The aim of this article is to theorize how materials can play an active, constitutive, and causally effective role in the production and sustenance of cultural forms and meanings. It does so through an empirical exploration of the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA). The article describes the museum as an “objectification machine” that endeavors to transform and to stabilize artworks as meaningful “objects” that can be exhibited, classified, and circulated. The article explains how the extent to which (...) the museum succeeds in this process of stabilization ultimately depends on the material properties of artworks and, more specially, on whether these behave as “docile” or “unruly” objects. Drawing on different empirical examples, the article explores how docile and unruly objects shape organizational dynamics within the museum and, through them, the wider processes of institutional and cultural reproduction. The article uses this empirical example to highlight the importance of developing a new “material sensibility” that restores heuristic dignity to the material within cultural sociology. (shrink)

In the last few years, biologists and computer scientists have claimed that the introduction of data science techniques in molecular biology has changed the characteristics and the aims of typical outputs (i.e. models) of such a discipline. In this paper we will critically examine this claim. First, we identify the received view on models and their aims in molecular biology. Models in molecular biology are mechanistic and explanatory. Next, we identify the scope and aims of data science (machine learning in (...) particular). These lie mainly in the creation of predictive models which performances increase as data set increases. Next, we will identify a tradeoff between predictive and explanatory performances by comparing the features of mechanistic and predictive models. Finally, we show how this a priori analysis of machine learning and mechanistic research applies to actual biological practice. This will be done by analyzing the publications of a consortium—The Cancer Genome Atlas—which stands at the forefront in integrating data science and molecular biology. The result will be that biologists have to deal with the tradeoff between explaining and predicting that we have identified, and hence the explanatory force of the ‘new’ biology is substantially diminished if compared to the ‘old’ biology. However, this aspect also emphasizes the existence of other research goals which make predictive force independent from explanation. (shrink)

In the last few years, biologists and computer scientists have claimed that the introduction of data science techniques in molecular biology has changed the characteristics and the aims of typical outputs (i.e. models) of such a discipline. In this paper we will critically examine this claim. First, we identify the received view on models and their aims in molecular biology. Models in molecular biology are mechanistic and explanatory. Next, we identify the scope and aims of data science (machine learning in (...) particular). These lie mainly in the creation of predictive models which performances increase as data set increases. Next, we will identify a tradeoff between predictive and explanatory performances by comparing the features of mechanistic and predictive models. Finally, we show how this a priori analysis of machine learning and mechanistic research applies to actual biological practice. This will be done by analyzing the publications of a consortium—The Cancer Genome Atlas—which stands at the forefront in integrating data science and molecular biology. The result will be that biologists have to deal with the tradeoff between explaining and predicting that we have identified, and hence the explanatory force of the ‘new’ biology is substantially diminished if compared to the ‘old’ biology. However, this aspect also emphasizes the existence of other research goals which make predictive force independent from explanation. (shrink)

Deep learning is a kind of machine learning which happens in a certain type of artificial neural networks called deep networks. Artificial deep networks, which exhibit many similarities with biological ones, have consistently shown human-like performance in many intelligent tasks. This poses the question whether this performance is caused by such similarities. After reviewing the structure and learning processes of artificial and biological neural networks, we outline two important reasons for the success of deep learning, namely the extraction of successively (...) higher level features and the multiple layer structure, which are closely related to each other. Then some indications about the framing of this heated debate are given. After that, an assessment of the value of artificial deep networks as models of the human brain is given from the similarity perspective of model representation. Finally, a new version of computational functionalism is proposed which addresses the specificity of deep neural computation better than classic, program based computational functionalism. (shrink)

From 1912, Alejandro Korn and José Ingenieros began to publish articles that then would be part of their historical works, respectively, Influencias filosóficas en la evolución nacional and La evolución de las ideas argentinas. Therefore, they started to generate some discussion in reference to sections that they knew of each other's work. Being the first major works from a developing philosophical field about the history of Argentine thought, their authors sought to create cultural traditions to affirm their own academic, cultural (...) and political positions. Thus, they based their positions about their academic situation through their interventions in the debate on the evaluation of the various features of the intellectual past of the country and national identity during the academic professionalization of historical studies, and actively participated in discussions on the function of culture and philosophy in a national project. Yet, besides, in order to address their history of ideas, the two most important teachers of the philosophical sphere around 1918 tested very different methodological approaches that worked under different conceptions of philosophical and historical practice and two different ways of thinking the reception and circulation of ideas from Europe. (shrink)

