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This paper discusses the lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on research ethics in social sciences by focusing on the concept of vulnerability. We unpack the current conceptualisations of vulnerability and their limitations and argue for the need to reconceptualise vulnerability as multidimensional, consisting of both universal and contextual dimensions, as well as their dynamic interplay. Multidimensional vulnerability is inspired by and relevant to social science research during the pandemic but can also be useful in other contexts such as climate change or conflict. The paper puts forwards several considerations about how this revised concept of vulnerability may be useful when evaluating ethical dimensions of social science research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Individuals who reside in a country without regular authorisation generally find it difficult to access public medical services beyond emergency treatment. Even in countries with universal healthcare, there is often a gap between rights on paper and their implementation. Civil society organisations (CSOs) fill this gap by providing medical services to vulnerable populations, including irregular migrants. What, if any, are the ethical dilemmas that arise for CSO staff when delivering such services in countries with universal healthcare? Under what conditions do these dilemmas arise? And what strategies do CSO staff use to mitigate them? We answer these questions using 40 semi-structured interviews with CSO staff working in two European countries with high levels of irregularity, universal healthcare provisions on paper, and significant differences in approaches and availability of public services for irregular migrants: Italy and Spain. We show that CSO staff providing medical services to irregular migrants in places with universal healthcare coverage face a fundamental dilemma between humanitarianism and equity. CSO staff respond to the humanitarian belief in the value of taking all possible steps to prevent or alleviate human suffering, thus promoting a decent quality of life that includes access to both emergency and non-emergency care. In doing so, however, they run the risk of substituting rather than complementing public provisions, thereby preventing governments from assuming responsibility for these services in the long term. Individuals who acknowledge the existence of this dilemma generally oppose the creation of parallel structures; that is, services specifically developed for irregular migrants outside the public system; while those who ignore it essentially subscribe to a tiered system, giving up on considerations of equity. We argue that CSOs involved in the provision of healthcare to irregular migrants do not simply provide services; they also play an inherently political role.

ABSTRACT This paper highlights the vital connection between intersectional ecofeminism and veganism as profound ethical and political practices. It critically engages with the ideas of feminist philosophers Val Plumwood and Donna Haraway, revealing how their contributions, while significant in critical animal studies and ecological philosophies, inadvertently allow continued exploitation of non-human animals, especially for food. Drawing from neo-materialist feminism and recent developments in political veganism, this paper underscores the ethical and ecological imperatives for an intersectional and radical veganism. This approach seeks to deconstruct biopolitical structures upholding non-human oppression, envisioning liberation for sentient beings and ecological restoration. It argues that the boundaries between ecofeminism, veganism, and multispecies justice should blur to dismantle systems rooted in human exceptionalism and ensure non-human animals are not treated as mere tools. In conclusion, this paper advocates for a holistic approach to non-human liberation, emphasizing the urgent need to strengthen the bonds between ecofeminism and veganism. This union challenges prevailing biopolitical systems and paves the way forgenuine liberation for all sentient beings, both human and non-human.

Technology qualifying as human mood enhancement can be developed, on the one hand, for the well-being and mental health of their users (therapy) and, on the other hand, for changing the mood of their users above levels of normality (enhancement). Such technology provokes debates concerning its societal, ethical and legal consequences for individuals and society as a whole. This paper’s aim is twofold. It first aims to show an overview of the often-occurring arguments in the ethics debate about mood enhancement technology and outline which arguments should be considered relevant for supporting the legislative debate. The second aim of the paper is to highlight some of the main legal aspects concerning this technology through the human rights lens of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the European Union.

The present study is based on the analysis and conclusions in a preceding paper by the author. Major interpretations of epigenetics are considered - social-ecological, biomedical and bioethical, - as well as their impact on social sciences and humanities, policies and opportunities for human development. The following important conclusions are formulated: firstly, epigenetics can be a stimulus to reform social sciences, as well as for policies aiming at purer environment, less poverty and social inequality, more freedom and less violence; (2) one-sided and implicit biomedical interpretation of epigenetics not only does not solve but intensifies existing problems relating to health and wellbeing of people in contemporary societies; (3) this however does not mean rejecting the biomedical approach but finding it's appropriate and balanced place in the context of functioning ecological and social policies; (4) practices and behavioural models that epigenetics determines as sensitive presuppose respective responsibilities on the part of various subjects - organisations, institutions and pdrticular individuals. A critical evaluation is necessary of attempts to reject responsibilities as well as of their imballanced distribution among various subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of ecofeminism is all about drawing comparisons and connections between old as well as new forms of oppressions against women and the environment and it fights against all forms of injustices to make earth a better place to live. Animal liberation theorists not only highlight animal abuse through hunting, caging, butchering, testing, and experimenting but they are of the opinion that animals are abused and derogated through the patriarchal language as well. In this regard, this paper attempts to explore the anthropocentric use of language in Barbara Kingsolver’s “Prodigal Summer” so as to discuss the way the author highlights animal devaluation and depreciation in terms of language. Kingsolver draws readers’ attention towards animal devaluation through various tropes (mostly similes) to highlight animal abuse in her ecofeminist text. The paper will examine the ways in which characters derogate each other through association with different animals and birds and show how the use of language plays a great role in the devaluation and derogation of nonhuman world.

