Behavioral epigenetics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_epigenetics 

Behavioral epigenetics is the field of study examining the role of epigenetics in shaping animal and human behavior. It seeks to explain how nurture shapes nature, where nature refers to biological heredity and nurture refers to virtually everything that occurs during the life-span (e.g., social-experience, diet and nutrition, and exposure to toxins). Behavioral epigenetics attempts to provide a framework for understanding how the expression of genes is influenced by experiences and the environment to produce individual differences in behaviour, cognition, personality, and mental health.

Epigenetic gene regulation involves changes other than to the sequence of DNA and includes changes to histones (proteins around which DNA is wrapped) and DNA methylation. These epigenetic changes can influence the growth of neurons in the developing brain as well as modify the activity of neurons in the adult brain. Together, these epigenetic changes in neuron structure and function are thought to have an influence on behavior.

Background

Main article: Epigenetics

In biology, and specifically genetics, epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene activity which are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence; the term can also be used to describe the study of stable, long-term alterations in the transcriptional potential of a cell that are not necessarily heritable. Genetic activity can be influenced by environmental factors, as well as parenting styles, diet and even social interactions.

Examples of mechanisms that produce such changes are DNA methylation and histone modification, both alter how genes are expressed without changing the underlying DNA sequence and both are also essential for learning and memory. Gene expression can be controlled through the action of repressor proteins that attach to silencer regions of the DNA.

Modifications of the epigenome do not alter DNA.

DNA methylation turns a gene "off" – it results in the inability of genetic information to be read from DNA; removing the methyl tag can turn the gene back "on".

Histone modification changes the way that DNA is packaged into chromosomes. These changes impact how genes are expressed.

Epigenetic changes occur not only in the developing fetus, but also in individuals throughout the human life-span.

Discovery

The first documented example of epigenetics affecting behavior was provided by Michael Meaney and Moshe Szyf. While working at McGill University in Montréal in 2004, they discovered that the type and amount of nurturing a mother rat provides in the early weeks of the rat's infancy determines how that rat responds to stress later in life. This stress sensitivity was linked to a down-regulation in the expression of the glucocorticoid receptor in the brain. In turn, this down-regulation was found to be a consequence of the extent of methylation in the promoter region of the glucocorticoid receptor gene. Immediately after birth, Meaney and Szyf found that methyl groups repress the glucocorticoid receptor gene in all rat pups, making the gene unable to unwind from the histone in order to be transcribed, causing a decreased stress response. Nurturing behaviours from the mother rat were found to stimulate activation of stress signalling pathways that remove methyl groups from DNA. This releases the tightly wound gene, exposing it for transcription. The glucocorticoid gene is activated, resulting in lowered stress response. Rat pups that receive a less nurturing upbringing are more sensitive to stress throughout their life-span.

This pioneering work in rodents has been difficult to replicate in humans because of a general lack of availability of human brain tissue for measurement of epigenetic changes.

Cognition

Learning and memory

Main article: Epigenetics in learning and memory

A 2010 review discussed the role of DNA methylation in memory formation and storage, but the precise mechanisms involving neuronal function, memory, and methylation reversal remained unclear at the time.

Further research investigated the molecular basis for long-term memory. By 2015 it had become clear that long-term memory requires gene transcription activation and de novo protein synthesis. Long-term memory formation depends on both the activation of memory promoting genes and the inhibition of memory suppressor genes, and DNA methylation/DNA demethylation was found to be a major mechanism for achieving this dual regulation.

Rats with a new, strong long-term memory due to contextual fear conditioning have reduced expression of about 1,000 genes and increased expression of about 500 genes in the hippocampus of the brain 24 hours after training, thus exhibiting modified expression of 9.17% of the rat hippocampal genome. Reduced gene expressions were associated with methylations of those genes and hypomethylation was found for genes involved in synaptic transmission and neuronal differentiation.

Further research into long-term memory has shed light on the molecular mechanisms by which methylation is created or removed, as reviewed in 2022. These mechanisms include, for instance, signal-responsive TOP2B-induced double-strand breaks in immediate early genes. More than 100 DNA double-strand breaks occur, both in the hippocampus and in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), in two peaks, at 10 minutes and at 30 minutes after contextual fear conditioning. This appears to be earlier than the DNA methylations and demethylations of neuron DNA in the hippocampus that were measured at one hour and 24 hours after contextual fear conditioning.

The double strand breaks occur at known memory-related immediate early genes (among other genes) in neurons after neuron activation. These double-strand breaks allow the genes to be transcribed and then translated into active proteins.

One immediate early gene newly transcribed after a double-strand break is EGR1. EGR1 is an important transcription factor in memory formation. It has an essential role in brain neuron epigenetic reprogramming. EGR1 recruits the TET1 protein that initiates a pathway of DNA demethylation. Removing DNA methylation marks allows the activation of downstream genes (see Regulation of gene expression#Regulation of transcription in learning and memory. EGR1 brings TET1 to promoter sites of genes that need to be demethylated and activated (transcribed) during memory formation. EGR-1, together with TET1, is employed in programming the distribution of DNA demethylation sites on brain DNA during memory formation and in long-term neuronal plasticity.

DNMT3A2 is another immediate early gene whose expression in neurons can be induced by sustained synaptic activity. DNMTs bind to DNA and methylate cytosines at particular locations in the genome. If this methylation is prevented by DNMT inhibitors, then memories do not form. If DNMT3A2 is over-expressed in the hippocampus of young adult mice it converts a weak learning experience into long-term memory and also enhances fear memory formation.

In another mechanism reviewed in 2022, the messenger RNAs of many genes that had been subjected to methylation-controlled increases or decreases are transported by neural granules (messenger RNPs) to the dendritic spines. At these locations the messenger RNAs can be translated into the proteins that control signaling at neuronal synapses.

Studies in rodents have found that the environment exerts an influence on epigenetic changes related to cognition, in terms of learning and memory; environmental enrichment correlated with increased histone acetylation, and verification by administering histone deacetylase inhibitors induced sprouting of dendrites, an increased number of synapses, and reinstated learning behaviour and access to long-term memories. Research has also linked learning and long-term memory formation to reversible epigenetic changes in the hippocampus and cortex in animals with normal-functioning, non-damaged brains. In human studies, post-mortem brains from patients with Alzheimer's dementia show high levels of histone de-acetylase.

Psychopathology and mental health

Anxiety and risk-taking

Monozygotic twins are identical twins. Twin studies help to reveal epigenetic differences related to various aspects of psychology.

Due to the stress that can be placed on individuals can increase levels of anxiety and the way the epigenetics are responding in relation to the individual. Epigenetics investigate how alterations upon environment and behavior can affect the way in which genes operate. Within research, it's know that majority of epigenetic modifications identified have been involved with anxiety-like phenotypes that involve genes that regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis which results to the way our bodies respond to stress that we endure as people. Epigenetics is altered by many influences, whether it be genetic and or environmental. Within the prenatal times it is evident that through changes of DNA methylation, that maternal and pre-maternal distress have been connected to modifications in the fetal HPA axis. This demonstrates that the link between our development, stress and anxiety a mother can feel during this time creates a linkage in the response of how the epigenetic may be altered in the response of the HPA axis. Linkage of the impacts of childhood trauma in connection with epigenetic and anxiety, in that there is a change in DNA methylation process, increasing the chances of neuroendocrine damage to likely occur. In relation, the neuroendocrine damage induces the state of depression, making it mentally unstable for a person to possibly perform their daily activities. The Brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) is known to change its state because of epigenetic mechanisms and contributes to the alters within the development process necessary for the brain of us individuals. Alterations within the epigenetic process can be treated using different types clinical procedures, by targeting specific changes and the treating them with the proper sort of care.

Stress

The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis is involved in the human stress response.

Animal and human studies have found correlations between poor care during infancy and epigenetic changes that correlate with long-term impairments that result from neglect.

