scholarly journals Allied Identities

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt M Blankschaen
Keyword(s):  
Family Member ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Lgbt Rights ◽  
Positive Account ◽  
Lgbt Community ◽  
The Status ◽  
Conflicting Interests

Allies are extremely important to LGBT rights. Though we don’t often enumerate what tasks we expect allies to do, a fairly common conception is that allies “support the LGBT community.” In the first section I introduce three difficulties for this position that collectively suggest it is conceptually insufficient. I then develop a positive account by starting with whom allies are allied to instead of what allies are supposed to do. We might obviously say here that allies are allied to the LGBT community, but I will argue that this community is better thought of as a loose coalition because there are often intersectional issues and conflicting interests that challenge any unified sense of community. I argue that people typically become allies because a friend or family member is experiencing some kind of specific harm; if that harm or discrimination is what causally explains why people become allies, then allies are required to do more than we commonly think. Although allies have a prima facie obligation to honor what members of a subcommunity identify as a harm, this obligation is defeasible if an ally believes fulfilling the obligation would be harmful. I conclude by looking at how we can understand what an ally is in terms of a larger discussion about moral obligations. If people already have these obligations, whatever they are, because morality requires it, then the status “ally” is redundant. I conclude by showing that certain social statuses can not only transform or reprioritize prior moral commitments, but can also introduce new kinds of responsibility that an agent did not have before.

MORAL OBLIGATION AFTER THE DEATH OF GOD: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON CONCERNS FROM IMMANUEL KANT, G. W. F. HEGEL, AND ELIZABETH ANSCOMBE

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Tristram Engelhardt
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Important Change ◽  
Moral Pluralism ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
Thing In Itself ◽  
The Status

AbstractOnce God is no longer recognized as the ground and the enforcer of morality, the character and force of morality undergoes a significant change, a point made by G.E.M. Anscombe in her observation that without God the significance of morality is changed, as the word criminal would be changed if there were no criminal law and criminal courts. There is no longer in principle a God's-eye perspective from which one can envisage setting moral pluralism aside. In addition, it becomes impossible to show that morality should always trump concerns of prudence, concerns for one's own non-moral interests and the interests of those to whom one is close. Immanuel Kant's attempt to maintain the unity of morality and the force of moral obligation by invoking the idea of God and the postulates of pure practical reason (i.e., God and immortality) are explored and assessed. Hegel's reconstruction of the status of moral obligation is also examined, given his attempt to eschew Kant's thing-in-itself, as well as Kant's at least possible transcendent God. Severed from any metaphysical anchor, morality gains a contingent content from socio-historical context and its enforcement from the state. Hegel's disengagement from a transcendent God marks a watershed in the place of God in philosophical reflections regarding the status of moral obligations on the European continent. Anscombe is vindicated. Absent the presence of God, there is an important change in the force of moral obligation.

Intrafamilial Organ Donation Is Often an Altruistic Act

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Spital
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Organ Donation ◽  
Genetic Relationship ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Logical Conclusion ◽  
Prima Facie Duty

In their recent article, Glannon and Ross remind us that family members have obligations to help each other that strangers do not have. They argue, I believe correctly, that what creates moral obligations within families is not genetic relationship but rather a sharing of intimacy. For no one are these obligations stronger than they are for parents of young children. This observation leads the authors to the logical conclusion that organ donation by a parent to her child is not optional but rather a prima facie duty. However, Glannon and Ross go a step further by suggesting that because parent-to-child organ donation is a duty, it cannot be altruistic. They assert that “altruistic acts are optional, nonobligatory…supererogatory…. Given that altruism consists in purely optional actions presupposing no duty to aid others, any parental act that counts as meeting a child's needs cannot be altruistic.” Here I think the authors go too far.

The Status of Arabic in Israel: Refiections on the Power of Law to Produce Social Change

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilan Saban ◽  
Muhammad Amara
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
The State ◽  
French Language ◽  
The Status ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Ethnic Nation ◽  
State Of Israel

