The prospect of using genome technologies to modify the human germline has raised profound moral disagreement but also emphasizes the need for wide-ranging discussion and a well-informed policy response. The Hinxton Group brought together scientists, ethicists, policymakers, and journal editors for an international, interdisciplinary meeting on this subject. This consensus statement formulated by the group calls for support of genome editing research and the development of a scientific roadmap for safety and efficacy; recognizes the ethical challenges involved (...) in clinical reproductive applications of genome editing but, importantly, rejects the idea that human reproductive germline modification is necessarily morally unacceptable; and highlights the importance of meaningful engagement in discussions of genome editing and the development of regulation and oversight mechanisms to govern future uses of such technologies. (shrink)

Reissuing works originally published between 1949 and ‘79, this set presents a rich selection of renowned scholarship across the subject, touching also on ethics, religion, and psychology and other behavioural science. Classic previously out-of-print works are brought back into print here in this set of important discourse and theory.

In the paper, I distinguish the bottom-up strategy and the intentional stance strategy of analyzing group intentional states, and show that the thesis of distributed group subject of knowledge could be accommodated by either of them. Moreover, I argue that when combined with virtue reliabilism the thesis satisfactorily explains the phenomenon of group knowledge. To justify my argument, in the second part of the paper, I distinguish two accounts of justification pointing to conditions of group (...) knowledge. The first, which I call the belief-centered approach to group intentional states, determines the concept of group belief and group justificatory reason. The second, the process-centered approach represented by S. Orestis Palermos, employs the theory of virtue reliabilism and focuses on the group knowledge-conducive process. In the paper, I argue in favor of the latter as the internalism associated with the former appears to lack sufficient explanatory power. The theory of virtue epistemology runs into considerable difficulties when trying to deal with an extended epistemic subject composed of one individual and her cognitive artifact. In the two last parts of the paper, I consider the most important difficulties and argue that these obstacles are overcome once one adopts an approach combining virtue epistemology and the thesis of distributed group epistemic subject. (shrink)

We praise many aspects of this paper that bring forward previously underemphasized content. We would caution against presenting it as an alternative group-level selection. Indeed, subjective selection may serve to generate a mechanistic understanding of the underlying system upon which group selection operates. Such an approach would address the circularity in the supposition that subjective selection explains cultural patterns.

As users of computer networks have become more active in producing their own electronic records, in the form of transcripts of onlinediscussions, ethicists have attempted to interpret this new situation interms of earlier models of personal data protection. But thistransference results in unprecedented problems for researchers. Thispaper examines some of the central dichotomies and paradoxes in thedebate on research ethics online in the context of the concrete study ofa virtual community that we carried out. We argue that alienation, notprivacy, is (...) the actual core of the ethical problems of virtual communityresearch. While practically everybody is allowed and often welcome tojoin online communities (which undermines the claim to privacy), mostparticipants would agree that members and visitors are not authorized touse, or `harvest,'' or sell the product of the group communication. To dothat, they would be expected to ask for permission preferably before thecontent has been produced, thus granting participants'' right to controltheir own product. This `non-alienation principle'' should be the basisof emergent social conventions in cyberspace. It would apply toresearchers as to anyone else. With certain types of research, wesuggest, cyberspace provides unique opportunities for empoweringsubjects by involving them as contributors in the research project. (shrink)

Background Involving children and adolescents (youth) living with HIV (YLWH) in research is critical for developing appropriate HIV care services and interventions. However, this vulnerable population may not adequately weigh risks against benefits when participating in research, forming an ethical concern, yet little is known about how YLWH perceive these risks and benefits. To inform research-related policies and procedures, we sought perspectives of Kenyan YLWH, their caregivers and subject matter experts (SMEs) on risks and benefits of participation in research (...) in a setting with a high burden of youth HIV infection. Methods We conducted a qualitative inquiry on identifying, enrolling, and protecting YLWH (age 10–24 years) in research using semi-structured interviews with YLWH involved in research, their caregivers, YLWH with no prior research experience, and other SMEs at the AMPATH care and research sites in western Kenya. Transcripts were thematically analyzed and emerging themes derived to characterize perspectives of each group on risks and benefits of engaging YLWH in research. Results Interviews were conducted with 40 YLWH (50% female; median age 17.5 years), 20 caregivers (70% female), and 39 SMEs [healthcare providers (N = 10), community leaders (N = 10) community advisory board members (N = 4), IRB experts (N = 5), clinical researchers (N = 6), social science researchers (N = 4) and laboratory experts (N = 1).] Participants in all groups identified accidental disclosure of HIV status, stigma and discrimination, risks of blood draws, mental health effects, and coercion due to study compensation as risks of research involvement. Benefits fell into 5 categories: clinical, informational, personal, future and community or household benefits. Benefits included access to health care, learning about HIV, gaining hope and community, improving HIV care, and reducing stigma. All participant groups largely held similar views; however, caregivers were the only group to identify misuse of study compensation as a risk, and YLWH less frequently cited clinical benefits. Conclusion These findings suggest that participants commonly cite indirect risks and benefits of research participation, yet these are often excluded from institutional guidelines for consent documentation. Researchers should consider including indirect risks and benefits, such as the risk of stigma or the benefit of gaining knowledge and community, to study documentation. (shrink)

Will Kymlicka ha sido considerado como compatibilizador de liberales y comunitaristas en cuanto a los derechos de las minorías. Su distinción entre derechos de grupo como protecciones externas y como restricciones internas buscó dar cuenta de las reivindicaciones minoritarias sin vulnerar el principio liberal de autonomía. En este artículo se buscan dos objetivos: primero, adoptar una perspectiva crítica, al afirmar que tal distinción soslaya el eje central de la discusión, esto es, la problemática de la titularidad del derecho, y, segundo, (...) proponer una nueva clasificación de los derechos aplicables a las minorías que sea capaz de servir de modelo para futuros diseños institucionales. Will Kymlicka has attempted to harmonize the positions of liberals and communitarians with respect to minority rights. His distinction between group rights as external protections and internal restrictions sought to account for minority vindications without violating the liberal principle of autonomy. The objective of this article is twofold: first, to adopt a critical perspective by arguing that said distinction avoids the core of the discussion, that is, the issue of ownership of rights, and, second, to proposed a new classification of rights applicable to minorities that can serve as a model for future institutional designs. Will Kymlicka tem sido considerado como compatibilizador de liberais e comunitaristas quanto aos direitos das minorias. Sua distinção entre direitos de grupo como proteções externas e como restrições internas pretendeu dar conta das reivindicações minoritárias sem vulnerar o princípio liberal de autonomia. Este artigo apresenta dois objetivos: primeiro, adotar uma perspectiva crítica ao afirmar que essa distinção elude o eixo central da discussão, isto é, a problemática da titularidade do direito; segundo, propor uma nova classificação dos direitos aplicáveis à s minorias que seja capaz de servir de modelo para futuros desenhos institucionais. (shrink)