Studies in rats have shown correlations between maternal care in terms of the parental licking of offspring and epigenetic changes. A high level of licking results in a long-term reduction in stress response as measured behaviorally and biochemically in elements of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). Further, decreased DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene were found in offspring that experienced a high level of licking; the glucorticoid receptor plays a key role in regulating the HPA. The opposite is found in offspring that experienced low levels of licking, and when pups are switched, the epigenetic changes are reversed. This research provides evidence for an underlying epigenetic mechanism. Further support comes from experiments with the same setup, using drugs that can increase or decrease methylation. Finally, epigenetic variations in parental care can be passed down from one generation to the next, from mother to female offspring. Female offspring who received increased parental care (i.e., high licking) became mothers who engaged in high licking and offspring who received less licking became mothers who engaged in less licking.

In humans, a small clinical research study showed the relationship between prenatal exposure to maternal mood and genetic expression resulting in increased reactivity to stress in offspring. Three groups of infants were examined: those born to mothers medicated for depression with serotonin reuptake inhibitors; those born to depressed mothers not being treated for depression; and those born to non-depressed mothers. Prenatal exposure to depressed/anxious mood was associated with increased DNA methylation at the glucocorticoid receptor gene and to increased HPA axis stress reactivity. The findings were independent of whether the mothers were being pharmaceutically treated for depression.

Drug addiction

Further information: ΔFosB, G9a, and H3K9me2 § Addiction

Signaling cascade in the nucleus accumbens that results in psychostimulant addiction v t e Note: colored text contains article links. Nuclear pore Nuclear membrane Plasma membrane Cav1.2 NMDAR AMPAR DRD1 DRD5 DRD2 DRD3 DRD4 Gs Gi/o AC cAMP cAMP PKA CaM CaMKII DARPP-32 PP1 PP2B CREB ΔFosB JunD c-Fos SIRT1 HDAC1 [Color legend 1] This diagram depicts the signaling events in the brain's reward center that are induced by chronic high-dose exposure to psychostimulants that increase the concentration of synaptic dopamine, like amphetamine, methamphetamine, and phenethylamine. Following presynaptic dopamine and glutamate co-release by such psychostimulants, postsynaptic receptors for these neurotransmitters trigger internal signaling events through a cAMP-dependent pathway and a calcium-dependent pathway that ultimately result in increased CREB phosphorylation. Phosphorylated CREB increases levels of ΔFosB, which in turn represses the c-Fos gene with the help of corepressors; c-Fos repression acts as a molecular switch that enables the accumulation of ΔFosB in the neuron. A highly stable (phosphorylated) form of ΔFosB, one that persists in neurons for 1–2 months, slowly accumulates following repeated high-dose exposure to stimulants through this process. ΔFosB functions as "one of the master control proteins" that produces addiction-related structural changes in the brain, and upon sufficient accumulation, with the help of its downstream targets (e.g., nuclear factor kappa B), it induces an addictive state.

Environmental and epigenetic influences seem to work together to increase the risk of addiction. For example, environmental stress has been shown to increase the risk of substance abuse. In an attempt to cope with stress, alcohol and drugs can be used as an escape. Once substance abuse commences, however, epigenetic alterations may further exacerbate the biological and behavioural changes associated with addiction.

Even short-term substance abuse can produce long-lasting epigenetic changes in the brain of rodents, via DNA methylation and histone modification. Epigenetic modifications have been observed in studies on rodents involving ethanol, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and opiates. Specifically, these epigenetic changes modify gene expression, which in turn increases the vulnerability of an individual to engage in repeated substance overdose in the future. In turn, increased substance abuse results in even greater epigenetic changes in various components of a rodent's reward system (e.g., in the nucleus accumbens). Hence, a cycle emerges whereby changes in areas of the reward system contribute to the long-lasting neural and behavioural changes associated with the increased likelihood of addiction, the maintenance of addiction and relapse. In humans, alcohol consumption has been shown to produce epigenetic changes that contribute to the increased craving of alcohol. As such, epigenetic modifications may play a part in the progression from the controlled intake to the loss of control of alcohol consumption. These alterations may be long-term, as is evidenced in smokers who still possess nicotine-related epigenetic changes ten years after cessation. Therefore, epigenetic modifications may account for some of the behavioural changes generally associated with addiction. These include: repetitive habits that increase the risk of disease, and personal and social problems; need for immediate gratification; high rates of relapse following treatment; and, the feeling of loss of control.

Evidence for relevant epigenetic changes came from human studies involving alcohol,^[61] nicotine, and opiate abuse. Evidence for epigenetic changes stemming from amphetamine and cocaine abuse derives from animal studies. In animals, drug-related epigenetic changes in fathers have also been shown to negatively affect offspring in terms of poorer spatial working memory, decreased attention and decreased cerebral volume.^[62]

Eating disorders and obesity

Further information: ΔFosB

Epigenetic changes may help to facilitate the development and maintenance of eating disorders via influences in the early environment and throughout the life-span. Pre-natal epigenetic changes due to maternal stress, behaviour and diet may later predispose offspring to persistent, increased anxiety and anxiety disorders. These anxiety issues can precipitate the onset of eating disorders and obesity, and persist even after recovery from the eating disorders.

Epigenetic differences accumulating over the life-span may account for the incongruent differences in eating disorders observed in monozygotic twins. At puberty, sex hormones may exert epigenetic changes (via DNA methylation) on gene expression, thus accounting for higher rates of eating disorders in men as compared to women. Overall, epigenetics contribute to persistent, unregulated self-control behaviours related to the urge to binge.

Schizophrenia

Further information: Epigenetics of schizophrenia

Epigenetic changes including hypomethylation of glutamatergic genes (i.e., NMDA-receptor-subunit gene NR3B and the promoter of the AMPA-receptor-subunit gene GRIA2) in the post-mortem brains of people with schizophrenia are associated with increased levels of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Since glutamate is the most prevalent, fast, excitatory neurotransmitter, increased levels may result in the psychotic episodes related to schizophrenia. Epigenetic changes affecting a greater number of genes have been detected in men with schizophrenia as compared to women with the illness.

Population studies have established a strong association linking schizophrenia in children born to older fathers. Specifically, children born to fathers over the age of 35 years are up to three times more likely to develop schizophrenia. Epigenetic dysfunction in human male sperm cells, affecting numerous genes, have been shown to increase with age. This provides a possible explanation for increased rates of the disease in men. To this end, toxins (e.g., air pollutants) have been shown to increase epigenetic differentiation. Animals exposed to ambient air from steel mills and highways show drastic epigenetic changes that persist after removal from the exposure. Therefore, similar epigenetic changes in older human fathers are likely. Schizophrenia studies provide evidence that the nature versus nurture debate in the field of psychopathology should be re-evaluated to accommodate the concept that genes and the environment work in tandem. As such, many other environmental factors (e.g., nutritional deficiencies and cannabis use) have been proposed to increase the susceptibility of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia via epigenetics.

Bipolar disorder

Evidence for epigenetic modifications for bipolar disorder is unclear. One study found hypomethylation of a gene promoter of a prefrontal lobe enzyme (i.e., membrane-bound catechol-O-methyl transferase, or COMT) in post-mortem brain samples from individuals with bipolar disorder. COMT is an enzyme that metabolizes dopamine in the synapse. These findings suggest that the hypomethylation of the promoter results in over-expression of the enzyme. In turn, this results in increased degradation of dopamine levels in the brain. These findings provide evidence that epigenetic modification in the prefrontal lobe is a risk factor for bipolar disorder. However, a second study found no epigenetic differences in post-mortem brains from bipolar individuals.

Major depressive disorder

The causes of major depressive disorder (MDD) are poorly understood from a neuroscience perspective. The epigenetic changes leading to changes in glucocorticoid receptor expression and its effect on the HPA stress system discussed above, have also been applied to attempts to understand MDD.

Much of the work in animal models has focused on the indirect downregulation of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) by over-activation of the stress axis. Studies in various rodent models of depression, often involving induction of stress, have found direct epigenetic modulation of BDNF as well.

