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2025-12-27
Cornelia Vikan
A longitudinal perspective of military ethics highlights how a range of factors—from recruitment and selection to the cultivation of a healthy military culture—play a crucial role in building the resilience necessary to reduce the risk of moral failure in military contexts.
2025-12-27
Ioannis Ladas
The global shortage of transplantable organs is becoming increasingly acute, prompting intensified debates over the ethical acceptability and feasibility of various forms of financial compensation for donors. Although organ donation in exchange for payment is legally prohibited in most countries, the prospect of a regulated market has gained support—even among some Christian bioethicists. Among the most notable proponents is H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., arguably the only Orthodox Christian bioethicist who openly contends that there is no fundamental moral objection to receiving or even requesting monetary compensation for organ donation. This article explores the ethical implications of compensated organ donation through the lens of Engelhardt’s bioethical thought, examining the reasoning and consequences of his position. It further argues that his perspective represents a personal philosophical stance rather than a reflection of the broader Orthodox theological tradition. Finally, the article underscores the need for sustained moral vigilance and ideological awareness in resisting the commodification of the human body, calling for ethical safeguards that transcend legal prohibitions. Keywords: Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Organ Transplantation, Organ Donation, H. T. Engelhardt
2025-06-18
Bjørn Hofmann
Medisinsk overaktivitet er dokumentert på en rekke områder, og beslaglegger betydelige ressurser. Denne artikkelen forsøker å besvare fire spørsmål: 1) Hva er medisinsk overaktivitet? 2) Hva er de etiske aspektene ved overaktivitet? 3) Hva er mekanismene bak og driverne for medisinsk overaktivitet? 4) Hva kan gjøres for å redusere uønsket medisinsk overaktivitet? Felles for medisinsk overaktivitet er at aktiviteten ikke er nødvendig eller berettiget ut fra et moralsk mål om å være mer til nytte enn skade og redusere lidelse. Medisinsk overaktivitet mangler derved en moralsk begrunnelse og bryter med alle de fire prinsippene i biomedisinsk etikk, men også spesifikt med konsekvensetikk og pliktetikk. Det finnes en rekke mekanismer bak og drivere for medisinsk overaktivitet, som peker mot angrepspunkter og strategier for å redusere medisinsk overaktivitet. En overordnet strategi er å sikre at medisinsk aktivitet direkte kan knyttes til det moralske mål om å redusere individers smerte, funksjonstap og lidelse. Reduksjon av overaktivitet er sentralt for å bevare medisinens moralske begrunnelse, men også kvalitet på tjenestene, pasientsikkerhet, tillit til medisinen og en bærekraftig helsetjeneste. Nøkkelord : overaktivitet, overdiagnostikk, overundersøkelse, overbehandling, sykdomssalg English title: Medical overactivity: What is it, what are the ethical issues and what can we do about it? English summary : Medical overactivity has been documented in a number of areas and consumes considerable resources. This article attempts to answer four questions: 1) What is medical overactivity? 2) What are the ethical aspects of overactivity? 3) What are the mechanisms behind and drivers of medical overactivity? 4) What can be done to reduce unwanted medical overactivity? What all medical overactivity has in common is that it is not necessary or justified in terms of a moral goal of reducing a person's pain, dysfunction or suffering. Medical overactivity thus lacks a moral justification and violates all four principles of biomedical ethics, but also specifically consequentialist ethics and deontology. There are many mechanisms behind and drivers of medical overactivity, which point to strategies to reduce medical overactivity. An overarching approach is to ensure that medical activity can be directly linked to the moral goal of reducing individuals' pain, loss of function and suffering. Reducing overactivity is key to preserving the moral justification of medicine, but also the quality of services, patient safety, trust in medicine and a sustainable health service. Key words : overactivity, overdiagnosis, overdetection, overtreatment, disease mongering
2025-06-18
Hans Morten Haugen
Among the most contentious practices within a globalized and corporatized economy is allegations of so-called ‘biopiracy’. This refers to the taking of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge without either free, prior and informed consent or any mechanisms for benefit-sharing with the community that provided the resource. Attempts to revise the TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) to bring it more in compliance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have not led to concrete results. The article analyzes CBD provisions, binding protocols and non-binding guiding documents, and two less known treaties of the United Nations. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), that joined the United Nations in 1974, has – after negotiating for almost 15 years – adopted the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge. The article demonstrates how this WIPO Treaty is embedded in the ‘defensive strategy’ of traditional knowledge protection, enabling patent examiners to reject a patent as the alleged invention does not represent new and applicable knowledge. The alternative, termed ‘positive strategy’, is witnessed primarily in India’s Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Act, which has resulted in more grants of certificates for so-called ‘farmers’ varieties’ compared to all other varieties together. Other United Nations treaties include elements of such protection, but not on the level of specify and subsequent implementation as found in India. The negotiations of what became the WIPO Treaty has generated increased awareness of indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge and should be easy to ratify as it aligns with existing legislation . Keywords : India’s Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Act, traditional knowledge, TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge
