Das Begründungsproblem in der Ethik (Vortragsgrundlage)

Ethik ist eine Teildisziplin der Philosophie, so benannt seit Aristoteles, der Sache nach bereits bei Platon da. Sie ist die methodische Suche nach unrelativierbaren Werten, die das menschliche Handeln – trotz seiner individuellen Verschiedenheit – auf allgemeingültige Weise leiten sollen. Wenn wegen der Unterschiede von Personen und gesellschaftlichen Verhältnissen eine Vielzahl solcher Werte auftreten, dann müssen sie dem Anspruch der Ethik nach doch wieder unter einem übergeordneten Grund zusammenstimmen usw., bis hinauf zu einem unüberbietbar höchsten, umfassendsten Grund. Aufgabe der Ethik ist also die Letztbegründung menschlicher Praxis

Integrated results from the COPERNICUS and GALILEO studies.

OBJECTIVES: To report on the efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept in patients with macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in an integrated analysis of COPERNICUS and GALILEO. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were randomized to receive intravitreal aflibercept 2 mg every 4 weeks or sham injections until week 24. From week 24 to week 52, all intravitreal aflibercept-treated patients in both studies and sham-treated patients in COPERNICUS were eligible to receive intravitreal aflibercept based on prespecified criteria. In GALILEO, sham-treated patients continued to receive sham treatment through week 52. RESULTS: At week 24, mean gain in best-corrected visual acuity and mean reduction in central retinal thickness were greater for intravitreal aflibercept-treated patients compared with sham, consistent with individual trial results. At week 52, after 6 months of intravitreal aflibercept as-needed treatment in COPERNICUS, patients originally randomized to sham group experienced visual and anatomic improvements but did not improve to the extent of those initially treated with intravitreal aflibercept, while the sham group in GALILEO did not improve over week 24 mean best-corrected visual acuity scores. Ocular serious adverse events occurred in CONCLUSION: This analysis of integrated data from COPERNICUS and GALILEO confirmed that intravitreal aflibercept is an effective treatment for macular edema following CRVO

Antoni Kępiński’s Philosophy of Medicine – an alternative reading

Antoni Kępiński remains an often read and quoted author even 40 years after his premature death. Usually he is read in the context of his times and his connections with contemporary philosophy. This paper aims to show other aspects of his reflections on psychiatry. His views on the position of psychiatry within medicine, its methods, psychophysical problems, and other issues are compared with current knowledge and current thought paradigms. The goal is to show that while Kępiński was obviously functioning within a different scientific and philosophical paradigm many of his ideas and reflections can still be found within current debates. The important conclusion is to not hold on to the views that Kępiński held himself because he did not know as much as we do, but to see the importance of the debates that he foresaw even then and possibly learn something from his extensive clinical experience

Rational a priori or Emotional a priori? Husserl and Scheler’s Criticisms of Kant Regarding the Foundation of Ethics

Based on the dispute between Protagoras and Socrates on the origin of ethics, one can ask the question of whether the principle of ethics is reason orfeeling/emotion, or whether ethics is grounded on reason or feeling/emotion. The development of Kant’s thoughts on ethics shows the tension between reason and feeling/emotion. In Kant’s final critical ethics, he held to a principle of “rational a priori.” On the one hand, this is presented as the rational a priori principle being the binding principle of judgment. On the other hand, it is presented as the doctrine of “rational fact” as the ultimate argument of his ethics. Husserl believed that Kant’s doctrine of a rational a priori totally disregarded the a priori essential laws of feeling. Like Husserl, Scheler criticized Kant’s doctrine of a rational a priori, and therefore developed his own theory of an “emotional a priori”. Both of them focused their critiques on the grounding level of ethics. Scheler, however, did not follow Husserl all the way, but criticized him and reflected on his thoughts. At last, he revealed the primary status of a phenomenological material ethics of value

Wie hilfreich sind "ethische Richtlinien" am Einzelfall?: Eine vergleichende kasuistische Analyse der Deutschen Grundsätze, Britischen Guidelines und Schweizerischen Richtlinien zur Sterbebegleitung