Psychopathy

Epigenetics may be relevant to aspects of psychopathic behaviour through methylation and histone modification. These processes are heritable but can also be influenced by environmental factors such as smoking and abuse. Epigenetics may be one of the mechanisms through which the environment can impact the expression of the genome. Studies have also linked methylation of genes associated with nicotine and alcohol dependence in women, ADHD, and drug abuse. It is probable that epigenetic regulation as well as methylation profiling will play an increasingly important role in the study of the play between the environment and genetics of psychopaths.

Social insects

Several studies have indicated DNA cytosine methylation linked to the social behavior of insects, such as honeybees and ants. In honeybees, when nurse bee switched from her in-hive tasks to out foraging, cytosine methylation marks are changing. When a forager bee was reversed to do nurse duties, the cytosine methylation marks were also reversed. Knocking down the DNMT3 in the larvae changed the worker to queen-like phenotype. Queen and worker are two distinguish castes with different morphology, behavior, and physiology. Studies in DNMT3 silencing also indicated DNA methylation may regulate gene alternative splicing and pre-mRNA maturation.

Limitations and future direction

Many researchers contribute information to the Human Epigenome Consortium. The aim of future research is to reprogram epigenetic changes to help with addiction, mental illness, age related changes, memory decline, and other issues. However, the sheer volume of consortium-based data makes analysis difficult. Most studies also focus on one gene. In actuality, many genes and interactions between them likely contribute to individual differences in personality, behaviour and health. As social scientists often work with many variables, determining the number of affected genes also poses methodological challenges. More collaboration between medical researchers, geneticists and social scientists has been advocated to increase knowledge in this field of study.

Limited access to human brain tissue poses a challenge to conducting human research. Not yet knowing if epigenetic changes in the blood and (non-brain) tissues parallel modifications in the brain, places even greater reliance on brain research. Although some epigenetic studies have translated findings from animals to humans, some researchers caution about the extrapolation of animal studies to humans. One view notes that when animal studies do not consider how the subcellular and cellular components, organs and the entire individual interact with the influences of the environment, results are too reductive to explain behaviour.

Some researchers note that epigenetic perspectives will likely be incorporated into pharmacological treatments. Others caution that more research is necessary as drugs are known to modify the activity of multiple genes and may, therefore, cause serious side effects. However, the ultimate goal is to find patterns of epigenetic changes that can be targeted to treat mental illness, and reverse the effects of childhood stressors, for example. If such treatable patterns eventually become well-established, the inability to access brains in living humans to identify them poses an obstacle to pharmacological treatment. Future research may also focus on epigenetic changes that mediate the impact of psychotherapy on personality and behaviour.

Most epigenetic research is correlational; it merely establishes associations. More experimental research is necessary to help establish causation. Lack of resources has also limited the number of intergenerational studies. Therefore, advancing longitudinal and multigenerational, experience-dependent studies will be critical to further understanding the role of epigenetics in psychology.

Disability

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability 

Disability culture is a concept developed in the late 1980s to describe a unique lifestyle shaped or influenced by disability, distinct from pathologizing discourses (i.e., concepts about disability that are derived from eugenics or the medical model). Some disabled people have mobilized this concept in order to reframe disability as an identity or as a cultural minority experience. As described by disability historian, Dr. Steven E. Brown, disability culture is “a set of artifacts, beliefs, [and] expressions created by disabled people ourselves to describe our own life experiences. It is not primarily how we are treated, but what we have created."

Deaf culture has an older history, having been described in 1965, and Deaf culture can be connected to the larger disability culture, both due to deafness being viewed by others as a disability, and many deaf people being both Deaf and disabled in other ways, which is known as being Deaf plus.

Disability culture cannot be defined by one specific description or language. It is a complex blending of art, performance, expression, and community. Within this culture, the word "disabled" has been re-purposed to represent a social identity of empowerment and awareness. Like many civil rights movements in the past, disability culture challenges the norms of society, and seeks to counter oppressive entities such as medicalization and institutionalization. Its core values as a culture are reflected in art, conversation, goals, or behaviors. These core values often include: "an acceptance of human differences, an acceptance of human vulnerability and interdependence, a tolerance for a lack of resolution of the unpredictable in life, and a humor to laugh at the oppressor or situation, however dire it may be".

"The elements of our culture include, certainly, our longstanding social oppression, but also our emerging art and humor, our piecing together of our history, our evolving language and symbols, our remarkably unified world view, beliefs and values, and our strategies for surviving and thriving." -Carol Gill Ph.D.

Disability culture is a trajectory, a movement, a path, rather than a destination: "Disability culture is the difference between being alone, isolated, and individuated with a physical, cognitive, emotional or sensory difference that in our society invites discrimination and reinforces that isolation – the difference between all that and being in community. Naming oneself part of a larger group, a social movement or a subject position in modernity can help to focus energy, and to understand that solidarity can be found – precariously, in improvisation, always on the verge of collapse." - Petra Kuppers

"Disability Culture is the contributions, perspectives and art that comes from our different minds and bodies. Disability culture is the music, words and worldviews that come from the oppression that we face, that come from the exclusion that we face, that come from the erasure that we face. And it is rooted in problem solving. It is rooted in creative thinking. It is rooted in navigating the world differently. It is unapologetic; it is adaptable; it is innovative; and it is resilient. And it deserves to be celebrated." - Lachi

"Disability culture, which values interdependence over the illusion of independence, privileges not a uniform perspective but the validity and value of a wide range of ways of moving through the world - and the varied perspectives those different experiences engender."

Disability rights movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_rights_movement

Protestors at a disability rights protest

The disability rights movement is a global social movement, which seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around the world working together with similar goals and demands, such as accessibility and safety in architecture, transportation, and the physical environment; equal opportunities in independent living, employment equity, education, and housing; and freedom from discrimination, abuse, neglect, and from other rights violations.

Disability activists are working to break institutional, physical, and societal barriers that prevent people with disabilities from living their lives like other citizens. Disability rights is complex because there are multiple ways in which a disabled person can have their rights violated in different socio-political, cultural, and legal contexts. For example, a common barrier that disabled individuals face is employment. Specifically, employers are often unwilling or unable to provide the necessary accommodations to enable disabled individuals to effectively carry out their job functions.

History

United States

American disability rights have evolved significantly over the past century. Before the disability rights movement, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's refusal to be publicized using his wheelchair demonstrated and symbolized the existing stigma surrounding disabilities. While campaigning, giving speeches, or acting as a public figure, he hid his disability. This perpetuated the ideology that "disability equates to weakness".

Disability in the United States was viewed as a personal issue, and not many political or governmental organizations existed to support individuals in these groups. In the 1950s, there was a transition to volunteerism and parent-oriented organizations, such as the March of Dimes. While this was the beginning of activism and seeking support for these groups, disabled children were largely hidden by their parents out of fear of forced rehabilitation.

When the civil rights movement took off in the 1960s, disability advocates joined it and the women's rights movements to promote equal treatment and challenge stereotypes. It was at this time that disability rights advocacy began to have a cross-disability focus. People with different kinds of disabilities (physical and mental disabilities, along with visual and hearing disabilities) and different essential needs came together to fight for a common cause. It was not until 1990 that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, legally prohibiting discrimination on account of disability, and mandating disability access in all buildings and public areas. The ADA is historically significant in that it defined the meaning of reasonable accommodation in order to protect employees and employers.

United Nations

On a global scale, the United Nations has established the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, specifically discussing indigenous people with disabilities (Lockwood 146).

Issues

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Main article: Self-advocacy

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities focus their efforts on ensuring that they have the same human rights as other people and that they are treated like human beings. Since the formation of the self advocacy movement in the 1960s, the largest focus of the movement has been to get people with I/DD out of institutions and into the community. Another main focus is ensuring that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are in integrated workplaces that pay at least minimum wage. In the US, it is still legal to pay people with I/DD below minimum wage in sheltered workshops. Many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are put under guardianship and are not allowed to make their own decisions about their lives.

Another issue is the continued dehumanization of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which prompted the slogan People First, still used as a rallying cry and a common organizational name in the self advocacy movement. Self advocates are also involved in the "R-Word" Campaign, in which they try to eliminate the use of the slur "retard". Self advocates successfully advocated to change the name of the Arc.

