Can There Be Post-Persons and What Can We Learn From Considering Their Possibility?

Many prominent bioethicists have recently raised the question of the possibility of moral status enhancement. In this paper I discuss the arguments advanced by Nicholas Agar for the possible existence of the postpersons. I argue that in spite of the many limitations and shortcomings of Agar’s account, there are no conclusive reasons to rule out the possibility of moral status enhancement. However, if post-persons are as they are described by Agar, the fact of their possibility is less interesting and ethically relevant than it might seem. Most importantly, the account of post-persons given by Agar is rather an outcome of some implausible assumptions. I propose that Agar conflates the ethical with the scientific and dismisses the importance of phenomenology in framing our ethical outlook. Also, he seems to follow the assumption made by many utilitarian ethicists that such features as sentience and cognitive capacities have some universal relevance. This accounts for the delusion that we can view our moral attitudes from the point of view of the Universe

Minds, brains, and hearts : an empirical study on pluralism concerning death determination

Copyright: This record is sourced from MEDLINE/PubMed, a database of the U.S. National Library of MedicineSeveral authors in bioethics literature have expressed the view that a whole brain conception of death is philosophically indefensible. If they are right, what are the alternatives? Some authors have suggested that we should go back to the old cardiopulmonary criterion of death and abandon the so-called Dead Donor Rule. Others argue for a pluralist solution. For example, Robert Veatch has defended a view that competent persons should be free to decide which criterion of death should be used to determine their death. However, there is very little data on people's preferences about death determination criteria. We conducted online vignette-based survey with Latvian participants (N = 1416). The data suggest that the pluralist solution fits best with the way our study participants think about death determination-widely differing preferences concerning death determination criteria were observed. Namely, most participants choose one of the three criteria discussed in the literature: whole brain, higher brain, and cardiopulmonary. Interestingly, our data also indicate that study participants tend to prefer less restrictive criteria for determination of their own deaths than for determination of deaths of their closest relatives. Finally, the preferences observed in our sample are largely in accord with the Dead Donor Rule for organ procurement for transplantation.publishersversionPeer reviewe

In defense of a pluralistic policy on the determination of death

Publisher Copyright: © 2018 E-flow Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.In his paper “The challenge of brain death for the sanctity of life ethic”, Peter Singer advocates two options for dealing with death criteria in a way that is compatible with efficient organ transplantation policy. He suggests that we should either (a) redefine death as cortical death or (b) go back to the old cardiopulmonary criterion and scrap the Dead Donor Rule. We welcome Singer’s line of argument but raise some concerns about the practicability of the two alternatives advocated by him. We propose adding a third alternative that also – as the two previous alternatives – preserves and extends the possibility of organ transplantation without using anyone without their consent. Namely, we would like to draw readers’ attention to a proposal by Robert Veatch, formulated 42 years ago in his 1976 book “Death, dying, and the biological revolution” and developed further in his later publications. Veatch argues for a conscience clause for the definition of death that would permit people to pick from a reasonable range of definitional options. This autonomy-based option, we believe, is more likely to be practicable than the two options advocated by Singer. Furthermore, we present data from a study with Lithuanian participants that suggest that there is quite pronounced variation of preferences concerning death determination.publishersversionPeer reviewe

The Sex Doula Programme

The Welfare-Funded Sex Doula Programme is a proposed sexual needs service that advances the sexual citizenship of disabled people by providing specially trained ‘sex doulas’ to meet the various, often complex, sexual needs of disabled people. Conceived as providing disabled individuals with practical sexual support services, the role of the sex doula includes advocacy, counselling, therapy, and practical relief from sexual tension. The programme constitutes a robust, comprehensive, and theoretically cohesive welfare service that seeks to provision access to sexual citizenship for disabled people. Grounded in Aristotelian concepts of flourishing, the programme identifies sexual citizenship as a fundamental basic need and seeks to ensure that disabled people have the opportunity to achieve the same level of sexuality as able-bodied people. Work advancing the programme includes both philosophical and theoretical arguments showing how the programme is justified under several moral frameworks, and claims made therein have resulted in velitation in the literature regarding the potential of such a programme to violate individuals’ negative rights

Truth-telling and the Asymmetry of the Attitude to Truth-telling to Dying Patients in Latvia

This article deals with concerns related to truth-telling in interaction between the doctor and the dying patient, exploring such issues as conflicting duties of veracity and non-maleficence, truthfulness and deception, and reasons behind physicians' decisions either to withhold or to disclose information about patients' diagnoses and prognoses. It focuses on various attitudes to truth-telling to dying patients, such as symmetry and asymmetry, both of which can be positive and negative. The empirical part of the article reports on the methods and results of the qualitative study carried out in Latvia during the summer of 2012. This study was based on the assessment of three case scenarios from the quantitative instrument designed by Dalla-Vorgia et al. in 1992. By means of semi-structured and focus-group interviews, evidence was gathered about physicians' and medical students' attitudes towards truth-telling, which allows the drawing of conclusions about the presence of asymmetry and symmetry in both cases. Additionally, an insight about the standards used for making decisions in case scenarios was gained and the origins of these standards were explored, revealing the aftermath of a gradual evolution from the ethics of the Soviet era to modern standards of medical ethics

