El presente artículo pretende mostrar cómo en la filosofía de Andrés Bello puede llegar a comprenderse el cuerpo como suposición y como una entidad propuesta con anterioridad empírica que hace posible la comprensión del dinamismo de la propia realidad y a la vez la coexistencia de los fenómenos en el mundo. Además, el papel de medium ejercido por esta corporalidad permitiría dar cuenta de la referencialidad en la relación mundo-mente. Todo ello enmarcado bajo una posible deriva fenomenalista lingüística (...) del propio autor a través de la defensa del juicio como aquél que actúa como referencia del significado de la propia sensación para poder dar validez y existencia a las propias percepciones e ideas. (shrink)

The present paper argues that the Venezuelan-Chilean philosopher Andrés Bello constitutes an important but heretofore neglected prefiguration of Richard Rorty. I argue for this thesis by articulating first an Inter-American philosophical narrative (based on previous work by Alex Stehn and Carlos Sanchez) that enables me to highlight certain common characteristics in philosophical projects that flourished across the Americas. Having done this, I show that Rorty’s anti-representationalism and anti-foundationalism are prefigured in Bello’s most important philosophical treatise, Filosofía del (...) Entendimiento, to the extent that Bello recognizes the problems posed by the ocular metaphors that are systematically used by Early modern philosophers such as Descartes or Locke, and suggests their elimination and replacement by other metaphors. Finally, I conclude that, if my arguments are correct, the intellectual geography of neo-pragmatism needs to be expanded beyond traditional geographies such as Europe and the US. (shrink)

The Venezuelan-Chilean humanist Andrés Bello has been recognized as one of the most distinguished intellectuals of the 19th century—one of the last polymaths of the stature of figures such as Athanasius Kircher, Gottfried Leibniz or Benjamin Franklin. Indeed, his numerous contributions span fields such as grammar, poetry, civil law, diplomacy, education, political theory, philology and philosophy. However, despite having composed one of the most important philosophical treatises ever written in Spanish, his philosophical proposals have not been engaged with (...) a substantial way by scholars of the Anglophone world. Only a few scholars such as... (shrink)

In Chile, the contemporary form of academic life is irreducible to neoliberalism. There are past experiences and discourses that continue to disrupt the daily routine, dynamics, intensity, and rhythm of academics. They manifest as various epistemological, ethical, institutional, technical, and political mechanisms that produce innumerable images, meanings, and practices. These experiences conflict with the affects and material realities of the neoliberalism. The entanglement of these experiences from the past and present is conflicting, as they attempt to ignore or repress each (...) other. In this respect, this paper addresses the following question: what is the model of academic behaviour that was established during the post-independence period in the Chilean university system? To answer this question, I explore Andres Bello's texts concerning university and academic life. The conclusion is that Bello established a specific model of academic behaviour that, with some later modifications, reconfigurations, and contradictions, returns to the present. Bello's influence today can be seen through spectres that enable and limit new possibilities for expanding academic critique within and across scholarly settings. (shrink)

Following the line of thought articulated by Gallegos-Ordorica (2019), the main goal of this article is to argue that the 19th century Venezuelan-Chilean polymath Andrés Bello should be included within the history of the pragmatist tradition as an important precursor insofar as his masterpiece, Filosofía del Entendimiento (Philosophy of the Understanding), exhibits many views and attitudes that are characteristic of pragmatism. A second and narrower goal of this article is to show that the specific kind of proto-pragmatist position (...) that Bello endorses in Philosophy of the Understanding bears remarkable similarities to the neo-pragmatist view of Huw Price and to argue that Bello’s metaphorical idea-signs can be potentially useful in explaining the great variety of functions that what Price calls “i-representations” have within his functional pluralism. (shrink)

El artículo intenta precisar algunos de los rasgos principales de lo que se podría denominar la "experiencia histórica" bellista. Un tipo de "experiencia" que, enfrentada a una muy severa "crisis generalizada del sentido de las cosas", no es disociable del asentamiento de unas bases que buscan responder a los nuevos requerimientos histórico-culturales, sin por ello negar abruptamente el pasado. The article attempts to clarify some of the main features of what might be called the "historical experience" bellista. A kind of (...) "experience" that, faced with a very severe "generalized crisis of meaning of things", is not separable from the settlement of a foundation seeking to respond to new historical and cultural requirements, without denying abruptly the past. (shrink)