Margaret Gilbert has defended the claim that her plural subject theory can give a reasonable account of retrospective (or backward-looking) collective responsibility. On one occasion, publishing in this periodical, she writes that she deliberately left out the discussion of prospective (or forward-looking) collective responsibility, or the “responsibilities” of a collective. In the present paper, I want to show that plural subject theory, in fact, also allows accounting for prospective responsibilities of groups and institutions. In order to do so, (...) I will first sketch the social ontological background of my discussion which is, in fact, an amended version of Gilbert’s theory of plural subjects (§ 2). Based on the assumption that a prospective responsibility accrues from some kind of commissioning, I will then discuss a variety of possible sources of prospective collective responsibilities: self-commissioning, third-party commissioning and what I will call commissioning by unique capability (§ 3). Having done so, I will discuss some consequences of this account and defend it against objections (§ 4). (shrink)

The author, head of a teaching hospital surgical unit, argues that the medical curriculum must ensure that all students are exposed to a minimum of ethical discussion and decision-making. In describing his own approach he emphasises the need to show students that it is 'an intensely practical subject'. Moreover, he reminds them that moral dilemmas in medicine--perhaps a better term than medical ethics--are unavoidable in clinical practice. Professor Johnson emphasises the need for small group teaching and discussion of (...) real cases, preferably chosen and 'worked up' by individual students. He suggests that ethical issues could profitably be introduced into written, oral and clinical examinations. (shrink)

Sociologists who deal with legal phenomena often live a paradox and an internal contradiction that they are not always able to admit or to identify or resolve. This is especially true of holistic approaches to socio-legal studies, for which the individual is in some way, at different levels of depth, a function of the social group or the social system. The legal phenomenon is in fact intrinsically individual. Every modern legal conception, wittingly or not, is based on individual rights (...) and duties. The collective implications of the law are perfectly clear to lawyers and laymen, and when needed they can be translated into institutions such as collective responsibility or group sanctions, but the common unit of legal analysis is the individual with some legal capacity. Think of the Roman brocard Haec sunt principia iuris: honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere (“The basic principles of right are: to live honorably, not to harm any other person, to render each his own” [Digest 1.1.10; Watson 1985, p. 2]). The very fact that we are now witnessing a renewed debate on collective rights and action shows that the perception of the law we have inherited has always been intrinsically individualistic. (shrink)

A collaborative team of environmental sociologists, community psychologists, religious studies scholars, environmental studies/science researchers and engineers has been working together to design and implement new training in research ethics, culture and community-based approaches for place-based communities and cultural groups. The training is designed for short and semester-long graduate courses at several universities in the northeastern US. The team received a 3 year grant from the US National Science Foundation’s Ethics Education in Science and Engineering in 2010. This manuscript details the (...) curriculum topics developed that incorporate ethical principles, particularly for group protections/benefits within the field practices of environmental/engineering researchers. (shrink)

El presente texto contiene los resultados de una revisión bibliográfica realizada con el objetivo de establecer la importancia de desarrollar competencias emocionales durante el proceso de formación de los profesionales de la salud, especialmente del área de odontología, atendiendo a que la especialidad está registrada como una de las profesiones más estresantes, situación que podría originarse durante el proceso educativo, ya que sus alumnos experimentan altos niveles de ansiedad o estrés durante su formación. Se entiende por competencia emocional el conjunto (...) de conocimientos, capacidades, habilidades y actitudes necesarias para comprender, expresar y regular los fenómenos emocionales. Como conclusión, esta revisión permitió demostrar como la inclusión de estas competencias en el plan de estudios repercutiría significativamente en el bienestar psicológico de estos estudiantes. This paper contains the results of a bibliographical review which was carried out aiming at establishing the importance of developing emotional competence in health professionals' training, especially on the dentistry area; providing that this specialty is one of the most stressful. The educational process might be at the root of this situation, since students experience high levels of anxiety or stress during their training. Emotional competence is understood as the group of knowledge, abilities and attitudes needed to understand, express and regulate emotional phenomena. In conclusion, this review enabled to demonstrate how the inclusion of emotional competence in dentistry major's syllabus would have an influence on student's psychological well-being. (shrink)

ExcerptIn interviews he gave during the 1970s and 80s, Michel Foucault acknowledged points of intersection between his work and that of the group of thinkers (the “Critical Theorists”) associated with the German Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School.1 While admittedly broad in nature, the shared concerns that Foucault identifies are nonetheless important; perhaps foremost among them is the extent to which the preoccupation with certainty that characterizes modern Western thought has led to the uncritical acceptance of what is (...) merely prevailing as being necessary. As Nietzsche observes, within the modern West a comprehensible reality, even if it is terrible,…. (shrink)

Revisiting Lacan's discussion of the puzzle of the prisoner's dilemma provides a means of elaborating a theory of the trans-subjective. An illustration of this dilemma provides the basis for two important arguments. Firstly, that we need to grasp a logical succession of modes of subjectivity: from subjectivity to inter-subjectivity, and from inter-subjectivity to a form of trans-subjective social logic. The trans-subjective, thus conceptualized, enables forms of social objectivity that transcend the level of (inter)subjectivity, and which play a crucial role in (...) consolidating given societal groupings. The paper advances, secondly, that various declarative and symbolic activities are important non-psychological bases—trans-subjective foundations—for psychological identifications of an inter-subjective sort. These assertions link interesting to recent developments in the contemporary social psychology of interobjectivity, which likewise emphasize a type of objectivity that plays an indispensible part in co-ordinating human relations and understanding. (shrink)

