Search

The Deontic Principle of Closure (DCL) appears initially to be a highly plausible principle. The DCL is commonly assumed in practical ethical reasoning, as when we make certain inferences about what we (morally) ought to do in particular situations. For example, if I am standing beside a burning house with several victims trapped inside and I have an obligation to rescue them, then if it is necessary for me to open the front door in order for me to lead them out, then it seems that I am morally bound in this situation to open the door. Similarly, if it is the case that I ought to keep my Friday morning 8:00 appointment with my student and it is a necessary condition for keeping the appointment that I wake up some time before 8:00, then I ought to wake up before 8:00. In spite of its attractiveness, however, various worries have been raised about the plausibility of this closure principle. In what follows, I shall critically examine DCL and discuss its plausibility in the face of various objections that have been raised against it. I shall argue that a slightly modified version of the principle circumvents the main objections and holds under several of the more or less standard interpretations of the "ought" operator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the actions of others is fundamental for human social life. It builds on a grasp of the subjective intentionality behind behavior: one action comprises different things simultaneously (e.g., moving their arm, turning on the light) but which of these constitute intentional actions, in contrast to merely foreseen side‐effects (e.g., increasing the electricity bill), depends on the description under which the agent represents the acts. She may be acting intentionally only under the description "turning on the light," but did not turn on the light in order to increase the electricity bill. In preregistered studies (N = 620), we asked how adults and children engage in such complex subjective action interpretation and evaluation in moral dilemmas. To capture the deep structure of subjects' representations of the intentional structures of actions, we derived "act trees" from their response patterns to questions about the acts. Results suggest that people systematically distinguish between intended main and merely foreseen side‐effects in their moral and intentionality judgments, even when main and side‐effects were closely related and the latter were harmful. Additional experimental conditions suggest that, when given ambiguous information, the majority of subjects assume that agents act with beneficial main intentions. This "good intention prior" was so strong that participants attributed good intentions even when the harmful action was no longer necessary to resolve the dilemma (Study 2). These methods provide promising new ways to investigate in more subtle and fine‐grained ways how reasoners parse, interpret, and evaluate complex actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is dedicated to the book Reframing Ethics through Dialectics: A New Understanding of the Moral Good by Michael Steinmann, who argues that the dialec tical inconsistency of moral theories, to which he refers to as “failure,” founds the ontological status of moral principles. Individual moral failure, on the other hand, is reduced to an epistemic error. Against the background of Lisa Tessman’s moral skepticism, Søren Kierkegaard’s moral existentialism, and Georg Simmel’s moral psy chologism, the author of this article shows that by overlooking the significance of in dividual moral failure, Steinmann’s “metaethical failure” loses its dialectical meaning.

Existing research has examined people’s judgments concerning moral dilemmas involving non-human driving agents (i.e. an autonomous vehicle, abbr. AV). However, more evidence is needed to clarify the underlying cognitive mechanism accounting for the differential attribution of blame between non-human (e.g., robot) drivers and human drivers when facing a dilemma where obeying the traffic rule conflicts with humanitarian goals. Drawing on literature from moral psychology and human-robot interaction, we argued that the perception of mental state might account for this difference. In three studies, we investigated the mediating role of intentionality perceived in the drivers using a constructed scenario that mirrored real-life moral dilemmas. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that participants assigned greater blame and perceived higher levels of intentionality to human drivers than to robot drivers. Mediation analyses demonstrated that robot drivers received less of blame to the extent that they were perceived as less intentionally violating the traffic rule. In Study 3, we excluded a mitigating factor of blaming the robot, i.e. holding a third party (e.g., the manufacturers) accountable. We found that the mediation effect of perceived intentionality remained regardless. This research provides insights into the attribution of blame directed toward non-human drivers such as AVs and their assumed intentionality.

This paper aims to present the way in which doctoral theses are evaluated by the academic guidance and integrity commission, the public support committee of the doctoral thesis and CNATDCU, as well as aspects regarding the originality and scientific value of doctoral theses. Beyond this technical analysis, which is extremely useful, the paper addresses issues of a common ethical nature, but little analysed, which appear in the scientific research activity when starting from the idea of the doctoral leader, the doctoral student develops and acquires as sole author the doctoral thesis. Also, in scientific research there may be contradictory points of view between the doctoral student and the doctoral leader, each point of view being supported from a scientific point of view, but only one point of view must be taken into account in the elaboration of the paper. The ethical aspects presented above may generate moral dilemmas of the doctoral student regarding the paternity of the doctoral thesis, respectively, whether or not the doctoral leader’s point of view is appropriated in the doctoral thesis. The topic presented makes a brief incursion into this complex issue and identifies possible ways to resolve the above-mentioned moral dilemmas.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the verge of impacting every domain of our lives. It is increasingly being used as an advisor to assist in making decisions. The present study aimed at investigating the influence of moral arguments provided by AI-advisors (i.e., decision aid tool) on human moral decision-making and the associated neural correlates. Participants were presented with sacrificial moral dilemmas and had to make moral decisions either by themselves (i.e., baseline run) or with AI-advisors that provided utilitarian or deontological arguments (i.e., AI-advised run), while their brain activity was measured using an fNIRS device. Overall, AI-advisors significantly influenced participants. Longer response times and a decrease in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity were observed in response to deontological arguments than to utilitarian arguments. Being provided with deontological arguments by machines appears to have led to a decreased appraisal of the affective response to the dilemmas. This resulted in a reduced level of utilitarianism, supposedly in an attempt to avoid behaving in a less cold-blooded way than machines and preserve their (self-)image. Taken together, these results suggest that motivational power can led to a voluntary up- and down-regulation of affective processes along moral decision-making.

