This diploma thesis deals with roboethics and its associated moral and social dilemmas. The theoretical part of this thesis defines roboethics and presents the diverse opinions and approaches, deals with the position of robots in society and also subsequently examines the various problematic areas of the use of robots. The conclusion of the theoretical part of the thesis then focuses on autonomous vehicles, to which the quantitative and qualitative research parts of the thesis are devoted. The research part of this diploma thesis aims to find out the opinions on this issue of the Czech general public and Czech experts as well as to find out whether their opinions are aligned, how their opinions differ and lastly, which issues are the most important for the future development of this field.

The main purpose of this study is to find out how active clerics within the Church of Sweden experience working under the clerical vow of silence, which is mandatory for all clerical members practising individual pastoral care within the church organisation. Another purpose is to find out whether there are any occurring ethical or moral dilemmas related to the clerics’ experiences of their vow of silence. This study was conducted using semi-structured qualitative interviews with seven clerics from different parishes, mainly from the Stockholm region, with a minimum of five years of clerical work experience. The participants were asked how they regard the clerical vow of silence and if they ever considered breaking the vow during their careers. Furthermore, the participants were asked how the clerical vow of silence affects their everyday lives. The applied method for this study is the narrative analysis with a thematic approach, as described by Riessman (2008). This resulted in five recurrent main themes deriving from the interviewees answers to our main questions. Our result implies that the participants regard the clerical vow of silence as important, albeit being described as difficult to contain and cope with, thus giving rise to morally and ethically related dilemmas for some of the participants. / Huvudsyftet med denna studie är att ta reda på hur yrkesverksamma präster inom Svenska kyrkan upplever att arbeta med den absoluta tystnadsplikten, som omfattar Svenska kyrkans präster inom den enskilda själavården. Ytterligare ett syfte är att ta reda på huruvida det uppstår etiska eller moraliska dilemman i samband med deras erfarenheter av den absoluta tystnadsplikten. Genom semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer har dessa utförts med sju präster från olika församlingar i Sverige, främst i Stockholmsregionen, under förutsättningen att de har varit yrkesverksamma i minst fem år. Informanterna har tillfrågats hur de betraktar den absoluta tystnadsplikten och om de någonsin har funderat kring att bryta den. Vidare har informanterna även frågats hur den absoluta tystnadsplikten påverkar dem i deras vardagsliv. Genom att använda Riessmans (2008) tematiska narrativa analys har fem huvudteman uppkommit. Dessa teman utgör resultat utifrån informanternas svar kopplade till studiens frågeställningar. Resultatet visar att informanterna upplever den absoluta tystnadsplikten som meningsfull, samtidigt som den beskrivs som svårhanterlig och således har givit upphov till etiska och moraliska dilemman för vissa av informanterna.

博士(心理学) / Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

BACKGROUND: Today’s societal changes, including high rate of change and increasing information flows, are increasing the demand on the individual mental capacity. It becomes increasingly difficult to analytically process all the different dilemmas and everyday decisions as individuals have a limited mental capacity available to make these decisions. Thus, it has been suggested that ego-depleted relies more heavily on intuition, which is less burdensome, when making decision. However little is known about to what extent intuitive decisions differ from analytic. Are ego-depleted individuals more or less likely to maximize outcome in moral dilemmas involving conflicting values? Do ego depleted individuals become more or less willing to cooperate? Do ego depleted individuals become more or less altruistic? Is our intuition more or less in accordance with Homo Economicus?AIM: Starting from a Dual Process perspective on decision-making the aim of this study is to examine how ego depletion affects moral judgment and pro-social decisions.METHOD: A laboratory experiment involving 115 subjects, using real monetary incentives, was conducted among students at Linköping University. Subjects were randomized into one of two treatments. Everything was identical across treatments except for the initial ego-depletion manipulation. Using a standard paradigm for ego-depletion subjects in treatment 1 were put under high cognitive load while subjects in treatment two were put under low cognitive load. Subjects faced 16 questions divided into four different decision tasks: Moral dilemmas, Public Goods game, two types of Dictator Game where the type of sacrifice subjects could make in order to contribute money to charity was varied.RESULTS: Subjects in the high cognitive load treatment made fewer consequentialists moral judgments compared to other subjects (p = 0.075). The effect is especially strong when looking only at high-conflict dilemmas such as Crying Baby. No difference between treatments was found for the public goods games. In the dictator game involving monetary sacrifice subjects donated less money to charity when put under high cognitive load. However the finding was not significant (p = 0.292). No difference was found in the dictator game involving effort as personal sacrifice since almost everyone chooses to donate to charity.CONCLUSION: According to The Dual Process perspective this essay shows that intuitive thinking does not evidently lead to that they makes decision that more or less is in accordance with Homo Economicus. The connection between ego depletion and pro-social decisions is more complex. Further research needs to investigate which different mental shortcuts that individuals uses in various types of pro-social decisions and why intuitive and analytical decision-making differ between different decisions. Further research within the area can identify potential mechanisms and policies that can support individuals’ capacity to make decisions in accordance with their own and society’s preferences.