In a recent systemic review of research on Disabled*1 students in Higher Education (HE), Kutscher and Tuckwiller (2019) highlighted the lack of any intersectional examination of disability and argued that research examining the intersections of disability and gender, race, sexuality, et cetera. are urgently needed. In the UK, a House of Lords Committee released a report that highlighted the many disadvantages still faced by Disabled students in UK HE, highlighting issues around access, support, and performance - finding that there is an attainment gap for Disabled students in UK HE (Hector et al., 2020). This article uses intersectionality as critical social theory (Collins, 2019) in the examination of the success (or otherwise) of Disabled women in HE in the UK. Defining "success" as completing a degree and attaining "Good Honours", the aim is to identify how the success of Disabled women students in the UK compares to non-disabled women, Disabled men, and nondisabled men. The findings suggest that there are intersectional disadvantages for Disabled women students; suggesting that there is an attainment gap for Undergraduate students and differences in the likelihood they continue and gain their intended award at postgraduate taught level. This paper is the first to examine the intersectional effects of gender and disability in UK HE students, and as well demonstrating this it highlights areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analysed traditional healthcare ethics as perceived by the people of Larteh in Ghana. It is an ethnographic research that studied narratives of health care ethics and analysed their contents. The research attempted to extrapolate unique elements of what might be called the Larteh traditional system of health care ethics, showing their significance for health care in public and private health care centres and hospitals in Ghana. Thus using an ethno-medical approach, generally within the scope of Gyekye’s theory of communalism and Bertalanffy’s general systems theory, the paper argued that though some of the ethical ideas contained in the narratives constitute fragments of ethical behaviour among healers, they largely reflected ethics of health care practice known to Western or Orthodox medical practice such as confidentiality, professionalism, limited non-maleficence and paternalism. Nonetheless, other elements could provide important lessons for improving the care of patients in Ghana. The paper concluded that Larteh’s traditional ideas of health care provide ethical principles that not only preserve the dignity of the patient but also teach principles that can contribute to the development of health care generally. The significance of this paper is in its ability to provide a framework for interpreting traditional healthcare ethics.

This paper investigates employee engagement, authentic leadership and human capital factors' influences on the creative behaviors of bank employees within Nigeria's banking industry. This investigation's sample was taken from a selection of banks (Guarantee Trust Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, and United Bank For Africa Plc) across the Lagos and Ibadan cities of Lagos and Oyo States, Nigeria. This paper adopts a survey study approach, and questionnaires were randomly circulated. However, out of the 300 questionnaires distributed, 273 were fit to be used for the research and analyzed via statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS vs. 26). The current findings suggest that the younger the bank employees, the more creative they are. The higher their educational level and work experience, the more creative they are within Nigeria's banking industry. The current investigation further established that employee engagement and authentic leadership significantly and positively influence creativity amongst employees within Nigeria's banking industry. Therefore, the management of the Nigerian banks needs to consider spurring of employees' sense of belonging and engagement to help stimulate and nurture their creativity. They should also consider essential authentic leadership training for their managers to help them discharge their leadership functions, related to the positive development of their subordinates' creative behaviors and the human capital factors in stimulating employee creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work is a human-centric social science that by design does not traditionally look beyond an anthropocentric perspective of practice, and this has consequences for nonhuman animals. Indeed, certain aspects of social service are oppressive towards nonhuman animals by advocating for the primacy of human rights and self-determination, which in a number of instances actively discriminates against nonhuman species through various forms of exploitation including (but not limited to) factory farming, hunting, entertainment, and ritual slaughter. This paper is a review of the curious relationship that social work has in regards to nonhuman animals in the United States, and how this dynamic can encourage and engender widespread forms of discrimination towards these sentient beings. Animal ethics, animal welfare, and speciesism are examined in the context of social work ethics, principles, and practice. Considerations are proposed and discussed for finding common ground between the NASW Social Work Code of Ethics and animal ethics, with the purpose of allowing for the social work profession to develop a more inclusive value system, one which is not limited to that of just our own species. Such a change would allow for a more just and complete value system within the social work profession in the U.S., which in turn could help to advance the cause for the rights and wellbeing of nonhuman animals on a wider national as well as international scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the entanglement of humanism and posthumanism within the Western European University, focusing on ethical implications and the role of the university in protecting the marginalised. To illustrate its arguments, it draws on a small study conducted in an ancient Italian university which specialises in Humanities and Social Sciences. The paper focuses on two key knotty issues: relationships between university aspirations to posthumanism and the colonial legacies of humanism, and the implications of holding on to humanism as a guarantor of human rights for marginalised people. It concludes by discussing the limitations of a posthuman ethics of responsibility and proposes instead a posthuman ethics of rights for the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the SCOPUS database and VOSviewer, this paper aims to analyze the bibliographic information on three keywords (entrepreneurial intention (EI), human flourishing (HF), and unicorns) to identify relevant areas for current and future research on entrepreneurship by applying a bibliometric and content review approach to 2434 documents for the BMA (business, management, and accounting) and EEF (economics, econometrics, and finance) subject areas to construct and visualize bibliometric networks on the basis of co-citation and co-authorship relations in these items. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) the number of documents published in the European Union on EI (600) almost doubles those published on this topic in the United States (354); the United States leads the number of papers (113) published on HF, and the number of documents published on Unicorns by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries (22) almost equals the number of documents published on this issue in the United States (25); (2) research on EI during the core years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2022) is of growing interest linked to entrepreneurship education and psychological traits; (3) ethics-related entrepreneurial behavior has historically supported current HF-related research; (4) entrepreneurial ecosystems, leadership, and innovation are critical success factors for born globals to be unicorns; (5) there is a geographic disparity (Spain, India, and the US) in the most cited authors for EI, HF, and unicorns, respectively.

