Philosophy and Social Studies

This paper presents a study of the current First Language (L1) Curriculum in Compulsory Education (Preschool, Primary School and Junior High School) in Greece. Specifically, we examine the extent of the Curriculum's modernisation, in the framework of new language-teaching orientations as defined by multiliteracy pedagogy and multimodality theory. First, we will argue for the close connection between the sociocultural conception of language and communication and multimodality theory and multiliteracy pedagogy. Then we will try to answer the question: Is language and literacy redefined in the latest Greek Curriculum (2003) away from earlier conceptions suggesting a narrow construal of literacy as a set of skills to more dynamic ones suggesting a view of language and literacy as social practices? This paper discusses language teaching and literacy teaching, considering that since literacy conveys a broader scope than the terms "reading" and "writing", it permits a more unified discussion of relationships between readers, writers, texts, culture and language learning. The focus on literacy, by studying reading and writing in their social contexts of use, frames reading and writing as complementary dimensions of written communication, rather than as utterly distinct linguistic and cognitive processes .

This paper focuses on the dialogic practices of a group of educational action research participants. It discusses the requirements necessary for dialogue to enhance the critical orientation of action research. Drawing on two areas of scholarship, dialogue studies and poststructural discourse analysis, we made a critical discourse analysis on the dialogic practices of a group of teachers and post-graduate students who conducted action research. By investigating the extent to which the participants in an action research challenge and problematise their personal tacit knowledge, we formulate a proposal for analysing their dialogic practices, as a process that could really empower them.

This paper presents a study of the current First Language (L1) Curriculum in Compulsory Education (Preschool, Primary School and Junior High School) in Greece. Specifically, we examine the extent of the Curriculum's modernisation, in the framework of new language-teaching orientations as defined by multiliteracy pedagogy and multimodality theory. First, we will argue for the close connection between the sociocultural conception of language and communication and multimodality theory and multiliteracy pedagogy. Then we will try to answer the question: Is language and literacy redefined in the latest Greek Curriculum (2003) away from earlier conceptions suggesting a narrow construal of literacy as a set of skills to more dynamic ones suggesting a view of language and literacy as social practices? This paper discusses language teaching and literacy teaching, considering that since literacy conveys a broader scope than the terms “reading” and “writing”, it permits a more unified disc...

The main aim of this paper is to illustrate the process through which curriculum development utilizing critical action research can contribute in the democratization in education. So it focuses on the potential of the interaction between teachers and students through developing cooperative and participatory practices in the context of conducting action research. All the specific examples presented in this paper are derived from the Greek educational system which is fully-controlled and highly-centralised. This choice makes the argument presented in the paper stronger: even in our times when in most western countries the neo-liberal policies in education are dominant and impose homogenisation, centralisation, austere accountability, and the disempowerment of teachers, there is still room for freedom, where teachers and students can interact, reflect and judge in the classroom, where the real curriculum can be developed. And –as we try to show in the paper- critical action research ca...

The basic aim of this paper is to specify in what extent the current L1 curricula of compulsory education in Greece incorporate students' subjectivities (their lived experiences, views, beliefs, their interpretation of the world) fostering agency or opt for the reproduction of the ...

Background-Platelet hyperactivity induced by inflammation is a known risk factor for atherosclerosis and thrombosis, but its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Methods and Results-The signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) was activated in collagen-stimulated platelets. Activated STAT3 served as a protein scaffold to facilitate the catalytic interaction between the kinase Syk and the substrate PLCγ2 to enhance collagen-induced calcium mobilization and platelet activation. The same interaction of STAT3 with Syk and PLCγ2 was also detected in HEK293 cells transfected with cDNAs for Syk and PLCγ2, and stimulated with interleukin-6 (IL-6). Pharmacological inhibition of STAT3 blocked

Genetic tests for cancer predisposition involve complex issues not only in terms of expertise and medical potential but also in terms of their moral import on patients or examinees and their  families. The paper explores a model of ethical analysis, which aims at the construction of a normative framework within which ethical considerations regarding genetic clinical research, including  cancer genetics,  can be adequately framed and addressed. It reconsiders and critically assesses the role of fundamental principles in bioethical reasoning, particularly those of respect for personal autonomy, justice, beneficence and non-maleficence, regarding the acquisition, access and control of genetic information. It investigates their modal structure, on the basis of which it defends an order of priority in cases of conflict between them in actual cases.  Reliance on fundamental principles, as the barebones of  an adequate moral framework for decision-making, meets hard ethical issues regarding intra-familial dynamics and professional duties, while it also facilitates choices in research settings. 

