Background: Deep sedation, euthanasia and therapeutic relentlessness lead us today to rethink the paradigm of life and the contingency of human existence. Between therapeutic relentlessness, the unreasonable care whic...Background: Deep sedation, euthanasia and therapeutic relentlessness lead us today to rethink the paradigm of life and the contingency of human existence. Between therapeutic relentlessness, the unreasonable care which uses heavy therapeutic means which are often disproportionate to the expected benefit, namely keeping alive a patient whose condition is considered medically hopeless;and euthanasia which would precipitate the process of death would be sedation in the terminal phase of the illness. Should doctors and families of comatose patients decide the “life” and “death” of their patients? For anti-euthanasia associations, doctors, relatives of terminally ill patients and the State itself, if they accept the principle of euthanasia, they are “murderers”, while for pro-euthanasists, the dignity of the human being would recommend that the days of patients in situations considered critical be shortened, to avoid unnecessary suffering and humiliation. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was carried out to identify relevant articles relating to euthanasia, dysthanasia and sedation in the terminal phase of illness. The search was conducted in French or English in three databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct. Objectives: The objectives of this article are: 1) define the terminologies and concepts of palliative sedation, deep sedation, deep and continuous sedation until death, euthanasia and dysthanasia;2) present aspects of the meaning of life and the human person in African cultures;and 3) propose an ethical reflection on the value of life. Results: After precisely defining the concepts of euthanasia, dysthanasia and sedation, this research presented the African anthropological and ethical approach to the mysteries of life and death. Conclusion: With this in mind, the golden rule of medicine always remains as such “Primum non nocere”.展开更多
It is an undeniable fact that the success or the failure of any given society or community of human beings depends largely on who controls the affairs of that group.A leader without a clear vision and setting objectiv...It is an undeniable fact that the success or the failure of any given society or community of human beings depends largely on who controls the affairs of that group.A leader without a clear vision and setting objectives simply drags the group being led into turmoil,while a good leadership paves the way to upward movement of a group of human beings under such a leadership.Searching for a model of good leadership becomes then a serious need in any human society since success is desired by everybody.This study has therefore searched for a recommendable or model of good leadership in the light of Exodus 18:12-27 and African culture.The biblical text was studied as a narrative peace dealing with the change of leadership style by Moses,the ancient leader of the Israelites.He changed from the sole-actor style of leadership to a collaborative and democratic type due to the good advice given to him by Jethro,his father-in-law.This type,in which there was decentralisation of leadership authority,was found to be beneficial to all involved,because the work of the leader(Moses)was made lighter and the led got quicker services.African concepts of leadership were also studied,and it was found out that the African/Igbo democratic style is highly recommendable because it is caring;it has good“listening ears”and excludes dictatorship,without degenerating to the laissez-faire type of leadership.Of the various types of leadership styles examined,the democratic,collaborative type ranks first as recommendable.The Jesus-model of leadership as entailing love and service rather than exploitation,as well as the transparency model of leadership offered by St.Paul in the NT,present themselves as models of good leadership.A good leader serves the interest of the group under his/her charge and not his or her selfish and nepotistic interest.展开更多
The African cultural universe is quite replete with vivid imagery and condensed wisdom of the ways of man and nature gleaned over the years. Gerontocracy, governance by the elderly, an adopted mode of government by mo...The African cultural universe is quite replete with vivid imagery and condensed wisdom of the ways of man and nature gleaned over the years. Gerontocracy, governance by the elderly, an adopted mode of government by most African communities, mostly has its wisdom reflected in proverbs. Proverbs then become an administrative tool to resolve conflict among warring parties, communities or persons. In this paper, one of the objectives is to showcase instances of proverbs serving as tools for conflict resolution in D.O. Fagunwa＇s Yoruba novel entitled Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo IrunmQl~, which Abioye （1989） has translated as Le preux chasseur dans la for^t infest^e de demons （The Forest of a Thousand Demons）. Another objective is to study the translational strategies employed by Abioye to successfully translate the rich cultural African worldview encapsulated in Yoruba proverbs into French, a non-African language.展开更多
