Search Results (175)

International policy frameworks, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the WHO Quality Rights initiative, have established dignity as a foundational right in mental health care. However, a significant gap remains between these policy aspirations and the lived experience of service users, often due to risk-averse cultures that prioritize control over autonomy. This commentary employs an interpretive synthesis of international literature (2006–2025) and illustrative case examples, such as the Trieste model and Quality Rights implementation in low-resource settings, to examine the operationalization of dignity-centered care. I argue for a paradigm shift from control-based safety models to relational safety grounded in biographical literacy and positive risk-taking. Key findings highlight that dignity-centered approaches not only improve patient experiences of respect and agency but also mitigate moral injury and burnout among the nursing workforce. Furthermore, as digital mental health tools and AI-driven risk assessments emerge, systems must ensure these technologies enhance rather than automate paternalism. I conclude that realizing dignity-centered care requires a structural and cultural transformation, embedding dignity into clinical protocols, leadership practices, and environmental design to move beyond rhetorical commitments toward measurable, humane standards. Full article

Electric vehicle(EV) diffusion exhibits nonlinear, path-dependent dynamics shaped by interacting economic, technological, and social constraints. This paper develops a unified hybrid systems framework that captures these complexities by integrating microfounded household choice, capacity-constrained firm behavior, local network spillovers, and multi-level policy intervention within a Filippov differential-inclusion structure. Households face heterogeneous preferences, liquidity limits, and network-mediated moral and informational influences; firms invest irreversibly under learning-by-doing and profitability thresholds; and national and local governments implement distinct financial and infrastructure policies subject to budget constraints. The resulting aggregate adoption dynamics feature endogenous switching, sliding modes at economic bottlenecks, network-amplified tipping, and hysteresis arising from irreversible investment. We establish conditions for the existence of Filippov solutions, derive network-dependent tipping thresholds, characterize sliding regimes at capacity and liquidity constraints, and show how network structure magnifies hysteresis and shapes the effectiveness of local versus national policy. Optimal-control analysis further demonstrates that national subsidies follow bang–bang patterns and that network-targeted local interventions minimize the fiscal cost of achieving regional tipping. Beyond theoretical characterization, the framework is structurally calibrated to match the order-of-magnitude effects reported in leading empirical and simulation-based studies, including network diffusion models, agent-based simulations, bass-type specifications, and fuel-price shock analyses. The hybrid formulation reproduces short-run percentage-point subsidy effects, long-run forecast dispersion under alternative network assumptions, and policy-induced equilibrium shifts observed in the applied literature while providing a unified geometric interpretation of these heterogeneous results through explicit basin boundaries and regime switching. The framework provides a complex systems perspective on sustainable mobility transitions and clarifies why identical national policies can generate asynchronous regional outcomes. These results offer theoretical foundations for designing coordinated, cost-effective, and network-aware EV transition strategies. Full article

Scientists estimate that humanity has exceeded seven of nine planetary boundaries, threatening the entire planet with potentially catastrophic consequences for all species. We therefore have a moral imperative for future generations and other species to return to the safe side of those boundaries. Threats to these boundaries take the form of social dilemmas, defined as situations in which individuals acting in their own interest undermine collective welfare, which can only be solved through cooperation. Western economic theory has conditioned us to believe that humans are inherently selfish. This assumption has led economists, scientists, and policymakers to increasingly pursue market-based solutions to conservation approaches, which have yielded limited success. In contrast, this article argues that humans are inherently cooperative. We employ Multi-Level Selection Theory (MLS) to depict the evolutionary advantages of cooperation and to define morality as putting the group ahead of the individual. We examine two examples of MLS in action: Territories of Life (TOL) and Ubuntu. The paper provides guidance for pathways of Ecozoic governance, planning, and restoration. Applied in a Western context in Burlington, Vermont, the philosophies hold true, showing that social norms and group identity already shape ecological behavior in Burlington residents’ lawn care practices. Ultimately, providing an alternative economic model built on these ethical foundations, we introduce the Neighbor’s Goodwill that reframes social dilemmas in a game theory context. The Neighbor’s Goodwill demonstrates how loyalty, reciprocity, and social belonging alter payoff structures. This research is founded on the fact that humans are inherently social and tend to make decisions in the interest of the whole group over their own. Full article

