The rhetorics of violence in Joshua: Foucauldian Power, Israelite Identity, and the Ethics of Interpretation

The goals of this project are manifold. First, I will attempt to discover evidence in the book of Joshua that will lend support to the theory of a Josianic influence enacted in the 7th century BCE. I will do this through an analysis of the rhetoric in selected stories in Joshua using the ideas of Foucault. Second, I will address the significance of this kind of analysis as having potential for the emancipation of oppressed peoples. The first section delineates scholarly discussion on the literary and historical context of the book of Joshua. These scholarly works are foundational to this study because they situate the text within a particular period in history and within certain ideologies. Chapter 2 discusses the work of Foucault and how his ideas will be applied to particular texts of the book of Joshua. The focused analysis of these texts occurs within chapters 3 to 6. Chapter 7 presents an integration of the observations made through the analyses performed in the previous chapters and expands on the ethical significance of this study.

Ethics in a capitalistic society

The problem of semantics is inherent in any discussion of ethics. The general term "ethics" is itself commonly confused. In addition, systems of ethics must be built upon assumptions, and assumptions are necessarily subject to lengthy debate. These two problems are encountered in my investigation of the ethical practices of the modern business community and to remedy the situation I have taken two steps: the first being an attempt to clarify the meaning of terms used therein;-and the second being a clear description of the assumptions utilized to further my analysis. To satisfy those who would disagree with these assumptions, I have attempted to outline the consequences of differing premises. The first assumption in my discussion is that the capitalistic economy is powered by the motivation supplied by man's self-interest. We are conditioned to basing our courses of action upon an orientation toward gratifying this self-interest. Careers are chosen by blending aptitude, interest, and remuneration. of course, some people are less materially inclined than others, but the average member of our capitalistic society is concerned with the physical rewards derived from his employment. Status and happiness are all-important considerations in pursuing a chosen course of action, yet all too often they are measured in physical terms. The normal self-interest natural to mankind is heightened in capitalism, due to the emphasis placed upon material compensation. Our thinking becomes mechanistic as life devolves into a complex game played by the rules. We are accustomed to performing meaningless or unpleasant duties to fulfill our gratifications. Thought, consequently, interferes with the completion of our everyday routines. We learn quickly not to be outspoken, as the outspoken one threatens the security of his fellow man. The majority of the people are quite willing to accept others views on morality, and indeed this is the sensible thing to do as one does not risk his own neck. The unfortunate consequence of this situation has been the substitution of the legal and jural for the moral and ethical. Our actions are guided by legal considerations and nowhere has this been more evident than in the business community. The large legal departments of modern corporations devote full time to inspecting the legality of corporate actions. The business community has become preoccupied with the law, yet this is necessarily so. Complex, modern, capitalistic society demands an elaborate framework of rules and regulations. Without this framework it would be impossible to have an orderly economy, to say nothing of protecting the best interests of the people. However, the inherent complexities, contradictions, and sometimes unfair aspects of our legal system can tempt men to take things into their own hands. From time to time cases arise where men have broken laws while acting in good faith, and other cases where men have been extremely unethical without being illegal. Examples such as these foster the growth of cynicism, and generally create an antagonistic attitude toward the law on the part of business. My second assumption is that the public, on the whole, has adopted an apathetic attitude toward business morality. when faced with an ethical problem, far too many people choose to cynically assume that, if I don't do it someone else will. "The danger of such an assumption lies in that it eliminates many of the inhibitions that normally would preclude unethical action. The preventative factor in contemplating an unethical act not only lies in it going against the "right course of action", but also in that it would display the actor as one of the few, immoral practitioners. However, if the contemplator feels that many other people follow the same course of action, he would not feel himself to be so conspicuous. These two assumptions underly my entire discussion of modern business ethics., and in my judgment are the two most important causal factors in unethical acts perpetrated by the business community. The future elimination of these factors seems improbable, if not futile, yet there is no reason to consider things worse than they ever have been before. The heightened public interest in business morality undoubtedly lies in part in the fact that examples of corporate malpractice are of such magnitude in scope, and hence more newsworthy.