Coordination and expertise foster legal textualism

Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-119791RA-I00; RTI2018-098882-B-I00), the Polish National Science Centre (2020/36/C/HS5/00111; 2017/25/N/HS5/00944), the Swiss National Science Foundation (PZ00P1_179912), and the European Research Council (805498). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 the Author(s).A cross-cultural survey experiment revealed a dominant tendency to rely on a rule’s letter over its spirit when deciding which behaviors violate the rule. This tendency varied markedly across (k = 15) countries, owing to variation in the impact of moral appraisals on judgments of rule violation. Compared with laypeople, legal experts were more inclined to disregard their moral evaluations of the acts altogether and consequently exhibited stronger textualist tendencies. Finally, we evaluated a plausible mechanism for the emergence of textualism: in a two-player coordination game, incentives to coordinate in the absence of communication reinforced participants’ adherence to rules’ literal meaning. Together, these studies (total n = 5,794) help clarify the origins and allure of textualism, especially in the law. Within heterogeneous communities in which members diverge in their moral appraisals involving a rule’s purpose, the rule’s literal meaning provides a clear focal point—an identifiable point of agreement enabling coordinated interpretation among citizens, lawmakers, and judges.Peer reviewe

Natural Competence Is a Major Mechanism for Horizontal DNA Transfer in the Oral Pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a Gram-negative anaerobe that resides exclusively in the human oral cavity. Long-term colonization by P. gingivalis requires the bacteria to evade host immune responses while adapting to the changing host physiology and alterations in the composition of the oral microflora. The genetic diversity of P. gingivalis appears to reflect the variability of its habitat; however, little is known about the molecular mechanisms generating this diversity. Previously, our research group established that chromosomal DNA transfer occurs between P. gingivalis strains. In this study, we examine the role of putative DNA transfer genes in conjugation and transformation and demonstrate that natural competence mediated by comF is the dominant form of chromosomal DNA transfer, with transfer by a conjugation-like mechanism playing a minor role. Our results reveal that natural competence mechanisms are present in multiple strains of P. gingivalis, and DNA uptake is not sensitive to DNA source or modification status. Furthermore, extracellular DNA was observed for the first time in P. gingivalis biofilms and is predicted to be the major DNA source for horizontal transfer and allelic exchange between strains. We propose that exchange of DNA in plaque biofilms by a transformation-like process is of major ecological importance in the survival and persistence of P. gingivalis in the challenging oral environment

A fine structural study of divalent cation-mediated epithelial union with connective tissue in human oral mucosa

Following incubation in an isotonic saline solution containing 20 mM EDTA, human oral mucosa may be separated into its epithelial and connective tissue components. Ultrastructural study of the separated tissues reveals that the plane of separation is through the lamina lucida. Hemidesmosomal structure is altered by the separation process: the peripheral density is absent but a fine, generally filamentous material remains associated with the outer membrane leaflet of the hemidesmosome. Desmosome structure is not altered. An intact lamina densa remains attached to the connective tissue fragment. Oral mucosa incubated in EDTA-saline containing calcium, or its return to a divalent cation-supplemented medium after treatment with EDTA, prevents separation. By maintaining the structural integrity of the hemidesmosome, divalent cations appear to play a principal role in uniting oral mucosal epithelium to the lamina propria.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49659/1/1001330406_ftp.pd

Comparison of the virulence of exopolysaccharide-producing Prevotella intermedia to exopolysaccharide non-producing periodontopathic organisms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence in the literature suggests that exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by bacterial cells are essential for the expression of virulence in these organisms. Secreted EPSs form the framework in which microbial biofilms are built.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study evaluates the role of EPS in <it>Prevotella intermedia </it>for the expression of virulence. This evaluation was accomplished by comparing EPS-producing <it>P. intermedia </it>strains 17 and OD1-16 with non-producing <it>P. intermedia </it>ATCC 25611 and <it>Porphyromonas gingivalis </it>strains ATCC 33277, 381 and W83 for their ability to induce abscess formation in mice and evade phagocytosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>EPS-producing <it>P. intermedia </it>strains 17 and OD1-16 induced highly noticeable abscess lesions in mice at 10⁷colony-forming units (CFU). In comparison, <it>P. intermedia </it>ATCC 25611 and <it>P. gingivalis </it>ATCC 33277, 381 and W83, which all lacked the ability to produce viscous materials, required 100-fold more bacteria (10⁹CFU) in order to induce detectable abscess lesions in mice. Regarding antiphagocytic activity, <it>P. intermedia </it>strains 17 and OD1-16 were rarely internalized by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes, but other strains were readily engulfed and detected in the phagosomes of these phagocytes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results demonstrate that the production of EPS by <it>P. intermedia </it>strains 17 and OD1-16 could contribute to the pathogenicity of this organism by conferring their ability to evade the host's innate defence response.</p