Autism rights movement

Further information: Autistic rights movement and Neurodiversity

See also: Autism friendly

The autism rights movement is a social movement that emphasizes the concept of neurodiversity, viewing the autism spectrum as a result of natural variations in the human brain rather than a disorder to be cured. The autism rights movement advocates for several goals, including greater acceptance of autistic behaviors; therapies that focus on coping skills rather than imitating the behaviors of neurotypical peers; the creation of social networks and events that allow autistic people to socialize on their own terms; and the recognition of the autistic community as a minority group.

Autism rights or neurodiversity advocates believe that the autism spectrum is primarily genetic and should be accepted as a natural expression of the human genome. This perspective is distinct from two other views: the medical perspective that autism is caused by a genetic defect and should be addressed by targeting the autism gene(s), and fringe theories that autism is caused by environmental factors such as vaccines. The movement is controversial. A common criticism against autistic activists is that the majority of them are "high-functioning" or have Asperger syndrome and do not represent the views of "low-functioning" autistic people.

People with mental health issues

Advocates for the rights of people with mental health disabilities focus mainly on self-determination, and an individual's ability to live independently. The right to have an independent life, using paid assistant care instead of being institutionalized, if the individual wishes, is a major goal of the disability rights movement, and is the main goal of the similar independent living and self-advocacy movements, which are most strongly associated with people with intellectual disabilities and mental health disorders. These movements have supported people with disabilities to live as more active participants in society.

Freedom from discrimination and abuse

Freedom from abuse, neglect, and violations of a person's rights are also important goals of the disability rights movement. Abuse and neglect includes inappropriate seclusion and restraint, inappropriate use of force by staff and/or providers, threats, harassment and/or retaliation by staff or providers, failure to provide adequate nutrition, clothing, and/or medical and mental health care, and/or failure to provide a clean and safe living environment, as well as other issues which pose a serious threat to the physical and psychological well-being of a person with a disability. Violations of patients' rights include failure to obtain informed consent for treatment, failure to maintain the confidentiality of treatment records, and inappropriate restriction of the right to communicate and associate with others, as well as other restrictions of rights.^{[citation needed]} As a result of the work done through the disability rights movement, significant disability rights legislation was passed in the 1970s through the 1990s in the U.S.

Major events

See also: Timeline of disability rights outside the United States and Timeline of disability rights in the United States

Australia

In 1978, protests outside Australia's Parliament House in Canberra helped force the government to rescind taxes on government payments to people with disabilities. Demonstrations inside and outside parliament have been held regarding various issues, leading to an expansion of the National Attendant Care Scheme in 1992 and helping to convince the federal government to establish the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability in 2019. Similar protests outside state parliaments have fed into campaigns for improved rights and funding, leading to improvements in supported accommodation in New South Wales in 1994 and continued support for Queensland disability advocacy services in 2021.

Beginning in 1981, the International Year of the Disabled Person, campaigners targeted beauty pageants such as the Miss Australia Quest in order to, in the words of activist Leslie Hall, "challenge the notion of beauty" and "reject the charity ethic." High-profile demonstrations led to some charities abandoning their use of such contests for fundraising and also saw some remove offensive language from their organisational titles. Following a long nationwide campaign involving hundreds of thousands of people, the National Disability Insurance Scheme was introduced in Australia in 2013 to fund several supports. National campaigns by groups such as Every Australian Counts have since been launched to extend the scheme and protect it from cuts and restrictions on access.

Canada

Canada's largest province, Ontario, created legislation, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, with the goals of becoming accessible by 2025. In 2019, the Accessible Canada Act became law. This is the first national Canadian legislation on accessibility that affects all government departments and federally regulated agencies.

India

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 is the disability legislation passed by the Indian Parliament to fulfill its obligation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which India ratified in 2007. The Act replaced the existing Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. It came into effect on 28 December 2016. This law recognizes 21 disabilities.

United Kingdom

Disability rights activist outside Scottish Parliament, 30 March 2013

In the United Kingdom, following extensive activism by people with disabilities over several decades, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) was passed. This made it unlawful in the United Kingdom to discriminate against people with disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education, and transport. The Equality and Human Rights Commission provides support for this Act. Equivalent legislation exists in Northern Ireland, which is enforced by the Northern Ireland Equality Commission.

Following the introduction of the Bedroom Tax (officially the Under-occupancy penalty) in the Welfare Reform Act 2012, disability activists have played a significant role in the development of Bedroom Tax protests. A wide range of benefit changes are estimated to affect disabled people disproportionately and to compromise disabled people's right to independent living. The Down Syndrome Bill, created by Evan Mitchell OBE, will provide legal recognition to people living with Down syndrome.

United States

Further information: Timeline of disability rights in the United States

Further information: Suffrage for Americans with Disabilities

In 1948, a watershed for the movement was the proof of the existence of physical and program barriers. The proof was provided as a specification for barrier-free usable facilities for people with disabilities. The specifications provided the minimum requirements for barrier-free physical and program access. An example of barriers is: providing only steps to enter buildings; lack of maintenance of walkways; locations not connected with public transit; lack of visual and hearing communications, which ends up segregating individuals with disabilities from independent participation, and opportunities. The ANSI Barrier Free Standard (phrase coined by Timothy Nugent, the lead investigator) called "ANSI A117.1, Making Buildings Accessible to and Usable by the Physically Handicapped", provides the indisputable proof that the barriers exist. The standard is the outcome of physical therapists, bio-mechanical engineers, and individuals with disabilities who developed and participated in over 40 years of research. The standard provides the criteria for modifying programs and the physical site to provide independence. The standard has been emulated globally since its introduction in Europe, Asia, Japan, Australia, and Canada in the early 1960s.

One of the most important developments of the disability rights movement was the growth of the independent living movement, which emerged in California in the 1960s through the efforts of Edward Roberts and other wheelchair-using individuals. This movement, a subset of the disability rights movement, postulates that people with disabilities are the best experts on their needs, and therefore, they must take the initiative, individually and collectively, in designing and promoting better solutions and must organize themselves for political power. Besides de-professionalization and self-representation, the independent living movement's ideology comprises de-medicalization of disability, de-institutionalization, and cross-disability (i.e., inclusion in the independent living movement regardless of diagnoses). Similarly, the Architectural Barriers Act was passed in 1968, mandating that federally constructed buildings and facilities be accessible to people with physical disabilities. This act is generally considered to be the first-ever federal disability rights legislation. Unfortunately for those with cognitive disabilities, their disability made it more difficult to be the best expert of their own needs, hindering their ability to self-advocate as their wheelchair-using counterparts could. Self-representation was much more difficult for those who could not articulate their thoughts, leading to their dependence on others to carry on the movement.

In 1973, the (American) Rehabilitation Act became law; Sections 501, 503, and 504 prohibited discrimination in federal programs and services and all other programs or services receiving federal funds. Key language in the Rehabilitation Act, found in Section 504, states "No otherwise qualified handicapped [sic] individual in the United States, shall, solely by reason of his [sic] handicap [sic], be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." The act also specifies money that can be allocated to help disabled people receive training for the work force as well as to assist in making sure that they can then reach work without running into inaccessibility problems. This was the first civil rights law guaranteeing equal opportunity for people with disabilities.

Another crucial turning point was the 504 Sit-in in 1977 of government buildings operated by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), conceived by Frank Bowe and organized by the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, that led to the release of regulations pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. On April 5, 1977, activists began to demonstrate, and some sat in the offices found in ten of the federal regions, including New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. One of the most noteworthy protests occurred in San Francisco. The protesters demanded the signing of regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The successful sit-in was led by Judith Heumann. The first day of protests marked the first of a 25-day sit-in. Close to 120 disability activists and protesters occupied the HEW building, and Secretary Joseph Califano finally signed on April 28, 1977. This protest was significant not only because its goal was achieved, but also because it was the foremost concerted effort between people of different disabilities coming together in support of legislation that affected the overall disability population, rather than only specific groups.

