This Thesis will examine how the framing of ‘trolley problems’ incorrectly motivates arithmetic rankings of states of affairs by removing context. This is problematic because the context of these problems provides the tools to solve moral dilemmas by allowing one to analyze the relevant motivations, moral implications, duties, values, and personal and societal obligations that one has. I will discuss Samuel Scheffler’s charge that a paradox exists within agent-centered restrictions and how his abstract paradigmatic case leads to arithmetic rankings of choices, which are both unrealistic and lead to tragic and morally unacceptable decision making. I will argue that Allen Wood’s Middle Theory can help dispel the apparent paradox and demonstrate a better way to examine ‘trolley problems’. I will further discuss how Martha Nussbaum’s analysis of tragic questions illuminates the issues surrounding such problems providing a morally acceptable way to account for the occasional unavoidable harm that results in decision-making caused by solving ‘trolley problems.’ Taken together, Wood’s and Nussbaum’s theories and analysis provide potential solutions to ‘trolley problems.’

Compilació i comparació dels codis deontològics de cadenes i corporacions televisives de diferents països: Estats Units (ABC, CBS i NBC), Canadà (SRC/CBC), Gran Bretanya (BBC i ITC), Itàlia (RAI), Brasil (ABERT) i Japó (NAB). L'estudi s'inscriu en una línia d'investigació que parteix del postulat que els codis deontològics contenen una part substancial dels valors i de les normes ètiques vigents per a la professió periodística. La metodologia seguida és la pròpia del Dret Comparat: s'ha elaborat un "tesaurus" que comprèn, amb ànim d'exhaustivitat, els diferents ítems que constitueixen el bagatge de problemes ètics que es plantegen en l'exercici del periodisme en general i, més particularment, en els mitjans audiovisuals. Per a cada ítem es presenta una exposició de l'estat de la qüestió sobre la matèria i, a continuació, es fa la relació i la comparació de les normes que hi ha establertes als diferents codis que constitueixen el corpus de la investigació. Aquesta tasca analítica està flanquejada per una reflexió teòrica sobre les bases de l'ètica periodística i s'alimenta també de l'experiència personal de l'autor de la tesi en el camp de la informació televisiva. / Compilación y comparación de los códigos deontològics de cadenas y corporaciones televisivas de diferentes países: Estados Unidos (ABC, CBS y NBC), Canadá (SRC/CBC), Gran Bretaña (BBC e ITC), Italia (RAI), Brasil (ABERT) y Japón (NAB). El estudio se inscribe en una línea de investigación que parte del postulado que los códigos deontològics contienen una parte sustancial de los valores y de las normas éticas vigentes para la profesión periodística. La metodología seguida es la propia del Derecho Comparado: se ha elaborado un "tesauro" que comprende, con ánimo de exhaustividad, los diferentes ítems que constituyen el bagaje de problemas éticos que se plantean en el ejercicio del periodismo en general y, más particularmente, en los medios audiovisuales. Para cada ítem se presenta una exposición del estado de la cuestión sobre la materia y, a continuación, se hace la relación y la comparación de las normas que hay establecidas en los diferentes códigos que constituyen el corpus de la investigación. Esta tarea analítica está flanqueada por una reflexión teórica sobre las bases de la ética periodística y se alimenta también de la experiencia personal del autor de la tesis en el campo de la información televisiva. / Compilation and comparison of the deontological codes of television broadcasting corporations and channels in different countries: United States (ABC, CBS and NBC), Canada (SRC/CBC), Great Britain (BBC and ITC), Italy (RAI), Brazil (ABERT) and Japan (NAB). The study is part of an investigative approach based on the hypothesis that deontological codes contain a substantial part of the ethical values and standards which apply to the journalism profession. The methodology used consisted of a Comparative Study: an exhaustive "thesaurus" was prepared of the different items constituting the baggage of ethical problems which arise in the exercise of journalism in general and more particularly in the audio-visual media. For each item is presented an explanation of the status of the question on the subject and afterwards a list is prepared and a comparison of the standards make up the different codes constituting the body of the research. This analytical task is surrounded by a theoretical reflection on the bases of journalistic ethics and is supplemented by the author's personal experience in the field of television reporting.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:12:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CarlosMO_DISSERT.pdf: 1127722 bytes, checksum: e9a5c17148e68b77352ce58553784883 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-29 / This dissertation examines the Kantian moral in a teleological perspective. It consists of a reconstruction of philosophy practice that departs from the investigation of the categorical imperative, the concepts of duty, will, good will, as well as an approach on the ways of investigation of nature, which will enable the foundation to engage in the teleological argument, investigating the organized human beings, the harmonious system, its relationship with the ultimate and most important purpose, always flexing the analysis of these concepts the idea of purpose. Subsequently we will establish an argument about the end terminal and the implication of this concept to think about the real idea of the system in Kant and his relationship or support for moral theory. In essence this paper approaches the moral point of view of ethics, outlining the insufficiency of this field for the foundation of architectural moral, which will enable the final touch or the indispensability or the teleological argument as fundamental to the Kantian moral Theory / A presente disserta??o analisa a moral kantiana em uma perspectiva teleol?gica. Trata-se de uma reconstru??o da filosofia pr?tica que parte da investiga??o do imperativo categ?rico, dos conceitos de dever, vontade, boa vontade, bem como uma abordagem sobre as formas de investiga??o da natureza, o que possibilitar? o fundamento para enveredarmos no argumento teleol?gico, investigando os seres organizados, o sistema harm?nico, a rela??o deste com o fim ?ltimo e o mais relevante, sempre flexionando a analise desses conceitos a ideia de finalidade. Posteriormente estabeleceremos uma argumenta??o sobre o fim terminal e a implica??o deste conceito para pensar a pr?pria ideia de sistema em Kant e sua rela??o ou suporte para a teoria moral. Em ess?ncia este trabalho aborda a moral do ponto de vista deontol?gico, delineando a insufici?ncia deste campo para a funda??o da arquitet?nica moral, o que possibilitar? o arremete ou indispensabilidade do argumento teleol?gico como fundamental para teoria moral Kantiana