Este trabajo se ocupa de algunas ideas éticas del filósofo latinoamericano Andrés Bello (1781-1865), en especial de su “teoría de los sentimientos morales”. En la polémica del siglo XIX entre el llamado racionalismo ético (representado por Théodore Jouffroy) y el utilitarismo (Bentham), Bello adopta una postura intermedia, que pudiera calificarse de “hedonismo moderado” o de “eudemonismo”. Sus puntos de vista sobre la motivación moral o la manera en que la razón y el sentimiento se entrelazan para formar (...) nuestras creencias morales, se revelan como muy próximos a las doctrinas de Aristóteles y de algunos autores contemporáneos. (shrink)

Resumen: El artículo estudia los Elementos de Filosofía (EdF), dictados por Andrés Bello a Juan Alemparte en Santiago de Chile hacia los años 1840-1843 y conservados actualmente en una copia manuscrita. Se muestra que los EdF corresponden a un esbozo preliminar de las materias abordadas por Bello tanto en las entregas del periódico El Crepúsculo como en su obra póstuma Filosofía del Entendimiento. Por ello, se plantea que estas lecciones manuscritas constituyen un testimonio exclusivo de las clases (...) particulares del maestro venezolano en Santiago del siglo XIX y exhiben, además, un estadio de maduración temprano de ideas que llegarán a ser gravitantes en su obra magna. Se espera que este material represente un insumo para futuras pesquisas en torno a las percepciones en general, y desde la perspectiva del pensador caraqueño en particular. Abstract: The article examines the Elements of Philosophy, taught by Andrés Bello to Juan Alemparte in Santiago de Chile around 1840-1843 and currently preserved in a manuscript copy. It is shown that the Elements of Philosophy correspond to a preliminary outline of the matters addressed by Bello both in the newspaper El Crepúsculo and in his posthumous work Philosophy of the Understanding. For this reason, it is proposed that these manuscript notes constitute an exclusive testimony of the private lessons of the Venezuelan Master in Santiago of the 19th century and exhibit a stage of early maturation of ideas that will become gravitational in his magnum opus. It is expected that this material represents an input for future research on perceptions in general, and from the perspective of the thinker from Caracas in particular. (shrink)

Suárez es uno de los más insignes juristas españoles. La profundidad y originalidad de su pensamiento ha inspirado a muchos autores posteriores hasta la actualidad de manera que puede decirse que existe una escuela suareciana conocida y activa. Este hecho que engrandece nuestra tradición jurídica, debe ser conservado y acrecentado. El artículo que ahora se presenta quiere llegar un poco más allá. Quiere buscar la influencia indirecta de Suárez en aquellos autores que sin mencionarlo expresamente siguen los cauces de su (...) pensamiento aplicándolos a ámbitos de conocimiento no estrictamente jurídicos. Este es el caso de Andrés Bello, un personaje americano de gran importancia. Político, diplomático y jurista de formación humanista clásica, organizó la vida de los seres humanos en sociedad buscando la justicia y la paz. Creo que la influencia de Suárez en personajes de este tipo debe ser considerada, conocida y valorada porque expanden su magisterio de forma insospechada. (shrink)

Este artículo estudia, desde un punto de vista analítico, la teoría de la percepción que AndrésBello presenta en su Filosofía del Entendimiento. El objetivo central consiste en elucidar cuáles sonlos elementos que componen y estructuran el proceso de la percepción. En este sentido, se procedemediante el análisis de los capítulos y los apéndices relacionados con los temas de la percepción, quecorresponden con la primera parte denominada, “Psicolojía mental”. De conformidad con lo anterior,se analizan las nociones de alma o espíritu, conciencia, (...) sensación, intuición, referencia o juicio, eimpresión. Metodológicamente, se recurre a las estrategias y recursos que para el trabajo filosóficoprovee el análisis del lenguaje. Finalmente, se concluye que la teoría de la percepción en Andrés Bello,involucra la colaboración de una serie de subprocesos como la intuición, la sensación y la referencia ojuicio, además de reclamar como indispensable la unidad e indivisibilidad del alma o el “yo”. (shrink)