In 1978, disability rights activists in Denver, Colorado, organized by the Atlantis Community, held a sit-in and blockade of the Denver Regional Transit Authority buses in 1978. They were protesting the fact that the city's transit system was completely inaccessible for physically disabled people. This action proved to be just the first in a series of civil disobedience demonstrations that lasted for a year until the Denver Transit Authority finally bought buses equipped with wheelchair lifts. In 1983, Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) was responsible for another civil disobedience campaign also in Denver that lasted seven years. They targeted the American Public Transport Association in protest of inaccessible public transportation; this campaign ended in 1990 when bus lifts for people using wheelchairs were required nationwide by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Another significant protest related to disability rights was the Deaf President Now protest by the Gallaudet University students in Washington, D.C., in March 1988. The eight-day (March 6 – March 13) demonstration, occupation, and lock-out of the school began when the Board of Trustees appointed a new hearing President, Elisabeth Zinser, over two Deaf candidates. The students' primary grievance was that the university, which was dedicated to the education of people who are Deaf, had never had a Deaf president, someone representative of them. Of the protesters' four demands, the main one was the resignation of the current president and the appointment of a Deaf one. The demonstration consisted of about 2,000 students and nonstudent participants. The protests took place on campus, in government buildings, and in the streets. In the end, all the students' demands were met and [[I. King Jordan was appointed the first Deaf President of the university.

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act became law, and it provided comprehensive civil rights protection for people with disabilities. Closely modeled after the Civil Rights Act and Section 504, the law was the most sweeping disability rights legislation in American history. It mandated that local, state, and federal governments and programs be accessible, that employers with more than 15 employees make "reasonable accommodations" for workers with disabilities and not discriminate against otherwise qualified workers with disabilities, and that public accommodations such as restaurants and stores not discriminate against people with disabilities and that they make reasonable modifications to ensure access for disabled members of the public. The act also mandated access to public transportation, communication, and other areas of public life.

The first Disability Pride March in the United States was held in Boston in 1990. A second Disability Pride March was held in Boston in 1991. There were no subsequent Disability Pride Marches/Parades for many years, until Chicago on Sunday, July 18, 2004. It was funded with $10,000 in seed money that Sarah Triano received in 2003 as part of the Paul G. Hearne Leadership award from the American Association of People with Disabilities. According to Triano, 1,500 people attended the parade. Yoshiko Dart was the parade marshal.^[41]

Exhibitions and collections

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History opened an exhibition that examined the history of activism by people with disabilities, their friends, and families to secure the civil rights guaranteed to all Americans. Objects on view included the pen President George H. W. Bush used to sign the Act and one of the first ultralight wheelchairs. The exhibition was designed for maximum accessibility. Web-based kiosks - prototypes for a version that will eventually be available to museums and other cultural institutions - provided alternate formats to experience the exhibition. The exhibition was open from July 6, 2000, to July 23, 2001.

Debates and approaches

A key debate in the disability rights movement is between affirmative action for disabled people versus fighting for equitable treatment. According to a 1992 polling organization, many fear that integrating disabled people into the workplace may affect their company image, or it may result in decreased productivity. This coincides with the 1992 parliamentary review of the Employment Equity Act, which stated that employers should look to implement equity without having an official quota system. This remains an ongoing debate.

An additional debate is between institutionalizing disabled people and supporting them in their homes. In 1963, during John F. Kennedy's presidency, he transformed the national view of mental health by boosting funding for community-based programs and drafting legislation for mental health care. He also created the President's Panel on Mental Retardation, which created recommendations for new programs that governments can implement on a state level, therefore moving away from "custodial institutions". This shift away from institutionalization has generated a long-lasting stigma against mental health institutions, which is why in politics there is often not enough funding for this concept.

According to the US Supreme Court case Humphrey v. Cady, civil commitment laws and eligibility for intervention exist only in the instance when the person is ruled an immediate danger to themself or others. The difficulty of proving "immediate danger" has led to the unexpected outcome that it is harder to commit mentally ill patients to hospital and easier to send them to prison. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about 15% male inmates and 30% female inmates have some kind of serious mental illness that remains untreated.

Another ongoing debate is how to cultivate self-determination for disabled people. The common article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights asserts that "All peoples have the right to self-determination" with free will. Because this highlights the concept of free and autonomous choice, one argument is that any government interference deters self-determination, thus leaving it to disabled people to seek out any help they need from charities and nonprofit organizations. Charitable organizations, such as churches, believe in helping disabled people with nothing in return. On the other hand, another approach is a participatory, symbiotic relationship, which include methods like professional development and resource provisions. More specifically, one approach is to allow disabled people to self-articulate their needs and generate their own solutions and analyses. Instead of passive participation, which is participation by being told what to do or what has been done, this approach proposes to allow this group to be self-sufficient and make their own decisions. Barriers to this include defining who is a self-sufficient individual with a disability, circling back to the concept of self-determination.

Applied philosophy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_philosophy 

The Thinker. Attempting to differentiate applied philosophy from pure philosophy.

Applied philosophy (philosophy from Greek: φιλοσοφία, philosophia, 'love of wisdom') is a branch of philosophy that studies philosophical problems of practical concern. The topic covers a broad spectrum of issues in environment, medicine, science, engineering, policy, law, politics, economics and education. The term was popularised in 1982 by the founding of the Society for Applied Philosophy by Brenda Almond, and its subsequent journal publication Journal of Applied Philosophy edited by Elizabeth Brake. Methods of applied philosophy are similar to other philosophical methods including questioning, dialectic, critical discussion, rational argument, systematic presentation, thought experiments and logical argumentation.

Applied philosophy is differentiated from pure philosophy primarily by dealing with specific topics of practical concern, whereas pure philosophy does not take an object; metaphorically it is philosophy applied to itself; exploring standard philosophical problems and philosophical objects (e.g. metaphysical properties) such as the fundamental nature of reality, epistemology and morality among others. Applied philosophy is therefore a subsection of philosophy, broadly construed it does not deal with topics in the purely abstract realm, but takes a specific object of practical concern.

Definitions

General definition

Due to the recent coinage of the term, the full scope and meaning of Applied Philosophy is at times still quite ambiguous and contentious, but generally does interact with the several other general definitions of philosophy. A Companion of Applied Philosophy provides three introductory articles by Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, David Archard and Suzanne Uniacke that outline general definitions and parameters for the field of Applied Philosophy.

In the first chapter, Lippert-Rasmussen article “The Nature of Applied Philosophy” begins by unpacking the term “applied philosophy”, outlining that to apply is a verb that takes an object, therefore if one were doing philosophy and not applying it to something then one would be grammatically or conceptually confused to say that one is doing applied philosophy. Lippert-Rasmussen provides seven conceptions of Applied Philosophy: the relevance conception, the specificity conception, the practical conception, the activist conception, the methodological conception, the empirical facts conception, the audience conception. These definitions are specified in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions, making the different conceptions incompatible with one another. Lippert-Rasmussen stresses that applied philosophy is much larger than that of applied ethics, therefore applied philosophers should strive beyond just proposing normative moral frameworks, allowing for Applied Philosophy to offer metaphysical frameworks for understanding contemporary results in other sciences and disciplines.

In the third chapter of A Companion of Applied Philosophy, Suzanne Uniacke's article “The Value of Applied Philosophy”, Uniacke outlines that applied philosophy is really a field of philosophical inquiry, differentiating itself from pure philosophy by claiming the former can provide practical guidance on issues beyond the philosophical domain. Within applied philosophy there are generally two modes of focus, it can be academically focused (for an academic audience), or it can be in “out-reach mode” (for a non-academic audience). In drawing on philosophical subdisciplines such as metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, applied philosophers shape their contributions and analysis on issues of practical concern. In this intersection between philosophical theories, principles, and concepts with issues beyond that of the purely philosophical domain (out-reach mode), these problems may give valuable challenges to traditionally accepted philosophies, providing a stress test, feedback or friction on principles that are so often confined within the idealistic philosophical framework.

Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen: seven conceptions

Relevance conception: Claims that philosophy is applied if and only if it is relevant to important questions of everyday life. To be clear this conception claims that applied philosophy need not answer the important questions of everyday life, yet it needs to philosophically explore or at least be relevant to them. There is no requirement on what type of everyday life questions are relevant, it can vary across time and audience, some questions may be relevant to some people at one time and to others at another.

