the choice of the transporting team should depend on the medical status of the patient and the skills of the physicians and nurses or paramedics. Critically ill children and neonates should be transported by specialized teams. Our statistics from the last 12 years show an increasing number of transports, with the majority of patients being referred from peripheral hospitals.

Judaïsme : entre impératifs éthiques et normes religieuses.

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Nos sociétés contemporaines, à l'heure de la mondialisation, ont-elles perdu le sens de l'hospitalité ? Qu'en est-il de ses fonctions et de ses figures à la fois morales, politiques, religieuses et imaginaires ? Lorsque Ulysse abordait un nouveau rivage, la même question revenait : Vais-je trouver des brutes, des sauvages sans justice ou des hommes hospitaliers craignant les dieux ? L'hospitalité a toujours été signe de civilisation et d'humanité, et les pérégrinations d'Ulysse ont su dresser une géographie imaginaire du monde humain, dessinant les contours et traçant les limites de la culture et de la nature. Considérant qu'il est urgent de retrouver cette mémoire hospitalière du monde humain, plus de quatre-vingt-dix auteurs du monde entier ont rassemblé leurs savoirs des us et coutumes, des lieux, des cultures, des représentations, des mythes et des oeuvres d'art qui font de l'hospitalité la plus indispensable des valeurs humaines. Philosophes, historiens, ethnologues, littéraires, linguistes... invitent le lecteur, leur hôte, à découvrir le vaste parcours ouvert des significations et des pratiques de l'accueil dans l'histoire culturelle. Have modern day societies in this era of globalization forgotten the sense of hospitality? Hospitality is a principle which used to play a major social function, with its symbolic, ethical, political and religious figures. This book is designed to preserve the memory of the tradition of hospitality. To that end 90 authors from throughout the world have collaborated to present this exhaustive encyclopedia of the places, the customs, the cultures, the myths and the artistic representations of hospitality, all of which bear witness to its importance as a human value. Philosophers, historians, ethnologists, writers, linguists welcome the reader to discover the place that hospitality has had in cultural history, in terms of both how and why it was practised. - This book offers a fivefold treatment of the perennial tradition of hospitality: - Definitions - Civilizations (throughout history and across religions and cultures) - Institutions and places of hospitality, both real and imaginary (castles, hospitals, gardens, churches, etc.) - Myths, figures and artistic representation - Philosophy, politics and society.

Work Meaningfulness as a Key Enhancer of Ethical Values in Business

Despite abundant research on work meaningfulness, the link between work meaningfulness and general ethical attitude at work has not been discussed so far. In this article, we propose a theoretical framework to explain how work meaningfulness contributes to enhanced ethical behavior. We argue that by providing a way for individuals to relate work to one's personal core values and identity, work meaningfulness leads to affective commitment - the involvement of one's cognitive, emotional, and physical resources. This, in turn, leads to engagement and so facilitates the integration of one's personal values in the daily work routines, and so reduces the risk of unethical behavior. On the contrary, anomie, that is, the absence of meaning and consequently of personal involvement, will lead to lower rational commitment rather than affective commitment, and consequently to disengagement and a-morality. We conclude with implications for the management of ethical attitudes.

Ethical issues of human genetic databases : a challenge to classical health research ethics?

[Contents] - Introduction - Selected existing genetic database : distinctive features, ethical problems and the public debate - The ethical debate : principles, values and interests : the ethical foundations of guidelines - Selected issues of consensus and of controversy - Ethical issues of human genetic databases and the future This book compares the new area of biobanking with the tradition of ethically accepted classical research and highlights the distinctive features of existing databases and guidelines

Reversed shoulder arthroplasty baseplate fixed according to the major columns principle

Purpose Cadaveric study at our institution has demonstrated that optimal basaplate fixation of a reversed shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) could be achieved with screws in three major columns. Our aim was to review our early rate of aseptic glenoid loosening in a series of baseplate fixed according to this principle. Material and Methods Between 2005 and 2008, 48 RSA (Aequalis Reversed) were implanted in 48 patients with an average age of 74.4 years (range, 56 to 86 years). There were 37 women and 11 men. Twenty-seven primary RSAs were performed for cuff tear arthropathy, 3 after failed rotator cuff surgery, 6 for failed arthroplasties, 7 for acute fractures and 5 after failed ORIF. All baseplate fixation were done using a nonlocking posterior screw in the spine, a nonlocking anterior screw in the glenoid body, a locking superior screw in the coracoid and a locking inferior screw in the pillar. All patients were reviewed with standardized radiographs. The number of screws were reported. We measured the position of the screws in relation to the scapular spine and the coracoid process in two different views. We defined screw positions as totally, partially or out of the target. Finally we reported glenoid aseptic loosening which was defined as implant subsidence. Results Four patients were lost to follow-up. Thus, 44 shoulders could be reviewed after a mean follow-up of 13 months (range, 6 to 32 months). All baseplates were fixed with 4 screws. Thirty-seven (84%) screws were either partially or totally in the spine. Thus, 7 (16%) scapular spine screws were out of the target. No coracoid screw was out the target. Two (4.5%) patients had glenoid loosening. Both had a scapular spine and a coracoid screw partially in the bone. Conclusion Early aseptic glenoid loosening occurred before the two years follow-up and is most of time related to technical problems and/or insufficient bone stock and bone quality. Our study demonstrate that baseplate fixation according to the three columns principle is a reproducible technique and a valuable way to prevent early glenoid loosening.

Addressing ethical dilemmas in the clinical care of adolescents: an international view.

This chapter reviews some basic concepts underlying ethical issues in adolescence and provides a step-by-step procedure to address ethical dilemmas involving minor adolescents, based on a deliberative approach. "Deliberation" with the patient, along with involving the opinion of relevant stakeholders if possible, allows for a careful, multidisciplinary examination of all options, the medical and psychosocial consequences, and the moral values stressed by each option. Although the final decision regarding which ethical option should be chosen usually belongs to the health care providers and his or her patient, the deliberative approach provides the ingredients for sound, unbiased decision-making.

Use of DNA profiles for investigation using a simulated national DNA database: Part II. Statistical and ethical considerations on familial searching.

Familial searching consists of searching for a full profile left at a crime scene in a National DNA Database (NDNAD). In this paper we are interested in the circumstance where no full match is returned, but a partial match is found between a database member's profile and the crime stain. Because close relatives share more of their DNA than unrelated persons, this partial match may indicate that the crime stain was left by a close relative of the person with whom the partial match was found. This approach has successfully solved important crimes in the UK and the USA. In a previous paper, a model, which takes into account substructure and siblings, was used to simulate a NDNAD. In this paper, we have used this model to test the usefulness of familial searching and offer guidelines for pre-assessment of the cases based on the likelihood ratio. Siblings of "persons" present in the simulated Swiss NDNAD were created. These profiles (N=10,000) were used as traces and were then compared to the whole database (N=100,000). The statistical results obtained show that the technique has great potential confirming the findings of previous studies. However, effectiveness of the technique is only one part of the story. Familial searching has juridical and ethical aspects that should not be ignored. In Switzerland for example, there are no specific guidelines to the legality or otherwise of familial searching. This article both presents statistical results, and addresses criminological and civil liberties aspects to take into account risks and benefits of familial searching.