Key words: Bioethics, genetic information, data protection, genetic privacy, patient autonomy, informed consent, justice, beneficence, non-maleficence

Bioethics and a Contemporary Critique of Praxis.
Reflections on Ethics in the Era of Biotechnology



The paper attempts a critical assessment of the methodological status of bioethics as a normative endeavour aiming at the moral evaluation of forms of practice made possible through the advances in the biomedical sciences and biotechnology. Firstly, the emergence of bioethics is unraveled and socio-historical factors that contributed to its rise are reconstructed. Secondly, its methodological continuity with normative ethical theory is investigated  and defended. Against a somewhat dominant tendency in the field  to view bioethics as a form of “applied ethics”, thereby aiming at “applying” received moral principles to cases, it is argued that theoretical analysis and justification is indispensable if it is to adequately sustain its status as a normative enterprise. The interdisciplinary work in bioethics acquires unity, cohesion and practical relevance through its methodological continuity with moral philosophy. In this context, classical topoi of the latter are explored, and a line of argument is invoked that draws from themes of Kant’s practical philosophy. The “axiom of autonomy”, relevant in bioethical reasoning, is reconstructed along Kantian lines. Against some contemporary atomistic reductions to individual preferential choice, or second-order rational choosing, autonomy is conceptually linked with “universal self-legislation”, ie. it is reconstructed as a formal constraint that shows which principles can be adopted by all (autonomy as a constitutive requirement in moral thinking derived from the act of universalization, characteristic of moral thinking ). Lastly, in the light of criteria of moral deliberation derived from the categorical framework of (moral) autonomy, certain substantial moral considerations are  defended, regarding genetic and biotechnological interventions, and the moral limits of such interventions are explored.

Advance directives are conceptualised as a means of increasing “patient autonomy”, as they enforce individuals’ power of choice over a post-competence dying process. There is, however, controversy over their moral force. Rebecca Dresser and John Robertson offer a conceptual argument grounded in epistemological considerations concerning personhood which challenges their authority. Roland Dworkin defends forcefully “precedent autonomy” in planning post-competence medical care. This paper examines the above opposing theses and assesses their main arguments. Limitations are detected in both. Regarding the former, its conceptualisation of the notion of personhood is found to be problematic, and regarding the latter, its conception of individual autonomy is found to be too narrow. An alternative route is explored by reconstructing Kant’s conception of moral autonomy. It provides a framework for moral reasoning, from which certain contemporary understandings of autonomy as a right, as a re...

The paper  addresses some main ethical challenges confronting human agency in the current time of covid-19 pandemic. It defends a normative framework of fundamental ethical principles relevant both in the field of clinical bioethics and public health ethics. It argues for the normative continuity between these two spheres of moral reasoning about action, and offers grounds for meeting seeming tensions between them. It particularly focuses on public health provision and examines the moral legitimacy of different kinds of mandates, from the standpoint of the demands of justice. Prima facie conflicts between individual rights and public health provision as a public good are addressed and dismantled, from the standpoint of an obligation-based account of human agency. The latter provides solid ground for the demand of living together under  conditions of  freedom, mutual respect, justice, care and solidarity, from the standpoint of all. Our social relationships presuppose the force of mutual obligations in enacting our duties, from which the requirement of  mutual respect of our fundamental rights derives.

The paper  addresses some main ethical challenges confronting human agency in the current time of covid-19 pandemic. It defends a normative framework of fundamental ethical principles relevant both in the field of clinical bioethics and public health ethics. It argues for the normative continuity between these two spheres of moral reasoning about action, and offers grounds for meeting seeming tensions between them. It particularly focuses on public health provision and examines the moral legitimacy of different kinds of mandates, from the standpoint of the demands of justice. Prima facie conflicts between individual rights and public health provision as a public good are addressed and dismantled, from the standpoint of an obligation-based account of human agency. The latter provides solid ground for the demand of living together under  conditions of  freedom, mutual respect, justice, care and solidarity, from the standpoint of all. Our social relationships presuppose the force of mutual obligations in enacting our duties, from which the requirement of  mutual respect of our fundamental rights derives.