Fabricated Humans? Human Genetics,Ethics and the Christian Wisdom Tradition1

Abstract: This article highlights the key social issues associated with genetic screening and testing. It identifies an uneasy combination of a cultural drive towards perfection alongside heightened perception of a risk society. Awareness of risk is particularly in evidence in clinical genetics, but is surprisingly silent in public discourse about stem cell research, which has tended to flounder through its unilateral focus on the status of the early embryo. This article concentrates on current practice, such as the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and offers a critical analysis of current debates about ethical issues. It argues that Christian ethics can contribute positively to the debate by drawing on the tradition of prudence or practical wisdom, which goes beyond the secular alternatives of both the consequential analysis of risk and benefit and the precautionary principle.     

复兴国家:国家理论的新形态

民族国家的架构尽管日益式微,但它在组织全球化经济、全球化政治和正在形成的全球公民社会中仍然占有首要地位。民族国家不是在消亡,而是正在被重新想象、重新设计、重新调整方向以回应一系列挑战。相应地,对国家的研究在现时代仍然具有重要意义,在全球化背景下,全球资本、全球公民社会、全球治理与民族国家的关系研究构成了国家理论的新形态。     

现代社会祛除伦理的社会机制

在对犹太人进行的大屠杀中,我们可以清楚看到纳粹如何借助于现代工业技术体系和官僚体系弱化人们的道德情感、混淆人们的道德责任,并最终阻止人们的道德行为,六百万犹太人就这样在大众平静的沉默中离去。现代社会祛除伦理的机制仍然没有改变,让人们保持道德沉默的可能性仍然存在,人类的大罪恶随时随地都可能再现。     

实现和谐社会的道德思考

社会主义和谐社会是一个道德化的社会,是物质生产、民主法治、利益分配机制、人际交往方式、精神化生活等与不断实现的社会主义现代化相一致的理性社会。构筑时代道德、创建道德环境、完善道德化制度、注重道德教育、重视官德建设是当前加强道德建设,加快实现和谐社会的主要方法和重要途径。     

Philosophy in the Act: The Socio-Political Relevance of Mamardašvili’s Philosophizing

Although topics in social and political philosophy might not be the first to associate with Mamarda?vili, it is argued in this paper that key concepts in his thought, viz. the concepts of form, thought, and culture come together, in the 1980s in particular, in a notion of civil society that goes deeper than that of many of his contemporaries. The relevance of his philosophy at this point is intensified by the specific nature of Soviet philosophical culture, but, it is argued, extends well beyond that, fully justifying his honorary title of “Georgian Socrates”.     

The Role of Advocacy in Civil Society

The concept of civil society has once again emerged as a viable mechanism for developing and sustaining deliberative democracy. However, an essential component of many strategies to sustain civil society appears lacking, especially when we see the growing cynicism and apathy among citizens. What is missing is a strategy for training or encouraging citizens to participate more fully in civil society. The skills of advocacy can, at least in part, help renew civic activism. Thus, the role of advocacy will be explored as a potential way to resuscitate civil society.     

Ireland’s economic crisis and austerity: the response of the Irish Catholic Bishops

The Irish Roman Catholic Church has been a dominant institution in Irish society for generations but this dominance has declined in recent decades due to modernisation and secularisation. Since the mid-1990s, the Church has been rocked by scandals of clerical and religious sex abuse of children, which has had a negative impact on its moral standing in Irish society. As a result of the economic crash in 2008, a programme of severe austerity was introduced by the Irish government. In this article, the response of the Irish Catholic Bishops to the recession and austerity measures is assessed through the analysis of their public statements which are available through the news archive of the Irish Bishops’ Conference. The findings show that the Bishops did criticise the socio-economic policies of the Irish government but this was limited due to a range of institutional barriers.     

The Quarter-life Time Period: An Age of Indulgence,Crisis or Both?

A new developmental stage called the quarter-life is proposed, extending from approximately 18–29 years of age and sometimes later. The emergence of this period is believed to be the result of several social, historic and economic factors that occurred post WWII. This article explores these changes in terms of the experiences of affluent young people in today’s Western society. A typology of adaptational responses are presented and explored as the quarter-lifers attempt to navigate their way to adulthood within the context of this ‘new’ affluent society. Implications for family therapists are considered.     

Acculturation of Host Individuals: Immigrants and Personal Networks

There has been a vast amount of research on the changes experienced by immigrants, but little is known about the changes experienced by host individuals. This article focuses on the role of host individuals in the networks of relations between immigrant populations and the communities from the dominant culture, as well as the changes experienced by host individuals because of their continuous contact with immigrants. This research applied a network approach to the study of the acculturation of host individuals. Two independent studies were carried out: a systematic analysis of the personal networks of Argentinean (n = 67), Ecuadorian (n = 59), Italian (n = 37) and German (n = 37) residents in Seville and Cadiz (Spain) (Study 1); and an ethnographic study with human service workers for Latin American immigrants in Boston (USA) (Study 2). With two different strategies, the role of host individuals in personal networks of foreigners in the United States and Spain was analyzed. The results show that host individuals tend to have less centrality than compatriots, showing an overall secondary role in the personal networks of immigrants. The lowest average centrality was observed in recent and temporal migrants, whereas the highest corresponded to the individuals with more time of residence in Spain. The personal networks of human service providers in the United States vary in ethnic composition and in their structural properties, and therefore shape different types of integrative bridges for immigrants.     

社会主义和谐社会理论的马克思主义渊源

马克思主义有着丰富的关于和谐社会的思想。从马克思主义经典作家关于共产主义的描绘中,可以了解他们对社会主义和谐社会本质特征的描述。即人的自由全面发展。要实现这一阶段,最根本的条件是生产力的高度发展。马克思主义和谐社会观中的内容主要包括人与自然、人与社会、人与自身的和谐发展。深刻理解和把握好马克思主义关于社会主义和谐社会的理论论述,将对我们建设社会主义和谐社会有极大的促进作用。