<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

100 years ago, the editors of the <italic>Journal of Educational Psychology</italic> conducted one of the most famous studies of experts’ conceptions of human intelligence. This was reason enough to prompt the question where we stand today with making sense of “intelligence”. In this paper, we argue that we should overcome our anthropocentrism and appreciate the wonders of intelligence in nonhuman and nonbiological animals instead. For that reason, we study two cases of octopus intelligence and intelligence in machine learning systems to embrace the notion of intelligence as a non-unitary faculty with pluralistic forms. Furthermore, we derive lessons for advancing our human self-understanding.
</abstract>

Fighting human hubris: Intelligence in nonhuman animals and artefacts

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The paper focuses on the question of whether it is morally permissible to use reproductive technologies to select children with congenital deafness. I review the arguments that have been presented to support the claims that the lack of hearing is not overall bad, that disability is caused by social discrimination rather than impairment, that the community of deaf people gives its members plenty of opportunities to lead a happy life, and that procreative decisions need not improve the world. I argue that although the claims are, to a certain extent, reasonable, they fail to establish the conclusion that selecting for deafness is morally permissible. I further argue that the decision to select a deaf child is morally wrong because it results in imposed and needless dependency, that the happiness of a deaf child is conditioned by their confinement to a relatively small community, and that the deaf parents who reject their child’s potential biculturalism are motivated by questionably self-regarding reasons.
</abstract>

Selecting for deafness – a marvellous opportunity or imposed dependence?

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When an individual is unable or unwilling to become a parent the natural way, he/she can avail of a surrogate mother. Furthermore, when the surrogate pregnancy takes place in a foreign country, the practice is popularly referred to as ‘surrogacy tourism’ or ‘birther tourism’, which is the main topic of this research. In contrast to existing research most of which is confined to the medical angle, here we look at how marketing makes surrogacy tourism more accessible but concomitantly promotes unwanted ethical and marketing practices, even if inadvertently. On one hand, rigorous promotion of surrogacy tourism has successfully spread the word and has made such option available to individuals who would have otherwise been unaware of such opportunity. On the other hand, excessive marketing has resulted in unethical, illegal and in some cases, unhealthy medical practices in which, service providers, clinics and doctors often participate, but on which there appears to be scant research. This analysis, therefore, has two-fold implications: first, the findings can be extended to several other related professions, such as the medical community, administrators, law enforcement agencies and most importantly, potential ‘parents’; secondly, it can aid administrators and regulators tighten extant loopholes in the system, and thereby, provide a more robust and safer option for surrogate tourists.
</abstract>

Ethical and marketing perspectives on surrogacy tourism

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Case studies are used to reflect on the treatment of patients with dementia hospitalized at the Geriatric Department of the Faculty hospital in Prešov, emphasizing human dignity in clinical practice. The discussion is focused on the palliative care of patients with severe dementia. The biomedical method, which respects human dignity is defined by means of inductive, deductive, and normative bioethical methods. They make it possible to provide guidelines for palliative care and individualized prognosis strategy. An analysis of health status of individuals with severe dementia enables us to offer a clinical definition of purposeful treatment based on normative justice and decision-making that reflects the patient’s best interest, thus respecting their dignity. An evaluation of a patient’s care is based on a biomedical method that considers the dementia stage. Applying a bioethical model in a holistic context preconditions the human rights of patients with dementia.
</abstract>

Dignity of individuals with dementia, palliative care, and futile treatment

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of select ethical issues in Visegrad Four (V4) countries (Czech republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary) and quantify the differences in the attitudes of entrepreneurs in the field of business ethics in these countries. Empirical research was conducted in June 2022 in the V4 countries. Data collection was carried out by the renowned external company MNFORCE using "Computer Assisted Web Interviewing" (CAWI Research Method), according to the questionnaire created by the research team. The total number of respondents was 1,398, of which 347 were from the Czech Republic, 322 from Slovakia, 381 from Poland, and 348 from Hungary. Statistical hypotheses were verified using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and Z-scores at a α = 5% significance level. The preliminary results of this study can be evaluated as follows: The ethical level of entrepreneurs in V4 countries is high because the dominant group showed a positive attitude towards the defined issues in the field of business ethics. The attitudes of these entrepreneurs showed that they not only perceived the importance of business ethics, but also implemented and promoted these practices in managerial decision-making. Moreover, they feel good when they behave ethically, which is a significant motivating factor. In this study, it was found that Hungarian SMEs presented the highest level of business ethics. In contrast, the Czech Republic presented the lowest level of perception and enforcement of business ethics.
</abstract>

University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów

Empirical research on business ethics of SMEs in the V4 countries

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Professional involvement and the moral life of individuals and professional groups, especially those with high social prestige, such as firefighters, are linked by the category of “ethos”. Since the ethos of this service is today significantly influenced by multifaceted and dynamic ideological and existential transformations, it seems necessary to analyse the nature of this impact. Therefore, it seems that postmodernity brings with it ideological tendencies, which, by destroying the traditional preferences established so far, do not propose anything in their place. These include, among others: the crisis of personal and community identity, secularisation processes, the “axiology” of consumerism that is clearly being shaped nowadays, the depreciation of the meaning of work, and, finally, irrationalism and the crisis of the meaning of life.
</abstract>

The ethos of the fire service in the context of postmodern changes

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The issue of human nature is very complex and elusive, and mankind has been trying to unveil its elements since the beginnings of any philosophical reasoning. Whether they were questions of ontology, gnoseology, or ethics, it has been an uneasy task to uncover the complexity of the term. This article concentrates on finding ideas that support the existence of human nature and consequently searches for its possible ethical implications. I focused on the traditional issues of good vs evil, especially in terms of dichotomy between committing violent acts and waging wars in contradiction to creation of conditions for peaceful and just societies. In the article, I compare various ideas on human nature and analyse their potential in unveiling its ethical implications. I also comment on the possibility of war and peace being consequences of human nature and its connection to our disposition of being moral subjects.
</abstract>

War and peace as consequences of human nature?

