Sustainable communities depend on ethical people. This book explains how multi-modal systems thinking can be applied to ethical and normative issues of community life. It also provides a practical way forward by using the methodology and SmCube software for social systems analysis and design. These are presented in an extensive case study of life in Rosvik, a village in northern Sweden, where a group of villagers struggle to sustain their village against the loss of people and economic resources to large industrial centres of the south. The book examines the predicament which villagers are struggling with and provides a design of activities to revitalise the village, challenge its leadership and retain the next generation. Ethics and Sustainable Community Design will be of interest to ...

Physicians and patients have received inaccurate medical laboratory test results that have put patients at risk. The purpose of this study is to determine the moral reasoning level of medical laboratory professionals. The theoretical framework that guided this study is grounded by the theories of cognitive development. The study used a population survey and Defining Issues Test, version 2 (DIT-2) questionnaires to collect data. Forty-seven participants from a medical laboratory were surveyed, and hypotheses were tested between moral reasoning scores (dependent variable) and age, gender, level of education, years of experience and job type (independent variables). Data were subjected to ANOVA and the results showed that laboratory professionals’ moral reasoning (N2=26.57, P=30.46) was low...

This book reveals a remarkable oddity about the mainstream philosophy of science. While rejecting a noxious relativism, it is unable to ascribe "truth" to scientific theories that also are divorced conceptually from ethics and politics. There is much at stake since these dilemmas have led to a politicized truth whereby "truth" in these areas is often decided ideologically. But the ideology and splintered areas collide head-on with our awareness of ourselves and the world. By relating a world of which we are phenomenologically conscious to a common-sense reasoning, a novel case is made for objective scientific truth, a true causal principle, and the principle's implication of a First Cause. This Cause, as a Creator of Nature, begets moral norms intrinsic to scientific descriptions of our ps...

In this research, the author analyzes Derrida's understanding of the way society is created out of a collection of individuals, how the individuals preserve their singularity and freedom within a social system and the meaning of ethics, as it comes out in his early writings. In this work, the researcher used a phenomenological method of research and Cassirer's way of analyzing the symbolic forms as a framework to analyze the early writing of Derrida. Although it is not a common approach to combine Derrida's philosophy with that of Cassirer's, the researcher found that Cassirer's ideas help to show Derrida's unique position.

On Hunger focuses on the interface between food and public health and on the flawed regulations intended to protect us. Food not only represents nourishment for the body; it also possesses other valuable aspects that are protected by international legal instruments. Westra argues for the importance of effecting radical changes: to protect and improve the present system of food production and distribution. Starting from several reports produced by the FAO and the WHO, Westra argues for the need of a complete and radical re-evaluatio of current practices and systems in order to meet the obligation of the international community to prevent hunger. There is a particular emphasis on the problems facing the poor in the third world, but also the different but equally grave problems of those in ...

The efficacy, consequences and ethical principles surrounding sexual reorientation therapies provided by health professionals has been debated in the public, professional and academic arenas since the first interventions were offered. This thesis applies a model for problem solving in bioethics to the issues raised by this debate. This in depth exploration of the facts and fictions surrounding the provision of sexual reorientation interventions through the critical lens of bioethics will be useful to those patients, health professionals, and health policy makers who struggle to make sense of a highly political health care issue. Sexual reorientation is fraught with conflicting moral and ethical implications that impact the patient and the health professional on many levels. Bioethi...

What do Plato and the Bible tell us about bribery? Does it even matter? When it comes to ethical guidance on bribery should we look less to traditional wisdom and instead be seeking understanding and guidance primarily from modern sources? From economists with their talk of efficient markets, and from the critical theorists who focus on inequities in power relations? This book explores such questions in depth.Taking the form of a Platonic dialogue, the book contains a discussion of claims made for recognition of the positive aspects of bribery. This goes beyond the well-known "harmless" bribe - the facilitating or “grease” payment which encourages an official to speed up the performance of his or her existing duties, without additional favors. This type of baksheesh may be unattractive...

