Etica si morala (sic!)

Revin: a pune in conjunctie etica si morala este o dovada de impostura intelectuala (!). Cuvantul “etic” este sinonim cu termenul “moral”; unul provine din greaca, “eethos” (i.e., ‘caracter’, dif. “ethos”, ‘obicei, deprindere’), iar celalalt din latina, “mores”, si-l traduce pe primul. Asa stau lucrurile de vreo 2000 de ani incoace.

Etica si morala se refera la acelasi lucru, si anume la reflectia asupra comportamentului uman, la reflectia asupra a ceea ce este corect/bine si incorect/rau sa facem. Etica, morala sunt diferite de moralitate: adica acel complex de valori, principii si norme de comportament, care s-au decantat de-a lungul timpului, pentru fiecare comunitate in parte in ritmul si in sensul propriu, si care au capatat sau nu o forma explicita.

Sunt autori “mari” care opereaza cu aceasta distinctie. Asta nu inseamna ca sunt si corecte. Ceea ce mi se pare si mai penibil este citarea necritica a acestor autori, ca si cum ar detine supremul adevar, desi filosofia morala nu intra in aria lor de competenta sau nu pot fi considerati “cunoscatori” intr’ale eticii.

Cel care a scris urmatorul pasaj nu-si da seama ca o asemenea distinctie duce la schizofrenie:

În politică, administraţie publică, afaceri, media, educaţie, medicină ş.a. termenul preferat este cel de etică. Termenul morală este legat de viaţa privată. Respectăm morala în viaţa privatăşi etica în viaţa publică (politică, civică, profesională).

Ar insemna ca ceea ce este moralmente corect in viata privata sa nu fie moralmente corect si in viata publica. Dar oare atunci operam cu sensuri diferite ale termenilor “etic”, “moral”? Este moral sa fac X/este etic sa fac Y?

A introduce distinctia intre spatiul privat si spatiul public in dezbaterea cu privire la ce este moral sa facem conduce la efecte perverse: un politician poate spune ca el a actionat moralmente corect atunci cand a salvat de la moarte un om care zacea pe strada (in sfera lui privata opereaza cu alte norme morale decat in spatiul public), insa la fel de corect era si atunci cand a refuzat sa ia decizia de a trimite un comando militar intr-o zona de conflict pentru a salva o clasa de copii prinsi intr-un conflict civil izbucnit peste noapte (binele etic este mult mai important decat binele moral, sic!). Insa oare in ambele cazuri nu avem de-a face cu principiu moral care sa ne intemeieze actiunile: respectul demnitatii umane?

Sursa: http://blog.cristian-ducu.ro/2010/06/06/etica-si-morala/

Bucharest Conference in Applied Ethics '09 [CFP]

BUCHAREST CONFERENCE IN APPLIED ETHICS '09
"Ethics Committees and Other Ethical Tools"
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest
October 30-31, 2009


We are delighted to invite you at the 2nd edition of the BUCHAREST CONFERENCE IN APPLIED ETHICS, 2009. The event will be hosted by the Faculty of Bucharest, University of Bucharest, during October 30-31, 2009.

The BCAE has been developed as a debate platform, where theorists and practicians meet together and discuss the most important topics in the fields of Applied Ethics. The main aim of these conferences is the advancement of significant solutions for the real world.

This year topic, "Ethics Committees and Other Ethical Tools", reflects the growing interest in institutionalizing ethics. And though there has been some discussions on the role of ethics committees or on the function of some other ethical tools (especially, ethics training and social audit) -- mainly in the form of academic papers --, we consider that the debate is insufficient and too localized. In practice, the theoretical developments are rarely taken into consideration (e.g., in Southern and Eastern Europe, ethics committees function as 'intuitive' bodies, where decision is influenced more by its members' biases, while the Northern European pattern depends heavily on procedures).

Our aim is to bring into light those aspects that can make the ethics tools really work. The ethics committees and the codes of ethics are not individual tools; so we hope to see them working together in integrated ethics (and compliance) frameworks or management systems.

The conference organizers are looking for papers that consider either the integrative model or individual tools. The later approach may discuss topics such as:

* the ethics committees and their role in developing effective policies;
* codes of ethics: typology, role, structure;
* ethics (and compliance) trainings;
* ethics audit, social audit, CSR reporting;
* ethics (and compliance) policies;
* awareness programs;
* other ethical tools.

Early submissions are highly encouraged. This way, the prospective participants may receive the acceptance letters faster.

Prospective participants must send final papers to the conference organizers by September 10, 2009. All papers will circulate before conference and will be temporarily published on the official website. After the conference, the papers will be published in the BCAE Proceedings.

Official language is English, but there will be a Romanian speaking panel.

All papers must observe the editorial guidelines and must be prepared for blind-review (one Word file containing the title, author's name, and an English 200-words abstract + a separate Word file containing the title, the abstract and the paper).

There is no participation fee.

For general inquiries, all correspondence should be sent to:
bcae /AT/ bcae / DOT/ ro.

The BCAE official website: www.bcae.ro

Moral Responsibility: Neuroscience, Organization & Engineering

Conference, August 24 - 27, 2009, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

Who is responsible, for which outcomes and under what circumstances? What are our responsibilities and to whom are they owed? Who are responsible agents, and to which spheres of activity does their responsible agency extend? Who should take responsibility, for what and how? This conference will address these and similar traditional philosophical questions about responsibility, with a special focus on the following theme areas: (a) responsibility in neuroscience and the law, (b) collective and individual responsibility, and (c) responsibility in science and engineering.