Although expected utility theory has proven a fruitful and elegant theory in the finite realm, attempts to generalize it to infinite values have resulted in many paradoxes. In this paper, we argue that the use of John Conway's surreal numbers shall provide a firm mathematical foundation for transfinite decision theory. To that end, we prove a surreal representation theorem and show that our surreal decision theory respects dominance reasoning even in the case of infinite values. We then bring our theory (...) to bear on one of the more venerable decision problems in the literature: Pascal's Wager. Analyzing the wager showcases our theory's virtues and advantages. To that end, we analyze two objections against the wager: Mixed Strategies and Many Gods. After formulating the two objections in the framework of surreal utilities and probabilities, our theory correctly predicts that (1) the pure Pascalian strategy beats all mixed strategies, and (2) what one should do in a Pascalian decision problem depends on what one's credence function is like. Our analysis therefore suggests that although Pascal's Wager is mathematically coherent, it does not deliver what it purports to, a rationally compelling argument that people should lead a religious life regardless of how confident they are in theism and its alternatives. (shrink)

Este ensayo está dirigido a comprender, someramente, la relación del hegelianismo y Kierkegaard a través del contexto intelectual de Dinamarca en la primera mitad del siglo XIX. Para esta aproximación es necesario, en primer lugar, constatar bajo qué formas irrumpe el hegelianismo alemán en los círculos intelectuales de Copenhague; luego, sondear la relación existente entre este hegelianismo y las figuras que dan forma y contenido al hegelianismo danés; para, por último, entender qué tipo de relación mantuvo Søren Kierkegaard con el (...) hegelianismo. (shrink)

Summary The portrayal of Pontius Pilate as a single-handed prefect is one of the many incongruous and implausible elements found in the Gospel accounts of Jesus of Nazareth’s passion. Moreover, a striking imbalance in these accounts emerges: whilst Romans appear only at the last phase of the story, earlier the only people plotting against Jesus are Jews. There is every indication that some key information has been dropped. The present paper, after taking into account the traces of anti-Roman aspects in (...) Jesus’ career, surveys what is known about the consilia of Roman provincial governors and the sources of information available to them, and, for the first time, applies this knowledge to a critical reconstruction of the story underlying the Gospels, thereby providing a missing link to understand it. (shrink)

Self-determination theory considers motivation as a multidimensional phenomenon, with different levels of intensity, purposes, intentions, wills and autonomies. It distinguishes between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation. In this paper, we are going to focus on extrinsic motivation, which is related to those tasks that the subject performs without having a purpose in themselves, and which is composed of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. The aim of this research is to analyse the relationship between them and emotional intelligence (...) in 165 students with university degrees related to Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. The main findings of this work lie mainly in the demonstration of the fact that emotional intelligence is a predictor of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. (shrink)

Background: Patients at the end-of-life and their families experience a strong emotional impact. The wellbeing of the patient at the end-of-life and their family caregiver are related. Aim: to explore the elements related with the emotional wellbeing of patients with and without cognitive impairment at the end-of-life and that of their primary family caregivers. Design: Cross- sectional study. Participants: data was collected from 202 patients at the end of life with different diagnosis (COPD, cancer and frail elderly) as well as (...) from their respective 202 primary family caregivers. Results: Structural equation models indicated that the emotional state of the patients was best predicted by their functional independence and the burden of their family caregivers. At the same time, the emotional state of the primary family caregiver was predicted by their burden and not by the cognitive state or the functional independence of the patient. Nevertheless, the burden of the family caregiver, which is the only variable predicting both the emotional state of the patient and that of the caregiver, was directly related with the functional independence of the patient and indirectly with the patient’s cognitive state. Conclusions: The burden of the family caregiver stands out as a key factor in the reduction of the emotional distress of patients at the end-of-life –whether or not they present significant cognitive impairment- and that of their family caregivers. (shrink)

