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BIOETHICS DICTIONARY - "J"s
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JAIL
FEVER: A disease that raged in English prisons from the 16th to
the 18th centuries and was caught by many working at
the Old Bailey. The disease has now been recognized as a severe
form of typhoid fever, which ran rampant in the then existing unhygienic
jail conditions. (IP)
JAINISM: The
teachings of Mahavira (see Mahavira). According to these teachings,
the right conduct is achieved by practice of: ahimsa (see ahimsa),
speaking the truth, refraining from theft, chastity, and non-attachment
to worldly things. Jainism also teaches vegetarianism, discouraging
even the consumption of potatoes and onions, because these are held
to contain a multitude of living beings within them. Two branches
of Jainism are Digambara ("sky clad") and Svetambara ("white clad").
As the names indicate, the Digambara had the custom of going about
naked, as an extreme expression of detachment from material things.
The Svetambara, on the other hand, traditionally wear simple white
cloth. (AG)
JAKOBOVITS, LORD RABBI IMMANUEL: In
1955 the doctoral thesis of this then young rabbi created the term
"Jewish medical ethics", which became the title of the first, and
now classic, text on the subject, published in 1959. The comprehensive
treatise traced the development of the Jewish views from antiquity
to the date of publication, calling upon a variety of religious,
historical, medical, legal and philosophic sources. Rabbi Jakobovits
continued his scholarly contributions to the field of modern bioethics,
then in its infancy. In addition to his academic publications he
gave many public lectures throughout the world. He organized seminars
for physicians and other health professionals and was a stimulus
for the growth and development of interest in the field of Jewish
medical ethics. Many of the leading scholars in the field were inspired
by his leadership and considered him their guide and mentor. His
subsequent roles as rabbinic leader in the United States and Great
Britain prevented his active role as a researcher and active scholar
in the field. But he became perhaps the most respected and articulate
spokesman for the Jewish position on ethical issues in biomedical
ethics. He was knighted in 1981 and appointed to the British House
of Lords in 1988, where he spoke frequently on controversial ethical
issues. In 1991 Rabbi Jakobovits was the first recipient of the
Templeton Foundation Award for Progress in Religion. He was responsible
as well for the creation of a Center for Jewish Medical Ethics at
the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva Israel in 1983. He died
in 1999, active to very last days of his life.(SG)
JAMES, W.: (1842-1910)
An American philosopher, psychologist and religious theorist, his
most famous works were The Varieties of Religious Experience and
Pragmatism: a New Name for some Old Ways of Thinking. In the latter
work, he proposed the "pragmatic theory of truth" according to which
a statement's truth or falsity is not determined by whether it reports
real facts in the world, but rather by whether on not it "works".
If believing a statement can help us improve human life, for example,
then it is as true as anything need be. Similarities to Utilitarianism
(qv) are obvious.
James' greatest opponent was Bertrand Russell
(qv), who argued that (1) truth cannot be defined as what works
because some beliefs can work very well while not being true; and
(2) The statement "This statement works" can be true only if it
reports a real fact in the world, ie the fact that the statement
works. So truth is something deeper than working.
Although James was a serious philosopher, his slogan, "Truth is
the cash value of a proposition" unfortunately lead people to think
of him unfairly as just an American who primarily liked money.
Today's "evidence based medicine" contains some
hints of influence from James' pragmatism because what interests
us is not so much the microbiology behind a treatment but the "outcome",
ie whether or not it works.(FL)
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES:
A religious society founded and led by Charles Taze ('Pastor') Russell
in the 1870s. They are distinguished mainly by the belief that the
Kingdom of God began in 1914 and will replace all human governments.
