Ethics (e-books)

E-book

Ľubov Vladyková

Vysokoškolská učebnica predstavuje panorámu ekologicko - etických konceptov - ekologické etiky, ako možnosť kultúrneho vývoja a naznačuje pokračujúce hľadanie vzťahov s cieľom uznať význam etiky a jej vplyvu na naše porozumenie a náš vzťah so svetom prírody, vrátane scenárov primerane odrážajúcich interakciu človek - príroda v celej ich zložitosti. Osobitná pozornosť je venovaná otázke vnútorného hodnotenie prírody, ľudského a mimoľudského života, a to tak na individuálnej a holistickej úrovni (biocentrizmu) a hodnote fyzikálnych prvkov ekosystémov (ecocentrism).

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Adriana Jesenková

Etika starostlivosti ponúka inšpiratívne spôsoby, ako premýšľať o vzťahoch a spojeniach, ktorých sme súčasťou. Poskytuje nové/ neobvyklé čítanie/ porozumenie ľudských vzťahov, a tým nám umožňuje novým spôsobom a adekvátne reagovať na niektoré empirické výzvy (Pettersen 2011, s. 51). Ešte pred dvadsiatimi piatimi rokmi bolo uvažovanie o starostlivosti spojené s rozhodnutiami žien v privátnej sfére týkajúcimi sa ich osobných dilem a problémov. V priebehu posledných dvoch desaťročí zástancovia etiky starostlivosti ukázali, že ideál starostlivosti má potenciál byť regulatívom nielen súkromného správania, ale aj ľudských interakcií vo všeobecnosti. V súčasnosti majú myšlienky o starostlivosti silu meniť spôsob, ako hodnotíme osobné vzťahy, profesionálne správanie, verejnú politiku, medzinárodné vzťahy a globálne otázky. Relevancia etiky starostlivosti v toľkých širokých oblastiach života, z ktorých mnohé sa vyznačujú vzájomnými inkompatibilitami a protichodnými záujmami, je podmienená viacerými faktormi, avšak jedným z najvýznamnejších je práve tvorivosť a plodnosť myslenia predstaviteliek a predstaviteľov etiky starostlivosti, ktoré/í vyvíjajú etické koncepcie, modely a metódy schopné uchopiť a analyzovať ľudské vzťahy v celej ich rôznosti (Petersen 2011, s. 52). Etika starostlivosti totiž v porovnaní s tradičnými etickými koncepciami a teóriami z oblasti morálnej filozofie prináša radikálne odlišné súbory modelov a normatívnych koncepcií. V súčasnosti je to práve feministická etika starostlivosti, ktorá ponúka kritické premyslenie starostlivosti v priestore morálnej filozofie, etiky a sociálnej filozofie.

Cieľom predkladanej publikácie je identifikovať pojem, predmet, prístup, filozofické základy a východiská, ako aj možnosti aplikácie etiky starostlivosti ako špecifického morálneho prístupu, a zároveň ako špecifickej morálnej teórie na poli spoločenskovedného a humanitného skúmania. V slovenskom akademickom prostredí na uplatnenie etiky starostlivosti ako špecifického morálno-filozofického prístupu zamerala svoju pozornosť najmä Zuzana Kiczková, a to osobitne v oblasti ekofilozofie, rodových štúdií a bioetiky, pričom čiastkové problémy etiky starostlivosti rozpracovávala aj Marianna Szapuová.

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E-book

Tatiana Kimáková a kol.

Ethics, as the science of the proper realization of human potential in various areas of life, also extends into the environment. For understanding the ethical aspects in this field, a thorough knowledge of the individual components of the environment, as well as their impact not only on humans but on all living nature, is very important. Therefore, questions concerning the influence of the environment are increasingly at the forefront of interest from an ethical perspective, also in connection with existing legal norms.

The modern process of civilization is characterized by rapid development of science and technology. However, this development, while raising the standard of living on one hand, also brings negative side effects on the other. The result is the disruption of ecological, biological, and natural life conditions, especially in the areas of industrial centers. The development of individual branches of industry leads to the production of liquid, gaseous, and solid wastes, the emergence of harmful risk factors threatening various components of living nature, including humans. There may be increased bioaccumulation of hazardous chemical elements in organisms, which, through their effects, represent a potential risk also in terms of carcinogenesis and mutagenesis.

For this reason, an important role of society is to create conditions to prevent the release of emissions and to reduce their concentration to the lowest possible, socially and biologically acceptable level. The assessment of the biological effects of harmful substances is based on experimental and epidemiological studies. Knowledge of concentration and duration of exposure is crucial for applying dose-effect relationships and for determining the highest permissible concentrations of pollutants. The health of the population, as a universal value and a primary human right, represents a fundamental economic resource not only for the individual, but also for society as a whole.

