Proportionate palliative sedation and the giving of a deadly drug: the conundrum

Among the oldest extant medical ethics, the Hippocratic Oath prohibits the giving of a deadly drug, regarding this act as an egregious violation of a medical ethic that is exclusively therapeutic. Proportionate palliative sedation involves the administration of a deadly drug. Hence it seems to violate the venerable Hippocratic promise associated with the dawn of Western medicine not to give a deadly drug. Relying on distinctions commonly employed in the analysis and evaluation of human actions, this article distinguishes physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, as acts that necessarily violate the prohibition against giving a deadly drug, from proportionate palliative sedation, as an act that does not.     

Maintenance of children's rehearsal strategies: Effects of amount of training and strategy form

Fifty third- and fourth-grade children, assigned to groups varying in Amount (1 or 2 sessions) and Type (cumulative-cluster or cluster) of strategy training or to a control condition, participated in three free recall sessions, two training sessions with blocked lists of common words and a maintenance session with a 50-states list blocked by geographical regions. During strategy training and maintenance, the cumulative-cluster groups recalled more than the cluster and control groups. Amount of training significantly influenced degree of strategy maintenance, but only in the cumulative-cluster strategy. Strategy form was highly correlated with recall in the cumulative-cluster condition, while total study time (effort) was related to recall only in conditions where strategy instructions were not given. The form of the strategy during training predicted transfer form and recall. 100% of the children who received extended training and demonstrated good strategy form during acquisition sessions successfully transferred the strategy to the geography task.     

A Retrospective on Sociobiology

Zygon has been discussing the implications of sociobiology for twenty-five years, ever since E. O. Wilson's book by that name first burst upon the stage. In the course of that discussion there have been many heated exchanges, but in this journal, at least, the heat has also generated light. Thus it is now timely and useful to review and consolidate Zygon 's approach to the sociobiology construct, not only as it was originally presented but as it has changed over time. The goal of this article is to recapitulate and summarize the dialogue that has taken place here. But my aim is not merely to rehash the discussion; it is more precisely to extend and continue it. Specific proposals are offered that are designed to ground future conversations on the solid foundation that has been established over the last quarter century.     

Killing for the Telephone Company: Why the Nation-State is Not the Keeper of the Common Good

Christian ethicists often assume that the state is the agency whose purpose it is to protect and promote the common good. This conclusion is based on a series of assumptions of fact: that the state is natural and primordial, that society gives rise to the state and not vice‐versa, and that the state is one limited part of society. In this essay I examine the origins of the state and the state‐society relationship according to those who study the historical record, and argue that the above assumptions of fact are untenable in the face of the evidence. The essay concludes by registering a theological challenge to the state's sometimes overreaching claims to be the keeper of the common good and the repository of sacred values that demands sacrifice on its behalf. In the face of these tendencies, one of the church's urgent tasks is to demystify the nation‐state and to treat it like the telephone company—i.e., as a provider of goods and services that contribute to a certain limited order.     

Ruse's Darwin and Design: Does It Go Far Enough?

Michael Ruse's forthcoming book gives an enjoyable history of teleology in biology, philosophy, and theology. It argues that concepts of cause, final cause, purpose, teleology, function, design, adaptation, contrivance, progress, ends, and value have all been telescoped by most writers in those three disciplines but that these concepts (and especially the concept of design) are nonetheless valid, provided only that we recognize their metaphorical nature. I agree with this basic argument, and Ruse's critiques and historical summaries of these concepts are both useful and delightful. However, I also explore one major and three minor reservations. The minor reservations are that Ruse overdoes the allegation of telescoping, does not adequately explore ways to express teleology more accurately, and erroneously denies the existence of biology–based theologians who make the same point he is making. The major reservation is that, despite all the groundwork he lays, Ruse comes to a conclusion other than the one clearly suggested by his first fourteen chapters. If he followed the evolutionary story just a bit further, to include the evolution of the human brain, he would be in a position to articulate a theologically sophisticated understanding of teleology and avoid an ending that is uncharacteristically tame.     

PRECURSORS OF THE EUREKA MOMENT AS A COMMON GROUND BETWEEN SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY

Abstract. "Eureka moments" can be said to be based on intuition, but their deeper foundations are phylogenetic evolution and subconscious gestalt processes, as analyzed by the late Nobel laureate Konrad Lorenz. By incorporating Lorenz's findings, modern epistemology could avoid three common errors which have crept into the discussion. Those errors are: (1) that epistemology is language-dependent; (2) that epistemology is primarily subjective; and (3) that epistemology is creative and not methodological.     

EVALUATION OF REINFORCER PREFERENCES FOR PROFOUNDLY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS

Five students classified as profoundly/multiply handicapped were trained to use microswitches to indicate reinforcer preferences. The students were trained to emit a designated motoric response (raise arm or raise head) which in turn activated a microswitch. The microswitches were connected to battery-operated toys and devices, and served to provide immediate, contingent consequences tothe students for their motoric responding. The results of the investigation were evaluated within a multiple baseline (across students) with alternating treatments (potential reinforcers) design. During baseline, the students were provided withthe switches and devices, butthe switches were not connected tothe devices. Duringthe training conditions, the switches activatedthe devices. Evaluation of the devices was conducted by recordingthe cumulative frequency and duration of the students' responses. Whenthe microswitches activatedthe devices during training, a substantial increase inthe duration of motoric responding occurred for all students. In addition, some students performed differentially across devices, suggesting that they had reinforcer preferences.