Masters Degrees (Philosophy)

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    An ethical analysis of the reimbursement requirement and practice in human research in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Engelbrecht, Sidney Frank; van Niekerk, Anton A.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy. Applied Ethics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The practice of paying reimbursements to research participants continues to provoke discussion and disagreement among researchers and members of research ethics committees. The problem lies in the suspicion that reimbursement, especially in clinical trials, where such payment may result in undue incentive or potential coercive strategies. This practice might compromise informed consent by coercing or unduly influencing individuals to enrol in studies against their better judgment. The promise of monetary reimbursement might be detrimental to voluntary decision-making to participate in research regardless of the potential risks or harms. However, the general rule is that research participants ought to receive reimbursement for their time, inconvenience, and actual expenses that they incurred as a direct result of their participation in research. The calculation of time is based on an hourly rate for unskilled labour, which is R23 per hour (Statista, 2022). Scholars agree with this “wage payment model” approach to determine the hourly rate to pay research participants for their time (Moodley, 2003: 677). This study, therefore, aims to conduct an ethical analysis of the reimbursement policy and practice in human research with a specific focus on health research. In particular, it considers the current justifications for reimbursement for research participants prescribed by South African health law regulations. In addition, it determines a literature review on whether this practice is more prevalent in and perpetuates the use of marginalised and most vulnerable research participants from low-income communities because they are at greater risk of harm or exploitation. This study poses the question of whether it is ethically acceptable to allow excessive amounts of reimbursement for participation in health research within the South African context, with specific consideration of high-risk research. This study attempts to show that individual research participants ultimately decide to accept any payments despite the potential risks associated with the proposed research. However, it remains the responsibility of Research Ethics Committees to approve an acceptable risk-benefit ratio.
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    Farming is business: rethinking commercialization of farming in the Aminuis communal area, Omaheke region, Namibia
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-08) Tjiharuka, David; Hattingh, Johan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy. Applied Ethics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To redress the inequality created by the colonial regimes, i.e. the German and South African colonial administrations in the Namibian agricultural fraternity, the sovereign Republic of Namibia Government introduced commercial farming in the communal areas five years after independence, in 1995. The farming system, specifically sedentary ranching (in distinction from nomadic farming), adopted and practiced for the commercialization of farming in the Aminuis communal area resulted, however, in social, economic, and ecological problems. Soil bareness and infertility, poor vegetation growth, disappearance of vegetation and wildlife species, and bush encroachment are the environmental impacts of the sedentary ranching system. On the other hand, tension and conflict, and physical fights are the social impacts of the sedentary ranching system. To investigate the root cause, nature, depth and extent of these social, economic, and ecological problems, this research deployed a mixed methodology i.e. desktop study and qualitative interviews. The research discovered that the privatization of communal land, overstocking and overgrazing of grazing land, homesteads mushrooming, and deforestation are the basic characteristics of the sedentary ranching system that have caused the environmental degradation and social dysfunction. Further, these essential components are underpinned by survival, augmentation of livelihood, pastoralism, social identity, and individual dignity values. Hence, to restore the environmental quality and social cohesion, the farmers and residents have to reexamine their values and alter them. In this study a proposal is formulated that can guide the community of Aminuis in this process of re-examination.
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    Ethics of governance: exploring the role of non-executive directors in corporate sustainability performance
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-06) Chembeya, Edina Matamba; Hattingh, JP; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy. Applied ethics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis reviews the role of non-executive directors (NEDs) in corporate sustainability performance. Corporate sustainability has emerged as a changing landscape, and the role of the board and its directors has become more pertinent. Hence, non-executive directors are a significant addition to boards. Moreover, they bring impartiality and external expertise to board decisions. The continued surge in sustainability and governance scandals across the globe has called for NEDs to be vigilant in providing oversight. Against this backdrop, questions about how scandals continue to occur under their watch have been raised. Through a literature review, the study explores the perceived role of NEDs in sustainability performance and provides insights into board attributes that facilitate effective NED oversight. The thesis also draws on agency theory, stakeholder theory, and resource dependence theory, all of which are relevant in analysing the duty of NEDs, the importance of competence, and the management of stakeholders. It also explores how current changes and trends have transformed sustainability oversight and board makeup. Overall, the study examines whether the changing sustainability landscape has had the same effect on NEDs' oversight of sustainability issues.