This study investigates the effectiveness of experiential learning strategies in enhancing science subject competence among fifth-grade elementary students in Anbar Governorate, where traditional teaching methods dominate. Prior research indicates a lack of engagement and critical thinking among students, emphasizing the need for pedagogical approaches that promote active learning and real-world experiences. Employing a descriptive and experimental design, this research included two groups: an experimental group receiving instruction through experiential learning and a control group taught via traditional methods. (...) The sample consisted of 65 fifth-grade students from Al-Mu'min Primary School, chosen to ensure representativeness. Pre-experimental assessments ensured equivalence in variables such as age, intelligence, and previous academic achievement. The study's impact was evaluated using a post-test composed of 40 multiple-choice questions aligned with the science curriculum. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in mean achievement test scores between the groups, with the experimental group achieving a higher average score of 29.90 compared to the control group's 22.55. The calculated t-value was 10.11, surpassing the critical t-value of 2.00 at the 0.05 significance level, indicating strong evidence for the effectiveness of experiential learning strategies. Furthermore, the effect size measured using eta squared (η² = 0.63) confirmed a large impact on student achievement. The findings signify that experiential learning strategies substantially enhance science subject competence among elementary students, fostering greater engagement and understanding of scientific concepts. These results advocate for the integration of experiential learning methodologies in science education, reflecting a shift away from traditional teaching practices to more effective, student-centered approaches that promote critical thinking and real-world application of knowledge. (shrink)

Cognitive Reserve, according to a recent consensus definition of the NIH-funded Reserve and Resilience collaboratory,1 is constituted by any mechanism contributing to cognitive performance beyond, or interacting with, brain structure in the widest sense. To identity multivariate activation patterns fulfilling this postulate, we investigated a verbal Sternberg fMRI task and imaged 181 people with age coverage in the ranges 20–30 and 55–70. Beyond task performance, participants were characterized in terms of demographics, and neuropsychological assessments of vocabulary, episodic memory, perceptual speed, (...) and abstract fluid reasoning. Participants studied an array of either one, three, or six upper-case letters for 3 s, then a blank fixation screen was presented for 7 s, to be probed with a lower-case letter to which they responded with a differential button press whether the letter was part of the studied array or not. We focused on identifying maintenance-related activation patterns showing memory load increases in pattern score on an individual participant level for both age groups. We found such a pattern that increased with memory load for all but one person in the young participants, and such a pattern for all participants in the older group. Both patterns showed broad topographic similarities; however, relationships to task performance and neuropsychological characteristics were markedly different and point to individual differences in Cognitive Reserve. Beyond the derivation of group-level activation patterns, we also investigated the inter-subject spatial similarity of individual working memory rehearsal patterns in the older participants’ group as a function of neuropsychological and task performance, education, and mean cortical thickness. Higher task accuracy and neuropsychological function was reliably associated with higher inter-subject similarity of individual-level activation patterns in older participants. (shrink)

This paper investigates the leaderless and leader-follower time-varying formation design and analysis problems for a group of networked agents subject to discontinuous communications. Firstly, a leaderless time-varying formation control protocol is proposed via the intermittent control strategy, where the control input of each agent is constructed by the distributed local state information and formation instructions in the communication time unit, but it is zero in the noncommunication time unit. Then, an explicit formulation of the formation center function is (...) determined to describe the formation movement trajectory of the whole networked agents. Leaderless time-varying formation design and analysis with discontinuous communications are given in the form of linear matrix inequalities. Moreover, the main results of the leaderless cases are extended to the leader-follower cases. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results of leaderless and leader-follower cases, respectively. (shrink)

This article presents a conceptual analysis of the European educational policy concerning the phenomenon of early school leaving (ESL). It addresses the literature on ESL, emphasizing the importance of studying policies from the perspective of the constructions made of the leaving subject. The concept of lifelong learning is examined, along with its relevance in shaping the subject who leaves within European policies. Additionally, the presence of “double gestures” in educational policies is explored, where, while promoting inclusion, they simultaneously (...) produce exclusion of certain individuals. The influence of the neoliberal approach on the conception of ESL is discussed, and the need to consider alternative approaches to avoid homogenizing the group of young individuals who leave school prematurely is proposed. (shrink)

Most clinical neurofeedback studies based on functional magnetic resonance imaging use the patient's own neural activity as feedback. The objective of this study was to create a subject-independent brain state classifier as part of a real-time fMRI neurofeedback system that can guide patients with depression in achieving a healthy brain state, and then to examine subsequent clinical changes. In a first step, a brain classifier based on a support vector machine was trained from the neural information of happy autobiographical (...) imagery and motor imagery blocks received from a healthy female participant during an MRI session. In the second step, 7 right-handed female patients with mild or moderate depressive symptoms were trained to match their own neural activity with the neural activity corresponding to the “happiness emotional brain state” of the healthy participant. The training was carried out using the rt-fMRI NF system guided by the brain-state classifier we had created. Thus, the informative voxels previously obtained in the first step, using SVM classification and Effect Mapping, were used to classify the Blood-Oxygen-Level Dependent activity of the patients and converted into real-time visual feedback during the neurofeedback training runs. Improvements in the classifier accuracy toward the end of the training were observed in all the patients [Session 4–1 Median = 6.563%; Range = 4.10–27.34; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.031]. Clinical improvement also was observed in a blind standardized clinical evaluation [HDRS CE2-1 Median = 7; Range 2 to 15; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.016], and in self-report assessments [BDI-II CE2-1 Median = 8; Range 1–15; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.031]. In addition, the clinical improvement was still present 10 days after the intervention [BDI-II CE3-2_Median = 0; Range −1 to 2; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.50/ HDRS CE3-2 Median = 0; Range −1 to 2; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.625]. Although the number of participants needs to be increased and a control group included to confirm these findings, the results suggest a novel option for neural modulation and clinical alleviation in depression using noninvasive stimulation technologies. (shrink)

The objective of this text is to expose the conception of ethics in psychoanalysis. Freud’s work is characterized by elaborating an ethic of the subject, but of the subject understood not in a traditional sense, as a given and complete subject, but on the contrary, as a divided, unfinished and contingent subject. It is an ethic that privileges the principles of singularity, difference and subjective irreducibility in practical action, over any kind of subordination of this to (...) group ideals, external prescriptive duties or universal obligations. (shrink)