This comprehensive analysis dives deep into the intricate interplay between artificial intelligence (AI) and human agency, examining the remarkable capabilities and inherent limitations of large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-3 and ChatGPT. The paper traces the complex trajectory of AI's evolution, highlighting its operation based on statistical pattern recognition, devoid of self-consciousness or innate comprehension. As AI permeates multiple spheres of human life, it raises substantial ethical, legal, and societal concerns that demand immediate attention and deliberation. The metaphorical illustration of humans as 'shepherds' of AI, coupled with a thought-provoking examination of 'agency without intelligence,' engenders deep reflections on the future of human-AI interplay and the associated philosophical, ethical, and practical ramifications. The paper further elucidates critical challenges associated with AI, such as ethical dilemmas, 'agency without intelligence,' the role of human oversight, and the environmental impact of AI technologies. In the pursuit of solutions, the paper maps prospective directions, emphasizing the need for robust AI policies, improved AI literacy, sustainable AI practices, and a continued dialogue on the multifaceted issues surrounding AI. Through a holistic exploration of AI, this paper underlines the necessity for a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to chart an ethical, beneficial, and sustainable AI future, enabling society to harness the potential of AI responsibly while mitigating the associated risks., Author(s): Partha Pratim Ray [sup.1], Pradip Kumar Das [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.449234.c, 0000 0004 1761 9782, Sikkim University, , Gangtok, India In his thought-provoking editorial (Floridi, 2023), 'AI as [...]

This paper provides a systematic account of how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies could harm nonhuman animals and explains why animal harms, often neglected in AI ethics, should be better recognised. After giving reasons for caring about animals and outlining the nature of animal harm, interests, and wellbeing, the paper develops a comprehensive 'harms framework' which draws on scientist David Fraser's influential mapping of human activities that impact on sentient animals. The harms framework is fleshed out with examples inspired by both scholarly literature and media reports. This systematic account and framework should help inform ethical analyses of AI's impact on animals and serve as a comprehensive and clear basis for the development and regulation of AI technologies to prevent and mitigate harm to nonhumans., Author(s): Simon Coghlan [sup.1] [sup.2], Christine Parker [sup.2] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1008.9, 0000 0001 2179 088X, School of Computing and Information Systems and Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, [...]

Guillermo del Toro’s “Shape of Water” (2017) has gained praise both from critics and audiences for its themes and storyline. In particular, a lot of creative and thematic weight is carried by the creature in the film – the Amphibian Man. As a character, it fits into the recent trend of morally positive and emotionally impactful monster representations, helping, among other things, to address the themes of acceptance and embracing of otherness. The aim of this paper is to explore the construction and portrayal of the Amphibian Man, and to take a closer look at the director’s approach towards reimagination of the creature in today’s landscape of cinema. The paper delves into del Toro’s work to define him as auteur, reflects on the traditions and changes in creature cinema, and examines the portrayal of the creature in terms of language, sound, and image.

As information technologies have become synonymous with progress in modern society, several ethical concerns have surfaced about their societal implications. In the past few decades, information technologies have had a value-laden impact on social evolution. However, there is limited agreement on the responsibility of businesses and innovators concerning the ethical aspects of information technologies. There is a need to understand the role of business incentives and attitudes in driving technological progress and to understand how they steer the ethics discourse on technology. In the information technology industry, there is an observed trivialization of ethics supported by a business driven and technology-centric approach to ethics. This trivialization rests on hardened beliefs, ideologies, and arguments which hint at reduced accountability for business and tend to individualize social responsibility. The phenomenon of ethics trivialization needs to be duly addressed to resolve the tensions between business needs and ethical concerns. This paper has identified from literature and conceptually analyzed the beliefs and ideologies underlying ethics trivialization which undermine ethics in business contexts. The paper has attempted to address the business concerns indicated by this phenomenon as well as highlight the weaknesses of its assumptions, rhetoric, and justifications. The aim of this paper is to systematically present the justifications in favor of and against the practice of ethics trivialization in the information technology domain, thereby highlighting the need to develop frameworks for assessment of ethical responsibility, accountability, and democratization of the value trade-offs involved in the design of technologies., Author(s): Sanju Ahuja [sup.1], Jyoti Kumar [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.417967.a, 0000 0004 0558 8755, Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, , Hauz Khas, 110016, New Delhi, India [...]

Software systems play an ever more important role in our lives and software engineers and their companies find themselves in a position where they are held responsible for ethical issues that may arise. In this paper, we try to disentangle ethical considerations that can be performed at the level of the software engineer from those that belong in the wider domain of business ethics. The handling of ethical problems that fall into the responsibility of the engineer has traditionally been addressed by the publication of Codes of Ethics and Conduct. We argue that these Codes are barely able to provide normative orientation in software development. The main contribution of this paper is, thus, to analyze the normative features of Codes of Ethics in software engineering and to explicate how their value-based approach might prevent their usefulness from a normative perspective. Codes of Conduct cannot replace ethical deliberation because they do not and cannot offer guidance because of their underdetermined nature. This lack of orientation, we argue, triggers reactive behavior such as 'cherry-picking,' 'risk of indifference,' 'ex-post orientation,' and the 'desire to rely on gut feeling.' In the light of this, we propose to implement ethical deliberation within software development teams as a way out., Author(s): Jan Gogoll [sup.1], Niina Zuber [sup.1], Severin Kacianka [sup.2], Timo Greger [sup.3], Alexander Pretschner [sup.1] [sup.2], Julian Nida-Rümelin [sup.1] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.508844.5, Bavarian Research Institute for Digital [...]

