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At least 1,027 records · Page 57Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Feeling of 'lacking' as the core of envy: a conceptual analysis of envy.

The aim of this paper is to explore the subjective experience of envy through concept analysis. Further, the study on which it is based aimed to answer questions about the composition and manifestations of envy. From the viewpoint of nursing science, the analysis of envy is based on a desire to understand human beings from the perspective of subjective health and illness and thus from a health promotion perspective. Envy is conceived of as a dimension of a person's health and illness. The concept is therefore meaningful from the viewpoint of nursing; it describes a phenomenon which enables us to deepen our understanding in a way relevant to nursing science. In the study the hybrid model developed by Schwartz-Barcott et al. was used for conceptual elaboration. In the theoretical phase of the study the subjective experience of envy was explored from the viewpoints of philosophy, religion, Finnish folklore and psychoanalysis, as well as nursing science. As a synthesis of these, a conceptual analysis of envy adapted from Wilson was conducted and a working definition of envy was proposed. In the fieldwork phase, envy was examined by means of an empirical analysis using a phenomenological approach. As a result, a classification describing the experience of envy was presented. The core experience of envy has been defined as a 'lacking', and the object of envy as something good possessed by someone else. Envy manifests itself in both destructiveness and creativity. The trends of development of envy are inflexibility and emancipation, and the essence of envy is multidimensional. Finally, the working definition of the concept was elaborated on the basis of the empirical phase and a new definition reflecting the composition and manifestations of envy was proposed.

Caregivers↗
PubMed1999

Reflections on the interface of bioethics, public policy and science.

This paper discusses the role of ethical considerations in the formulation of public policies aimed at shaping the scientific agenda. Specifically, new and controversial public policy issues will confront us in the twenty-first century as the result of developments on the frontiers of biomedical science. Some of the anxieties in the ethical arena generated by the rapid pace of these developments are likely to result in efforts to place constraints on the shape of the scientific agenda and the application of new knowledge. Our moral propositions, therefore, will be tested and re-tested in their application to evolving social, cultural, and historical circumstances and the ever-changing technological context.

Bioethical Issues↗
PubMed1999

Thinking theologically about reproductive and genetic enhancements: the challenge.

Current philosophical and legal bioethical reflections on reprogenetics provides little more than a rationalization of the interests of science. There are two reasons for this. First, bioethicists attempt to address ethical issues in a "language of precision" that characterizes science, and this works against analogical and narratological modes of discourse that have traditionally provided guidance for understanding human nature and purpose. Second, the current ethical and legal debate is framed by a public/private distinction that banishes robust norms to the private realm, and leaves a minimalist public discourse of harm avoidance that is insuffucient for regulating the science. In this essay, I argue that Mark Hanson's account of anxiety provides a valuable starting point for addressing deficiencies in the current philosophical and legal debate, and it highlights the need for a theological discourse on genetic enhancements. Through an assessment of Joel Shuman's criticism of the public/private distinction, I show how the needed theological discourse should be situated in the context of robust communities, and how such a communitarian inter-ethic is compatible with a variant of liberalism. Finally, I critically assess James Keenan's account of virtue and perfection, in order to outline what a sufficient discourse on reproductive and genetic enhancements requires.

Anthropology↗
PubMed1993

What sort of a thing is a religion? A view from object-relations theory.

This paper suggests that a religion is not, as Freud proposed, a science-like thing, refutable by evidence. It is a socially constructed and maintained system of internal objects, analogous to those spoken of in psychoanalysis. Like analytic internal objects, religious objects have a heuristic function but no material existence. Unlike analytic objects, they are derived from a definite cultural tradition and are elaborated over time to meet the experience of practitioners. They may be understood to have a function of 'containing' the feelings, thoughts and fantasies arising in individual practitioners, and of making these experiences comprehensible. These objects then enable the believer to speak more truthfully of, and relate more fully to, the larger matrix within which the human world is situated. Finally, the suggestion is made that, as with analytic internal objects, religious objects may best be judged by their long-term effects on the lives of believers.

Buddhism↗
PubMed1995

Paracelsus confronts the saints: miracles, healing and the secularization of magic.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed an erosion of the role played by the church in healing. Magical practices mediated by the church were replaced by the resources of medicine. This represented an important cultural development and it is often regarded as a manifestation of increasing secularization, the decline of magic and rise of science. This paper examines this issue with special reference to miraculous healing associated with saints, which constituted one of the most important facets of magic controlled by the church. It will be suggested that Paracelsus (Theophrast von Hohenheim, 1493-1541) played an important part in the argument concerning the miraculous powers of saints. Many works by Paracelsus produced at various points in his career were relevant to this issue, but De causis morborum invisibilium, the sequel to his important Opus Paraminum (1531), was especially significant. The question of miraculous healing was therefore important in the first, full presentation of the new system of medicine developed by Paracelsus. Modern commentators have understandably found De causis morborum invisibilium less intelligible and congenial than the more accessible Opus Paramirum. But the former was important to Paracelsus, and it addressed problems that were fundamental to his audience. This case-study shows how conclusions reached by Paracelsus about medical questions were integrally tied up with his theological standpoint and with his wider reaction to the acute crisis of confidence which affected the church and the established social order at the beginning of the sixteenth century. By eliminating the miraculous intervention of saints and promoting the secularization of magic, Paracelsus was contributing to one of the important cultural changes associated with the Reformation.

Christianity↗
PubMed1977

Weber, Durkheim, and the comparative method.

This essay compares and contrasts the means by which Durkheim and Weber dealt with methodological issues peculiar to the comparative study of societies, what Smelser has called "the problem of sociocultural variability and complexity." More specifically, it examines how Weber and Durkheim chose appropriate comparative units for their empirical studies. The approaches that Weber and Durkheim brought to theproblem of cross-cultural comparison have critical implications for more current procedures used in the comparative study of contemporary and historical societies.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗
PubMed1982

Abortion practices and attitudes in cross-cultural perspective.

This article presents an overview of abortion practices and attitudes in primitive societies and in Western civilization. The changing positions of the major world religions and nations are provided. Attention is given both to restrictions on abortion and to its active promotion, as exemplified by current conditions in the People's Republic of China. A brief history of abortion in the United States is presented, following by the results of two major polls on consumer attitudes. The latter data indicate a growing liberalization of abortion attitudes and an association between such liberal beliefs and the following factors: age under 40 years, higher education, non-Catholicism, irregular church attendance, and positive attitude toward sex education in the schools and availability of contraceptives for teenage girls. It is also shown that people who strongly oppose abortion are more likely than advocates of abortion to lend financial or other forms of tangible support to their cause.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed2004

The coevolution of ritual and society: new 14C dates from ancient Mexico.

New (14)C dates from Oaxaca, Mexico, document changes in religious ritual that accompanied the evolution of society from hunting and gathering to the archaic state. Before 4000 B.P. in conventional radiocarbon years, a nomadic egalitarian lifeway selected for unscheduled (ad hoc) ritual from which no one was excluded. With the establishment of permanent villages (4000-3000 B.P.), certain rituals were scheduled by solar or astral events and restricted to initiates/social achievers. After state formation (2050 B.P.), many important rituals were performed only by trained full-time priests using religious calendars and occupying temples built by corvee labor. Only 1,300-1,400 years seem to have elapsed between the oldest known ritual building and the first standardized state temple.

Anthropology, Cultural↗