Specificity conception: Philosophy is applied if, and only if, it addresses a comparatively specific question within the branch of philosophy, e.g., metaphysics, epistemology or moral philosophy, to which it belongs. Establishes philosophical principles to then apply and explore their implications in the applied (non-philosophical) specific domains of inquiry.

Practical conception: Philosophy is applied if, and only if, it justifies an answer to comparatively specific questions within its relevant branch of philosophy about what we ought to do.

Activist conception: Philosophy is applied if, and only if, it is motivated by an ambition of having a certain causal effect on the world. Whether that causal effect be to educate, elucidate or edify on a given topic, with real world consequences thereof. As Lippert-Rasmussen points out, much of pure philosophy has quite an impact on the world and yet one would still claim it to be pure rather than applied philosophy, however the distinction of the activist conception lies in their goal, the activist conception has greater emphasis on being an educator and having a causal impact on the world, changing their primary philosophical commitment from “knowledge and truth” to having a causal impact. The change of commitment and goals may result in the change of methods in order to realize their goal.

Methodological conception: Philosophy is applied if, and only if, it involves the use of specifically philosophical methods to explore issues outside the narrow set of philosophical problems.

Empirical facts conception: Philosophy is applied if, and only if, it is significantly informed by empirical evidence – in particular, that provided by empirical sciences. Stresses the interdisciplinary nature of applied philosophy, characterising applied philosophy as drawing on the results of empirical sciences and the evidence thereof to be sufficiently informed in contributing philosophical analysis and input.

Audience conception: Philosophy is applied if, and only if, its intended audience is non-philosophers. Despite the audience conception not always requiring background knowledge of the given audience, it is prudent for philosophers who are engaging with specific scientific disciplines to be well read on the empirical facts of those disciplines the philosopher addresses, thus re-iterating the value of being empirically informed with the facts, especially when engaging with interdisciplinary studies of philosophy with some other subject.

Applied moral philosophy

Applied moral philosophy (or applied ethics) is the branch of moral philosophy concerned with philosophical inquiry into moral issues that arise in everyday contexts and institutional design frameworks (e.g. how social institutions are structured). Applied moral philosophy involves the use of philosophical theories and methods of analysis to treat fundamentally moral problems in non-philosophical subjects, such as technology, public policy, and medicine.^[19] This includes the use of fundamental moral principles and theories to assess particular social practices, arrangements, and norms prevailing in particular societies at particular times. Some key topics in applied moral philosophy are business ethics, bioethics, feminist ethics, environmental ethics, and medical ethics. Beauchamp (1984) notes where applied moral philosophy and theoretical ethics diverge is not in their methodologies, but rather, in the content of their analysis and assessment.

Although interest in topics of applied ethics, such as civil disobedience, suicide, and free speech, can be traced all the way back to antiquity, applied moral philosophy gained mainstream popularity recently. However, the history of philosophy still shows a tradition of moral philosophy more concerned with its theoretical concerns, such as justifying fundamental moral principles and examining the nature of moral judgements. Applied ethics first gained mainstream popularity in 1967, as many professions such as law, medicine and engineering were profoundly affected by social issues and injustices at the time. For example, various environmental movements sparked political conversations about humanities relationship to the natural world, which led to the development of important philosophical arguments against anthropocentrism. As awareness of these social concerns grew, so did discussions of them in academic philosophy. By the 1970s and 1980s, there was a surge in publications devoted to philosophical inquiry of subjects in applied ethics, which were initially directed at biomedical ethics, and later business ethics.

Sub-disciplines of moral philosophy

Moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy concerned with examining the nature of right and wrong. It seeks to provide a framework for what constitutes morally right and wrong actions, and analyses issues surrounding moral principles, concepts and dilemmas. There are three main sub-disciplines of moral philosophy: meta-ethics, normative ethics and applied ethics.

Meta-ethics is the branch of moral philosophy which analyses the nature and status of ethical terms and concepts. It deals with abstract questions about the nature of morality, including whether or not morality actually exists, whether moral judgements are truth-apt (capable of being binary true/false), and if they are, investigating whether the properties of moral statements make them truth-apt in the same way that mathematical and descriptive statements are.

Normative ethics deals with the construction and justification of fundamental moral principles that ought to guide human behaviour. There are three main branches of normative ethical theories: consequentialism, deontology and virtue-based ethics. Consequentialism argues that an action is morally permissible if and only if it maximizes some intrinsic overall good. Deontological theories place rights and duties as the fundamental determinates of what we ought to do, by determining what rights and duties are justifiable constraints on behaviour. Finally, virtue-based theories argue that what one ought to do is what the ideally virtuous person would do.

Applied ethics uses philosophical methods of inquiry to address the moral permissibility of specific actions and practices in particular circumstances. However, applied ethics still requires theories and concepts found in meta-ethics and normative ethics to adequately address applied ethical problems. For example, one cannot confidently assert the moral permissibility of abortion without also assuming that there is such a thing as morally permissible actions, which is a fundamental meta-ethical question. Similarly, the moral permissibility of an action can be justified using a fundamental moral theory or principle found in normative ethics. A conception of these disciplines as such allows for significant overlap in the questions they address, along with their moral theories and ideas.

Methodologies

Main article: Methodology

Applied ethics uses philosophical theories and concepts to tackle moral issues found in non-philosophical contexts. However, there is significant debate over the particular methodology that should be used when determining the moral permissibility of actions and practices during applied ethical inquiry.

One possible methodology involves the application of moral principles and theories to particular issues in applied ethics, and is known as the top-down model of philosophical analysis. Under this model, one must first determine the set of fundamental moral principles which should hold necessarily and universally, in order to apply them to particular issues in applied ethics. The next step is articulating the relevant empirical facts of a situation to better understand how these principles should be applied in that particular context, which then determines the moral permissibility of an action. There are significant issues with this model of how to resolve issues in applied moral philosophy, as it requires certainty in a definitive set of moral principles to guide human behaviour. However, there is universal disagreement over which principles this definitive set consists of, if any, creating issues for a conception of applied ethics using the top-down model. On the other hand, the bottom-up model involves formulating intuitive responses to questions about what one ought to do in particular situations, and then developing philosophical understandings or judgements based on the intuitions one has about a case. We can then revise intuitions in light of these philosophical judgements to reach an appropriate resolution on what one ought to do in a given situation. This model faces similar problems as the previous one, where disagreements about particular judgements and intuitions require us to have some other mechanism to examine the validity of intuitive judgements.

The Reflective Equilibrium model combines the top-down and bottom-up approaches, where one should reflect on their current beliefs, and revise them in light of their general and particular moral judgements. A general belief may be rejected in light of specific situations to which it is applied when the belief recommends an action one finds morally unacceptable. A particular belief can likewise be rejected if it conflicts with general moral beliefs one takes to be plausible, and which justifies many of their other moral beliefs about what one ought to do in a given situation. An agent can then reach a state of equilibrium where the set containing their general and particular moral judgements is coherent and consistent.

Business ethics

Main article: Business ethics

Business ethics is the study of moral issues that arise when human beings exchange goods and services, where such exchanges are fundamental to daily existence. A major contemporary issue in business ethics is about the social responsibility of corporate executives. One theory proposed by Friedman (2008) describes the sole responsibility of a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) being profit maximization through their business abilities and knowledge. This is known at stockholder theory, which says promoting the interests of stockholders is the sole responsibility of corporate executives.

Freeman (1998) presents a competing theory of corporate social responsibility by appealing to pre-theoretical commitments about the moral significance of assessing who an action affects and how. Proponents of stakeholder theory argue that corporate executives have moral responsibilities to all stakeholders in their business operations, including consumers, employees, and communities. Thus, a business decision may maximize profits for stockholders, but it is not morally permissible unless it does not conflict with the demands of other stakeholders in the company. Freeman (2008) takes a Rawlsian approach to mediate conflicts amongst stakeholders, where the right action is that which will promote the well-being of the stakeholders who are the least well-off. Other decision-making principles can also be appealed to, and an adequate stakeholder theory will be assessed according to the decision making theory it employs to mediate between conflicting demands, the plausibility of the theory, and its ability to achieve results in particular cases.

