Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Combat – Moral and ethical aspects'
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Coleman, Stephen 1968. "The ethical implications of human ectogenesis." Monash University, School of Philosophy, Linguistics and Bioethics, 2001. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/8904.
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Olivier, Stephen Chris. "Ethical issues in human movement research." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015402.
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In acknowledging past abuses of humans in research contexts, and recognising the potential for malpractices in Human Movement Studies (HMS), this study evaluated the extent to which ethical issues are addressed in the discipline. The primary method consisted of the standard techniques of philosophic analysis, with empirical data complementing the conclusions. In general, the study contends that insufficient attention is paid to ethical issues in HMS research. In response to a set of specifically constructed, ethically problematic research proposals, only 1.8% of comments from senior researchers advocated rejection of the proposals on ethical grounds. Also, a journal search indicated that consideration of ethical issues in published research may largely be absent. Questionnaire responses revealed that South African HMS departments may be deficient in terms of accountability towards ethical guidelines. Whilst noting the existence of utilitarian ethics in HMS research, it is advocated that deontologic principles should take precedence. Further, only a sound educative effort will produce improvements. In conclusion, this study advocates a deontology-based approach to research ethics. This is consistent with the contention that the use of humans in research is a privilege, and that the rights of participants ought to outweigh the desire of researchers to conduct research.
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Okolie, Patricia. "Suicide : a philosophical and ethical perspective." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52469.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Suicide is a truly philosophical problem. Judging whether life is or not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. In Africa, suicide is not uncommon as evidenced by the Botswana experience. Suicide acts are the forefront of the daily existence even today. Suicide is felt in different areas of Botswana and while the study draws heavily on Africa especially Botswana, reference is also made to countries outside Africa. Hence, suicide in this thesis is not addressed in a restrictive manner. But its manifestation in essence is assessed in a general mode. This implies that the escalation of suicide is viewed from the sociological, psychological and philosophical implications. Although it is not easy to accept and live with suicide, people are beginning to accommodate it as an inevitable concept. However, the family and friends of a person who has committed suicide still feels ashamed, humiliated and sometimes guilty. The aim of this assignment is to analyse and evaluate the moral argument for and against suicide and to focus on the moral implications of committing suicide. While agreeing that individuals' autonomy are personal, the writer tries to suggest a way out of this self-destruction (suicide) which is just a means to an end and not an end in itself. The writer in the concluding chapter tries to explore the pros and cons of suicide, and comes up with the conclusion that the right to live should be given attention than the right to die, at least to preserve its generations which all creatures strive for. Areas of focus: • The concept of Suicide • The nature and incidence of Suicide. • Arguments in favour of Suicide • Arguments against Suicide • The Suicide I Euthanasia Debate
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Selfmoord is 'n ware filosofiese probleem. Om te oordeel of 'n lewe die moeite werd is om gelewe te word, vereis 'n antwoord op 'n fundamentele vraag van filosofie. In Afrika is selfmoord nie ongewoon nie, soos gesien in die geval van Botswana. Selfmoord kom baie algemeen daar voor. Selfmoord word aangetref in verskeie areas in Botswana, en, alhoewel die studie fokus op Afrika - en spesifiek Botswana, word daar ook verwys na lande buite Afrika. Maar die manifestasie daarvan word in essensie en in die algemeen aangespreek. Dit beteken dat die toename in selfmoord in terme van die verskynsel se sosiologiese, sielkundige en filosofiese implikasies aangespreek word. Alhoewel dit nie maklik is on selfmoord te aanvaar en mee saam te leef nie, begin mense dit aanvaar as 'n onvermydelike verskynsel. Maar die familie van 'n persoon wat selfmoord gepleeg het voel steeds skaam, verneder en soms skuldig. Die doel van hierdie werkstuk is om die argumente vir en teen selfmoord te analiseer, te evalueer, en om te fokus op die morele implikasies van selfmoord. Alhoewel die outeur saamstem dat individue outonoom is, word sterk teen die morele aanvaarbaarheid van selfmoord geargumenteer. In die gevolgtrekking ondersoek die outeur die voordele en nadele van selfmoord en eindig met die bevinding dat die reg tot lewe meer aandag behoort te kry as die sg. reg om te sterf. Areas waarop gefokus word: • Die konsep "selfmoord" as sodanig • Die aard van selfmoord en (hoe algemeen dit voorkom.) • Argumente ten gunste van selfmoord • Argumente teen selfmoord • Die selfmoord -genadedood debat
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Scott, Rebekah Anne. "On complex terms : James among the ethical critics." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.609038.
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Van, Schalkwyk Tanya Leonie. "The ethical conduct of new entry level emerging contractors." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4932.
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Ethics is not a new or modern discipline. It was developed thousands of years ago and still remains relevant today. Ethics is applied in all spheres of modern life from philosophy to business and religious environments and even around dinner table conversations. It is applicable to all areas of life. This research is aimed at investigating whether ethical conduct among new entry level emerging contractors can contribute to and ensure their sustainable competitiveness within the South African construction industry. This research is also aimed at determining whether education and knowledge of entrepreneurship, business, project and construction management and building contracts can contribute to new entry level emerging contractors’ ethical conduct and sustainable competitiveness. The literature reviewed and results of quantitative and qualitative research amongst professional consultants in South Africa formed the basis of the study. Ethics is a sensitive topic within the industry and therefor it is difficult to gather data directly from contractors, as they are reluctant to participate in fear of revealing their identities and having it negatively influencing their personal and business credentials. Therefor unbiased respondents who were not directly linked to emerging contractors and who were unafraid to give objective opinions were questioned. These unbiased respondents included consultants within the industry. The study revealed that ethics is an important factor in any business environment and that the correct application thereof can partially contribute to the sustainable competitiveness of new entry level emerging contractors and this in turn can promote the long term survival of a business. Furthermore, knowledge of good management practices and building contracts can contribute to a successfully run business. However, the average new entry level emerging contractor has insufficient experience and knowledge of the management of construction projects, as well as building contracts.
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Hooker, Brad. "Why should I be moral?" Thesis, University of Oxford, 1986. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2b44fe6f-39b7-4d16-9b5c-8d8eb7251323.
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I begin my discussion of the question 'Why should I be moral?' by drawing distinctions both between possible different senses of 'moral' and also between different conceptions of what morality requires. I then criticize the idea that one should be moral because it serves self-interest. Self-interest is served by one's having benevolent concern for only a fairly small number of others, but being moral involves more than this. Furthermore, having moral dispositions other than benevolence is in one's interest only if these dispositions are required by the moral code predominant in one's society. Moreover, even if we confine our attention to people who live in such a society, each person would probably be better off with moral dispositions that were not so strong that they would always get their way, but the completely moral person would presumably have overriding moral dispositions. Finally, having the correct moral beliefs may not be in one's interest. But whatever the gap between self-interest and morality, might one not have most reason to be moral? Derek Parfit has recently argued that the view that one has most reason to do whatever best achieves one's present aims (and these may sometimes be moral aims) is at least as good as the view that one has most reason to do what best promotes one's own long-term good. I attack some of his arguments. But I then go on to argue that moral requirements as such—i.e., independently of whether they are reflected in present desires—do generate reasons for action. But are these moral reasons always stronger than reasons of other kinds? On the basis of an example I describe in the closing pages, I reluctantly conclude that they are not.
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Silove, Melanie. "Ethical decision-making in the therapeutic space : a psychoanalytic view." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020873.
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This study examined the ethical decision-making process as it transpired in the everyday context of the therapeutic space. In-depth interviews explored the subjective experiences of six South African psychologists, practicing as psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and their efforts to resolve real-life ethical dilemmas. The theoretical framework used to interpret the data subsumed professional literature in psychology on principle-based ethical decision-making as well as contemporary psychoanalytic debates on the phenomenon of countertransference enactments. A review of ethics codes, survey research and seminal decision-making frameworks suggests that ethical dilemmas have traditionally been resolved by recourse to an objective and impartial “principle ethics” perspective. Empirical evidence shows, however, that logical thinking and the rational application of codes, principles and standards are often insufficient to secure ethical action. The establishment of reflective space and the core theoretical notion of “ethical decision-making enactments” were proposed in order to address the subjective, irrational and unconscious dimension of professional decision-making. This study used a broadly hermeneutic research method which transformed participants‟ descriptions of engagement with real-life dilemmas into a psychoanalytically informed interpretive account of ethical decision-making. Twelve aspirational ethical principles were found to guide participants‟ daily analytic work. Beneficence was the principle most strongly identified with and nonmaleficence was the most neglected ethical principle. Unprocessed countertransference responses were shown to drive earlier prereflective phases of the ethical decision-making process. Mature ethical judgment was predicated upon the retrospective analysis of enactment phenomena. Dissatisfaction was expressed by all participants with regard to the role of professional resources in aiding the resolution of stressful ethical dilemmas. Risk factors for compromised professional decision-making included the paucity and perceived irrelevance of postgraduate ethics training, supervisory failure to confront the ethical and countertransference dimensions of common dilemmas and professional isolation. Rather than eliciting the hope of emotional support and greater insight, professional resources on the contrary mostly appeared to induce anxiety, mistrust and fearfulness. Based on the data and the literature, a pragmatic psychoanalytically informed ethical decision-making model was finally generated. The model, which considers both principle ethics as well as countertransference phenomena, offers a preliminary contribution to professional dialogue on the development and evaluation of empirically based decision-making frameworks. Practical recommendations are made for both the revision of the current South African ethics code and for improving the postqualifying ethics education of psychoanalytic practitioners and supervisors. The limitations of the data are discussed and directions for future research initiatives are proposed.