L’objet de cette étude a consisté à analyser comment le droit a pu appréhender la notion très complexe de l’éthique, particulièrement dans la norme médicale. De prime abord, le droit appréhende l’éthique comme une réflexion collective organisée, encadrée, institutionnalisée, un questionnement sur la finalité des sciences médicales et la recherche d’un choix de société. L’éthique constitue un appui pour la construction de la norme juridique et crée des liens entre la société, la médecine et le législateur. Elle serait une éthique « sociale ». La loi organise cette activité extra-juridique qui remplit une fonction ressource, dont le droit ne peut tirer que des bénéfices. L’appréhension est plutôt procédurale, la loi se préoccupant essentiellement d’en décrire les composantes et la mise en œuvre. L’éthique est distanciée, en marge de la loi.En second lieu, il sera aussi exposé que l’éthique n’est pas seulement une notion envisagée de l’extérieur. Le droit a appréhendé l’éthique en l’inscrivant au cœur de la norme juridique, confronté à la nécessité d’encadrer et de réguler l’exercice de la médecine, de la biomédecine et de la recherche sur la personne humaine. Ici, l’appréhension est plutôt prescriptive, traitant des principes devant guider les pratiques, proche de la moralité. Cet autre versant témoigne du rôle subsidiaire pris par le droit pour réguler les pratiques. Elle est une éthique de la recherche ou une éthique médicale ramenant à une obligation de conscience. Le maniement de cette notion au cœur du droit paraît plus difficile à appréhender, les frontières entre les deux disciplines pouvant parfois manquer de lisibilité. / This study aims at understanding how the French law system has gradually incorporated the very complex notion of ethics, with a focus on French medical standards and regulations. At first sight, the law views ethics as an organized, supervised, and institutionalized collective reflection, a questioning on the purpose of medical sciences leading to a search for guiding rules prevailing the orientation of our society. Ethics becomes a support for the construction of the legal rule and creates links between the French society, medicine and the legislator. This approach generates what can be called “social” ethics. The judiciary organizes this extra-legal activity, which serves to provide new and fresh ideas, from which the law pulls profits. The rendition of ethics by the law is descriptive, the legislation concerning itself mostly with describing the components of the official institutions concerned with ethics and their implementation. Ethics is distanced, outside the law. Looking further in the texts and court decisions, ethics cannot be restricted to a notion simply external to the law. The law views ethics as the standards to be taken into account at the heart of the legal rule, which must build, order and regulate medical practices, biomedicine and medical research on human beings. Here, the system apprehends ethics in a prescriptive and censorial manner, stating principles that must guide the practice closer to morality. This other aspect demonstrates the supplementary role taken by the law system to regulate medical practices. This entails an ethics of medical research or a “medical” ethics deeply inspired by human consciousness. At this stage in the evolution of the French law system, this understanding of ethics, at the heart of the law, is more subject to variations, if not contradictions.