Another key issue in business ethics, questions the moral status of corporations. If corporations are the kind of thing capable of being morally evaluated, then they can be assigned moral responsibility. Otherwise, there remains a question of whom to ascribe moral blame towards for morally wrong business practices. French (2009) argues that corporations are moral agents, and that their “corporate internal decision structure” can be morally evaluated, as it has the required intentionality for moral blameworthiness. Danley (1980) disagrees and says that corporations cannot be moral agents merely because they are intentional, but that other considerations, such as the ability to be punished, must obtain when assigning moral responsibility to an agent.

Bioethics

Main article: Bioethics

Bioethics is the study of human conduct towards the animate and inanimate natural world against a background of life sciences. It provides a disciplinary framework for a wide array of moral questions in life sciences that concern humans, the environment, and animals. There are 3 main sub-disciplines of bioethics: medical ethics, animal ethics, and environmental ethics.

Medical ethics

Main article: Medical ethics

Medical ethics can be traced back to the Hippocratic Oath in 500 B.C.E., making it the oldest sub-discipline of bioethics. Medical ethics concerns itself with questions of what one ought to do  in particular moral situations arising in medical contexts. There are a number of key issues in medical ethics, such as end-of-life and beginning-of-life debates, physician-patient relationships, and adequate healthcare accessibility.

The abortion debate remains one of the most widely discussed issues in medical ethics, which concerns the conditions under which an abortion is morally permissible, if any. Thomson (1971) revolutionized philosophical understanding of issues in the abortion debate, by questioning the widespread belief that because a fetus is a person, that it is morally wrong to kill them. She uses the violinist thought experiment to show that even if a fetus is a person, their right to life is not absolute, and therefore provided non-theistic and rational justification for the moral permissibility of abortion under certain conditions. Frances Kamm (1992) takes a deontological approach in order to expand on Thomson's argument, where she argues that factors such as third-party intervention and morally responsible creation support its permissibility.

Another debate in medical ethics is about the moral permissibility of euthanasia, and under what conditions euthanasia is morally acceptable. Euthanasia is the intentional killing of another person in order to benefit them. One influential argument in favour of voluntary active euthanasia and voluntary passive euthanasia is put forth by Rachels (1975), who is not only able to show the permissibility of the latter in cases where someone's life is no longer worth living, but that there mere fact that active euthanasia involves killing someone and passive euthanasia involves letting them die does not make it more just to do one over the other. He presents his argument in response to critics who argue that it is morally worse to kill someone than to merely let them die. However, he considers a case where a husband wants his wife to die, and in one case, does so by putting lethal poison in her wine, and in the second case, walks in on her drowning in a bathtub and lets her die. He argues that his thought experiment shows why killing someone is not always morally worse than letting them die, forcing defenders of only passive euthanasia to also commit themselves to the moral permissibility of active euthanasia, unless they can show why only the former option is morally acceptable.

Environmental ethics

Main article: Environmental ethics

Environmental ethics is the discipline of applied ethics that studies the moral relationship of human beings to the environment and its non-human contents. The practical goals of environmental ethics are to provide a moral grounds for social policies aimed at protecting the environment and remedying its degradation. It questions the status of the environment independently of human beings, and categorizes the different positions on its status as anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism. Anthropocentrism is the view that value is human-centered and all other entities are means to human ends. This bears on the question of the value of the environment, and whether or not the environment has intrinsic value independent of human beings. By taking a non-anthropocentric view that it does have intrinsic value, one should question why humanity would try to destroy something with intrinsic value rather than preserve it, under the assumption that agents will try to preserve things with value.

Feminism has an important relationship to environmental ethics where, as King (1989) argues, human exploitation of nature can be seen as a manifestation and extension of the oppression of women. She argues that humanity's destruction of nature is a result of associating nature with the feminine, where feminine agents have historically and systemically been inferiorized and oppressed by a male-dominating culture. King (1989) motivates her argument by examining the historical domination of women in society, and then argues that all other domination and hierarchies flow from this. Her argument justifies the moral wrongness of environmental degradation and human exploitation of nature not by arguing in favour of its intrinsic value, but by appealing to the moral wrongness of female oppression by a male-dominating culture.

Applied political and legal philosophy

Applied political and legal philosophy conducts investigation and analysis using philosophical methods and theories into specific and concrete political and legal issues. Historically, much of the work in political and legal philosophy has pursued more general issues, such as questions about the nature of justice, ideal forms of democracy, and how to organize political and legal institutions. Applied political and legal philosophy uses the insights of political and legal philosophy to critically examine more concrete issues within the disciplines. Some examples include philosophical inquiry into family-based immigration policies, understanding the conceptual structure of civil disobedience, and discussing the bounds of prosecutorial discretion in domestic violence cases. Dempsey and Lister (2016) identify three activist approaches to applied political and legal philosophy.

Activist approaches

The standard activist approach is used when a philosopher presents arguments directed primarily at other philosophers, defending or critiquing a policy or some set of policies. If a policy maker happens to come across the argument, and is sufficiently persuaded to make public policy changes supporting the philosophers desired outcome, then the standard activist philosopher will be satisfied. However, their main goal is to articulate a sound argument in favour of their position on some policy or set of political/legal issues, regardless of if it actually influences public policy.

Conceptual activism is when arguments are directed primarily to other philosophers, and critically analyses and clarifies some concept, where the arguments presented may be relevant in future policy making. The goal of conceptual activists is to motivate a particular understanding of concepts which may later inform policy making. Westen's (2017) work on consent is paradigmatic of this approach, where his analysis of the concept of consent unpacks confusions amongst not only philosophers and academics, but also policy makers, as to the nature and limitations of consent.

Extreme activism is when a philosopher acts as an expert consultant and presents an argument directly to policy makers in favour of some view. Although they still aim to present a sound argument about what should happen in the world, as the standard activist does, this goal is just as important as their goal to persuade policy makers in order to bring about the desired outcome of their work. Thus, the measure of success for an extreme activist consists not only of doing good philosophy, but also of their direct causal contribution to the world. However, the tension between their political and philosophical goals has potentially negative outcomes, such as wasting policy makers' time, who are not convinced by philosophical arguments, the possibility of corruption for philosophers placed in this position, and the potential to undermine the value of philosophy.

Feminist political philosophy

Feminist political philosophy involves understanding and critiquing political philosophy's inattention to feminist concerns, and instead articulates ways for political theory to be reconstructed to further feminist aims. Feminist political philosophy has been instrumental in reorganising political institutions and practices, as well as developing new political ideals and practices which justify their reorganisation. Work in feminist political philosophy uses the various activist approaches to causally affect public policies and political institutions. For example, liberal feminist theorising, whose main concerns are protecting and enhancing women's political rights and personal autonomy, has consistently used conceptual activism to further their aims.

Applied epistemology

While epistemology—the study of knowledge and justified belief—used to primarily be concerned with the seeking of truth and have an individualistic orientation in the task of doing so, recent developments in this branch of philosophy do not only highlight the social ways in which knowledge is generated, but also its practical and normative dimensions. Applied epistemology is the branch of applied philosophy that precisely explores and addresses these considerations.

For instance, even if traditional epistemology often investigates what we are justified in believing—the most paradigmatic case being the tripartite analysis of knowledge, i.e. that S knows that p if and only if p is true, S believes that p, and S is justified in believing that p—, applied epistemologists have argued that those questions are equivalent to queries about what we ought to believe: stressing that epistemology is fundamentally a normative subject. Coady (2016) claims so by recognizing that this branch of philosophy is not merely interested in how things are, but also in how they ought to be. As a result, there might be different (and more preferable) methods for acquiring knowledge depending on whose values guide one's orientation in life or what goals direct their pursuit of truth.

