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87Towards an alternative approach to personhood in the end of life questionsTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 21 (6): 515-536. 2000.Within the Western bioethical framework, we make adistinction between two dominant interpretations of the meaning of moral personhood: thenaturalist and the humanist one. While both interpretations of moral personhood claim topromote individual autonomy and rights, they end up with very different normativeviews on the practical and legal measures needed to realize these values in every daylife. Particularly when we talk about the end of life issues it appears that in general thearguments for eut…Read more
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84Are ‘Ethical’ or ‘Socially Responsible’ Investments Socially Responsible?Journal of Business Ethics 66 (4): 393-406. 2006.In this article we discuss whether it pays to invest ethically. Our aim is to examine corporate social responsibility from philosophical, moral and practical points of views. We focus on two main issues related to ethical investments. Firstly we discuss the moral dilemma of how capitalism has changed its shape in today's world and from 'blaming the business' there is a general attempt to use the markets to promote ethics values and corporate social responsibility. Secondly, we analyze the growth…Read more
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60Rationalising circumcision: from tradition to fashion, from public health to individual freedom--critical notes on cultural persistence of the practice of genital mutilationJournal of Medical Ethics 30 (3): 248-253. 2004.Despite global and local attempts to end genital mutilation, in their various forms, whether of males or females, the practice has persisted throughout human history in most parts of the world. Various medical, scientific, hygienic, aesthetic, religious, and cultural reasons have been used to justify it. In this symposium on circumcision, against the background of the other articles by Hutson, Short, and Viens, the practice is set by the author within a wider, global context by discussing a rang…Read more
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56P. H. COETZEE and A. P. J. ROUX (eds.), The African Philosophy Reader, 2nd ed. London: Routledge 2003Theoria 72 (2): 154-161. 2006.
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53Global bioethics: Utopia or reality?Developing World Bioethics 8 (2): 70-81. 2006.This article discusses what 'global bioethics' means today and what features make bioethical research 'global'. The article provides a historical view of the development of the field of 'bioethics', from medical ethics to the wider study of bioethics in a global context. It critically examines the particular problems that 'global bioethics' research faces across cultural and political borders and suggests some solutions on how to move towards a more balanced and culturally less biased dialogue i…Read more
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48Communitarianism and Western ThoughtThe Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 11 141-151. 2001.Within the Western tradition we can find important and interesting philosophical differences between the continental European and the Anglo-American ethical and political outlooks towards biotechnology. The Anglo-American attitude appears based on naturalistic and empiricist views, while continental European viewpoints are built on idealistic liberal humanism. A Northern European view integrates both of the above-mentioned liberal traditions. The main problem is that although these different out…Read more
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48Review article: Global justice and the demand for global responsibilityJournal of Moral Philosophy 2 (3): 371-379. 2005.
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46Male and Female Circumcision: Medical, Legal and Ethical Considerations in Pediatric Practice (review)Journal of Medical Ethics 27 (3): 208-209. 2001.
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44Pluralism in multicultural liberal democracy and the justification of female circumcisionJournal of Applied Philosophy 16 (1). 1999.This article discusses the problems that a liberal, multicultural democracy has in dealing with cultural practices, such as female circumcision, which themselves suppress the liberal values of autonomy and pluralism. In this context I have chosen the justification of female circumcision as my issue for three reasons. First, with increasing immigration, in Western multicultural and pluralistic societies this practice has recently been given a good deal of public attention; second, I believe that …Read more
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40Global BioethicsNew Review of Bioethics 1 (1): 101-116. 2003.The emergence of global bioethics is connected to a rise of interest in ethics in general (both in academia and in the public sphere), combined with an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of peoples and their ethical dilemmas, and the recognition that global problems need global solutions. In short, global bioethics has two distinguishing features: first, its global scope, both geographically and conceptually; and second, its focus on justice (communal and individual).
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37Failing states and ailing leadership in african politics in the era of globalization: Libertarian communitarianism and the kenyan experienceJournal of Global Ethics 4 (2). 2008.The article discusses the Kenyan post-2007 elections political crisis within the framework of 'libertarian communitarianism' that integrates individualistic self-interest with traditional collectivist solidarity in the era of globalization in Africa. The author argues that behind the Kenyan post-election anarchy can be analyzed as a type of 'prisoner's dilemma' framework in which self-interested rationality is placed in a collectivist social contract setting. In Kenya, this has allowed political…Read more
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37Bioethics in Tanzania: Legal and Ethical Concerns in Medical Care and Research in Relation to the HIV/AIDS EpidemicCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 14 (3): 256-267. 2005.This article examines bioethics in Tanzania, particularly in relation to the HIV/AIDS epidemic for the following reasons: First, not only is HIV/AIDS the most alarming health problem in most parts of Africa, but the complexity of issues involved in medical and research ethics clearly illustrates the various levels of problems that bioethics—more precisely, both professional medical ethics and research ethics—faces in a poor, developing country. The article defends uniformity in the general, inte…Read more
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36Moral Individualism and the Justification of Liberal DemocracyRatio Juris 11 (4): 320-345. 1998.This article discusses the connection between individualism, pluralism and the moral foundation of liberal democracy. It analyses whether the requirement of value pluralism promoted by liberal democracies leads inevitably to communitarian ethics, or whether the liberal and democratic values of autonomy, tolerance and equality are actually based on an objectivistic and teleological account of justice. The author argues that value‐neutral procedural and methodological individualism cannot support …Read more
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36Trust Me! My Hands Are Dirty AlsoProfessional Ethics, a Multidisciplinary Journal 11 (1): 55-81. 2003.