Click http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/responsibility for more info.

www.etica-aplicata.ro - primele teste

In noaptea dintre 20 si 21 ianuarie am inceput primele teste la portalul www.etica-aplicata.ro Va fi un site care va gazdui atat resurse pentru domeniul eticii aplicate, cat si paginile oficiale ale Bucharest Conference in Applied Ethics '09: "Ethics Committees and Other Ethical Tools" si European Journal of Applied Ethics.

Fiindca am dorit ca acest portal sa nu fie doar pentru Romania si asa-zisii specialisti in etica aplicata din Romania, tot continutul va fi in limba engleza. De asemenea, EJAE nu va fi dedicata spatiului academic romanesc. Nu, pentru ca spre deosebire de altii, eu si colegii mei suntem scarbiti de incompetentii care-si dau cu parerea pe la tembelizor ori prin publicatiile autohtone. Ca atare, www.etica-aplicata.ro va fi un portal de resurse pentru toata Uniunea Europeana si nu numai.

O a doua precizare pe care vreau sa o fac e aceea ca site-ul se va dezvolta treptat. La inceput vor exista niste pagini semi-statice, urmand ca pe parcurs sa introducem diverse sectiuni cu continut updatabil si pretabil pentru agregatoare (de exemplu, sectiunea NEWS).

In al treilea rand, regula de baza a portalului de baza nu va fi "political correctness"-ul, ci, dimpotriva, analiza critica, uneori dura si extrema. Nu vom tolera aberatiile conceptuale si nici incompetenta, sanctionand dur orice adept al lor.

Pentru moment, site-ul va contine doar o pagina cu siglele proiectelor inclue, urmand ca din punct de vedere al continutului sa-l completam pana la finele lunii martie.

Fitch Ratings - a highly unethical rating agency

Today, both Romanian and foreign financial media intensively discussed the new ratings issued by Fitch Ratings for EMEA on November 9, 2008. Many have said that the downgraded rate for Romania is just a speculative action orchestrated by big financial groups that tried to put down the Romanian financial market in the last weeks. But beyond all the comments, we can easily see that there is a huge interest in making all the 'emerging financial markets' feel the international crisis.

One question I have is how could they consider a two-notch downgrade for the sovereign rating when the credit crisis in Romania has been prevented by the Romanian National Bank? Moreover, how could they consider Transilvania Bank as the only Romanian bank that has proven a steady development? Is there a specific interest in making this bank available for future interbanking relations? If I remember correctly, Transilvania bank just suffered a powerful attack from foreign investors and speculators. (read here)

Here is the explanation offered by Fitch Ratings in its press release:

"Romania: the two-notch downgrade reflects Fitch's concerns about the macroeconomic policy framework in Romania and its ability to avoid a severe economic and financial crisis. With a widening current account deficit - expected to exceed 14% of GDP this year - fuelled by excessive credit growth, Fitch believes a much stronger policy adjustment, especially in fiscal policy, is needed to avoid a currency crisis. Given private sector foreign currency balance sheet mismatches, such an outcome could require substantial external financial support from the international community to prevent a sovereign credit crisis. The rating Outlook is Negative."
(Source: Fitch Ratings' website)

I have been following these ratings in the last two months and I can say openly that Fitch and other similar institutions are just one tool in the hands of big western banks and investment groups. At this moment, their interest (both of the western banks and investment groups) is to transfer all negative risks and unprofitable packages to the emerging financial markets because it is easier for them to leave the hot pie in other hands and eat the most of it when it will be ready-baked. From another perspective, they want to make more money even if their native or adoptive markets became unproductive (because of them and not because of somebody else). In other words, we are dealing with a huge greed.

It is very strange how suddenly the representative of the International Monetary Fund visited Romania before this new rating and soon after Hungary asked for financial help from European Union. Is it a way of damaging the image of a country with relative financial stability? We certainly did not invite them to discuss potential refunding of our economy. Our experience with them -- as in the case of all the other countries where they pushed in their strategy - was really bad, especially because their economical tools are inappropriate for Romanian context.

Taking into consideration all these and many other "incidental" events, I conclude that Fitch ratings is playing with the country/cities and banking ratings as their contributors dictate. It is a way of influencing the financial market, it is a way of making money on the backs of the poorer ones. From my own point of view, this is the most unethical behavior we could see these days. I think I am not saying anything wrong when I associate Fitch's current behavior with the Enron experience. They play with figures just like the managers from Enron played with financial reports and energy production.

--
Nov. 11, 2008
The article from the Financial Times is very interesting. Although the author tries to describe what happened, you can easily understand that our economic and financial situation is far better than those of Hungary or Bulgaria. The last has a 25 percent current account deficit, while the first received an important financial help from the European Central Bank.

Ethics and Compliance Officer

Smart Solutions & Support, Romania, a lansat primul program de training din Europa pentru Ethics and Compliance Officer. Pentru mai multe detalii, puteti vizita site-ul acestui program la adresa http://eco.omnisolutios.ro.

Site-ul contine calendarul pentru seriile 1, 3 si 4. Prezentarile cursurilor pot fi accesate in sectiunea Training din site-ul general:

ECO 1 - Ethics and Compliance: Corporate Governance
ECO 2 - Ethics and Compliance Audit Techniques
ECO 3 - Ethical Decision-Making and Conflict Resolution

Participantii la acest curs vor beneficia nu doar de materialele de curs si resursele pus la dispozitie de organizatori, ci si de forumul specialistilor in Etica si Conformitate.

Etica Aplicata: primul program de master din Romania

Facultatea de Filosofie din cadrul Universitatii din Bucuresti a pregatit pentru anul universitar 2008-2009 deschiderea primului program de masterat in domeniul eticii aplicate. Cursurile sunt tinute de profesori din cadrul facultatii, membri ai Centrului de Cercetare in Etica Aplicata.

Pentru mai multe detalii: http://www.ub-filosofie.ro/master.php