Every Witness preaches this from 'house-to-house'. There are several
million active Witnesses worldwide. (IP)
JENNER, EDWARD: (1749-1823)
British physician and originator of vaccination. As a child he became
familiar with the popular insight that those individuals who contracted
the less virulent cowpox became immune to the deadly smallpox. In
1778 he began collecting material to confirm his conviction concerning
cowpox as a protective virus. He performed a number of experiments
on human subjects where he transferred lymph taken from cowpox lesions
and inoculated healthy individual. These experiments established
that those few vaccinated individuals who did subsequently contract
smallpox suffered only from mild attacks while the majority were
completely immune. The findings were published in the celebrated
'Inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae'
in 1798. All modern methods of preventing certain infectious
diseases by immunological methods trace their ancestry to Jenner's
work. (See IMMUNE SYSTEM, AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE, DEPRESSED IMMUNE RESPONSE,
PASTEUR, LOUIS). (IP)
JESUS, CHRIST: (c.60 BC - c.AD 30) Also called Jesus of Galilee or Jesus of Nazareth, he is the
founder of Christianity, one of the world's largest religions,
and the incarnation of God according to most Christians. His teachings
and deeds are recorded in the New Testament. The basic outlines
of his career and message, however, can be characterized when considered
in the context of 1st-century Judaism. (DM)
JETSAM: Jettisoned
cargo and goods, thrown overboard from tall ships to lighten the
load during storms. (See FLOTSAM) (MP)
JEWISH BIOETHICS: "Jewish
bioethics" can be defined as "bioethics originating in ancient Jewish
texts", or "bioethics as taught by orthodox rabbis", or as "bioethics
as taught by rabbis of all kinds" or as "bioethics as taught by
Jews". All of these definitions are correct, because the only people
who can claim to represent Judaism with more authority than others
are proven and accepted prophets. And although there may be prophets
today, none are proven and accepted.
Jewish bioethics is often thought of as bioethical decisions based
on ancient, holy books like the Bible, the Mishna, the Talmud and
great rabbis like Maimonides (qv), Rabbenu Asher, Rabbi Yosef Karo,
etc. The problem, however, is that experts who know these, and all
other standard Jewish religious sources thoroughly, can come to
totally different opinions on important bioethical issues. Since
they all know the sources, it is clear that the sources are not
what decide the issue. For example, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
accepts brain death; but many rabbis will not regard a patient as
dead before the heart stops beating. Again, although many orthodox
Jews are very strict about abortion, allowing it only when the mother's
life is in certain danger, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, who was a rabbinical
judge in Jerusalem and who may be regarded as "ultra-orthodox" is
quite liberal about abortion and allows it in cases of rape, severe
fetal anomalies, adultery, etc. Again, although perhaps the majority
of rabbis forbid disconnecting a ventilator and thereby allowing
a patient to die, the late Rabbi haim David ha-Levi, who was Chief
Rabbi of Tel Aviv - Yaffo, allowed it, saying that one is not killing
the patient but simply "removing an obstacle to the peaceful departure
of the soul from the body." All these examples show that there is
no unique "Jewish Bioethics", but a variety of opinions.
Indeed, ancient holy sources have nothing to
say about many of today's bioethical questions, like cloning, genetic
screening, GMO's etc. Religious Jewish bioethicists are, therefore,
increasingly basing their opinions on scientific and clinical evidence,
together with human reasoning in response to the international bioethical
debate, and the idea of a uniquely "Jewish" bioethics may be disappearing.(FL)
JIHAD: From
Arabic root j.h.d literally means effort. Any effort on the way
of the faith. It is also included sacrificing one's asserts or life.
The most important Jihad in Islam is fighting against one's own
wrongful moral and behaviors for self-purification. (AB)
JOY: (Old
French joie, from Latin gaudium) Joy is the feeling
and expression of pleasure or delight resulting from a combination
of happy circumstances and openness to exuberant moods. Perhaps
unlike some other varieties of pleasure, there is little ethical
danger in an over-indulgence in joy, evidenced for example by descriptions
of increasingly joyous contemplation of God for those reaching a
more enlightened state in Christian and Eastern spiritual practices.
(See HAPPINESS, PLEASURE) (MP)
JP:
Justice of the Peace.
JUDICIAL
ACTION: Used for discussions of the role of the judiciary in
bioethical decision making. (DM)
JUDEO-CHRISTIAN: Although it is common to refer to the "Judeo-Christian tradition",
it is not clear that Judaism and Christianity have anything in common
which is not shared by all religions. While the divinity of Jesus
of Natzrat is essential to Christianity, Jews all over the world
are united in denying that Jesus was more than a human being.
Christianity is a religion, open to everyone, who need only believe
in certain essential principles and, perhaps, undergo a ceremoney
of baptism, in order to be accepted. Judaism, on the other hand,
is not a religion but a people (many of whom may be atheists or
agnostics), with a widely -- although not universally -- shared
loyalty to one another, to the Land of Israel, and to certain holy
places, like the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Cave of the Fathers
and Mothers in Hevron.