Zusammenfassung: Entscheidungen der Therapiebegrenzung und in der Betreuung am Lebensende sind häufig komplex und von ethischen Problemen begleitet. Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung steht die entscheidende Frage, wie hilfreich existierende "Ethik-Richtlinien", die eine ethische Orientierung bei solchen Entscheidungen geben sollen, in der klinischen Praxis tatsächlich sind. Die Frage, welchen Nutzen "Ethik-Richtlinien" bei der Entscheidungsfindung haben oder haben können, wird hier exemplarisch an einem klinischen Fallbeispiel aus einer Ethik-Kooperationsstudie in der Intensivmedizin analysiert. Vergleichend werden hierzu "Ethik-Richtlinien" aus Deutschland, der Schweiz und aus Großbritannien herangezogen, die Gegenstand eines internationalen Projekts zur Analyse von Richtlinien waren. Die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer ethischen Orientierung an "Ethik-Richtlinien" bei Entscheidungsproblemen der Therapiebegrenzung und in der Betreuung am Lebensende werden anhand der Fallstudie diskutiert und illustriert. Abschließend werden Schlussfolgerungen für die Entwicklung ethischer Richtlinien für die klinische Praxis formulier

The possibility for a practical view of ethics: Husserl and Heidegger on the philosophy of law

This contribution centres on the practical view of ethics and its connection with the philosophy of law as it is portrayed in the works of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. According to these two philosophers, ethics determines both the expectations for human behaviour, as well as their obligations to society. In carrying out this analysis, I consider the function of law and then its regulated function among individuals and the state. Thus, I show how the individual’s orientation in the context of society makes an ethical statement, determined by humans’ actions throughout their existence

The Changing Face of Economics? Ethical Issues in Contemporary Economic Schools as a Consequence of Changes in the Concept of Human Nature

The last financial crisis combined with some recent social trends (like growing inequality or environmental problems) inspired many contemporary economists to the re-evaluation of actual economic knowledge in the search for solutions to these problems. Modern economic schools (especially heterodox ones) stress the meaning of ethical issues in economics more often. The thesis of the paper is that this revival of the ethical face of present economics depends very strongly on the changing assumptions of human nature within economics and other disciplines which work alongside economics, such as social psychology or business ethics, for instance. In order to prove the thesis, the paper provides an evaluation of current economic schools, especially within the heterodoxy, in search of their ethical aspects, and presents them as a result of the changing assumptions about human beings within those schools. This ethical dimension of human beings manifests itself in different ways, which can be perceived as a result of it being based on different ethical schools and different psychological and philosophical assumptions about human nature. Therefore, the paper also considers the current developments of the view on human beings in contemporary schools of economic ethics

Individual and regulatory ethics: an economic-ethical and theoretical-historical analysis of ordoliberalism

Based on Foucault’s analysis of German Neoliberalism and his thesis of ambiguity, the following paper draws a two-level distinction between individual and regulatory ethics. The individual ethics level – which has received surprisingly little attention – contains the Christian foundation of values and the liberal-Kantian heritage of so called Ordoliberalism – as one variety of neoliberalism. The regulatory or formal-institutional ethics level on the contrary refers to the ordoliberal framework of a socio-economic order. By differentiating these two levels of ethics incorporated in German Neoliberalism, it is feasible to distinguish dissimilar varieties of neoliberalism and to link Ordoliberalism to modern economic ethics. Furthermore, it allows a revision of the dominant reception of Ordoliberalism which focuses solely on the formal-institutional level while mainly neglecting the individual ethics level

Max Weber on Politics, Reason, and the Clash of Values and Approaches to Ethics

This article investigates how Max Weber’s theory of value conflict is connected to his realist understanding of politics and how he conceives the relation of politics and ethics. This investigation also covers Weber’s views on the argumentative limits of the social sciences and ethics. The center of Weber’s philosophy of science is constituted by his methodological thoughts on “ethical neutrality” (Wertfreiheit) of the social sciences. The first thesis of this paper contends that Weber’s theory of a clash of irreconcilable values and ideals goes back to Nietzsche. According to the second thesis of the article, the general claim of Weber’s philosophy of science is that there is no possibility of an ultimate rational, philosophical, or scientific grounding of values and normative theories. Weber’s endorsement of an ethics of responsibility in the field of politics led to the criticism that he contradicts his postulate of the “ethical neutrality” (Wertfreiheit) of the scientist. The third thesis of the paper claims that Weber’s arguments for a political ethics of responsibility are compatible with his methodological postulate