The diploma thesis refers to the applicability of ethical theories in solving the dilemmas of social workers in homes for the elderly. The thesis is divided into four parts. In the first part there is defined a residential social service in the form of a home for seniors and characterized the nature of social work in this facility. The second part defines eleven dilemmas social workers encounter in their practice and also the reasons why social workers avoid them. The third part describes the essence of ethical theory in social work practice. It is focused on the description of three selected theories which include deontology, utilitarianism and the ethics of care. The last part concerns the application of these theories to the two ethical dilemmas of social workers: to contact or not to contact client's family, to solve or not to solve client's problems.

The diploma thesis is focused on the dilemmas of social workers at the Labor Office of the Czech Republic, at the department of benefits of material emergency. The aim of this work was to find out with what dilemmas the social workers at the Czech Labor Office, the department of physical expectations meet, and then to analyze two selected dilemmas through ethical theories. The thesis is divided into five chapters, the first three are focused on the theoretical introduction to the topic. The first chapter describes the scope, organizational structure of the Labor Office of the Czech Republic, the system of assistance in material need and benefits, which resolve the state of material need of the citizens. The second chapter is aimed at a social worker in the separation of the benefits of material need and social work with clients in material need. In the third chapter I describe ethics and ethical aspects of social work. The fourth and fifth chapters are crucial for this work. The fourth chapter describes and describes specific dilemmas encountered by social workers at the Labor Office of the Czech Republic in the department of subjects of material Need. The last fifth chapter contains a description of the selected ethical theory and two of my chosen dilemmas, which are analyzed in terms of selected ethical theories, namely deontology, utilitarianism and ethics of care.

We have here a theoretical research that intends to question the concept of culpability, in other words, the idea of being able to act otherwise considering the problem of free will. We argue that the concept of culpability is legitimized by a libertarian sense of free will in the common sense that has no empirical basis. Thus, given the impossibility of proving the existence of free will, we affirm that the criminal law cannot justify punishment on desert. Despite the compatibilist appearance, the idea of being able to do otherwise is supported implicitly by a libertarian point of view. In other words, the judgment of disapproval is justified by an untenable notion of freedom. The idea is to demonstrate that the way people see free will is an illusion because the assumptions that sustain it are false. In support, we use arguments of some philosophers and discoveries of neuroscience. From them, we demonstrated that the only way out of culpability is the normative presumption based on an a priori concept of average man. Besides false free will, the culpability brings a sense of moral realism that cannot be sustained in the face of some discoveries of neuroscience. In the background, we showed the evolution of criminal law as a systematic construction and the role played by culpability in the criminal dogmatic system. With the denial of the normative concept, we analyzed the functionalism of Claus Roxin and Gunther Jakobs, and also the theory of utilitarianism by deterrence. / Trata-se de pesquisa teórica que procura questionar a ideia do poder agir de outro modo da culpabilidade a partir do problema do livre-arbítrio. Defendemos que a culpabilidade é legitimada por uma sensação libertista de livre-arbítrio no senso comum que não tem fundamento empírico. Assim, diante da impossibilidade de comprovação da vontade livre, afirmamos que o Direito penal não pode fundamentar a pena no merecimento. Apesar da aparência compatibilista, o poder agir de outro modo se baseia, implicitamente, no libertismo. Em outras palavras, o juízo de reprovação é justificado por uma noção insustentável de liberdade. A ideia é demonstrar que o modo como as pessoas enxergam o livre-arbítrio representa uma ilusão, pois os pressupostos que o sustentam são falsos. Como fundamentação, utilizamos argumentos de alguns filósofos e descobertas da neurociência. A partir deles, demonstramos que a única saída para a culpabilidade é a presunção normativa com base em um conceito a priori de homem médio. Além do falso livrearbítrio, a culpabilidade traz uma noção de realismo moral que não pode ser sustentada diante de algumas descobertas da neurociência. Em segundo plano, demonstramos a evolução do Direito penal como construção sistemática e o papel ocupado pela culpabilidade no sistema da dogmática penal. Com a negação do conceito normativo, analisamos as propostas funcionalistas de Claus Roxin e Gunther Jakobs, e também a teoria do utilitarismo por dissuasão.