No description available.

With over 30 million people infected with HIV today, it has become an epidemic. Without a cure, HIV continues to be a threat to health and development. In 1994, the TRIPS Agreement, administered by the World Trade Organization came into effect. The Agreement which aims inter-alia to increase patenting in order to promote research and development has been questioned in it's effects on affordable access to HIV medications in the least-developed and developing countries. In this thesis, the TRIPS Agreement's purposes are thus analysed according to two ethical theories and their modern versions, deontology and utilitarianism/consequentialism. This analysis is made in order to seek the ethical responsibilities that the World Trade Organization has in relation to the TRIPS Agreement. The thesis findings conclude through the careful consideration of each ethical theories, and by asking additional questions than those offered in the theories, that the WTO has the ethical responsibility to reform the TRIPS Agreement so as to, at the least, not include pharmaceutical products.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this essay is to contribute to an understanding of how ethical theories manifest in the political debate in Sweden, where the focus is on the debate on surrogacy. This to contribute with an understanding of the relation between ethics and politics. The purpose will also be to contribute with and understanding of the potential differences in the use of the concept “freedom” in the political discourse in Sweden. The ethical theories that was part of this paper where consequentialism, deontological ethics and ethics of care. In order to answer this questions, propositions regarding the subject of surrogacy from all the parties who are represented in the Swedish parliament where analyzed.  During this paper I discovered that all three of the ethical theories where manifested in motions from every party and in all the different positions in the matter, regarding surrogacy, even if the arguments differed. When it came to how the concept “freedom” was used, there were no clear pattern regarding which party who used it in a certain way. However, I could see that arguments related to negative freedom were mostly used as the head arguments while arguments related to positive freedom was more used to back up the head arguments. There were also no clear pattern regarding how the concept of freedom was used in relation to the parties’ respective position on surrogacy.