The African National Congress (ANC) has been the governing party of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ from the first democratic election held on 27 April 1994 to date. During the same period, different Christian leaders (theologians) played diverse roles and expressed their perspectives related to governance and the moral dilemma of the ‘Rainbow Nation’. Thus, the article explores distinct roles and perspectives of Christian leaders (theologians) related to governance and the moral dilemma in the ‘Rainbow Nation’ during the era of the past three presidents of the African National Congress, namely, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Gedleihlekisa Zuma, and the current presIdent of the ANC, Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa. It excludes Kgalema Motlantle as he was not an ANC president but only an interim president of the ‘Rainbow Nation’. The article uses a case study method to answer the question: How have theologians and Christian leaders played their roles and expressed their perspectives about of governance and the moral dilemma of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ in the period under review?

Kirti Singhal, Surekha Chukkali Department of Psychology, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Ghaziabad, Delhi NCR, IndiaCorrespondence: Surekha Chukkali, Department of Psychology, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Mariam Nagar, Meerut Road, Ghaziabad, Delhi NCR, 201003, India, Tel +91 9901775477, Email surekha.chukkali@christuniversity.inAbstract: The spread of the novel coronavirus has led to a rise in morally conflicting situations for healthcare professionals. Doctors and nurses who were serving as frontline workers, require special attention to alleviate the long-lasting impact of the potentially morally injurious events. The current study aims to validate the Moral Injury Symptom Scale-Healthcare Professionals (MISS- HP) among Indian healthcare workers. The 10-item MISS was administered to 150 doctors and 150 nurses using the purposive sampling method. Firstly, reliability was assessed using internal consistency measure. Secondly, item discrimination index was assessed by calculating the point biserial correlation for each item. Cronbach alpha indicated high internal consistency (0.77). The point biserial correlation value for each item indicated good discrimination. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to replicate the factor structure. CFA results suggested a good fit to the data. In conclusion, MISS-HP is a reliable and valid tool to assess moral injury among Indian healthcare professionals in India.Keywords: pandemic, moral conflict, moral dilemma, frontline workers

The moral dilemma task developed by Greene et al., which comprises personal and impersonal moral dilemmas, is useful for clarifying people’s moral judgments. This study develops and validates a Japanese version of this questionnaire. Ten new questions were added to the Japanese version using back-translation, and its internal validity was tested. A second survey was conducted among the same participants one month after the first survey (n = 231). The intraclass correlation coefficient through retesting was found to be 0.781. Test-retest, internal consistency, and criterion-related validity were confirmed by retesting the Japanese version of the moral dilemma task. Moral judgments differed in gender, with women and men tending to be more utilitarian in situations where emotions were less and more likely to be involved, respectively. The association between age and deontological moral judgments was also observed.

Copyright of Revista de Administração FACES Journal is the property of Revista de Administracao FACES Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study sought to examine whether, and to what extent, the expression of personality traits is related to resistance to persuasion. It also studied whether personality traits can predict the occurrence of a boomerang effect; how resistance to persuasion and attitude change relate to age and gender; and how these variables are affected by social desirability of the original attitude. 567 individuals participated in the study, all aged between 18 and 86. The participants were asked to read a text (the Heinz dilemma) and select one of two possible responses to it (“original attitude”). They then completed a personality inventory. Once the participants had adopted their original attitude, they were exposed to a persuasive message. The study then measured any change in their attitude or, where their attitude had not changed, any change in the strength with which they adopted it. The results showed that those who had adopted a more socially desirable original attitude and then changed their mind had a higher level of agreeableness than those whose original attitude was less socially desirable, and that extraversion was a statistically significant predictor of a boomerang effect. Individuals who had adopted a less socially desirable original attitude and were able to resist persuasion were, on average, older than those who resisted persuasion from a more socially desirable original attitude. It would be worth including an assessment of self-regulatory resources in future studies.

The deficit of theory of mind (ToM) is considered by a number of authors as one of the risk factors for involvement in criminal activity for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (for example because of difficulties in understanding other people’s intentions). The relationship between the deficit of ToM and moral judgments is discussed. The methods of test diagnostics (“Moral dilemmas”, A-ToM) and the method of content analysis of answers to open questions on moral dilemmas were used. It is shown that individuals with ASD are less likely to give utilitarian answers to impersonal dilemmas, but regardless of the intact of ToM, there is a tendency to reduce the degree of utilitarianism from impersonal to personal dilemmas. It is also shown that individuals with ASD do not rely on the intentions of actors when reasoning about moral dilemmas, but not only individuals with ASD rely on conse-quences in such reasoning.