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Van, Bogaert Louis-Jacques. "Abortion, sentience and moral standing : a neurophilosophical appraisal." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52619.
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Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Moral theories on abortion are often regarded as mutually exclusive. On the one hand, pro-life advocates maintain that abortion is always morally wrong, for life is sacred from its very beginning. On the other hand, the extreme liberal view advocated by the absolute pro-ehoieers claims that the unborn is not a person and has no moral standing. On this view there is no conflict of rights; women have the right to dispose of their body as they wish. Therefore, killing a non-person is always permissible. In between the two extreme views, some moral philosophers argue that a 'pre-sentient' embryo or fetus cannot be harmed because it lacks the ability to feel pain or pleasure, for it is 'sentience' that endows a living entity (human and non-human) with moral considerability. Therefore, abortion of a pre-sentient embryo or fetus is permissible. Neurophilosophy rests a philosophical conclusion on neurological premises. In other words, to be tenable sentientism - the claim that sentience endows an entity with moral standing - needs robust neurobiological evidence. The question is, then: What is the basic neuroanatomical and neurophysiological apparatus required to be sentient? The answer to that question requires a fair understanding of the evolution, anatomy and function of the brain. The exploration thereof shows quite convincingly that the advocates of sentientism do not provide convincing arguments to root their theory in neurobiological facts. Their claims rest rather on emotions and on behaviours that look like a reaction to pain. The other shortcoming of sentientism is that it fails to distinguish pain from suffering, and that as a utilitarian moral theory it considers only the alleged pain of the aborted sentient fetus and disregards the pregnant woman's pain and suffering. And, finally, sentientism leaves out of our moral consideration living and non-living entities that deserve moral respect. The main thrust of the dissertation is that the argument of sentience as its advocates present it has no neurophilosophical grounds. Therefore, the argument from sentience is not a convincing argument in favour or against abortion.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Morele teorieë wat handeloor aborsie word dikwels as wedersyds uitsluitend beskou. "Pro-life" kampvegters hou oor die algemeen vol dat aborsie onder alle omstandighede moreel veroordeelbaar is, omdat die lewe van meet af heilig is. Daarteenoor hou die ekstreem-liberale oogpunt, wat deur "Pro-choice" voorstaanders ingeneem word, vol dat die ongeborene nie 'n persson is nie, en as sulks geen morele status het nie. Volgens hierdie standpunt is daar geen konflik van regte hier ter sprake nie; vroue het uitsluitelike beskikkingsreg oor hulle eie liggame. Dus is dit toelaatbaar om onder hierdie omstandighede 'n "nie-persoon" om die lewe te bring. Tussen hierdie twee ekstreme standpunte argumenteer party morele filosowe dat die voorbewuste embrio of fetus nie skade berokken kan word nie, omdat dit nie oor die vermoë beskik om pyn of plesier te voel nie. Dit is juis bewussyn en die vermoë om waar te neem wat morele status aan 'n entiteit (hetsy menslik of nie-menslik) verleen. Dus is dit toelaatbaar om 'n voorbewustw embrio of fetus te aborteer. Neurofilosofie basseer filosofiese gevolgtrekkinge op neurolgiese beginsels. Met andere woorde, so 'n standpunt sal eis dat 'n argument oor bewustheid op betroubare neurologiese feite gebasseer word, om sodoende met sekerheid morele status, al dan nie, aan de fetus of embrio toe te ken. Die vraag is dan: Wat is die basiese neuroanatomiese en neurofiologiese apparatuur waaroor 'n entiteit moet beskik om as bewus beskou te word? Die antwoord op hierdie vraag vereis dan ook 'n redelik grondige kennis van die evolusie, anatomie en funksie van die brein. Wanneer die vraagstuk van naderby beskou word, word dit duidelik dat voorstaanders van die bewustheids-argument oor die algemeen nie hulle standpunte op oortuigende, neurologiese feite berus nie. Hulle beweringe rus dan eerder op emosie en op waargenome optredes wat voorkom asof dit 'n reaksie op pyn is. Nog 'n tekortkoming van die bewustheids-argument is dat dit nie 'n onderskeid tref tussen die konsep van pyn en die van leiding nie, en dat dit as 'n utilitaristiese morele teorie slegs die beweerde pyn van die ge-aborteerde fetus in ag neem en nie die leiding van die swanger vrouw nie. Ten slotte neem die bewustheids-argument ook nie morele status van lewende en nie-lewende entiete, wat geregtig is op morele respek, in ag nie. Die hoof uitgangspunt van hierdie dissertasie is dan dat die bewustheids-argument, soos wat dit tans deur voorstanders daarvan voorgehou word, nie neurofilosfies begrond kan word nie. Dus is die argument vanuit 'n bewustheids-standpunt nie 'n oortuigende argument hetsy vir of teen aborsie nie.
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Brouillet, Miriam. "Is it justified to patent human genetic resources?" Thesis, McGill University, 2003. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=19699.
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In the past century, the scope of patentable objects has greatly expanded. Patents are now being granted on living organisms, human biological material and genes. What are the consequences of such practices for scientific research and health care? One of the fundamental philosophical questions behind this issue is the following: are we justified in patenting human genetic material? An examination of the traditional philosophical justification of intellectual property will allow us to critically explore whether or not this practice is ethically justifiable. It will be argued that the consequentialist justification of intellectual property requires, in this present case, that we modify the patent regimes in order to maximise social benefits and minimize public burdens.
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Bigney, Mark W. "Neither mechanic nor high priest : moral suasion and the physician-patient relationship." Thesis, McGill University, 2006. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=99576.
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The most ordinary man or woman has means of knowledge concerning his own feelings and circumstances that immeasurably surpass those that anyone else can have.-John Stuart Mill, On LibertyOne feature that varies within competing conceptions of medical shared decision-making is how a patient's values are to be engaged by a physician. One detail that can be overlooked under "shared" decision-making is whether or not a physician ought (or be allowed) to attempt to persuade the patient to adopt particular health-related values. Some argue that it is incumbent on a physician to share her privileged understanding of medicine so as to help her patient embrace "better" values. This thesis argues that it is dangerous to patient autonomy for a physician to exert moral suasion on her patient to attempt to influence or change those values; the danger lies in the power imbalance between patients and physicians that seems inherent in medical encounters, and is exacerbated by the sick role. Thus, while a physician ought to help her patient articulate his health-related values, she ought not try to change them.
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Lasky, Benjamin M. "Chronic accessibility of virtue-trait inferences : a social-cognitive approach to the moral personality." Virtual Press, 2000. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1177985.
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This study examined the hypothesis that the moral personality is one in which moral knowledge structures are chronically accessible. A spontaneous trait inference cued-recall paradigm was employed. It was expected that those with chronically accessible moral knowledge structures (N = 61) would spontaneously encode virtue-content information differently than those with less chronically accessible moral knowledge structures (N = 77). High and low moral chronic accessibility participants were instructed to memorize sentences that contained virtue-content implications. Sentence recall was then cued by either virtuous dispositional terms or by words that were linked semantically to the sentences. Within the spontaneous processing condition, dispositional cues prompted twice as much recall as semantic cues among participants with high moral chronic accessibility whereas semantic cues prompted twice as much recall as dispositional cues among participants with low moral chronic accessibility. As predicted, within the deliberate processing conditions, there were no high/low moral chronic accessibility differences. These findings support the claim that the moral personality is usefully conceptualized in terms of the chronic accessibility of moral knowledge structures.Department of Educational Psychology
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Fu, Lin. "On efficacy of ethical investment : a comparative study between UK and Chinese company practices." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683316.
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Moore, Nancy Helen Vuckovic 1956. "Things that are good and things that are chocolate: A cultural model of weight control as morality." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291712.
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The ideology of weight control as evidenced in the discourse of American adolescent girls is explored via a cognitive approach to discourse analysis, and focuses on the teasing out of cultural models through evidence in natural language. It is hypothesized that a cultural model exists which equates weight control with a moral code reflective of the Protestant ethic. The research examines how the cultural model frames experience by supplying interpretations of that experience, and how it influences behavior by supplying goals for action. The cognitive salience of the model within the belief system of the individual regulates the degree of influence the model has on behavior. Four levels of influence are proposed, ranging from cultural cliche to motivation of disordered eating. The predominant influence is found to be as an occasional guide to weight controlling action or discourse about such action.
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Watkins, Gareth. "Animal suffering in factory farming and the best way to prevent it." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003736.
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This thesis moves beyond the traditional approaches of how we ought to treat animals, and instead concentrates on the best strategy for preventing animal suffering in the farming industry. Chapter 1 considers the question of how we can know that animals feel pain, and concludes not only that it is rational to believe that they can, but also that this is a significant fact. Chapter 2 then analyses one possible strategy for helping to prevent animal suffering, namely demi-vegetarianism. For a number of reasons, however, this strategy is found to be flawed, therefore Chapter 3 analyses a second possible strategy, namely vegetarianism, and concludes that this is, in fact, the best strategy for helping to prevent animal suffering in the farming industry.
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Hurlimann, Thierry. "The duty to treat very defective neonates as "persons" : from the legal and moral personhood of very defective neonates to their best interests in medical treatment." Thesis, McGill University, 2003. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=80929.
