The aim of the paper is to research possible approaches to valuation of human life and to explore possible situations leading to such valuation. Another goal is to create a systematic description of categories of value and to provide compact description of the problem. In order to create a system, the thesis maps premises and criteria. The result is identification of methods that are frequently used both abroad and in Czech Republic. Values differ based on the category of value. The paper identifies methods, comments on them and classifies them.

This dissertation aims to examine and analyse the current South African position with regard to voluntary euthanasia. An examination is made from constitutional law, common law, case law and statutory law perspectives, including the legislation proposed by the South African Law Commission (project 86). The writings of prominent authors are considered. Once the South African position is examined, a comparative study is undertaken concerning relevant aspects in the Dutch law. The most important findings are that the South African Constitution may allow, and perhaps even demand, the legalization of voluntary euthanasia in South Africa, provided that sufficient safeguards can be established to effectively and sufficiently minimize the risk of abuse. Should this be impossible, the proscription of euthanasia may be reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom. Finally, some recommendations are made for changes to the South African Law Commission’s Final Draft Bill. / Dissertation (LLM (Medical Law))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Public Law / unrestricted

The perception of water as an inseparable part of human's life. Biological relations, social aspects, historical view of water which ranks top position among the main values. Easthetic and artistic perception of water, water as a part of the educational curriculum aimed at young learners and Art.

This dissertation deals with a theological-ethical evaluation of the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996 on the area of abortion on demand. It aims at empowering women and also solving the problem of backstreet abortion. Chapter one gives a brief introduction to the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996. Chapter two gives a historical background of abortion and the factors tbat eventually led to the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996. Chapter three focuses mainly on the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on abortion. Issues relating to the value of human life are discussed in this chapter. Is~~es relating to the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996 and their theologicalethical in.Jplications are discussed in this chapter, i.e. chapter four. Empowering of women, sex education, instilling good moral values to the youth and also changing the pastoral attitude of churches towards sexuality can help to alleviate the problem of unwanted pregnancy. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Theological Ethics)

This dissertation deals with a theological-ethical evaluation of the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996 on the area of abortion on demand. It aims at empowering women and also solving the problem of backstreet abortion. Chapter one gives a brief introduction to the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996. Chapter two gives a historical background of abortion and the factors tbat eventually led to the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996. Chapter three focuses mainly on the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on abortion. Issues relating to the value of human life are discussed in this chapter. Is~~es relating to the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996 and their theologicalethical in.Jplications are discussed in this chapter, i.e. chapter four. Empowering of women, sex education, instilling good moral values to the youth and also changing the pastoral attitude of churches towards sexuality can help to alleviate the problem of unwanted pregnancy. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Theological Ethics)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Adriano Correa da Silva.pdf: 767159 bytes, checksum: 98715671b34dc515d4c05204b457d9e2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-15 / ADVENIAT / Amid the various threats that human life is, the Catholic Church cools further its mission inherited by Christ to proclaim the Gospel of Life to the universality of the people, for she firmly believes that human life, even when marked by weaknesses, and even by physical or mental disabilities, pre-and postnatal, is always a splendid gift of God to be protected. This is the horizon of the defense of human life, and more precisely, the cases of fetal anencephaly, that their dissertation converges to evidence in the light of Christian revelation, but also through interdisciplinarity, that human life is a fundamental principle and primary among all values between different cultures. Therefore, the first chapter is about an expression often used by John Paul II - "culture of life" - which, in turn, must be cultivated and propagated throughout the world as the center of the message proclaimed by Christ and his Church as delegated depository of Evangelium Vitae and in time in the history of mankind, for man alive is the first and fundamental way for the Church. For this purpose, the respective chapter discusses the aspect of biblical-theological conception of human life and human being. In the second chapter, in contrast to the first, is the explanation of the terminology - "culture of death" - since there are numerous signs that arise to threaten human life, and nascent human life, God-given as a gift. And one of the threats to human dignity still in its early uterine culture is the death of abortion legislation that attempts to expand worldwide, including in the current Brazilian Congress, to include cases of fetal anencephaly. Finally, the third chapter, such as character conclusion reaffirms the defense of human life as a task and responsibility that must be taken not only by the Church of Christ, but for all people of good will as a way to go before a question of survival of humanity itself, which must be awakened, increasingly, develop an ethical principle against the defense of human life, especially the helpless intra-uterine life / Em meio às diversas ameaças em que a vida humana se encontra, a Igreja Católica arrefece ainda mais a sua missão herdada por Cristo de anunciar o Evangelho da Vida à universalidade dos povos, pois ela crê firmemente, que a vida humana, mesmo quando marcada por fragilidades, e até mesmo por deficiências físicas ou mentais, pré e pósnatal, é sempre um dom esplêndido de Deus a ser protegido. É neste horizonte de defesa da vida humana, e mais precisamente, dos casos de anencefalia fetal, que esta respectiva dissertação se converge para evidenciar sob a luz da Revelação cristã, mas também por meio da interdisciplinaridade, que a vida humana consiste em um princípio fundamental e primário entre todos os valores existentes entre as diversas culturas. Portanto, o primeiro capítulo fala sobre uma expressão muito usada por João Paulo II - cultura da vida - que, por sua vez, deve ser cultivada e propagada em todo o mundo como centro da mensagem anunciada por Cristo e delegada à sua Igreja como depositária deste Evangelium Vitae no tempo e na história da humanidade, pois o homem vivo constitui o primeiro e fundamental caminho eclesial. Para este objetivo, o respectivo capítulo aborda o aspecto bíblico-teológico da concepção da vida humana e do ser humano. No segundo capítulo, em contraposição ao primeiro, faz a explanação da terminologia - cultura de morte uma vez que existem inúmeros sinais que se levantam para ameaçar a vida humana, e a vida humana nascente, recebida de Deus como dom. E uma das ameaças contra a dignidade do homem ainda na sua fase uterina é a cultura de morte do aborto, que tenta ampliar a legislação em todo o mundo, inclusive no atual Congresso Brasileiro, para incluir os casos de anencefalia fetal. Por fim, o terceiro capítulo, já como caráter de conclusão, reafirma a defesa da vida humana como tarefa e responsabilidade, que deve ser assumida, não somente pela Igreja de Cristo, mas por todas as pessoas de boa vontade como caminho a ser percorrido para uma questão de sobrevivência da própria humanidade, que deve se despertar, cada vez mais, para o amadurecimento ético frente ao princípio de defesa da vida humana, principalmente a vida indefesa intra-uterina

