traditionally associated with Aristotle. It is written by an academic philosopher and a psychiatrist. ‘Virtue ethics’ holds that right conduct is founded on traits of character rather than adherence to rules, although these may also have their place. Such traits can be developed by training and practice (habituation). Having been eclipsed for some time by the rival approaches of consequentialis...

After centuries of obscurity, the study of the virtues is now one of the most prominent methodologies in ethics. Proponents of this so-called ‘aretaic turn’ differ substantially in the details of their respective proposals, but they tend to see a renewed focus on ethical virtues as a fresh source of insight into problems which have deadlocked more familiar approaches, such as Kantianism or util...

A first step in defining IDT would be to identify its central concern. Although some see science, design, or technology as central, IDT’s actual center has always been to help learners. Because the aspiration to help people is by definition ethical, it follows that the central concern of IDT is ethical. Thus, science, design, and technology become means to an ethical end. They serve praxis, or ...

1. I first met Richard Bernstein in Frankfurt the spring of 1988, where he was a visiting professor philosophy while student. remember as truly eye-opening seminar taught together with Jürgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel one gave by himself on authors discussed The New Constellation (1991). From that time on, this marvelous Geist became an important mentor for me dear friend, will always be grat...

Most people sooner or later experience dilemmas or uncertainties involving questions of meaning, purpose, value, and fulfillment. Such questions emerge in the context of relationships, career, momentous change, personal responsibility, aspiration or disappointment, and decision-making under risk or potential conflict of interest. Normal problems of living are not regarded as “diseases”; rather,...

traditional social science often fails when deployed to explain complex human action. in each specific social field of human endeavour, including planning, experienced actors draw on a range of conscious and unconscious performative knowledges to act with effect: the experts simply ‘know’ what to do. some thinkers, suggests that to understand these complex human dispositions framing practice re...

The phrase “Engineering Leadership” may seem, at a first glance, as the result of a simple juxtaposition of two, otherwise not related, concepts; on the contrary, an analysis of the respective roots and evolutions shows an undeniable “fil rouge” connecting the two with links intersecting ages and cultures. Leadership is charged with the expectation of providing guidance to decision making under...

In this article, we analyze the development of responsibility through the lens of the Peruvian Matsigenka, Samoan, and middle-class Los Angeles, California, childhoods. We propose that recognizing social awareness, social responsiveness, and self-reliance as keystone properties of responsibility supports an argument that children’s routine work at home enables not only social but also moral res...

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash INTRODUCTION Bioethics does not have an explicitly stated and agreed upon means of resolving conflicts between normative theories. As such, bioethics lacks essential feature – action guidance ― effective translation from theory to practice. While the approaches historical precedents may discourage overtly egregious acts, bioethical discipline offer decisiv...

In accordance with our editor’s challenge to write about the translation of evidence into policy and practice,1 I have been refl ecting on why this is seemingly so hard to do. First, let us remember how Sackett defi ned evidencebased medicine (EBM).2 “Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individua...