ethics news & views

Isn't it ironic? Rebuilding 'the commons' in an age of skepticism

How can we keep the public arena alive and well in a culture that the journal Hermenaut has called a culture of “fake authenticity,” marked by ironic humor and pre-fabricated “authentic” Irish pubs? Echoing Stephen Carter’s words to Emory last year, Purdy reminds us that public life is not something that exists on its own, but something that exists only insofar as we actively participate in it.

Moral courage in medicine: disclosing medical error

Although health providers have openly acknowledged and studied the occurrence of medical error over the last two decades, the Institute of Medicine’s year 2000 report To Err is Human captured the public’s attention and concern in an unprecedented way. Claiming that between 44,000 to 98,000 deaths are caused by medical error each year, the study noted how unfavorably health care errors compared with those occurring in other industries, especially the airlines.

Message from the Director: practical ethics becomes personal

At this writing my family and I are still recovering our equilibrium after the funeral and burial of my wife’s oldest sister, who died after four weeks of intensive care. Suffering from a rare lung infection, she was in an induced coma for most of the last four weeks of her life. In a state-of-the-art hospital she received all of the antibiotics available for the combination of infections and threats she faced. She was intubated for the first two weeks of this struggle, and then breathed with a tracheotomy until her death. The decline in her condition could be measured by the increasing percentage of oxygen required to support her breathing.

Health care professionals surveyed on end-of-life care

“How would you rate your facility’s effectiveness in providing high quality end-of-life care?” was one of the questions asked of representatives of member institutions of the Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia as a part of the End-of-Life Care Practices Survey in November. Of the 480 representatives, 101 completed this extensive 130-question survey providing formative information on practices and attitudes of health care providers from various professional disciplines and institutions throughout Georgia.

End-of-life conversation extends to care of children

Through the leadership of the Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia, the Center for Ethics in partnership with the Georgia Collaborative to Improve End of Life Care has focused its efforts on identifying obstacles to and opportunities for improving the care of dying adults. With the support of the John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Charitable Foundation, the Center for Ethics is extending this conversation to include children at the end of life.

Summer Servant Leadership internships on the horizon

Apply now for a Summer Internship!

The second summer of Servant Leadership internships is coming soon! We are in the process of confirming the sites and projects for summer 2001.

Ten students will be funded to work for eight weeks with a community partner and be part of the weekly EASL reflection group.

Last year’s placements included Hands On Atlanta, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Georgia Justice Project, Samaritan House, Robinson Humphrey, Emory Medical Genetics, The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, the Community Foundation and Women’s Action for New Directions. Look for additional sites and new projects as we advertise to students in mid-February.

If you have interest in being a student or community partner with the program contact Melissa Snarr at (404) 727-1240.

First EASL course launched

This spring marks the debut of the first course taught by Ethics and Servant Leadership (EASL) faculty. Melissa Snarr will offer “Ethics in Action: An Introduction to Practical Ethical Engagement” in the religion department.

Employee Council initiates servant leadership program

Twenty years ago Julia Leon of the Employee Council read an essay by Robert Greenleaf. When she heard of the Ethics and Servant Leadership program, she quickly initated contact with Melissa Snarr, Mary Sue Brookshire, and Andy Fleming. The following is a brief summary of developments since.

Science, Ethics & Society update

The Science, Ethics, & Society Initiative (SESI) has been excitedly working toward Emory’s hosting of the Fourth National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference on October 4-7, 2001. A core group of undergraduates, led by Scot Siera, has been developing requests for funding for the conference.

Ethics and Servant Leadership Forum in full swing

Now in its second year, the Community and Student Leaders’ Forum has enjoyed a successful start to its sophomore season.

In response to student feedback from the previous year, a few changes were made to this year’s program. In addition to meeting with local community leaders to discuss issues surrounding vocation, leadership and service, Forum participants are also serving as “community consultants” on a project for CityCares, the parent organization of Hands On Atlanta. Students are helping to develop resource materials for the Citizen Academy, a program that educates people on citizenship, activism, and civic engagement.

In January, Forum members participated in the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Summit, a three-day program exploring Dr. King’s messages of service, activism, diversity and nonviolence. In the coming months, the Forum will welcome community leaders in business, politics, and the arts, as well as continue in their work with CityCares.

Touching up our public face: Center to start email newsletter, premiers ethics flame

The Center for Ethics made significant progress last semester toward its goal of gearing up for ethics leadership in the new millennium with two sets of focus groups, a revised mission statement, and a new graphic: the ethics flame.

How does a life grow? Palmer listens to the voice of vocation

Toward the end of Let Your Life Speak, author and educator Parker Palmer grieves the shift from agricultural metaphors to manufacturing metaphors in American culture. We no longer frame our lives in terms of seasonal change and rhythm, he says; we frame our lives in terms of how we must construct them. A Chinese child will ask its parent, “How does a baby grow?” But an American child will wonder, “How do you make a baby?” (97) This loss of awareness of our dependence on a power that guides and balances us has led, Palmer argues, to a crisis in American culture.

Changing the subject: Richard Rorty on irony and moral hope

How should we organize our private and public lives in an ironic, mass media world? How can we even go about being ethical persons? Richard Rorty imagines a world where we can be as ironic as our culture and still be profoundly ethical.

What is Ethics? An incomplete glossary from the staff at the Ethics Center

A·ble·ism (v.) 1. Prejudice or discrimination against persons with disabilities, including physical, mental, and developmental disabilities 2. Excluding such persons from the human "norm," most often by assuming that they need "fixed" in order to live full lives [see also "racial discrimination"] [links] [more]