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The dramatic improvement of neonatal intensive care has produced vexing ethical and legal questions. One of the most striking issues is to determine whether the most defective neonates should be provided with intensive care and to what extent they should be treated. This thesis demonstrates that an attempt to answer this question and an analysis of the demands and limitations of a duty to treat defective neonates cannot properly occur without first considering the legal concerns and ethical issues surrounding the notion of "person". The author examines germane ethical theories and North-American jurisprudence to see what approaches and standards commentators and courts have adopted in this respect. This thesis demonstrates that in the context of the cessation or non-initiation of intensive care, the legal and moral status of very defective neonates remain ambiguous. In particular, the author suggests that a legal best interests analysis that includes quality of life considerations may actually involve the use of criteria similar to those supported by the authors of the controversial moral theories that negate the personhood of seriously handicapped newborns. The author ultimately concludes that a clear divide between the legal definition of the "person" and the moral and social perceptions of that term is misleading.
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Brown, Elizabeth Jean. "The quest for whole sight or seeing with the eye of the mind and the eye of the heart : a place for imagination in moral education." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/MQ37194.pdf.
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Pousao-Lopes, Cecilia. "The mind values meaning above knowledge : narrative and moral education." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD_0004/MQ43935.pdf.
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Wimbush, James C. "Ethical climates and ethical behavior." Diss., This resource online, 1991. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-07282008-134238/.
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Benshalom, Edna. "Moral dilemmas of medical students : a study of ethical aspects of medical training." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30935.
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This study examines the ethical reality of medical students, and ethical curricular aspects of medical school. The 'received curriculum' is analysed using a combined interdisciplinary theoretical framework of 'Ethics' and 'Curriculum'. Defined in terms of students' experience of the curriculum, and the participants' perceived moral reality, the study was framed within a phenomenological-interpretive research paradigm. Content analysis of the 'narrative corpus' obtained by 38 open questionnaires addressed to sixth-year medical students, and by 21 interviews with medical students and senior faculty members, was conducted. Based on students' interviews, holistic 'ethical profiles' were produced, and proved to be significantly informative. The study shows that during their clinical training years, medical students cope with daily contextual moral dilemmas that relate to their culture and status and involve subtle, elaborately-calculated decisions. The student's authentic, reflective and analytical accounts of their ethical dilemmas, lead to the novel concept of students' 'moral awareness'. This increasing awareness of ethical dilemmas complexity sheds light on an adult ethical-cognitive stage, characterised by pragmatic thinking focused on content, and by internalisation of relativism and contradictions. The study further demonstrates the significance of students' experience for viewing and evaluating curriculum: the students, who perceived their ethics 'received curriculum' in its totality, consequently offered important insights concerning ethical processes, thus enriching the 'traditional' medical school curricular thought.
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Brugger, E. Christian. "Capital punishment, abolition and Roman Catholic moral tradition." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2000. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:352bddad-62d7-4621-9043-b603afdc5855.
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The last fifty years have seen a turn in the Catholic Church's public attitude toward capital punishment. From openly defending the right of the state to kill malefactors, the Church has become an outspoken opponent. What accounts for this? How can it be reconciled with Catholic tradition? Should the current teaching be called a 'development of doctrine'? Can we expect further change? These questions shape this thesis. The work is divided into three parts comprising a total of eight chapters. Part I undertakes a detailed exegesis of the death penalty teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997). I conclude that the text, while not explicitly stating that the death penalty is in itself wrong, lays down premises which when carried to their logical conclusions, yield just such a conclusion. This conclusion is checked and confirmed by the fundamental moral reasoning found in the papal encyclicals Evangelium Vitae and Veritatis Splendor. In light of this conclusion (what I call the new position), Part II asks the question: may the Church, constrained by sound biblical interpretation and dogmatic tradition, legitimately teach in a definitive way that capital punishment is per se wrong? This is a question which concerns the development of doctrine. Before it can be answered the Church's traditional teaching needs to be precisely formulated so that it can be placed in juxtaposition to the new teaching. An analysis of statements throughout ecclesiastical history is therefore undertaken and what we might call the cumulative consensus of ecclesiastical writers on capital punishment is formulated. The authoritative nature of this teaching is analyzed to determine what kinds of developments it admits and excludes. Judging its nature admits of a development like the one described in Part I, models are proposed to explain modes by which it might be understood to be developing. Finally, a systematic and philosophically consistent account of the new position is proposed and its implications for other teachings in the Church's tradition of 'justifiable violence' is examined.
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Reilly, Elizabeth. "Objectivity and responsibility in moral education." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ27233.pdf.
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Viviers, Suzette. "A critical assessement of socially responsible investing in South Africa." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/637.
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This research deals with socially responsible investing (SRI) in its broadest context in South Africa and includes an analysis of the risk-adjusted performance of local SRI funds. SRI refers to an investment strategy whereby investors integrate moral as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations alongside conventional financial criteria in evaluating investment opportunities. Typical SRI strategies include screening, shareholder activism and cause-based (targeted) investing. The primary objective of this research was to obtain a deeper understanding of SRI in South Africa as it represents a powerful means whereby private sector capital can be channelled into areas of national priority. Data and methodological triangulation strategies were adopted to investigate the research problem, respond to the research questions and test the research hypotheses of this study. The phenomenological component of the research consisted of an extensive literature review as well as in-depth, face-to-face interviews conducted with twelve SRI fund managers and industry experts. The positivistic dimension of this research centred on the construction of the first complete database of SRI funds in South Africa, the sourcing of quantitative primary data and the testing of eight pairs of null and alternative hypotheses. Risk-adjusted performance was evaluated by means of the Sharpe, Sortino and Upside-potential ratios during three sub-periods, namely 1 June 1992 to 31 August 1998, 1 September 1998 to 31 March 2002 and 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2006. Forty-three SRI funds have been launched in South Africa since June 1992 and it is estimated that SRIs constitute approximately 0.7 percent of the total investment capacity in the country. It was found that most local SRI funds combine a cause-based investment strategy with a positive or best-of-sector screening approach. ESG screens were found to focus on the promotion of broad-based Black Economic Empowerment and the development of social infrastructure in South Africa. The FTSE/JSE SRI Index and the Financial Sector Charter were identified as the most prominent drivers of SRI in South Africa, whereas a lack of skills and a shortage of new SRI opportunities, asset classes and funds were seen as impediments to the growth of the local SRI sector. The empirical evidence shows that: - local SRI funds underperformed relative to their respective benchmark indices during the first two sub-periods but significantly outperformed them during sub-period three (the resurgence period of SRI in South Africa); - local SRI fund performance is not significantly different from that of a matched sample of conventional (non-SRI) funds; and - local SRI funds significantly underperformed relative to the general equity market in South Africa during sub-period two (the decline period of SRI in South Africa) but performed on a par with the FTSE/JSE All Share Index during sub-periods one and two. The findings of this research therefore suggest that investors can consider SRI funds as part of a well-diversified investment strategy. It is strongly recommended that a Social Investment Forum be established in South Africa to address the educational needs of stakeholders in the local SRI sector. It is also recommended that local asset managers adopt a focused differentiation strategy to take advantage of the growing SRI sector in South Africa.
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Conroy, Mervyn. "An Ethical Dimension to Organisational Change : Virtue-to-Virtue Combat for the Moral High Ground of UK NHS Reform." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.524742.
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Sansbury, George Ernest, and G. Sansbury@latrobe edu au. "The employment relationship and integrated theory." La Trobe University. School of Business, 2004. http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au./thesis/public/adt-LTU20060427.125729.
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This research falls within the field of normative business ethics.
Its aim is to examine the moral nature of the employment relationship in western democracies by examining the liberal, democratic justifications that are normally advanced for its probity. Its concern is to challenge the notion that the employment relationship is in conformity with these liberal democratic values. Thus, the research is an exercise in the examination of the application of the liberal, democratic tradition to the social institution of employment.
Thus research examines areas of dissonance between the political relationship of employee � employer and the dominant values of the liberal tradition found elsewhere in western democracies.
The research firstly identifies the key moral characteristics of the employment relationship in private, capitalist organisations. This is derived from a consideration of the development historically, of the employment relationship, with acknowledgement of the combined influences of statute, common law, contract law and custom in forming the current employee relationship.
Secondly, the research identifies the justificatory arguments from the liberal tradition that are normally advanced in support of the employment relationship�s moral probity. These include notions of rights deriving from private property, the separation of social life into public and private spheres and the application of contract law to employment.
Thirdly, the research examines these arguments for their moral probity. Specifically, this involves an examination of the arguments regarding the private property status of employing organisations, the application of contract law to employment, the moral characteristics of the master and servant relationship as a basis for employment and the relevance of democratic values within employment.
As an additional perspective, the literature on human needs is reviewed as a source, outside of the liberal tradition, for a basis upon which to outline the moral requirements of human relationships to work.
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Crouch, Robert Alan. "The child as tissue and organ donor." Thesis, McGill University, 1996. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=23714.
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This thesis attempts to answer the following question: Is it ever morally permissible to use a minor child as a tissue or organ donor for the benefit of a family member? Those sceptical of using minors as tissue or organ donors for the benefit of a sick family member will highlight two points: the donor will be subject to risks that are not counterbalanced by possible medical benefits, and the minor cannot consent to the procedure herself.This thesis will present a review of the medical risks associated with bone marrow and kidney donations, as well as a review of the common law dealing with donations by minors and incompetent persons. The final chapter then makes a case for the permissibility of minor donation based on the interests of the family.
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Ho, Ching-ching Mary, and 何晶晶. "Socially responsible investment indices in Asian markets : merging stakeholder theories with social construction for improved index construction methodology." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/193511.
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The growth of the managed investment industry brings with it the potential for institutional investors to exert their influence on boards of listed companies to deliver strong and sustainable growth. The concepts of socially responsible investment (SRI), responsible investment (RI) or ethical investment (EI) have become part of mainstream investment practices in many financial markets. While SRI is largely a qualitative concept, its survival and adoption by the mainstream investment community may, in part, be due to the formalising of its concepts into language that investors, asset managers and analysts can more readily understand: the benchmark index.