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Silvia Farkašová Iannaccone a kol.

The history of ethics represents the search for a fundamental principle that would enable a person to distinguish between moral and immoral, good and evil, or right and wrong. The main issues are the motives, methods, and consequences of human actions.

The integrity of the medical profession emphasizes lifelong study and practice according to professional competence, and, last but not least, adherence to ethical principles and standards of medical ethics. Medical ethics and the related communication in the process of providing healthcare are becoming increasingly relevant topics. Communication between doctor and patient itself constitutes a very important part of the diagnostic process and treatment; it significantly contributes to the creation of a mutual relationship and, to a considerable extent, ensures patient cooperation.

The development of various information and network technologies allows for rapid communication even in medicine; however, a kind word and real contact with the patient, with an appropriate choice of verbal and nonverbal communication tools in personal contact, cannot be replaced by modern technology. The present era places demands on certain communication skills of the physician. Another ethical and legal issue is informed consent, which brings the patient’s active participation in the process of providing healthcare.

The presented publication provides basic information about medical ethics, communication in medicine in general, and communication skills in medical practice. Further chapters are devoted to the issue of informed consent, ethics, and the specifics of communication with selected groups of patients. We believe that this publication will clarify for the reader the basic ethical pillars and will be helpful for basic orientation in the issues of medical communication.

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Nikita Bobrova kol.

The concept of medical ethics is interpreted as both applied and professional ethics. As a bioethical discipline, it consists of three normative parts: biogenesis, biotherapy, and thanatology. From an ethical perspective, medicine is part of clinical bioethics; however, at the current stage, “evidence-based ethics” is still lacking.

In the context of standardizing health care, there is an excessive development of certain components of bioethics (such as ethical codes and the concept of patient autonomy), but also a reduction, especially of its clinical component (such as communication, thanatology, euthanasia, dysthanasia, and futile treatment). Current legislative efforts are leading to a reduction in the rights of health care workers, particularly in terms of corporate autonomy.

The fundamental task of medical ethics is the cultivation of medical professionalism, which is defined as the professional alignment of expert, ethical, and legal reasoning, and as a starting point for thinking in terms of values, with reflection on the bioethical space in clinical and professional practice.

Since society declares health as its priority, this priority should positively influence the entire health care system, and its basic idea should be a health care system based on a humanistic ethical paradigm with social and professional application.

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Iveta Cimbolákováa kol.

The premise “today’s research shapes the healthcare of tomorrow” expresses the importance of medical research and the reason for its pursuit. Scientific research and advances in biomedical sciences, as well as their application in medical practice and in the process of delivering healthcare, nevertheless bring new problems in the area of ethics.

Biomedical research itself requires the precise definition of hypotheses, which are tested both under laboratory conditions and on experimental animals. Although clinical studies on human subjects are expected to benefit individual participants and to advance fundamental biomedical knowledge, they also entail certain risks depending on the nature of the research. These risks must be minimized, and the experiment should be conducted freely while also taking place within specific measures to protect all involved-not only the test subjects, but also the researchers themselves.

The presented publication provides an overview of the general conditions and ethical principles of research involving laboratory animals and human subjects, the issue of professional and ethical assessment of projects, as well as fraud and the publication of results. At present, we are witnessing tremendous progress in molecular biological sciences, which brings ethical dilemmas also in the field of genetics. For this reason, one of the chapters is devoted to the latest findings in this area.

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Ľubov Vladyková

The present monograph titled Evolutionary Ethics: Selected Issues and Challenges discusses a range of problems, theoretical concepts, and beliefs from the perspective of evolutionary ethics. The term evolution has become one of the central terms in contemporary science and philosophy.

In social sciences in general, and in socio-biology and evolutionary psychology in particular, evolution has had great impact on our understanding of the genesis of culture. Evolutionary theories play a similar role within the theory of consciousness and of the mind (evolutionary epistemology). The interrelation between our evolutionary past and our sense of good and evil is also a subject of heightened interest in ethics; it has in fact become one of its challenges. The concept of evolution challenges the way we create thought patterns through which we understand, or hope to understand, ourselves and the world around us.

This monograph represents a general summary of selected issues in evolutionary ethics, touching upon various aspects of current research into evolutionary ethics and the related domains of evolution, science, ethics, and morals. Evolutionary ethics has become a project which presupposes that in order to understand the essence and basis of morals one must turn to the process of evolution of thought, and to the theories put forth by evolutionists, specifically evolutionary biologists.

The structure of this monograph, as well as its potential usefulness for research and education clearly show that the analysis of the problems discussed here has significant implications for domains far removed from the purely theoretical parts of moral philosophy or biology. The advantage of such discourse is that it enables the implementation of evolutionary ethics in social and ethical issues of public interest (for example Sex Literacy, Sex Education), and this should be recognised and welcome.