The pandemic had serious implications for university education, specifically due to the transition from face-to-face teaching to online methodologies. This article analyzes the perception of students undergoing speech therapy from a Chilean University about the E-portfolio incorporation as an evaluative tool during the emergency virtual teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From quantitative research, a survey of 38 questions based on Likert scales was applied to 108 penultimate year undergraduate students. The survey demonstrated that there is an improvement in the (...) methodology and teaching support, as well as in the creativity and professionalism of the students. (shrink)

Machine generated contents note: 1. -- War on war, by Lewis Thomas -- 2. -- Silent genocide, by Abdus Salam -- 3. -- Error: a stage of knowledge, by Paulo Freire -- 4. -- Doing without a revolution?, by Tahar Ben Jelloun -- 5. -- Stop torture, by Manfred Nowak -- 6. -- Truth, force and law, by Rabindranath Tagore -- 7. -- Violence is an insult to the human being, by Federico Mayor -- 8. -- Totalitarianism banishes politics, by (...) Vaclav Havel -- 9. -- No one will stop us. , by Desmond Tutu -- 10. -- Colonialism and the youth bomb, by Joseph Ki-Zerbo -- 11. -- The shedding of blood -- 12. -- Letter from Nagasaki, by Takashi Nagai -- 13. -- Down with exclusion!, by Herbert de Souza -- 14. -- The nower to sav 'no'. bv loan Martin-Brown -- 15. -- Inquiry into a taboo, by Ouassila Si Saber -- 16. -- The illusions of rationalism, by Ernesto Sabato -- 17. -- The 'poisonous weed', by Ba Jin -- 18. -- Humanity, an ongoing creation, by Ali Ahmad Said Esber (Adonis) -- 19. -- Image, writing and the vandal, by Alberto Moravia -- 20. -- The charms of calumny, by Andres Bello -- 21. -- On the threshold of eternity, by the Abbe Pierre -- 22. -- The control of force, by Karl Jaspers -- 23. -- The nature of force, by Simone Weil -- 24. -- The debt of justice, by Martin Luther King -- 25. -- Democracy and barbarism, by Sergei S. Averintsev -- 26. -- If all the animals should disappear, by Richard Fitter -- 27. -- Irony and compassion, by Octavio Paz -- 28. -- Against all hatred, by Aime Cesaire -- 29. -- Creating differences, by Daniel J. Boorstin -- 30. -- I dislike the word 'tolerance', by Mahatma Gandhi. (shrink)

Durante las últimas décadas, el análisis de los procesos de integración regional ha sido materia de especial interés para numerosos estudiosos de las relaciones internacionales. Entre las distintas visiones que se han enfocado en esta esfera, especialmente destacables resultan el funcionalismo, desde cuya perspectiva los estudios de David Mitrany resultan especialmente importantes; el neofuncionalismo de Ernst Haas y Philippe Schmiter; y el análisis de Karl Deutsch, desde el punto de vista d..

The emergence of independent Chile in the early nineteenth century fostered debate over the appropriate model and function for historical study within the new nation. One school of thought, represented by Andres Bello, shunned all foreign historiographical models as inapplicable, and held that since Chilean historical knowledge was incomplete, priority ought to be given to close study of the facts. José Lastarria argued that the historian must be a philosopher of history, searching out the meaning of historical facts in (...) order to draw lessons for the present. In contrast to Bello, Lastarria believed the historical work should serve an active political function and offer judgments on both past and present. (shrink)

El propósito de este texto es resaltar el papel de la poesía como elemento esencial en el proyecto de independencia, en su doble condición de, por una parte, instrumento creador de la nueva realidad emancipada y, por otra, de construcción de un imaginario de nación en clave republicana. El texto ofrece una lectura de los poemas La victoria de Junín. Canto a Bolívar de José Joaquín de Olmedo y Alocución a la poesía. Fragmentos de un poema titulado “América” y La (...) agricultura de la zona tórrida de Andrés Bello. El análisis se centra en estos poemas por considerarlos fundamentales para la configuración del imaginario de nación de los pueblos americanos. La hipótesis del texto es que ante la falta de un imaginario propio, la poesía será esencial por su función figurativa, y que son los poetas-próceres los que suplen la falta de un pasado común y propio en torno al cual pudiera construirse la nación como comunidad imaginada. (shrink)