SRI indices may hold the key to attracting attention to ESG issues in listed corporates and to help bring about positive outcomes in sustainable development. Figures show SRI investments in emerging markets are minimal when compared to those in developed markets but emerging markets hold great potential for growth and development of these tools.
This research develops a tool for bringing together social construction theory and stakeholder theory in understanding the construction of SRI Indices and in development of new indices.
The core of this research is an analysis of SRI indices in three major emerging markets of Hong Kong, India and China, together with an analysis of different perspectives of SRI in Asia. The purpose is to identify opportunities to building SRI indices through a stakeholder engagement approach.
The research was conducted over several phases between October 2008 and August 2010 and can be defined by three different studies:
1. a comparative study on SRI indices and their ESG criteria;
2. a comparative study on SRI indices and their stakeholder engagement approach; and
3. an analysis on the feasibility of building SRI indices in Asian markets.
The findings from the three studies indicate three main arguments. First, ESG assessment and criteria of SRI indices does have an impact on the creditability and value of the SRI indices. Due to the lack of transparency on the ESG assessment and criteria, SRI investors and other stakeholder groups are deterred from adopting SRI indices as SRI tool.
Second, stakeholder engagement is essential for SRI indices. And lastly, SRI indices in emerging markets, especially in the three studied markets, are attractive to both global and local SRI investors; however, these SRI indices need to include local ESG contexts to reflect the actual ESG concerns of the societies and avoid blindly following developed markets’ SRI index model, which in the end become unrealistic and unpopular to investors and stakeholder groups.
We recommend that stakeholder engagement in index criteria and corporate assessment be widened and deepened; that governments and stock exchanges can play a pivotal role in SRI development and should take the lead. We also recommend that SRI indices strengthen the institution of corporate research to rely less on secondary data when making their corporate assessments.published_or_final_version
Kadoorie Institute
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Carey, John N. "War and justice." Thesis, Kansas State University, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/9826.
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Mentor, Marcelle. "The role of values and corporate culture in people management." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50186.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The business world has seemingly become hit by, or perhaps it has been more exposed of its unethical and morally bad decisions and procedures. One just has to follow the businessrelated issues and one becomes aware of events of corruption, greed, fraud, embezzlement, theft, nepotism and so forth. This is not just an occurrence in South Africa, but a global phenomenon. However, as South Africa approaches its tenth year of democracy, and the move towards the realization of our President's vision of an African Renaissance, there is an increasing awareness that a commitment to management by acceptable values is needed to remove negativity around management processes and practices in South Africa. We have to move to a culture of management where people are the central aspect around which good management revolves. As the forerunners of The African Renaissance, we need to engage with the concept of "Ubuntu", and truly realize that value-management is really that - being people through other people. We need to accept that we should be people driven, inclusive of every single person to be able to achieve the goals we set out for our companies. Emotional intelligence is vital if one bases a style of management on a people directed goals and orientations. When we look at each other through empathetic eyes this allows for consideration of others and ultimately allows for positive change and growth in an organization. To be able to move effectively towards such a management style is not as easy as discarding a predominantly Eurocentric style and embracing an African one. There is the element of human beings that plays a vital role. The values of an individual, the norms and beliefs that that individual holds dear, is pivotal to the structure of organizational culture. It is the stance of this thesis that each individual is responsible, in one way or another, for the structure and make up of the organizational culture of which it is a part. This thesis looks at research in this regard and how the findings could be applied in the South African corporate world to help facilitate effective transformation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die besigheidswêreld word oënskynlik gebombardeer - of moontlik word dit net meer blootgestel aan die onetiese en moreel verkeerde besluite en prosedures. Dit is slegs nodig om te let op besigheidsaangeleenthede om gevalle van korrupsie, bedrog, hebsug, diefstal, nepotisme, en so voorts te bespeur. Bogenoemde gevalle kom nie slegs voor in Suid Afrika nie, maar is 'n universele verskynsel. Soos Suid Afrika sy tiende jaar van Demokrasie nader en daar 'n beweging is in die rigting van ons President se visie vir 'n Afrika Renaissance, is daar 'n toenemende bewuswording van die feit dat toewyding aan bestuur deur (aanneemlike) waardes noodsaaklik is om negatiwiteit rondom bestuurprosesse en - praktyke in Suid Afrika te verwyder. Ons moet ons beywer om te beweeg na 'n kultuur van bestuur waar individue die fokuspunt is te midde van voortreflike bestuurstyle. As die voorlopers van die Afrika Rennaissance moet ons meer verbind wees tot die konsep van "Ubuntu" en werklik besef dat waarde-bestuur inderwaarheid mens-gesentreerd behoort te wees. Ons moet die uitdagings aanvaar om gedissiplineerd op te tree en sorg te dra dat alle mylpale, wat deur die maatskappy daargestel word bereik word deur die optimale benutting van elke individu binne die maatskappy. Emosienele intelligensie is van die uiterste belang as die besigstyl gefundeer is op die beginsel van mens-gerigte doelwitte en ingesteldhede. Daar moet 'n kultuur gekweek word van empatie en konsiderasie vir ons medemens, wat uiteindelik positiewe veranderinge en groei binne die maatskappy sal bevorder. Om effektief in die rigting van so 'n bestuurstyl te beweeg, is nie bloot 'n geval van wegdoen met 'n oorwegend Eurosentriese styl en die aagryp van 'n Afrika - styl nie. Die menslike faktor speel'n beslissende rol. Die waardes van 'n individu, die norme en oortuigings wat vir hom of haar belangrik is, is van deurslaggewende belang vir die struktuur van organisatoriese kultuur. Hierdie tesis ondersoek narvorsing in hierdie verband en kyk hoe die bevindinge toegepas kan word in die Suid Afrikaanse korporatiewe wêreld om effektiewe transformasie te help fasiliteer.
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Wiebe, Jeff, and University of Lethbridge Faculty of Management. "Near or far : psychological distance construal and its role in ethical." Thesis, Lethbridge, Alta. :|bUniversity of Lethbridge, Faculty of Management,|cc2013, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10133/3431.
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A focus group and experiment were conducted to test the effects of psychological distance on participant affect, intentions, and behaviours in the realm of ethical consumption. Construal Level Theory (Liberman and Trope, 1998) posits that psychologically-near concepts are viewed differently than their psychologically-far counterparts, and this framework was used to guide the development of predictions relating to four dimensions of distance: temporal, spatial, social, and hypothetical. The study revealed that participants exhibit significantly higher levels of affect and intention when presented stimuli involve psychologically near impacts rather than psychologically-far impacts. This finding did not carry over into actual behaviour, however. Subject disposition toward psychological distance was measured but was found to not impact affect, intentions, or behaviour. Perceived Consumer Effectiveness (Kinnear, Taylor, & Ahmed, 1974) was found to be an important predictor of behaviour.viii, 103 leaves ; 29 cm
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Wang, Jie. "Moral Judgment and Digital Piracy: Predicting Attitudes, Intention, and Behavior Regarding Digital Piracy Using a Modified Version of the Defining Issues Test." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2015. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822761/.
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Digital piracy, the illegal copying or downloading of copyrighted digital products without approval from the copyright holders, has brought great economic loss to the software and digital media industries. Previous studies using moral developmental theory have not found consistent relationships between moral judgment and attitudes towards digital piracy. While some researchers have developed individual test items to assess relationships between moral judgment and attitudes toward digital piracy, others have relied on the Defining Issues Test (DIT). However, in that the DIT represents a general measure of moral judgment based on broad social issues, it, too, may not adequately assess an individual’s reasoning specific to issues regarding digital piracy. The purpose of this study was to create a reliable instrument (i.e., DP-DIT) modeled after the DIT designed to assess moral judgment regarding digital piracy as well as to examine and compare the ability of both DP-DIT and DIT2-short to predict attitudes, intentions and behaviors regarding digital piracy of college students. Results indicated the reliability of both the DIT2-short and the DP-DIT were discounted, quite likely due to the small number of stories contained in each. DP-DIT appeared to have greater predictive ability due to its advantage in predicting attitudes toward digital piracy, especially using DP-DIT MNS. However, even though here DP-DIT MNS was the strongest predictor of attitudes toward digital piracy, it explained a limited amount of variance. Further research to improve reliability and validity of DP-DIT is warranted.
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Thorne, Linda 1956. "The influence of social interaction on auditors' moral reasoning /." Thesis, McGill University, 1997. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=34471.
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Although auditors engage in considerable social interaction (Gibbins & Mason, 1988; Solomon, 1987), little is known about how social interaction influences an auditor's moral reasoning process. In order to address this gap, this study used an experiment to examine the effect of social influence on 288 auditors' moral reasoning on realistic moral dilemmas. The results of this study indicate that social interaction influences the moral reasoning of auditors. Auditors' level of prescriptive reasoning appears to increase after engaging in discussion of a realistic moral dilemma, particularly for those which discuss dilemmas with others at high levels of moral development, while auditors' level of deliberative reasoning appears to decrease after engaging in discussion of a realistic moral dilemma. At a practical level, these findings suggest that auditors should be encouraged to prescriptively discuss moral dilemmas with others of high levels of moral development as this tends to result in the use of more principled moral reasoning. In contrast, auditors should avoid deliberative discussion of moral dilemmas, as this tends to result in the use of less principled moral reasoning than would be used in the absence of discussion.
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Wash, Dwight Derrell. "Concepts of supernatural punishment for worldly moral misconduct." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1989. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/450.