AbstractThe status of Arabic in Israel gives rise to question. Israel is a rare case of an ethnic nation-state that grants the language of minority group with a legal status which isprima facieone of equality. Both Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of the State of Israel. What are the reasons for this special state of affairs? The answer is threefold: historic, sociological and legal. In various ways the potential inherent in the legal status of Arabic has been depleted of content, and as a result of that, as well as other reasons, the socio-political status of Arabic closely resembles what you would expect the status of a language of a minority group in a state that identifies itself as the state of the majority group to be. This answer, however, is another source of puzzlement – how does such a dissonance between law and practice evolve, what perpetuates it for so long, is change possible, is it to be expected?We present an analysis of the legal status of Arabic in Israel and at the same time we proceed to try and answer the questions regarding the gap between the legal and the sociopolitical status of Arabic. We reach some of our answers through a comparison with the use of law to change the status of the French language in Canada. One of these answers is that given the present constellation in Israel, the sociopolitical status of Arabic cannot meaningfully be altered by legal means.

scholarly journals 疫區、口罩與無症狀感染者——新型冠狀病毒疫情如何破壞了我們的公共生活

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-25
Author(s):  
Guobin CHENG
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Accidental Injury ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fundamental Goal ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Self Protection

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.新型冠狀病毒疫情所帶來的巨大的、彌散的、不確定的威脅，使社會公共生活中人們熟悉和信賴的闢係與界限變得糢糊。在這種情沉下，人們最需要的就是發現“敵人”，重新為人際闢係和公共生活找到確定性。在精準、高效的科學檢測手段獲得普及之前，人們不得不選擇簡易的標籤化方法進行區 分。疫區標籤是通過清潔與污染的劃分來保護現有的正常生活秩序，但在找到敵人的過程中有可能造成對無辜者的誤傷；口罩標數的使用則首先指向了人群的區分與界限，是想要在混亂之中先找到群體邊界和歸屬感，但有可能會轉變為主動去創造敵人。這些手段的根本目的都是為了實現自我保護，但在這樣的利害關係考量之外，還存在著某種個人對他人和公共生活的普遍義務，只有我們能夠在生存危機的巨大壓力下選擇堅持這一道德義務，才能為戰勝疫情奠定真正的希望。當代的公共生活是一個緊密地彼此闢聯、密切交通、相互滲入和共生性的整體，但這個共同體本身是十分脆弱的，在巨大的安全壓力之下很容易滑向分裂與隔離。新型冠狀病毒疫情既是一次嚴峻的挑戰，又是一次重要的演習，我們需要在其中學到足夠多的經驗，為未來可能出現的更大危機做好準備。The huge, diffuse, and uncertain threat brought about by the Covid-19 epidemic has blurred familiar and trusted relationships and the boundaries of public life. Under such circumstances, what people need most is to uncover the “enemy” and regain certainty in interpersonal relations and the public sphere. Before the popularization of accurate and efficient scientific detection methods, people used simple labeling methods to tell concepts apart. Labeling epidemic areas protects the status quo by demarcating cleanliness from pollution, but in finding the enemy, doing so may cause accidental injury to the innocent. Labeling masks allows distinctions in the crowd so that group boundaries and senses of belonging can be found in chaos. However, such labeling may lead to the creation of enemies. The fundamental goal of these methods is self-protection. Nevertheless, in addition to such considerations, individuals have a wider moral obligation to others and to public life. Only by choosing to adhere to our moral obligations under the enormous pressure of a survival crisis can we find true hope to defeat the epidemic. Contemporary public life is a symbiotic community that is closely related, in close communication, and mutually enmeshed. Such a community is very fragile, and it can easily slip into divisiveness and become isolated under huge security pressures. The Covid-19 epidemic is not only a serious challenge, but also an important exercise. We need to learn enough to prepare for greater crisis that may arise in the future.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 31 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Language, Rights, Remedies, and the Rule of Law

1988 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-62
Author(s):  
Denise Réaume
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
English Only ◽  
The Status ◽  
French And English ◽  
Manitoba Act

When Georges Forest challenged the validity of Manitoba’s Official Language Act in 1976, he opened up the larger issue of the status of the province’s English-only legislation. The courts had little difficulty in concluding that the Act, which purported to make English the only language used in the courts and legislature of Manitoba, violated s. 23 of the Manitoba Act, 1870. This left open the fate of legislation enacted over the preceding ninety years in breach of the obligation to legislate in both French and English. Prima facie, the natural remedy, in the Canadian constitutional context, would be to declare such unconstitutional legislation invalid and therefore of no force and effect. But this would have left the province with virtually no statutory law. To avoid this result the Manitoba Court of Appeal decided that s. 23 is directory rather than mandatory. This decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. At about the same time the federal government exercised its power under the Supreme Court Act to refer these remedial issues to the Court for its legal opinion. In Reference Re Language Rights under the Manitoba Act, 1870, the Court disagreed with the Court of Appeal’s classification of s. 23 as merely directory, but was equally troubled by leaving Manitoba without any statute law. Therefore, it declared all Manitoba’s statutes since 1890 to be invalid, but deemed the rights and obligations arising under them to be temporarily in force until the province could reasonably be expected to comply with s. 23. In order to reach this unusual result the Court relied on the doctrine of the rule of law. The constitutional remedies issue posed by this case is probably the most challenging that the Canadian courts have ever faced. The Supreme Court’s approach reveals important underlying presuppositions which go unnoticed in less difficult cases.

