Video presentations in English

Methodology of Scientific Research


LUMEN RSACVP2020 – Antonio SANDU: On Euthanasia

Paper presented within the Thursday Meetings with Bioethics and Applied Ethics in conjunction with 14TH LUMEN CONFERENCE RSACVP2020 | MAY 22-23, 2020 | IASI, ROMANIA by Antonio SANDU (”Stefan cel Mare” University, Suceava, Romania & Lumen Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences) – ”On Euthanasia”.

The paper analyses euthanasia as acceptable practice from ethical point of view. The results of some focus groups carried out in the NE region of Romania are presented, aiming at identifying significant semantic categories. Among them: ethical acceptability, the impact of religion, the possible legalization of euthanasia, the euthanasia of people unable to consent, including minors. Language of presentation: Romanian.


Bioethics and Medicalization of Society


WCB 2020 Antonio Sandu: Bioethical Acceptability of Euthanasia in Greek Orthodox Religious Context

Title: BIOETHICAL ACCEPTABILITY OF EUTHANASIA IN THE GREEK ORTHODOX RELIGIOUS CONTEXT
Authors:

  • Prof. PhD. Hab. Antonio SANDU (Professor PhD Head of Department of Law and Public Administration “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania & Director of LUMEN Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences, Iasi, Romania, “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania & LUMEN Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences, Iasi, Romania)
  • PhD. Ana FRUNZĂ (Researcher in Philosophy, LUMEN Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences; “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania)
  • PhD. student Alexandra HUIDU (Researcher, Doctoral School of Sociology, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania; LUMEN Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences, Iasi, Romania)

Presenting: Prof. PhD. Hab. Antonio SANDU
Abstract
Background: Religious affiliation influences decisions about the ethical acceptance of euthanasia. The Greek Orthodox Christian Church expressly opposes the approval of euthanasia; therefore, believers strongly oppose this practice.
Objectives: The paper analyzes the instances of social construction of the acceptability of euthanasia in the Greek Orthodox Christian religious context.
Methods: A series of three focus groups and ten individual interviews were undertaken with people belonging to the Greek Orthodox Christian religion in northeastern Romania. The interviews addressed how people make their decisions about the ethical acceptability of euthanasia and how religious beliefs inspired by Orthodox Christianity are reflected in the decision-making process regarding the acceptability or unacceptability of an extreme medical practice, including interrupting the course of life at the patient’s request. The focus group later watched an artistic film with a strong emotional impact, which presented the opinion of a person with an unbearable medical condition, who decided to resort to euthanasia. The reaction of the participants was observed and the elements of acceptability or unacceptability of euthanasia, as well as the ethical-religious background of the decision, were questioned again. Data analysis was performed using the Grounded Theory method.
Findings: The emotional factor and discursive contingency of the reference group significantly contributes to nuancing religious beliefs.
Conclusion: The bioethical discourse on euthanasia should be overtoned to take into account not only religious beliefs, but also the emotional context in which the acceptability of an extreme medical practice is socially constructed.


Antonio Sandu: Medicalization of Social Life

Description: “Medicalization of Social Life in the Context of Covid-19 Pandemic” – Chapter # 3 of the volume “BIOETHICS IN CRISIS OR THE CRISIS OF BIOETHICS? An Anthropology of Pandemic in the Medicalized Society” published at Editura LUMEN, 2020.

“The medicalization of society represents the effect of the “risk society” in practice, a society in which the individuals are readily aware of the various dangers that they feel threatened by. Sometimes we get to the idea of “medicalizing the human condition”, which is nothing than a treatable disorder. Under these conditions, a pandemic causes the entire society to become restricted, the social activity to be shrunk, and to talk of social distancing.”