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De, Roubaix J. A. M. (John Addey Malcolm). "Value, utility and autonomy : a moral-critical analysis of utilitarian positions on the value of prenatal life." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50542.
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Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Problem statement For utilitarians, human beings have intrinsic moral significance based on only two acquired characteristics: sentience, or the ability to suffer, and psychological personhood. Sentience is the entrance-requirement for moral significance, but does not justify a "right to life" claim; at most a "right" not to suffer. Personhood, described as some sort of self-conscious awareness with a concept of the future, may justify a "right to life" claim. However, since personhood is absent in prenatal beings, and only develops some time after birth, the implication is that such beings have little moral significance and may, for instance, be killed "at will". The moral problem that I address in this dissertation is to investigate, assess and evaluate the utilitarian position on the moral status or value of prenatal life. Methodology and results I firstly, on the basis of an extensive literature study, make a detailed analysis of the utilitarian position with reference to a number of themes that I have identified in their argument. This is followed by a critical philosophical evaluation of the utilitarian position, based on six particular arguments: • Utilitarianism is philosophically incoherent. It over-simplifies the moral argument in claiming that consequences are all that matter morally. Its underlying moral theory is at odds with moral claims contained in contemporary notions of human rights and individual justice. It ignores the moral significance of special obligations to special groups. • Utilitarianism potentially has unacceptable consequences. It IS inherently discriminatory and may lead to legitimate "slippery slope" fears. • Utilitarianism clashes with our fundamental moral intuitions on the value of prenatal life. These intuitions are cherished in most world religions. • Contrary to the utilitarian position, speciesism is inevitable to the human condition, especially argued from a position of existential phenomenology. Self- constitution, simultaneous constitution of the world as we know it, and the very possibility of morality are possible only within a particular notion of speciesism. • The potentiality of pre-persons to develop into persons cannot be as convincingly ignored as is done by the utilitarian. • There is a basic and underlying need and intuition to protect vulnerable human beings, of which pre-persons are exemplars. These notions clash with utilitarian theory. As an alternative, I introduce, set out and evaluate a two-phased position on the moral significance of pre-personal human life, a position of respectfulness of prenatal and pre-personal human life based upon its humanity, potentiality and separation-viability. This leads, firstly, to the conclusion of a graded, sliding scale conception of human prepersonal moral significance in line with the level of development and with the actuation of potentiality. Secondly, it leads to the conclusion that the advent of separationsurvivability (viability) is a morally significant cut-off point beyond which the human fetus may "normally" have a justifiable right to the continuation of its life. In as far as the application of my argument is concerned, I develop a "moderate" position with reference to the abortion debate. Whilst I recognize that all human prenatal beings of which it can be argued that they have a reasonable chance to develop their intrinsic potentiality, i.e., to become full-fledged persons, should have the opportunity to do so, I also recognize that neither this position, nor the complexities of life make it possible to hold "absolute" positions on the justifiability of abortion. I explore this extremely problematic notion in the text. That having been said, the advent of separation-survivability may imply a "moral cut-off point", beyond which termination is only rarely justified. I argue that I find no moral hindrance to wellmotivated research on human pre-embryos and stem cells.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Probleemstelling Utilitariste huldig sterk omlynde standpunte oor die waarde van lewe. Hulle redeneer dat menslike (inderwaarheid, alle lewende) wesens slegs op grond van twee eienskappe intrinsieke morele waarde kan verwerf: sentiëntisme, d.i. die vermoë om lyding te ervaar, en persoonstatus. Sentiëntisme is 'n bepalende vereiste vir morele status, maar regverdig nie 'n "reg op lewe"-aanspraak nie. Persoonsyn, verstaan as 'n vorm van selfbewustheid tesame met 'n bewuste belang by die voortsetting van eie bestaan, mag wel so 'n aanspraak regverdig. Voorgeboortelike (en "voorpersoonlike") wesens is egter nie persone nie; hulle word eers (aansienlik) ná geboorte volwaardige persone. Die implikasie is dat sulke wesens weinig morele status het, en byvoorbeeld, na willekeur gedood mag word. Die morele probleem wat ek in hierdie dissertasie aanspreek is om die utilitaristiese beskouing ten opsigte van die morale status of waarde van voorgeboortelike lewe krities-filosofies te ondersoek en te evalueer. Metodologie en gevolgtrekkings Eerstens maak ek na aanleiding van 'n gedetaileerde literatuurstudie 'n in-diepte analise van van die utilitaristiese posisie aan die hand van 'n aantal temas wat ek in hul argument geïdentifiseer het. Daarna volg 'n krities-filosofiese evaluasie van die utilitaristiese posisie, aan die hand van ses argumente: • Utilitarisme is filosofies onsamehangend. Dit oorvereenvoudig die morele argument deur voor te gee dat gevolge al is wat moreel saakmaak. Die onderliggende utilitaristiese teorie bots met die morele eise vervat in kontemporêre sienings van menseregte en geregtigheid. Dit negeer die morele belangrikheid van spesiale verpligtinge teenoor spesiale belangegroepe. • Utilitarisme het potensieelonaanvaarbare gevolge. Dit IS inherent diskriminerend en kan lei tot onkeerbare glybaan ("slippery slope")-argumente. Utilitarisme bots met ons fundamentele morele intuïsies betreffende die waarde van voorgeboortelike lewe. Hierdie intuïsies word onder meer ondersteun deur die meeste hoofstroom godsdienste. • Spesiësisme is, in kontras met die utilitaristiese beskouing, onafwendbaar vir ons selfverstaan as mense, soos aangetoon kan word met 'n beroep op die eksistensiële fenomenologie. Self-konstituering, gelyktydige konstituering van die wêreld van die mens, en selfs die moontlikheid van moraliteit is slegs moontlik vanuit' n bepaalde spesiësistiese beskouing. • Die potensialiteit van "pre-persone" om tot volwaardige persone te ontwikkel kan nie, soos die utilitaris doen, sonder meer geïgnoreer word nie. • Daar is 'n basiese en onderliggende morele eis om swak en weerlose menslike wesens te beskerm. Hierdie idees bots lynreg met utilitaristiese teorie. As 'n alternatief tot die utilitaristiese beskouing, ontwikkel ek 'n twee-fase posisie betreffende die morele waarde van voorgeboortelike menslike lewe. Ek noem hierdie posisie agting vir voorgeboortelike en voor-persoonlike menslike lewe gebaseer op die menslikheid, potensialiteit en oorleefbaarheid van prenatale mense. Dit lei, eerstens, tot die gevolgtrekking van 'n gegradeerde glyskaal konsepsie van voor-persoonlike menslike morele waarde, min of meer parallel aan die vlak van ontwikkeling en die ontwikkeling van potensialiteit. Tweedens lei dit tot die gevolgtrekking dat die ontwikkeling van lewensvatbaarheid 'n moreel-beduidende afsnypunt is waarna die menslike fetus "normaalweg" aanspraak kan maak op 'n reg dat sy lewe voortgesit moet word. In soverre dit die toepassing van my argument betref, ontwikkel ek 'n "gematigde" posisie vis-á-vis aborsie. Ek redeneer dat alle menslike voorgeboortelike wesens wat 'n redelike kans het dat hul intrinsieke potensialiteit verder sal ontwikkel, die geleentheid daartoe gegun behoort te word. Ek aanvaar ook dat nog hierdie beskouing, nog die kompleksiteit van die menslike bestaan "absolute" posisies moreel regverdig. Die problematiek en inherente spanning tussen hierdie oënskynlik-opponerende posisies word in die teks bespreek. Nogtans beskou ek die ontwikkeling van lewensvatbaarheid as 'n moreel insiggewende afsnypunt waarna terminasie net in buitengewone omstandighede moreel regverdigbaar is.
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Vandenabeele, Fabienne. "Patentability of living organisms : legal and ethical aspects of the question." Thesis, McGill University, 2000. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=31177.
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Given the considerable advances in the field of biotechnology in the last decades, new issues of scientific, social, legal and ethical nature have been raised, particularly concerning inventions making use of living material, and their patentability.Notwithstanding some reluctance at the outset, most of patent offices as well as courts and tribunals in the United States, Canada and Europe have finally accepted patentability of living organisms. Oppositions are however numerous and, more than a criticism towards the patent system itself, it is genetic engineering that is put into question.
Europe has recently regulated the legal protection of biotechnological inventions. Being a text of compromise, the Directive is already subject of controversies. The United States and Canada have not yet decided to explicitly legislate in this field. Some decisions taken in particular cases allow to determine the state of the question in these two countries. It is however not certain that they can be satisfied with an unregulated technology that raises so many moral questions.
The question of the foremost importance concerns the research branch, as well as the use that will be done with inventions emerging from the biotechnology industry. Patent law being unable to prevent technological creations, it is above all the utilisation of it that will allow to retain the most beneficial inventions for humankind and its environment.
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Williams-Jones, Bryn. "Embodiment, property, and the patenting of human genetic material." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/MQ29520.pdf.