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Some determinist approaches to free will opine that the human brain is subordinate to physical laws not fully under our control. This results in a weakening of the concept of the personal autonomy and moral responsibility of humans. Were we to acknowledge this assumption, we might consider automatic machines unable to influence the thoughts and intentions from which our actions take root. The key issue lies in the fact that an individual does not consciously engage in particular actions (automatisms), which challenges the concept of free will in an individual’s complex behaviour. Despite this issue, not all automatisms that lack conscious will can be viewed as lacking free will. The paper examines whether classical philosophical concepts may weaken the strict determinist approach, which seeks to deny that individuals have free will due to the existence of automatic actions.
</abstract>

Free will, moral responsibility and automatisms

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The main aim of the paper is to analyse T. G Masaryk’s ideas about the importance of education in democratic systems. In particular, the study analyses the ideas that Masaryk associates directly or indirectly with the nature of democracy or with the improvement of the democratic system through changes in the education system. The first part of the paper traces the basic aspects of democratic systems in his work that immediately condition ideas about the importance and role of education in democratic systems. The second part analyses the importance of education in the reproduction of national values, the role of the arts and humanities in the formation of the “democratic man”, and the significance of education of broad social strata and political authorities in democratic systems.
</abstract>

Some ideas about democracy and the importance of education in the work of T. G. Masaryk

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Svätopluk Štúr is a strong critic of strands of German thought that emphasize the will to power as an organizing principle of human society. Štúr is particularly critical of Nietzsche’s vitalism, which Štúr believes culminated in national socialism and the destruction of the Second World War. This paper describes and examines Štúr’s criticism of a number of German thinkers and focuses especially on Štúr’s criticism of Nietzsche. Štúr criticizes Nietzsche’s emphasis on life over knowledge. Štúr offers a different philosophy of life grounded in the dignity of human beings and the social consequences of ideas and actions. This paper concludes by examining what Štúr means by dignity in terms of a moral agent and as opposed to Nietzsche’s emphasis on vitalism.
</abstract>

Svätopluk Štúr’s criticism of Nietzsche’s vitalism

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 13 (2023): Issue 3-4 (December 2023)

Volume 13 (2023): Issue 1-2 (June 2023)

Volume 12 (2022): Issue 3-4 (December 2022)

Volume 12 (2022): Issue 1-2 (June 2022)

Volume 11 (2021): Issue 3-4 (December 2021)

Volume 11 (2021): Issue 1-2 (June 2021)

Volume 10 (2020): Issue 3-4 (December 2020)

Volume 10 (2020): Issue 1-2 (June 2020)

Volume 9 (2019): Issue 3-4 (December 2019)

Volume 9 (2019): Issue 1-2 (June 2019)

Volume 8 (2018): Issue 3-4 (December 2018)

Volume 8 (2018): Issue 1-2 (June 2018)

Volume 7 (2017): Issue 3-4 (December 2017)

Volume 7 (2017): Issue 1-2 (June 2017)

Volume 6 (2016): Issue 3-4 (December 2016)

Volume 6 (2016): Issue 1-2 (June 2016)

Ethics & Bioethics

Ethics &amp; Bioethics (in Central Europe) is one of the leading Central European international journals in ethics and bioethics focusing on philosophical ethics, bioethics and applied ethics also including the history of ethics, ethical and moral education as well as professional ethics. The journal publishes theoretical articles and empirical findings concerning all aspects of ethics and morality. Authors can submit research articles and critical review articles (free of charge). We also accept book reviews as well as conference reports; however, they are subject to a fee of 100 EUR.  Ethics &amp; Bioethics (in Central Europe) is published in print as well as electronic format, two issues per year (June and December). Only articles in English are accepted for publishing.  Rejection Rate:   37.5% (2023)   Call for papers: Generational and Period Impulses in the Philosophical and Ethical Kinetics of the 20th century in Central Europe   YOU CAN FIND AN ARCHIVE OF THE JOURNAL HERE.  Why subscribe and read:  The journal offers, to the English-speaking academic community, articles in all areas of ethics, bioethics and applied ethics that originate in Central Europe or that deal with its major ethical traditions.  Many influential authors outside the Central European region have published in the journal: Peter Singer (Princeton University &amp; University of Melbourne), Timo Airaksinen (University of Helsinki), Daniel Brennan (Bond University, Australia), Lubica Ucnik (Murdoch University, Australia), Steven R. Palmquist (Hong Kong University), Bob Brecher (University of Brighton), Jeremy Bendik-Keymer (Case Western Reserve University, USA), Kumar Neeraj Sachdev (Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India), etc.  Why submit:  There is an opportunity to present original papers in ethics, bioethics, applied and professional ethics to a broad English-speaking academic community around the world. The journal was included in the SCIMAGO database in quartile 2 (Q2) in 2018 and 2019, which is a reflection of its high level and citations of published articles.  Articles should be sent to the journal electronically as an e-mail attachment. It is important to accept the requirements for the publication style of the journal (see the latest published articles of the journal). If the article does not meet such requirements, we will ask you to revise it.  Submit journal articles and related questions to:vasil.gluchman@yahoo.com  All submitted articles undergo a double peer-review, from submission to first decision: 30 days and from submission to acceptance: 60 days. The language level of the journal is also important; for this reason, all accepted articles by non-English native authors undergo language proofreading, which is charged depending on the scope of the text and its language level.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.    The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs), nor article submission charges. 