With more than 75% of its population experiencing poverty, Zimbabwe was in 2012 considered one of the world's poorest countries. The country sits at the centre of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and remains one of the hardest hit countries accounting for 5% of all new infections in sub-Saharan Africa. Zimbabwe's 15% HIV prevalence rate was 19 times the global average by 2012, and the total years of life lost due to premature mortality increased by over 150% between 1990 and 2010 because of HIV/AIDS. This study draws on notions of 'governmentality' to ask how the 'framing' of the value of PLWHA has influenced their treatment by the Zimbabwean government and society. Four questions are posed: first the study asks, in what ways do health policy decision-makers in Zimbabwe frame the value of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)? Secondly, the study questions the ways in which people not infected by HIV (Non-PLWHA) frame the value of PLWHA. Thirdly, the study turns to PLWHA and asks how they frame their own value. Finally, the study investigates the implications of valuing PLWHA, for their lives, or conversely, their deaths. The study draws upon primary research undertaken through interviews, focus group discussions, observations and document review. While there are some contradictions within and between groups of study participants in the ways they frame the value of PLWHA; the study finds consensus within and between these groups in the manner in which they tend to value PLWHA. Analysing these findings, there are five ways people in Zimbabwe frame the value of PLWHA. Firstly, from a 'citizen' perspective, PLWHA are both legal and political citizens who can identify as equal members of society like other citizens. They have social rights; participate, belong and can access HIV treatment that can reduce risks of death. Secondly, from a 'client' standpoint; PLWHA are customers, gaining access to health services through individual monetary payments or social payments such as Government budget allocations. This introduces a degree of 'rationing', forcing the clients (PLWHA) to behave in ways that increase their chances of receiving services. Those with lower purchasing power struggle to access expensive life-saving anti-retrovirals, thus individual wealth confers value on the lives of the wealthy. Thirdly, framing from a Statistical Representation perspective - through statistics, PLWHA can be used as a means of bargaining for government to gain access to international funding, to increase the chances of survival for PLWHA by bringing services such as antiretroviral therapy (ART). Fourthly, the 'Expendable populations' perspective views subgroups of PLWHA who fail to adhere to norms of behaviour prescribed by the government, including those unable to purchase services, such as the poor and homosexuals, sex workers and prisoners, as populations that may be allowed to die. Finally, the study shows that PLWHA lament the discursive space of technocrats with a counter-narrative of their value in which they emerge not as expendable victims but as victors reframed as an indefatigable population - 'Resiliencers'. PLWHA create a narrative of disobedient materiality, challenging totalising notions of governmentality. This study concludes by considering the relevance in the Zimbabwean context of the concept of 'Allowable Death' as a premature, avoidable death despite consciously crafted narratives that the death happened because nothing could have been done under the prevailing conditions to prevent it.