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Dick, Liezl. "Verantwoordelikheid en die nuwe genetiese tegnologiee : filosofiese perspektiewe op die relevansie van 'n etiek van verantwoordelikheid vir morele besinning oor kloning en stamselnavorsing." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/21775.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: New genetic technologies (e.g. stem-cell research, gene-therapies and cloning) raise some of the most enigmatic moral problems in the field of bioethics. My aim in this thesis is to explore the philosophical and ethical significance of the idea of an “ethics of responsibility” (as, particularly, developed in the work of Hans Jonas, Zygmunt Bauman and Emmanuel Levinas) for moral reflection on these problems. “Ethics of responsibility” is a new approach to ethics that represents an alternative to both rule morality (where moral action is identified with the application of rules) and utilitarianism (where moral action is identified with establishing the best consequences for the most people). Rule morality has the serious shortcoming of being unable to deal with real and actual moral dilemmas, and of being unclear as to which rule applies in which situation. Utilitarianism has the serious shortcoming of often being way too counter-intuitive: deeds that we normally find morally abhorrent, such a lying, stealing and even torturing can, within the utilitarian calculus, sometimes be justified. The notion of an ethics of responsibility has been promoted by the mentioned authors both to counter the simplistic idea that a rule exists in terms of which every moral action can be determined, but also to counter the crassness of the utilitarian calculus. It represents an approach to ethics in which the interests of the other are taken as seriously as possible within the confines of the situation in which action is called for. My aim is to explore this approach critically, and to invesitgate its desirability, applicability and efficacy with particular reference to the moral problems raised by the new genetic technologies.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nuwe genetiese tegnologieë bv stamselnavorsing en kloning, opper enigmatiese morele probleme binne die veld van bio-etiek. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die filosofiese en etiese belang van die idee van “ ‘n etiek van verantwoordelikheid” (soos dit in die werk van Hans Jonas, Zygmunt Bauman en Emmaneul Levinas ontwikkel is) vir morele refleksie van hierdie probleme te ondersoek. ‘n Etiek van verantwoordelikheid is ‘n nuwe benadering binne etiek wat ‘n alternatief daarstel vir onderskeidelik utilitarisme (waar ‘n moreel korrekte aksie dié aksie is wat die beste gevolge vir die meeste mense tot stand bring) en deontologie of reël-moraliteit (waar ‘n moreel korrekte aksie dié aksie is wat die morele reëls gehoorsaam). Albei hierdie tradisionele etiese teorie beskik oor tekortkominge. Utilitarisme voer byvoorbeeld aan dat ‘n aksie wat gewoonlik as kontraintuitief beskou word, moreel korrek is. Aksies soos steel, die vertel van leuens en marteling kan volgens die utilitaristiese beskouing moreel regverdig word. Deontologie slaag weer nie daarin om sinvol met werklike en aktuele morele probleme om te gaan nie, en dit is dikwels onduidelik watter morele reël voorkeur moet kry wanneer dit op ‘n morele dilemma toegepas word. ‘n Etiek van verantwoordelikheid wat deur bogenoemde outeurs voorgestaan word, bied ‘n alternatief vir die simplisitese idee dat vaste morele reël bestaan wat op ‘n universele wyse kan bepaal wanneer ‘n aksie moreel reg of verkeerd is. ‘n Etiek van verantwoordelikheid beweeg ook weg van die kras benadering van utilitarisme, en bied ‘n maak ruimte vir ‘n meer komplekse, genuanseerde benadering tot die etiese problematiek. Dit verskaf ‘n benadering tot etiek waar die belange van die ander binne die etiese besluitnemingsproses, ernstig opgeneem word. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die tradisionele etiese teorie krities te benader, waarna die toepasbaarheid en effektiwiteit van ‘n etiek van verantwoordelikheid, ondersoek sal word.
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Pierce, Lynn Margaret. "Physicians who write about talking with patients : the interview." Thesis, McGill University, 1992. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=56935.
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This thesis critically reviews medical journal literature on the physician-patient interview. The review focuses on literature which is written by and for physicians, in Canadian and American, English language medical journals. Articles, essays and letters to the editor are examined as a cultural exchange amongst physicians that both shapes and is shaped by the values of the medical profession. Chapter One presents literature concerning physician-patient communication in general. The following Chapters Two, Three and Four ("The Physician as Medical Interpreter," "Physician and Patient: in Conflict and in Silence," and "The Patient as Narrator,") focus on themes in the medical journal literature written by physicians on the clinical interview. These Chapters examine the values, explicit and implicit, of this literature. The values are examined for possible epistemological origins in traditional medical ethics, philosophical bioethics, contemporary social movements for the dignity and rights of the individual, and other sources. Thematic shifts in these values over the past twenty years, and the sources of these shifts, are also examined. Finally, the Conclusion evaluates the significance of this literature for the development of a medical morality.
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Burstein, Ronald Mark. "The ethical decision-making self-efficacy of psychologists and counselors." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/186308.
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The purpose of the study was to evaluate the ethical decision making self-efficacy of a sample of state-credentialed psychologists and counselors. A questionnaire was constructed which asked respondents to rate the confidence they possessed in relation to thirty items (reflecting ten a priori ethical decision-making domains). The items described ethical knowledge and ethical decision-making tasks and situations. The questionnaire also included eight questions pertaining to respondents' personal characteristics and professional education, training, and experience. The questionnaire was mailed to 400 Arizona-licensed psychologists and 340 Arizona-certified counselors. Although no formal, a priori hypotheses were established prior to the survey, it was expected that the extent and quality of professional ethics training might be associated with higher scores on factors generated by an exploratory factor analysis performed on survey results. In particular, it was anticipated that a values-clarification component of ethics training would be associated with higher ethical decision-making factor scores. Approximately 50% of the total sample responded to the survey. The factor analysis of scorable questionnaires resulted in a six-factor model of ethical decision-making self-efficacy. The six factors were: (1) Knowledge, (2) Behavior, (3) Thinking, (4) Awareness, (5) Resources, (6) Authorities-Conflict Analysis/Resolution. Having taken an ethics course as a student was associated with higher scores on factors 1, 5, and 6. Having taken an ethics training seminar as a postgraduate was associated with higher scores on factors 1, 2, and 5. Those respondents with a values clarification component to their ethics training scored higher on factors 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. Study results suggest that further development of an Ethical Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale and pursuit of a national survey of psychologists and counselors addressing issues raised in this study are warranted.
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Mitchell, Leslie Roy. "Discourse and the oppression of nonhuman animals: a critical realist account." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003951.
Full textAbstract:
This work examines the use of nonhuman animals in the farming industry and seeks to understand why this practice takes place and what supports its continuation. The research is approached from a critical realist perspective and after a description of past and current practices in the industry, it uses abduction and retroduction to determine the essential conditions for the continuation of the phenomenon of nonhuman animal farming. One essential condition is found to be the existence of negative discourses relating to nonhuman animals and this aspect is examined in more detail by analyzing a corpus of texts from a farming magazine using Critical Discourse Analysis. Major discourses which were found to be present were those of production, science and slavery which construct the nonhumans respectively as objects of scientific investigation, as production machines and as slaves. A minor discourse of achievement relating to the nonhumans was also present. Further analysis of linguistic features examined the way in which the nonhumans are socially constructed in the discourses. Drawing on work in experimental psychology by Millgram, Zimbardo and Bandura it was found that the effects of these discourses fulfil many of the conditions for bringing about moral disengagement in people thus explaining why billions of people are able to support animal farming in various ways even though what happens in the phenomenon is contrary to their basic ethical and moral beliefs.
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MELLOR, Ewan Edward. "Just and unjust distributions in war : the moral equality of combatants and the normative structure of war." Doctoral thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1814/46006.
Full textAbstract:
Defence date: 5 April 2017Examining Board: Professor Chris Reus-Smit, The University of Queensland, formerly EUI, (Supervisor); Professor Jennifer Welsh, EUI; Professor James Pattison, The University of Manchester; Professor Peter Sutch, Cardiff University
This develops a defence of the principle of the moral equality of combatants against recent revisionist critiques. It does this by developing an interpretive and hermeneutical approach to the study of war and the just war tradition. This approach allows the meanings of war and of actions within war to be explored and it is on the basis of this understanding of meaning that the moral equality of combatants is defended. It shows that these meanings and distinctions cannot be recognized by the revisionists and that this is a moral and interpretive loss. The thesis develops the argument of Michael Walzer’s Spheres of Justice and applies it to war; it demonstrates that war has a distinct meaning and that the principles for distributing identities, rights, and responsibilities in war are relative to this meaning. The thesis begins by exploring the history of the just war tradition and the evolution of the concept of combatancy and the distinction between combatants and non-combatants in order to demonstrate how the just war tradition constitutes war as an institution. It then explores the contemporary debate and argues that whilst the traditional defences of the principle of the moral equality of combatants have been found wanting, the conclusions of the revisionists need not be accepted. To demonstrate this, the following chapters study a number of examples that highlight important and meaningful contrasts associated with both the jus in bello and the jus ad bellum. The final chapter introduces the concept of the normative structure of war and argues that the right to participate and to kill in war depends upon a public relationship of duty between soldiers and the state. The reciprocal relationships of duty are the source of the moral equality of combatants.
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Dolan-Henderson, Alvin Augustus. "Shame, guilt, and ethical orientation." Thesis, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3119670.
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Noja, Marcelle Maria. "Moral identity and ethical decision making." Phd thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/156334.
Full textAbstract:
Four studies were undertaken to assess the role of moral identity in ethical decision making. The first two studies attempted to use two primes of moral identity to determine whether, when a person's moral identity is threatened, they undertake moral cleansing or compensatory behaviour, whereas where a person's moral identity is salient they have a strong self-worth and will consequently use moral licensing to act less ethically. Both studies were unsuccessful in supporting this hypothesis. Discussion of the results suggested that the approach within the research methodology was too complex. Based on this result, a third study attempted a simplified approach to assessing influences on ethical decision making. Specifically, Study 3 assessed the role of in-group and out-group judgements comparative to judgments of the self. The results suggested that in some circumstances, a person may change their own behaviour depending on what a colleague or non-colleague might do. The final study used this result to assess the impact of an observer on participants' ethical decision making. The results confirmed that the value of donations to charity could be influenced by both the presence of another person and that person's status relative to the participant. The implications for the ethical decision making field, along with future research in this area, are discussed.