The Wallonia-Brussels Federation is transforming through its education through the ‘Pact for an Education of Excellence’, notably by redefining the post-common core stage. This perspective article proposes a curricular paradigm that reconciles the specialisation of pathways with a shared foundation ensuring informed citizenship for all students. Based on a conceptual analysis of existing literature, we advocate for integrating Socially Acute Questions (SAQs) as a transversal axis of the post-common core curriculum. This shift the system from a ‘retrocognitive’ model—where knowledge is accumulated for uncertain future application—to a ‘procognitive’ model inspired by Chevallard’s ‘questioning of the world’. We outline seven pedagogical approaches to support this: controversy mapping, case studies, reasoned debate, the problematic matrix, researcher–student encounters, moral dilemmas, and role-play simulations. However, implementation faces barriers, including the rigidity of school structures, disciplinary compartmentalisation, teachers’ epistemic vulnerability, and challenges surrounding neutrality when addressing sensitive subjects. Success depends on transforming teaching professionalism through collaborative and interdisciplinary work, adopting ‘committed impartiality’ or ‘active neutrality’, and developing assessment tools that capture complex competencies. This proposal aligns with global curricular renewal movements and suggests a model where common ground rests not on contents, but on a competency to navigate the uncertainty and complexity. Full article

This introductory essay revisits the concept of “Prague German Literature,” focusing on the Prague Circle’s engagement with enduring humanistic values amid early twentieth-century upheaval. While Franz Kafka is one of the most well-known authors of the twentieth century, this essay (and the Special Issue) highlights lesser-known Czech German authors and engages with the criticisms of the definitional boundaries of terms like “circle” and “school.” Drawing on recent scholarship, it situates these writers within Prague’s multilingual, multiethnic context and challenges postmodern approaches that reduce the literature to power discourse. Instead, it advocates for renewed attention to moral ambiguity, cultural mediation, and universal human concerns. Revisiting foundational scholars such as Max Brod, H. G. Adler, and Margarita Pazi, the essay also engages contemporary critics who propose more nuanced models of literary affiliation. Ultimately, this essay argues for the continued relevance of these authors in fostering intercultural dialog and reflecting on the (in)stability of values in times of crisis, framing the contributions of this Special Issue. Full article

This article maps and prioritises the foundational developmental needs of children and adolescents: social development, cognitive growth, emotional regulation, identity formation, and moral reasoning. Early and excessive digital engagement is then examined for its potential to impact these milestones, with consequences that reverberate through wellbeing, relationships, and lifelong resilience. Arguments which frame digital engagement as an individual right with potential benefits, downplay developmental risks. Drawing on developmental rights and agency frameworks, the current review disputes the prevailing assumption that digital participation should take precedence over healthy developmental trajectories. Instead, the debate is reframed around children’s evolving capacities. It is proposed that digital entitlements are nested within age-appropriate limits and supports. Protecting the best interests of the child requires recognising the risk of addictive technology use. The rights of the child must also ensure cultivation of emotional competence and self-reliance. Overemphasis on digital expression risks elevating performative self-presentation before moral reasoning, critical thinking, and offline social skills have matured, particularly within environments shaped by algorithmic amplification, transient relationships, peer harassment, and the desire for validation. To address these risks, we advocate for a multi-layered public health response: consistent, developmentally attuned messaging; empowered parents and educators; whole-school strategies; and policy reforms that prioritise safety, accountability, and developmental alignment. By situating digital engagement within a developmental framework, this article proposes key principles on which to base the discussion of safeguarding youth wellbeing in the digital era. Full article

In contemporary Muslim societies, digital platforms, algorithmic infrastructures, and networked religious content have fundamentally reshaped not only the circulation of fatwas but also the conditions under which religious authority is constituted, recognized, and contested. This article develops an integrated analytical framework that brings Islamic legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh) into sustained dialogue with mediatization theory and digital religion scholarship in order to examine how digital mediation reconfigures fatwa authority. Grounded in a qualitative analytical–comparative methodology, the study reconstructs the classical architecture of fatwa authority—rooted in scholarly qualification, isnād-based transmission, contextual discernment, and institutional oversight—and systematically compares it with contemporary digitally mediated environments structured by visibility metrics, platform logics, audience engagement, and algorithmic amplification. It identifies a series of interrelated transformations affecting the epistemic foundations, institutional gatekeeping mechanisms, communicative forms, and normative accountability of fatwa practice. The analysis demonstrates that digital mediation does not merely expand access to religious guidance; it alters the balance between evidentiary reasoning and infrastructural prominence, reshapes the relationship between muftī and mustaftī, and introduces new ambiguities concerning authority, legitimacy, and moral agency—particularly in the context of AI-assisted religious tools. While digital fatwas may enhance accessibility and transnational connectivity, they also risk epistemic fragmentation, erosion of institutional credibility, and the diffusion of accountability. By articulating a Critical Islamic Legal and Media-Theoretical Framework structured around epistemic, institutional, and communicative axes and evaluated through maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, this article offers a systematic model for analyzing digitally mediated Islamic authority. It concludes by outlining jurisprudential and ethical guidelines for integrating digital technologies into the fatwa domain in ways that preserve methodological rigor, moral responsibility, and the integrity of religious guidance. Full article