This paper assesses leading Japanese philosophical thought since the onset of Japan's modernity: namely, from the Meiji Restoration (1868) onwards. It argues that there are lessons of global value for AI ethics to be found from examining leading Japanese philosophers of modernity and ethics (Yukichi Fukuzawa, Nishida Kitaro, Nishi Amane, and Watsuji TetsurÅ), each of whom engaged closely with Western philosophical traditions. Turning to these philosophers allows us to advance from what are broadly individualistically and Western-oriented ethical debates regarding emergent technologies that function in relation to AI, by introducing notions of community, wholeness, sincerity, and heart. With reference to AI that pertains to profile, judge, learn, and interact with human emotion (emotional AI), this paper contends that (a) Japan itself may internally make better use of historic indigenous ethical thought, especially as it applies to question of data and relationships with technology; but also (b) that externally Western and global ethical discussion regarding emerging technologies will find valuable insights from Japan. The paper concludes by distilling from Japanese philosophers of modernity four ethical suggestions, or spices, in relation to emerging technological contexts for Japan's national AI policies and international fora, such as standards development and global AI ethics policymaking., Author(s): Andrew McStay [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.7362.0, 0000000118820937, School of History, Law and Social Sciences, Bangor University, , Bangor, Wales, UK Introduction Focusing on Japan, this paper examines what [...]

In this paper, we argue that understanding and addressing the problem of poor-quality medical products requires a more interdisciplinary approach than has been evident to date. While prospective studies based on rigorous standardized methodologies are the gold standard for measuring the prevalence of poor-quality medical products and understanding their distribution nationally and internationally, they should be complemented by social science research to unpack the complex set of social, economic, and governance factors that underlie these patterns. In the following sections, we discuss specific examples of prospective quality surveys and of social science studies, highlighting the value of cross-sector partnerships in driving high-quality, policy-relevant research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization and democratization have long been questioned by powerful Western European countries such as the United States of America (USA), France and Britain, who regard these two movements as almost organic elements of their foreign policy. This questioning, which intensifies with the sharpening of global economic conditions, seems to have serious consequences for the future of the Western Alliance. This period comes with ethical and political dilemmas that will profoundly affect the modern individual’s view of world politics. In a system where there are no mechanisms to allow non-state actors to participate in government on a global scale, mass protest and destructive moral questioning are inevitable. This situation has become evident with the new type of corona virus epidemic (Covid 19) that has shaken the world since the beginning of 2020. The Covid crisis has demonstrated that human rights and freedoms enshrined in universal human rights conventions have not been adequately respected. Though beyond the focus of this paper, the migration crisis created by the civil war in Syria and the current state of affairs after the withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan are clear cases in this respect. This paper focuses on the dilemmas that politics and ethics in the face of radical, global changes.

The discourse on the future of work should learn from a turn in philosophy that occurred in the 1980s, one that recognizes the good life towards which ethics strives can only be reached on a foundation of caring relationships (Gillian, 1982; Noddings, 1984). Care ethics recognizes that human well-being is a group project, one that involves strong relationships, and concern for bodies and emotions. Too often, these features are left out of research exploring robotics in the workplace. This paper outlines the main tenets of care ethics, then applies the moral framework to the context of industrial and retail settings using robots. This approach sees these contexts through a relational lens, helping to identify, evaluate, and improve relationships critical to ensuring workers' well-being. Second, care ethics considers taking care of people's bodies beyond mere safety, examining how working with robots can exacerbate societal or economic pressures. Lastly, care ethics takes emotions as an important source of knowledge in building and supporting care. Additionally, this paper contributes to the care ethics literature by applying the framework to the context of robotized industrial workplaces, which has yet to be done., Author(s): Madelaine Ley [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5292.c, 0000 0001 2097 4740, Ethics/Philosophy Section, Department of Values, Technology and Innovation, Faculty of Technology, Management and Policy, Delft University of Technology, [...]

The paper focuses on two problems with Alexander Wendt's unification of physical and social ontology on the basis of quantum theory. Firstly, by endowing social phenomena with an ontological foundation in physical reality defined in quantum terms Wendt risks reducing a plurality of worlds as 'fields of sense', ordered by their immanent rules, to the physical world ordered by the laws of quantum theory. Secondly, by defining his quantum social science as an ontology Wendt risks excluding from consideration all that which violates ontological laws, yet may still be said to exist or take place: event, potentiality, and alterity. Although the advantages of a scientific ontology are indisputable, the price we pay for it is a sense of ontological captivity, whereby everything that is definitely is so, being and non-being rigorously distinguished and separated with nothing between them. This captivity may be escaped by supplementing quantum ontology with ethics in the Levinasian sense of 'otherwise than being'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 20 years, cash transfers have become increasingly widespread within international development and global social policy. Often, their roll out is preceded by a trial or pilot phase aiming to check feasibility and effectiveness. These pilots can involve thousands of people. However, there is limited discussion within the literature (and even less in practice) of how and whether cash transfer trials and the research that they involve can respect ethical standards. This paper represents an initial step towards filling that gap. It does so by reviewing the latest literature pertaining to the ethics of cash transfers and social experimentation. It concludes by advancing a series of proposals that could support cash transfer trials to take place with greater respect for research ethics norms and in the best interests of participants. The paper’s findings have relevance for policymakers and development practitioners working with cash transfers and also for the smaller cognate world of Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) piloting.

