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Vulnerability and politics are among the relevant and key topics of discussion in the Ethiopian healthcare context. Attempts by the formal bioethics structure in Ethiopia to deliberate on ethical issues relating to vulnerability and politics in healthcare have been limited, even though the informal analysis of bioethical issues has been present in traditional Ethiopian communities. This is reflected in religion, social values, and local moral underpinnings. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the bioethical implications of vulnerability and politics for healthcare in Ethiopia and to suggest possible ways forward. First, we will briefly introduce what has been done to develop bioethics as a field in Ethiopia and what gaps remain concerning its implementation in healthcare practice. This will give a context for our second and main task – analyzing the healthcare challenges in relation to vulnerability and politics and discussing their bioethical implications. In doing so, and since these two concepts are intrinsically broad, we demarcate their scope by focusing on specific issues such as poverty, gender, health governance, and armed conflicts. Lastly, we provide suggestions for the ways forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the importance of hope as a determining factor for patients to participate in first-in-human trials for synthetic biology therapies. This paper focuses on different aspects of hope in the context of human health and well-being and explores the varieties of hope expressed by patients. The research findings are based on interview data collected from stable gout and diabetes patients. Three concepts of hope have emerged from the interviews: hope as certainty (H1); hope as reflective uncertainty (H2); hope as self-therapy (H3). The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, it aims to underline the significance of hope in patients’ medical decision-making, as well as the beneficence of hope for patients’ well-being, and for progress in research. Second, it shows how philosophical investigations—in particular Descartes—explore the phenomenon of hope and provide medical empirical research with profitable insights and tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed stable patients' views regarding synthetic biology in general, the medical application of synthetic biology, and their potential participation in trials of synthetic biology in particular. The aim of the study was to find out whether patients' views and preferences change after receiving more detailed information about synthetic biology and its clinical applications. The qualitative study was carried out with a purposive sample of 36 stable patients, who suffered from diabetes or gout. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated and fully anonymized. Thematic analysis was applied in order to examine stable patients' attitudes towards synthetic biology, its medical application, and their participation in trials. When patients were asked about synthetic biology in general, most of them were anxious that something uncontrollable could be created. After a concrete example of possible future treatment options, patients started to see synthetic biology in a more positive way. Our study constitutes an important first empirical insight into stable patients' views on synthetic biology and into the kind of fears triggered by the term 'synthetic biology.' Our results show that clear and concrete information can change patients' initial negative feelings towards synthetic biology. Information should thus be transmitted with great accuracy and transparency in order to reduce irrational fears of patients and to minimize the risk that researchers present facts too positively for the purposes of persuading patients to participate in clinical trials. Potential participants need to be adequately informed in order to be able to autonomously decide whether to participate in human subject research involving synthetic biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including Socrates' prudential theory of morality, epistemological issues related to happiness and well-being, and the relationship between happiness, health and social justice.

Modern philosophy is characterised by various objections to the Aristotelian conception of happiness as the supreme good of human life. In this paper, I focus on the objections raised by two key thinkers of the modern period, namely Blaise Pascal and Friedrich Nietzsche. Both philosophers formulate important counter- arguments to the teleological claim that happiness is the highest good towards which all human beings naturally direct their efforts. Their target is not any specific definition of happiness as a particular kind of activity, or a particular kind of good. Instead, they express a more fundamental scepticism about the very possibility of happiness being the ultimate end of human life. As I show, Pascal's and Nietzsche's radical point is that, since reason alone can never answer for certain the question of whether or not happiness is the ultimate aim of human existence, philosophy should not concern itself with the question of happiness. The paper has three parts. I first sketch an outline of Pascal's sceptical argument with regard to happiness, and then present his positive definition of happiness, after which I do the same for Nietzsche. The third part is devoted to a critical assessment of their positions in light of an alternative argument developed by John Cottingham. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Latin edition of the Meditationes (1641) was followed by Sets of Objections and by Descartes' Sets of Replies. One of the recurring objections concerned the Cartesian claim which states that mind and body are both really distinct and unified substances. Arnauld (Fourth Set of Objections) and Gassendi (Fifth Set of Objections) made Descartes aware of the incoherence of these two claims made in Meditation II and VI. In these public disputes, Descartes uses certain arguments as well as rhetorical devices to defend his views. In a less public context such as the correspondence with Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, which starts in May 1643, Descartes continues to maintain his paradoxical theses. What one finds in these letters is that Descartes changes not only the tone, but also the content, of his arguments (e.g. the argument of the "three kinds of primitive ideas or notions"). The paper proceeds in four parts: (1) reconstructing the main arguments of the distinction and the union of the two substances in the Meditations as well as the main objections made by Arnauld and Gassendi; (2) examining Descartes' public replies to Gassendi as well as (3) Descartes' concessions to Elisabeth's questions; and finally (4) drawing the significance of this semi-private correspondence for the understanding of Descartes' elaboration of his philosophical views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Descartes' morals are often considered a marginal epiphenomenon not only with respect to his metaphysics, but also in regard to the ethical theories that preceded and followed it, that is, broadly Aristotle's eudaimonism, Kantian deontologism and Mill's utilitarianism. I argue in this paper that Descartes' morals do not play a merely subaltern role in his metaphysics, as is often claimed. I first present the specificity and the evolution of his morals by giving an account of his provisory and perfect morals. Second I argue that a close reading of important passages from his correspondence and his treatise on the Passions of the Soul indicates that Descartes develops a third kind of morals based on the virtue-passion of generosity. The last part of the paper discusses Descartes' own treatment of the passions and suggests against the standard view that Descartes' concern is also the veri homines, and ultimately the generosi homines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the article `Nietzche and (or beyond) Christianity?: A Worn-out and Almost Banal Problem?' highlighting concerns on Friedrich Nietzche's effort to conquer the moral hegemony within Christianity. Reference to Nietzchean critique of Christianity; Examination of various sections of this article; How Nietzche affects the Christian striving for a justification of life.