The gendered assumptions embedded in the construction of the rational individual are well established in Western feminist thought but inapplicable to describe societies operating on different principles, such as East European state socialism. This article identifies the communist subject as the building block of communist political ideology and argues that this formulation was no less male biased than its counterpart, the rational individual under liberal capitalism. In state socialist Hungary this male bias came to be expressed differently: Women were (...) integrated into society through membership in a social group perceived as relatively homogeneous regarding interests and obligations and with gender-specific qualities and privileges. These qualities were considered inferior to men's since women—because of household responsibilities—were not capable of total devotion to the communist party. The author explores this construction of the female communist subject through a content analysis of classified materials from the archives of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:14 Feminist Studies 46, no. 1. © 2020 by Feminist Studies, Inc. Melissa Oliver-Powell Beyond the Spectacle of Suffering: Agnès Varda’s L’Unechante,l’autrepas and Rewriting the Subject of Abortion in France In the spring of 1971, three years after the revolutionary fervor of May 1968 in France, 343 women put their names to a courageous manifesto announcing that they were criminals of a particularly gendered nature. The authors of (...) Manifeste des 343 (Manifesto of the 343) comprised a large group of culturally eminent French women and activists declaring that they had all illegally undergone abortions, which at this point, despite growing decriminalization throughout much of Western Europe, were still outlawed within their republic. Though many of the revolutionary fires had now eased to embers, French feminists demonstrated that reproductive rights were still a vital and unresolved topic of social justice. Including names as weighty as Simone de Beauvoir, Jeanne Moreau, and Catherine Deneuve, the manifesto brought together exceptional women from the fields of academia, law, theater, film and literature, alongside grassroots activists. Their action was a bold challenge to the French authorities, daring them to arrest some of the country’s brightest thinkers and cultural innovators under a law the signatories felt was deeply unjust, sexist, and antithetical to the values of individual liberty and citizenship. It was a case of those with the broadest shoulders weaponizing their privilege to present a robust front line in the wider struggle for women’s rights. One of the signatories was filmmaker Agnès Varda. Her name, like those of several others on the list, demonstrates the symbiosis between Melissa Oliver-Powell 15 cultural production and gender politics that has often characterized French feminist thought. From the multidisciplinary writings of Beauvoir, to the novels of the écriture féminine movement, to the lyrical academic prose of Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, and others, French and Francophone feminist writers have tended to connect art and politics with a great deal of fluidity. As a committed activist and a filmmaker, Agnès Varda falls very much within this tradition, often adopting and developing feminist practices within her cinema. This article examines how Varda’s 1977 film, L’Une chante, l’autre pas (One Sings, The Other Doesn’t) interacts with and participates in the feminist political project of reproductive rights as well as the ongoing intellectual and moral debates over abortion taking place in France throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. I look particularly at the adversarial construction of abortion narratives within these debates and the location of victimhood therein. Within mainstream cultural representations in and beyond France, abortion is typically constructed as either a traumatic or a transgressive moment. The same is often true on either side of political and social debates on abortion, which have tended either to characterize the women who get abortions as irresponsible and amoral or as sympathetic victims in need of protection. Though the transgressive element persists, it is the interaction with representations of trauma that interests me here. In approaching discussions of gendered injustice, it is common for feminist writers and activists to leverage pathos as a rhetorical strategy. While suffering can be a highly effective and galvanizing expression of oppression, such discourses also run the risk of producing excessive depictions of victimhood, which can displace the capacity for action from the subject of hardship onto the privileged oppressor. This risk is particularly at stake within the cultural form of film, as its visuality and identificatory mechanics have the potential to spectacularize the female victim and make her relatable only through suffering. This was often the case in earlier French films that featured abortion such as Les Mauvaises rencontres (1955), Des gens sans importance (1956), Journal d’une femme en blanc (1965), and Une femme en blanc se révolte (1966), all of which made their subjects sympathetic by entwining them in long narratives of victimization ending in death or disgrace. This article looks at how Varda’s L’Une chante, l’autre pas disengages from the spectacle of suffering that so often characterizes representations of women’s experiences 16 Melissa Oliver-Powell and rejects the idea that abortion narratives must... (shrink)

