Mentoring: Some ethical considerations

To counter confusion about the term ‘mentor’, and address concerns about the scarcity of mentoring, I argue for an “honorific” definition, according to which a mentor is virtuous like a saint or hero. Given the unbounded commitment of mentors, mentoring relationships must be voluntary. In contrast, the role of advisor can be specified, mandated, and monitored. I argue that departments and research groups have a moral responsibility to devise a system of roles and structures to meet graduate students’ and postdoctoral fellows’ needs for information and advice. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a conference sponsored by the National Science Foundation on Mentoring and Research Values: Students as Vital Human Resources, Chicago, March 1995.     

Moral Emotions

Emotions can be the subject of moral judgments; they can also constitute the basis for moral judgments. The apparent circularity which arises if we accept both of these claims is the central topic of this paper: how can emotions be both judge and party in the moral court? The answer I offer regards all emotions as potentially relevant to ethics, rather than singling out a privileged set of moral emotions. It relies on taking a moderate position both on the question of the naturalness of emotions and on that of their objectivity as revealers of value: emotions are neither simply natural nor socially constructed, and they apprehend objective values, but those values are multi‐dimensional and relative to human realities. The “axiological” position I defend jettisons the usual foundations for ethical judgments, and grounds these judgments instead on a rationally informed reflective equilibrium of comprehensive emotional attitudes, tempered with a dose of irony.     

儒学的一种缺弱:私德与公德

In a society dominated by Confucian ethics, a spirit of Confucian public morality can be seen in the Confucian debate over publicness and privateness, but it is usually activated in circumstances of large ethical crisis. Confucian theory mainly uses ethical relationships to create self and social identities, causing problems of identification in the public life and hindering the expression of moral feelings and actions, thus revealing a weakness in public morality. This is a space that Confucianism has not yet been able to cover, and also where it has room for growth. Translated by Huang Deyuan from Wen Shi Zhe 文史哲 (Journal of Literature, History and Philosophy), 2006, (1): 30–36     

On Being Lutheran In A Religiously Plural World

Abstract : For those of us who are self‐consciously Lutheran, the reality of contemporary religious pluralism engenders important theological questions. The thesis of this essay is that “being Lutheran” within the context of contemporary religious pluralism requires the creation of “Lutheran identity” that is pluralistic in structure, while simultaneously avoiding either theological exclusivism or theological inclusivism. The implications of this thesis are that (1) dialogue with the religious traditions of the world is of primary importance for thinking Lutherans, and (2) the church's witness and mission needs to be reconfigured in light of the practice of interreligious dialogue.     

The analyst's countertransference when supervising: friend or foe?

This paper explores transference and countertransference dynamics in the supervisory relationship and their impact on the task of supervision. The development of analytic theory in relation to supervision is described and the value-and ambiguity-of the concepts of 'mirroring', 'parallel process' and 'reflective process' are discussed. The impact of organizational dynamics on the supervisory relationship is investigated in relation to four main unconscious forces: a) organizational defences, b) power and authority, c) accountability and responsibility, d) ethical concerns. Clinical situations which illustrate these issues are described and explored and used as a basis for examining the role of the supervisor's countertransference in supervision. The different framework of practice in supervision, as opposed to analysis, is described in terms of its focus, the supervisor's ways of responding and the dynamic process, and the concept of refracted countertransference is introduced and explained.     

The Neo‐Barthian Critique of Reinhold Niebuhr

The author notes an unclarity in David Novak's defense of Reinhold Niebuhr against Stanley Hauerwas's critique and identifies some issues left unsettled in the exchange between Novak and Hauerwas over Niebuhr's ethics. Specifically, the author proposes that the Barthian‐Hauerwasian communitarian rejection of Niebuhrian natural theology and natural law ignores the historical abuse of biblical theology in the German Christian response to the Nazis, fails to account for the fact of general moral revulsion against Nazism, and flirts itself with a conventionalist form of nihilism.     

医学伦理审查如何适应转化医学的要求

随着转化医学的兴起,医学伦理审查面临前所未有的机遇与挑战.如何使医学伦理审查工作更好地适应转化医学发展的需要,提高审查质量,成为亟需解决的问题.在分析当前我国医学伦理审查工作现状和主要问题的基础上,进一步探讨了可行的解决方法,如进一步明确和强化管理部门服务功能、保证伦理委员会成员多样性和重视伦理审查多视角、强化伦理委员会后续跟踪审查、规范伦理审查委员的培训与继续教育等,为我国医学伦理审查工作的规范化发展和医学伦理审查质量的进一步提高提供参考.     

山东省医疗机构医学伦理委员会运行现状调查

为了解山东省医疗机构医学伦理委员会的运行现状、人员构成和任免情况、伦理审核状况和运行情况,课题组对山东省17地市58家医疗机构进行了问卷调查.结果显示,成立医学伦理委员会的有27家,占46.55％,其中12家成立了多种类别的伦理委员会,且大部分成立时间较短.医院伦理委员会成员的总人数平均为19.89人,本单位成员占94.77％,96.30％的主任委员由行政领导兼任.调查发现,目前仍存在成员结构需完善、培训交流较欠缺、相关政策支持力度不够、伦理审核能力有待加强等问题.     

Ethical Issues in Doctoral Supervision: The Perspectives of PhD Students in the Natural and Behavioral Sciences

Our aim was to identify the ethical issues faced by students in the behavioral and natural sciences during their doctoral programmes. The participants were 28 PhD students who were interviewed about their doctoral study and supervision experiences. We identified a total of 102 ethical issues compromising the principles of nonmaleficence, beneficence, autonomy, justice, or fidelity. There were some differences in emphases, with the students in the behavioral sciences displaying a broader range of ethical compromises than the students in the natural sciences. Ethical problems emerged in the individual supervisor–student relationships, but often problems involving the scholarly community appeared in the background.     

The Ethics of Enhanced Interrogations and Torture: A Reappraisal of the Argument

This article critically reviews what is known about the ethical status of psychologists’ putative involvement with enhanced interrogations and torture (EITs). We examine three major normative ethical accounts (utilitarian, deontic, and virtue ethics) of EITs and conclude, contra the American Psychological Association, that reasonable arguments can be made that in certain cases the use of EITs is ethical and even, in certain circumstances, morally obligatory. We suggest that this moral question is complex as it has competing moral values involved, that is, the humane treatment of detainee competes with the ethical value/duty/virtue of protecting innocent third parties. We also suggest that there is an ethical duty to minimize harm by making only judicious and morally responsible allegations against the psychologists alleged to be involved in EITs. Finally, we make recommendations regarding completing the historical record, improvements in the professional ethics code, and the moral treatment of individuals accused in this controversy.