Cultural diversity in nanotechnology ethics

Along with the rapid worldwide advance of nanotechnology, debates on associated ethical issues have spread from local to international levels. However unlike science and engineering issues, international perceptions of ethical issues are very diverse. This paper provides an analysis of how sociocultural factors such as language, cultural heritage, economics and politics can affect how people perceive ethical issues of nanotechnology. By attempting to clarify the significance of sociocultural issues in ethical considerations my aim is to support the ongoing international dialogue on nanotechnology. At the same time I pose the general question of ethical relativism in engineering ethics, that is to say whether or not different ethical views are irreconcilable on a fundamental level.     

Cultural Variations in Motivation for Cognitive Consistency: Influences of Self‐Systems on Cognitive Dissonance

Are people always motivated to strive for cognitive consistency? Does culture influence a person’s motivation to maintain cognitive consistency between attitudes and actions or between preferences and choices? When and how do people in different cultures experience cognitive dissonance, engage in justification of their behavior, and use self‐affirmation? When and how are people with different models of agency motivated to maintain a preference‐choice consistency? In this paper, culturally variable self‐schemata and models of agency, independent self and agency dominant in North American culture and interdependent self and agency prevalent in Asian culture, are considered as the source of cultural variations in cognitive consistency. These culturally divergent self‐systems create variance in situations in which North Americans and Asians are motivated to maintain cognitive consistency. In this paper, related cross‐cultural research is reviewed. Some future research agenda are also discussed.     

What if there is an ethical dimension in psychoanalysis?

The implications of an ethical dimension in psychoanalysis are explored, together with the questions whether and in what sense analysis has anything to contribute to ethical reflection, and whether and in what sense ethical considerations can play a role in analytic theory and process. As regards theory, analytic construction of an ethical agent would require a refocusing of structural and dynamic considerations in order to provide an integrative source of decision-making capacity to serve as the responsible agent in ethical deliberation, choice, and action. Suggestions are made for formulating the nature of the ethical agent in terms of a theory of motivation rather than of drive, and in terms of an integrative theory of the self. To the extent that analysis involves ethical considerations, the way lies open for dialogue and mutually enriching contributions of analysis to ethics and vice versa. Various aspects of the analytic perspective are explored that in themselves carry ethical implications or can be enriched by ethical reflection. Beyond theoretical considerations, the interaction between ethical factors and genetic, structural, and dynamic issues in clinical psychoanalysis loom as matters for future exploration.     

医学伦理研究之文化背景关注

医学伦理研究与文化关系密切,医学本身就具有深厚的文化内涵。医学伦理研究与文化的关系可以通过医学伦理的文化纷争与道德陌生者两个事实得到例证。当代中国医学伦理学的发展更多地表现出对西方医学伦理理论的移植,而对中国社会特定文化背景的关注不够。立足民族深厚的文化背景,对外来研究成果进行本土化基础上的借鉴与吸收,将是发展中国当代医学伦理学的良策与必由之路。     

Slavoj Žižek,the Death Drive,and Zombies: A Theological Account

In this article, I discuss the question of the hybridity of the religious and the secular through the example of the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj ?i?ek and his psychoanalytically inspired notion of the undead. The undead is ?i?ek's rendering of the Freudian death drive, and as the undead is instantiated in the popular culture cliché of the zombies, we need to look no further than to George A. Romero's classic zombie movie Night of the Living Dead from 1968. Thus, this article proceeds in three steps: first, I trace the concept of the death drive from Freud to ?i?ek, supplemented, for their theological importance, by two contemporary philosophers, Jonathan Lear and Eric Santner. Second, I discuss the zombie in contemporary popular culture, with a focus on Romero's movies, and whether such cinematic representations can function as a kind of cultural critique. In conclusion, I return to the question of theology by showing what ?i?ek means by theology and contrasting as well as comparing his philosophy to Augustine's anthropology. Despite ?i?ek's atheistic confession and his dismissal of all pre‐modern philosophy and theology, I show that Augustine's anthropology is structurally similar to ?i?ek's, thus suggesting that the relationship is more complex than ?i?ek allows. Both are united in rejecting any superficial and transparent understanding of self, and become, consequently, an example of the ambiguous relationship between religion and secularity in contemporary times.     

Answering the Ethical Question

Many philosophers have attempted to answer the ‘ethical question’: can the ethical value of an artwork ever contribute to its aesthetic value, and if so, how? In this paper, I consider a methodological question that arises out of this discussion: should attempts to address the ethical question use analytic tools found in contemporary philosophical literature, art criticism, or some combination of the two? I concur with arguments proposed elsewhere, which suggest that art criticism has an important role to play in addressing the ethical question. However, I argue that any fruitful attempt to answer the question must defend some particular way of understanding the ethical value of artworks, which suggests that we should address what I label the ‘art question’: what is the role and importance of art? This question, I suggest, is one with which philosophers can usefully engage. This division of labour offers a way forward in addressing this important issue.     