Background and purposeJapanese elementary school children are trained in arts and crafts, music, arithmetic, the Japanese language, life environment studies, physical education, and so on. Children must learn through doing as they develop physically, because the range of activities in their daily lives is still narrow. Subject learning is inseparable from daily life. Teachers should plan lessons with an awareness of the physicality of activities. Therefore, this study clarified the relationship between the ability for skillful and quick physical movement (...) and subject learning among Japanese elementary school students.MethodsFor the second to fourth grades of elementary school, the measurement results and subject evaluation were compared at the individual level. Students were divided into a group with high grades in subject learning and one with middle and lower grades, and a t-test was conducted to observe if there was a significant difference in the records of two physical activities: repeated side jump and softball throw.Main findingsSignificant difference was found for repeated side jumps depending on whether the arts and crafts grades were high for all children in grades 2–4. Additionally, there was a significant difference in softball throwing records between the second and third graders, depending on whether the children’s performance in arts and crafts was high. Conversely, there was no significant difference between the second to fourth grade children’s musical scores and repeated side jump records. There was a negative correlation between sophomore and senior year music performances and the softball throwing record. Thus, the development of children’s dexterity is related to subject learning.ConclusionConsidering that elementary school teachers spend sufficient time with children on a daily basis teaching subjects such as physical education and music, it may be beneficial for them to be aware of dexterity’s importance across multiple subjects. Furthermore, it allows for an approach that engages children in physical activities from early childhood which can help in preparing them for learning a variety of subjects in school. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Feminist Studies 46, no. 2. © 2020 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 287 Julienne Obadia Responsibility, Respectability, Recognition, and Polyamory: Lessons in Subject Formation in the Age of Sexual Identity Introduction: It’s About Time “Sexuality” has become a strikingly capacious category in recent years. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans* have been joined by queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, Two Spirit, asexual, and ally, as the acronym LGBT increasingly serves as (...) a base for expanded formulations such as LGBTQQIP2SAA. In light of this trajectory, perhaps it should not have surprised me to hear so many of my polyamorist interlocutors identifying polyamory as their sexual orientation. While polyamory’s emergence as a named practice in 1990 was more closely associated with the sexual revolution than the gay liberation movement, the increasing intelligibility of polyamory as a sexual orientation, I argue, offers important insights into how, and to what effect, the category of sexuality is expanding, and illuminates contemporary mechanisms of subject formation in American late liberalism. It is tempting to analyze this phenomenon solely within the historical context of the twentieth century rise of identity politics. However, a focus on recent decades is insufficient for understanding the increasing capaciousness of the sexual orientation framework. I argue that, more than simply demonstrating a proliferation of sexual identities, polyamory ’s reconfiguration also highlights the powerful demands made of subjects of sexual orientation to be respectable by espousing particular forms of intimacy over others. These demands call for a longer historical 288 Julienne Obadia view of marriage, monogamy, and whiteness as constitutive of US social, political, and legal recognition. Consider my encounter with Steve: At the 2013 annual “Poly Living” convention in Philadelphia, organized by the polyamory advocacy group, Loving More, I gathered with the other attendees in a large circle in the main hall. After a brief welcome by the organizers, we introduced ourselves one by one and then dispersed for drinks and informal mingling. I took a seat alone and, after a moment, a man in his sixties with a graying ponytail and wearing a Hawaiian shirt approached me. “You’re an anthropologist?” he asked. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I smiled and gestured at the seat across from me, and he introduced himself, putting his beer on the table beside mine and sitting down. Fidgeting nervously, he explained that he and his wife had been married for over twenty years, but the last several years had been sexless, with her desire waning while his had not. After learning about polyamory, he cautiously suggested it and she reluctantly agreed to let him do some sexual exploring outside the marriage, but with tight restrictions: He could go to events like these and could have limited sexual interaction with others, but he could not have penetrative sex, nor could he pursue any emotional or more-than-casual intimacy with anyone. He found these constraints difficult, understandably so at such events, where people were in fact encouraged to seek out emotional intimacy and enjoy a wide range of consensual connections. Such limitations ran counter to polyamory’s ethos, which, as indicated by the organization’s name, sought more love, although particular arrangements varied significantly. As he elaborated on these details, I realized that Steve was not simply sharing as people often did, unprompted, at these events, which seek to foster open communication, curiosity, and self-exploration. He was torn about how to identify his sexual desire and make sense of his difficulty finding fulfillment within his wife’s conditions. He paused, looking at me searchingly with a mix of distress and hope, and asked if his desire to see other people was natural. “Is it possible,” he asked, “that being poly is a sexual orientation I was born with, like being gay?” He hoped that, precisely in my capacity as an anthropologist, I might have some definitive expert knowledge about human sexuality—an incontrovertible yes or no about the provenance of his desire and the legitimacy of his dissatisfaction. Julienne Obadia 289 As Steve’s conundrum makes clear, the intelligibility of polyamory as an immutable sexual orientation is very recent. Its inclusion marks a dramatic shift from Eve Sedgwick’s observation nearly three decades ago... (shrink)

This study aims to determine the opinions of teachers of Religious Culture and Ethics Course (DKAB) about subject-based classroom application in-depth. The research has been carried from qualitative research methods with a case study design. In order to determine the working group of the study, criteria sampling was used in the first stage, and the maximum diversity sampling method was used in the next step. The sample of this research consists of 8 DKAB teachers working in Ankara province. (...) A semi-structured interview form has been used as a data collection tool in the study. The data of the qualitative of this research has been analyzed with both descriptive and content analysis by NVivo 10 program. In order to ensure validity and reliability in the study, credibility, transferability, consistency, and verifiability strategies have been used. When the research data were analyzed, four themes were formed: positive opinions about the application, negative opinions and problems related to the application, contribution of the practice to religious education and training, and recommendations about the application. DKAB teachers find the application more positive than the classroom system. It has been found that the practice of subject-based classrooms is a motivational tool for Primary School students, while it causes some problems for lower secondary school and upper secondary school students.Summary: Learning environments are among the key elements in the acquisition of 21st-century skills. Classrooms are also a part of the learning environment. Classes are the learning environment in which teachers and students spend most of their education and training process. In this context, subject-based classroom application is one of the preferred methods in the arrangement of classrooms.Subject-based classroom application means that the teachers have a special classroom related to their branches in the school building, and students attend the teacher's classroom according to the syllabus. In this practice, the teacher can decorate walls, floor, ceiling, column, and beam of the classroom with students’ study materials such as banner, poster, painting, cartoon to make the course more effective and efficient and to create a psychological atmosphere called classroom atmosphere-air.This application aims to activate the student by enriching the classroom and make learning effective and efficient. The classroom equipped with appropriate equipment and materials provides a favorable environment for the implementation of effective teaching strategies. The application can create “class/classroom culture” by using ordinary meanings and symbols related to the course. It provides students the opportunity to exhibit their products and contributes to students' self-regulation skills development. Besides, real-life practices or practices close to reality can be brought into the classroom. As a result, permanent learning can be realized with the possibility of creating a shared living space and the number of sensory organs participating in learning.This current study aims to address in-depth information about the opinions of Religious Culture and Moral Ethics (DKAB) teachers in primary, secondary, and high schools regarding the subject-based classroom application. When the studies in the literature are examined, it is seen that the studies related to the subject-based classroom application have increased since 2010. However, it is clear that this research is directed towards social studies, geography, science, and mathematics courses and is based on the opinions of students, teachers, and administrators at the secondary school level. In the context of DKAB course, there has been no research including the views of teachers, students, or school administrators regarding the application of subject-based classrooms. This study is carried out revealing perspectives of DKAB teachers by examining their opinions on the subject-based classroom application and contribute to the field. The research was conducted with a case study design from the qualitative research methods. The participants consist of 8 DKAB teachers working in Ankara province. A mixed purposive sampling method was used to determine the study group. In the first stage, the teachers implementing the DKAB classrooms application were taken as criteria. In the next step, the study group was determined within the framework of the maximum diversity sampling method by considering the variables such as school level, gender, age, education level, duration of teachers' work. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview form with expert opinion. In the form, there are nine main questions and probe questions, which include questions related to subject-based classrooms application, the contribution of the application to religious education and training, the contribution of teachers to professional and personal development, the effect of teachers' belonging to the school, the effectiveness, and improvement of the application. Permission has been obtained from the Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education and participants via consent form for the interview. The interviews were recorded in audio, 169.58-minute audio recording transcripts, and 52-page interview data obtained. The qualitative data of this research has been analyzed with both descriptive and content analysis by NVivo 10 program. In order to ensure validity and reliability in the study, credibility, transferability, consistency, and verifiability strategies have been used.When the data of the research were analyzed, the opinions of DKAB teachers about the subject-based classrooms application categorized under four themes; positive and negative opinions/problems about the practice, the contribution of the practice to religious education and teaching and practical suggestions. Under the theme of positive opinions on the application, positive aspects for the teacher, student, parents, and comparison with the classroom system were formed. According to the participants, the practice of DKAB classroom is a “facilitation” element for the teacher because of the factors such as the teacher not moving around the classroom, not carrying material, having freedom to organize the classroom, and material regularity. In this application, since the teacher has a class of his own, the teacher adopts and owns the classroom and the sense of belonging to school increases. This sense of belonging is felt so strongly that there is even a participant who plans to retire if the application is abandoned. The positive aspects of the application for the students are that; a classroom is a motivating tool, the boards and walls can be used, and the student has the opportunity to exhibit their activities. When compared with the classroom system, it was stated that as a result of the branch classroom practice, the school equipment could be better protected, class order and cleaning easier, and the success of the students would be increased.The negative views of the participants on the application were grouped under the categories of students, teachers, and parents. Not having a fixed class of their own, continually relocating and losing time in recess, staying in the classroom door when the classroom is locked, not adopting the classroom and lack of lockers constitute the negative aspects of the application for the students. The overuse of classrooms, less use of teachers' rooms, lack of communication between colleagues are the negative aspects of the application for the teachers. It was stated by (75%) most of the participants that branch classroom application contributed to the continual learning of students in religious education and teaching. To make the application more functional, DKAB teachers have proposed arrangements such as improving physical infrastructure, enriching teaching materials, and arranging school syllabus and keeping classrooms open. As a result, teachers find the application more positive than the classroom system. While it is a motivation tool for primary school students, it causes some problems for secondary and high school students, such as carrying bags, staying at the door, and wasting time. In this sense, the application is recommended to be applied in primary schools that have a sufficient number of classrooms. Also, the system should be applied in secondary and high schools where the number of students is low, or the number of classrooms is sufficiently provided that the problems experienced by the students are eliminated. School administrations and teachers need to take necessary measures to make the application effective and efficient. (shrink)

