A Duty to Adopt?

All over the world millions of children are without parental care. As a consequence they are liable to suffer serious harm. I argue the general duty to assist those in need extends to children without parental care and that some people are under a moral duty to adopt rather than have biological children. I defend this claim against the following objections: (1) intimate decisions are excluded from the duty to assist, (2) adopting children is too costly to be required by morality, (3) the duty to assist is a collective duty, (4) the duty to assist is an imperfect duty, and (5) there are, in fact, very few adoptable children.     

Parteilichkeit und Erkenntnis

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Suicide in Films: The Impact of Suicide Portrayals on Nonsuicidal Viewers' Well‐Being and the Effectiveness of Censorship

The effects of suicide films on recipients' emotional and mental state, as well as the influence of censorship, was studied. Nonsuicidal subjects watched the original or a censored version of a suicide film or a drama without suicide. Data were collected by questionnaires. The viewing led to a deterioration of mood and an increase in inner tension and depression scores, but also to a rise in self‐esteem and life satisfaction and to a drop in suicidality. There were no relevant differences between the film groups. The more a subject identified with the protagonist, the greater were the negative effects.