Submitted in fullfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Research) Macquarie University, Division of Humanities, Dept. of Modern History. 2005. / Thesis (MA)--Macquarie University, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dept. of Modern History, 2005. / Bibliography: p. 268-290. / Introduction -- 1. Norms, interests and humanitarian intervention -- 2. Bosnia and Somalia -- 3. Rwanda -- 4. The Clinton Administration and the Balkan Wars -- Conclusion. / A number of Constructivist and English school scholars have investigated the degree to which humanitarian intervention is allowed and legitimised by international society. In other words, they have examined the nature and strength of a norm permitting humanitarian intervention. It is the contention of this dissertation that another norm of humanitarian intervention - parallel but discrete - has been neglected. It is argued that ideas and beliefs shared by members of international society not only permit intervention but prescribe it in certain circumstances and this has been largely ignored in the literature. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / 290 p

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Registered nurses, while carrying out their professional roles, regularly encounter situations with ethical components. While there are research findings reporting the types of ethical challenges nurses face, their level of involvement in ethical decision-making, and reasoning processes used, how nurses actually deal with situations that challenge them personally has not been specifically explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychosocial processes that can explain how registered nurses reason and make decisions when faced with ethical situations that challenge their personal values and belief systems. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct the study, allowing a substantive theory to be developed. Twenty-three nurses, currently working in metropolitan or regional areas in New South Wales, volunteered to participate in the study. Two methods of data collection were utilised, the first being semi-structured, in-depth interviews which were audio taped then transcribed. The second method used hypothetical vignettes with associated questions to which the participants were invited to anonymously return written responses. Data were managed by means of the computer program NVivo 2, while constant comparative analysis using open, axial and selective coding, as outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1998), was performed. The substantive theory which emerged from the data explains the processes used by nurses when they have to deal with ethical challenges to their personal values and beliefs. The basic psychosocial process (core category) of protecting client autonomy reveals a pattern of moral reasoning that gives priority to the client’s self-determined choices. This subsumes the key processes (subcategories) of: (1) being self-aware, (2) determining duties to other/s versus self, (3) engaging self as protector, and (4) restoring self from tension or anguish, which link to each other and to the core category to explain the various sub-processes used when protecting client autonomy is considered a priority. Findings in the study revealed that nurses who give primacy to client autonomy believe they should not impose their own preferred choices on to clients. Yet the emphasis on client autonomy is also paradoxical, since it may come at the cost of compromise and even denial of the nurses’ own autonomy and their deeply held values and beliefs. When they become aware that their personal values and beliefs are being challenged, they are at times prepared to compromise their own values or beliefs, yield to constraints, or put themselves at risk in order to protect the autonomy of clients. Such actions can leave nurses experiencing ethical tension or anguish for which they need to seek support. Opportunities to find appropriate support are not always available to them in the work environment. The findings in this study have important implications for both nurses and the nursing profession. The pattern of moral reasoning shows generosity and nurses’ commitment to their caring and advocacy roles. However, when nurses are regularly prepared to compromise their own values or beliefs because they give priority to protecting client autonomy, there is a risk they may be left with a sense of loss to their personal worth and in their ability to be moral agents. Further, in some situations it may occur out of complacency because they simply accept that it is the client’s choice, absolving the nurse of further moral responsibility. Appropriate support systems need to be available to nurses to help them deal with the consequences which may occur as a result of giving preference to clients’ choices, over their own.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Communications, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-65).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Neil Jumonville, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 14, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 273 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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本文旨在探討魏晉南北朝撰文家訓的興盛原委及發展現象。所謂撰文家訓 ，是指在具有血源或養子關係的家庭中，由長輩、族長和尊者，對晚輩、族人 及卑者布施的文字訓誡。 　　較諸前代，魏晉南北朝撰文家訓不但數量大增，而且篇幅內容的深、廣度也 有顯著躍進，因此學界普遍認同魏晉南北朝是家訓趨向成熟的過渡期。本文關 注的問題是：為什麼撰文家訓會在漢魏之際大量出現？而這時的家訓在內容、 撰作形式上，跟前代的作品有何分別？甚或以同時代的作品比較，不同氏族創 作的家訓在命題上存在什麼異同？以及這些特徵與差異是受到什麼因素影響而 產生的？ 　　本文嘗試以家族為研究單位，著重分析十五支具有家訓傳承現象的氏族的 撰文家訓內涵，務求找出該家族的價值取向，挖掘家訓這種為導引家族發展方 針而出現的實用文體之精神。其次，對於部分以單篇形式流傳的家訓，本文也 會將之聯繫至政治、社會的層面，考查政治氛圍、知識分子的心態和社會地位 差距，跟家訓發展的交互影響。冀能完整呈現出魏晉南北朝家訓發展的畫面。 本論文共分六章：除第一章緒論及第六章總結外，正文部分共有四章。第 二章主要疏理前人對撰文家訓定義理解的分歧，以明確研究範圍與材料對象。 第三章從史學的角度，追溯家訓文學之由來，了解其在先秦至兩漢時之遞變， 並嘗試探析魏晉家訓作品大量湧現的原因。第四章、五章則以家訓作品本身作 為考察的對象，分析當時不同地域及氏族的家訓內容特色，並會比對家訓出現 歧異的原因，外在環境因素與家訓發展的交互影響，藉此了解家訓作品中慣常 出現內容的精神基點所在。 Abstract This thesis examines the reasons of mass production and the development of textual family-instructions during Wei, Jin & the North-South Dynasties. Textual family- instructions, refers to “A written reprimand issued by the elders or chiefs whom have blood or adoption relationship with the younger. - 2 - 　Compared to the previous dynasties, textual family-instructions appeared in Wei, Jin & the North-South Dynasties not only increased in number, but the depth and breadth were also enhanced. Therefore, scholars generally agree that this is a transition period for family-instructions. This phenomenon led me to ponder upon a number of issues: Why did the numbers of family-instructions grow rapidly between the age of Han and the Wei Dynasty? Are there any differences in comparing a family-instruction in Wei, Jin & the North-South as well as in the previous Dynasties? By comparing with the contemporary works, what are the similarities and differences among them? What are the factors causing the differences and similarities? In order to approach the topic in a holistic way, this study not only explores the contents of each single family-instruction, but also reviews all works from the same clan. I sort out fifteen clans which emphasized on family-instruction heritage, so that the core values and development policy of the whole clan could be clearly observed. For those single-piece family-instruction, would be observed together with the political and social context. Therefore, through the study of the political climate, the mentality of intellectuals, disparities status in the society, the result of family- instruction development could be achieved in a more comprehensive way. This thesis contains six chapters. Chapter I is “Introduction and Chapter VI “Conclusion. Chapter II gives definition of textual family-instruction, which clarifies the scope of the study. Chapter III is written from the perspective of history, tracing the origin, understanding of the transitions, also the reasons of recruiting mass production of family-instruction during Wei, Jin & the North-South Dynasties. Chapter IV & V analyze the features of family-instruction by different clans, and find out the reasons for discrepancy. Also, the external factors influencing the contents of family-instruction will also be investigated.