“Pedagogy as Epistemology” addresses the work of Johann Friedrich Herbart in pedagogy with two goals in mind. The first is speculative, tracking why and how Johann Friedrich Herbart’s work could become the official pedagogy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while that Austro-Hungarian reading of Herbart was totally effaced in his reception in the United States. The second goal is to recoup Herbartianism in Austria-Hungary as a tradition lying far from today’s images of Herbartianism in the US and beyond. This essay begins (...) with Gustav Jahoda’s reclamation of Herbart for social psychology, especially in his focus on the collective mental work of the group. Thereafter, it tracks differentiations between Herbart and the Herbartians who codified his work in ways leading to the movement’s eclipse, and finally to a different reading of Herbart’s pedagogy, as implemented in the 1849-65 school reforms in Austria-Hungary. My results account for the subject of knowledge as part of a communication community and as an embodied cognitive agent, arguing Herbart as providing a vision of education that clarifies what is at stake in understanding three generations of “Austrian” philosophy and science as based on a critical intelligence providing ongoing critiques of knowledge production in all its forms. (shrink)

“Pedagogy as Epistemology” addresses the work of Johann Friedrich Herbart in pedagogy with two goals in mind. The first is speculative, tracking why and how Johann Friedrich Herbart’s work could become the official pedagogy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while that Austro-Hungarian reading of Herbart was totally effaced in his reception in the United States. The second goal is to recoup Herbartianism in Austria-Hungary as a tradition lying far from today’s images of Herbartianism in the US and beyond. This essay begins (...) with Gustav Jahoda’s reclamation of Herbart for social psychology, especially in his focus on the collective mental work of the group. Thereafter, it tracks differentiations between Herbart and the Herbartians who codified his work in ways leading to the movement’s eclipse, and finally to a different reading of Herbart’s pedagogy, as implemented in the 1849-65 school reforms in Austria-Hungary. My results account for the subject of knowledge as part of a communication community and as an embodied cognitive agent, arguing Herbart as providing a vision of education that clarifies what is at stake in understanding three generations of “Austrian” philosophy and science as based on a critical intelligence providing ongoing critiques of knowledge production in all its forms. (shrink)

The inability of traditional Shi’a jurisprudents to respond to the challenges in the field of human rights and the rights of religious minorities, which is rooted in the denial of human dignity and the emphasis on religious dignity, has led to the emergence of a new discourse among contemporary Shi’a jurisprudents in Iran in recent years. This group of jurists known as reformist jurists seeks to re-evaluate the jurisprudential laws, re-interpret the Shari’a and find a way out of the (...) religion to reduce the existing conflict with the universal human rights standards. The opinions of this group of jurists, albeit criticized by the traditional scholars, have been welcomed by young clerics. To understand the main aspects of this jurisprudential dispute, two main questions have been considered by the researchers: What are the main principles of human rights in the thoughts of traditionalist and reformist jurists in Iran? And how differently have the reformist jurists conceptualized the subject of human rights? To answer these questions, the impact of traditional jurisprudents on the formulation of the current constitution of Iran is studied and the main differences between the views of traditional and modern jurists are evaluated. (shrink)

In this article I will relate the kinetic sculpture Hylozoic Ground by architect Phillip Beesley and a collaborative group to theoretical and philosophical studies concerning the human subject. I will ask the deep philosophical question what is life? with the expectancy of a close relationship between ‘life’ and ‘consciousness’. Under inspiration from Yair Neuman and Søren Brier, I operate with the idea that ‘life’ and ‘consciousness’ would be directly related to communication processes in the body of both physically (...) measurable and physically immeasurable kinds. And that such communication processes are best described by modelling a hierarchy of qualitatively different, but co-dependent kinds of communication. (shrink)