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"An ethical review on advertising." Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5887203.
Full textAbstract:
Chan Florence.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves [93-97]).
Chapter SECTION I. --- AN OVERVIEW
Chapter CHAPTER 1. --- THE ENVIRONMENT & BACKGROUND OF ADVERTISING
Chapter 1.1. --- Overview --- p.2
Chapter 1.2. --- Viewpoints on Advertising --- p.3
Chapter 1.3. --- The Marketing-Advertising Connection --- p.4
Chapter 1.3.1. --- A Historical Review on Changing Concept of Marketing
Chapter 1.3.2. --- What is Marketing ？
Chapter 1.3.3. --- What is Promotion ？
Chapter 1.3.4. --- Advertising in the Promotion Mix
Chapter 1.4. --- Advertising Planning --- p.8
Chapter 1.5. --- The Communication / Persuasion Process --- p.9
Chapter 1.6. --- Summary --- p.9
Chapter SECTION II. --- COMMON DEFENSES OF ADVERTISING
Chapter CHAPTER 2. --- "CAN ADVERTISING BE SELF-REGULATED BY THE ""INVISIBLE HAND"" ？"
Chapter 2.1. --- A General Interpretation of Smith's Invisible Hand --- p.13
Chapter 2.2. --- A More Complete Picture of Smith's Theories --- p.15
Chapter 2.2.1. --- Prudence
Chapter 2.2.2. --- Benevolence
Chapter 2.2.3. --- Self-Command
Chapter 2.3. --- Stoicism --- p.18
Chapter 2.4. --- A Closer Look at Smith's Invisible Hand --- p.20
Chapter 2.5. --- Can Advertising be Justified by Smith's Invisible Hand or Free Market Mechanism ？ --- p.22
Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- CAM ADVERTISING PROVIDE INFORMATIONAL UTILITY ？
Chapter 3.1. --- Advertising Provides Important Information for Consumers --- p.26
Chapter 3.2. --- A More Complete Picture of Advertising's Reality --- p.27
Chapter 3.2.1. --- Ambiguity
Chapter 3.2.2. --- Concealed Facts
Chapter 3.2.3. --- Exaggeration & Puffery
Chapter 3.2.4. --- Psychological Appeals
Chapter 3.2.5. --- Conclusion
Chapter 3.3. --- A Historical Explanation of Why Advertising Cannot be Pure Informative --- p.37
Chapter 3.3.1. --- The Early Stage
Chapter 3.3.2. --- A Breakthrough
Chapter 3.3.3. --- The Mature Stage
Chapter 3.4. --- Can We Conclude that Persuasive Advertising is Deceptive? --- p.40
Chapter 3.4.1. --- Gardner's Definition of Deception
Chapter 3.4.2. --- A Reasonable Man Standard of Deception
Chapter 3.5. --- More on Rational/Irrational Persuasion & Deceptive/ Non-Deceptive Advertising --- p.43
Chapter 3.5.1. --- The Two Dimensions
Chapter 3.5.2. --- Various Combinations
Chapter CHAPTER 4. --- IS ADVERTISING A NECESSITY FOR INDIVIDUAL FIRMS
Chapter 4.1. --- Discussions --- p.47
Chapter 4.2. --- Conclusion --- p.49
Chapter SECTION III. --- ADVERTISING & SOCIETY
Chapter CHAPTER 5. --- THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING
Chapter 5.1. --- Providing Informational Utility --- p.51
Chapter 5.2. --- Employment --- p.52
Chapter 5.3. --- Distribution Costs --- p.52
Chapter 5.4. --- Advertising & Brand Names --- p.53
Chapter 5.5. --- Media Support --- p.54
Chapter 5.6. --- Effect on the Business Cycle --- p.54
Chapter 5.7. --- Stimulating Product Utility --- p.55
Chapter 5.8. --- Developing New Products --- p.56
Chapter 5.9. --- Contribution to the Overall Welfare of the Economy --- p.57
Chapter 5.9.1. --- A Common Misunderstanding
Chapter 5.9.2. --- "Advertising can be Counterproductive, Unproductive or Productive"
Chapter 5.10. --- Conclusion --- p.60
Chapter CHAPTER 6. --- CULTURAL & SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE ON ADVERTISING
Chapter 6.1. --- Reviewing Advertising from the Social Context --- p.62
Chapter 6.2. --- """Explicit"" Content vs. ""Implicit"" Content" --- p.63
Chapter 6.3. --- Social Conditions Affecting Individual Autonomy --- p.64
Chapter 6.3.1. --- A Brief Review on Individual Autonomy
Chapter 6.3.2. --- A Background of Social Influences on Individual Autonomy
Chapter 6.4. --- The Power of Marketing & Advertising : Technique- & Result- Oriented --- p.70
Chapter 6.4.1. --- Techniques of Marketing
Chapter 6.4.2. --- Technique-Orientation on Advertising
Chapter 6.4.3. --- A Culture of Commercialization & Consumption
Chapter 6.5. --- The Real Evils of Advertising --- p.77
Chapter 6.5.1. --- """Suppressing "" Autonomy"
Chapter 6.5.2. --- Effects on Future Generations
Chapter 6.5.3. --- Changing Values
Chapter 6.5.4. --- Consumerism
Chapter 6.5.5. --- Neglecting Public Goods & Services
Chapter 6.7. --- Conclusion --- p.90
CONCLUSION --- p.91
REFERENCES
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Ehrich, Kristine Renee. "Willful ignorance: the avoidance of ethical attribute information." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/1955.
Full text
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Baggot, Siobhan M. "The canine connection : an anthropologically grounded philosophical perspective on caring for dogs." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/32481.
Full textAbstract:
Most philosophical discussions of moral consideration for animals focus on
animals as a single category, neglecting to differentiate them by type or role (such as
wild, domestic, laboratory, or companion). Moreover, the importance of the individual
animal in terms of relationship to humans is de-emphasised.
Animals should not be discussed as a monolithic group. In this thesis the dog is
utilized as the paradigmatic animal to demonstrate that philosophical discourse on the
ethics of consideration for animals must reflect the diversity present within the group
labeled "animals". The major philosophical theories advocating moral consideration of
animals are summarized, noting that all animals are discussed as one category.
Anthropological evidence is provided to demonstrate the historical nature of the human-dog
bond. The ethics of care provides the foundation for the claim that dogs have
relational value and thus persons have the moral obligation to care for them.Graduation date: 2004
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Kruger, Teresa. "Moral intelligence : the construct and key correlates." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7907.
Full textAbstract:
D.Phil.The spate of large-scale financial misconduct across the globe, sparked interest, and concern regarding moral conduct in organisations. The impact of the immoral actions proved to be devastating for many companies, especially for the financial sector. These entities spend a lot of time and effort managing threats from external sources, such as clients and terrorist. Less focus is placed in reducing fraud from within. Conforming to the regulations however, increases strain on companies to comply with the guidelines. This compliance consumes a lot of an organisation’s resources such as time and money. Little focus, if any is placed on the psychological component of governance, namely, the moral intelligence of employees and on understanding the human contribution to corporate governance and immoral actions. Human Resource practitioners are not doing enough to understand this dynamic, specifically the role of moral intelligence, underlined by the moral decision-making process. From a theoretical point of view, the study was aimed at understanding the moral domain from a more integrated, broad-based approach, including the moral dynamic as a form of intelligence. From a practical point of view, the need for more reliable and scientific information on moral conduct served as driver for the study. This investigation included the examination of the construct moral intelligence as part of the multiple intelligence theory, understanding the moral decision-making process as part of moral intelligence, identifying an underlying set of universal moral principles as foundation for moral decision-making in business, and analyzing patterns of covariability between moral reasoning and moral competence as part of the decision-making process. The study was conducted in a large South African financial institution with a sample size of 466. The Moral Judgment Test was preferred as measure for moral reasoning and moral competence, while the EQ Map and Psychomatrix Spirituality Inventory (PSI) measured emotional and spiritual intelligence respectively. Results revealed support for Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. There was evidence that the use of post-conventional stages of moral reasoning increased moral competence, which is the consistency between reasoning and action. There was further statistical support for differences in moral reasoning and moral competence when compared with selected demographical variables. The various statistical operations provided information for the calculation of risk-ratios, aimed at identifying individuals prone to immoral action. This data is useful when selecting and promoting individuals in the bank. As a result of the qualitative information and quantitative data, an amalgamation of the various approaches produced an integrated model on moral intelligence. It is envisaged that this will contribute to understanding true moral intelligence as a broad approach. Various theoretical and practical conclusions are reached, and recommendations and limitations are discussed.
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VAHA, Milla Emilia. "The metaphysics of moral subjectivity : theory without practice?" Doctoral thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1814/28056.
Full textAbstract:
Defence date: 16 July 2013Examining Board: Professor Christian Reus-Smit, University of Queensland (EUI Supervisor); Professor Kimberly Hutchings, London School of Economics and Political Science; Professor Mervyn Frost, King's College London; Professor Friedrich Kratochwil, Central European University (formerly EUI).