scholarly journals Wingless-Type MMTV Integration Site Family Member 5a Is a Key Secreted Islet Stellate Cell-Derived Product that Regulates Islet Function

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Xu ◽  
Jun Liang ◽  
H. F. Geng ◽  
Jun Lu ◽  
Rui Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Secretion ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Stellate Cell ◽  
Integration Site ◽  
Islet Function ◽  
Insulin Production ◽  
The Status ◽  
Secretory Products

Background. Emerging evidence suggests that T2DM is attributable to the dysfunction of β-cells and the activation of islet stellate cells (ISCs). The wingless-type MMTV integration site family member 5a (Wnt5a)/frizzled 5 (Fzd5) signalling pathway might take part in this process. Our study is aimed at defining the status of ISCs during β-cell insulin secretion homeostasis by determining the role of the Wnt5a protein in the regulation of insulin production. We examined the effects of the status of ISCs on β-cell insulin secretion in normoglycemic db/m and hyperglycaemic db/db mice. Methods. iTRAQ protein screening and RNA interference were used to determine novel ISC-derived secretory products that may use other mechanisms to influence the function of islets. Results. We showed a significant reduction in insulin secretion by β-cells in vitro when they were cocultured with db/db ISCs compared to when they were cocultured with ISCs isolated from normoglycemic db/m mice; in addition, both Wnt5a and its receptor Fzd5 were more highly expressed by quiescent ISCs than by activated db/db ISCs. Treatment with exogenous Wnt5a increased the secretion of insulin in association with the deactivation of ISCs. Conclusion. Our observations revealed that the Wnt5a protein is a key effector of ISC-mediated improvement in islet function.

Fiqh al-Daʿwa: The Emerging Standardization of Islamic Proselytism

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamal Malik
Keyword(s):  
Legal Reasoning ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Social Composition ◽  
The Status ◽  
Invented Traditions ◽  
Derivatives Of

Globalization has been made responsible for a variety of (re)invented traditions with a trend toward a new religious foundation in and of societies. With Islamic proselytism having gone global, it may resemble religious resistance to the status quo, when pious Muslims instigate homogenizing daʿwa activities and attempt to endow them with moral obligations and normative superstructure. The proliferation of standards and fledgling processes of ideological framing are traceable in what is called fiqh al-daʿwa, which includes general theorizing and ostensibly legal reasoning on daʿwa. In reality, it is more of a missionary ideology given weight by being clothed in Islamic legal terminology. This paper investigates the fiqh of daʿwa in its global setting, with an emphasis on its radical Islamist articulations. It does so by examining fiqh al-daʿwa’s legally, or rather ideologically and morally, charged treatises. In this way, the article reconstructs the genealogy of this rather new genre, as well as its social composition, its ideational grounding, and its normative potential. The condensed forms and derivatives of fiqh of daʿwa will be documented by means of certain rules, methods, and strategies of Islamist ideologues and organizations, particularly the post-Huḍaybī Muslim Brotherhood.1


The Obligation Dilemma

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishtiyaque Haji
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Philosophical Work ◽  
Skeptical Conclusion

This book argues for the prima facie plausibility of the surprising and paradoxical conclusion that there are no moral obligations regardless of whether determinism is true. In the form of a dilemma, the primary argument for this skeptical conclusion presupposes that obligation requires freedom. A minimal number of credible principles entail that this is the freedom both to do, and to refrain from doing, what is obligatory. On the deterministic horn of the dilemma, since determinism eliminates freedom to do otherwise, it imperils moral obligation. On the indeterministic horn, pertinent actions are too luck-infected to qualify as obligations. Hence, there are no moral obligations. The book’s principal goal is to develop the obligation dilemma as powerfully and clearly as possible to inspire sustained philosophical work to solve it (assuming that it can be solved). In many respects, the obligation dilemma mirrors the venerable responsibility dilemma: regardless of whether determinism is true, no one is morally responsible for anything. The book shows that various prevalent moves in favor of, or in response to, the responsibility dilemma are, when suitably amended, not promising as supportive of, or retorts to, the obligation dilemma. Exposing the obligation dilemma’s implications for responsibility, and its ramifications for forgiveness (something central to salutary interpersonal relationships), underscores its urgency.