This work seeks to take seriously the common philosophical claim that individual subjects are constituted by their social world. A detailed understanding this claim requires an analysis of what is involved in being a subject, of the nature of 'the social', and of the possible constitutive relationships between these. I begin with a critical history of the idea that subjects are norm-followers, and that social groups constitute individuals by demanding their conformity to norms. I trace this 'conformity theory' through (...) the thought of Rousseau, Hegel, Mead, and Althusser, to its manifestation in contemporary continental and Anglo-American philosophy. I criticize this theory for being unable to sufficiently accommodate creativity and social resistance. I go on to develop an account of subjects as not only norm-followers but also sense-makers, who have identities in virtue of their engagement in narrative dramas. Such subjects are socially constituted in at least two ways: through their 'dialogical' interactions with particular others , and through their position in a public culture which determines what counts as a meaningful possibility for action. This understanding of subjectivity allows me to develop a new account of the nature of social groups--such as groups based on gender, class and nationality--which provides an alternative to the conformity theory. Social groups contribute to individual identities not only by imposing norms, but also by providing sense-making resources, in the form of literary and artistic traditions as well as the actual lives and dramas of members. My account allows us to understand creativity and social resistance as enabled by subjects' membership in social groups, and it reveals how the internal diversity of a group can strengthen rather than compromise its role in individual identities. I end with a discussion of the political implications of my work. (shrink)

Introducción: La asignatura Metodología de la Investigación Cualitativa en Salud se imparte a los estudiantes de tercer año de la Licenciatura en Enfermería en la modalidad de clase teórico-práctica como forma organizativa de la docencia. Ello recalca la importancia del trabajo independiente. Las insuficiencias con relación a éste inciden directamente en la asimilación y apropiación de los conocimientos de la asignatura. Objetivo: Elaborar una estrategia didáctica que contribuya al desarrollo del trabajo independiente correspondiente a la asignatura Metodología de la Investigación (...) Cualitativa en Salud.Material y métodos: Se realizó una investigación de desarrollo, encaminada a perfeccionar el proceso docente educativo en la Facultad de Enfermería, de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Camagüey, durante el curso escolar 2011-2012. Para el diagnóstico inicial se procedió al análisis de documentos: los planes de estudio y el programa de la asignatura. También se aplicaron encuestas a un grupo de estudiantes y al colectivo de profesores que imparten la asignatura. Una vez elaborada la estrategia se evaluó por criterio de expertos. Resultados y discusión: La estrategia pone a disposición de la comunidad académica un software educativo que relaciona los contenidos de la asignatura, lo que permitirá al estudiantado realizar las tareas docentes que se orientan en clases así como asimilar, consolidar y sistematizar los conocimientos con mayor facilidad. Introduction: The subject Methodology of Qualitative Research in Health is taught to the students of the third year of the Bachelor in nursing in the form of theoretical and practical lesson as organizational way of teaching. This underscores the importance of self-employment. The shortcomings in relation to this affect directly the assimilation and appropriation of knowledge in the subject. Objective: To develop a teaching strategy that contributes to the development of self-employ ment for the subject Methodology of Qualitative Research in Health. Material aids and methods: A development research was made which aims at improving the educational teaching process in the Faculty of nursing from the University of Medical Sciences in Camagüey, during the 2011-2012 course. For an initial diagnosis the analyses of documents was made: the curriculum and the program of the course. Surveys were also applied to a group of students and the staff of teachers of the subject. Once the strategy was made it was evaluated through criteria of experts. Results and discussion: Strategy makes available to the academic community educational software that relates to the contents of the course, allowing students to perform teaching tasks which are assigned in lessons as well as assimilate, consolidate and systematize the knowledge easiest. (shrink)

In one of his late interviews, Alain Badiou acknowledges that his concept of the event can be traced back to Jean-Paul Sartre's notion of the group-in-fusion, presented in the Critique of Dialectic...

Version 3.0 12/02/00. Submitted to R.M. Nesse The Evolution of Subjective Commitment, Russell Sage Foundation. Please do not cite without author’s permission.  by Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd. Comments welcome! Word count 14,487.

The public and commercial spheres constantly address the largest ethnic minority in the United States, people with ancestry or from a Latin American country, as a homogenous group under the ethnopolitical terms “Latinos,” “Hispanics,” and even “Mexicans.” This panethnic view, and the negative stereotypes associated with it, was especially visible during the 2016 presidential election. While the majority of Latinos found Donald Trump’s remarks on “Mexicans” offensive to the Latin community as a whole, a large number of people still (...) supported his opinions, even those belonging to the “Latino” community. Even more so, women of Latino heritage still supported a nominee that went against their own advance in society given his constant misogynistic comments. In this essay, I analyze the groundings for this apparent contradiction in the preference for said candidate. I argue that these women’s political preference is a tool with which they build their identity in the U.S. Besides, I explore the ways in which individuals linguistically construct their own identity in three ways (i) by actively doing the identification instead of merely receiving it by an unknown agent; (ii) by choosing the self-representation of their preference, and (iii) by finding commonalities and bonding with other individuals they deem part of their group. Through this approach, I analyze semiotic processes, such as intertextuality, use of pronouns, and discourse alignment, that are used to construct identifications of the self that go beyond imposed categories, such as gender and ethnicity. (shrink)

To examine the influence of hypnotic suggestibility testing as a source of individual differences in hypnotic responsiveness, we compared behavioral and subjective responses on three scales of hypnotic suggestibility: The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A . Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Berlin: Consulting Psychologists Press); the Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale . The Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale: Normative data and psychometric properties. Psychological Reports, 53, 523–535); and the Group Scale of (...) Hypnotic Ability . The Group Scale of Hypnotic Ability and response booklet. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 27, 20–31). Behavioral and subjective responses to the CURSS were significantly different than those on the HGSHS: A and GSHA. More participants were classified as “low suggestible” on the CURSS and they reported subjective experiences more similar to everyday mentation. Attitudes and expectancies of participants who received the GSHA were less predictive of responding, but rates of responding and subjective experiences were similar on the GSHA and the HGSHS: A. Discussion focuses on implications for the use of group hypnotic suggestibility scales. (shrink)

Each bibliography includes a comprehensive list of the theorist's works and critical studies of these works in English. Each bibliography contains approximately 600 to 900 entries. Books, journal articles, essays within edited books (in the manner of Essay and General Literature) and dissertations are included. References are provided from a wide variety of disciplines and bibliographic sources. The primary purpose of each bibliography is to provide access to the widely reprinted primary works in English and the critical literature in a (...) great variety of books and journals. The topical bibliographies include the authoritative works on the subject and are arranged in useful categories. The lively part of the modern/post-modern debate is generally taking place in alternative and left journals -- journals always included in the literature search in the compiling of the bibliographies. (shrink)