American, African, European, and Middle Eastern (N = 420) technical professional employees of a multinational organization were surveyed to explore the relationship between perceived values congruence (PVC) and organizational commitment (OC). PVC was looked at as a function of fit between: (a) person s and organization s actual values and (b) organization s espoused and actual values. Four dimensions of values (ethics, people, change, and bottom line) and three components of OC (affective, continuance, and normative) were considered. The key findings of the study were: (a) PVC was related to OC; (b) the relationship was different for each component of OC and socio-cultural group; and (c) the regression models that described these relationships showed that each socio-cultural group was most...

William James and John Dewey insisted that pragmatic philosophy finds meaning in its struggle to deal with emergent social problems. Ironically, few have attempted to use pragmatism to articulate methods for ameliorating social difficulties. This dissertation attempts to do just that by putting James' and Dewey's philosophy to work on the moral and scientific problems associated with genetic engineering and the Human Genome Project. The intention is to demonstrate the usefulness of a pragmatic approach to applied ethics and philosophy of biology. The work of proponents and critics of genetic engineering is examined, including LeRoy Hood, Hans Jonas, Leon Kass, Robert Nozick, Jeremy Rifkin, Robyn Rowland, and Paul Ramsey. It is concluded that excessive optimism and pessimism about gene...

As the sun set on the 20th century, a new age dawned in Japan. This new era, symbolized by the postmodern city of Tokyo, has ushered in not only technological innovation and economic prowess, but changing attitudes and values among Japanese young people. This transformation is not an uncommon or even new phenomenon, but simply the result of modern life. And one of the symptoms of modernity is the prevalence of an “ethics of materialism,” the ever-increasing concern for the acquisition of wealth and commodity goods, sometimes at the expense of the concern for human life itself. Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher whose writings examined topics including, but not limited to, art, history, and politics. His life’s work, published posthumously as The Arcad...

This thesis argues that with the advance of scientific knowledge, particularly in cosmology, Natural Theology can now provide an answer to the question as to the reason for the existence of man and the world. Aristotle had reasoned from the contingency of the world to the necessity of a God. He had also concluded that the world was unworthy of God's concern, as God could not be concerned with a world which was significantly different from God himself. Aristotle's reasoning from the world up to God, together with his inability to reason down from God to the world, established an antinomy. The history of subsequent attempts to avoid this antinomy, and to provide an explanation for the existence of the world, is considered. No such attempt is found to be successful. A hidden assumpti...

Most books of spirituality are far removed from intellectual rigor, and most books of philosophy are as dry as old bones. This volume seeks to bridge the gap. The author invites his readers to view the modern world through philosophical eyes as he relates Plato's words to issues such as friendship, human -rights, education, sexuality, bio-ethics and politics. Plato's words are quoted throughout the text; along with those of other thinkers such as Origen, Aquinas, King Charles I of England, Neitzche, Popper, Benedict XVI, and even Voldemort - the villain of the Harry Potter books.

Originally written as a study guide to assist individuals preparing for the Certified Crisis Operations Manager examination, this volume provides a reference manual for emergency managers on the organizational structures, facilities, and procedures used to manage disaster response operations. The focus is on management of operations during the period immediately prior to disaster onset, the event impact, and the immediate post impact period. Topics covered include the Incident Command System, Command Posts, Emergency Operations Center facilities and organization, emergency plans and guidance documents, information management, interface procedures, communications, strategy and tactics, decision processes, risks and safety, media relations, documentation, stress management, and standards a...

Nonprofit governance is like sports officiating. Umpires and referees don't play the game. They manage the game. That's what governance does for a nonprofit organization. People assigned to governance oversee how the organization is managed and work to make the entire business as effective as possible. Governance for Nonprofits itemizes the duties of governance, explains what a nonprofit organization needs to successfully accomplish its Mission Statement and provides the road map to an ongoing, smoothly operating, profitable, not-for-profit organization. Governance for Nonprofits does this by: * Explaining the purpose and role of governance in a nonprofit corporation * Defining the duties of board members and board officers * Showing how to be an effective member of a board of d...