• Research integrity is understood in terms of academic and professional integrity. • Honesty, responsibility, and respectfulness are important researcher values. • Limited presence of research ethics committees. • Human participant research ethics is an individual responsibility. Central Asian (CA) countries have been actively developing their research and knowledge production systems. However, inconsistent alignment with international research ethics norms creates challenges for researchers in CA to equally participate in global knowledge production. Based on quantitative survey responses of 296 social science researchers from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, this paper explores social scientists' understandings of international principles and practices of human participant research ethics. The findings show that CA social science researchers focus on a broad understanding of research integrity, focused on academic and professional integrity. The respondents highlighted the importance of individual researcher values such as honesty, responsibility, and respectfulness. With only 35 % of the respondents reporting the existence of a research ethics committee (REC) at their institutions, most respondents believe that human participant research ethics are an individual rather than an institutional responsibility in Central Asia. This study has implications for developing research and policy in other post-Soviet and emerging research contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many ethics initiatives have stipulated sets of principles and standards for good technology development in the AI sector. However, several AI ethics researchers have pointed out a lack of practical realization of these principles. Following that, AI ethics underwent a practical turn, but without deviating from the principled approach. This paper proposes a complementary to the principled approach that is based on virtue ethics. It defines four 'basic AI virtues', namely justice, honesty, responsibility and care, all of which represent specific motivational settings that constitute the very precondition for ethical decision making in the AI field. Moreover, it defines two 'second-order AI virtues', prudence and fortitude, that bolster achieving the basic virtues by helping with overcoming bounded ethicality or hidden psychological forces that can impair ethical decision making and that are hitherto disregarded in AI ethics. Lastly, the paper describes measures for successfully cultivating the mentioned virtues in organizations dealing with AI research and development., Author(s): Thilo Hagendorff [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.10392.39, 0000 0001 2190 1447, Cluster of Excellence 'Machine Learning: New Perspectives for Science', University of Tuebingen, , Tübingen, Germany Introduction Current AI [...]

There are many challenges faced by scholars when designing research that is ethically compliant. These include issues of consent, confidentiality, and how to give feedback to participants, for example. However less is known about how non-South African researchers, specifically Zimbabwean doctoral students, navigate ethical dilemmas when conducting their fieldwork whilst being registered in South African universities. This gap is especially concerning given the high number of Zimbabwean doctoral students in South Africa. This paper poses the following questions: (1) What are the challenges encountered by a Zimbabwean doctoral student doing fieldwork in Zimbabwe whilst being supervised in a South African university? (2) How can these challenges be mitigated? In answering these questions, the paper uses a collaborative autoethnographic approach to empirically ground its arguments. The paper argues that South Africa’s higher education institutions have a duty to ensure research integrity of its students even if those students are conducting fieldwork outside South African borders. We observe that there is often a disconnect between formal ethical administrative processes and what actually happens on the ground. Potential solutions are to increase the autonomy and improvisation of students and supervisors in overseeing and doing research in these contexts.

COVID-19 has distorted the teaching and learning pedagogy, as well as the research process of higher education institutions, particularly in Africa. This pandemic-imposed restrictions on movement and demanded a shift to online interaction. This blurred the lines between work and home life and has exacerbated the deep chasms of inequality upon which South African society operates. Established on empirical evidence, substantiated by documentary data, this paper explores how these existing inequalities, exacerbated by COVID-19, manifest in the postgraduate research space of South African higher education institutions. Qualitative data were collected during a recorded focus group interview, and thematically analysed. Through a Neo-Weberian lens, it will illustrate that the pandemic, among other challenges, posed significant ethical challenges to honours students completing their research projects, in turn, shifting policies and requirements of higher education institutions (HEIs) themselves to ensure the protection of their students and quality of research output. These include concerns around digital exclusion, locating participant consent, as well as the collection of data via online channels (Zoom, WhatsApp, Skype) and their privacy parameters. Considering these gulfs of inequality, the paper recommends key requirements for the future of ethically sound research in higher education in South Africa.

Risk governance of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies has been traditionally mainly limited to risk assessment, risk management and life cycle assessment. Recent approaches have experimented with widening the scope and including economic, social, and ethical aspects. This paper reports on tests and stakeholder feedback on fine-tuning the use of ethical impact assessment guidelines (RiskGONE D3.6) and online tools adapting the CEN Workshop Agreement part 2 CWA 17145-2:2017 (E)) to support risk governance of nanomaterials, in the RiskGONE project. The EIA guidelines and tools are intended to be used as one module in a multicriteria decision support framework for risk governance of nanomaterials, but may also be used for a stand-alone ethical impact assessment.

This paper documents how an ethically aligned co-design methodology ensures trustworthiness in the early design phase of an artificial intelligence (AI) system component for healthcare. The system explains decisions made by deep learning networks analyzing images of skin lesions. The co-design of trustworthy AI developed here used a holistic approach rather than a static ethical checklist and required a multidisciplinary team of experts working with the AI designers and their managers. Ethical, legal, and technical issues potentially arising from the future use of the AI system were investigated. This paper is a first report on co-designing in the early design phase. Our results can also serve as guidance for other early-phase AI-similar tool developments.

Moral Agency Within Social Structures and Culture: A Primer on Critical Realism for Christian Ethics. Ed. Daniel K. Finn. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2020. Paper. 115 p. $29.95. In [...]