During the past 20 years, the importance of human genetic information has exploded. Whether sought for medical treatment, disease prediction studies, cultural studies, or the general study of human origins, human genetic information is now viewed as crucial for scientific research and general attempts at human understanding.With the importance of genetic information have come bitter battles over its control. The demonstrated power of human genetic information has moved the issue of its “ownership” from the realm of musty academic musings to (...) protracted political and legal battles among “source” individuals, researchers, commercial concerns, government agencies, and others. Whether collected through targeted scientific studies, “discarded” biological tissue, initial charitable bequest, or other means, genetic information and the biological materials in which it is contained have become the subject of protracted legal battles for control and intense social and ethical controversy. (shrink)

Drawing from the work of Bjorn Petersson, this chapter discusses a weak sense in which when people engage in a shared intentional activity there is a group agent of the shared activity. This still allows us to say that the basic concepts at work in the theory of modest sociality come from the planning theory of individual agency. This group agent is tied together by shared intention, as understood within the basic thesis. But it does not follow that (...) there is a group subject of the shared intention. This is because, following Donald Davidson, for there to be a subject there needs to be a significant web of appropriately interrelated attitudes of that subject, and there can be shared intention without such a larger web. So modest sociality normally involves a group agent without a group subject. This leads to reflections on related work of Margaret Gilbert, and Christian List and Philip Pettit. (shrink)

Although their use has been proposed for several decades as a fundamental part of mental health recovery, in recent years there has been an increasing push to integrate mutual aid groups (MAGs) into health services. While this integration could strengthen them, it risks transforming MAGs from alternatives to mere complements to psychiatric services. This article argues that the integration of mutual aid into formal health systems must be approached with caution, ensuring that such inclusion does not neutralize their transformative potential, (...) but rather reorients care systems toward ontological pluralism, justice and epistemic dignity. To answer this question, a dialogue is proposed between theory and several programs where MAGs were the central strategy. Transversalizing care implies recognizing that different forms of healing arise from distinct worlds, logics, and ways of experiencing suffering. Without this shift, MAGs risk being neutralized, depoliticized, and absorbed by recovery systems that do not always respond to diverse forms of psychosocial suffering. The question is not how peer support can be integrated into existing mental health systems, but how these same systems can support the radical ontological shift that MAGs demand. Mechanisms are proposed to integrate these strategies into a broader care system, preserving their autonomy and managing risks of co-optation. (shrink)

The article by MacKay and Saylor (2020) claims that the principle of fair subject selection yields conflicting imperatives (e.g. in the case of pregnant women) and should be understood as “a bundle of four distinct sub-principles” (i.e. fair inclusion, burden sharing, opportunity, distribution of third-party risks), each having conflicting normative recommendations (MacKay and Saylor 2020). The authors also offer guidance as to how we should navigate between subprinciples that may conflict with each other. The problem is a crucial one (...) since fair subject selection is one of the principles regulating clinical research that produces generalizable knowledge with the potential of improving people’s health. Therefore, there may be cases where the way in which participants are selected directly influences the generalizability (or its lack) of the clinically relevant knowledge and its value (if any) to different groups. In my commentary article, written from the philosophical perspective, I notice a number of interrelated problems which I believe have not been discussed thoroughly in the target article: (1) the precise way in which health care priority setting should influence the content of health research priority setting and fair inclusion principles; (2) the distinction between group and individual benefits and burdens from clinical research; (3) the reference class problem in medical research. (shrink)

Abstract:The pedagogical strategy of students choosing their own friends with whom to work in classroom contexts (under the guise of democratic participation) because this is how popular musicians learn, has mostly gone uninterrogated in the literature. Approaching the question of how to create a common world through a critical examination of the unexamined assumptions that underpin emerging celebratory discourses on friendship, I consider the ways in which the words friends and friendship are indiscriminately used without acknowledging that the soundness of (...) this pedagogical choice is based on data collected from people (‘real life’ popular musicians) who are in, more often than not, instrumental relations of utility. In doing so I call for a rereading of friendship groups in order to resist the neoliberal injunction of self-interest, a survival-of-the-fittest ethos, and unchecked individualism. To that end I question the ways in which friendship groups in popular music groupings have become sites for developing and perfecting the neoliberal self. (shrink)

According to some collectivists, purposive groups that lack decision-making procedures such as riot mobs, friends walking together, or the pro-life lobby can be morally responsible and have moral duties. I focus on plural subject- and we-mode-collectivism. I argue that purposive groups do not qualify as duty-bearers even if they qualify as agents on either view. To qualify as a duty-bearer, an agent must be morally competent. I develop the Update Argument. An agent is morally competent only if the agent (...) has sufficient positive and negative control over updating their goal-seeking states. Positive control involves the general ability to update one’s goal-seeking states, whereas negative control involves the absence of other agents with the capacity to arbitrarily interfere with updating one’s goal-seeking states. I argue that even if purposive groups qualify as plural subjects or we-mode group agents, these groups necessarily lack negative control over updating their goal-seeking states. This creates a cut-off point for groups as duty-bearers: Organized groups may qualify as duty-bearers, whereas purposive groups cannot qualify as duty-bearers. (shrink)

To explore the reason why some biographies by or about politicians are more successful than others, and to help publishers consider the range of factors that may impact on their commissioning decisions, we sought to establish a range of likely influencing factors and to combine them in a formula. This is not a magic prediction tool, but rather a range of considerations that need to be worked through for various publishing propositions before decisions are made. As an exercise, and a (...) starting point for wider discussions, it may benefit a group of individuals preparing for an editorial meeting at which commissioning is to be considered. (shrink)

The latest attempt by a determined, well-resourced lobby to introduce a law to permit assisted suicide/euthanasia in the UK was announced 15 May 2013 in the House of Lords. There are many dangerous facets to their arguments, not least of which is the rôle they cast for doctors in this debate.Rush Rhees' remarks on the topic display a depth that is lacking in the current debate in the public square, which needs to be lifted from its current low level.I try (...) to show inter alia why the question of who is ‘qualified to speak’ in this deep moral dilemma is important ; why resistance is vital against a law, which must be general, permitting assisted suicide/euthanasia ; how one group of people judging another group of people as candidates for elimination, is based on the false notion that a disabled life is ‘not worth living’; that so many of the deep moral questions raised by assisted suicide/euthanasia are not even considered in the contemporary impoverished public debate. (shrink)