2024-12-27
Vilhjalmur Arnason
This article reflects on the central themes of Vilhjálmur Árnason's work, particularly his focus on contextualized morality and dialogical ethics. Vilhjálmur emphasizes the importance of balancing individual freedom and responsibility with an understanding of social and political contexts. By examining relational ethics across healthcare, research, and public health, the article highlights his contributions to bioethics, including concepts like informed consent, scientific citizenship, and authorization in biobank research. Vilhjálmur 1 advocates for communicative reasoning and authentic dialogue as essential tools for ethical analysis, situational decision-making, and fostering trust in research and healthcare practices. The work underscores the importance of trustworthiness, veracity, and participatory engagement in addressing modern ethical challenges, particularly in rapidly advancing biotechnologies. Keywords: Contextual ethics, dialogical ethics, relational autonomy, informed consent, authorization, bioethics, trustworthiness, communicative reasoning, healthcare ethics, public health ethics, scientific citizenship, biobank research
2024-09-02
Henrik Andersson, Andrés Garcia
Artificially cultivated meat may have environmental benefits and harm-reductive capabilities, making it crucial to establishing ethical food production practices. However, we argue that salient factors make producing and consuming artificially cultivated meat morally problematic. We detail some of these factors and highlight their roots in different ethical traditions. These factors present serious challenges to the moral permissibility of its production and consumption. We conclude that artificially cultivated meat is unlikely to be the best solution to today’s unethical food production practices. Keywords : cultivated meat, lab-grown meat, vegetarianism, animal rights, ethics
2024-06-10
Espen Lauritzen
2024-05-28
Martin Peterson, Barbro Fröding
An increasing number of cities around the globe aim to become Smart Cities through the implementation of a range of Information and Communication technologies (ICT), AI applications and cloud-based IoT solutions. While the underlying motivations vary, all such transitions require large amounts of data. In this paper, we articulate and defend two claims about privacy in a Smart City. Our first claim is that some level of systematic data collection and processing is ethically permissible. However, there is an upper limit for what is permissible: We suggest that it is never permissible to collect and process data that significantly undermine people’s autonomy. Our second claim specifies when such minor privacy infringements that do not significantly undermine people’s autonomy are permissible: We suggest that the only policies legitimized by the first claim are those that promote the collective good. Keywords : smart city, privacy, autonomy, natural right, collective good
2023-12-14
Rannveig Beito Svendby
Denne autoetnografien diskuterer en situasjon som oppsto på et feltarbeid i Norge, der jeg opplevde å være i fare i rollen som forsker. Først i det øyeblikket gikk det opp for meg at jeg ikke hadde tatt noen forholdsregler for å ivareta min egen sikkerhet i felt. Det skjedde selv om de øvrige deltagernes sikkerhet var grundig diskutert og hensyntatt gjennom en rekke tiltak i studien, som brukte en kulturelt responsiv, relasjonell, refleksiv etikk. I artikkelen drøfter jeg mulige konsekvenser av manglende oppmerksomhet i etiske retningslinjer og forskningspraksis rettet mot forskeres sikkerhet i felt. Jeg argumenterer for at veiledere har et etisk ansvar for å støtte uerfarne forskere i en refleksiv prosess om risikoen ved å delta i feltarbeid, slik at de kan ta forholdsregler for å redusere risiko. Nøkkelord: forskningsetikk, feltarbeid, risiko, veiledning, autoetnografi, CRRRE English abstract This autoethnography discusses a situation that arose during fieldwork in Norway, where I experienced being in danger in my role as a researcher. Only at that moment did it occur to me that I had not taken any precautions to ensure my own safety in the field. This happened even though the safety of the other participants had been thoroughly discussed and taken into account through a number of measures in the study, which used a culturally responsive, relational, reflexive ethic. In the article, I discuss the possible consequences of a lack of attention in ethical guidelines and research practices aimed at researchers' safety in the field. I argue that supervisors have an ethical responsibility to support inexperienced researchers in a reflexive process about the risks of participating in fieldwork, so that they can take precautions to reduce risk. Keywords: research ethics, fieldwork, risk, supervision, autoethnography, CRRRE