Research Question (RQ): What are the emerging practices that vehicle the institutionalization process of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in teaching, learning, and research practices? What are the emerging perceptions related to the implementation and use of AI systems in higher education (HE)? Purpose: The paper aims to explore and analyze, from an anthropological perspective, the impact of AI systems on teaching, learning and research practices and meanings in HE, including the ethical and moral considerations related to their implementation and use. Methods: This study utilized an ethnographic framework and an online ethnography to explore the relationships between practices and meanings in the implementation of AI systems in HE. It also conducted a systematic review of studies on the use of AI in HE in Google scholar, Scopus, Springer and ScienceDirect to identify dominant themes and concepts. The research considered the cultural context in which AI practices are situated and explored how AI influences and is influenced by cultural norms, values and power dynamics. Results: The research reveals how the introduction of AI systems affects teaching, learning and research practices and perceptions at HE. It sheds light on the silenced aspects of social practices and perceptions around this issue to provide elements for ethical development and use of AI systems. Organization: The study seeks to raise the awareness of HE organizations about the potential impact of AI systems on teaching, learning, and research processes. It can guide educational institutions to make informed and ethical decisions regarding the implementation and use of AI technologies in their educational practice through the lens of organizational anthropology. Society: The societal impact of the study lies in its potential to (re)shape educational practices and perspectives and to foster important ethical discussions. By addressing the impact of AI in HE, the study contributes to the creation of a more informed and technology-aware society. Originality: The originality of the study lies in the interdisciplinary combination of exploring the impact of AI systems on teaching, learning and research practices from an anthropological perspective. Limitations / Further research: Limitations of the study include that it relies on mainstream news databases and does not consider the perspective of users (administrators, teachers, students). Inclusion of non-Western sources and surveys or in-depth interviews to capture administrator/teacher/student engagement with AI tools could improve future research.

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that in order to claim that Kant’s ethics is neither speciesist nor anthropocentric there is no need to reinterpret Kant’s theories pushing them over their anthroposcopism. I start by exploring the most relevant references to non-human animals and nature in Kant’s moral theory. Then I highlight the main reasons behind the critics of speciesism and anthropocentrism often referred to Kant’s philosophy. I show how non-anthropocentric environmental ethics reinterpretations of Kant’s moral theory offered by Christine Korsgaard, Sharon Anderson-Gold e Marc Lucht reply to the critics. In conclusion, I claim that staying with Kant’s anthroposcopism and formal approach to moral ethics could be enough to provide a stronger theoretical framework for an already widespread and widely accepted weak anthropocentric reformist environmental ethics.

In Islam, the fabricated hadith is the least acknowledged hadith. The scholars unanimously reject this hadith and forbid its recitation without identifying its status. Fabricated hadith’s core perversion is its justification for the Prophet Muhammad’s assassination (PBUH). Falsification of hadith has harmed numerous facets of life, including faith, religious legislation, and acts of devotion. Additionally, the number of false hadiths is growing daily. This chilling reality has become a concern due to the widespread dissemination of such hadiths through modern technology. The dissemination of falsified hadiths via social media has emerged as a new issue that new-generation Muslims must take seriously, particularly individual awareness, knowledge, ethics, and morals.This paper will emphasize the hadith’s history and falsification aspects, assess its dispersion tendencies using more advanced media, and recommend many tips for preventing further dissemination. Using a qualitative method, this study found several guidelines to ensure the dispersion of fabricated hadith is handled properly, such as not believing in anything quickly, ensuring authenticity before sharing, and providing advice to admit mistakes in spreading the fabricated hadith. In this regard, we encourage academic scholars to conduct research on fabricated hadiths in order to preserve the purity and authority of the Prophet’s hadiths as the second Islamic source for Muslims.

This paper departs from a critical animal studies perspective—that is a perspective critical with speciesist anthropocentrism—in order to problematize public relations by industries harming other animals. To this end, it reviews the ethical and theoretical frameworks raised by critical public relations in order to adopt a critical stance towards what we call here “lobbying against compassion”—the practice of public relations, mainly lobbying, to justify the exploitation of nonhuman animals by some industries. We first examine the role of compassion as a strong motivator for prosocial behaviours as discussed by philosophy and social psychology. Second, we examine compassion towards animals from the lens of public relations and communication. Third, we conduct a literature review to identify the ethical frameworks raised by previous critical public relations literature, which can also be used to justify the cultivation of compassion toward other animals. Finally, we argue that an ethics of persuasion that incorporates compassion towards the suffering of other animals—and therefore avoids endorsing animal suffering—is unavoidable for public relations theory and practice to be ethically reinforced.

The drives of inter-individual relationships within avian social groups are largely unexplored and relatively poorly understood, including how social landscapes affect the decisions of individuals within these groups. On a modest level, this study undertakes to expand this knowledge with an ornithological observation of temporary groupings among multiple aquatic species in response to the pairing of birdwatchers. More ambitiously, the study presumes the analogy between the social response of an avian community and the subliminal response of the human psyche to spatial stimuli. The number of bird pairs forming in flocks, coverts and rafts was consistently higher when the birds interacted with children teamed up in pairs than when solitary children interacted with the birds. Inadvertent social cues consequential to the extended duration of the focus, vigilance stimulation and subliminal messages affecting the neurological pathways in the brain and the social dynamics pertaining to proxemics are discussed as potential causes of this effect. Lastly, the structure of the paper mimics the lifetime of inventive ideas, which originate from a chaos of amorphous thought, then crystallize into a clarity of logical concepts open to elaboration, and eventually disperse into a similar semantic clutter as that from which they were born.

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate the need to discuss the moral status of pets, showing how this can even offer an opportunity to rethink the entire set of relationships between humans and non-human nature. I start by asking “who” or “what” pets are and why they should be treated morally different from other “beasts”. I also show how both anthropocentric and animal ethics are unable to solve the dilemma. In conclusion, I explore two possible coordinates to use in order to solve the dilemma: “interest” and “appropriate relational partiality”. I claim that these two key concepts could also be useful to show the need to find a mutual theoretical and conceptual framework toward which both anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric environmental ethics could refer.

