JOURNAL PAPER

Halder, Biplab Kumar, Abdullah, Omar Saif, A Human Rights-based Approach to Health: The Case of a Garment Manufacturing Building Collapse in Bangladesh, Copula, Jahangirnagar University Studies in Philosophy, XXXVII, June 2020,

A Human rights-based approach to health has both philosophical and legal foundations. However, many scholars criticize this approach for its broadness and vagueness. This paper proposes a human rights-based approach to health in regard to the Bangladeshi ready-made garment manufacturing sector. In April 2013, a garment-manufacturing building named Rana Plaza in Dhaka, near the capital of Bangladesh, collapsed causing more than 1,100 garments workers’ death and disabling thousands more. Through the analysis of the Rana Plaza case, this paper argues that health policies for garment workers in Bangladesh’s RMG sector must recognize human rights as the underlying value. In this paper, we adopt Leslie London’s human rights-based approach that analyzes the following three aspects: (1) the indivisibility of civil and political rights, and socio-economic rights; (2) active agency by those vulnerable to human rights violations; and (3) the powerful normative role of human rights in establishing accountability for protections and freedoms. The human rights approach that is espoused in this paper not only acknowledges the importance of a safe working environment but also explains the nonmaterial aspects of health such as the socio-economic conditions of the workers and their political rights.

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, Public Health Promotion in Bangladesh through the Community Health Clinics: A Foucauldian Analysis, Journal of Health Ethics, 12, 2,

 

The system of community health clinics in Bangladesh is contributing largely to improving the public health status of rural communities in Bangladesh. The significant success of this health promotion program leads medicine to its summit of power to influence the prevalent power structure in rural Bangladesh. A critical analysis of this paradigm shift is demanded in the context of public health. A Foucauldian analysis of the public health scenario of Bangladesh is most relevant in this context. In the paper, I propose a critical analysis of the public health apparatus of Bangladesh as manifested in the community health clinics, from the Foucauldian perspective of Discipline, Body, Power, and Space. Definitely, Foucault’s historical analysis of health in eighteenth century Europe in his Power/Knowledge is instrumental in the analysis of the medicalization of family in the public-private partnership model of Community Health Clinics. However, his other writings such as Discipline and Punish and Madness and Civilization are also relevant to the analysis of: a) how self-subjection becomes an element in the empowerment process of the public health initiative in Bangladesh; b) how the concept of hygiene and new diseases serve as a means of social control in the politics of medicine; c) how medicine accumulates morals like trust, solidarity, and common good in its normative role to the exercise of bio-power; and, finally d) how rural space becomes an important phenomenon of medicine in contemporary Bangladesh. It is taken for granted that the community health clinics are contributing positively to improving the public health condition.

 

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, How Moral Issues of Occupational Health Overlap Public Health Ethics: A case Study from Rana Plaza Tragedy of Bangladesh., Copula, Jahangirnagar University Studies in Philosophy, XXXII, June 2015, 2015.

Public health and occupational health are two areas that mutually intersect with the health issues of community. Community in occupational health is limited to certain type of population respective to different types of occupation. Whereas, community or public in public health is a broader concept which includes every type of community in a society. In this sense, public health ethics embraces all the ethical issues of occupational health. A case study of Rana Plaza tragedy, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Bangladesh, depicts number of ethical issues exist in occupational health that needs to be addressed from the perspective of public health ethics. Physical environment of the workplace vs. justice, coercion vs. human autonomy are two such issues in occupational health that demands critical attention.

 

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, Can the Principle of Procreative Beneficence Justify the Non-medical use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis?, Eubios journal of Asian and international bioethics (EJAIB), 26, 1, 2016, pp.180-184,

The Principle of Procreative Beneficence formulated by Julian Savulescu and Guy Kahane states that the parents have a moral obligation to select the best possible child, when selection is possible, by means of the genetic screening of the embryos. Savulescu not only advocates the genetic screening in order to avoid the disease markers but also advocates for selecting the non-disease genetic traits of an embryo which might contribute to the child’s better future, e.g. the intelligence of the child or selecting a particular sex. In the paper, I put forward the question whether preimplantation genetic diagnosis is justified in the case of selecting the non-disease genetic markers. I explore the fundamental assumptions of the Principle of Procreative Beneficence as well as its moral foundation in order to understand Savulescu’s claim. I argue against the pro-selection view of Julian Savulescu exploring the basic assumptions and moral foundation of the Principle of Procreative Beneficence. The Principle of Procreative Beneficence presumes that the non-medical and medical use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis are mutually inclusive in the question of a moral obligation for the parents. However, I identify that this is not the case if we consider the possible consequences of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis to the potential life of the child; the non-medical and medical use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis are mutually exclusive in terms of their implication on a child. The Principle of Procreative Beneficence also presumes a degree of parental obligation in the concept of ‘significant moral reason’ in the case of employing Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis which is morally problematic. Finally, I argue that the moral foundation of the Principle of Procreative Beneficence is based on the ‘common moral intuition’ which is not an authentic source of moral truth; hence, the Principle of Procreative Beneficence cannot justify the non-medical use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis.