Courts, the Law, and LGBT Politics in India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saatvika Rai
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Lgbt Rights ◽  
High Court ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Lgbt Community ◽  
The Right ◽  
Hiv Aids

In India, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) criminalized sodomy (penile nonvaginal sexual acts) in 1860 during British colonial rule. Under this law and the traditional cultural norms, the LGBT community faced harassment and violence from the police, medical establishment, religious and conservative organizations, and families. The Indian queer movement mobilized in the early 1990s, primarily through activism for legal reform. Criminalization of sodomy prevented the LGBT community from freely mobilizing in public spaces, reporting acts of violence and harassment, and coming forth for testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS, and therefore was an impediment to their health and well-being. LGBT rights groups challenged the constitutionality of Section 377 on the basis of violating the right to equity (Article 14), nondiscrimination (Article 15), freedom (Article 19), and life and privacy (Article 21). Decriminalization of Section 377 has been a long, three-decade battle in the courts involving multiple judicial rulings. In 2009, the Delhi High Court decriminalized sodomy and declared Section 377 unconstitutional. The ruling was challenged by conservative and religious groups in the Supreme Court for going against social norms, threatening the institution of marriage, and promoting homosexual practices that would increase the spread of HIV/AIDS. In 2013, the Supreme Court heard the case, overturned the High Court ruling, and recriminalized Section 377. The Court declared that Section 377 was constitutional and applied equally to all persons. Thereafter, the Supreme Court passed three other judgments that directly impacted Section 377: It expanded the rape laws under Section 375 of the IPC to include penile nonvaginal acts (2013), provided legal rights to the transgender community as a nonbinary third gender (2014), and established the right to privacy under the Constitution (2017). The Supreme Court reassessed its decision, and on September 6, 2018, decriminalized Section 377 in a historic judgment. Legalizing queer sexuality was a positive step forward., yet considerable legal reform is still needed. The LGBT community still lack civil rights such as marriage, adoption, tax benefits, inheritance, and protection in the workplace. LGBT rights mobilization through the Indian courts has evolved from a focus on HIV/AIDS and health to broader human rights and privileges as equal citizens.

Direct Democracy and LGBT Politics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Lgbt Rights ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ballot Measures ◽  
Lgbt Politics ◽  
Lgbt Community

While many landmark policies affecting LGBT rights have been determined by legislatures and courts, voters have also often played a more direct role in LGBT politics through direct democracy institutions, such as the initiative and referendum. For example, in 2008 California voters approved Proposition 8, barring same-sex marriage in the state and setting the stage for a key federal court decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013). This followed on the heels of 31 ballot measures to ban same-sex marriage in the previous decade. Direct democracy has also been employed frequently to consider a range of other important issues relevant to the LGBT community, including bans on same-sex couple adoptions, nondiscrimination policies, education policies, and employment benefits. Further, as issues addressing transgender right have emerged on the political landscape, local referendums have addressed public accommodation discrimination, including so-called “bathroom bills,” like the high-profile Houston referendum in 2014. Most of these prominent direct democracy contests have resulted in negative outcomes for the LGBT community, spurring concerns about subjecting the rights of marginalized groups to a popular vote. However, some ballot measures, such as Washington’s 2012 vote to legalize same-sex marriage, have expanded or protected LGBT rights. Yet the effects of direct democracy institutions extend beyond the direct policy outcomes of elections and have been shown to shape the decision-making of elected officials as well. Still, studies of both the direct and indirect effects of direct democracy on LGBT rights reveal mixed results that are contingent upon public attitudes and how the issues are framed. When the public is supportive of LGBT rights and views them through a civil right frame, direct democracy has been used to expand and protect these rights. However, when the public views the LGBT community more negatively and views the issues through a morality or safety lens, LGBT rights are put at risk by direct democracy. As such, direct democracy institutions function as a double-edged sword for the LGBT community, simultaneously offering an opportunity to elevate LGBT rights issues onto the public agenda with a civil rights frame and posing a threat to the community when these issues are viewed in a more hostile manner.

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