Abstract It takes a great deal of time and effort to design innovative programmes, so an organization's survival is tied to innovation. Additionally, some people lead innovation better than others. An MIT Sloan Management Review study published in 2011 evaluated the experiences of companies that implemented these new ideas for innovation. Results suggest that it is in overcoming organisational' challenges , that the limitations of innovation can be surpassed. This qualitative study will examine why innovative management practices are so critical to the Clicks Group a South African retail business and its member organisations in order for them to compete in today's business environment. As a second objective, the study will examine whether the Clicks Group or any of its subsidiaries has a culture of change. This study also importantly to look at what value a change culture might bring to the future success of an organization or group of organisations. Furthermore, the Clicks Group and its subsidiary organizations have identified the value of ethical management practices and collaboration as two possible drivers of sustainable success. This paper presents a model for achieving success in diversity management as a competitive advantage for organisations such as the Clicks Group.

The article is inspired by Shelly Kagan’s recent book “How to Count Animals”, which focuses on the alternative between a unitarian and a hierarchical conception of the moral status of beings in the animal ethics debate. The paper finds a way of compromise between the two perspectives in the principle of equal consideration of interests, but above all it lessens the role of such opposition – especially its practical relevance – by emphasizing that, regardless of the fact of conceiving moral status in terms of all or nothing or in gradual terms, what really counts in our attitude towards non-human animals is to assign them an important moral consideration, that protects them not only from suffering, but also from an induced death in advance of natural times, a thesis that is compatible with both unitarianism and a hierarchical approach.

Besides the focus on the various approaches developed until now within animal ethics, perhaps it would be interesting to consider also what ethical theories have ruled out any moral concern for the interests of non-human beings. This article aims to rise some questions about the exclusion of (sentient) animals in the philosophical debates on distributive justice. The introduction briefly provides an overview on the current debate on distributive justice. The author focuses on those theories that adopt welfare as the currency of distribution (so-called “welfare ethics”), underlining how there seem to be a contradiction between the theory of value they rely on and their approach, exclusively focused on humans. The essay analyses the main issues related to the inclusion of animals in welfare ethics, i.e. (a) the alleged incommensurability between human and animal welfare, and (b) the “problematic conclusion”. The paper sketches a hypothesis of research to solve the “inter-species wellbeing comparisons” issue by proposing a model based on species-typical potentialities. Then, it tries to address the problem of demandingness by suggesting a sympathy-based foundation of welfare ethics. The last section singles out the moral issue of laboratory animals as an appropriate field of application for a welfarist approach.

The Chincoteague pony swim is a cherished tradition in Chincoteague, Virginia, where noble saltwater cowboys round up wild horses to be sold at auction the next day. The island thrives off this event’s economic impact, which is amplified through Marguerite Henry’s series “Misty of Chincoteague”, allowing the pony’s fame to reach all corners of the world. The tradition is rooted in Chincoteague culture, but several different ethical aspects come into question after critical consideration. The islander’s economic dependence and pride in the ponies and yearly round up act as a disguise for these ethical quandaries, through the practice of modern myth making. This paper explores concepts of breed, the state of being wild vs. free, language surrounding horses, and hidden symbols within the swims organization to uncover the covert way in which Chincoteague culture upholds colonial values.

In 2017, the German ethics commission for automated and connected driving released 20 ethical guidelines for autonomous vehicles. It is now up to the research and industrial sectors to enhance the development of autonomous vehicles based on such guidelines. In the current state of the art, we find studies on how ethical theories can be integrated. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no framework for motion planning has yet been published which allows for the true implementation of any practical ethical policies. This paper makes four contributions: Firstly, we briefly present the state of the art based on recent works concerning unavoidable accidents of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and identify further need for research. While most of the research focuses on decision strategies in moral dilemmas or crash optimization, we aim to develop an ethical trajectory planning for all situations on public roads. Secondly, we discuss several ethical theories and argue for the adoption of the theory 'ethics of risk.' Thirdly, we propose a new framework for trajectory planning, with uncertainties and an assessment of risks. In this framework, we transform ethical specifications into mathematical equations and thus create the basis for the programming of an ethical trajectory. We present a risk cost function for trajectory planning that considers minimization of the overall risk, priority for the worst-off and equal treatment of people. Finally, we build a connection between the widely discussed trolley problem and our proposed framework., Author(s): Maximilian Geisslinger [sup.1], Franziska Poszler [sup.2], Johannes Betz [sup.1], Christoph Lütge [sup.2], Markus Lienkamp [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.6936.a, 0000000123222966, Institute of Automotive Technology, Technical University of Munich (TUM), [...]

The Greek term “tò kalón” has a wide variety of connotations, among which the ethical and the aesthetic aspects stand out. Scholars debate whether there is a clear separation between those two aspects, whether one subsumes the other, or more broadly what their relation is. In this paper, I propose that Xenophon’s Symposium is a good scenario to explore the intricacies between different aspects of tò kalón. Not because the dialogue offers any deep philosophical discussion about the nature of tò kalón, but because Xenophon presents this dialogue as an illustration of tò kalón. I shall argue that, even though it is generally agreed that tò kalón (fineness, beauty) elicits praise and commendation, experiencing or appreciating it does not necessarily lead to being able to provide its definition, just as having a definition of it does not necessarily affect our appreciation of it.

