Magistro tezių darbo tikslas: Atskleisti polifarmijos priežastis vėlyvosios modernybės visuomenėje. Nuolat besikeičianti visuomenė lemia pokyčius visuose socialinio gyvenimo lygmenyse. Kintanti visuomenė iškelia naujus iššūkius tiek socialiniam veikėjui, tiek ir pačiai visuomenei. Pokyčiai palietė ir sveikatos priežiūros sistemos sektorių. Besiplėtojančios biotechnologijos įgalino mediciną įveikti infekcines ligas, bet tuo pačiu iškelia ir naujų iššūkių. Augantis lėtinių ligų spektras skatina ne tik milžiniškų lėšų skyrimą medikamentų nuo šių ligų kūrimui, bet ir prevenciją. Šiam tikslui pasitelkiama ne tik farmacijos pramonė, bet ir žiniasklaida, kuri yra vienas iš pagrindinių medikamentų vartojimą skatinančių veiksnių. Matydami besišypsančius, gerai nusiteikusius medikamentų reklamos aktorius, daroma prielaida, kad ir socialiniam veikėjui, turinčiam ar bent manančiam turint tam tikrą negalavimą, reklamuojamas medikamentas padės išspręsti esamas ar menamas sveikatos problemas. Beck (2006) kalbėdamas apie rizikos visuomenę, pačią riziką įvardijo kaip subjektyvią, o rizikos galimybę-objektyvią. Rizikų socialinio veikėjo sveikatai kyla nuolat. Ji yra įtakojama daugeliu veiksnių, dėl to jos pamatavimas išlieka subjektyviame lygmenyje. Juk pvz. Gydytojai tiksliai negali nusakyti galimus onkologinius susirgimus, kadangi jie yra veikiama daugeliu veiksnių, tai ir gyvenimo stiliaus ypatumai, aplinka, genetika ir pan. O pačias galimybes medikai apibrėžia kaip rizikos faktorius ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The goal of master thesis is intended to identify the polipharmacy factors in the late modern society. The continuously shifting society is the cause for changes in all the ways society operates. The agency of shifting society boosts new challenges for social actor as well as for society itself. These social changes have also affected healthcare system. Thanks to new biotechnologies that are being developed, medicine can overcome infectious diseases; however, the development of biotechnologies also poses new challenges. The increasing spectrum of chronic diseases not only prompts large funding of the development of pharmaceuticals to cure these diseases, but also the disease prevention in society. To achieve this goal, pharmaceutical industry and mass media, which is one of the biggest motivators for the increase in pharmaceutical consumerism, are employed. By viewing the smiling and well-spirited actors in mass media and pharmaceutical advertising, a social actor presumes that the pharmaceutical could also in a particular case be beneficial to him/her. While discussing risk society, Beck (2006) defines risk as subjective and the possibility of risk as objective. A social actor constantly experiences health risks. Health risk depends on various factors; therefore, risk measurement remains subjective. As for example, the doctors are not able to give the precise diagnosis of probable oncological disorders, since they depend on many factors such as lifestyle, environment... [to full text]

This thesis presents descriptive and explanatory accounts of both non-theism, the lack of belief in the existence of supernatural agents, and strong atheism, the moral opposition to such beliefs on the grounds that they are both harmful and signs of weak character. Based on my fieldwork with non-theist groups and individuals in the United States, United Kingdom, and Denmark, an online survey of over 3,000 non-theists from over 50 countries, and theories from both the social and cognitive sciences, I offer a new account of why nations with low economic and normative threats produce high levels of non-theism. This account is offered in place of the common explanation that religious beliefs provide comfort in threatening circumstances, which I show to be both anthropologically and psychologically problematic. My account centres on the role of threats, both existential and normative, in increasing commitment to ingroup ideologies, many of which are religious, and the important role of witnessing displays of commitment to religious beliefs in producing such beliefs in each new generation. In environments with low levels of personal and normative threat, commitment to religious ideologies decreases, extrinsic reasons for religious participation decrease, and superstitious actions decrease. Given the human tendency to believe the communications of others to the extent that they are backed up by action, such a decrease in displays of commitment to religious beliefs leads to increased non-theism in the span of a generation. In relation to strong atheism, I document a correlation, both geographical and chronological, between strong atheism and the presence of religious beliefs and demands in the public sphere. I then offer an explanation of this correlation based on the effects of threats against a modern normative order characterized by philosopher Charles Taylor as a system of mutual benefit and individual liberty.