Problems of Criticism of the Communist Poland’s Security Service (SB) Files as Historical Sources

Despite the passage of 20 years since the opening of the archives of the former SB, historians have not developed the principles of criticism of SB files as historical sources, which is conducive to the so-called playing with folders, and consequently the destruction of historical narrative and social life. Among researchers and publicists, an affirmative attitude towards the SB files has been created, causing their criticism to be ignored. Researchers ignore the requirement to separate the theoretical-ideological and rhetorical layers of SB operational files. They also neglect to study the credibility of their authors. Rafał Łatka gave a justification for the affirmative attitude to the SB files. It has been shown that this justification is logically erroneous, and the affirmative attitude to the SB files is contrary to the rational concept of the historical source and to the examples of the lack of credibility of these files. Several ways of creating questionnaires to examine the credibility of SB files were proposed. The first question that was proposed: Was the work of officers and their superiors in the field of interest to the researcher focused on efficiency or on the statistics of results? Further proposals suggest questions about the internal control of the case under investigation. It was justified that it is not enough to state the fact of registration of a given person by SB as a collaborator, because it is necessary to demonstrate specific cooperation. It was justified that the reliability of a note decreases exponentially as a function of the number of intermediaries between it and the facts. The need to ask about the intentions of the officers doing reports, which could be related to their professional careers, the expectations of superiors, the need to demonstrate results, etc., was indicated. The need to investigate deviations of the examined case from the ideal instructional pattern was also indicated. Studies of the reliability of files have their ethical aspect. Studies that may threaten good name of the persons concerned should meet the highest methodological standards and be guided by the principle of in dubio pro reo.

Corporate Social Responsibility of Islamic Banks: CSR website visibility, CSR initiatives, CSR strategy

Purpose: The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been widely known in the Islamic banking sector yet there is criticism and lack of trust which exists among stakeholdersDesign/Method/Approach: To reduce negative concern and to fill the gap in the literature, this research reinforces the integration of ethical and moral principles in the banking business.Findings: One of the integral and core elements of Islamic economics is ‘falah’; which focuses on wellness and the concept of reward in this world and hereafterOriginality/Values: To fulfil the needs of the ethical aspect of Islamic banks which leads to ‘falah’, this research has extracted the underlying theoretical issues of Islamic bank Corporate Social Responsibility (web visibility, initiatives, strategy). This research also determines the extent of CSR visibility in twelve leading Islamic banks’ corporate websites.

Ethics as Lived Practice. Anticipatory Capacity and Ethical Decision-Making in Forensic Genetics

Greater scrutiny and demands for innovation and increased productivity place pressures on scientists. Forensic genetics is advancing at a rapid pace but can only do so responsibly, usefully, and acceptably within ethical and legal boundaries. We argue that such boundaries require that forensic scientists embrace ‘ethics as lived practice’. As a starting point, we critically discuss ‘thin’ ethics in forensic genetics, which lead to a myopic focus on procedures, and to seeing ‘privacy’ as the sole ethical concern and technology as a mere tool. To overcome ‘thin’ ethics in forensic genetics, we instead propose understanding ethics as an intrinsic part of the lived practice of a scientist. Therefore, we explore, within the context of three case studies of emerging forensic genetics technologies, ethical aspects of decision-making in forensic genetics research and in technology use. We discuss the creation, curation, and use of databases, and the need to engage with societal and policing contexts of forensic practice. We argue that open communication is a vital ethical aspect. Adoption of ‘ethics as lived practice’ supports the development of anticipatory capacity—empowering scientists to understand, and act within ethical and legal boundaries, incorporating the operational and societal impacts of their daily decisions, and making visible ethical decision making in scientific practice.