Both Judaism and Christianity accept the Old Testament of the Bible,
but only the Christians accept the New Testament. The Christian
acceptance of the Old Testament, moreover, is highly conditional.
Christians believe that although God at first chose the Jews as
the Chosen People, when the Jews failed to fulfil certain conditions,
God revoked this choice and subsititutd the Chosen People with a
fellowship of all those who believe in Jesus. At the same time,
most sects of Christians believe that God cancelled many commandments
in the Old Testament, including the requirement of neonatal male
circumcision, the prohibition of eating pork and certain other foods,
the prohibition of work on Shabat (Saturday) etc.
Only certain sects of Christians believe that the Jews are still
the Chosen People, and that Jesus will not return until the Jews
all return to the Land of Israel. Both Judaism and Christianity
teach virtues like simplicity, loving one's neighbor, unselfishness,
etc. But these are not unique to a "Judeo-Christian Tradition" because
they are also taught in BUDDHISM, HINDUISM, etc. (FL)
JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL: Legally
trained officers who have the power to adjudicate the strategic
targeting of bombs and other war tactics with reference to the international
laws of war such as the Geneva Conventions. Modern surveillance
technology and the precision of smart bombs have allowed intimate
knowledge of the consequences of strategic actions. Legal approval
before the employment of weapons has become a powerful tool to protect
generals from legal repercussions and to prevent atrocities such
as collateral damages. (See COLLATERAL DAMAGE) (MP)
JUNKIE: A
drug addict, especially one who regularly self-injects heroin (a
slang term for heroin or other narcotics being "junk"). The junkie’s
daily life is dominated by efforts to feed their dependency
the pursuit of money, organizing of suppliers, dealing and administeringod
of the high. The heroin junkie lifestyle - the criminal element,
unsavory associates, non-sterile street conditions, impure or unknoresent
as great a risk as the drug itself, and is reinforced by criminalization
and intolerance. (See ADDICTION, HEROIN, HEROIN INJECTING ROOMS)
(IP+MP)
JUS AD BELLUM: (Latin:
"Justice in going to war"). Refers to conditions for the justification
of the resort to war. These include just cause, right intention
and last resort. (See JUST WAR THEORY, JUS IN BELLO) (MP)
JUS IN BELLO: (Latin:
"Justice in warfare"). Refers to justice and justifiability in the
conduct of war and how warfare may permissably be conducted. The
Geneva and Hague Conventions were concerned with such conditions
of war conduct rather than justifying the initial resort to war.
(See JUST WAR THEORY, JUS AD BELLUM) (MP)
JUST WAR THEORY: Just
war theory attempts to identify the conditions and actions which
justify the use of war, on the assumption that wars are an inevitable
consequence of a multi-state international system. A supposedly
"Just War" (jus ad bellum) must be characterized by the following
conditions: a) just cause, such as the protection of human rights,
b) right intention, which should be the establishment of peace,
c) appropriate proportionality, with just ends outweighing the means,
d) the defensive rather than offensive position, e) use of force
only as a last resort after diplomacy and economic measures, f)
competent authority and leadership, g) a high probability of success,
h) limitations on the use of excessive force, i) non-use of conscripted
or child soldiers, j) non-use of internationally maligned tactics
or weapons, for example adherence to all the Geneva Conventions,
and k) the use of careful discrimination for the prevention of innocent
casualties. (See INSTITUTION OF WAR, PEACE ENFORCEMENT). (MP)
JUSTICE: 1.
fair, just conduct, self-authority in maintenance of equity, in
bioethics = love of others 2. judicial proceedings, brought to justice,
court of justice, magistrate, judge treating fairly personified
in art as a goddess holding balanced scales or a sword with sometimes
veiled eyes portraying impartiality. In 11 th Century,
the name Justitia was applied in a general way to persons
charged with the administration of the law 3. theological quality
of being morally righteous, serving the divine law and exhibition
of this principle in action in the sense of "one of the four cardinal
virtues" (IP+DM)
A basic ethical principle in bioethics, fairness
in distribution or what is deserved and what is due to a person.
(JA)
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