Love and Liturgy

For two millennia Christians have assembled on the “day of the sun” to celebrate the liturgy together. But why do it? Why structure one's life in such a way that participation in ritualized religious activity is a fixed point in the weekly rhythm of one's comings and goings? The project of this essay is to identify reasons to engage in such activity that emanate from the Christian ethical vision. Fundamental to this vision is a contrast between an ethic of proximity, which enjoins us to attend to the needs of those near and dear, and an ethic of outwardness, which enjoins us to both attend to and open ourselves up to the needs of those who belong to various out‐groups. The Christian ethical vision enjoins an ethic of outwardness. A close look at the liturgies of the Eastern Christian tradition reveals the ways in which they express this ethic.     

Intuition and Reflection in Arithmetic: Michael Potter

If arithmetic is not analytic in Kant's sense, what is its subject matter? Answers to this question can be classified into four sorts according as they posit logic, experience, thought or the world as the source, but in each case we need to appeal to some further process if we are to generate a structure rich enough to represent arithmetic as standardly practised. I speculate that this further process is our reflection on the subject matter already obtained. This suggestion seems problematic, however, since it seems to rest on a confusion between the empirical and the metaphysical self.     

Decisions of Identity: Feminist Subjects and Grammars of Sexuality

While Sarah Hoagland's conception of a lesbian ethic offers a promising route toward articulating an ethics of resistance, her notion of self in community does not provide a conception of “subject” capable of both embracing political action as fundamental to personal life and explicitly recognizing cultural, ethnic, and sexual multiplicity as central to ethical decision-making. Such a notion can be found, however, in the remarks of later Wittgenstein concerning the “language games” of describing.     

Being American, being Asian: the bicultural self and autobiographical memory in Asian Americans

Studies of autobiographical memory have shown that the degree to which individuals focus on themselves vs. social relations in their memories varies markedly across cultures. Do the differences result from differing cultural self-views (i.e., an autonomous vs. a relational sense of self), as often suggested in the literature? Experimental evidence is required to answer this question. In the present study, Asian American participants (N=118) were primed to focus on their American or Asian self prior to recalling important autobiographical events, and participants in a control group described things in nature prior to the memory recall. Those whose American self was activated recalled more self-focused and less socially oriented memories than those whose Asian self was made salient, with the control group falling in between. The findings shed light on the mechanism underlying cultural influences on autobiographical remembering. They further highlight the dynamic nature of the memory-self interplay in cultural contexts.     

“God may NOT be a Personexcl;”: A Case of Cultural Construction of God Representations

This article raises the fundamental questions of God representations: What is the origin and nature of God representations in the context of culture? The subsequent questions that flow from this major question include: What are the psychoanalytic notions of culture and cultural experience? And what is the relationship between the self and God representation? Given the emphasis placed upon the nature of “individual” representational experience in psychoanalytic literature, this article presents a challenge to psychoanalytic object-relations theory by explicating the case of the Korean cultural construction of God representations. The author argues that to understand one’s images of God one needs to consider the relationship between the mental images one has constructed prior to one’s acquisition of language and cultural constructs that are collectively represented and symbolically embodied through the use of language.     

Caring,Gender Role Orientation,and Volunteering

The current studies were conducted to examine two questions regarding the development of an ethic of care versus an ethic of justice, where the former is associated with being female and the latter is associated with being male. First, does gender role orientation in adolescence predict the ethical orientation one adopts better than gender itself does? Second, does adolescents' ethical orientation predict their volunteering behavior? To answer these questions, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, adolescents completed Bem's Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and Jensen's World View Questionnaire (WVQ) which assesses ethical orientation. Girls and individuals high in femininity were higher on the ethic of care than were boys and individuals high in masculinity. In addition, individuals with a feminine gender orientation received higher care scores than individuals with an androgynous orientation. Regression analyses indicated that gender orientation accounted for more of the variance in the ethic of care than did gender. In Study 2, older adolescents completed Jensen's WVQ and were subsequently asked to volunteer in one of two settings: a personal setting or an impersonal setting. Individuals high in the ethic of care were more likely to volunteer and volunteered for more hours, but volunteered equally often in the two types of settings. Individuals who “apologized” for being unable to volunteer were higher on caring. The results are discussed in the context of Gilligan's theory of socialization to morality.

     

Peer review, third-party payment, and the analytic situation: a case report

The complexities of insurance coverage and peer review as they intrude into the analytic situation were discussed. The basic question was raised of whether becoming acceptable to major health providers through the peer-review program is truly a compromise of the analytic pact and a threat to the future of psychoanalysis. Practical as well as technical considerations facing the analyst when he is confronted with having to write a report to the patient's insurance company were elucidated. Countertransference feelings were emphasized. A detailed case illustration was presented to demonstrate that peer review, as it relates to third-party payment, need not compromise an analysis.     

Navigating the nuances: a matrix of considerations for ethical-legal dilemmas

At one time or another, we all have encountered cases with serious ethical and legal implications. How can we know that we have thoroughly explored every facet of these dilemmas? The authors present a 7-category matrix of the following considerations: moral principles and personal values, clinical and cultural considerations, ethics codes, agency or employer policies, statues, rules and regulations, and case law. Two clinical examples illustrate the usefulness of this multidimensional framework for professional psychologists. Implications and applications for practitioners and ethics educators are also discussed.     