Contemporary ethical reflection is undergoing a crisis of its traditional normative foundations, which have proven difficult to reconcile with the affective, vulnerable and situated nature of moral experience. In this context, this article examines Meister Eckhart’s thought in light of Martin Heidegger’s early phenomenology–hermeneutics in order to reconsider the place of affectivity in ethics. It is argued that Eckhart’s notion of abegescheidenheit (detachment) and Heidegger’s analysis of factual life and Befindlichkeit allow us to understand affectivity not as a psychological state, but as an ontological disposition of openness. Based on a hermeneutic–phenomenological analysis of key texts by both authors, it is shown that, without identifying or homologating them, their approaches question the figure of the self-sufficient moral human being and shift ethical reflection towards lived experience. The article concludes that this perspective offers conceptual foundations for a situated, relational ethics attentive to vulnerability, based on affective openness and the responsibility that emerges from concrete existence. Full article

This essay examines William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847–48) through the lens of nineteenth-century Anglican Evangelicalism, arguing that Thackeray’s portrayal of Pitt Crawley (Junior) crystallizes the paradoxes of Evangelical reform culture in early Victorian Britain. Building on the critical foundations laid by Elisabeth Jay, Mark Knight, and Catherine Hall, the study situates Pitt within the historical context of Evangelical social reform, moral discipline, and political conservatism. Through close examination of Pitt Crawley’s domestic reforms at Queen’s Crawley and his engagement in politics, it demonstrates how Thackeray appropriates Evangelical ideals—domestic propriety, moral earnestness, and reformist zeal—only to expose their susceptibility to self-interest and hypocrisy. In exploring Pitt’s political ascent and eventual collapse following the 1832 Reform Act, the essay further interprets his career as an allegory for the decline of the Evangelical Tory aristocracy amid the rise of bourgeois liberalism. As a disillusioned Evangelical, Thackeray renders Vanity Fair not simply a critique of religious hypocrisy but a meditation on the limits of moral reform in a self-interested age. Full article

Recent advancements in AI have enabled autonomous agents to interact within complex environments, with deliberative BDI (Belief–Desire–Intention) agents standing out for their human-inspired reasoning capabilities. However, defining the initial beliefs that constitute an agent’s cognitive profile remains a significant challenge. This process often relies on manual approaches that limit scalability and validation. This study proposes the Personality–Role–Belief (P–R–B) Model for BDI agents, introducing a novel architecture for generating cognitive profiles applicable to domains such as social simulation and non-player characters (NPCs). The model translates Five-Factor Model (FFM) scores into specific social roles, assigning base beliefs to each. A key contribution is a weighting mechanism designed to resolve conflicts between beliefs when multiple roles coexist. Inspired by Cohen’s effect size conventions, this mechanism establishes an influence hierarchy that quantifies belief strength based on social roles. Consequently, this approach not only enables agents to exhibit coherent behavior consistent with their personality but also establishes a foundation for modeling ethical decision-making through role–trait alignment, thereby facilitating the creation of agents capable of navigating morally complex social contexts. Full article

Background: Psychiatrists operate at the interface of clinical care, legal frameworks, and governmental power, where external pressures and insufficient safeguards can potentially engender ethical vulnerabilities. Supranational instruments and wider professional standards notwithstanding, the extent to which national-level psychiatric associations articulate protections against torture and abusive practices in their ethical codes remains underexplored. Methods: A cross-sectional documentary audit was conducted of all 145 World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Member Societies, representing ≈250,000 psychiatrists globally. National-level psychiatric ethical codes were located via systematic web searches and examined for clauses specifically referencing torture or analogous abuses and for any associated enforcement procedures. Results: Only nineteen (13.1%) WPA Member Societies maintained publicly accessible ethical codes, with ten (6.9%) containing explicit provisions proscribing torture and associated abuses. These predominantly originated from high-income countries or jurisdictions with documented histories of human rights violations. Most codes invoked broad principles without directly addressing such abuses, and fewer than half delineated any enforcement mechanisms. Conclusions: Gaps persist in ethical governance and human-rights safeguards amongst WPA Member Societies. Although beneficence and non-maleficence provide moral foundations for psychiatric practice, generic commitments alone may prove inadequate under duress. Strengthening anti-torture prohibitions within national-level psychiatric codes could therefore help support ethical resilience and accountability in situations of institutional or political coercion. Full article

