11 Balancing Beneficence and Autonomy in Animal Agriculture with a Warming World

Balancing autonomy and beneficence at the time of psychiatric discharge

As in much of the world, mental health law in Israel has evolved over the past half-century toward greater protection of patients' liberty and an increased emphasis on due process. Part of that process in Israel involved taking decisions about prolonged involuntary hospitalization out of the hands of treating psychiatrists and turning them over to independent review panels. Argo and colleagues ...

Wrongful Beneficence: Exploitation and Third World Sweatshops

Much of the merchandise produced by U.S. companies and sold to U.S. consumers is manufactured by workers in third world countries who earn as little as 12 cents per hour drudging away in harsh and even dangerous work environments. Such workplaces are referred to as sweatshops and are especially common in the apparel and shoe industries and in toy making. Many critics object to sweatshops on the...

The distressed patient seeking self-harm: autonomy versus beneficence.

Patient autonomy may conflict with the professional's need to practice beneficently. A case is presented showing this conflict. This incompatibility between two cardinal virtues in healthcare ethics is analyzed in terms of the philosopher Immanuel Kant's dictum that individual autonomy cannot be abridged. The tension between these two ethical principles is also discussed in terms of the 2008 vo...

Atmospheric warming induced changes in future rainfall and implications on water and agriculture in India

The projected rainfall change under various scenarios is likely to have both positive and negative implications on agriculture and water supply because in rainfall pattern across the country. Rise in rainfall is seen over all states except Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, which show slight decrease in precipitation in the future scenarios. Marked increase in covering the Western Ghats and nort...

The conflict between autonomy and beneficence in medical ethics: proposal for a resolution.