Introduction: Digitalization in intelligent manufacturing leads to the development of Industry 4.0/5.0 and human-cyber-physical systems. As many production technologies rely on teaming of human workers and intelligent cyber-physical systems such as industrial robots, human-robot collaboration is an intensively investigated topic in this transdisciplinary research area. To design industrial robots in a human-centered way, psychological knowledge concerning judgment and decision-making needs to be gained and integrated. Method: This paper reports results from an experimental study (N = 222, 2 × 4 within-subjects design) using eight moral dilemmas framed in the context of human-robot-collaboration to examine the influence of spatial distance of an industrial robot and humans (no direct contact, different tasks vs. no direct contact, same task vs. handing-over contact, same task vs. direct contact, same task) on moral decisions. Additionally, the type of dilemma was varied, with every four dilemmas depicting a life-or-death and an injury scenario. Participants responded on a four-point-response scale which actions they would take indicating deontological or utilitarian moral decision-making. Results: Results show a large effect of the proximity of the cooperation between robots and humans. The closer the collaboration the more a human tends to choose utilitarian moral choices. Discussion: It is argued that this effect might stem from an adaptation of human rationality to the robot or overreliance and shift of responsibility to the robot team partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moral dilemma task developed by Greene et al., which comprises personal and impersonal moral dilemmas, is useful for clarifying people's moral judgments. This study develops and validates a Japanese version of this questionnaire. Ten new questions were added to the Japanese version using back-translation, and its internal validity was tested. A second survey was conducted among the same participants one month after the first survey (n = 231). The intraclass correlation coefficient through retesting was found to be 0.781. Test-retest, internal consistency, and criterion-related validity were confirmed by retesting the Japanese version of the moral dilemma task. Moral judgments differed in gender, with women and men tending to be more utilitarian in situations where emotions were less and more likely to be involved, respectively. The association between age and deontological moral judgments was also observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypothetical thought experiments allow researchers to gain insights into widespread moral intuitions and provide opportunities for individuals to explore their moral commitments. Previous thought experiment studies in virtual reality (VR) required participants to come to an on-site laboratory, which possibly restricted the study population, introduced an observer effect, and made internal reflection on the participants' part more difficult. These shortcomings are particularly crucial today, as results from such studies are increasingly impacting the development of artificial intelligence systems, self-driving cars, and other technologies. This paper explores the viability of deploying thought experiments in commercially available in-home VR headsets. We conducted a study that presented the trolley problem, a life-and-death moral dilemma, through SideQuestVR, a third-party website and community that facilitates loading applications onto Oculus headsets. Thirty-three individuals were presented with one of two dilemmas: (1) a decision to save five lives at the cost of one life by pulling a switch and (2) a decision to save five lives at the cost of one life by pushing a person onto train tracks. The results were consistent with those of previous VR studies, suggesting that a "VR-at-a-distance" approach to thought experiments has a promising future while indicating lessons for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The present systematic review investigates the psychological tools available for capturing high-stakes decisions involving life-death content and their psychometric properties. Valid measurement of these individual differences will provide crucial information in the personnel selection and training in fields where high-stakes moral issues exist (e.g., military, medicine). To our knowledge, this is the first systematic examination of such instruments. Methods: Systematic searches of 6 electronic databases were conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. An appraisal tool evaluated the quality of identified measures. Twenty studies met pre-determined inclusion criteria. Moral decision-making was assessed with either a self-report scale (n = 3) or moral dilemmas (n = 17). Results: The findings identified two measures, the Defining Issues Test and the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale as psychometrically sound measures of moral decision-making. However, they are unlikely to be considered “gold standard” measures due to their theoretically specific, but limited, scope. Overall, the findings suggest that research in the area has been scattered. There is a lack of consensus on the definition of moral decision-making, and a lack of cross-validation on how differentmeasures ofmoral decision-making relate to each other. This presents a gap between theory and empiricalmeasurement in moral decision-making. Further work is needed for a unified conceptualization ofmoral decision-making to pave the way to both theory development and the development of well-validated measurement tools, and this review provides a critical foundation for both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address an ethical question seeks to pass a situation that confronts us for a course of action that will seek to resolve it, in a movement of description and prescription. Between these two stages, or type of reflection involved and very important for the development of ethical-administrative responsibility and for the management of public interest and common good. This theoretical paper aims to present practical perspectives for making ethical decisions in Public Administration, considering elements of the normative and descriptive dimensions of administrative ethics. The proposed decision-making process can be seen as a support for ethical decisionmaking, understanding moral dilemmas and the context in which ethical decisions arise in the Public Administration, as well as the lack of development of morally competent and rationally responsible public agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionDigitalization in intelligent manufacturing leads to the development of Industry 4.0/5.0 and human-cyber-physical systems. As many production technologies rely on teaming of human workers and intelligent cyber-physical systems such as industrial robots, human-robot collaboration is an intensively investigated topic in this transdisciplinary research area. To design industrial robots in a human-centered way, psychological knowledge concerning judgment and decision-making needs to be gained and integrated.MethodThis paper reports results from an experimental study (N = 222, 2 × 4 within-subjects design) using eight moral dilemmas framed in the context of human-robot-collaboration to examine the influence of spatial distance of an industrial robot and humans (no direct contact, different tasks vs. no direct contact, same task vs. handing-over contact, same task vs. direct contact, same task) on moral decisions. Additionally, the type of dilemma was varied, with every four dilemmas depicting a life-or-death and an injury scenario. Participants responded on a four-point-response scale which actions they would take indicating deontological or utilitarian moral decision-making.ResultsResults show a large effect of the proximity of the cooperation between robots and humans. The closer the collaboration the more a human tends to choose utilitarian moral choices.DiscussionIt is argued that this effect might stem from an adaptation of human rationality to the robot or overreliance and shift of responsibility to the robot team partner.

IntroductionThe present systematic review investigates the psychological tools available for capturing high-stakes decisions involving life-death content and their psychometric properties. Valid measurement of these individual differences will provide crucial information in the personnel selection and training in fields where high-stakes moral issues exist (e.g., military, medicine). To our knowledge, this is the first systematic examination of such instruments.MethodsSystematic searches of 6 electronic databases were conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. An appraisal tool evaluated the quality of identified measures. Twenty studies met pre-determined inclusion criteria. Moral decision-making was assessed with either a self-report scale (n = 3) or moral dilemmas (n = 17).ResultsThe findings identified two measures, the Defining Issues Test and the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale as psychometrically sound measures of moral decision-making. However, they are unlikely to be considered “gold standard” measures due to their theoretically specific, but limited, scope. Overall, the findings suggest that research in the area has been scattered. There is a lack of consensus on the definition of moral decision-making, and a lack of cross-validation on how different measures of moral decision-making relate to each other. This presents a gap between theory and empirical measurement in moral decision-making. Further work is needed for a unified conceptualization of moral decision-making to pave the way to both theory development and the development of well-validated measurement tools, and this review provides a critical foundation for both.