A deeper look at ethics within banking corporations: the approach of one of the biggest bank in the world

Existe uma preocupação crescente da sociedade com a ética, devida em parte aos numerosos escândalos que surgiram no mundo corporativo ultimamente, em particular no setor financeiro em que as repercussões de malversações têm geralmente um impacto maior para a sociedade do que podem ter quando acontecem em outro setor de atividade. Outra consequência é o interesse cada vez maior dos acadêmicos em estudar ética dos negócios. Porém, a pesar do uso frequente do termo ética e dos conceitos relacionados, não existe ainda um consenso sobre uma definição comum de ética dos negócios. Pertence a cada corporação definir o que considera ser ética dos negócios. Portanto, para entender melhor o que tem por trás do termo ética, é preciso voltar a sua definição, explicar a sua evolução, colocá-lo dentro do nosso contexto contemporâneo, para depois aplicá-lo à área de interesse. Para o setor bancário, ética se refere mais ao aspecto legal, mas também faz referência ao desenvolvimento da responsabilidade social corporativa dentro das corporações através de diferentes práticas. A literatura a respeito ressalta que a abordagem da ética pelas corporações bancárias tradicionais desconecta a ética do foco de negócio, considerando que não pertence ao centro da sua atividade. De fato, as corporações respondem aos mesmos mecanismos isomorfos institucionais, os quais as levam a adotar práticas com o objetivo de conseguir legitimidade dentro da sociedade. Ao contrário dessas corporações bancárias tradicionais, os bancos qualificados como éticos pela literatura, tem em comum o fato de estruturar as suas atividades sobre ou em volta da ética, diferenciando-se dos outros bancos por ter como principal objetivo ser ético. O banco Brasileiro Itaú Unibanco, um dos maiores bancos tradicionais do mundo em termos de valor de mercado, foi percebido aos poucos como um banco muito preocupado com a ética, e foi recentemente reconhecido como o banco mais sustentável do mundo pela revista Financial Times. O Itaú 5 Unibanco desenhou e implementou um programa de ética, o qual junta um componente teórico (com diretrizes, regras e princípios e um código de ética), usado como um suporte para o componente prático (estrutura organizacional particular e práticas cotidianas). Esse programa levou o Banco Itaú a ser campeão inovador na institucionalização da ética dentro do setor bancário.

The ethics of gender in Milton's paradise lost

ERICKSON, Sandra S.Fernandes. The ethics of gender in Milton's paradise lost. Principios: revista de filosofia. Natal (RN). v. 5, n. 6, p. 155-170. 1998. ISSN 1983-2109. Disponivel em: . Acesso em: 04 out. 2010.

Construction of ethics in clinical research - Clinical trials registration

Scientific development that has been achieved through decades finds in clinical research a great possibility of translating findings to human health application. Evidence given by clinical trials allows everyone to have access to the best health services. However, the millionaire world of pharmaceutical industries has stained clinical research with doubt and improbability. Study results (fruits of controlled clinical trials) and scientific publications (selective, manipulated and with wrong conclusions) led to an inappropriate clinical practice, favoring the involved economic aspect. In 2005, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), supported by the World Association of Medical Editors, started demanding as a requisite for publication that all clinical trials be registered at the database ClinicalTrials.gov. In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) created the International Clinical Trial Registry Platform (ICTRP), which gathers several registry centers from all over the world, and required that all researchers and pharmaceutical industries register clinical trials. Such obligatory registration has progressed and will extend to all scientific journals indexed in all worldwide databases. Registration of clinical trials means another step of clinical research towards transparency, ethics and impartiality, resulting in real evidence to the forthcoming changes in clinical practice as well as in the health situation.

Committees for ethics in research involving human subjects

In Brazil since October 1996 there have been guidelines for research involving human subjects. Now human subjects know when their treatment is part of research. Deceit is no longer tolerated. But is not enough to say we offer an explanation to the potential subject and we offer a choice before he or she is confronted with an informed consent form. As in all professional activity, scientific investigation needs social controls. In Brazil, the ultimate responsibility of an investigation lies on the investigator, but in every institution where research is carried out there is a Committee for Ethics in Research. All Committees are subordinated to the National Commission of Ethics in Research, which is submitted to the Brazilian Institute of Health. During 2005 around 17,000 protocols involving 700,000 human subjects were revised by 475 Committees distributed all over the country. Approximately 7,000 people are now working in these Committees.

Towards an integrative approach to sustainability: exploring potential synergies between gender and environment

Includes bibliography.