Antonio Sandu: Virtualization of Social Space. From Pandemic to Infodemic

Description: There are a number of contemporary cosmogonic theories, which we would introduce into what we have called quantum metaphysics, which holds that the current world we live in is actually a simulation. Technological globalization can be analyzed from the perspective of the mutations that occurred in the interpretation of the social space from the traditional one, limited to the geographical coordinates of the interaction, to a delocalized and universalizing one. The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has accentuated this trend. The digital revolution produces a phenomenon of virtualization of social space – in the sense of transferring socializing interactions to virtual environments – with special and somewhat unpredictable consequences for the evolution of being and even the human species. Next, we consider the identification of some constitutive dimensions of the phenomenon of the virtualization of the social space, of its evolutionary tendencies and of the eventual sociopathologies. The cultural space, being essentially cross-cultural, generates a continuous (re) negotiation of the interpretation of the social reality and of the construction of new interpretative models. Understanding the interpretive drift of the concept of social reality in the context of communication virtualization allows us to say that the virtualization of social space has led humanity to explore a sui generis additional dimensions of space, noetic in nature, experienced in the form of instantaneous communication and virtual ubiquity. In this lecture we will address the topic of fake news, which represents a real threat to society and could be considered a public health issue. The fake news campaign that accompanied public communications during the pandemic was named, by the Worls Health Organization, infodemic, considering that its purpose was to generate panic and create social and economic problems, which would seriously overcome the initial public health problem – namely that of the pandemic -, to destabilize both states and global alliances. From an ethical point of view, we must notice the negative impact of infodemic, both on public health and on humanity in general; this can lead to deviations from democracy and human rights and, ultimately, to the dehumanization of society through the emphasis on social anxiety and the exacerbation of desocializing fears, which increase social distancing far beyond the limit of the physical distancing necessary to combat the pandemic.


Antonio Sandu: The Principles of Bioethics and Their Use in Ethical Decision Making

Description: Why is the study of bioethics necessary? […] At present, human society – due to the technological advance on the one hand, but also due to globalization – faces a unique situation from the perspective of its ability to do good or to do harm, due to its constructive or destructive capabilities. Humanity is therefore capable of self-destruction but also of destroying the entire planet. The current threat brought by the Covid-19 crisis reminds us that we are still a fragile humanity who, although it has, apparently, transcended nature, through numerous technological advances, is still vulnerable to such manifestations that nature makes humanity face, and that nature at the same time is vulnerable to the actions of humanity.
Bioethics tries to answer the question: what are or what should be the behaviors, the desirable behaviors of humanity in general, but also of each one of us in particular, in front of situations that each of us has to confront, due to one’s state of health, the participation in health care, on the one hand, but also to the development of technologies which bring with them new threats to humanity, threats which are in addition to the old ones that humanity seeks to diminish or eliminate.


Antonio Sandu: Philosophical Practice in Times of Pandemic

Description: Lecture on “Philosophical Practice in Times of Pandemic” held on the 28th of July 2020 within ICPP 2020 online Conference “Philosophical Practice for Self-knowledge by Means of Intellectual Creativity” Sankt Petersburg, Russia, organized by Russian Association of Philoshophical Practitioners, July, 28-31.
The topics of my speech were on philosophical counseling, perspectives on bioethics and the crisis of bioethics, the medical society, and the role of philosophical counseling / philosophical practice in times of crisis, Virtual PhiloCafe (Virtual Philosophical Cafe) as a model of philosophical practice in times of crisis, the virtualization of social space and its philosophical meanings, as well as the possibilities of conducting online philosophical dialogue.


Autonomy and Informed Consent in the Context of Pandemic

Description: A lecture by Antonio Sandu on Autonomy and Informed Consent in the Context of Pandemic. This represents a chapter from the volume “Bioethics in Crisis or the Crisis of Bioethics? An Anthropology of Pandemic in the Medicalized Society”
“It is important to emphasize that autonomy represents a key to modernity, a perspective on the world that is in fact one of the constitutive values of modern society. Respect for autonomy, as it appears in the Kantian tradition (Kant, 2007; 2010), is based on our confidence that the individual can decide for himself in a political, ethical, and cognitive sense. Of course, we are talking here about situations of autonomy in which the individual manifests himself as autonomous being. Autonomy is a birthright by the fact that we are human beings, but not all human beings have the same degree of autonomy.”

The Romanian version of this book is available at: https://edituralumen.ro/bioetica-in-c…

The English version will be available by the end of August 2020 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other major bookshops in the world.


