Thèse, Berne.

Abstract The way bodies are perceived has not received much attention in ethical discourse. It has always been accepted that one of the fundamental principles in evaluating ethical dilemmas in bio ethics is the respect for autonomy. This notion has dominated medical ethics for several decades. Medical ethicists however have quite frankly forgotten about the perception of bodies. In this post modern era, ethicists and medical practitioners are challenging and considering in what ways the impact of disease has on an individuals “autonomous decision making”. This discourse considers current and historical thoughts on autonomy and challenges its relevance in bioethics today. Autonomy is viewed from a genuine and an ascriptional perspective. By reviewing various arguments it is concluded that autonomy is still an important, but not an absolute, consideration in bioethics. Embodiment is discussed from a phenomenological perspective with the various notions of embodiment reviewed and evaluated. The impact that various states of embodiment have, from its normal physiological state that includes different ages, racial makeup and gender, to diseased states, on autonomy is reflected and discussed. This impact, it is argued, questions the role that autonomy plays in decision making. Emphasis is placed on respect for embodiment to seek a resolution to the impasse presented by certain ethical dilemmas where the respect for autonomy is found to be flawed.

Thesis (Ph. D)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-158).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 256-262). / Microfiche. / xiv, 262 leaves, bound 29 cm

Representing one of the influential motivational variables on learning, interest includes both cognitive and affective components, arising from the interplay between an individual and a particular content and environment (Dewey, 1913; Hidi, Renninger, and Krapp, 2004). According to Hidi & Renninger (2004), interest can develop from situational to individual interest and be strengthened along with external support. On the basis of their propositions, this report explores how student interest may be intensified by enhancing cognitive facets of interest through the teacher’s instructional support. From the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT), support for autonomy as a contextual factor has been reported as a catalyst for student interest and engagement. In particular, Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, and Turner (2004) stressed the importance of cognitive autonomy support as an instructional support in terms of deep-level thinking and cognitive engagement in comparison to other types of autonomy support such as by providing students choice in class. This report explores how different levels and types of student interest are associated with different types of autonomy support in an educational setting, focusing on cognitive aspects. Using a path analysis, this paper presents a full model to undergird a study of the direct and indirect relationships between student interest, different types of autonomy support, and cognitive engagement. / text

This project introduces the case of the Feminist Female Slave [FFS], a female submissive in a BDSM relationship with a male Master. This case is used in order to strengthen discourse in three main areas: feminist relational autonomy, BDSM theory, and feminist community politics. I argue that the FFS offers a case in which feminist autonomy theorists can serve to grow and develop their own approaches in a way that is inclusive of the diversity of women’s sexual expression, as she challenges our narrow notions of female subservience and asks us to rethink what it means to express an autonomous women’s sexuality. In BDSM theory she asks us to reflect upon our reliance upon superficial notions of consent and the lack of space for a critical dialogue, and finally, in feminist politics she asks us to consider what it means to belong to feminist communities, or what it means to feel as if one can lay claim to a feminist identity. Each of these considerations is brought to light in this project because of the interesting balance that the FFS’s relationship holds between her feminist identity, sexual politics, and sexual and romantic practices. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

I provide in my preface a brief account of my development as a creative writer. Through this development I draw an analogy to the evolution of modern science by stating that my need for personal clarity is analogous to the charge for empirical clarity of modern science. Furthermore, I contrast the objectivism of modern science to the subjectivism of creative writing. The four short stories in my thesis range from a semi-autobiographical story, to two short stories that stem out further and further from the subjective origin of the first story. The story of greatest distance is “Fireflies,” which is not semi-autobiographical, but pure fiction. The final short story returns to the subjective origin of the first. The drive of Distances is thereby to create a sort parabola: a subjective, semi-autobiographical origin, to an objective, purely fictional crest, then a return to that subjective, semi-autobiographical origin. The entire collection is a holistic, ultimately subjective, and therefore personal experience; yet, through the use certain tropes,metaphors others can relate to, the stories are paradoxically sharable.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MSc (Med) in Bioethics & Health Law Johannesburg, May 2017 / Spiraling health care costs have posed a threat to access to health care for scheme members, as more has to be done with even less. Managed care programmes were introduced to control the health care costs by reducing medical doctors autonomy. My aim was to ascertain the extent to which the managed care processes impede medical doctors’ autonomy. Principled conditions were identified where the limitation of doctors’ autonomy as a result of managed care could be morally justified which include where implementation would result in a just distribution of resources and a limitation of medically futile treatment. However principled conditions where these managed care tools would not ethically be justified included where they would result in adverse patient outcomes, where they result in a loss of medical doctors morale or where they result in reduced trust in the patient doctor relationship. / MT2017

In this thesis, I examine the extent to which moral enhancement, the biomedical alteration of an individual’s disposition to act according to good or bad motives, will in uence his capacity for selfgovernance. Following a discussion of the salient features of moral enhancement, a plausible list of conditions against which to measure the compatibility of moral enhancement with personal autonomy is expounded. e core elements of moral enhancement are weighed against these conditions in order to establish the ways in which these core elements are compatible with the conditions of personal autonomy. I argue that moral enhancement need not lead to a diminishment of personal autonomy, provided it serves merely as a mechanism to help an agent overcome the deterministic limitations that prevent him from bringing his lower-order desires into conformity with the higher-order desires that he has arrived at through independent, thoughtful deliberation.