Etikk i praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics

The cost of change and the value of authenticity

Allen Alvarez, May Thorseth — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Different things are at stake when organizations face difficult decisions amidst value conflicts. Individuals who participate in those decisions bring their own values to the table that they weigh against the values that their organization promotes. How should we weigh personal values versus collective values when they are in conflict?

Fra samstemt altruisme til motstridende feminisme: en analyse av høringen om kompensasjon for eggdonasjon

Joar Røkke Fystro — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Etter revisjonen av bioteknologiloven i mai 2020, ble eggdonasjon på norsk et faktum. I kjølvannet av «bioteknologiforliket» – en koalisjon mellom Ap, Frp og SV som sikret stortingsflertall for endringene i loven – skulle kompensasjonsstørrelsen fastsettes for kvinner som ønsker å donere bort egg. Det ble av den grunn holdt en høring om retningslinjene for donasjon av egg, herunder alternativer for hvor mye donor bør kompenseres økonomisk. I denne artikkelen har jeg analysert høringsutkastet, høringssvarene og de endelige retningslinjene for kompensasjon av eggdonasjon. Hensikten med studien var å undersøke de ulike argumentene i den norske debatten om økonomisk kompensasjon for donasjon av egg. Tre gjennomgående temaer ble identifisert i høringsdokumentene: motivasjonens form og innhold, rettferdighet og donorbutikk. Et sentralt funn i høringen var en gjennomgående bekymring for økonomisk motivert donasjon. Samtidig var det bred enighet om at eggdonasjoner skulle være altruistiske. Altruisme ble forstått som et fravær av økonomisk motivasjon hos donoren, men uten at andre ikke-altruistiske motiver ble problematisert eller at forutsetningene for altruisme ble videre diskutert. Analysen viste også hvordan lignende argumenter ble vinklet ulikt for å kunne understøtte både en høyere og lavere kompensasjon. For eksempel endte en vektlegging av kvinners rettigheter i noen høringssvar opp som et forsvar for det høyeste forslaget til kompensasjon, mens i andre høringssvar ble den brukt som argument for et forbud mot enhver kompensasjon. Samlet sett gir denne studien innblikk i mangfoldet av argumenter som er blitt brukt i den norske debatten om økonomisk kompensasjon for eggdonasjon, og den viser viktigheten av å definere begrepene som brukes – som altruisme, frivillighet og økonomisk motivasjon – for å få bedre frem både enighetene og uenighetene mellom partene i debatten.

Nøkkelord: altruisme, bioteknologi, eggcelledonasjon, godtgjørelse, motivasjon

English abstract

After the revision of the Biotechnology Act in May 2020, egg donation in Norwegian became a fact. In the wake of the "biotechnology agreement" – a coalition between Ap, Frp and SV that secured a parliamentary majority for the changes in the law – the amount of compensation was to be determined for women who wish to donate eggs. A hearing was therefore held on the guidelines for egg donation, including options for how much the donor should be financially compensated. In this article, I have analyzed the consultation draft, the consultation responses and the final guidelines for compensation for egg donation. The purpose of the study was to examine the various arguments in the Norwegian debate about financial compensation for egg donation. Three consistent themes were identified in the consultation documents: the form and content of the motivation, justice and donor shop. A key finding in the consultation was a consistent concern about financially motivated donation. At the same time, there was broad agreement that egg donations should be altruistic. Altruism was understood as an absence of financial motivation on the part of the donor, but without other non-altruistic motives being problematized or the prerequisites for altruism being further discussed. The analysis also showed how similar arguments were angled differently in order to support both higher and lower compensation. For example, an emphasis on women's rights in some consultation responses ended up as a defense for the highest proposal for compensation, while in other consultation responses it was used as an argument for a ban on any compensation. Overall, this study provides an insight into the diversity of arguments that have been used in the Norwegian debate on financial compensation for egg donation, and it shows the importance of defining the terms used – such as altruism, volunteering and financial motivation – in order to better bring out both the agreements and the disagreements between the parties in the debate.

Keywords: altruism, biotechnology, egg cell donation, remuneration, motivation

Justice in energy transition scenarios: Perspectives from Swedish energy politics

Patrik Baard, Anders Melin, Gunnhildur Lily Magnusdottir — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this article we justify why justice ought to be considered in scenarios of energy transitions, stipulate what dimensions should reasonably be considered, and investigate whether such considerations are taken in Swedish parliamentary debates on energy policies. Through interviews we investigated how Swedish parliamentary politicians think through justice in energy transitions, providing a practical perspective. We conclude that while there is some overlap between minimal conditions for energy justice and the issues brought forward by Swedish politicians, several issues are omitted. Examples include procedural justice and recognizing Sámi interests. On the other hand, principles of energy justice omit economic issues, which are however often brought up by respondents. It can be argued that justice issues, and not only the technical and economic issues that currently dominate the political debate, should be considered in energy transitions. It is therefore unfortunate that questions about justice are not adequately recognized by Swedish members of parliament, as outlined here by interview results. Stronger conclusions would require more empirical work, but the article points out several discrepancies between the topics discussed in the research literature on energy policies, and the topics discussed by elected parliamentarians having a specific focus on energy policies.