Ethics in Research and Publication


Antonio Sandu: Elements of Ethics in Science Communication. Publication Ethics

Description: Paper partially presented in the Conference “Teacher Education for Promoting Well-Being in School” | Suceava, 6-7 July 2020

Conference organized by The Association of Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) together with “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Suceava, Romania

An initial version of this paper was published in the volume “Ethics in Research Practice and Innovation”, authored by Antonio Sandu, Ana Frunza and Elena Unguru


Antonio Sandu: Ethical Approach on Scientific Papers

Description: Paper partially presented in the Conference “Teacher Education for Promoting Well-Being in School” | Suceava, 6- 7 July 2020

Conference organized by The Association of Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) together with “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Suceava, Romania

An initial version of this paper was published in the volume “Ethics in Research Practice and Innovation”, authored by Antonio Sandu, Ana Frunza and Elena Unguru


From Transhumanism to the Philosophy of Technology


Antonio Sandu – Virtualisation of Social Space WCP Beijing 2018_part 1

Descriere: Paper presented at World Congress of Philosophy, Beijing China, 2018


Antonio Sandu – Virtualisation of Social Space WCP 2018 Beijing part 2 answers

Descriere: Paper presented at World Congress of Philosophy, Beijing China, 2018


Ethics of Research and Scientific Publication


LUMEN NASHS 2020 – Antonio Sandu: When Academic Freedom Goes Against Political (In)correctness

Description: Virtual presentation within THE 7th LUMEN CONFERENCE NASHS 2020 | JUNE 25-26 | ONLINE CONFERENCE
Presented by: Antonio Sandu (”Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania)
Presentation title: ”When Academic Freedom Goes Against Political (In)correctness”
This presentation was recorded the 17th of June, a day after the criticized law Project was adopted by the Romanian Parliament.
Abstract:

The paper starts from a critical analysis of a proposal to amend the Romanian National Education Law, which prohibits in any educational institution – including universities – the exposure in any form of gender identity theory which states that gender identity does not absolutely coincide with the sex with which the individual was born.
We believe that such a ban limits academic freedom, the freedom of expression, the university autonomy, introduces the premises for censorship of research, making very difficult and practically prohibiting gender studies. This is, in our opinion, intolerable, as long as politics intervenes in the choice of research topics and censors the presentation of scientific theories, even if they are rejected by the majority of the population and possibly by the entire scientific community.
Instead of censoring politically undesirable theories, the epistemological distancing of the researcher from the expressed theories should be supported as well as the expression of the methodological reservation regarding a possible subsequent invalidation of the theory.
From ethical point of view, the delimitation of academic freedom opens the way for discretionary manifestation in education and research and for discrimination on the basis of political opinion or even on the basis of gender criteria or gender orientation.


Antonio Sandu: On Ethical Regulations in Doing Doctoral Research

Description: Paper presented in the International Conference on Ethics in Education and Doctoral Research , organized by the University “Bucovina” from Chernivtsi together with the Faculty of Law from Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University of Ukraine, July 1, 2020. Online conference.


14TH LUMEN CONFERENCE RSACVP2020 | MAY 22-23, 2020 | IASI, ROMANIA


LUMEN RSACVP2020 – Pandemic – Catalyst of the Virtualization of the Social Space

Description: Paper presented at the 14TH LUMEN CONFERENCE RSACVP2020 | MAY 22-23, 2020 | IASI, ROMANIA
by Antonio SANDU („Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania) – ”Pandemic – Catalyst of the Virtualization of the Social Space”


LUMEN RSACVP2020, Iasi, Romania online conference -Plenary Session 2 Antonio Sandu on virtualization

Description: LUMEN RSACVP2020, May 22, Iasi, Romania (online conference) – Plenary Session 2 (Zoom recording)
Plenary Speaker: Prof. PhD. Antonio Sandu (”Stefan cel Mare” University from Suceava, Romania)
Paper title: Alternative Worlds: The Virtualization of Social Space
Abstract:

The idea of virtual reality has gained ground in recent years in the form of augmented reality, special glasses for virtual reality and games like “second life”, in which we have a meeting with Another who does not have a physical projection, but is just a digital avatar, an incipient form of Artificial Intelligence or even another player. Essentially, the virtual world is an alternative world to the one we live in and involves the development of a digital interaction with other entities that exist in the virtual space in the form of avatars – digital extensions of real people – or completely digital characters without correspondence in the physical world. In this paper we aim to identify some constitutive dimensions of the phenomenon of the virtualization of social space, of its evolutionary tendencies and of eventual sociopathologies. We will follow the interpretive adrift of the terms reality and social interaction, respectively, in the sense of deconstructing the traditional anthropological perspective on the human being, which we see as limited by our own corporality and proximity, in the context of communication globalization and generalization of teleaction.