This slim volume contains a translation of the article Beau from the second volume of Diderot's Encyclopédie, plus a lengthy introduction to Diderot's work and a survey of esthetic theory in eighteenth-century England, France, and Germany as well. The translators do not mention the academic quarrels which plagued Diderot's article until 1952, when Lester G. Crocker resolved them once and for all in favor of Diderot. They also mistakenly attribute to Diderot the article Encyclopédie. These are, however, minor imperfections in (...) a text which serves as a solid introduction to Diderot studies. The translators have summarized many of Diderot's major works and have outlined significant problems in esthetics discussed by Hume, Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Wolff, Lessing, Winckelman, Montesquieu, Du Bos, and, of immediate significance to Diderot, the père Andre and the abbé Batteux. Other features of this book include extensive notes, a good index, a bibliography, and André Billy's compilation of Diderot's works in order of publication.—C. M. R. (shrink)

Many philosophers have been appointed to top-level political positions during Chile's modern history. What makes Chilean philosophers unique in the context of Latin America and beyond, is that they have developed a sophisticated rationale for both their participation and withdrawal from politics. All along, philosophers have grappled with fundamental problems such as the role of religion and politics in society. They have also played a fundamental role in defining the nature and aims of higher education. The philosophers' production constitutes a (...) substantial, albeit largely unknown, portion of the intellectual history of Chile and Latin America. This book describes in detail the evolution of philosophical work in Chile, and pays close attention to the relationship between philosophical activity and contemporary social and political events. Various Chilean philosophical sources are discussed for the first time in the literature on Chilean ideas. The work of such intellectuals as Andres Bello, Valentin Letelier, Enrique Molina, Jorge Millas, Juan Rivano, Juan de Dios Vial Larrain, and many others is examined in relation to the principal political and educational issues of their time. The book also develops a distinction between the two main currents of Chilean philosophy, namely, a "professionalist" current that seeks the independence of the field from social and political involvements, and a "critical" current that seeks to relate philosophical activity to national realities. (shrink)

Resumen: Este artículo propone una reflexión acerca de una colección de ukiyo-e del Archivo Central Andrés Bello de la Universidad de Chile. La anchura del problema es extendida en dos constelaciones exploratorias: por una parte, indagar lo controvertible, aparentemente, de interrogar el objeto japonés desde las lógicas disciplinares occidentales, es decir, por medio de la dicotomía Occidente-Oriente. De otra parte, caracterizar cómo esta tensión inicial fue desatendida o invertida, como un paradigma de lo social en el ukiyo-e y, (...) con ello, el principio de asociatividad de las imágenes en el espacio del museo.: This article proposes a reflection about a collection of ukiyo-e from the Archivo Central Andrés Bello of the Universidad Chile. The breadth of the problem is extended on two exploratory constellations: on the one hand, to inquire the controversy, apparently, to interrogate the Japanese object from Western disciplinary logics, that means, through the West-East dichotomy. On the other hand, to characterize how this initial tension was neglected or inverted, as a social paradigm on ukiyo-e, and with it, the principle of associativity of the images in the space of the museum. (shrink)

In the context of a global pandemic that started in 2020, the Chilean higher education institution Universidad Andrés Bello faced the challenge of giving continuity to its already established blended program for English courses while also starting the implementation of a high-stakes certification assessment for its students using the Test of English for International Communication Bridge. This study sought to evaluate how much of a mediating factor online teaching presence could be in the context of test preparation within (...) a language course in aspects related to autonomous learning and perceived learning outcomes. A mixed-methods approach was used. It included a survey applied to 1,642 eligible students of the English program. These quantitative data were complemented with students’ comments and teacher interviews. After triangulating quantitative and qualitative data, teaching presence was clearly perceived to be a relevant aspect of the online experience in the studied courses. However, both students’ and teachers’ voices evidenced pervasive challenges and tensions that hinder the potentially transformative benefits that online learning is expected to bring about. (shrink)