People make flexible decisions across a wide range of contexts to resolve social or moral conflicts. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently report difficulties in such behaviors, which hinders the flexibility in changing strategies during daily activities or adjustment of perspective during communication. However, the underlying mechanisms of this issue are insufficiently understood. This study aimed to investigate decision flexibility in ASD using a functional magnetic resonance imaging task that involved recognizing and resolving two types of moral dilemmas: cost–benefit analysis (CBA) and mitigating inevitable misconducts (MIM). The CBA session assessed the participants' pitting of result-oriented outcomes against distressful harmful actions, whereas the MIM session assessed their pitting of the extenuation of a criminal sentence against a sympathetic situation of defendants suffering from violence or disease. The behavioral outcome in CBA-related flexibility was significantly lower in the ASD group compared to that of the typical development group. In the corresponding CBA contrast, activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus was lower in the ASD group. Meanwhile, in the MIM-related flexibility, there were no significant group differences in behavioral outcome or brain activity. Our findings add to our understanding of flexible decision-making in ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the theoretical and practical consequences of the so-called "soft" version of epistemological realism in Bimal K. Matilal's philosophical project. The author offers an analytical view on Matilal's philosophy, which helps to understand it in a broader prospective, comparing his arguments on perception and objectivity with contemporary arguments in Western analytical philosophy; in fact, it is possible to view Matilal not only as the proponent of revised Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika approach, but also as the follower of realistic view on language, following L. Wittgenstein, W. Quine, H. Putnam and M. Dummett. Despite the fact that such interpretation may sound diverse or multivocal, it nevertheless helps to better understand both lineages of argumentation: the critical review of the impossibility of private language can be compared in both Western and Indian philosophical discourses, which leads into the domain of social epistemology. The second part of the article discusses the ethical arguments on the vulnerability of moral virtues, and the place of Dharma as a term in moral philosophy. Poetical and metaphorical language appears to be a fruitful strategy to discover the ineffable - and also via negativa and catuṣkoṭi - which is shown by Matilal on the example of the unacceptability of lying. The ethical ineffability and its interconnection with Matilal's commentaries on practical wisdom play the crucial part in the interpretations of Dharmaśāstra texts.

This research aims at leading philosophical discussions on moral dilemmas with adult inmates. The moral dilemma deals with a fictitious or real situation whose outcome raises a moral issue with restricted choices between two contradictory possibilities. Actually, the moral dilemma generates a big controversy among the participants in the course of the philosophical discussions. Our research‘s goal is to teach the prisoners how to take part in a controversial debate in order to participate in their moral development. Methodologically, we use a qualitative method, the analysis of the content. From the analysis of the verbatim transcripts of the discussions on the moral dilemmas, we highlight the values ​​which guide the moral judgments of the detained persons, taking into account the rational and emotional dimensions aroused in the subjects. Then, we try to understand the level of the prisoners’ moral development by referring to Kohlberg’s phases of moral development theory. This reflective work on the dilemma aims at the moral educability of the subject, based on the postulate that inmates’ educability is still possible.

The paper is focused on ethical issues of making decisions about cryopreserved embryos in the context of relationship break-up in the framework of the embryo’s legal status and the church’s stand on the matter. All these issues can be viewed as part of a broader problem of intuitive and rational foundations for decision-making when facing difficult situations in life. On the one hand, the stressful context of the situation implies intuitive-driven decision-making; on the other hand, assisted reproductive technologies are largely counter-intuitive. We describe the peculiarities of family psychotherapy with mixed-agenda couples going through a divorce who have joint cryopreserved embryos but disagree on what to do with them. We introduce a protocol for psychotherapeutic work in the situation when one partner wishes to continue with the fertility treatment and have a child while the other partner is determined to utilize joint embryos as unwanted biological material. In addition, we discuss emotional and social complications that may arise (guilt, unfaithfulness of one of the partners, other losses, and grieving).

Is the use of psychological and neuroscientific methods for neuromarketing research always aligned with the principles of ethical research practice? Some neuromarketing endeavours have passed from informing consumers about available options, to helping to market as many products to consumers as possible. Needs are being engineered, using knowledge about the human brain to increase consumption further, regardless of individual, societal and environmental needs and capacities. In principle, the ground ethical principle of any scientist is to further individual, societal and environmental health and well-being with their work. If their findings can be used for the opposite, this must be part of the scientist's considerations before engaging in such research and to make sure that the risks for misuse are minimised. Against this backdrop, we provide a series of real-life examples and a non-exhaustive literature review, to discuss in what way some practices in the neuromarketing domain may violate the Helsinki Declaration of Experimentation with Human Subjects. This declaration was set out to regulate biomedical research, but has since its inception been applied internationally also to behavioural and social research. We illustrate, point by point, how these ground ethical principles should be applied also to the neuromarketing domain. Indisputably, the growth in consumption is required due to current prevalent economical models. Thus, in the final part of the paper, we discuss how alternative models may be promotable to a larger public, aided by more ethical marketing endeavours, based on neuroscientific discoveries about the human brain. We propose this as a philosophical question, a point of discussion for the future, to make neuromarketing as a discipline, fit for the future, respecting the ethical implications of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the trolley problem, a well-known moral dilemma, the intuitive process is believed to increase deontological judgments, while deliberative reasoning is thought to promote utilitarian decisions. Therefore, based on the dual-process model, there seems to be an attempt to save several lives at the expense of a few others in a deliberative manner. This study examines the validity of this argument. To this end, we manipulate decision-making time in the standard trolley dilemma to compare differences among 119 Japanese female undergraduates under three conditions: intuitive judgment, deliberative judgment, and judgment after a group discussion. The current results demonstrate that utilitarian judgments decreased from 52.9% in the intuition condition to 43.7% in the deliberation condition and 37.0% after the discussion. Additional analysis suggests that the decrease in utilitarian judgments may be related to psychological unwillingness to assume responsibility for the lives of others rather than to an increase in deontological judgments. Finally, these results are discussed from an adaptationist perspective.

