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.     

Face‐Off: Facial Features and Strategic Choice

I study experimentally a single‐shot trust game where players have the opportunity to choose an avatar—a computer‐generated face—to represent them. These avatars vary on several dimensions—trustworthiness, dominance, and threat—identified by previous work as influencing perceptions of those who view the faces (Todorov, Said, Engell, & Oosterhof, 2008). I take this previous work and ask whether subjects choose faces that are ex ante more trustworthy, whether selected avatars have an influence on strategy choices, and whether individuals who evaluate faces as more trustworthy are also more likely to trust others. Results indicate affirmative answers to all three questions. Additional experimental sessions used randomly assigned avatars. This design allows me to compare behavior when everyone knows avatars are self‐selected versus when everyone knows they are randomly assigned. Random assignment eliminated all three effects observed when subjects chose their avatars.     

Interview With Dr. Judith Miranti: A Servant Leader and Advocate for the Association for Spiritual,Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling

Dr. Judith Miranti has contributed over 40 years of service to the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC). The purpose of this article is to highlight and recognize a pioneer and influential leader of ASERVIC. The interview discusses Dr. Miranti's (a) historical knowledge and memories of the development of ASERVIC, (b) involvement in ASERVIC in various leadership roles and with others who influenced her, and (c) hope for the future of ASERVIC.     

REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THEOLOGICAL RESPONSES IN CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

Reproductive medical technology has revolutionized the natural order of human procreation. Accordingly, some have celebrated its advent as a new and liberating determinant of kinship at the global level and advocate it as a right to reproductive health while others have frowned upon it as a vehicle for “guiltless exchange of sexual fluid” and commodification of human gametes. Religious voices from both Christianity and Islam range from unthinking adoption to restrictive use. While utilizing this technology to enable the married couple to have children through the use of their own sexual material is welcome, the use of third party, surrogacy, and reproductive cloning are not in keeping with the sacrosanct principles of kinship, procreation through licit sexual intercourse, and social cohesiveness for building a cohesive family as uphold by both Christianity and Islam. To examine such larger issues emanating from these new ways of human procreation, beyond the question of legality, is a point which legal scholars in both Christianity and Islam, when issuing religious decrees, have not anticipated sufficiently. The article proposes to be an attempt to that end through a qualitative critical content analysis of selected literature written on the subject.     

应用分子靶向治疗的时机选择

分子靶向药物的出现显示出肿瘤治疗传统模式的重要进展。与传统放疗、化疗相比,分子靶向治疗因其特异性高、不良反应轻微,在恶性肿瘤个体化治疗中扮演重要角色。十五年来,分子靶向药物的出现,给肿瘤的治疗模式带来重大改变,也给临床医生带来新的挑战。准确把握分子靶向药物应用时机,获得最大临床效果,已成为肿瘤治疗领域关注热点。本文就非小细胞肺癌、消化系统肿瘤、乳腺癌、肾癌治疗中分子靶向药物如何选择应用时机进行阐述。     

“八胞胎”事件引发的伦理思考

震惊全国的广州“八胞胎”事件逐渐淡出公众的视野,但它带给我们的思考并未结束.从伦理视角对该事件中暴露出的亲子关系的界定、“子宫”商品化、公平公正、多胎妊娠、代际伦理等问题进行了深入思考,并针对ART技术自身特点,从强化医疗机构和ART技术从业人员的职业道德和法律意识;加强卫生行政部门的监管;加强顶层设计,完善ART技术的法律法规;提高不孕症患者对辅助生殖知识的认知,加强生殖伦理教育等方面提出了探讨性建议.     

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。     

3～5岁幼儿基于面孔的信任判断的发展

本研究通过两个实验探讨了262名3~5岁幼儿基于面孔的信任判断能力及其年龄间差异。结果发现:(1)实验1中,当陌生面孔单张呈现时,3岁幼儿还不能正确地区分被成人评价为可信和不可信的面孔,而4、5岁幼儿已经能够基于面孔特征做出与成人基本一致的信任判断;(2)实验2中,当配对呈现可信vs.不可信两张面孔时,3~5岁幼儿都能够在日常交往情境中依据陌生交往者的面孔特征做出与成人基本一致的信任判断,并且随着年龄的增长,信任判断准确率逐步提高。这些结果表明幼儿从3岁开始已经能够基于面孔做出信任判断,随着年龄的增长,信任判断能力逐步发展。     

临床共情与护理技术结合：人性化的护理

临床共情是一种能体验患者内心世界的能力,通过患者的言语和非言语表达,觉察和认识患者情感和情绪需求,并对其做出恰当的回应.临床共情具有科学的理论和实践基础,具有缓解患者心理上的痛苦,改善护患关系,促进患者康复等作用.在当今复杂的医疗环境下,务必要重视共情培养,适时运用临床共情.然而,我们强调临床共情的重要作用,并不能忽视护理技术的根本作用,根除躯体上的病变仍有赖于护理技术的有效性.在临床护理实践中,坚持共情与护理技术的有机结合,推进人性化的护理构建.