7th LUMEN CONFERENCE NASHS2020 | JUNE 25-26, 2020 | ONLINE CONFERENCE


LUMEN NASHS 2020, June, 25 – Plenary Session # 2 – Antonio Sandu & Bogdan Popoveniuc

Description: THE 7th CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN LUMEN INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE NASHS 2020 | JUNE 25-26 | ONLINE CONFERENCE
Plenary Session # 2 (Zoom recording)
Plenary Speakers:
PhD. Prof. Hab. Antonio Sandu, “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania
Speech title: “When Academic Freedom Goes Against Political (In)correctness”
PhD. Prof. Hab. Bogdan Popoveniuc, “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania
Speech title: “Moral Psychology and the Ideologies’ Principle of Independence”


Antonio Sandu: Post-truth and Post-immediate Society. Some Considerations on Postmodern Knowledge

Description: THE 7th CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN LUMEN INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE NASHS 2020 | JUNE 25-26 | ONLINE CONFERENCE
Short considerations as commentaries at the end of one of the regular virtual sessions.


15TH LUMEN International Online Scientific Conference CATES2020 | November 27-28, 2020 | Romania


LUMEN CATES 2020 – Public Perception on the Importance of Ethics Counseling

Description: Paper presented at the 15TH LUMEN International Online Scientific Conference CATES2020 | November 27-28, 2020 | Targoviste, Romania

Presented by: Antonio SANDU (“Stefan cel Mare” University from Suceava, Romania) | “Public Perception on the Importance of Ethics Counseling and the Role of Ethics Counselor in Public Organizations”

Abstract:
Romanian legislation requires the existence of an ethics counselor in public organizations, to evaluate and report cases of violations of ethics in the organization, but also to provide support in overcoming ethical dilemmas faced by the members of the organization. Although the existence and the role of ethics counselor in organizations have been regulated for more than 10 years, in many of the Romanian public organizations his activity is held at a level of form without content, the ethics counselor being generally a person appointed from the Human Resources department, whose attributions are established in the job description, but whose activity is little known by the members of the organization. This research aims to assess public perception of ethics in organizations, and in this paper we will present the results of the research – conducted in the NE region of Romania in October-November 2019, on a representative sample of 700 people from the studied region. Regarding the existence of ethics counseling and the role of the ethics counselor in public organizations, among those who work in a public institution, 45% say they know who is the person who has ethics counseling responsibilities within the organization in which they work, and 55% say they do not know who this ethics counselor is and what is his activity.

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Other Papers Presented in Conferences


Antonio Sandu: Human Ecology in Times of Virtualization of Social Space

Description: Paper presented within the Ecological Forum “Ecoengineering 3.0” January 28, 2021, Chelyabinsk, Russia

Also translated in Russian.

 What is virtualization of the social space?
 Forms of virtualization of social space
 Transcending human limitations in virtual environment
 Towards a new ecology of cyberspace
 Human ecology of virtual interactions
 Ethical dimensions of virtualization of the social space

An initial version of this presentation has been initially published in the volume “Bioetica in criza sau criza bioeticii? O filosofie apandemiei in societatea medicalizata” – soon available in English under the title “Bioethics in Crisis or the Crisis of Bioethics? A Philosophy of the Pandemic in the Medicalized Society”, authored by Prof. PhD. Antonio Sandu.

The Romanian version can be purchased at: https://edituralumen.ro/librarie-edit…

Visit the Lumen Publishing House website to see our latest editorials: https://lumenpublishing.com/

Don’t forget to subscribe to our youtube channel Editura Lumen to be up to date with the latest videos added and to help us offer you the best documentary material and the most adapted to your wishes: https://youtube.com/c/EdituraLumen

#AntonioSandu #virtualization #humanecology