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
In this work I aim to offer a theory of moral subjectivity of the state that helps to explain, in an analytically sound way, what is required for theorising about states as moral agents within a system of very different types of state-units, and, furthermore, enables one to explore what kind of consequences the practices of moral subjectivity might have for that very same system. The argument that I present has two levels. The first level consists of two theoretical claims about exploring the moral subjectivity of the state in International Relations. The first claim is that in order to argue meaningfully about the moral subjectivity of the state one has to take seriously the state's being-in-theworld qua state. By relying on Immanuel Kant's political philosophy and practical metaphysics, I will offer a theory that is applicable when one wishes to conceptualise the state as an autonomous entity in its own right, and, subsequently, allows one to argue that all states, despite their different prudential and contingent differences and characteristics, are moral agents. The second theoretical claim is that the moral personhood of the state is not in and of itself merely metaphysical – that it is, in fact, something purely intrinsic to the agent. Here I depart from Kant's original idea of essentialist moral personality of the state, and, in contrast to Kant, argue that the moral subjectivity of the state is always reciprocal. Moral subjectivity, therefore, cannot be studied without the concept of moral standing: the agent's positioning among other similar entities. Moral subjectivity proper is then constituted by recognition of other similar subjects who consider themselves as moral subjects. Moral subjectivity is always conditional and placed under scrutiny by politics of recognition. The second level of the argument maintains that when one then studies practices of moral subjectivity of the state – that is, states vis-à-vis each other in international society – it is the recognition of subjectivity that plays a central role in identifying states as moral agents in world affairs. While every state in theory qualifies as a moral person, their moral standing as fully-fledged moral subjects is constantly challenged due to their empirical differences in practice. One such difference explored in this study is the liberal/non-liberal character of the state. In order to make sense of the claims of different and sometimes even contradictory moral statuses of different types of empirical states in world politics, I argue that one has to explore the practices of moral subjectivity as well.
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Naicker, Dhirsen. "Moral decision-making : personality type as influence on moral intuitionism." Diss., 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/45007.
Full textAbstract:
There has been a vast amount of academic research done in the field of employee satisfaction and the resulting impact of this dimension on employee innovation output and institutional entrepreneurship. However, there is a dearth of literature on how to retain employees and their tacit knowledge in firms. This study, therefore, seeks to identify Institutional Entrepreneurship (IE) as a key pivot point of strategy, that firms can exploit when endeavouring to actively improve employee retention levels. In this interpretation, the researcher seeks to make a distinction between generally entrepreneurial companies and employee driven innovation or intrapreneurship within companies.
There appears to be an appealing synergy that the fostering of institutional entrepreneurship initiatives can offer business strategists. By incorporating plans for IE into core strategy, they could potentially create sustainable competitive advantage from new business innovations. What this report aims to show is that businesses that make a concerted effort at fostering IE can also protect their current competitive advantage contained in the tacit knowledge of their workforce. This all happens in a climate that is better equipped to deliver organic growth.
The main objective of the research is to establish that there is a relationship between the propensity for an employee to remain in a firm in the near future and their perceptions of whether or how strongly their firm supports IE. A secondary objective is to explore whether this association is stronger among young employees, specifically those who are from the cohort that has been defined as ‘the millennials’, with an assumption that this relationship, therefore, will become more important in future.
This research report has set out to prove that by orchestrating strategies to improve institutional entrepreneurship, firms can enjoy the benefits of increased employee retention in conjunction with increased organic growth.Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
lmgibs2015
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
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Marais, Len. "Moral decision-making : personality type as influence on moral intuitionism." Diss., 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/45032.
Full textAbstract:
This study is focused on improving understanding around moral decision-making as a critical component of managerial decision-making, considering that many decisions involve a basic conflict between selfishness versus fairness (Forgas & Tan, 2013). Changing factors in the business environment is influencing managerial decision-making, making this ‘the perfect time’ for increased research into managerial decision-making (Milkman, Chugh, & Bazerman, 2009).
As this working environment within which managerial decisions are being made is changing, understanding decision-making is increasingly becoming fundamental to the study of management in organisations (Taggart et al., 1985). Within such a changing economy, the key factor is the increased reliance on intellectual abilities over either physical effort, or natural resources. Yet, ‘where there is effective management, that is, application of knowledge, we can always obtain the other resources’ (Drucker, 1993). When then considering such management actions and specifically the role of employees within such an economic structure, the primary deliverable of a knowledge worker is a good decision (Milkman et al., 2009).
The importance of a ‘good decision’ is therefore paramount in the current knowledge economy, and those industries which depend heavily on the ‘application of knowledge’. In exploring this topic, this research study explores predominantly four fields of study.
The first is decision-making in the most fundamental sense, by understanding the different systems whereby decision-making occurs. This is contextualised by focussing on managerial decision-making and highlighting a particular instance of moral decision-making. The premise is that although moral decision-making is a subset of managerial decision-making, the human processes involved in the decision making is universal and findings should accordingly be transferrable to the whole discipline of decision-making.
In expanding the area of moral decision-making the notion of fairness, norm violations and negative reciprocity is explored. This provides a context within which to study moral decision-making. Concepts such as the universal acceptance of fairness are discussed, as well as an equally universal desire to punish norm violations through negative reciprocity. Existing research on this disconnect between the intent to punish and the physical execution of this intent is explored with the conclusion that personality type offers some indication, but that additional research around this topic is required. It is in Moral decision-making: Personality Type as influence on Moral Intuitionism
Len Marais
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addressing this weakness in current academic research that this research study aims to make a contribution.
The approach to this research is to do personality type assessments of voluntary subjects where after a moral decision is posed to them and their responses captured. By studying the relationship between these personality types, and traits, as well as the decision made inferences can be drawn on the extent to which personality type is an influence on moral decision-making.
Finally the environment of management consulting is introduced. This working environment exhibits many of the characteristics which define the knowledge economy.
The study concludes by answering the research question, ‘Is Personality Type, or its decomposed traits, an accurate predictor of moral decision-making’?, in the positive: Yes, there is statistically significant proof that a strong, linear relationship exists between moral decision-making, as defined by the decision to enact revenge, and the Sensing personality trait, as measured by the Jung Typology Test™.Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
lmgibs2015
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
Unrestricted
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Van, Marle Karin. "Towards an ethical interpretation of equality." Thesis, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/17733.
Full textAbstract:
Summaries in English and AfrikaansThe aim of this thesis is to search for an "ethical" interpretation of equality. Although the current South African approach of "substantive" equality is better than mere "formal" equality, I fear that even substantive equality will again deny or reduce difference. An "ethical" interpretation of equality is a way of interpretation that radically acknowledges difference and otherness. I argue for an ethical interpretation of equality as an alternative to substantive and formal equality. The intersection between public space, equality and justice is essential to such an ethical interpretation. An ethical interpretation of equality requires that present South African visions of public space must be reconstructed and transformed continuously. This means that an ethical interpretation of equality rejects finality and closure in respect of public space. The visions of public space and perspectives of equality that I support are alert to difference and otherness. My understanding of justice is that it is never fully achieved in the present. Justice functions as a future orientated ideal. The "ethical" in an ethical interpretation of equality reflects an awareness of the limits of any present system to encompass equality and justice completely. Visions of public space, perspectives on equality and landscapes of justice (the features of the ethical intersection) form the main sections of the thesis. I discuss the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as a manifestation of the ethical intersection between public space, equality and justice. The TRC was an outstanding example of reconstruction and transformation of public space. It was a public space where each and every individual was treated equally while concrete contexts, specific circumstances and difference were taken into account. The TRC as event was inspired by the ideal of justice. The value of the TRC as a manifestation of the ethical intersection is the profound effect it may have on our interpretation of equality by demonstrating the limits of the substantive approach.
Die doel van hierdie proefskrif is om ondersoek in te stel na 'n "etiese" interpretasie van gelykheid. Alhoewel die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse benadering van "substantiewe" gelykheid beter is as blote formele gelykheid, vrees ek dat selfs substantiewe gelykheid weereens verskil sal ontken of gering skat. 'n "Etiese" interpretasie van gelykheid is 'n manier van interpretasie wat radikaal kennis neem van verskil en andersheid. Ek argumenteer vir 'n etiese interpretasie van gelykheid as 'n alternatief tot substantiewe en formele gelykheid. Die interseksie tuseen publieke spasie, gelykheid en geregtigheid is noodsaaklik vir so 'n etiese interpretasie. 'n Etiese interpretasie van gelykheid vereis dat huidige Suid-Afrikaanse visies van publieke spasie aanhoudend gerekonstrueer en getransformeer moet word. Dit beteken dat 'n etiese interpretasie van gelykheid finaliteit en geslotenheid met betrekking tot publieke spasie verwerp. Die visies van publieke spasie en perspektiewe op gelykheid wat ek ondersteun is gevoelig vir verskil en andersheid. Ek verstaan geregtigheid as nooit volkome bereikbaar in die teenswoordige nie. Geregtigheid tree op as 'n toekomsgerigte ideaal. Die "etiese" in 'n etiese interpretasie van gelykheid weerspieel 'n bewustheid van die onvermoe van enige teenswoordige sisteem om gelykheid en geregtigheid volledig te omvat. Visies van publieke spasie, perspektiewe op gelykheid en landskappe van geregtigheid (die eienskappe van die etiese interseksie) vorm die hoofafdelings van die proefskrif. Ek bespreek die Suid-Afrikaanse Waarheids-en Versoeningskommissie (WVK) as 'n manifestasie van die etiese interseksie tussen publieke spasie, gelykheid en geregtigheid. Die WVK was 'n uitstaande voorbeeld van die rekonstruksie en transformasie van publieke spasie. Dit was 'n publieke spasie waar elke individu gelyk behandel is terwyl konkrete kontekste, spesifieke omstandighede en verskil in ag geneem is. Die WVK as 'n gebeurtenis is ge'lnspireer deur die ideaal van geregtigheid. Die waarde van die WVK as 'n manifestasie van die etiese interseksie is die diepgaande effek wat dit op ons interpretasie van gelykheid kan he deur die beperkings van die teenswoordige substantiewe benadering uit te wys.
Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law
LL.D.