病人临终决策中的自主问题辨析

自主在医学伦理学中是一个重要的概念。在临终决策中,必须对病人自主从主体自主和行为自主两个维度加以区分,并强调缺乏内外部约束的重要性,尽管内部约束对病人自主影响巨大,但它并不会破坏临终决策的行为自主。在回顾两种反对将行为自主作为理解临终决策手段的意见基础上,应当实现行为自主的标准从完全自主向充分自主的转变,充分自主的优势在于它对各种医疗环境和背景条件所表现出的适应性。根据这一标准,诸如临终病人的死亡选择并不需要完全自主,充分自主即可。

     

老年社会护理机器人“欺骗”问题的伦理审视

老年社会护理机器人其拟人化特征涉及的欺骗性问题始终存在争议。批评者坚持认为机器的拟人化所带来的一切都是假象从而不断质疑护理机器人的欺骗属性,辩护者认为拟人化特征是促进人机融合的必备要素但却未提供有力的合理性证明。聚焦人机多个主体的协调融合,揭露背后欺骗即是背叛,进而为护理机器人不会也不应该存在欺骗补充了有力的证据,并从完善用户知情同意、加强用户自主权、制造商承担举证责任等方面提出防范“欺骗”风险的路径,为辩护的开展提供新的研究视角和可行出路。

     

Heterodox Economics,Social Ethics,and Inequalities

Research in the cognitive sciences indicates that metaphors significantly shape perceptions and approaches to problem solving. With this in mind, this essay argues that it is problematic for ethicists that mainstream economics and other social scientific literature relies on naturalistic metaphors to describe markets. These imply an inaccurate picture of economic phenomena and rhetorically frame many solutions to problems such as inequality as interventionist. This essay proposes that religious ethicists may find resources for avoiding this conceptual hazard in emerging fields of heterodox economics that are attentive to the role of culture and human agency in shaping markets. It introduces feminist, behavioral, institutional, and Austrian economics in particular and highlights some of the specific approaches to inequality adopted in these fields. It then suggests that engaging heterodox perspectives more generally may help ethicists keep in view the full complexity and social nature of the economic problems they analyze.     

Rethinking Moral Agency in Markets: A Book Discussion on Behavioral Economics

Recent work in behavioral economics and psychology provides valuable resources for religious ethicists. This book discussion examines contributions by Cass Sunstein, Daniel Kahneman, George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton, Uri Gneezy and John A. List, and Douglas Hough. This literature raises important questions about ethical decision‐making, moral agency and responsibility, and the ethics of life in global capitalism. It also opens up promising areas for interdisciplinary dialogue between economics and religious studies. This book discussion concludes that religious ethicists have much to contribute to the conversations about moral anthropology that are now being held in behavioral economic research, and to the broader political economic debates in which this research participates.     

Parent-child interactions during joint engagement with touchscreen technology: A comparison of younger versus older toddlers

With a plethora of touchscreen apps aimed at young children, parents are receiving mixed messages about the appropriateness of such technology for their toddlers. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2016) advises limited engagement with digital media for this age group and encourages parents to co-engage with children when they are using screens. However, very little is known about parent-child interaction in the context of joint engagement with digital screen media in the toddler years. This study observed 56 toddlers (M = 32.5 months old; 53 % female) and a parent (52 mothers; 4 fathers) performing a 3-minute drawing task on a touchscreen tablet (digital condition), and on an Etch-A-Sketch (non-digital condition) using a repeated measures design. Observations were analysed using global ratings of dyadic interaction, comparing warmth, cooperation and conflict between digital and non-digital conditions. A mixed MANCOVA analysis, controlling for levels of daily usage of touchscreens, revealed lower levels of parent-child cooperation and warmth in the digital condition compared to the non-digital condition. In addition, there was a main effect of age with younger dyads displaying less cooperation overall, particularly in the digital condition where interactions were also less warm. Results suggest that co-engaging with digital technology can be a challenging and potentially emotionally charged context for both parents and young children. Younger toddlers, especially, may be more likely to experience less cooperative interactions when co-engaging with digital technology with a parent. Results are discussed in relation to developmental differences between 2- and 3-year olds, and the need for more nuanced guidance for parents supporting young children’s interaction with digital media.     

Temporal coordination between maternal looming and infant gaze in depressed and nondepressed dyads: A bootstrapping approach

In this study, we examine the convergent validity of a measure of maternal looming derived using a motion capture system, and the temporal coordination between maternal loom and infant gaze using an event-based bootstrapping procedure. The sample comprised 26 mothers diagnosed with postpartum depression, 43 nondepressed mothers, and their 4-month-old infants. Mother-infant interactions were recorded during a standard face-to-face setting using video cameras and a motion capture system. First, results showed that maternal looming was correlated with a globally coded measure of maternal overriding. Maternal overriding is an intrusive behavior occurring when the mother re-directs the infant’s attention to parent-led activities. Thus, this result confirms that maternal looming can be considered a spatial intrusion in early interactions. Second, results showed that compared to nondepressed dyads, depressed dyads were more likely to coordinate maternal loom and infant gaze in a Loom-in-Gaze-pattern. We discuss the use of automated measurement for analyzing mother-infant interactions, and how the Loom-in-Gaze pattern can be interpreted as a disturbance in infant self-regulation.