In the trolley problem, a well-known moral dilemma, the intuitive process is believed to increase deontological judgments, while deliberative reasoning is thought to promote utilitarian decisions. Therefore, based on the dual-process model, there seems to be an attempt to save several lives at the expense of a few others in a deliberative manner. This study examines the validity of this argument. To this end, we manipulate decision-making time in the standard trolley dilemma to compare differences among 119 Japanese female undergraduates under three conditions: intuitive judgment, deliberative judgment, and judgment after a group discussion. The current results demonstrate that utilitarian judgments decreased from 52.9% in the intuition condition to 43.7% in the deliberation condition and 37.0% after the discussion. Additional analysis suggests that the decrease in utilitarian judgments may be related to psychological unwillingness to assume responsibility for the lives of others rather than to an increase in deontological judgments. Finally, these results are discussed from an adaptationist perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to understand the moral dilemmas experienced by managers in the area of people management and development at a Federal Higher Education Institution (IFES), during the Covid-19 pandemic, from the perspective of the administrative ethics. Methodology: We chose a qualitative approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with six managers in the area, and documental analysis in the official IFES website about the coronavirus. We analyzed the data analysis based on categories related to the management and ethics dimensions, which were taken from the theoretical review. Main results: The discourses point to the following dilemmas: 1) What activities are essential and who will carry them out; 2) In-person public examination for faculty hiring; 3) The invasion of private space by the remote work and the coldness of the virtual service; and 4) Productivity and flexibility, inability to work and absence. Academic contributions: The article contributes to the theoretical-empirical debate on administrative ethics, from real moral dilemmas in the context of a public institution and from the perspective of moral action, putting light on the decision between right versus right, that is, the moral dilemmas. Practical contributions: Managers' discourses highlight a contribution of the dilemmas identified to administrative practice: they can act as a source of moral, personal and organizational learning. By reviewing administrative and regulatory procedures caused by a dilemma, as well as by looking at their own conduct, ethical conflicts might mean an opportunity for knowledge and learning for those involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Nurses are the most trusted professional group in the United States. As such, examination and exploration of concepts or phenomena, either positively or negatively affecting nurses' ethical decision-making and moral actions, are needed. While nursing literature is abundant on moral distress and its negative impact, literature on moral comfort (MC; a positive phenomenon) is sparsely available. The purpose of this concept analysis is to explore MC within nursing literature and other disciplines to identify moral comfort's defining attributes, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents. Methods: Walker and Avant's eight-step concept analysis approach was used. Results: Six articles were included in this concept analysis. Two defining attributes emerged: 1) the nurse's willingness to take moral action despite personal consequences and 2) peace of mind related to taking moral action. Antecedents included internal factors (moral commitment, moral competence and moral courage with nursing experience and expertise) and external factors (administrative support/empowerment, participation in decision-making, access to information and human/material resources, ethical climate, and role clarity/boundaries). The main consequence of moral comfort is nurses' peace of mind. Empirical referents were: 1) nurses taking action by speaking out and questioning, 2) nurses' verbalization of feelings of peace and/or satisfaction with their decisions and actions, 3) organizational ethical climate and support, and 4) nurses' individual moral qualities and expertise. Conclusions: Although the body of knowledge was limited, the results of this concept analysis provide a foundation for future exploration, examination, and expansion of our knowledge and understanding of moral comfort in nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypothetical thought experiments allow researchers to gain insights into widespread moral intuitions and provide opportunities for individuals to explore their moral commitments. Previous thought experiment studies in virtual reality (VR) required participants to come to an on-site laboratory, which possibly restricted the study population, introduced an observer effect, and made internal reflection on the participants’ part more difficult. These shortcomings are particularly crucial today, as results from such studies are increasingly impacting the development of artificial intelligence systems, self-driving cars, and other technologies. This paper explores the viability of deploying thought experiments in commercially available in-home VR headsets. We conducted a study that presented the trolley problem, a life-and-death moral dilemma, through SideQuestVR, a third-party website and community that facilitates loading applications onto Oculus headsets. Thirty-three individuals were presented with one of two dilemmas: (1) a decision to save five lives at the cost of one life by pulling a switch and (2) a decision to save five lives at the cost of one life by pushing a person onto train tracks. The results were consistent with those of previous VR studies, suggesting that a “VR-at-a-distance” approach to thought experiments has a promising future while indicating lessons for future research.

Objective: Autonomous cars (ACs) controlled by artificial intelligence are expected to play a significant role in transportation in the near future. This study investigated determinants of trust in ACs. Background: Trust in ACs influences different variables, including the intention to adopt AC technology. Several studies on risk perception have verified that shared value determines trust in risk managers. Previous research has confirmed the effect of value similarity on trust in artificial intelligence. We focused on moral beliefs, specifically utilitarianism (belief in promoting a greater good) and deontology (belief in condemning deliberate harm), and tested the effects of shared moral beliefs on trust in ACs. Method: We conducted three experiments (N = 128, 71, and 196, for each), adopting a thought experiment similar to the well-known trolley problem. We manipulated shared moral beliefs (shared vs. unshared) and driver (AC vs. human), providing participants with different moral dilemma scenarios. Trust in ACs was measured through a questionnaire. Results: The results of Experiment 1 showed that shared utilitarian belief strongly influenced trust in ACs. In Experiment 2 and Experiment 3, however, we did not find statistical evidence that shared deontological belief had an effect on trust in ACs. Conclusion: The results of the three experiments suggest that the effect of shared moral beliefs on trust varies depending on the values that ACs share with humans. Application: To promote AC implementation, policymakers and developers need to understand which values are shared between ACs and humans to enhance trust in ACs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies found that the likelihood of subjects tochoose a deontological judgment (e.g., allowing harm)or a consequentialist judgment (e.g., doing harm) variedacross different moral dilemmas. The present paperexplored if the variation can be explained by thedifferentiation of the perceived outcome probabilities.We generated moral dilemmas that were similar to theclassical trolley and footbridge dilemmas, andinvestigated the extent to which subjects were sensitiveto the outcome probabilities. Results indicated that themajority of subjects, including both those who initiallychose a deontological decision and those who initiallychose a consequentialist decision could be sensitive tooutcome probabilities. The likelihood of being sensitiveto the probabilities was invariant across differentdilemmas. The variation of the choice behaviors acrossdifferent dilemmas might be associated with thevariation of the estimated outcome probabilities