Corporations - their power and impact on society - are a neglected topic in political philosophy. In this thesis, I attempt to address this neglect by using the framework of Rawlsian justice to examine what corporations' relationship to social and international justice ought to be. The first part of the thesis is on domestic social justice. I urge that Rawlsians should not begin their inquiry by taking the corporate form as given because the corporation's existence requires a specific set of private-ordering and property rules to be in place. What we should ask, instead, is whether these rules are actually permitted by the two principles of justice as fairness. This question leads to an examination of different economic regimes that are compatible with Rawlsian justice. I focus on one particular regime - that of property-owning democracy. What I find is that while not all versions of property-owning democracy would permit the corporate form, some would actually welcome it due to the feature of 'the separation of ownership and control' that is typical of modern corporations. The second part of the thesis is on international justice. I argue that the best way to situate corporations in Rawls's theory of international justice - his Law of Peoples - is to connect them to the duty of assistance. This is not a straightforward task because a relatively strict reading of the duty of assistance would disallow treating corporations as primarily responsible for discharging it. However, a revisionist approach to the Law of Peoples shows that we can understand the duty of assistance as a part of transitional justice. The significance of this is that Rawls's prescribed ideal theory of international justice does not determine who the agents for transitional justice ought to be or the grounds for attributing responsibility to such agents. We are thus free to adopt David Miller's criteria for attribution of remedial responsibilities to assign to corporations responsibilities for the duty of assistance. What is more, in a particular area of international justice - that of fairness in trade - we can establish that corporations can be primary agents of transitional justice.