BEFORE Ezemaduka Anastasia Ngozi arrived in China in 2004, she was convinced that the East Asian country was full of ＂short guys.＂ She also took care to keep her distance from Chinese airport employees - in case the...BEFORE Ezemaduka Anastasia Ngozi arrived in China in 2004, she was convinced that the East Asian country was full of ＂short guys.＂ She also took care to keep her distance from Chinese airport employees - in case they unleashed their kungfu on her. But as the years unfolded, living in China made her realize how ridiculous her former impression of the country had been. The eastern giant wasn＇t as mysterious and scary as she had assumed from watching television at home in Nigeria.展开更多
文摘Background: Deep sedation, euthanasia and therapeutic relentlessness lead us today to rethink the paradigm of life and the contingency of human existence. Between therapeutic relentlessness, the unreasonable care which uses heavy therapeutic means which are often disproportionate to the expected benefit, namely keeping alive a patient whose condition is considered medically hopeless;and euthanasia which would precipitate the process of death would be sedation in the terminal phase of the illness. Should doctors and families of comatose patients decide the “life” and “death” of their patients? For anti-euthanasia associations, doctors, relatives of terminally ill patients and the State itself, if they accept the principle of euthanasia, they are “murderers”, while for pro-euthanasists, the dignity of the human being would recommend that the days of patients in situations considered critical be shortened, to avoid unnecessary suffering and humiliation. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was carried out to identify relevant articles relating to euthanasia, dysthanasia and sedation in the terminal phase of illness. The search was conducted in French or English in three databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct. Objectives: The objectives of this article are: 1) define the terminologies and concepts of palliative sedation, deep sedation, deep and continuous sedation until death, euthanasia and dysthanasia;2) present aspects of the meaning of life and the human person in African cultures;and 3) propose an ethical reflection on the value of life. Results: After precisely defining the concepts of euthanasia, dysthanasia and sedation, this research presented the African anthropological and ethical approach to the mysteries of life and death. Conclusion: With this in mind, the golden rule of medicine always remains as such “Primum non nocere”.
文摘It is an undeniable fact that the success or the failure of any given society or community of human beings depends largely on who controls the affairs of that group.A leader without a clear vision and setting objectives simply drags the group being led into turmoil,while a good leadership paves the way to upward movement of a group of human beings under such a leadership.Searching for a model of good leadership becomes then a serious need in any human society since success is desired by everybody.This study has therefore searched for a recommendable or model of good leadership in the light of Exodus 18:12-27 and African culture.The biblical text was studied as a narrative peace dealing with the change of leadership style by Moses,the ancient leader of the Israelites.He changed from the sole-actor style of leadership to a collaborative and democratic type due to the good advice given to him by Jethro,his father-in-law.This type,in which there was decentralisation of leadership authority,was found to be beneficial to all involved,because the work of the leader(Moses)was made lighter and the led got quicker services.African concepts of leadership were also studied,and it was found out that the African/Igbo democratic style is highly recommendable because it is caring;it has good“listening ears”and excludes dictatorship,without degenerating to the laissez-faire type of leadership.Of the various types of leadership styles examined,the democratic,collaborative type ranks first as recommendable.The Jesus-model of leadership as entailing love and service rather than exploitation,as well as the transparency model of leadership offered by St.Paul in the NT,present themselves as models of good leadership.A good leader serves the interest of the group under his/her charge and not his or her selfish and nepotistic interest.
文摘The African cultural universe is quite replete with vivid imagery and condensed wisdom of the ways of man and nature gleaned over the years. Gerontocracy, governance by the elderly, an adopted mode of government by most African communities, mostly has its wisdom reflected in proverbs. Proverbs then become an administrative tool to resolve conflict among warring parties, communities or persons. In this paper, one of the objectives is to showcase instances of proverbs serving as tools for conflict resolution in D.O. Fagunwa＇s Yoruba novel entitled Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo IrunmQl~, which Abioye （1989） has translated as Le preux chasseur dans la for^t infest^e de demons （The Forest of a Thousand Demons）. Another objective is to study the translational strategies employed by Abioye to successfully translate the rich cultural African worldview encapsulated in Yoruba proverbs into French, a non-African language.
文摘BEFORE Ezemaduka Anastasia Ngozi arrived in China in 2004, she was convinced that the East Asian country was full of ＂short guys.＂ She also took care to keep her distance from Chinese airport employees - in case they unleashed their kungfu on her. But as the years unfolded, living in China made her realize how ridiculous her former impression of the country had been. The eastern giant wasn＇t as mysterious and scary as she had assumed from watching television at home in Nigeria.