The study examines the relationship of moral choice and emotional intelligence, personal characteristics, implicit preferences, the ability to rely on emotional experience. The study involved 74 subjects: 40 healthy subjects and 34 patients of the MHRC. All subjects performed the following tests: "Moral dilemmas", Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT V2.0), Ich-Struktur-Test nach Ammon (ISTA), Implicit Association Test (IAT). It is demonstrated that the number of utilitarian choices in "personality" dilemmas increases with a deterioration in the ability to recognize the emotions of other people as well as with a decrease in ambivalence in assessing one's own state and reducing the ability to control emotions. When making decisions, people who make utilitarian choices rely on the experience of delayed negative consequences, their immediate emotional effect is reduced. Utilitarian personality choices increased with the reduction of capability to attack in a constructive way, to perceive personal fear and the fear of others with pathological narcissism, destructive internal and external restrictions. The preference of practical decisions is related to the implicit preference of "depth".

Temperature is one of the major environmental factors that people are exposed to on a daily basis, often in conditions that do not afford control. It is known that heat and cold can influence a person’s productivity and performance in simple tasks. With respect to social cognition, it has also been suggested that temperature impacts on relatively high-level forms of decision-making. For instance, previous research demonstrated that cold temperature promotes utilitarian judgment in a moral dilemma task. This effect could be due to psychological processing, when a cool temperature primes a set of internal representations (associated with “coldness”). Alternatively, the promotion of utilitarian judgment in cold conditions could be due to physiological interference from temperature, impeding on social cognition. Refuting both explanations of psychological or physiological processing, however, it has been suggested that there may be problems of reproducibility in the literature on temperature modulating complex or abstract information processing. To examine the role of temperature in moral decision-making, we conducted a series of experiments using ambient and haptic temperature with careful manipulation checks and modified task methodology. Experiment 1 manipulated room temperature with cool (21°C), control (24°C) and hot (27°C) conditions and found only a cool temperature effect, promoting utilitarian judgment as in the previous study. Experiment 2 manipulated the intensity of haptic temperature but failed to obtain the cool temperature effect. Experiments 3 and 4 examined the generalizability of the cool ambient temperature effect with another moral judgment task and with manipulation of exposure duration. However, again there were no cool temperature effects, suggesting a lack of reproducibility. Despite successful manipulations of temperature in all four experiments, as measured in body temperature and the participants’ self-reported perception, we found no systematic influence of temperature on moral decision-making. A Bayesian meta-analysis of the four experiments showed that the overall data tended to provide strong support in favor of the null hypothesis. We propose that, at least in the range of temperatures from 21 to 27°C, the cool temperature effect in moral decision-making is not a robust phenomenon.

Proponents of welcoming robots into the moral circle have presented various approaches to moral patiency under which determining the moral status of robots seems possible. However, even if we recognize robots as having moral standing, how should we situate them in the hierarchy of values? In particular, who should be sacrificed in a moral dilemma–a human or a robot? This paper answers this question with reference to the most popular approaches to moral patiency. However, the conclusions of a survey on moral patiency do not consider another important factor, namely the law. For now, the hierarchy of values is set by law, and we must take that law into consideration when making decisions. I demonstrate that current legal systems prioritize human beings and even force the active protection of humans. Recent studies have suggested that people would hesitate to sacrifice robots in order to save humans, yet doing so could be a crime. This hesitancy is associated with the anthropomorphization of robots, which are becoming more human-like. Robots’ increasing similarity to humans could therefore lead to the endangerment of humans and the criminal responsibility of others. I propose two recommendations in terms of robot design to ensure the supremacy of human life over that of humanoid robots.

