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Thesis advisor: Dominic Doyle / Thesis advisor: Richard Lennan / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Kurt Vonnegut's early science fiction novels depict societies and characters that, as in the real world, have become callous and downtrodden. These works use supercomputers, aliens, and space travel, often in a comical manner, to demonstrate that the future, unless people change their concepts of humanity, will not be the paradise of advanced technology and human harmony that some may expect. In fact, Vonnegut suggests that the human condition may gradually worsen if people continue to look further and further into the universe for happiness and purpose. To Vonnegut, the key to happiness is dignity, and this key is to be found within ourselves, not without.

Bakgrund: Av de som dött i Sverige de senaste två åren har cirka 80 procent varit i behov av palliativ vård. Genom att fokusera på patienters och närståendes upplevelser av vad som är viktigt i livets slutskede så kan en värdig död främjas. Värdighet är ett begrepp som är komplext och saknar konsensus inom vården. Det är även ett begrepp som är centralt inom vårdvetenskap. Harvey Max Chochinov har skapat en värdighetsmodell för att försöka göra begreppet värdighet mer förståligt och utifrån denna modell skapades interventionen värdighetsterapi. Syfte: Syftet med vår uppsats är att beskriva hur värdighetsterapi upplevs av patienter och anhöriga, samt belysa andra aspekter av värdighetsterapi. Metod: Den metod som används är litteraturöversikt. Efter systematisk sökning i databaser har nio artiklar studerats och dessa artiklar var både kvalitativa och kvantitativa. Artiklarna kommer ifrån Australien, Storbritannien, Japan, Danmark, Kanada och USA. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt användes de 6:Sn Chochinovs värdighetsmodell. Resultat: De huvudsakliga resultaten var att värdighetsterapi ansågs ha hjälpt patienter och anhöriga. Interventionen är genomförbar men resultaten tyder på att faktorer som kultur, tid, kostnad och patientens kognitiva tillstånd måste beaktas. Diskussion: Det som tas upp i diskussionen är de kulturella aspekterna kring värdighetsterapi, hur användbart det är inom vården och om det är samtalet eller arvsdokumentet som stärker värdighet. När det kommer till de kulturella aspekterna visade studier på att översättningar kunde bli fel och att kulturer kan se olika på vad som är en god död. Att genomföra värdighetsterapi tog längre tid än förväntat och den som utförde interventionen måste ha en viss kompetens. Detta är något som påverkar användbarheten av värdighetsterapi inom vården. / Background: Of those who died in Sweden over the last two years, about 80 percent were in need of palliative care. A dignified death can be promoted by focusing on patients and their families feeling of what's important in the end of life. Dignity is a concept that is complex and lacks consensus in health care. It is also a concept that is central to the health sciences. Harvey Max Chochinov has created a model of dignity trying to make the concept of dignity more understandable, and based on this model an intervention was created called dignity therapy. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe how Dignity therapy is used and evaluated by patients, relatives and other aspects of Dignity therapy. Methods: The method that was used was a literature review. After a systematic search in different databases nine articles were studied and these articles were both qualitative and quantitative. The articles are from Australia, UK, Japan, Denmark, Canada and the United States. As the theoretical framework the dignity model by Chochinov was used. Results: The main findings were that dignity therapy was considered to have helped patients and relatives. The intervention is feasible, but the results suggest that factors such as culture, time, cost and patient cognitive state must be considered. Discussions: Raised in the discussion are the cultural aspects of dignity therapy, how useful it is in healthcare, and if it is the conversation or the legacy document that promotes dignity. The cultural aspects showed in the studies that the translation could be wrong and that different cultures may differ on what is considered a good death. Implementing dignity therapy took longer than expected and the caregiver that performed the intervention must be skilled. This is something that affects the usability of dignity therapy in health care.

The purpose of this dissertation is to identify how can a focus on the ethical notion of dignity and respect for autonomy help to improve health care for elderly people in Islamic countries. An ethic for aging relies on the principle that the losses of age do not detract from a person’s essential autonomy. Thus, care should be provided without assuming that older people are different from those of other ages. It is possible to determine that ethical values are similar in Islamic cultures as well as, Western countries. But these values are often neglected when people face the need to provide health care to the elderly people. This dissertation provides a critical evaluation of the current view and application of the ethical concepts of dignity and respect for autonomy in Islamic countries including the ethical challenges that elderly people encounter in health care. The study focuses on three parts; first it will provide a general introduction to the bioethics in Islamic countries and its relation to Islamic law (Sharia). The argument is that human dignity does exist in the Islamic religion; however, the application and the functions of the concept in elderly health care are disregarded, due to the cultural understanding and interpretations of the concept. This have led health care providers and societies in Islamic countries to miss the momentum of implementing a strong old-age health and social support system that can maintain elderly people dignity and respect for autonomy, and meet their health care needs. The outcomes mandate further examination towards building greater consciousness of treatment and healing, towards the intellectual and cultural adjustment of health practices. The second part presents the applications of both concepts in Western countries, including their functions and meaning. The arguments characterize the notions of dignity regardless of age. It will identify how dignity is associated with respect for autonomy; thus, dignity and respect for autonomy should be a core value in health care practice. The third part analyses the differences and the deficiencies of the application of both ethical concepts to elderly health care in Islamic countries versus Western countries. The arguments will demonstrate how the application of the ethical principle of respect for autonomy in Islamic countries fails to acknowledge Beauchamp and Childress's principle of respect for autonomy. The analysis will help on understanding the major opportunities for and barriers to successful shift in the Islamic countries in regards to elderly health care and the overall process of aging. The challenge is to make sure that all health care providers have the capabilities to convey appropriate care and treatment with respect and appreciation to the elderly individuals’ dignity. It will suggest adopting several advantageous approaches that arose in the West and worldwide, and modifying it according to Islamic culture to improve elderly health care. The results justifies that the notions of dignity and respect for autonomy can help to improve elderly health care in Islamic countries. Concluding that in Islamic countries, a considerable measure of research, education, and preparation are all needed in the sphere of geriatrics to meet today’s health challenges associated with the increasing of elderly population. A need for adopting a fresh perception on an analytical gerontology and a respected devoted approach that aims to comprehend ageing process and requirements to change for the better. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Health Care Ethics / PhD; / Dissertation;