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, Is the Principle of Respect for Autonomy in Biomedical Ethics Compatible with Kant's Conception of Autonomy?, Copula, Jahangirnagar University Studies in Philosophy, XXXIII, June 2016,

The principle of respect for autonomy is widely used in biomedical ethics. It is important to find the philosophical foundation of this principle so that its application can be justified in particular cases of biomedical ethics. Kantian moral philosophy is treated as one of the possible roots of the principle of respect for autonomy. The question thus arises to, whether the principle of respect for autonomy in biomedical ethics is compatible with a Kant’s schema. A closer examination reveals that there are some compatibility clues in Kant’s moral philosophy which proves that the principle of respect for autonomy is compatible with Kant’s concept of autonomy. In the paper, I locate the compatibility clues in Kant’s works on autonomy as well as I also present the discussion of ‘reflective equilibrium’ of contemporary bioethics which, in my opinion, makes the compatibility project stronger.

 

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, The Law of Non-contradiction in Aristotle's Metaphysics: Its Foundation and Formulation, Copula, Jahangirnagar University Studies in Philosophy, XXXI, June 2014,

The Law of Non-contradiction is one of the certain principles of thought in Aristotle’s Metaphysics. By distinguishing between science and metaphysics, he outlines the nature of metaphysics and formulates the fundamental principles of metaphysics, the science of being qua being. This distinction of science and metaphysics sets the foundation for The Law of Non-contradiction as well. In this paper, the LNC has been discussed in the light of three questions: in terms of nature, ‘how is the LNC formulated in Aristotle’s Metaphysics?’; in terms of importance, ‘why is it necessary to formulate the LNC?’ and; in terms of evaluation, ‘what is the consequences of denying the LNC?’. 

 

 

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, Possible Worlds, Copula, Jahangirnagar University Studies in Philosophy, XXVIII, June 2011,

The modal realism about possible worlds of David Lewis has been critically analyzed by Robert C. Stalnaker by finding out four more basic theses in it.  On the basis of one of the theses Stalnaker renders David Lewis’ doctrine as an extreme realism whereas he ignores Lewis’ metaphysical approaches as well as its influence on the whole doctrine. Moreover, Robert Merrihew Adams’ view of reducing possible worlds to propositions is sufficient to entitle Lewis’ doctrine as an extreme realism as well; hence, Stalnaker’s analysis seems redundant. The purpose of the paper is to emphasize David Lewis’ perspective towards metaphysics and to show that Stalnaker’s proposed view of moderate realism adds nothing new to the possible worlds semantics.

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CONFERENCE PAPER

Halder, Biplab Kumar, The Promise and Perils of Non-invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT): Should it be Publicly Funded?, Memorial University Centre for Bioethics Symposium, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 04 October 2019.

I presented this paper at the Grand Opening Symposium (October 4, 2019) of the Centre for Bioethics at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, Orientalism, Health, and the Politics of Medicalization in Identifying Bangladeshi Women as ‘the Vulnerable’, Oxford Global Health and Bioethics International Conference, The Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, 2019.

I presented this paper at the conference titled Oxford Global Health and Bioethics International Conference 2019 organized by Ethox Centre, University in Oxford, England.

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, The Pursuit of Social Justice: How Community Health Clinics in Bangladesh Promote Health Equity, Human Agency and Freedom Through Public Participation, People, Place, and Public Engagement, October 2018.

I presented this paper in October 2018 at the conference titled People, Place, and Public Engagement, held in St. John’s, Canada. The event was organized by the Office of Public Engagement at Memorial University.

 

Halder, Biplab Kumar, Can the Principle of Procreative Beneficence Justify the Non-Medical Use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis?, Bioethics: Preparing for the Unknown, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, United States, 2016.

I presented the paper "Can the Principle of Procreative Beneficence Justify the Non-Medical Use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis?" at the "Bioethics: Preparing for the Unknown" conference at Western Michigan University in March 2016.

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