Volume 27, Issue 2

The paper explores how the ethos in Slovakia has been shaped and “matured” in the context of the values, principles and norms inherent in the European ethos. The presence of this ethos, including its sources and forms, can be considered in the Slovak historical context to be a moral phenomenon and an integral part of human being, encoded in the moral values held by individuals and society. By seeking out its ties and analysing the way it is intertwined with the evolution of the European ethos, it provides us with the space to understand and resolve many of today’s issues and conflicts in an ethical manner. The author considers moral consciousness to be an important part of the culture of civilization today, which faces the challenge of finding new forms of human coexistence and a life in peace. It attests to the importance of ethics and morality in the life of individual and society, and the utility of ethical reflection in solving moral issues in life and in searching for one’s own way through it.

This article explores the concept of human dignity in the work of French philosopher Gabriel Marcel. It demonstrates how this lesser-known aspect of his philosophical thinking is organic to his work and draws attention to the current relevance of the way he resolves the question of human dignity for philosophy and ethics. The first part of the article looks at the basic ideas behind Marcel’s understanding of man as a being on the road, as unfinished, temporal, in the process of becoming, and creatively open on the road of transcendence to the mystery of being. This is followed by an explanation of Marcel’s criticism of the traditional understanding of human dignity (on both the social and ontological levels), which has degenerated into the formalism. Criticizing this rationalist (Kantian) conception of dignity as a particular kind of power, Gabriel Marcel produces an original conception of existential dignity as weakness—the fragile vulnerable finitude of the human individual. But it is an active weakness/finitude that lies in the ability of the individual to creatively resist attempts to humiliate him and in his effort to recognize his unique human values. Part of this finitude, on the inter-subjective level, is an encounter with the neighbour in love, which is a service to others in defence of man’s weakness. The author draws attention to the fact that Marcel’s conception of human dignity has been partially accepted in philosophy, ethics and bioethics.

This paper argues that the concept of dignity should be understood as a concept that we use to describe an aggregate of values and qualities of a person or thing that deserves esteem and respect. The primary value that creates the right to have dignity is life. The degree of dignity a life form has depends on its place in the evolutionary scale. Human beings are the highest form of life so they possess the highest degree of dignity.

In humanitarian actions, people respond to crisis and disaster situations in which victims are unable to recover on their own and in which their vulnerability puts them at further risk. Individuals involved in humanitarian work are driven by strong motivation which source can be identified using an ethics-based approach. Moral motivation is the basis for the commitment to the moral course of the human agent’s action. Humanitarian ethics shows us it is important to renew the discussion on the role of moral motivation in ethical decision-making. Some of the moral sources of motivation will be critically examined in this study—namely, the partiality, the popularity of ethics, the value declaration, and moral motivation based on moral obligation (according to the ethics of social consequences).

The article deals with the philosophical and ethical implications of transhumanism and human enhancement techniques. It considers how enhancement and therapy are two different types of biomedical intervention. It then looks at the implementation of these ideas in the military sector. It analyses various standpoints and views on transhumanism, the benefits and risks of using newly acquired scientific knowledge to improve and alter naturally deficient human nature. The need for ethical reflection and argumentation is emphasized; new scientific discoveries can dramatically change our experience of the world around us and may present a huge risk to mankind if left unchecked and not critically discussed. The article reflects on the dangers and risks of human enhancement and its possible consequences on the battlefield as well as the broader contexts and implications. The article also considers which criteria would be suitable to ensure beneficial and less controversial enhancements are carefully selected and to enable these to be distinguished from more dangerous practices that change the human body and/or mind. The aim is to consider and evaluate the possible benefits (positive consequences) and risks (negative consequences) of using enhancements for military purposes and to identify possible criteria for their justification and/or rejection.

The main aim of the present paper is to analyze the issue of consumption from the position of the ethics of social consequences, and to consider some questions connected to the issue. In this paper consumption is viewed through the triumph of the market and the triumph of consumerism, as determining factors in today’s society. The central part of the paper introduces the issue of justice, which is closely connected to many questions regarding consumerism, an excessive form of consumption. Later, three different categories of justice found in the theory of the ethics of social consequences are outlined. The last part of the paper then examines in more detail the forms of justice (distributive, reciprocal) closely connected to the issue of consumption. Two ways of achieving fair conditions (distributive justice) on global markets as a requirement for reciprocal justice are then discussed. The first approach relates to the macro level, and the second to ethical consumption at the micro level.

This paper discusses how the assumption that individuals and policy makers do not automatically update their prior beliefs with the new information has shaped policy process theories. Rather than the rational homo economicus , humans are homo narrans : they are more likely to respond to narratives than to expert-based information. The assumption that humans are storytellers is central to the Narrative Policy Framework, which (1) examines the strategic construction of policy narratives by competing coalitions and (2) offers improved measures of narrative elements, strategies, etc., which provide insights into how information is processed by individuals and entire organizations.

This paper examines profiles on online dating sites for environmentally aware singles identifying as ‘green single’. The research was motivated by these research questions: What kind of people use these sites to search for a partner? How do green singles earn ‘green distinction’, the markings of a green identity? The main objective of this research is to find out how green singles impress a potential partner on dating sites. The paper discusses recent research influenced by the work of Bourdieu and Maffesoli. It considers a specific group of singles obtained from the quantitative and qualitative analysis of one thousand randomly selected profiles. It investigates self-presentation strategies, characteristic green performances and identity construction among green singles, particularly ‘green cultural codes’ and ‘green scripts’. The paper contributes to the knowledge on symbolic boundaries, social differentiation and collective identity in the environmentalist subculture, discussed as a kind of neo-tribal community.

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the fact that the constructions of gender - frequently quantified in scientific research (and practice)—are unstable across time and space. In this regard, we look at the genesis of the measures and definitions reflective of the social change and knowledge that has shaped views on the gender dimensions. Our analysis of gender measures shows that the majority are based on definitions that conceive of femininity and masculinity as stable personality traits and that these measures are part of essentialist assumptions on gender roles and gender identity. We consider these measures to be strongly stereotypical and “outdated”. In the second part, we put forward evidence, from research findings, that indicates that perceptions of gender have not just changed over time. Different interpretations of masculinity and femininity exist within specific cultures, social categories and spaces.

The article deals with philosophical questions on the “art of living” in philosophy in recent decades. It provides an overview of the conceptions that continue to resonate in philosophy, covering the basic approach to conceptions of the “art of living” found in the work of theorists such as P. Hadot, J. Kekes, A. Nehamas, Z. Bauman, A. MacIntyre, R. Veenhoven, W. Schmid, and J. Dohmen. The basic framework of the “art of living” can, we believe, be imagined as a square, where each side represents an essential component (attribute): 1. value system ; 2. integrity of life ; 3. meaning of life ; 4. authenticity of life . The art of living therefore presupposes that there is a value system the individual can use as a navigational guide and to make decisions in the world. It also presupposes an ability to integrate one’s life within a meaningful whole and to seek out and find the meaning of one’s life. Finally the art of living depends on the ability to lead an authentic life.