As both a Working Memory (WM) task and as a more integrated reasoning process, moral decision making appears susceptible to interference by nociceptive stimuli. Differentiation, however, between conflicting occupation of WM resources and the influence of pain-induced autonomic activation as potential pathways of interaction represents a considerably more difficult task than simple measurement of WM performance. To clarify the basis of any noted effects, this study recorded both self-report pain intensity and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) as a separate measure of autonomic activation under a cold pressor task using a sample of 122 undergraduate participants. Recorded pain and physiological data was compared to rates of utilitarian decision making in the provided moral dilemmas. While there were significantly lower rates of utilitarian decision making in the pain condition, a warm-water painless condition showed comparably decreased rates. Comparison with GSR data suggests that the pain condition did not induce a significantly heightened state of autonomic activation. This suggests that while divided attention or occupation of WM resources does effect patterns of moral decision making, this is not reliant on a nociceptive stimulus.

This paper provides an analysis of Bradshaw and Colleagues' model of military healthcare professionals' moral distress experiences. Using novel interview data collected from Canadian Forces healthcare professionals, the steps of the model are validated or potential refinements are suggested. / Military healthcare professionals (HCPs) may experience moral distress during international deployment. Moral distress is experienced when a HCP faces a moral dilemma, e.g., knows the morally correct course of action but is blocked from taking it, or where all available courses of action require something of moral significance be given up. While the literature indicates that moral distress often negatively impacts the mental health of the individual and the effectiveness of the organization, limited research has examined moral distress amongst military HCP. Many similar stressors and psychological health problems are present for both civilian and military HCP; however, the unique context of deployment necessitates further examination. This thesis explores the military HCP experience with moral distress by using Bradshaw and colleague’s model of progression from the encounter with a moral dilemma to the impact on individuals and organizations. Through the analysis of novel interviews collected by the Ethics in Military Medicine Research Group (EMMRG), Bradshaw and colleague’s model of military moral distress is compared to participant’s experiences and qualitatively analysed, with the results outlining where the model is supported and where refinement is recommended. These challenges were then supported by a literature review from the disciplines of virtue and feminist ethics, moral psychology, bioethics, and civilian HCP moral distress research. Two novel and significant revisions to the model are suggested: representing and integrating the cumulative experience of moral distress, and re-conceptualizing the resolution process based on the consideration of contextual controllability on moral responsibility. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS) / This thesis examines the experience of moral distress in military healthcare professionals (HCPs) while working abroad, where a HCP faces a moral dilemma, e.g., knows the morally correct course of action but is blocked from taking it or it requires something of moral significance be given up. This thesis analyses the most recent model of military HCP moral distress (Bradshaw, et al., 2010) by comparing it to the experiences described by participants in the Ethics in Military Medicine Research Group (EMMRG) study. The results outline support for the model as well as novel suggestions for revision, which are supported by literature from a variety of disciplines. Two adjustments to Bradshaw and colleague’s model are suggested: clearer representation of the cumulative nature of moral distress as well as a reconceptualization of the resolution process to consider the influence of the immediate and extended environment on moral responsibility.

Offentligt anställda förväntas agera i enlighet med förvaltningsetiken och implementera politiskt fattade beslut. Att rollen kan uppleva förvaltningsetikens krav som oförenliga med deras yrkesetik har aktualiserats efter riksdagsvalet 2022. I samband med regeringsbildningen presenterade regeringspartierna med samarbetsparti Tidöavtalet, i vilket det föreslås att offentliganställda som kommer i kontakt med individer utan uppehållstillstånd ska vara skyldiga att anmäla detta till Migrationsverket och polis. Detta har lett till stora protester hos bland annat hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal, som mobiliserat under parollen Vi anger inte.  Utifrån hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalens protester belyser uppsatsen den potentiella spänningen mellan krav på styrbarhet och att den offentligt anställde agerar etiskt ansvarsfullt, såväl professionsetiskt som förvaltningsetiskt. Studien använder sig av Lundquists teori om konkurrerande etiska system för utvärdera om och hur protesten kan motiveras förvaltningsetiskt. Det empiriska material som ligger till grund för undersökningen utgörs huvudsakligen av debattinlägg av hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal. Dessa har analyserats med hjälp av riktad kvalitativ innehållsanalys.  Resultaten visar att personalens protester kan förstås dels utifrån ett professionsetiskt perspektiv, dels utifrån ett förvaltningsetiskt enligt vilket sjukvårdspersonalen uppvisar ämbetskurage. Likväl är den rollen oförenlig med den som styrbar offentliganställd.