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E-book

Adriana Jesenková (ed.)

The topic of gender equality in the university and academic environment in Slovakia remains in a highly ambivalent position – often overlooked and marginalized, instrumentalized and perceived as an alien element or a formal necessity, but most frequently exposed to numerous misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

The intention of the presented publication and its authorial collective is to contribute to shaping and cultivating an environment where it is possible to discuss issues of gender relations in the academic environment objectively, develop research from a gender perspective, and primarily implement gender equality policy as one of the tools for democratizing the academic sphere and the university. The collection was created within the framework of the project VVGS-2018-749, "Creating a Gender Equality Plan at UPJŠ in Košice," and presents various contexts and perspectives from which to consider issues of gender equality at the university. Individual authors focus on the topic of gender equality from philosophical, philosophical-legal, and legal perspectives in their texts.

The final text presents the findings of qualitative research, which was part of the mentioned project, their interpretation, and conclusions from the perspective of further implementation of gender equality policy at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. We understand the publication as an invitation to discussion, critical thinking, and research, and thus to creating a university as we can be.

Adriana Jesenková

The peer-reviewed collection of scientific works is distributed under the Creative Commons 4.0 – Attribution CC BY-NC license, which allows non-commercial use of the work provided that the names of the authors are mentioned.

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Marián Bednár

University textbook Selected Chapters from Managerial Ethics presents selected topics from the current issue of Managerial Ethics.

The historical context of Managerial Ethics and its formation on the background of business ethics, up to the form of independent inter and trans discipline, is presented at the introduction. Being one of the subdisciplines of applied ethics, it is inherently normative and interdisciplinary. It represents an overlapping institutional aspect - management ethics and individual aspect - manager ethics. The issue of social responsibility in economics and business, or the moral profile of a manager as a key player of this applied ethics is mentioned.

Institutionalization and implementation of ethics in corporate culture and the tools that are used in this so complex and interdisciplinary process are also a necessary step. Established ethical management systems, which complement the modularity of institutionalization, are also important. The main question is, of course, ethics in decision-making and management of people, as it is where ethical dilemmas and tensions are born. Also, the issue of ethics in leadership, as another qualitative and developmental stage in Managerial Ethics, is the contribution.

The attached moral dilemmas are meant to reflect, self-test moral intelligence and to be resolved.

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E-book

Ľubov Vladyková

Reflection of technics  is about as old as philosophy. In the presented monograph the author reflects technology and technology as a medium of everyday life.

Every technical change is reflected in countless levels of our lives: environmental, economic, political, cultural and personal. The moral-philosophical reflection of technics and  technology aims to understand the complex relationships and effects of technology on the environment, society, culture and our existence. Knowledge (whose scientific knowledge is a special type) is part of the social and technical domains. If we perceive social and technical domains as separate, we deny their functioning as an integral part of our existence.

Speaking of 'new ecology of technology and technology'  the term ecology symbolizes the new existing disorder and 'cross-border' in the field of technology and technology reflection as a result of their revolutionary and far-reaching changes, and social change is unpredictable - all the more because technics and technology is the medium of everyday life and determines the future of the human species.

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Marián Bednár

The scientific monograph The Value of Human Life in the Connotations of Postmodernism presents a current issue of reflections on the value of human life. It sees in the broader connotations of postmodern society, where the approaches of applied ethics (bioethics), philosophy and Christian theology intersect. This issue is embedded in the historical, philosophical, sociological and cultural-social Postmodernism.

The monograph analyses the postmodern value system, the dominant postmodern anthropological concept, secular bioethics and civil law in relation to human life and its value. The key is the confrontation of the postmodern anti-life mentality and life in the most discussed bioethical issues: contraception, artificial insemination techniques, genetic manipulation, abortion, sterilization, (bio) technology, euthanasia. An alternative approach is offered by the theological vision of human and life presented in the Judeo-Christian context. In the light of modern theological disciplines, the personnel concept is enriched by theological anthropology culminating in an eschatological vision.

In this sense, the issue of the value of human life culminates, which is also inspired by one of the most important encyclicals of Pope John Paul II. Evangelium vitae (25th anniversary of its writing). It is she who calls for the acceptance and respect of every human life and for the practical development of a new culture of life.

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E-book

Ľubov Vladyková - Marián Bednár a kol.

The university textbook Ethics of Science and Technique (Selected Problems) is a collection of contributions by various authors who deal with selected problems and areas of science and technique. For the last hundred years, we can observe the rapid development of science and technique (technology). The transition of society in the 20th century into the information age and in the current 21st century into the digital age brings radical challenges and changes in all areas of human life, but especially in the moral field.