The central concern of this book is with the "prediction problem" in biomedical research. In particular, the authors examine the use of animal models to predict human responses in drug and disease research. The arguments discussed are drawn from both biological and biomedical theory (with numerous examples and case studies drawn from evolutionary biology, complex systems theory, oncology, teratology, and AIDS research), and analyses of empirical evidence (concerning, for example, data on intra- and inter-species differences revealed by recent results from genome analyses of various species, human population studies, and statistical studies of the predictive utility of animal models). This book comes to the unique conclusion that while animals can be successfully used for many endeavors in ...

Nobody should have a monopoly of the truth in this universe. The censorship and suppression of challenging ideas against the tide of mainstream research, the blacklisting of scientists, for instance, is neither the best way to do and filter science, nor to promote progress in the human knowledge. The removal of good and novel ideas from the scientific stage is very detrimental to the pursuit of the truth. There are instances in which a mere unqualified belief can occasionally be converted into a generally accepted scientific theory through the screening action of refereed literature and meetings planned by the scientific organizing committees and through the distribution of funds controlled by "club opinions". It leads to unitary paradigms and unitary thinking not necessarily associated to...

This study investigated whether known economic and international business theories available in the literature are meaningful enough to explain the nature, existence and role of multinational companies (MNCs) in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia. Two sets of questionnaires were distributed in major cities of Saudi Arabia -- one set for 100 multinational managers and another for 280 multinational customers. 234 questionnaires were collected -- 45 from multinational managers and 189 from customers. This represents a total response rate of 62 percent, which is adequate for this study.The empirical results, supported with comprehensive secondary data, confirmed virtually all of the research hypotheses. The study found that joint ventures are the dominant form of multinational business...

Leaders who must deal with crises afflicting their communities often discover that these crises depend upon normative factors transcending mere economics. The factors include such things as ethics, justice and belief. They also discover that there are not many tools available to analyse them and to assist their decision-making. The author presents a method to identify the primary factors that are threatening communities, to collect information about such factors, organise it and analyse it. More importantly, leaders can develop models to examine how factors interact with each other to sustain or to threaten the viability of a community. These models can also be used to redesign and manage the community and ensure its long-term viability. Although solidly based on theory, the object o...

The purpose of this book is to define and explain concepts in distance learning academia. The intended audience are students, faculty, staff and managers at tertiary education organizations. The ten chapters elucidate factors, concepts and trends which increasingly effect the academic environment of distance learning, such as: -creativity -communication practices -culture, identity and equity -academic freedom -goodstudy habits -ethics -OpenEducational Resources (OER) -networking -Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Don't get caught legally unaware-- This book is a must read for real estate appraisers, brokers and attorneys. It explains in a clear way the sometimes difficult but important areas of the law that impact the real estate and legal professions. Some of the main areas covered are how to become an outstanding expert witness, malpractice, ethics, standards of proof, stare decisis, attorney ploys on cross examination, how to become an excellent expert witness, how to bullet proof an appraisal, negligence, common mistakes appraisers make, how to compare two appraisals on the same property. The book is laced with illustrative examples and citations to the court reports. There is also a five page key word index for easy reference. It is organized so that concepts, principles, guidelines, ...

In the midst of the cold and dark in the current practice of medicine there is a glimmer of hope called the soul of medicine - comprehensive, compassionate, patient-clinician interactions focused solely on the needs of the patient - that can warm and enlighten both patients and clinicians. This book consists of essays and poems describing patient-clinician interactions exhibiting the soul of medicine. Though coming from different viewpoints, both the general public and medical personnel can be enlightened from what they read. The general public has the opportunity to witness the lifting of the veil that shades the lives of clinicians and their loved ones - and from that observation, to occasionally understand why patients are treated as they are. For medical practitioners, what is read off...