Temperature is one of the major environmental factors that people are exposed to on a daily basis, often in conditions that do not afford control. It is known that heat and cold can influence a person's productivity and performance in simple tasks. With respect to social cognition, it has also been suggested that temperature impacts on relatively high-level forms of decision-making. For instance, previous research demonstrated that cold temperature promotes utilitarian judgment in a moral dilemma task. This effect could be due to psychological processing, when a cool temperature primes a set of internal representations (associated with "coldness"). Alternatively, the promotion of utilitarian judgment in cold conditions could be due to physiological interference from temperature, impeding on social cognition. Refuting both explanations of psychological or physiological processing, however, it has been suggested that there may be problems of reproducibility in the literature on temperature modulating complex or abstract information processing. To examine the role of temperature in moral decision-making, we conducted a series of experiments using ambient and haptic temperature with careful manipulation checks and modified task methodology. Experiment 1 manipulated room temperature with cool (21°C), control (24°C) and hot (27°C) conditions and found only a cool temperature effect, promoting utilitarian judgment as in the previous study. Experiment 2 manipulated the intensity of haptic temperature but failed to obtain the cool temperature effect. Experiments 3 and 4 examined the generalizability of the cool ambient temperature effect with another moral judgment task and with manipulation of exposure duration. However, again there were no cool temperature effects, suggesting a lack of reproducibility. Despite successful manipulations of temperature in all four experiments, as measured in body temperature and the participants' self-reported perception, we found no systematic influence of temperature on moral decision-making. A Bayesian meta-analysis of the four experiments showed that the overall data tended to provide strong support in favor of the null hypothesis. We propose that, at least in the range of temperatures from 21 to 27°C, the cool temperature effect in moral decision-making is not a robust phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Moral value conflicts play an increasingly central role in everyday hospital life. Clinical ethics, however, is only marginally represented in the compulsory curriculum for human medicine and the additional education regulations. The aim of the Ethik First project at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel is to close this gap with an extracurricular offer and to support medical students from the fifth clinical semester onward and during their practical year as well as assistant doctors in dealingwith moral dilemmas in everyday hospital life. The project has taken the concomitant learningobjectives from the national competency-based learning objective catalog for medicine. According to the target group, the address in particular, showed higher taxonomy levels. Project description: The multimodal concept is based on three pillars: In monthly principle-based case conferences, participants practice ethical reflection and moral judgment primarily on the basis of concrete cases introduced by them usingthe methods of problem-based learning and consideration-based deliberation. If participants do not bringforth a case, they discuss ethical aspects of current political relevance. Moreover, there is an annual public speaker event. Results: Since the project began in 2017, ~20 students and interns have taken part in Ethik Firstoneor more times. Ina web-based interim evaluation (N=13), all respondents fully agreed that they considered the format helpful for dealingwith ethical questions at the clinic. They rated the relevance for their later profession as high. There is evidence for support in moral dilemma situations. Discussion: The first evaluation results of the voluntary extracurricular offer show the acceptance of the selected format, which goes beyond pure teaching in its conception in that it addresses moral stress as well and strengthens the participants' individual resilience. Conclusion: Ethik First reinforces the role of ethical aspects in the trainingof (prospective) doctors and focuses on reflectingon cases they have experienced firsthand. We formulate a desideratum for appropriate advanced trainingconcepts both in medical studies and in advanced medical trainingsuch thatthe training and development of comparable projects at medical faculties and at medical associations with student participation can be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We draw on a substantial body of theoretical and empirical research on acute depression, moral dilemmas, and illness fears in COVID-19 frontline healthcare providers, and to explore this, we inspected, used, and replicated survey data from Benenden Health, BMA, CVN, GMU/CCCC, Harvard Medical School, ICFJ, IPPR, NNU, Statista, TCDJ/Columbia University, UNC School of Medicine, YouGov, and YPCCC, performing analyses and making estimates regarding how primary care providers in close contact with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients may develop psychiatric symptoms, significant depression, extreme anxiety, and burnout syndrome due to intense workload and increased responsibilities. Descriptive statistics of compiled data from the completed surveys were calculated when appropriate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the conflict-of-values theory, this study examines the influences of Machiavellianism and ethical values on anxiety in college students when they face moral dilemmas. Questionnaires on the Chinese equivalent of Machiavellianism, moral identity, and anxiety were completed by 115 Chinese college students. The results suggest that Machiavellianism and ethical values influence anxiety, and the interaction between ethical values and Machiavellianism is significant—among individuals with high ethical values, those with high levels of Machiavellianism exhibit markedly higher levels of anxiety than those with low levels of Machiavellianism. However, among individuals with low ethical values, there is no difference in anxiety between those with low or high levels of Machiavellianism. This research, depicting complex relationships among anxiety, Machiavellianism, and ethical values, suggests that leading people to do good deeds not only requires high ethical values but also necessitates the resistance to negative values such as Machiavellianism.

Recently, a multinomial process tree model was developed to measure an agent’s consequence sensitivity, norm sensitivity, and generalized inaction/action preferences when making moral decisions (CNI model). However, the CNI model presupposed that an agent considers consequences—norms—generalized inaction/action preferences sequentially, which is untenable based on recent evidence. Besides, the CNI model generates parameters at the group level based on binary categorical data. Hence, the C/N/I parameters cannot be used for correlation analyses or other conventional research designs. To solve these limitations, we developed the CAN algorithm to compute norm and consequence sensitivities and overall action/inaction preferences algebraically in a parallel manner. We re-analyzed the raw data of the original CNI model to test the methodological predictions. Our results demonstrate that: (1) the C parameter is approximately equal between the CNI model and CAN algorithm; (2) the N parameter under the CNI model approximately equals N/(1 − C) under the CAN algorithm; (3) the I parameter and A parameter are reversed around 0.5 – the larger the I parameter, the more the generalized inaction versus action preference and the larger the A parameter, the more overall action versus inaction preference; (4) tests of differences in parameters between groups with the CNI model and CAN algorithm led to almost the same statistical conclusion; (5) parameters from the CAN algorithm can be used for correlational analyses and multiple comparisons, and this is an advantage over the parameters from the CNI model. The theoretical and methodological implications of our study were also discussed.

As autonomous machines, such as automated vehicles (AVs) and robots, become pervasive in society, they will inevitably face moral dilemmas where they must make decisions that risk injuring humans. However, prior research has framed these dilemmas in starkly simple terms, i.e., framing decisions as life and death and neglecting the influence of risk of injury to the involved parties on the outcome. Here, we focus on this gap and present experimental work that systematically studies the effect of risk of injury on the decisions people make in these dilemmas. In four experiments, participants were asked to program their AVs to either save five pedestrians, which we refer to as the utilitarian choice, or save the driver, which we refer to as the nonutilitarian choice. The results indicate that most participants made the utilitarian choice but that this choice was moderated in important ways by perceived risk to the driver and risk to the pedestrians. As a second contribution, we demonstrate the value of formulating AV moral dilemmas in a game-theoretic framework that considers the possible influence of others’ behavior. In the fourth experiment, we show that participants were more (less) likely to make the utilitarian choice, the more utilitarian (nonutilitarian) other drivers behaved; furthermore, unlike the game-theoretic prediction that decision-makers inevitably converge to nonutilitarianism, we found significant evidence of utilitarianism. We discuss theoretical implications for our understanding of human decision-making in moral dilemmas and practical guidelines for the design of autonomous machines that solve these dilemmas while, at the same time, being likely to be adopted in practice.