Keywords: energy justice; energy transitions; Swedish energy policies; climate justice

African Ethics, Personhood, and War

Luis Cordeiro-Rodrigues — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, I look at the African theory that the formation of personhood is relevant to the morality of war. I start by justifying the project of decolonizing the ethics of war. Then I proceed to clarify that some of the African theories that relate to personhood and war should not be taken at face value, but that the concept of personhood does play a role in the morality of war. I then provide examples of how this concept is relevant for jus ad bellum, jus in bello and jus post bellum.

Keywords: African Ethics; Personhood; Just War Theory; Jus ad Bellum; Jus in Bello; Jus Post Bellum

Is it getting too personal? On personalized advertising and autonomy

Sebastian Holmen — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

It has recently been suggested that personalized advertising is often more an affront to a person's autonomy and thus more morally worrisome than its generic counterpart precisely because it involves or takes advantage of such personalization. This paper argues that central reasons that have been forwarded to support this claim are unpersuasive and that generic and personalized advertising should therefore be treated as morally on par in terms of their potential to undermine consumer autonomy. The paper then suggests that, if this is true, it presses scholars who wish to maintain there to be a moral asymmetry between personalized and generic advertising in terms of their effect on consumer autonomy to choose between three argumentative avenues, but that none of these is likely to be particularly attractive for a defender of the asymmetry.

Proportionality, Defensive Alliance Formation, and Mearsheimer on Ukraine

Benjamin King — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, I consider the permissibility of forming defensive alliances, which is a neglected topic in the contemporary literature on the ethics of war and peace. Drawing on the jus ad bellum criterion of proportionality in just war theory, I argue that if permissible defensive force requires that its expected harms must be counterbalanced by its expected goods, then, permissible defensive alliance formation seems to also require that its expected harms must be counterbalanced by its expected goods, as the latter can result in much the same consequences as the former. Moreover, due to the incommensurability of values in play when making proportionality judgments, I argue for a value pluralist understanding of the criterion. On this view, defensive alliance formation is proportionate if the expected gains in certain values (goods) intuitively justify the expected losses in others (harms) when compared to the alternative expected value trade-offs of not allying. To explore the implications of my theoretical claims I consider them in relation to John Mearsheimer’s influential account of the causes of the Russo-Ukrainian War. On this account, the West’s strategy to assimilate Ukraine and Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO membership post-annexation of Crimea were disproportionate because the expected harms were unjustified when compared to the alternative expected goods and harms of forgoing Ukrainian membership of NATO. This does not imply that Russia’s aggression is just, but it does imply that the West and Ukraine are partially responsible for the war and that they acted impermissibly in attempting to expand/join NATO.

Keywords: Proportionality, alliances, just war theory, Ukraine, Mearsheimer

Forskeres sikkerhet i felt: Om veilederes ansvar for å hjelpe uerfarne forskere med å redusere risiko i møte med studiedeltagere

Rannveig Beito Svendby — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Denne autoetnografien diskuterer en situasjon som oppsto på et feltarbeid i Norge, der jeg opplevde å være i fare i rollen som forsker. Først i det øyeblikket gikk det opp for meg at jeg ikke hadde tatt noen forholdsregler for å ivareta min egen sikkerhet i felt. Det skjedde selv om de øvrige deltagernes sikkerhet var grundig diskutert og hensyntatt gjennom en rekke tiltak i studien, som brukte en kulturelt responsiv, relasjonell, refleksiv etikk. I artikkelen drøfter jeg mulige konsekvenser av manglende oppmerksomhet i etiske retningslinjer og forskningspraksis rettet mot forskeres sikkerhet i felt. Jeg argumenterer for at veiledere har et etisk ansvar for å støtte uerfarne forskere i en refleksiv prosess om risikoen ved å delta i feltarbeid, slik at de kan ta forholdsregler for å redusere risiko.

Nøkkelord: forskningsetikk, feltarbeid, risiko, veiledning, autoetnografi, CRRRE

English abstract

This autoethnography discusses a situation that arose during fieldwork in Norway, where I experienced being in danger in my role as a researcher. Only at that moment did it occur to me that I had not taken any precautions to ensure my own safety in the field. This happened even though the safety of the other participants had been thoroughly discussed and taken into account through a number of measures in the study, which used a culturally responsive, relational, reflexive ethic. In the article, I discuss the possible consequences of a lack of attention in ethical guidelines and research practices aimed at researchers' safety in the field. I argue that supervisors have an ethical responsibility to support inexperienced researchers in a reflexive process about the risks of participating in fieldwork, so that they can take precautions to reduce risk.

Keywords: research ethics, fieldwork, risk, supervision, autoethnography, CRRRE