Medicine, health care, and philosophy
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Med Health Care Philos · Aug 2012
Does peer benefit justify research on incompetent individuals? The same-population condition in codes of research ethics.
Research on incompetent humans raises ethical challenges, especially when there is no direct benefit to these research subjects. Contemporary codes of research ethics typically require that such research must specifically serve to benefit the population to which the research subjects belong. The article critically examines this "same-population condition", raising issues of both interpretation and moral justification. Of particular concern is the risk that the way in which the condition is articulated and rationalized in effect disguises or downplays the instrumentalization of incompetent individuals.
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Plagiarism is a major problem for research. There are, however, divergent views on how to define plagiarism and on what makes plagiarism reprehensible. In this paper we explicate the concept of "plagiarism" and discuss plagiarism normatively in relation to research. ⋯ As a result of our normative analysis, we suggest that what makes plagiarism reprehensible as such is that it distorts scientific credit. In addition, intentional plagiarism involves dishonesty. There are, furthermore, a number of potentially negative consequences of plagiarism.
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Med Health Care Philos · Mar 2008
Survey on the experience in ethical decision-making and attitude of Pleven University hospital physicians towards ethics consultation.
Contemporary medical practice is complicated by many dilemmas requiring ethical sensitivity and moral reasoning. ⋯ The study underlined that Pleven University hospital physicians face similar ethical dilemmas as their colleagues in other countries do. The expressed positive attitudes to ethics consultation should serve as a basis for further research and development of ethics consultation services.
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Med Health Care Philos · Feb 2013
Living an unfamiliar body: the significance of the long-term influence of bodily changes on the perception of self after stroke.
The aim of this study is to illuminate the significance of the long-term influence of bodily changes on the perception of self after stroke by means of narrative interviews with 23 stroke survivors. A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach inspired by the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty and Ricoeur is the methodological framework. Zahavi's understanding of the embodied self and Leder's concept of dys-appearance along with earlier research on identity guide the comprehensive understanding of the theme. ⋯ Mastering important tasks helps them strengthen their self-concept. Health care workers should be aware of the embodied self and engage in long-term dialogues with stroke survivors to strengthen positive perceptions of body and self. More research is needed to understand destructive post-stroke phenomena such as fatigue and pain and to find effective methods to help stroke survivors regain wholeness of body and self.