Este trabalho é sobre idéia de governo no pensamento político do filósofo moral e do direito, radical político e teórico constitucional inglês Jeremy Bentham (1748- 1832). Após uma breve exposição dos principais temas e questões exploradas, bem como, dos respectivos momentos da sua vida intelectual, argumento a favor de que é possível extrair da crítica política e jurídica de Bentham a Blackstone alguns elementos da sua concepção de governo e visão sobre a política. Argumenta-se a favor de certa convergência entre as posições de Bacon e de Bentham com relação aos projetos de reforma penal, concepção de governo, métodos de investigação e ontologia da política. Também, é explorada a sugestão de que tal convergência pode ser explicada em virtude dos princípios filosóficos similares adotados por ambos. A principal conclusão é a de que a linha de interpretação discutida pode fornecer uma melhor compreensão sobre as conexões entre a variedade de assuntos explorados nos escritos jurídicos-políticos de Bentham. / This work is about the idea of the government in the political thought of the English utilitarian moral and legal philosopher, political radical and constitutional theorist Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). After a brief exposition of the main themes and questions explored by him and the respective moments of his intellectual life, give evidence it is possible to extract from Bentham´s political and juridical criticism to the Blackstone some elements of his government conception and vision about politics. It is argued in favor of some convergence between Bacon´s and Bentham´s positions concerning legal reform projects, government conception, investigation methods, and political ontology; also, the suggestion that it can be explained by their similar philosophical principles is explored. The main conclusion is that the line of the interpretation discussed can provide a better understanding about the connections among the variety of the issues concerning the government theme explored in the Bentham´s juridical-political works.

The idea of writing this essay begun as an attempt to enter into the current discussion about the theory and ethics of sustainability. The essay aims to compare the meaning of sustainability with two ethical theories that are currently used in developmental and environmental issues, namely the theories of Martha Nussbaum and Peter Singer, and see how coherent these theories are with the concept of sustainability. In order to achieve the essays aims, the study will have to discuss first issues regarding the ‘meaning of sustainability’ and discuss the challenges in its conceptualisation to finally outline a reasonable framework meaning for sustainability. The paper contributes in this way in forming consistency between what the conceptualisation of sustainability represents and how ethical systems could be more coherent with these conceptualisation efforts. This essay aims to answer how deontological and utilitarian perspectives provide guidance regarding sustainability and if these perspectives are coherent with sustainability as a concept. The essay understands coherence as ideas or structures that are logically compatible and that logically support each other. This study concludes that there is a possibility to delineate a coherent meaning for sustainability as a two-level meaning structure; one formal meaning where we found the principle of sustainability and without which, we would not be talking about sustainability and a second level, called the substantive meaning, where four main ethical relations arise, and where obligations and responsibilities appear. The study also concludes that there are certainly fundamental moral ideals and moral ideas embedded in sustainability that have the potential to be agreed upon in a global consensus. The formal meaning of continuance (sustainability moral ideal) gives in turn some fundamental moral ideas (normative relations) at a second level of definition. Additionally, the study shows that it is not self-evident which ethical model is more or less coherent with sustainability but the results indicate that a strong, coherent and egalitarian idea about the value of life, whether as flourished and functional as opportunities and interests, on which many of today's ethical systems are based on, can help an ethical system to be more coherent with the meaning of sustainability.

Human induced climate change poses a series of ethical challenges to the current political economy, although it has often be regarded by economists as only an ethical issue for those concerned about future generations. The central debate in economics has then concerned the rate at which future costs and benefits should be discounted. Indeed the full range of ethical aspects of climate change are rarely even discussed. Despite recent high profile and lengthy academic papers on the topic the ethical remains at best superficial within climate change economics. Recognising the necessary role of ethical judgment poses a problem for economists who conduct exercises in cost-benefit analysis and deductive climate modelling under the presumption of an objectivity that excludes values. Priority is frequently given to orthodox economic methodology, but that this entails a consequentialist utilitarian philosophy is forgotten while the terms of the debate and understanding is simultaneously restricted. We set out to raise the relevance of a broader range of ethical issues including: intergenerational ethics as the basis for the discount rate, interregional distribution of harm, equity and justice issues concerning the allocation of carbon budgets, incommensurability in the context of compensation, and the relationship of climate ethics to economic growth. We argue that the pervasiveness of strong uncertainty in climate science, incommensurability of values and nonutilitarian ethics are inherent features of the climate policy debate. That mainstream economics is ill-equipped to address these issues relegates it to the category of misplaced concreteness and its policy prescriptions are then highly misleading misrepresentations of what constitutes ethical action. (authors' abstract) / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers

Ce travail de recherche vise à questionner le concept d’éthique militaire. Le travail s’appuie sur une grille analytique combinant trois théories venant de trois disciplines différentes : l’éthique du care, développée en philosophie morale, la théorie des parties prenantes, en éthique des affaires, les approches néo-institutionnelles, en sciences de gestion. Cette grille est ensuite appliquée à deux terrains différents : le premier terrain concerne l’étude de batailles aux enjeux moraux particulièrement exacerbés : la bataille d’Alger, la guerre en Irak, la bataille de Srebrenica. Le deuxième terrain consiste en des entretiens qualitatifs auprès d’officiers revenant du champs de bataille : 10 officiers américains ayant vécu le conflit irakien et 7 officiers français revenant d’Afghanistan. Ces deux terrains sont complétés par une analyse des programmes de formation initiale proposés aux Etats-Unis et en France pour les officiers. Les résultats de recherche montrent que les personnels militaires mettent au centre de leur action une sollicitude envers leur camarade de régiment. C’est une véritable éthique du care, bien plus que des vertus ou les respect de grands principes de droit, qui conduit l’action des soldats et officiers, sans pour autant que ce souci d’autrui s’applique à l’ensemble des parties prenantes au conflit. Les enseignements de ce travail peuvent permettre de futures recherches dans la formation des soldats et officiers, ainsi que dans les travaux sur les valeurs, l’éthique ou les cultures organisationnelles. L’originalité de la thèse tient également à l’application de l’éthique du care et de la théorie des parties prenantes aux organisations militaires. / This research questions the idea of military ethics. Our work uses an analytical framework combining three different disciplines: Ethics of care, developed in moral philosophy, Stakeholder theory, from business ethics, New institutionalism theory, from management science. This framework is then applied on two different research fields: the first one deals with the study of battles where ethical stakes were particularly high: the battle of Alger, the Iraqi war, the Srebrenica battle.The second one is qualitative interviews with officers coming back from the battlefield: 10 US officers from the Iraqi conflict and 7 French militaries from Afghanistan. These two research fields are completed by an analysis of initial trainings made in France and in the US for officers. Research results shows military men act upon a feeling of care, particularly strong towards their regimental comrade. This is a true ethics of care, more than virtues or an attachment to great principles that drives soldiers and officers’ action, even if this care to the other needs does not apply to all stakeholders, only to people from the same unit. Lessons of this work can lead to future researches not only for soldiers and officers trainings, but also in values, ethics and corporate culture.The research originality is also in the implementation of ethics of care and stakeholder theory upon military organisations.

(abstract) The thesis deals with motivations for hedonistic type of shopping with a focus on their measurement by using a multidimensional scale designed and validated by Mark J. Arnold and Kristy E. Reynolds in 2003. This tool contains six constructs for which the author examined their transferability to the local environment of Czech consumers. The aim of the thesis was to convert the scale into the Czech language and into the context of the Czech consumers and their shopping behavior. There were analyzed cognitive interviews, which were focused on the understanding of the statements on the scale and their adjustment for the following questionnaire survey. This was conducted on a representative sample of the Czech internet population. Furthermore, statistical analysis was carried out with the focus on reliability and validity of the translated scale. Although the research does not primarily aim at creating a typology of shoppers or describing in detail the characteristics of Czech consumers, the results of the analysis indicate that Czech population's thinking about shopping is quite like of consumers in collectivist societies. At the end of the thesis, the final and modified scale is introduced containing five constructs instead of the original six. This instrument has been shown to be...

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