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32Empowering the Invisible: Women, Local Culture and Global Human Rights ProtectionThought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya 2 (1): 37-57. 2010.This paper examines the problems that various contemporary human rights discourses face with relativism, with special reference to the global protection of women’s rights. These problems are set within the theoretical debate between the Western liberal individualism on the one hand, and African, Asian and Islamic collectivist communitarianism on the other. Instead of trying to prove the superiority of one theoretical approach over the other, the purpose here is to point out some of the most comm…Read more
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32Human rights in Africa: From communitarian values to utilitarian practice (review)Human Rights Review 5 (2): 61-85. 2004.
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32Ethics: universal or global? The trends in studies of ethics in the context of globalizationJournal of Global Ethics 11 (1): 80-89. 2015.The article discusses how theory and practice in global ethics affect each other. First, the author explores how the study of ethics has changed in the era of globalization and ponders what the role of the field of study of global ethics is in this context. Second, she wants to show how the logical fallacies in widening study field of ethics produce false polarizations between facts and value judgements in social ethics made in various cultural contexts. She further elaborates how these false po…Read more
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30EditorialJournal of Global Ethics 10 (1): 1-6. 2014.Introduction of material contained in this journal issue. Introduction of first journal "Forum": The future of global ethics.
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29Transitional justice as a philosophical and practical challenge: critical notes on Colleen Murphy’s new theory of the ‘conceptual foundations of transitional justice’Journal of Global Ethics 14 (2): 169-180. 2018.I examine some of the main philosophical, conceptual and normative issues in Colleen Murphy’s recent book The Conceptual Foundations of Transitional Justice (2017). I am sceptical whether we need yet another theory of justice to fit particular ‘transitional circumstances’, as Murphy argues. Instead, before presenting an alternative normative, ‘moral’ theory, we need to re-examine the very concept of transitional justice. I examine particularly the following. Firstly, what we really mean by ‘tran…Read more
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28Women's rights and reproductive health care in a global perspectiveJournal of Social Philosophy 31 (4). 2000.
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26Afro-Libertarianism and the Social Contract Framework in Post-Colonial AfricaThought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya 1 (1): 127-150. 2009.This paper examines the shortcomings and possibilities of the social contract approach in relation to the Kenyan post 2007 elections political crisis. The authorapplies philosophical analysis to a practical situation, using Kenya as a case study in the context of the challenges of post-colonial nation-building. The author reflects on the “Afro-libertarian” politico-economic framework, in which communitarian and communal traditions with egoistic and profit-making individualist libertarian market …Read more
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26The conference of the International Society for Value Inquiry in HelsinkiJournal of Value Inquiry 30 (1-2): 297-301. 1996.
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23Hiv/Aids Epidemic, Human Rights and Global JusticePolitics and Ethics Review 1 (2): 197-206. 2005.
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21EditorialJournal of Global Ethics 11 (1): 1-2. 2015.Introduction of material contained in this journal issue. Notice of recent terrorism events.
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20The Role of Philosophy in Global BioethicsCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 24 (2): 185-194. 2015.Abstract:This article examines the relationship between philosophy and culture in global bioethics. First, it studies what is meant by the term “global” in global bioethics. Second, the author introduces four different types, or recognizable trends, in philosophical inquiry in bioethics today. The main argument is that, in order to make better sense of the complexity of the ethical questions and challenges we face today across the globe, we need to embrace the universal nature of self-critical a…Read more
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16EditorialJournal of Global Ethics 10 (2): 123-127. 2014.Introduction of material contained in this journal issue. Various notices of recent global events. Notice of International Development Ethics Association 2014 conference.
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16The article argues that the currently dominating, Western-originated individualistic and materialistic concept of development as ‘progress’ has created an evident confusion between ‘values and facts,’ ‘ideologies/ideals and practices,’ ‘ends and means’ in the current development thinking and practice. Instead of realizing such humanistic ideas as human flourishing and holistic well-being, current development agenda focuses on economic growth and producing ‘better business environments.’ Since th…Read more
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University of HelsinkiDepartment of Philosophy (Theoretical Philosophy, Practical Philosophy, Philosophy in Swedish)Retired faculty