Recent work on the hole argument in general relativity by Weatherall has drawn attention to the neglected concept of models’ representational capacities. I argue for several theses about the structure of these capacities, including that they should be understood not as many-to-one relations from models to the world, but in general as many-to-many relations constrained by the models’ isomorphisms. I then compare these ideas with a recent argument by Belot for the claim that some isometries “generate new possibilities” in general (...) relativity. Philosophical orthodoxy, by contrast, denies this. Properly understanding the role of representational capacities, I argue, reveals how Belot’s rejection of orthodoxy does not go far enough, and makes better sense of our practices in theorizing about spacetime. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungDer Begriff Advance Care Planning bezeichnet ein Konzept umfassender gesundheitlicher Vorausplanung, das u. a. darauf zielt, Menschen bei der Erstellung gesundheitlicher Vorausverfügungen, in denen Ziele und Wünsche für zukünftige Behandlungen festgelegt werden, durch aufsuchende, qualifizierte Beratungsangebote zu unterstützen. Weiterhin zielt dieses Konzept darauf, die Verbreitung und Umsetzung solcher Vorausverfügungen durch strukturelle, meist regionale Maßnahmen zu fördern. Dieser Beitrag diskutiert Advance Care Planning in der Psychiatrie. Er stellt verschiedene Formen psychiatrischer Vorausverfügungen sowie exemplarisch rechtliche Regelungen aus den USA, aus Großbritannien und (...) aus Deutschland vor. Ferner beleuchtet er die internationale Studienlage zur Umsetzung von Advance Care Planning in der Psychiatrie. Diese belegt deutlich den Bedarf an qualifizierten Beratungs- und Unterstützungsangeboten, da ohne solche Angebote psychiatrische Vorausverfügungen in der Praxis nur wenig Verbreitung und auch wenig Beachtung finden. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Erfahrungen plädieren die Autoren dafür, Advance-Care-Planning-Programme als Pilotprojekte zu etablieren mit dem Ziel, die Qualität und die Akzeptanz gesundheitlicher Vorausverfügungen in der Psychiatrie zu erhöhen. Diese Projekte sollten wissenschaftlich begleitet, evaluiert und ggf. angepasst werden. (shrink)

This paper examines the ethics of using assistive technology such as video surveillance in the homes of people living with dementia. Ideation and concept elaboration around the introduction of a camera-based surveillance service in the homes of people with dementia, typically living alone, is explored. The paper reviews relevant literature on surveillance of people living with dementia, and summarises the findings from ideation and concept elaboration workshops, designed to capture the views of those involved in the care of people living (...) with dementia at home. The research question relates to the ethical considerations of using assistive technologies that include video surveillance in the homes of people living with dementia, and the implications for a person living with dementia whenever video surveillance is used in their home and access to the camera is given to the person’s family. The review of related work indicated that such video surveillance may result in loss of autonomy or freedom for the person with dementia. The workshops reflected the findings from the related work, and revealed useful information to inform the service design, in particular in fine-tuning the service to find the best relationship between privacy and usefulness. Those who took part in the workshops supported the concept of the use of camera in the homes of people living with dementia, with some significant caveats around privacy. The research carried out in this work is small in scale but points towards an acceptance by many caregivers of people living with dementia of surveillance technologies. This paper indicates that those who care for people living with dementia at home are willing to make use of camera technology and therefore the value of this work is to help shed light on the direction for future research. (shrink)

BackgroundGenealogical research and ancestry testing are popular recreational activities but little is known about the impact of the use of these services on clients’ biological and social families. Ancestry databases are being enriched with self-reported data and data from deoxyribonucleic acid analyses, but also are being linked to other direct-to-consumer genetic testing and research databases. As both family history data and DNA can provide information on more than just the individual, we asked whether companies, as a part of the consent (...) process, were informing clients, and through them clients’ relatives, of the potential implications of the use and linkage of their personal data.MethodsWe used content analysis to analyse publically-available consent and informational materials provided to potential clients of ancestry and direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies to determine what consent is required, what risks associated with participation were highlighted, and whether the consent or notification of third parties was suggested or required.ResultsWe identified four categories of companies providing: 1) services based only on self-reported data, such as personal or family history; 2) services based only on DNA provided by the client; 3) services using both; and 4) services using both that also have a research component. The amount of information provided on the potential issues varied significantly across the categories of companies. ‘Traditional’ ancestry companies showed the greatest awareness of the implications for family members, while companies only asking for DNA focused solely on the client. While in some cases companies included text recommending clients inform their relatives, showing they recognised the issues, often it was located within lengthy terms and conditions or privacy statements that may not be read by potential clients.ConclusionsWe recommend that companies should make it clearer that clients should inform third parties about their plans to participate, that third parties’ data will be provided to companies, and that that data will be linked to other databases, thus raising privacy and issues on use of data. We also suggest investigating whether a ‘generational consent’ should be created that would include more than just the individual in decisions about participating in genetic investigations. (shrink)