“Freely you have received, freely give”: A Socio-Ethical Analysis of Charismatic Engagements and Pentecostalism in Nigeria

The manifestation and demonstration of spiritual gifts have always generated a lot of argument among Christians and non-Christians in Nigerian society. While some people deny the reality of the gifts thereby camping with the cessationists, other parties submit to the continuation of the spiritual gifts among the contemporary Christians. However, in scholarship the discourse has taken different dimensions which include the theological, effectual, biblical and philosophical perspectives with little attention paid to the socio-ethical aspect of the matter which is the major concern of this paper. The work is premised on Thomas Hobbes’ Theory of Psychological Egoism, which emphasises the benefit or reward as the motivating factor for every action performed by man, this article intends to investigate the alleged commercialization of prophetic gifts among the Nigerian pastors and to determine whether this is the major cause for the increase of the demonstration of charismatic gifts in the country. Interviews were conducted with Christians and ministers for data collection; which were complemented with relevant literature. The paper pays attention to charismatic display and Pentecostalism, current level of charismata in Nigerian Pentecostal churches, encouraging factors of charismatic activities and socio-ethical assessment of the display of spiritual gifts in Nigeria’s churches, while Christian morally pertinent ways of demonstrating spiritual gifts in an ethical manner is recommended

Hospitality and transnational solidarity: revisiting Kant’s cosmopolitanism

This article intends to answer the question of the ethics of hospitality, according to a specific objective, that of raising the hospitality to the rank of a philosophical question, with a view to delivering it, in these days, from the calculating game of politics in search of nationalistic votes, and the media spread of the dominant news on terrorism and migrants. Such an approach presupposes that the concept of hospitality fits into the field of the thinkable, that it is welcomed as a knowable host, figure, and object of knowledge. It is a question of asking for hospitality, the cousin of ethics, to think about the welcome and being-welcomed. One of the objectives of this text is to demonstrate that the concern for transnational solidarity is not a new phenomenon and that more than two centuries ago, Immanuel Kant, without forging the concept, already theorized certain issues. It is also true that most contemporary philosophers have addressed this important subject in one way or another. As the theory of international relations is increasingly shaken by the debate between constructivists and postmodernists (or deconstructivists), it seemed interesting to us, instead of studying the contribution to the understanding of transnational solidarity of the main political scientists involved to one or the other current, to look closely at the attempts at theorizing of the founder who is Immanuel Kant. Emphasis will be placed on the duty of transnational solidarity, which is to say on the ethical aspect.

The Concept of “Culture of Peace” in Modern International Relations: Axiological and Practical Aspects (on the example of the Post-Soviet Space)

Introduction. The problem of the axiological dimension of the modern system of international relations is actualized. The theoretical approaches and positioning strategies of certain states contain various elements of idealistic constructions in the perspective of perception of the category “peace”. Their understanding and study are also important in relation to the post-Soviet space, which has experienced the negative impact of the post-bipolar transformation. The purpose of this article is to analyze the concept of “culture of peace” as a political and philosophical structure that has developed in line with the idealistic direction of the science of international relations, attempts to implement it in interstate interaction and the foreign policy course of individual states. Methods. The research is based on comparative analysis, the formal legal method and the decomposition method. Results and Discussion. At the present stage, the “positive” interpretation of the category “peace” prevails in the science of international relations and international law. It is enshrined, among other things, within the framework of the United Nations system. The concept of “culture of peace” can be considered as its normative embodiment. Elements of the “culture of peace” are also reflected in the initiatives and actions of States. As concrete examples, the models of Turkmenistan, based on the principle of permanent neutrality, and the Republic of Belarus, focused on creating a “dialogue space” and the idea of “integration of integrations” were analyzed. The differences between the models are highlighted in a number of features, primarily the interpretation of the “sphere of the peace”. Conclusion. Modern challenges and threats encourage us to move towards a world without wars, violence and aggression. In the current realities, it is complicated by the delegitimization of international institutions and international law and the lack of consensus of international actors on the regulation of international relations, the importance of the moral and ethical aspect in world politics. The given examples demonstrate only some cross-sections of this problem, but they can verify it more objectively from the standpoint of the political philosophy of international relations.

Model for Antecedents of Attitude and Price on the Purchase Intention of Consumers and Trade of Counterfeit Luxury Products

Counterfeiting is a crime and harmful for the trade and business in any country; therefore, countries need to investigate and stop this crime. People must behave ethically and give awareness about fake products. The objective of this paper was to investigate the mediating effect of attitude and price sensitivity between social, moral, and personal antecedents and purchase intention of consumers towards trade of the counterfeit luxury products. This study has used data obtained through 1,150 questionnaires. Data were analyzed through Smart PLS-SEM. This study found that attitude and price sensitivity act as mediators. Further, the results of this study are consistent with theory of planned behavior. It is the first study of its kind conducted in Pakistan using PLS-SEM. Previously, studies focused only on the ethical aspect of trade whereas this study used the ethical, religious, individual, collective, status, risk, idealistic, informative, normative, price, and attitude dimensions. It is concluded that future studies can use cognitive behavior and consumer needs as mediators.