End of life and changes in medical bioethicsThe issue of the end of life includes —necessarily— an analysis of human dignity in its social and legal dimension as a parameter and value of the cultural history of countries and societies. The vagueness of this term has created, in particular, many difficulties in the effort to define its boundaries. In particular, the use of human dignity to understand the dynamics of the end of life faces the issue of medical paternalism and theory of informed consent in the doctor-patient relationship. / El tema del final de la vida incluye —necesariamente— unanálisis de la dignidad humana en su dimensión social y jurídica, como parámetro y valor de la historia cultural de los países y de las sociedades. La indeterminación de este concepto ha creado, en lo concreto, muchas dificultades en el esfuerzo de concretar sus confines. En particular, el uso de la dignidad humana para comprender las dinámicas del fin de la vida enfrenta el tema del paternalismo médico y la teoría del consentimiento informado en larelación médico-paciente.

My broadest aim in this thesis is to explore some of the central ethical concerns of social anthropologists vis-a-vis the phenomena of development. In particular, what I want to bring out and examine is the dynamics of the 'moral experience' and 'moral force' of anthropologists in this area. I go about this by considering the historical unfolding of the anthropological conceptual and evaluative apprehension of planned social and economic change. On this basis, I also consider the nature of the critiques and contributions that social anthropology has generated. I also make an attempt to review the major conceptual moral controversies and agendas that are intrinsic to development from an anthropological perspective. Whilst the concepts and values that emanate from social anthropology are multi-faceted and many stranded, I believe that the anthropological standpoint is both distinctive and potentially counter hegemonic. I look specifically at the moral resources that can be unearthed from the emerging field of 'development ethics' which is largely articulated in terms of the maxims that are fundamental to Western moral and political traditions. I attempt to set out the terrain of the ethical deliberation of anthropologists involved in development in terms of some of the moral difficulties of Western society. I argue that Western moral reasoning, as a result of deep disagreements about the sources of value human life and society, tends to rely upon procedural, instrumental and coercive ethical frameworks. On this basis, one of my assertions is that communitarian arguments, whilst also being needed as a healthy antidote to the excesses of liberal individualism, also constitute a reflection of the aspirations of people(s), many of whom are beleaguered by the alienation, atomism and instrumentalism of modern society. The communitarian perspective also underpins a political commitment to supporting those besieged indigenous communities that struggle to defend their integrity in the face of the aggressive intrusions of the market mentality. This may involve supporting the maintenance of 'traditional' versions of moral reasoning, well being, and sociality (such as indigenous life-worlds), collective rights in the face of the fragmentary and individuating neo-liberal development policies, and to support the 'construction of new associative networks such as 'new social movements' that represent the aspirations, and embody the values, of marginalised and disempowered social groups.

This thesis is a work of applied moral and political philosophy which analyses the moral value of marriage and argues for a restructuring of the legal institution of marriage in accordance with principles of justice. The first section contains exegesis and criticism of Kant's and Hegel's accounts of marriage. Kant's focus is on the contractual exchange of rights, Hegel's on the nature of the relationship between the spouses. In the second section, I consider Kantian, Hegelian, and eudaimonistic accounts of the moral value of marriage and conclude that moral value is found in the relationship between the spouses, not in the rights established through the marriage contract. In order to defend the position that loving relationships have moral value, I elucidate what moral value love for a particular other has within a universalist ethics. While I argue that marriage has no moral value which is not to be found in such relationships, I defend a Hegelian account which locates social value in the institution of marriage precisely because it promotes such relationships. In the final section, I argue that the principle of liberal neutrality requires that the principle of freedom of contract should apply to marriage. While I defend the institution of marriage against certain feminist criticisms, I also argue that justice requires that the state recognize same-sex and polygamous unions as marriages. Freedom of contract may be limited under certain conditions in the interest of gender equality; I argue for an interpretation of Rawls' principle of equal opportunity which entails that liberalism is committed to addressing gender inequality even at the expense of freedom of contract.