The relationship between rural Christianity and the Chinese ethical conception of interpersonal relationships has long been a central concern in scholarly research. Existing studies often frame the two as antagonistic or argue that the Christian configuration of interpersonal relationships is a mere continuation of the traditional differential mode of association (chaxu geju). However, these perspectives often neglect local Christians’ own ethno-theology and its praxis, rendering the cultural transformations brought about by conversion invisible. Focusing on the ordinary ethics of rural Christians and based on long-term fieldwork in Shui County (a pseudonym), a rural region at the junction of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui provinces in China, this study reveals that Christianity instantiates a dual moral authority system within believers’ daily practices: “centripetal authority” and “centrifugal authority”. The former emphasizes inner sincerity, granting believers a degree of moral autonomy. The latter establishes a divine foundation for believers’ social relations. Employing anthropologist Marcel Mauss’s theory of gift to analyze the interaction between two types of authority in the ordinary ethics of believers, this study finds that rural Christianity both consolidates and expands pre-existing, local relational configurations. The extent of this cultural transformation is closely correlated with the depth of the divine–human relationship. Consequently, Christianity’s relationship with traditional Chinese ethics transcends binary oppositions between antagonism and continuity, instead enacting a creative reconfiguration. Full article

This study investigates the factors associated with niyyah (worshipful intention) of Islamic bankers toward issuing green sukuk (G-sukuk) investment instruments. In particular, it analyses how bankers’ empathy, moral and ethical responsibilities, and self-efficacy are related with environmental awareness, perceived social support, and green tech innovation, respectively. These factors then predicted bankers’ niyyah toward issuing G-sukuk. The present research employed the theory of bounded rational planned behavior as its theoretical foundation. Data were collected from 390 bankers employed in different Islamic banks. Random sampling technique was employed for this cross-sectional study and for analyzing data, this study applied structural equation modeling. Findings indicate that all predictors are statistically significant and positively associated with bankers’ niyyah toward G-sukuk for ensuring sustainable finance. Furthermore, G-sukuk initiatives can help to lower the carbon emissions and other harmful substances, which would improve overall environmental sustainability and ecological contexts related to SDG-13. There is limited empirical evidence available on the G-sukuk perspective in Bangladesh. This study will provide practical insights for the bankers and policymakers. Full article

This paper examines the cultural and theological dimensions of Weet-Bix, an iconic Australian cereal produced by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, a department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). It argues that Weet-Bix simultaneously embodies SDA principles of health and holiness while concealing these religious origins through secular branding. Drawing on historical and doctrinal foundations of SDA dietary reform, the study shows how Sanitarium’s commitment to plant-based nutrition reflects a theology of bodily purity and moral discipline. At the same time, marketing strategies recast these spiritual imperatives as national virtues of health, sport, and family life. Through analysis of corporate culture and a case study of the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon, the paper explores the tension between Sanitarium’s public-facing secularity and its religious roots, revealing how SDA foodways persist beneath the surface of Australian consumer culture. This research contributes to understanding the hidden influence of religion on everyday food practices and the construction of national identity. Full article

If modern readers sometimes find Adam Smith’s laissez-faire market vision in Wealth of Nations difficult to reconcile with his emphasis on sympathy in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which Smith published in 1759 while serving as Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, the fault may be ours. For many of Smith’s eighteenth-century contemporaries, the connections between the two books would have been obvious: they were distinct but converging aspects of an Enlightenment project to lay the ethical foundations of an urban middle-class discourse of polite sociability that reflected Britain’s status as a modern transactional society. This focus on the moral dimensions of eighteenth-century Britain’s experience of commercial modernity becomes especially clear when we read Smith in the philosophical context out of which his ideas emerged, including writers such as Joseph Addison, Francis Hutcheson, and David Hume. Closer attention to these earlier writers, especially Steele and Addison’s Spectator, offers a powerful reminder of the philosophical complexity of this project and a timely rejoinder to current efforts to sever economic policies from ethical imperatives in the name of an often brutal protectionism today. Full article