In the United States there exists a clear and disconcerting racial disparity in the distribution of good health, which can be seen in differential levels of morbidity and mortality affecting blacks and whites. Previous research has examined the role of SES in shaping racial health disparities and recent studies have looked specifically at the effect of education on health to explain the racial disparity in health. Higher levels of education are robustly associated with good overall health for both blacks and whites and this association has been examined over the life-course. This research explores racial differences in the effect of education on health in general as well as over the life-course. Specifically, this paper examines race differences in the effects of education on health over the life-course. Pooled data from the National Health Interview Survey were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression to estimate the effects of race, education and age on health. The results of these analyses indicate that blacks receive lower education returns on their health than whites. The effect of education on health was shown to grow in the beginning of the life-course and diminish at the end of the life course in accordance with the mortality-as-leveler hypothesis. The black white health disparity was shown to grow over the life-course among the highly educated, whereas the disparity was consistent over the life-course for the poorly educated.

Even though Sweden is considered a high trust society, research on this topic is primarily based on a few standardized survey questions. It is also known that there is a robust pattern of less trustful young people compared to older ones. Still, a satisfactory explanation of this fact is lacking. Thus, the first aim of this dissertation is to map trust among young adults and middle-aged individuals. The second aim is to examine by which factors and in what way different dimensions of trust are determined, focusing on individuals’ life course and consequently experiences. Analytical principles from the life course tradition are used as a theoretical framework. Data is derived from a Swedish cross-sectional nationally representative postal survey on trust, and qualitative interviews using a mixed-methods approach. A multi-dimensional concept of trust is suggested. Participants report relatively high levels of trust in known and unknown people, confidence in institutions, normative notions of trust, security, and trustful behaviour. Trust also seems to be structured according to a closeness principle. Young adults display lower trust levels in general. However, in some respects the pattern is reversed, particularly regarding domains they are expected to be more familiar with. Contrary to the well-established idea of generalised trust derived from predispositions and primary socialization, and particularised trust originating from experiences in adulthood, the results of this study suggest that unique combinations of factors, both individual characteristics and experiences, might explain each of the different dimensions. Often there is a sphere-specific relationship between experiences and later trust, i.e. experiences from one sphere of life seem to exclusively affect trust within the same sphere. It is suggested that as people grow older they accumulate what is called experience capital, which might benefit trust and contribute to an explanation of the age differences.

The aim of this dissertation is to examine and analyse the judicial framework with regard to embryonic stem cell research and cloning in South Africa. The examination is conducted within the framework of the South African and United Kingdom's legal systems. Focus is placed on aspects of medical law, human rights law as envisaged in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and the law of persons. The specific focus of this dissertation is to examine the intense debate on the moral and legal status of the embryo and fetus in South Africa. A comparative study is undertaken, with the United Kingdom as a background against which recommendations for the South African framework are made. The study firstly provides a clinical overview of stem cell research and cloning. Secondly, the concept of life, in particular human life; the protection of the embryo and fetus under the constitutional guarantee of the right to life, among other constitutionally protected rights, are examined. In this context, the most important finding is that although the fetus is not a bearer of constitutional rights the state has a constitutional duty to protect fetal life in terms of an objective value system. Thereby, the state is permitted to regulate abortion, fetal tissue research, and embryo research to protect fetal life. In particular, the aim of this dissertation is to present a critical summary of the major debates and policy responses relating to embryonic stem cell research and cloning techniques, drawing attention to some of the challenges posed by conflicting moral values in an era of global scientific endeavour, and to provide an analysis of the key ethical and regulatory implications for stem cell therapy. The most important findings are that current South African legislation remains fragmented and ineffective in the manner in which embryonic stem cell research and cloning are regulated. This finding leads to a summary of recommendations, which attempts to provide specific remedies in order to adapt the current regulatory framework in South Africa. / Dissertation (LLM (Public Law))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Public Law / LLM / unrestricted