• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.411-433
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• 1998

This paper examines how Nietzsche, criticizing anti-naturalist philosophies, reformulated concepts of nature and human nature, and revaluated them from the perspective of naturalism. Especially, it focuses on his task for naturalistic ethics to naturalize nature and to place man back into nature. This paper also tries to reinterpret his attempt to transfer the concept of justice from the metaphysical realm to the naturalistic one, which seems to give some important insights to develop theory of environmental justice, while pointing out some limitations in his naturalistic concept of justice.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.137
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• pp.131-149
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• 2016

The main purpose of this paper is to inquire into Johnson's defence of naturalistic ethics, and show how it could escape the intractable conundrum that has bothered moral philosophy ever since the early 20th century. Johnson shares the deconstructivist stance in claiming that moral theories are largely metaphorical constructs, and thus their claim to absoluteness is ungrounded. However, Johnson breaks with deconstructivist philosophers by offering a need for a constructive inquiry into "moral understanding." Then, Johnson's recent discussions are more concerned with moral fundamentalism in which he argues, is not only cognitively incorrect but immoral. It is incorrect in that it relies on the false assumptions on human cognition, and is immoral in that it shuts off any moral discussions. Instead, Johnson sees moral experience as a matter of moral deliberation in which we attempt "dramatic rehearsals" in Dewey's terms. Johnson's constructive offer in moral philosophy reminds us of "the size of moral theory," which fits human moral understanding as an embodied being, and this presents a third constructive way over the dichotomous conundrum of moral philosophy between traditional absolutism and nihilistic deconstructivism.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.1 no.2 s.2
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• pp.291-309
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• 2001

Let us critique the common notion that ethical examination retards the development of science and technology. First, I shall reformulate such a notion in the following statements: 'To survive the competitive society, we must develop science and technology before others do. It will cost too much time to examine ethically the influence of developing science and technology. Therefore, we cannot but suspend the ethical matters until we have developed science and technology.' I will then show that even if we reconstruct the above argument in a deductively valid form, the second premise is not necessarily true and that we cannot accept the conclusion because the meaning of 'competing for better lives', in the first premise, is diverse. Especially if we are to take into account all the areas of ethics and base them upon the autonomous ethics of democratic societies, it cannot be concluded that ethics is an enemy of developing science and technology. In addition, I will argue that our moral considerations must be based upon autonomous ethics in order to make the development of science and technology contribute to enhancing the desirable science culture. In the midst of making the above argument, it is proposed that the title of the 1aw of bio-ethics be changed, for it has a mistaken implication that acting against ethics results in legal punishments.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.172-178
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• 2012

Data from clinical studies are needed for psychiatrists to make quick and scientific decisions based on the best available evidence in clinical settings. Various methods of clinical studies are useful for clinicians to have reliable answers to unmet clinical needs. Although randomized controlled trials may provide high-quality information about major issues, well-designed, naturalistic and observational studies often give us unbiased explanation for real-world phenomena. Adequate selection of clinical variables and appropriate number of participants are key factors of well-designed clinical studies. Statistical methods can add an extra dimension to initial design of clinical studies. Given ethical issues in clinical studies on psychiatric disorders, special regards should be paid to participants' ability to provide informed consents. New strategies of clinical studies need to be developed to meet clinical needs and protect the rights and welfare of study participants.