Can ordinary morality survive the climate crisis?: A philosophical analysis of moral demandingness and climate change

In this dissertation I examine how ordinary morality operates in the context of climate change, with a specific focus on moral demandingness. I will employ climate change as a conceptual stress test, to analyse how ordinary morality and its core principles can respond to climate change and the sacrifices required to mitigate it. The stress test reveals a conflict within the system of ordinary morality. On the one hand, ordinary morality’s key regulative principle, called over-demandingness principle, requires that agents must not be required to perform overly demanding acts. On the other hand, ordinary morality’s key moral principle, the no harm principle, requires that one must not cause unnecessary harm to others. But almost anything people do contributes to climate change, and thus causes harm to others. Not contributing to climate change would be extremely demanding. Thus, the two core principles are in conflict. I argue that ordinary morality can survive the climate stress test only by allowing more extreme demands, and I will show that this can be done without changing any of the core principles of ordinary morality. They require mere re-adjustments, although with the trade-off of accepting more extreme demands. This dissertation consists of three interlinked and mutually supportive threads: an argumentative thread, a methodological thread, and an explorative thread. The argumentative thread builds an institutional argument from the adaptive limits of human morality, which claims that because of human moral psychological limitations mitigating climate change ought to rely on institutional approaches. This argumentative thread also forms the operational space for ordinary morality and the stress test: the moral demands that follow from the imperative to mitigate climate change are related to demandingness of complying with institutional approaches, and this compliance implies great sacrifices for the individuals. The methodological thread applies the method of wide reflective equilibrium to ordinary morality. The method is utilised to identify and analyse the background theories, principles, and considered judgments that constitute ordinary morality. The reflective equilibrium process will conclude in a new point of equilibrium where ordinary morality can accommodate more extreme demands and survive the climate stress test. The explorative thread examines the morally demanding conditions of modern world. I suggest that the world is ‘morally far gone’, that is, it has reached a state where following even the moral obligations that adhere to ordinary morality is extremely demanding. I argue that this moral far-goneness is not a reason to reject ordinary morality. While we may desire a morally ‘clean slate’, that is, a situation where most of our everyday activities are morally permissible and do not contribute to harming others, this clean slate morality should not be the end-goal of moral theorizing, rather, it should be the end-goal of moral action guided my moral theories.--- Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkin arkimoraalin toimivuutta ilmastonmuutoksen kontekstissa, kiinnittäen erityisesti huomiota moraalin vaativuuteen. Käytän ilmastonmuutosta käsitteellisenä stressitestinä analysoidakseni arkimoraalin ja sen keskeisten periaatteiden kykyä vastata ilmastonmuutokseen ja sen torjumisen vaatimiin uhrauksiin. Tämä stressitesti paljastaa ristiriidan arkimoraalin muodostavassa uskomusjärjestelmässä. Arkimoraalin keskeinen säätelevä periaate, niin sanottu ylivaativuusperiaate, edellyttää ettei toimijoilta vaadita ylivaativia tekoja. Toisaalta arkimoraalille keskeinen moraaliperiaate, haittaperiaate, edellyttää ettei muille saa aiheuttaa tarpeettomasti haittaa. Mutta lähes mikä tahansa mitä teemme kontribuoi ilmastonmuutokseen ja siten aiheuttaa haittaa muille. Olisi äärimmäisen vaativaa olla kontribuoimatta ilmastonmuutokseen jollain tavalla. Näin ollen, nämä kaksi keskeistä periaatetta ovat keskenään ristiriidassa. Argumentoin, että arkimoraali voi selvitä ilmastonmuutoksen aiheuttamasta stressitestistä vain hyväksymällä myös äärimmäisiä vaatimuksia, ja näytän, kuinka tämä on mahdollista muuttamatta yhtäkään arkimoraalin keskeisistä periaatteista. Näitä keskeisiä periaatteita on vain hieman säädettävä, vaikkakin sillä kustannuksella, että on myös hyväksyttävä äärimmäisempiä vaatimuksia. Tämä väitöskirja muodostuu kolmesta toisiinsa linkittyneestä ja toisiaan tukevasta punaisesta langasta, tai ajatusketjusta: argumentatiivisesta, metodologisesta ja eksploratiivisesta. Argumentatiivisessa ajatusketjussa muodostetaan institutionaalisen argumentin ihmisen moraalin adaptiivisista rajoista, joka väittää, että ihmisen moraalipsykologisten rajoitusten takia ilmastonmuutoksen torjumiseksi on käytettävä ensisijaisesti institutionaalisia ratkaisuja. Tämä argumentatiivinen ajatusketju muodostaa myös arkimoraalin ja stressitestin keskeisen toimintatilan: moraaliset vaatimukset, jotka seuraavat velvoitteestamme torjua ilmastonmuutos, liittyvät ensisijaisesti institutionaalisiin ratkaisuihin suostumiseen, ja niihin suostumiseen liittyy merkittäviä uhrauksia. Metodologinen ajatusketju soveltaa laajaa harkinnan tasapainomenetelmää arkimoraaliin. Kyseistä menetelmää käytetään tunnistamaan ja analysoimaan arkimoraalin muodostavia taustateorioita, periaatteita, ja harkittuja arvostelmia. Harkinnan tasapainomenetelmäprosessi johtaa uuteen harkinnan tasapainopisteeseen, jossa arkimoraali kykenee sisällyttämään itseensä myös äärimmäisempiä vaatimuksia, ja siten arkimoraali selviytyy stressitestistä. Eksploratiivinen ajatusketju tarkastelee nykymaailman moraalisesti vaativia olosuhteita. Ehdotan, että maailma on kaukana moraalisesti hyväksyttävästä, eli se on päätynyt tilaan, jossa jopa arkimoraalisten velvoitteiden noudattaminen on äärimmäisen vaativaa. Argumentoin, että tämä kaukana moraalisesti hyväksyttävästä tilasta oleminen ei anna perusteita hylätä arkimoraalia. Vaikka haluaisimme aloittaa moraalisesti “puhtaalta pöydältä”, eli tilanteesta, jossa suurin osa arkisista teoistamme on moraalisesti sallittuja eivätkä aiheuta haittaa muille, tällaisen puhtaan pöydän moraalin ei tulisi olla moraalisen teoretisoinnin päämäärä, vaan päinvastoin, meidän tulisi moraalisesti toimimalla pyrkiä moraalisten teorioiden avulla kohti moraalisesti puhdasta pöytää

A KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE FLIGHT PHASE OF SKI JUMPING

The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify selected kinematic variables of the flight phase of ski jumping. Secondly, this study attempted to determine the statistical contribution of specific kinematic variables during the flight to the distance jumped. The subjects for the investigation were 51 highly skilled competitors participating in the 1995 Springer tournee K-110 World Cup event. Forty six jumps were used from the first competitive round for the subsequent analyses. Data were collected using a Panasonic video camera equipped with a high speed shutter. Data for the distance jumped were collected from the competition records published following the completion of the event. The 2D Peak Performance Analysis System was used to extract the horizontal and vertical coordinates for a 3 link segmental model. The data was smoothed using a second order Butterworth digital filter and processed to compute the path of the centre of mass, linear displacements and velocities, and angular displacement values. Further measurements and calculations were performed to calculate a variety of angles involving the ski, leg, direction of flight, truck, and flight curve as well as the vertical distance of the centre of mass to the jump hill. A correlation analysis was conducted to determine the existence and strength of any relationships between the selected variables and distance jumped. The results suggest that for jumpers who want to increase their distance jumped they should increase their ski and leg angle, decrease the trunk and ski angle throughout the flight phase, and maintain an angle between the ski and the direction of flight of approximately 40 degrees. The angle between the trunk and direction of flight should also be approximately 40 degrees with a small leg and direction of flight angle during the second part of the flight phase. Additional studies should focus on the effect of the previous ski jumping phases upon the variables associated with a good flight position

A KINEMATIC FOCUS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MAIN PHASES OF SKI JUMPING AND PERFORMANCE AT THE INNSBRUCK 1995 EVENT

Ski jumping is a unique sport discipline with a wide range of movements consisting of several follow-up phases. There is a selection of studies which have described each of the separate phases of the ski jump performance. However, the interaction between the movements of each of the main ski jump phases and their influence on the final performance have not been explored. The purpose of this project was to carry out a kinematic analysis of the entire ski jump performance and to determine the interrelationships between the various phases of the ski jump and between the final performance. The research was complete during the K120 world cup event Intersporttournee at Innsbruck on January 4th, 1995. The Innsbruck jumping hill provided an ideal environment for the location of each of the required cameras. In addition, the competition attracts a great a great number of top world athletes. The h t(n =50) and final (n=30) jump rounds were taped using seven cameras. Seven researchers from the three research groups who participated in this project (Czech Republic, Canada, and Slovenia) each operated a camera in order to record each of the five main phases: in-run, take-off, transition, flight 1 and flight 2. The kinematic data for each of the different phases were elaborated by using the 2D System of hematic Analysis of Ski-jumping (In-run, take-o& transition), the 3D Consport Motion Analysis System (transition), and the 2D Peak Performance System (flight 1, flight 2). The analysis also included measures of body dimensions (height, weight, and other anthropometric parameters), the length of jump, and the official in-run velocity. Analysis of variance, correlation, regression and factor analyses were used to statistically examine the data. The results of this research have added a new dimension to our understanding of the world's best ski jumpeis performances and the interrelationships between the movements in each of the critical phases

Cerebellar infarction requiring surgical decompression in patient with COVID 19 pathological analysis and brief review

© 2020 The Authors Background: This report and literature review describes a case of a COVID-19 patient who suffered a cerebellar stroke requiring neurosurgical decompression. This is the first reported case of a sub-occipital craniectomy with brain biopsy in a COVID-19 patient showing leptomeningeal venous intimal inflammation. Clinical description: The patient is a 48-year-old SARS-COV-2 positive male with multiple comorbidities, who presented with fevers and respiratory symptoms, and imaging consistent with multifocal pneumonia. On day 5 of admission, the patient had sudden change in mental status, increased C-Reactive Protein, ferritin and elevated Interleukin-6 levels. Head CT showed cerebral infarction from vertebral artery occlusion. Given subsequent rapid neurologic decline from cerebellar swelling and mass effect on his brainstem emergent neurosurgical intervention was performed. Brain biopsy found a vein with small organizing thrombus adjacent to focally proliferative intima with focal intimal neutrophils. Conclusion: A young man with COVID-19 and suspected immune dysregulation, complicated by a large cerebrovascular ischemic stroke secondary to vertebral artery thrombosis requiring emergent neurosurgical intervention for decompression with improved neurological outcomes. Brain biopsy was suggestive of inflammation from thrombosed vessel, and neutrophilic infiltration of cerebellar tissue