Apriorism as the Basis of Spirituality in the Philosophical Heritage of Europe and Russia: An Ethical Aspect

Статья призвана определить значение нравственного компонента априорности в философском наследии И. Канта, В. С. Соловьева и М. Шелера и выявить потенциал соответствующих концепций в аспекте совершения нравственного выбора. Исследование основано на трудах перечисленных мыслителей и результатах научных изысканий современных философов. Для каждой из рассмотренных концепций установлено значение чистых априорных категорий и чувственного опыта в нравственном выборе. Эволюция осмысления априорных форм в европейском и отечественном философском наследии заключалась в движении от кантовского формализма к пониманию априорности как целостной установки, определяющей предпочтение человеком одних ценностей другим. Подчеркнута актуальность проанализированных произведений философского наследия для современной моральной практики. Моральный выбор должен осуществляться личностью, нравственно-априорные основания которой актуализируются посредством чувственно-эмоционального переживания этических ценностей. The article aims to establish the meaning of the moral component of apriorism in the philosophical heritage of Immanuel Kant, Vladimir Solovyov, and Мax Scheler, and to determine the possibility of using appropriate conceptions when choosing the moral position of a person in modern culture. The research material was writings by the mentioned thinkers and research analysing their heritage by modern scholars. The methodology is based on the principles of philosophical comparative studies and an axiological approach, which allowed comparing the values and ideas inherent in the conceptions of the three philosophers. The author examines Kant’s heritage in the aspect of the analysis of ideas related to a priori forms and pays special attention to Kant’s theses related to the practical activities of a person as basic apriorism and the importance of moral law in this activity. The author next turns to the philosophical heritage of Solovyov and identifies his views on the elements of an ethical nature that make up the ontological basis of the philosopher’s personality. She further analyses works by Scheler, which allowed comparing his view with Kant’s ethical ideas by the criterion of revealing a person’s attitude to the surrounding world. The value of pure a priori categories and sensory experience in moral choice is established for each of the considered conceptions. The author concludes that the comprehension of the meaning of a priori forms in the European and domestic philosophical heritage during almost three centuries demonstrates a sufficiently clear evolution based on Kant’s formal law of duty, which later received a critical assessment in the works of Russian and foreign thinkers. The main content of this evolution was a departure from Kant’s formalism towards understanding apriorism as a holistic attitude, which determines a person’s preference for some values to others and thus contributes to the formation of a hierarchy of personal values. The three thinkers emphasised the importance of apriorism and a priori forms as fundamental foundations of human morality; however, the philosophical meaning and specific characteristics of the forms changed noticeably throughout the three centuries. Based on her research, the author emphasises the relevance of the examined works for modern moral practice. The individual must be not only a subject of cognitive activity but also a person, whose moral and a priori foundations are actualised through the sensual and emotional experience of ethical values.

Ethics: What is the Research Scenario in the Brazilian Symposium SBSI?

Is there an Ethical thinking in the development of Information Systems research and engineering in Brazil? The immanence of information systems is multidisciplinary and encompasses socio-technical plurality, unlike other areas of computing, such as computer science or engineering. When considering the epistemological breadth of the discipline, which starts from technique to the study of application, impact, influence and use; the importance of the domain of Ethics becomes paramount. How to think-do Information Systems without reasoning ethically about it? We conducted a Systematic Literature Review guided by the main research question: how does ethics permeate research published in the SBSI between 2011 and 2020? At the same time, how does this phenomenon relate to the Great Challenges in Information Systems (2016-2026)? less than 10% of the more than 700 articles published deal with some ethical aspect, superficially; and less than 1% with ownership. The Ethics Committee was reported in only one article, with very few occurrences of informed consent. That is, SBSI finds itself in a scenario of deep scarcity and shallowness in this topic.