The primary objective of the auditor engaged in the audit of financial statements is to provide a professional and independent opinion on whether the financial statements have been prepared by international accounting standards and relevant legislation. In this way, auditors provide credibility to financial statements. Unreliable financial statements can harm all stakeholders. To this end, professional associations have developed a set of ethical rules that protect the audit profession and ensure that auditors perform their work with high ethical awareness. The subject of the paper is research on whether professional practitioners in the Republic of Serbia who deal with auditing are familiar with ethical standards and whether they apply them in their work, especially in situations where there is a threat to their independence. We also investigated whether there is a difference in knowledge and application of ethical standards between professional practitioners in auditing in the private and public sectors of the Republic of Serbia, as well as whether ethical standards for both sectors are adequately defined. The main conclusion is that audit practitioners in the public sector in the Republic of Serbia have less developed awareness of compliance with ethical rules compared to professional practitioners in the private sector, with the perceived need for additional training for audit practitioners in both sectors.

Objectives This paper aims to present the relations between legal, economic, technological instruments and the factors affecting the dominating standard of social awareness which affects ethical choices in the scope of environmental protection. Material and methods The article uses the method of analysis and criticism of the literature as well as dogmatic and legal. Results Effective environmental protection demands an interdisciplinary approach. It should rest on the foundation of legal regulations setting out rules for the use and protection of natural resources with the principle of sustainable development. People need these resources for survival but they contribute to their degradation. To secure the basic rights of people, the environment and economic growth, effective environmental protection is a must. Conclusions This analysis served to develop a model that integrates these elements for the purpose of effective environmental protection. In a nutshell, effective environmental protection cannot be attained through legal instruments alone; they must be coordinated – the use of the best available techniques – with adequate economic tools and ethical standing of the society.

The legitimacy of mandatory vaccine policies is underscored by a public health ethics framework based on the principles of limited autonomy, social justice and the common good. Ideally, vaccine uptake ought to occur on a voluntary basis as an act of solidarity to ensure that everyone is protected. Given that the altruistic approach has failed and vaccine uptake remains sub-optimal in South Africa, in this paper, I argue for vaccine mandates, in a post-Omicron context. This viewpoint is substantiated by several considerations. Healthcare workers are fatigued after 2 years of treating COVID-19 and many are still treating patients with post-viral syndromes, mental health conditions and cardiovascular complications. Health systems remain under pressure as people with non-COVID diseases, neglected during the pandemic, are also now presenting to medical practices and hospitals. Although South Africa has emerged from a relatively less severe fourth wave of COVID-19, there have been many deaths. Vaccine and natural immunity in a relatively young general population has been advantageous. However, the country has a high prevalence of HIV and those who are untreated may not be able to clear the coronavirus easily. Similarly chronic illnesses place many at risk for severe disease from COVID variants, especially if unvaccinated. The future is shrouded in uncertainty. The next variant could be similar to or less severe than Omicron, yet still impact negatively on health systems, education and the economy. Physical distancing is not ideal in many low socio-economic settings, making vaccines an important component of our prevention toolbox. Our safest option now is to ensure that as many South Africans as possible are vaccinated and receive boosters. Vaccine mandates work to achieve this end. Significance: The legitimacy of COVID-19 vaccine mandates post-Omicron is explored from an ethical perspective, given that the fifth wave remains unpredictable in South Africa – a country with a high prevalence of HIV, vulnerable unvaccinated adults and children, and fragile public health systems. The emergence of new variants is uncertain. However, vaccines are central to an appropriate response to protect public health, health systems and the economy.

Recent advances in AI raise questions about its social impacts and implementation. In response, governments and public administrations seek to develop adequate governance frameworks to mitigate risks and maximize the potential of AI development and use. Such work largely deals with questions of how challenges and risks should be managed, which values and goals should be pursued, and through which institutional mechanisms and principles these goals could be achieved. In this paper, we conduct a systematic review of the existing literature on the development of AI governance for public administration. The article describes principles and means by which public administrations could guide and steer AI developers and users in adopting ethical and responsible practices. The reviewed literature indicates a need for public administrations to move away from top-down hierarchical governance principles and adopt forms of inclusive policy-making to ensure the actionability of ethical and responsibility principles in the successful governance of AI development and use. By combining the results, we propose a CIIA (Comprehensive, Inclusive, Institutionalized, and Actionable) framework that integrates the key aspects of the proposed development solutions into an ideal typical and comprehensive model for AI governance.

The rise of social media use has been phenomenal, particularly during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Facebook has also seen its share of users rise at a meteoric rate. At the same time, the academy is producing a growing body of literature concerning the use of online methods for primary data collection. Yet, despite the increase in the use of the internet as a research tool, very little still exists on the use of social media to recruit research participants, particularly those deemed “socially invisible”. This paper addresses this gap. Another research project explored the experiences of South Asian women who had departed the social norms of arranged marriage to form an intimate relationship with a partner of choice and who then experienced forms of gender-related violence (GRV). The project encountered difficulties in recruiting participants from this marginalised and often invisible group in UK society, who are often too frightened or ashamed to come forward. This study demonstrates how to use Facebook ethically and methodologically, highlighting some of the methods used to overcome the challenges that were presented. The research was undertaken before the COVID-19 pandemic (which prompted a widespread use of social media in social science research). We argue that, despite the ethical challenges, the advantages of using social media to recruit participants when researching a highly sensitive topic such as GRV with ‘invisible groups’ was highly beneficial. We therefore suggest that social media should be an integral part of the research recruitment process, alongside non-digital methods, so that other ‘invisible groups’ are not created comprising those who cannot access technology. We share the lessons learned for the benefit of researchers using a similar approach today when recruiting research participants from invisible and marginalised groups. The authors caveat their recommendation of using social media with suggesting that those who do not have high levels of experience of data collection with such cohorts instead consider working with gatekeepers to facilitate the recruitment.