Social epistemology, in its focus on the social dimensions of knowledge and the ways that institutions mediate its acquisition, often overlaps with and can be seen as a part of applied epistemology. But one cannot equate those fields of research as social epistemology has been, so far, a lot more investigated through a consequentialist lens—i.e. it has been exploring the epistemic consequences of our social institutions that generate knowledge—than other normative predispositions. Coady (2016) claims that social epistemology has not sufficiently addressed questions of what individuals ought to believe and how they should pursue knowledge. And, while this social and consequentialist orientation has great value, applied epistemology also encompasses other normative orientations—like deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics, amongst others—and explores individualistic questions of practical epistemic concerns.

The potential topics of applied epistemology include, but are not limited to: feminist epistemology, the epistemology of deliberative democracy, freedom of expression and diversity, conspiracy theories, the epistemological dimensions and implications of sexual consent, information markets, and more.

Feminist epistemology

Main article: Feminist epistemology

Feminist epistemology studies how gendered practices and norms contribute to social oppression—including, but not limited to the enforcement of heteropatriarchy, racism, ableism, and classism—and proposes ways for agents to revise them in light of this. This branch of feminist philosophy also contributes to the scope of social epistemology as it identifies several ways in which conventional knowledge practices and processes disadvantage women, such as excluding them from inquiry, denying them epistemic authority, and producing theories of women which misrepresent them to serve patriarchal interests.

Feminist epistemology is not only applied in the sense that its liberatory goals are explicitly political and, as a result, seek a certain causal effect on the world. But this branch of epistemology is also greatly relevant since, to be effective activists, Wylie (2001) stresses that it is necessary “to understand the conditions that disadvantage women with as much empirical accuracy and explanatory power as possible.”

A demonstration of this necessity is that, since the Black and lesbian feminist theorizing of the 1980s, it is not effective anymore for feminists to investigate the conceptions and phenomena related to gender without the concept of intersectionality: which does not only make visible how the lived experiences of an individual and social group are shaped by their interdependent and overlapping identities, but also that, ultimately, their access to power and privilege is structured by those. Crenshaw (1989) coined this interpretative framework by investigating the failures of the legal courts in DeGraffenreid v General Motors (1976), Moore v Hughes Helicopter (1983), and Payne v Travenol (1976) to recognize that Black women were both discriminated on the basis of gender and of race.

Epistemology of deliberative democracy

The deliberative conception of democracy claims that public deliberation is necessary for the justification of this political system and the legitimacy of its decision-making processes. Broadly put, public deliberations refer to the open spaces where free and equal citizens share and discuss their reasons for supporting different policy proposals and societal ideas.^[43] This emphasis on public deliberation differentiates the deliberative conception from the aggregative conception of democracy: which understands the democratic process as a tool to gather and track the preferences and beliefs of citizenry at the moment of voting. This area of applied epistemology explores the epistemic values, virtues, and vices that underscore and can be observed to emerge from deliberative decision-making.

For instance, in the case of a referendum or an election, the Condorcet jury theorem (CJT) articulates that: if each voter is more likely than not to be correct on a topic on which they are asked to vote (i.e. the competence condition) and if each votes independently from one another (i.e. the independence condition), then it is not only the case that a majority of people is more likely to be correct than a single individual on the outcome of their vote. But it is also the case that the probability that a majority will vote for the correct outcome increases with the number of voters.

On the one hand, the CJT provides a solid defense and empirical argument for the importance of voting in democracy: this procedure leads decision-making bodies to make better decisions because of more accurate epistemic inputs. On the other hand, it also creates a debate on the influence of public deliberations on the well-functioning of voting procedures. While Estlund (1989) and Waldron (1989) claim that public deliberation, in its exchange of reasons and information about the outcomes under discussion, improves the competence condition of the votes, Dietrich and Spiekermann (2013) raise concerns about the fact that: if voters engage with one another too much prior to or at the moment of making a decision, the independence condition of the CJT is undermined and its optimistic results become distorted.

Many have also raised the ‘public ignorance’ objection to the deliberative conception of democracy: holding that most people are too ignorant for deliberative democracy to be an effective and viable practice. Talisse (2004) responds to this proposed limitation by claiming that it is unclear about what exactly ‘ignorance’ refers to — according to him, this objection conflates the states of being uninformed, misinformed, and uninterested — and that attributing culpability to those that ‘do not know’ takes responsibility away from the democratic institutions (like media and academia) that fail them.

While social epistemology takes a closer look at the roles of institutional practices to generate, mediate, or prevent knowledge acquisition, a substantial debate in the epistemology of deliberative democracy concerns the legal sanctions on speech, behavior and freedom of expression. The contribution of J.S. Mill (1859) is frequently referenced on this issue, notably supporting that free speech and public deliberation help to eliminate wrong opinions, permit correct beliefs to prevail, and, as a result, promote truth. Censorship and strict limitations of the public sphere would prevent different parties, in a disagreement, from even perceiving the truthful elements of their opponent's argument and could reinforce dogmatic tendencies in a given society. Landemore (2013) also supports that diversity is epistemically beneficial in deliberative democracies; there are higher chances to reach a correct truth if considering more diverse perspectives than few. Even if one can think of the dimensions of diversity that social and feminist epistemologies refer to, Kappel, Hallsson, and Møller (2016) also bring to the forefront of the discussion: diversity of knowledge, diversity of opinion, cognitive diversity, epistemic norm diversity, and non-epistemic value diversity.

If diversity may help to neutralize biases, ‘enclave deliberations’—a communicative process amongst like-minded people “who talk or even live, much of the time, in isolated enclaves”— can lead to group polarization. Sunstein (2002) defines group polarization as the phenomenon in which members of a group move towards a more extreme position during the process of deliberating with their peers than before doing so. For him, two reasons explain the statistical regularity of this phenomenon. On the one hand, he points to the fact that people do not usually discuss with groups that share different inclinations and predispositions on a particular topic: greatly limiting their ‘argument pool’. On the other hand, he acknowledges that group polarization also arises from the desire of group members to be perceived favourably by their peers.

Sunstein also points to the empirical evidence that diverse and heterogeneous groups tend to give less weight to the views of low-status members — the latter also being frequently more quiet in deliberative bodies. This area of deliberative inequalities overlaps with applied political philosophy and can be explored in the works of: Bohman (1996) and Young (2000), amongst others.

Applied philosophers also propose epistemic virtues and valuable practices to cope with these epistemic vices and deliberative dysfunction. Starting from the premise that there is nothing wrong with changing and being convinced by others about our views, Peter (2013) suggests that it is how one navigates disagreements that matters. For her, well-conducted deliberations are those in which participants treat each other as epistemic peers, that is, they recognize that they are as likely to make a mistake along the way as their peers. As a result, they should not be closed to revising their original beliefs (especially if they realize that their arguments are not sufficiently robust) while holding themselves mutually accountable to one another.

Other topics that explore the epistemology of deliberative democracy include, but are not limited to: epistemic proceduralism, the value or disvalue of disagreement, epistocracy, and social integration, among others.

Applied ontology

Main article: Applied ontology

See also: Ontology (information science)

Applied ontology involves the application of ontology to practical pursuits. This can involve adopting ontological principles in the creation of controlled, representational vocabularies. These vocabularies, referred to as 'ontologies', can be compiled to organize scientific information in a computer-friendly format.

One of the primary uses of ontologies is improving interoperability of data systems. Data within and between organizations can sometimes be trapped within data silos. Ontologies can improve data integration by offering a representative structure which diverse data systems can link up to. By representing our knowledge about domains through classes and the relations between them, ontologies can also be used to improve information retrieval and discovery from databases.

When an ontology is limited to representing entities from a specific subject or domain, it is called a domain ontology. An upper-level ontology (or top-level ontology) represents entities at a highly general level of abstraction. The classes and relations of an upper-level ontology are applicable to many different domain ontologies. Criteria to count as an upper level ontology are defined by ISO/IEC 21838-1:2021. Some examples of upper-level ontologies include Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), Descriptive Ontology for Linguistic and Cognitive Engineering (DOLCE), and TUpper. There are also mid-level ontologies, which define terms that are used in different domains and are less general than those in upper-level ontologies, which they extend from and conform to, such as the Common Core Ontologies.