Due to the fact that Scripture is the authoritative Word of God (Belgic Confession. Article 5), the infallible written Word of God. is and stays the basis for Christian ethics. Scripture is not just another single source for Christian ethics among other sources, but it is the decisive source among all other sources. The question then arises - how is it possible in the ever-changing life situation of the modem day context of society? In an ever increasing secularized society places the Christian life and also the Christian ethics under more pressure. The acceptance of the authority of Scripture is therefore indispensable for Christian ethics. Scripture does however not present a text as an absolute answer for every possible or similar ethical problem. The deep-seated principles of Scripture must be exposed. From these principles norms should be derived that is applicable to the modem problem. The problem statement that follows from this culminates as the following: Can a thematic analysis of the Biblical dogma present a fundamental working foundation for Christian ethics in modem day society and serve as a corrective for the problematic approaches of a biblicistic as well as an over critical view of Scripture for the basis of ethics? The central theoretical argument of the study is the following: A thematic analysis of the Biblical dogma can indeed present a fundamental, working foundation for Christian ethics in modem day society and can serve as a corrective for the problematic approaches of a biblicistic as well as an over critical view of Scripture for the basis of ethics. In the second chapter the definitions of what could be defined as Christian ethical perspectives and principles is examined. In other words, the purpose of the chapter is to examine and to give a broad overview of the understanding of ethics, morality, morals etc. The qualified deontological approach is chosen due to the fact that normative approach with its focus on Scripture as authoritative therein plays a big role. The third chapter focuses on which view of Scripture and use of Scripture is normally applied in Reformed ethics in the use or interpretation of Scripture. Special attention is given to the authority of Scripture, view of Scripture and an attempt is made to convey the hermeneutical points of departure (axioms) in order to derive an intra-biblical use of Scripture. The chapter comes to the conclusion that even though the Christian ethicist does have in theory at his disposal a biblical-founded hermeneutical model it does not safeguard him against a faulty use or interpretation of Scripture in practice in the fourth chapter the present-day Scriptural principles that serves as basis and cadre for the interpretation of Scripture in light of the answering of Christian ethical questions is examined. In light of the present-day situation seems that although there is a sound hermeneutical axiom that serves as filters in the interpretation of Scripture in the reformed ethics, in practice either a biblicistic or a Criticism of Scripture approach to Scripture is chosen. The approaches of the fundamentalistic/biblicistic and Criticism of Scripture is examined and m e s to the conclusion that both, in their own way, does bring the authority and the message of Scripture in disrepute. In the event of the fundamentalistic and biblicistic approach the divine inspiration character of Scripture is overemphasized and all Scriptural Utterances is treated on the same level to such an instance that everything is sanctioned. In the event of the Criticism of Scripture the human fallible character is again overemphasized to the extent that the normative authority of Scripture for Christian ethics is not taken into account . The chapter comes to the conclusion mat a "third way” must be examined to circumvent the many pitfalls of either a fundamentalistic/biblicistic of Criticism of Scripture in the interpretation of Scripture in light of a modem day ethical problem. In the fifth chapter an adjudication and evaluation of the quality of the use or Interpretation of Scripture in light of capital punishment within the biblical view of a right to life is given as a representative of modem day ethical problems. In light of the principles given in Chapter 3 and 4 it is shown that Scripture is most often misused despite fair hermeneutical principles Only to reflect the ethicist own preconceived ideas. The last chapter indicates an approach that might possibly serve as an alternative/valid use or interpretation of Scripture in reformed ethics other than a typical biblicistic/fundamentalistic or Criticism of Scripture approach. The chapter draws to the conclusion that the contextual-paradigmatic approach is at this time the only capable approach of acknowledging the proper interpretation of Scripture to shed some light on the ethical problems of modem day society, without stepping into the boundaries of either a biblicistic/fundamentalistic of Criticism of Scripture interpretation of Scripture. The contextual-paradigmatic approach succeeds in preventing the ethicist to misinterpret Biblical texts that seems to be of importance to the debate of capital punishment and to make a scientific contribution lo important debates in South Africa today, especially those related to the interpretation of the Bible and its use in the development of South Africa. In this way an attempt is made to contribute towards and to provide guidelines for a healthy and responsible society and for the functioning of Christians within the current South African state. The message of the Bible must thus be established in a responsible and valid way, and communicated effectively to society. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Ethics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

The topic of this thesis is translation ethics. The theoretical part provides definitions of key concepts in the field of normative ethics, as well as an overview of the existing research into ethics in translation studies. Three possible ways of approaching this topic are presented and the main themes of translation ethics identified. The thesis then describes the history of codes of ethics with special attention to problems regarding these written ethical norms. With focus on their content, the thesis provides a detailed description of translators' individual rights and obligations, as defined in various codes of ethics, which deem a translator's behaviour ethical or unethical. The thesis also explores how translators can be affected by the unethical decisions of other people. The end of the theoretical part focuses on translation ethics in connection with CAT tools and machine translation. The empirical part analyses data collected through questionnaire research, the aim of which was to study translators' behaviour in ethically challenging situations. First, research methods and individual parts of the questionnaire are described. The thesis then provides an analysis of respondents' answers with a special focus on the reasoning behind their decisions. The data is compared using other information...

Thesis (Ph.D. (Ethics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.