Genetic Counseling and the Ethical Issues Around Direct to Consumer Genetic Testing

Over the last several years, direct to consumer(DTC) genetic testing has received increasing attention in the public, healthcare and academic realms. DTC genetic testing companies face considerable criticism and scepticism,particularly from the medical and genetic counseling community. This raises the question of what specific aspects of DTC genetic testing provoke concerns, and conversely,promises, for genetic counselors. This paper addresses this question by exploring DTC genetic testing through an ethic allens. By considering the fundamental ethical approaches influencing genetic counseling (the ethic of care and principle-based ethics) we highlight the specific ethical concerns raised by DTC genetic testing companies. Ultimately,when considering the ethics of DTC testing in a genetic counseling context, we should think of it as a balancing act. We need careful and detailed consideration of the risks and troubling aspects of such testing, as well as the potentially beneficial direct and indirect impacts of the increased availability of DTC genetic testing. As a result it is essential that genetic counselors stay informed and involved in the ongoing debate about DTC genetic testing and DTC companies. Doing so will ensure that the ethical theories and principles fundamental to the profession of genetic counseling are promoted not just in traditional counseling sessions,but also on a broader level. Ultimately this will help ensure that the public enjoys the benefits of an increasingly genetic based healthcare system.     

Exemptions for Whom? On the Relevant Focus of Egalitarian Concern

Granting differential treatment is often considered a way of placing some groups in a better position in order to maintain or improve their cultural, economic, health-related or other conditions, and to address persistent inequalities. Critics of multiculturalism have pointed out the tension between protection for groups and protection for group members. The ‘rule-and-exemption’ approach has generally been conceived as more resistant to such criticism insofar as exemptions are not conceded to minorities or ethical and religious groups as such, but to individuals who are part of those groups. However, I show that when a government grants an exemption, it inevitably provides a definition of the relevant group in question, and the tendency is to take cultural membership as ‘given’ or as defined by group spokespersons. I discuss some problems related to these definitions and defend instead a definition based on shared group interests.     

Origins of the ethical attitude

This paper seeks to explore the genesis of the capacity for an ethical attitude, personally and professionally. As analysts working in intimate clinical settings, ethics is at the foundation of our professional lives, as it is at the foundation of our humanity and what it is we struggle towards in our own personal development. The ethical attitude presupposes special responsibilities that we choose to adopt in relation to another. Thus, a parallel situation pertains between caregiver and child and between analyst and patient: they are not equal partners, but nevertheless are in a situation of mutuality, shared subjectivity, and reciprocal influence. The basic premise of this paper is that the analytic attitude is an ethical attitude, and that the ethical attitude is a developmental achievement, and as such it may reach beyond the depressive position.     

The sociocultural movement in psychology,the role of theories in sociocultural inquiries,and the theory of sociocultural models

This special issue presents the theory of sociocultural models (TSCM) and its applications in diverse areas of psychology, including education, health care, clinical practice, gender relations, and general research. As many theories already exist in the social sciences, some readers may ask: “Why do cross‐cultural, cultural, and indigenous psychologists need another theory?” This question is comprised of two aspects: culture/cultural and theory/theoretical. Therefore, to answer it, it is important to clarify both issues. The first relates to cultural and its relation to psychological. The second, theory, considers its relation to cultural and psychological. These issues have long‐range implications for all culture and psychology disciplines as they pose many questions: What role does culture play in the mental functioning of people? How is culture constituted? Is cultural related to social? Does people’s mental functioning exert reciprocal influences on their cultural and social functioning? While working toward answering these questions, researchers quickly determine that more questions arise: What role should theories play in answering these questions? What constitutes theory in culture and psychology disciplines? How should such a theory (or such theories) address the triad of cultural, social, and mental? Consequently, in an effort to provide an overview of the TSCM and to begin to answer these questions, this introduction consists of two parts. The first part addresses the sociocultural turn in modern psychology; this part discusses its implications for research in culture and psychology disciplines. The second segment examines the topic of the theoretical backgrounds of cultural and cross‐cultural research and connects the philosophical paradigms of interpretivism and realism with the theory of sociocultural models. This introduction concludes with a brief overview of the articles included in this issue.     

Players,Characters, and the Gamer's Dilemma

Is there any difference between playing video games in which the player's character commits murder and video games in which the player's character commits pedophilic acts? Morgan Luck's “Gamer's Dilemma” has established this question as a puzzle concerning notions of permissibility and harm. We propose that a fruitful alternative way to approach the question is through an account of aesthetic engagement. We develop an alternative to the dominant account of the relationship between players and the actions of their characters, and argue that the ethical difference between so‐called “virtual murder” and “virtual pedophilia” is to be understood in terms of the fiction‐making resources available to players. We propose that the relevant considerations for potential players to navigate concern (1) attempting to make certain characters intelligible, and (2) using aspects of oneself as resources for homomorphic representation.