Moral judgment can be highly affected by the action and intention factors on a behavior level. Previous neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the intention factor can modulate both the affective and cognitive processing of moral judgment. The present event-related potentials (ERP) study examined how the action factor modulated the neural dynamics of moral judgment under a newly developed moral dilemma paradigm including three different conditions: harm caused by action (i.e., doing harm), harm caused by omission (i.e., allowing harm), and no harm. Behavior data showed that participants preferred utilitarian judgments and spent less time on the allowing harm condition than for the doing harm condition. ERP results revealed that, compared with the doing harm and no harm dilemmas, the allowing harm dilemmas elicited an enhanced N450 response associated with cognitive control and/or cognitive effort processes, but attenuated a late positive potentials (LPP) response associated with top-down control of attention and cognitive “rational” control processes. Such LPP amplitude differences were positively correlated with the C-score of the moral competence test which indexed the cognitive aspect of moral judgment competency. These findings suggested that people have a strong omission bias, and such an action factor modulates the conscious reasoning process during moral judgment, including the cognitive control and/or cognitive effort, and attentional allocation processes.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are supposed to make appropriate strategies to ensure driving safety and improve traffic efficiency. However, not all collisions will be avoidable. In a typical dilemma scenario of this paper, we have to make hard decisions from two evils, sparing a child with red-light running behavior or crashing into a well-equipped motorcycle driver without violation of the traffic law. Combined with the existing traffic laws and the accident liability judgment cases in China, 12 typical dilemma scenarios are established. In order to acquire data to analyze the driving decision-making factors involving ethics and legal under the moral dilemma of AVs, we conduct a series of experiments in virtual reality environments. Furthermore, key factors are extracted to characterize the driving decisions under different scenarios and quantified by the gray relation entropy analysis method. Particularly, the ethical factor is represented by the quantity and type of collision targets, the legal factor is qualified by rights of way. The results showed that priority levels of the influencing factors in each moral dilemma were considerably different. Nevertheless, when the quantity of collision targets on two sides is equal, more participants prefer to protect the ones that comply with traffic rules. The research results can provide the basis for designing moral algorithms for the AVs.

The aim of the article is to consider practices of biotechnology that require gamete donation (cloning, human assisted reproduction technologies) and ethical and philosophical questions caused by these biotechnologies. The study is interdisciplinary and it is based on the research in philosophy, humanities, social and medical sciences. All of the sources in the study analyses gamete donation practices in different scientific fields. The study emphasizes social impact on familiar moral notions and the ability of these practices pose new ones. In the study the authors have come to conclusion that gamete donation causes new moral dilemmas and made us revisit the familiar notions of family, parental rights and obligations, family relations. At the same time gamete donation contributes to commodification of body and body parts, developing a new market where people make money. Commodification of body causes a set of ethical questions, such as permissibility of usage and exploitation of human bodies. The article describes current and possible future ethical and philosophical challenges, posed by practices of gamete donation. Many of these practices transcend familiar moral judgments and make people reconsider their attitudes toward family and family relations. Gamete donation practices are able to create new forms of family and body commodification practices.

Abstract Background Moral Case Deliberations (MCDs) are reflective dialogues with a group of participants on their own moral dilemmas. Although MCD is successful as clinical ethics support (CES), it also has limitations. 1. Lessons learned from individual MCDs are not shared in order to be used in other contexts 2. Moral learning stays limited to the participants of the MCD; 3. MCD requires quite some organisational effort, 4. MCD deals with one individual concrete case. It does not address other, similar cases (it is case based). These limitations warrant research into complementary ways of providing CES to healthcare professionals. Our research objective was therefore to develop a low threshold CES tool based on a series of MCDs on autonomy in long-term care. Methods We used a qualitative research design in which we analyzed the process and content of a series of MCDs, combined with reflections on the theoretical background of MCD. In total 28 MCDs (10 transcripts and 18 summary reports) were analyzed by means of a thematic content analysis. In various rounds of development, the results of the analysis were combined with theoretical reflections on CES. Consequently, the tool was evaluated in three focus groups and adjusted. Results The CES tool, called ‘moral compass’, guides the users through a series of six subsequent questions in order to methodically reflect on their concrete moral dilemma, in the form of a booklet of 23 pages. It combines a methodical element that encourages and structures a reflection process with a substantive element, including norms, values, options, strategies, and insights regarding dealing with client autonomy. Conclusion By using data from a series of MCDs, combined with theoretical reflections on MCD, ethics support and moral learning, we developed a thematic, low-threshold CES tool that supports healthcare professionals in daily practice in dealing with moral questions regarding client autonomy. It integrates examples and insights from earlier MCDs on the same topic. The moral compass is not a replacement of, but can be used complementary to MCD. The feasibility and impact of the moral compass need to be investigated in an evaluative follow-up study. The methodology presented in this paper may be used to develop moral compasses on different topics in various healthcare organizations.

Introduction: Despite various laws, regulations and therapeutic guidelines, it is difficult for doctors to make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions while trying to respect patients’ beliefs and cultural norms. This may affect the treatment of patients and their satisfaction. This study aimed to explore medical specialists’ experiences of decision-making in moral dilemmas at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2012. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Research population included medical specialists and participants were selected by purposive and maximum variation sampling. Data were gathered through semi-structured individual interviews. Interview transcriptions were analyzed using content analysis method. Review of the transcriptions yielded the main categories and subcategories. Results:Eight medical teachers and specialists participated in this study. Three main categories and 13 subcategories emerged. The main categories included “gradually informing the patient”, “building doctor-patient trust”, and “doctor-patient joint decision-making”. Conclusion:In moral dilemmas, doctors tend to make joint decisions with patients and believe that after informing the patients and building trust, they must do their best for their improvement.