The (near) necessity of alternate possibilities for moral responsibility

Harry Frankfurt has famously criticized the principle of alternate possibilities—the principle that an agent is morally responsible for performing some action only if able to have done otherwise than to perform it—on the grounds that it is possible for an agent to be morally responsible for performing an action that is inevitable for the agent when the reasons for which the agent lacks alternate possibilities are not the reasons for which the agent has acted. I argue that an incompatibilist about determinism and moral responsibility can safely ignore so-called “Frakfurt-style cases” and continue to argue for incompatibilism on the grounds that determinism rules out the ability to do otherwise. My argument relies on a simple—indeed, simplistic—weakening of the principle of alternate possibilities that is explicitly designed to be immune to Frankfurt-style criticism. This alternative to the principle of alternate possibilities is so simplistic that it will no doubt strike many readers as philosophically fallow. I argue that it is not. I argue that the addition of one highly plausible premise allows for the modified principle to be employed in an argument for incompatibilism that begins with the observation that determinism rules out the ability to do otherwise. On the merits of this argument I conclude that deterministic moral responsibility is impossible and that Frankfurt’s criticism of the principle of alternate possibilities—even if successful to that end—may be safely ignored.

医护人员人文素质缺乏的管理责任及干预策略

医护人员人文素质缺乏与医学教育缺陷、人文管理意识不强、后续人文素质培养不利及执业环境恶化等综合因素密切相关。卫生行政主管部门和医院管理者首先应当确立人文管理理念,营造医院的人文氛围,承担起促进医学教育体制改革、加强岗位培训和着力培养社会需要的“人文科学型”医护人员的责任。     

浅谈医学科研思维的逻辑性

医学科研思维过程中最重要的就是医学假说的提出、验证,推理和遵守逻辑思维的过程。它以抽象的概念、判断、推理为思维形式,通过分析、综合、比较、分类等多种逻辑思维方法进行操作,以达到它的最终目的。逻辑思维能力对于医学科研工作者是至关重要的,医学科研工作者应该不断加强逻辑修养,不断提升科研思维水准。     

必须关注防止医学领域内的唯心科学观

对医学科学领域内存在的和某些一度充斥的唯心科学观的社会表现进行分析,从过程管理和科学方法论的重要性入手,提出防范学术腐败和发展医学科学的方法和措施,从教育和民生的角度探讨医务工作者和社会学家必须关注的医学领域内的唯心科学观,并举例说明医学工作者的科学道德自律和社会责任感的重要性。     

IMAGINATION'S GRIP ON SCIENCE

Abstract: In part because “imagination” is a slippery notion, its exact role in the production of scientific knowledge remains unclear. There is, however, one often explicit and deliberate use of imagination by scientists that can be (and has been) studied intensively by epistemologists and historians of science: thought experiments. The main goal of this article is to document the varieties of thought experimentation, not so much in terms of the different sciences in which they occur but rather in terms of the different functions they fulfil. I argue that thought experimentation (and hence imagination) plays a role not only in theory choice but in singular causal analysis and scientific discovery as well. I pinpoint, moreover, some of the rules governing the use of thought experiments in theory choice and in singular causal analysis, that is, some of the criteria they should meet in order to fulfil those functions successfully.     

Triangulating Political Responsibility: The Motivated Formation of Responsibility Judgments

This article analyzes the process through which partisan bias arises during the formation of citizens' judgments of political responsibility. Informed by theories of motivated political reasoning, it argues that exposure to partisan cues motivates partisans to pursue directional goals, goals which bias the cognitive processing of information and, in turn, overall judgments of responsibility. It further argues that the nature of this biased processing will be such that partisans devalue information inconsistent with their partisan affect. Using a pair of experiments, I test these hypotheses by manipulating both objective evidence concerning gubernatorial responsibility for a state's fiscal imbalance and the presence of partisan cues. Findings support both sets of expectations. The results also suggest that the effects of partisan bias are greater in judgments tied to institutional actions than in those tied to institutional roles and expectations.     

冠状动脉分流术后再狭窄研究中的科学理念

随着冠状动脉分流术(CoronaryArteryBypassGrafting,CABG)的广泛开展,CABG术后再狭窄(Restenosis,RS)成为我们面对的一个重要问题。CABG术后RS的研究需要遵循综合、全面、均衡的科学理念。只有在综合、全面、均衡的科学理念指导下,才能加深人们对该问题的认识,增进研究的科学性,取得更佳的研究成果。     

对医学院校科技成果转化措施的探讨

针对目前我国医学院校科技成果转化落后的现状,分析导致医学院校科技成果转化困难的原因.总结出,现有医学院校体制不适应、内部动力不足和资金不足等三个制约科技成果转化的因素,提出了具体的促进措施:加强政策导引,完善投入技术市场、扶植和培育风险投资中介机构、健全机制,增加内动力.     

医生专家责任的法理分析

随着医患关系发展的多样化、复杂化,以及法律对医生专家责任规定的疏漏,医生和患者都面临着巨大的经济和精神压力。因此,明确医生专家责任的法律属性,分析专家责任的构成要件,探讨责任实现形式,建立责任转移方式以及责任限制制度,对于明确医生的权利义务,缓和医患关系,稳定医疗秩序,具有一定的现实意义。     

群体健康与关系“正义”

生命伦理学具有广泛性和综合性,着眼于群体健康是当前生命伦理学发展的趋势。在群体水平的生命伦理学的研究中,有关“正义”的概念是核心的问题。涛慕思·W·博格提出了正义的“关系概念”,借以考察范围广泛的社会制度与健康结果的产生具有什么样的因果关系,进而强调社会制度的制定者和支持者对其产生的健康结果负有责任。通过对此“关系概念”进行分析,以期对中国国内健康领域问题的解决有所启示。