This dissertation is a philosophical inquiry into the problem of the slums that develop in and around large cities in the Global South, considered in the context of globalization. I argue first that theories of global justice must consider this new human condition engendered by the global slums; second, that the language of alienation and dignity is crucial to conceptions of global poverty; third, that this alienation is in large part predicated on the exploitation of women's labor; and finally, that this dignitarian response to alienation is a critical addition to the Capabilities Approach.

Contemplative Education is a field of practice and scholarship that emphasizes engagement in contemplative practices. It is not clear, however, what conception of contemplation ought to animate members of this field. Furthermore, although advocates of Contemplative Education express certain commitments to pluralism about contemplative practice, it is not clear to what extent those commitments get upheld. Through a close examination of three practices across three chapters—on theoria, mindfulness, and testimonio—this study draws out certain features of contemplative thinking while also offering members of Contemplative Education new conceptual resources and intellectual traditions to draw from in their own work. The final chapter makes a case for thinking of these three practices, and all contemplative practices within Contemplative Education, as fundamentally interested in the cultivation of ‘egalitarian reverence’: an evaluative attitude that extends basic human dignity to oneself and others, paired with a faithful sense of devotion to, and awe in light of, the ideal of democratic equality.

Thesis advisor: Daniel J. Daly / Thesis advisor: James F. Keenan / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The transhumanist movement propounds the view that the evolution of humanity must be extricated from the contingencies of blind natural selection and actively directed by human beings themselves, utilising existing as well as nascent technologies, in order to radically enhance and thus transform individual human capabilities to levels which far surpass current capacities. Transhumanism has elicited vehement critique, however, due to the claim that the transformations it proposes will result in a new posthuman species; and thus, that its aims represent a violation of human dignity. In order to assess this claim it is necessary to firstly investigate the aims and values of the transhumanist movement, as well as the technological means through which it proposes these aims will be fulfilled. This task is the focus of the first half of this thesis. Secondly, the concept of dignity itself must be examined in order to ascertain its status as a means of critiquing transhumanism. The second half of this thesis therefore explicates the notion of dignity by tracing its historical interpretations and uses, as well as the way in which it has been employed to uphold human rights and to adjudicate bioethical dilemmas in the contemporary milieu. This investigation enables the assessment of the two most renowned dignity arguments, namely, the arguments of the bioconservative thinkers Leon Kass and Francis Fukuyama which have been lodged against transhumanism, as well as the counter-argument of the transhumanist Nick Bostrom. In light of this discussion, the conclusion is that the notion of dignity is plagued by irrevocable ambiguity, vagueness and inconsistencies, due to the presence of conflicting interpretations. These findings have implications for the concept’s efficacy to adjudicate the complex ethical conundrums posed, not only by transhumanism, but in the bioethics arena in general. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die transhumanistiese beweging verteenwoordig die standpunt dat die evolusie van die mensdom losgemaak moet word van die toevallighede van blinde, natuurlike seleksie en aktief gerig moet word deur die mens self, deur van bestaande sowel as ontwikkelende tegnologieë gebruik te maak ten einde individuele menslike vermoëns radikaal te verbeter en dus te transformeer tot op vlakke wat huidige vermoëns ver oorskry. Transhumanisme het egter hewige kritiek ontlok weens die aanspraak dat die transformasies wat dit voorstel ‘n nuwe post-menslike spesie tot gevolg sal hê en dus dat die oogmerke daarvan ‘n skending van menswaardigheid verteenwoordig. Ten einde hierdie aanspraak te beoordeel, was dit eerstens nodig om die oogmerke en waardes van die transhumanistiese beweging te ondersoek, sowel as die tegnologiese middele wat voorgestel word as dit waardeur hierdie oogmerke verwesenlik sal word. Hierdie taak is onderneem in die eerste helfte van die tesis. Tweedens is die konsep van waardigheid self krities onder die loep geneem ten einde die status daarvan as ‘n middel om transhumanisme te kritiseer, te beoordeel. Die tweede helfte van hierdie tesis verhelder dus die idee van waardigheid deur die historiese interpretasies en gebruike daarvan na te gaan, sowel as die manier waarop dit aangewend is om menseregte te ondersteun en om dilemmas in die bioetiek in die hedendaagse milieu te bereg. Hierdie ondersoek maak die beoordeling van die drie mees bekende waardigheidsargumente wat teen transhumanisme gebring is, naamlik die argumente van die biokonserwatiewe denkers Leon Kass en Francis Fukuyama, sowel as die teenargument van die transhumanis Nick Bostrom, moontlik. Na aanleiding van hierdie bespreking is die gevolgtrekking van die skrywer dat die idee van menswaardigheid deurspek is met onvermydelike dubbelsinnigheid, vaagheid en teenstrydighede as gevolg van teenstrydige interpretasies. Hierdie bevindinge het implikasies vir die doeltreffendheid van die konsep om die komplekse etiese probleme wat gestel word, nie net deur transhumanisme nie, maar deur die bioetiek arena oor die algemeen, te beoordeel.