Ethics Talk; Talking Ethics: An Example of Clinical Ethics Consultation

This written account of a clinical encounter - depicting fragments of a more extensive array of events - attempts to exemplify many facets and associated complexities of clinical ethics consultation. Within the general telling, I provide more detailed portrayals of several key events. In secion 1, I document briefly my initial interactions at the beginning of the consultation, focusing on the information gained - in the context of those interactions - as I read the medical chart of Mrs. Rose. Next in section 2, I briefly describes my initial conversation with Mrs. Rose's three sons. Section 3 illustrates several questions raised in sections 1 and 2. Then section 4 presents my encounter with Paul, the youngest son, as he was carrying out his vigil at his mother's bedside in the hospital. Section 5 chronicles my interactions with several care providers involved in Mrs. Rose's situation, including two different meetings that occurred with Mrs. Rose's attending physician. I conclude in section 6 by telling about a conversation I had with Mrs. Rose's middle son, Russell, approximately one month after Mrs. Rose died.     

Health Care Ethics Consultation: 'Training in Virtue'

In philosophy, intelligence is less important than character, or so Wittgenstein once argued. In this paper, in a similar vein, I suggest that in health care ethics consultation character is of preeminent importance. I suggest that the activity of ethics consultation can be understood as "training in virtue," and what distinguishes the good health care ethics consultant from his/her average colleague are differences in traits of character. The underlying assumption is that one's use of knowledge and abilities are ultimately a function of who one is and how one perceives and confronts situations of moral uncertainty and conflict. In discussing the original case presented by Mark Bliton, I focus on the virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, compassion and humility.     

Ethics Consultation and Autonomy

Services of ethics consultants are nowadays commonly used in such various spheres of life as engineering, public administration, business, law, health care, journalism, and scientific research. It has however been maintained that use of ethics consultants is incompatible with personal autonomy; in moral matters individuals should be allowed to make their own decisions. The problem this criticism refers to can be conceived of as a conflict between the professional autonomy of ethics experts and the autonomy of the persons they serve. This paper addresses this conflict and maintains that when the nature of both ethics consultation and individual autonomy is properly understood, the professional autonomy of ethics experts is compatible with the autonomy of the persons they assist.     

Navigators and Captains: Expertise in Clinical Ethics Consultation

The debate about what constitutes the discipline of ethics and who qualifies as an ethics consultant is linked unavoidably to a debate that is potentiated by the reality of a rapidly changing and high-stakes health care consultation marketplace. Who we are and what we can offer to the moral gesture that is medicine is shaped by our fundamental understanding of the place of expert knowledge in the transformation of social reality. The struggle for self-definition is particularly freighted since clinical ethics consultation aspires to be more than academic contemplation. Two recent books (Ethics Consultation by John La Puma and David Schiedermayer and The Health Care Ethics Consultant: A Practical Guide, edited by Francoise Baylis) exemplify the two most popular but most widely divergent positions on these issues. We argue that while useful, neither book addresses fully the particular and distinct role of the professional ethicist.     

医学伦理学不可忽视的课题:利益伦理

当今是一个以利益为轴心的时代.利益伦理学是医学伦理学不可忽视的课题.将病人利益置于首位应当是现代医学伦理学的首要原则.欲望是无穷的,利益是有限的.任何利益都有自己的边界和限度.我们必须设置利益的道德界限,以回答当前医学伦理学面临的种种现实课题.     

医学伦理学不可忽视的课题：利益伦理

当今是一个以利益为轴心的时代。利益伦理学是医学伦理学不可忽视的课题。将病人利益置于首位应当是现代医学伦理学的首要原则。欲望是无穷的,利益是有限的。任何利益都有自己的边界和限度。我们必须设置利益的道德界限,以回答当前医学伦理学面临的种种现实课题。     

The Ethics of Supervision and Consultation: Practical Guidance for Mental Health Professionals

Studies of academic dishonesty typically rely on potentially inaccurate self-reports or on actual behavior during less realistic tasks. Eliminating the drawbacks of such approaches, we assessed cheating during completion of actual coursework via electronic records of online behavior. Thirty-six college students completed unproctored, online quizzes. The majority of students responding to a follow-up questionnaire reported that they never considered consulting online sources during the quizzes. Computer logs reveal that although some students accessed relevant online information during the quizzes, many did not: 6 instances over 72 quiz attempts are attributable to 3 or 4 individuals. Although online environments may offer more opportunities for academic dishonesty, electronic records of online activity provide a valuable and objective means of detecting such dishonesty.     

Satisfaction With Subordinates: A Neglected Research Issue Concerning Supervisors1

Satisfaction with subordinates, a relatively neglected facet of job satisfaction, was examined via questionnaires administered to both a sample of 37 retail store supervisors and a second sample of 58 bank supervisors regarding 274 of their subordinates. Functional relationships between supervisors and subordinates, in which subordinates help get things done in the workplace, were related to satisfaction with subordinates even after entity relationships (similarity between supervisors and subordinates on biodata and values) were controlled.     

心理咨询的价值悖论与责任伦理

从责任伦理角度审视心理咨询中的价值问题,价值是一个不可悬置也不可逃避的问题。一方面,人的生存悖论与人的社会化过程失衡是人的心理失衡或心理疾病产生的主要原因;另一方面,心理咨询的宗旨是促进来访者的改变,这种改变往往意味着价值观的改变。因而改变过程中必然会出现文化及规范、咨询者价值取向及来访者已有的价值观三者间的冲突和矛盾。心理咨询中的价值之争实为价值冲突所致。对心理咨询中的价值问题的处理应该遵循普遍性原则,采取多种形式的价值介入。     

“双诊制”政策的伦理合理性及伦理问题

“双诊制”是健康守门人的基本政策.“双诊制”的伦理合理性在于,该政策是把公共利益放在首位的必然选择,它维护社会公平公正原则进而维护社会公共利益,有利于公共健康利益和公共经济利益.但涉及的伦理问题也需重视,存在公共利益与患者个人利益的关系,各项政策在协调利益时的统一整合,程序公正与实质公正的关系等问题.     

创造论:一个不容忽视的思想议题——创造论思想逻辑与意义初审

与救赎论相较,中国神学创造论一向重视不够,对创造论的思想逻辑与意义作出深入审理亦为汉语学界所缺乏.这既与传统哲学对与物质不同的纯精神较为隔膜有关,也与人皈依基督教大多首先由拯救体验而来有关.从哲学角度看,各种讲述世界来源的宇宙论(佛教除外)大体可归为四种,比起来创造论所谓上帝从无创造说逻辑上似更严谨和通顺.从神学角度看,创造与救赎互相涵摄、互为前提诠释,创造论的旁置极易使基督宗教成为失去文化创造力的偶像化宗教.     

Clinical Ethics Consultation in the Transition Countries of Central and Eastern Europe

Science and Engineering Ethics - Since 1989, clinical ethics consultation in form of hospital ethics committees (HECs) was established in most of the transition countries of Central and Eastern...