La présence de la francophonie dans la culture chilienne s'est manifestée, à travers le temps, en réponse aux nécessités de genèse, d'organisation, de consolidation et d'insertion internationale de l'État-nation. L'intellectuel, acteur fondamental dans l'organisation de la culture, se révèle être l'agent décisif pour la sélection réalisée dans le large spectre des valeurs de la culture française. Avec pour axe l'action de ce médiateur, une périodisation de l'histoire culturelle met en relief les moments significatifs de l'influence du modèle francophone dans la (...) formation, au Chili, d'une culture nationale de contenu américain, telle que la postule Andrés Bello, dès l'étape de l'organisation de la République. L'examen de la particularité chilienne permet de dévoiler les noyaux importants de la fonction qu'a exercée dans le passé, et qu'exerce à l'heure de la globalisation, la francophonie dans le développement de la variante de la culture européenne née en territoire américainIn Chilean culture, Francophony has grown in reaction to the genesis, organisation and international position of the nation. As fundamental actors in the process of cultural organisation, intellectuals have proved essential to help select useful French cultural values from the extensive range that exist. A study of the specific case of Chile reveals the important core factors of the role Francophony played in the development of a variant of European culture in Latin America. The paper shows the distinctive stages of Chilean development with a particular emphasis on globalisation. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that the search for explainable models and interpretable decisions in AI must be reformulated in terms of the broader project of offering a pragmatic and naturalistic account of understanding in AI. Intuitively, the purpose of providing an explanation of a model or a decision is to make it understandable to its stakeholders. But without a previous grasp of what it means to say that an agent understands a model or a decision, the explanatory strategies will (...) lack a well-defined goal. Aside from providing a clearer objective for XAI, focusing on understanding also allows us to relax the factivity condition on explanation, which is impossible to fulfill in many machine learning models, and to focus instead on the pragmatic conditions that determine the best fit between a model and the methods and devices deployed to understand it. After an examination of the different types of understanding discussed in the philosophical and psychological literature, I conclude that interpretative or approximation models not only provide the best way to achieve the objectual understanding of a machine learning model, but are also a necessary condition to achieve post hoc interpretability. This conclusion is partly based on the shortcomings of the purely functionalist approach to post hoc interpretability that seems to be predominant in most recent literature. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that the search for explainable models and interpretable decisions in AI must be reformulated in terms of the broader project of offering a pragmatic and naturalistic account of understanding in AI. Intuitively, the purpose of providing an explanation of a model or a decision is to make it understandable to its stakeholders. But without a previous grasp of what it means to say that an agent understands a model or a decision, the explanatory strategies will (...) lack a well-defined goal. Aside from providing a clearer objective for XAI, focusing on understanding also allows us to relax the factivity condition on explanation, which is impossible to fulfill in many machine learning models, and to focus instead on the pragmatic conditions that determine the best fit between a model and the methods and devices deployed to understand it. After an examination of the different types of understanding discussed in the philosophical and psychological literature, I conclude that interpretative or approximation models not only provide the best way to achieve the objectual understanding of a machine learning model, but are also a necessary condition to achieve post hoc interpretability. This conclusion is partly based on the shortcomings of the purely functionalist approach to post hoc interpretability that seems to be predominant in most recent literature. (shrink)

Plagiarism is a serious, yet widespread type of research misconduct, and is often neglected in developing countries. Despite its far-reaching implications, plagiarism is poorly acknowledged and discussed in the academic setting, and insufficient evidence exists in Latin America and developing countries to inform the development of preventive strategies. In this context, we present a longitudinal case study of seven instances of plagiarism and cheating arising in four consecutive classes of an Epidemiology Masters program in Lima, Peru, and describes the implementation (...) and outcomes of a multifaceted, “zero-tolerance” policy aimed at introducing research integrity. Two cases involved cheating in graded assignments, and five cases correspond to plagiarism in the thesis protocol. Cases revealed poor awareness of high tolerance to plagiarism, poor academic performance, and widespread writing deficiencies, compensated with patchwriting and copy-pasting. Depending on the events’ severity, penalties included course failure and separation from the program. Students at fault did not engage in further plagiarism. Between 2011 and 2013, the Masters program sequentially introduced a preventive policy consisting of: intensified research integrity and scientific writing education, a stepwise, cumulative writing process; honor codes; active search for plagiarism in all academic products; and a “zero-tolerance” policy in response to documented cases. No cases were detected in 2014. In conclusion, plagiarism seems to be widespread in resource-limited settings and a greater response with educational and zero-tolerance components is needed to prevent it. (shrink)

