Introducing ethics and engineering: the case of Delft University of Technology

This article focuses mainly on (1) the policy of Delft University of Technology since 1992 as regards the university-wide introduction of a compulsory course on ethics and engineering, and (2) the ideal structure of such a course, including the educational goals of the course. Dr. G. J. Scheurwater is Senior policy-advisor to the Board of Delft University of Technology. Prof. S. J. Doorman is Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Ethics of Delft University of Technology.     

中国古代的自主学习思想探析

从自主学习的价值、自主学习的原则、自主学习的教学等方面探讨了中国古代的自主学习思想。中国古代学者强凋为学贵在自求自得。注重立志、学思结合、知疑善间、自我省察、相互切磋等自主学习原则。主张遵循启发式的、少而精的教学原则来培养学生的自主学习能力。     

Confidentiality and paradox: the location of ethical space

Implicit in Jung's alchemical metaphor of the vas bene clausum is the idea of an analytic frame with a space inside it for something vital, a relationship between two selves, to develop. For this to happen, analysts must respect their patients' rights to confidentiality. The paper explores the analyst's state of mind and the intrapsychic processes that are constellated when struggling with ethical dilemmas about issues of confidentiality in analytic work. The author suggests that at times when analysts consider breaking confidentiality, there is often a disturbing inner conflict between their moral principles (codes of ethics) and their internal personal ethical attitude. At these difficult moments, the mutuality of the work and the vas bene clausum can be significantly disrupted. The analyst tries to find a third position, a mental and emotional ethical space where the subjective and the objective, the ethical and the unethical can become more companionable bedfellows.     

Constraint on word-learning constraints

Many researchers have agreed that word learning in young children is guided by so-called "word-learning principles." However, these principles may make it difficult to learn a substantial part of the lexicon unless they are appropriately controlled. To learn proper names, the taxonomic assumption and/or the shape bias must be overridden; to learn names for substances, withdrawal of the whole-object assumption and/or the shape bias is required; and to learn lexical hierarchies, the mutual exclusivity assumption must be suspended. In certain languages, syntax can provide useful information in this situation. For example, if a novel noun is given to an object for which the name is known in the syntactic frame "This is X," English-speaking children may assume the noun to be a proper noun, and this will help them override the taxonomic assumption. However, this information is not available to Japanese children, since the Japanese language does not have grammatical markers to flag the distinction between count nouns and mass nouns, or the distinction between proper nouns and common nouns. In this paper, I discuss how Japanese children get around this problem.     

Exploring Decision Making Around Therapist Self‐Disclosure in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Background

Therapist self‐disclosure (TSD) usage varies greatly among different psychotherapy orientations. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that there are reasons for its judicious use, and a small number of researchers have proposed guidelines for how TSD should be used to help therapists across psychotherapy models make decisions around disclosure. However, there is almost no literature specifically exploring how cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) practitioners make decisions around employing TSD within the CBT framework.

Objective

This study aimed to explore how experienced CBT practitioners make decisions around TSD.

Method

In‐depth qualitative interviews were conducted with six clinical psychologists who were trained and experienced in CBT, and the interviews were analysed thematically.

Results

There were two overarching themes in terms of how they made decisions to self‐disclose: (A) the rules for TSD use, which included sub‐themes (a) it must have a clear purpose, (b) it must fit, (c) the therapist must maintain boundaries, and (d) the therapist must always reflect on his/her use of TSD; and (B) how they use TSD, which included subthemes of (a) using it as a tool for change and (b) using it to manage the therapeutic relationship.

Conclusion

Participants’ decisions on whether or not to self‐disclose were strongly influenced by the CBT model, and this process went beyond what is suggested in the transtheoretical literature. Understanding this process may lead to the development of CBT‐specific guidelines for making TSD‐related decisions.     

《周易正义》的刑罚适用原则探源

在严格区别《周易》、王弼《周易注》及《周易正义》三者不同思想的基础上,厘清《周易正义》所蕴含的法律思想是《周易正义》法律视角研究的当务之急。作为《周易正义》法律思想的表征体系,《周易正义》中的刑罚适用原则可简述为:区分故意与过失原则、轻刑原则、重刑原则。这些原则的形成有其特定的哲学基础。     

A Qualitative Analysis of Power Differentials in Ethical Situations in Academia

Power and organizational hierarchies are ubiquitous to social institutions that form the foundation of modern society. Power differentials may act to constrain or enhance people’s ability to make good ethical decisions. However, little scholarly work has examined perceptions of this important topic. The present effort seeks to address this issue by interviewing academics about hypothetical ethical problems that involve power differences among those involved. Academics discussed what they would do in these scenarios, often drawing on their own experiences. Using a think-aloud protocol, participants were prompted to discuss their reasoning and thinking behind their ethical decisions. These interview data were content analyzed using a semantic analysis program that identified a number of distinct ways that academics think about power differences and abuses in ethical situations. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Normative Ethics after Pragmatic Naturalism

Philip Kitcher presents an ambitious account of pragmatic naturalism that incorporates an explanatory story of the emergence and development of ethics, a metaethical perspective on progress, and a normative stance for moral theorizing. This article contends that Kitcher's normative stance is incompatible with the explanatory and metaethical components of his project. Instead, pragmatic naturalists should endorse a normative ethics that is experimental, grounded in practice, and acutely aware of cognitive and informational limitations. In particular, the ethical project would benefit from endorsing empirical work on participatory democracy for the identification of mechanisms to guide us on deep moral conflicts.     

医疗机器人的研究进展及伦理学思考

随着现代科技的日新月异,医疗机器人被广泛应用于医疗行业,大大推动了医学的发展,并成为机器人研究领域的热门方向之一。在简要介绍国内外医疗机器人研究进展及应用现状的基础上,本文指出该项技术存在的医疗责任追究机制不完善、缺少法律保障和规范、对医疗岗位冲击、无法体现对患者人文关怀等伦理问题;提出积极发展和推广医疗机器人技术的同时,推动人们对医疗机器人观念的更新,进一步制定和完善相关法律法规是解决该项技术伦理问题的关键。     

Utilization of a cognitive task analysis for integrated project delivery application: Case study of constructing a campus underground parking facility

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) has the potential to overcome inefficiencies of traditional delivery methods by enhancing collaboration among project participants, and is therefore gaining popularity in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. For owners considering an IPD approach and are incapable or unprepared to pursue a “pure” IPD project, an IPD-ish approach could be an alternative option. IPD mode is featured by implementing a range of fundamental principles. However, investigations on application of IPD-ish principles to actual construction projects are highly limited. This research mainly focused on a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) of the application of IPD principles to the design and construction of an IPD-ish project, and presenting a case study on an underground campus-parking facility. A case study for CTA was designed in this study: a project progress map was developed, wherein seven project phases were defined; by analyzing the project goals and technical measures in each project phase, six key IPD elements was summarized, and a few specific work measures for addressing these elements were discussed. For owners or participants intending to plan an IPD-ish project, the results of the study provide a few references on the selection and application of IPD principles in each project phase.