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    Therapeutic prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder: an ethical analysis and proposal of a bioethical framework
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Seedat, Soraya; van Niekerk, Anton A; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy. Applied Ethics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Preventive interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) hold significant promise for preventing, modifying, and delaying the development of the disorder. Even when preventive interventions have incontrovertible evidence of efficacy and safety, and are widely available in clinical and community settings, which is not yet the status quo in the field of traumatic stress, there are unique ethical and pragmatic concerns to delivering early interventions, given the fact that there is a narrow time window of opportunity to intervene. Amidst the myriad of ethical complexities facing preclinical interventions for PTSD, of primary importance are the inherent ethical challenges linked to false-positive identification and the risks linked to identifying at-risk individuals, and the impact of memory modulating interventions on memory recall and personal identity, and the social implications associated with early intervention. In deliberating these issues, this thesis distills the current state-of-theart of prevention science in PTSD. Innovative interventions that have been investigated, and those in the development pipeline, carry with them unique ethical conundrums that can only be properly addressed and resolved through reflection of the range of ethical and moral theories and principles that inform mental health research and care. While there is a significant body of scholarship on the preventive science of PTSD, and on the ethical quandaries of memory modulation, addressing the wider attendant ethical issues of preventing PTSD through the development of consensus bioethical frameworks, co-produced by mental health researchers, clinicians, other health care providers, and individuals with lived experience of trauma and their families, will allow for true advances to be made towards optimising the benefits and minimising the risks of preventive interventions.
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    The deliberate design argument for the predictive success of science
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-07) Knoetze, Fred; De Villiers-Botha, Tanya; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis I offer an antirealist, non-truth-based account for the predictive success of science. This is in direct contrast to classic scientific realism, in which predictive success is attributed to the approximate truth of scientific theories. I start by giving an overview of the history of scientific realism, the role of the no-miracles argument and several critiques of scientific realism. The critiques include both traditional antirealist arguments against realism, like the underdetermination of theory by evidence, and more contemporary critiques like the base-rate fallacy. Following these critiques, I begin to lay out an alternative to a truth-based account for predictive success. Instead of focusing on the approximate truth of our theories I suggest that the scientific method itself acts as a kind of cognitive tool. I define what a cognitive tool is and how it might develop at the hand of three theories: radical constructivism, evolutionary epistemology, and pragmatism. I argue that the scientific method as a cognitive tool is aimed at not delivering approximately true theories, but rather at delivering theories that enable us to reliably causally influence the external world. Having established a potential alternative account for the predictive success of science, I elaborate on what I call the deliberate-design argument. I distinguish this from other antirealist explanations, specifically van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism and surrealism. I then establish the metaphysical, epistemological, and semantic stances of this explanation for predictive success. Metaphysically, I argue that the mind-independent world is primarily causally accessible. Epistemically, I argue that we can know our theories can lead to predictive success but not that they are approximately true. Semantically, I argue that the primary purpose of theories is to provide reproducible steps for the successful causal influence of external reality. I then address some anticipated objections, including: whether the scientific method selects for anything but approximate truth, the value Stellenbosch of novel predictive success for establishing a theory’s approximate truth and, lastly, the threat of epistemic relativism. Ultimately, this thesis is intended to argue against classical scientific realism and the role approximate truth plays in its explanation for predictive success. The deliberate design argument is intended as an antirealist alternative for predictive success that does not require our theories to be approximately true of the external world.