One of the strongest defences of free speech holds that autonomy requires the protection of speech. In this paper I examine five conditions that autonomy must satisfy. I survey recent research in social psychology regarding automatic behaviour, and a challenge to autonomy is articulated. I argue that a plausible strategy for neutralising some of the autonomy-threatening automatic responses consists in avoiding the exposure to the environmental features that trigger them. If this is so, we can good autonomy-based pro tanto reasons (...) for controlling exposure to certain forms of speech. (shrink)

In this paper I examine the notion of ‘artifact’ and related notions in the dominant version of extended cognition theory grounded on extended functionalism. Although the term is ubiquitous in the literature, it is far from clear what ECT means by it. How are artifacts conceptualized in ECT? Is ‘artifact’ a meaningful and useful category for ECT? If the answer to the previous question is negative, should we worry? Is it important for ECT to have a coherent theory of artifacts? (...) And what are the demands and constraints that ECT imposes on this theory? I distinguish between two aspects of ECT, one narrow, aligned with extended functionalism ; and one broad or pluralistic, in which EF is combined with other theoretical resources in the context of diverse research programs. I begin by determining the problems in conceptualizing artifacts from EF. Then I address the question of why a concept of artifact may be relevant to ECT. Next, I examine the efforts of Richard Heersmink to combine ECT with dominant theories of artifacts in the philosophy of technology. I argue that both approaches fail to yield a meaningful notion of artifact, let alone one of ‘cognitive’ artifact. Finally, I argue that narrow ECT places rather strong constraints on a theory of artifacts, since it locates the specificity of ‘artifact’ in material aspects of realization that are, by definition, outside its theoretical purview. I examine, then discard, the possibility that a materialist and objectivist theory of artifacts may be of help. And finally I briefly explore some ways in which a broad, pluralistic ECT may address some of these shortcomings. (shrink)

In this article I respond to Yuk Hui by revisiting the crossroads in the philosophy of technology as represented by the philosophies of Stiegler and Ihde. Whereas Hui proposes the concept of cosmotechnics as an integrating perspective, I conceive of the crossroads in other terms, namely from the perspective of substantivism. I characterize our present situation, what a philosophy of technology should address and then examine Hui’s notion of cosmotechnics from this alternative perspective. My main concern is to show future (...) paths of development for cosmotechnical thought. (shrink)

Variations in life history define key comparative and evolutionary biological questions, important for understanding the mechanisms of mammalian evolutionary divergence, developmental adaptability and plasticity. In this regard, the differences among predominantly altricial and precocial species represent a particularly significant, if still poorly understood and contested case. Here, it will be shown how the classical analysis of such ontogenetic variations, going back to the semantic biology of A. Portmann, can be expanded and synthesized with comparative physiological approaches, based on the negentropic (...) theory of ontogeny by I. A. Arshavsky and his school. In this little received but pioneering tradition, extensive comparative and experimental investigations were carried out on the role of musculoskeletal systems and stressors in driving life history variations, particularly in the altricial-precocial spectrum. As shown by Arshavsky and co-workers, by focusing on general allometric regularities, the approximations based on the classical energy rules of surface and mass offer valuable benchmarks, but also predictions that are frequently violated by the variability of physiological and metabolic scaling relationships among altricials and precocials, and thus, a complex and historical approach is needed to describe their local physiological mechanisms and systemic regularities. This paper shows how Arshavsky’s findings and framework can play an integrative role in this context, potentially helping to bridge the mainly descriptive approach of semantic morphology, as developed by Portmann’s school, with the more functional explanations predominating current ecology and life history theory. These problems can be important for biosemiotics by highlighting the contingent, activity-dependent, and surplus anabolic stress mechanisms underlying diversification in eutherian developmental systems and possibly, the epigenetic evolution of pace-of-life syndromes. (shrink)