Ethical discussions, responding to the development of science and technique (technology), have stimulated the emergence of ethics of science and technique, which as a subdiscipline of applied ethics is a way out of the conflict between professional autonomy, social control and self-regulation of action and behaviour; not only in science and technique, but also in economy and politics. In the digital age, technique, technology and science are fundamentally changing our lives; from the way we work to the way we communicate, how we fight local and global problems, and how we try to solve societal problems.

These radical changes are not without controversy, and many provoke intense debates that are often polarized or associated with scientific ambiguities or dishonest demagoguery and ideology.

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Marián Kireš - Renáta Orosová a kol.

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Adriana Jesenková

The textbook "Literary Story as a Tool for Moral Education" aims to contribute to the preparation of future teachers of ethical education, as well as students from other fields, particularly in the humanities. It focuses on an area that remains trivialized and marginalized—gender-sensitive education and training. The author operates under the assumption that applying a gender-sensitive approach in education requires an understanding of what a gender perspective entails.

Experience from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, along with teaching experiences where ethical questions and themes—such as those related to gender, gender equality, gender justice, and gender relations—are presented, taught, and explored through various media or texts (not only traditional scientific and professional ones but also artistic, especially literary), inspired the author to present such an approach in a relatively coherent form.

This includes summarizing existing knowledge and experiences on the topic so that they can serve as a suitable starting point for enhancing the competencies of future teachers (not only) in ethical education when applying a gender-sensitive approach in education and teaching issues related to gender and gender relations in the context of applied ethics and ethical education.

Autor

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Vladimír Lichner - Dušan Šlosár et al.

It is very difficult to refer to any act of extremism or action having extremist characteristics, or to exclude it unambiguously. The boundary between extremism and accepted, conformal behavior is very broad and vaguely worded. Each company tends to set certain criteria to determine what can be considered as unwanted, violent, radical or extreme, or what signs of such a manifestation do not have. Therefore, when comparing the individual countries of the European Union in this area, we come across a different definition of what is or is not considered to be radical or extremist. In essence, the level of tolerance to some of the manifestations and the setting of indicators for the evaluation of the proceedings as extremist.

The presented monograph aims to present the basic social contexts of extremism and radicalization in the form of their philosophical and theoretical backgrounds, influencing the factors, the basic directions. In the author's work, the authors focus on the target group of adolescents, which they consider to be one of the most endangered groups in society in terms of development of the radicalization process. At the conclusion of the monograph is also offered the criminal level of these phenomena, which is not unavoidable in terms of complex analysis.

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E-book

Nikita Bobrov et al.

History of ethics represents a search for basic principle, which would enable a distinction between moral and immoral, good and bad, right and wrong. The main problem lies in motives, methods and consequences of human conduct. The integrity of medical profession puts emphasis on life-long study and practice according to the professional competence, and last but not least on ethical principles and rules of medical ethics.
Medical ethics, as a part of bioethics, is currently taking on a huge importance in everyday clinical practice and must face many serious ethical issues regarding the whole system of health care. On general level the decision-making in medical practice is quite easy, based on the requirement to always act in the patient's best interest. However, it is often difficult to know exactly what is best for the patient, in a certain situation, for this particular patient. Also with each progress in medicine and its globalization, the more aspects of human lives are being affected.

Biomedical research, and the new treatment and diagnostic methods it provides are viewed differently in each country, therefore various cultural, religious, social and legal aspects must be considered in their assessment, as well as the basic principles of medical ethics. Worldwide effort on unifying ethical regulations on certain aspects of health care led to the establishment of many legally recognized documents the doctors must be familiar with.

Teaching ethics to students of medical school aims to educate the future doctors towards ethical decision-making, behaviour and professional conduct according to the basic principles of medical ethics.
This textbook provides the basic information on medical ethics for students of medical faculties and serves as a practical introduction to the most common ethical problems of health care provision for their future professional practise.

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Andrea Klimková

The current development of applied ethics globally suggests that applied ethics is entering a new, qualitatively distinct era of innovative application approaches, methodologies, and methods, as well as novel educational formats. The application levels in applied ethics (in bioethics, business ethics, technology ethics, professional ethics, etc.) are tied to critical reflection on previous strategies and methodologies in their teaching.

Combining ethical rationality with practical variability and implementing ethical policies and tools in concrete practice truly demands new competencies, new skills, and the ability to work in novel ways with empirical and normative frameworks. This requires working with ethical theory and moral practice inventively, heuristically, innovatively, and propedeutically.

The creation of useful and professionally constructed procedures and formats is part of the professional and academic preparation of applied ethicists at modern departments of applied ethics.

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