A Foucauldian Analysis of Old Age and the Power of Social Welfare

Abstract

It is argued that the question of social welfare is a key, if often overlooked, component in the construction of power relations and identities in later life that can take its place next to debates on bioethics and consumer lifestyle. Foucault's (1977) claim, that identities are kept in place through the deployment of integrated systems of power and knowledge and a routine operation of surveillance and assessment, is critically examined in this context. Trends in social welfare in the United Kingdom are used as a case example that sheds light on wider contemporary issues associated with old age. Finally, implications for the creation of particular narratives about later life are discussed and grounded through Foucault's (1988) notion of “technologies of self.”     

The human genome diversity project

This article examines the relationship between indigenous sovereignty and identification as instanced by the legal and political debates informing the Human Genome Diversity Project. The HGDP proposes to map the history of human origins and migrations by the identification and measurement of populations. I analyze the impact of the criticisms of this agenda and methodology by indigenous nations, organizations, and advocacy groups, focusing on the incommensurability of populations with indigenous identifications as peoples. My argument is that the work of identification is the mediation of the terms and conditions of indigenous sovereignty in the very real places where their intellectual property rights and the ethics of scientific research are negotiated.     

Stem Cell Research and Biopsychosocial Perspectives From the Sciences,Government, and Community

Stem cell research is a fairly new technological advancement that has been accompanied by a wide range of support and scrutiny. On February 22, 1997, Dolly, the sheep, was successfully cloned in Scotland, while controversy erupted over the moral, ethical, and social implications of creating life. Though many agree that using human embryos is morally acceptable, the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and European countries have passed legislation limiting or prohibiting stem cell research. This article considers the biopsychosocial benefits and potential hazards of stem cell research and how this research may affect social work practice.     

道家的生命伦理和干细胞研究的问题

生物技术改变着包括生与死在内的自然秩序。生物技术的发展起初是为了人类的利益,但今天它却对自然法则及人类自身构成了威胁。正如Jangja在其寓言《混乱之死》中所说的,为了人类的福祉所做的研究却让人类感到不安。基因操控和克隆人就是对人类构成威胁的代表性技术。利用受精未满十四天的胚胎进行实验,是因为这样的胚胎没有被当作人。但在道教看来,这样的胚胎已经是人,因此将卵细胞用于干细胞研究必须从伦理学角度进行检视。根据道教关于生命的自然主义观点,胚胎干细胞和人体干细胞研究都应被禁止,而不育及不治之症可通过道家的养生方法治愈。     

Inventing the Pedophile in the Journal of Homosexuality

ABSTRACT

This article serves as one of the supplementary pieces of this special issue on “Mapping Queer Bioethics,” in which we take a solipsistic turn to “map” the Journal of Homosexuality itself. Here, the author examines one of the most controversial moments in the history of the journal, whereby a contributor was subject to governmental and popular rebuke for his scholarship on pederasty, pedophilia, and underage queer sexuality. In a chronological and intellectual appraisal of this pedophilia-themed text, the author asks us to recalibrate the disquietude we posit when same-sex affection, youthful sexuality, and sexual abuse are in close proximity.     

《黄帝内经》贵人乐生的生命伦理思想浅析

以人为贵的原则贯穿于《黄帝内经》之中,奠定了其医德思想的基础。《黄帝内经》所说的"乐生"是追求身体的健康和精神的快乐、幸福感,它通过志闲少欲、精神内守等道德修养方式而获得。研究《黄帝内经》的贵人乐生生命伦理思想,有助于确立贵人的生命伦理原则,构建合理的生活方式,提高生命质量。     

中国佛教“和谐”思想的生命伦理意蕴

佛教伦理本质上是“和”的伦理,和谐在佛教生命伦理思想中处于重要地位,佛教伦理以缘起论为其道德哲学基础,以心灵的道德和谐为根本,由心的外在呈现和人的社会关系及与自然界关系的存在方式的不同,表现为人与人的道德和谐、人与自然的道德和谐,其内在的生命伦理思想内容非常丰富,构成当代中国生命伦理学建构的一种重要思想资源。     

The Responsible Conduct of Bioethics Research

The responsible conduct of research in the biomedical and behavioral sciences has received significant attention since the late 1980s. However, very little has been written about the responsible conduct of bioethics research. Bioethics is an interdisciplinary field and brings together divergent ethical standards and practices which may be the source of tension or conflict. This article argues that bioethicists should reflect more on ethical issues in the responsible conduct of bioethics research through examination of authorship practices and peer review. I also outline three possible approaches to promote research integrity in bioethics.     

“I Caught It at the Movies”: Reflections on Medical History,Movie Theaters,and the Cinema of Contagion

ABSTRACT

Undertaking an examination of the precarious places of the movies and movie theaters in queer lives in the 20th century, this article takes up a series of anecdotal episodes and feature-length films to consider how the space-related stakes of LGBT health have been best understood in literal cinema houses and the narrative cinema projections inside of them. The author argues for an appreciation of LGBT-themed motion pictures as oscillating between perpetuator of queer pathology and its potential solution.     

“Requestioning” AIDS: An Ethical Reflection From 1993 to Today

ABSTRACT

This article serves as one of the supplementary pieces of this special issue on “Mapping Queer Bioethics,” in which we take a solipsistic turn to “map” the Journal of Homosexuality itself. Here, the author examines the first feature-length article to address the relationship between HIV status and homosexuality. Lingering on both the temporal gap between the dawn of AIDS in American discourse and its inclusion in this journal, the author asks us to consider (in hindsight) such a delay bearing in mind queer theoretical projects of the present such as gay shame, stigma, and queer biopolitics.