One of the best known arguments against the connectionist approach to artificial intelligence and cognitive science is that neural networks are black boxes, i.e., there is no understandable account of their operation. This difficulty has impeded efforts to explain how categories arise from raw sensory data. Moreover, it has complicated investigation about the role of symbols and language in cognition. This state of things has been radically changed by recent experimental findings in artificial deep learning research. Two kinds of artificial (...) deep learning networks, namely the convolutional neural network and the generative adversarial network have been found to possess the capability to build internal states that are interpreted by humans as complex visual categories, without any specific hints or any grammatical processing. This emergent ability suggests that those categories do not depend on human knowledge or the syntactic structure of language, while they do rely on their visual context. This supports a mild form of empiricism, while it does not assume that computational functionalism is true. Some consequences are extracted regarding the debate about amodal and grounded representations in the human brain. Furthermore, new avenues for research on cognitive science are open. (shrink)

Classic conceptions of model simplicity for machine learning are mainly based on the analysis of the structure of the model. Bayesian, Frequentist, information theoretic and expressive power concepts are the best known of them, which are reviewed in this work, along with their underlying assumptions and weaknesses. These approaches were developed before the advent of the Big Data deluge, which has overturned the importance of structural simplicity. The computational simplicity concept is presented, and it is argued that it is more (...) encompassing and closer to actual machine learning practices than the classic ones. In order to process the huge datasets which are commonplace nowadays, the computational complexity of the learning algorithm is the decisive factor to assess the viability of a machine learning strategy, while the classic accounts of simplicity play a surrogate role. Some of the desirable features of computational simplicity derive from its reliance on the learning system concept, which integrates key aspects of machine learning that are ignored by the classic concepts. Moreover, computational simplicity is directly associated with energy efficiency. In particular, the question of whether the maximum possibly achievable predictive accuracy should be attained, no matter the economic cost of the associated energy consumption pattern, is considered. (shrink)

This paper compares the concepts of “spirit” and “dialectic” in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit and Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death respectively. For this purpose, I delve into the way in which both philosophers understand these two concepts. The aim of this comparison is to detect whether there is some kind of relationship between the two concepts that could bring Hegel and Kierkegaard closer to each other.

This collection of essays by scholars from Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America offers new perspectives of the phenomenological investigation of experiential life on the basis of Husserl’s phenomenology. Not only well-known works of Husserl are interpreted from new angles, but also the latest volumes of the Husserliana are closely examined. In a variety of ways, the contributors explore the emergence of reason in experience that is disclosed in the very regions that are traditionally considered to be “irrational” or (...) “pre-rational.” The leading idea of such explorations is Husserl’s view that perception, affectivity, and volition are regarded as the three aspects of reason. Without affectivity, which is supposedly irrational, no rationality can be established in the spheres of representation and volition, whereas volitional and representational acts consistently structure the process of affective experience. In such a framework, it is also shown that theoretical and practical reason are inseparably intertwined. Thus, the papers collected here can be regarded as a collaborative phenomenological investigation into the entanglement and mutual dependency of the supposedly “rational” and the “irrational” as well as that of the “practical” and the “theoretical.”. (shrink)

Toda imagen es un modo de mirar, de descubrir la realidad. La mirada del pintor o la del fotógrafo guarda para el futuro una parte, infinitesimal, del espacio. Solamente queda para la posteridad lo que ellos quieren que perdure. Las imágenes hablaron durante siglos acerca del pasado. Las pinturas retrataban las costumbres de la sociedad. La autoridad consagrada por el orden imperante resultaba reforzada por el arte canónico. Después de la invención de la fotografía las imágenes de guerra dejaron de (...) ser solamente un registro de gestas épicas. Este artículo busca presentar una perspectiva semiótica para leer una pintura sobre la guerra como un texto para lo cual propone cotejarla con una foto sobre el mismo tema.For a long time images spoke to society about the past. Paintings described different social groups' ways of life or moments like Amien's siege. Since the invention of photography the images of war didn't stand only for epic romances: photo could show the bare truth. The author proposes to look at a painting about the Paraguayan war as a text, trought a semiotic aproach. This allow us to know painter's cultural context and his ideological views. To make this possible, the author compares the painting with a photo on the same topic. (shrink)

Ames, Roger. Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2011. 332 pp.

Retrace l'histoire du néant en Occident en étudiant ses étapes décisives et ses principales désignations.

Este ensayo practica una hermenéutica a Totalidad e infinitoa partir de cinco epígrafes, abocados todos a explorar los múltiples sentidos de la propuesta levinasianaen torno al fundamentotrascendental de lo ético.El primer apartado busca analizar la relación entre lo que Lévinas designa como lafaz del sery el concepto de totalidad; en el epígrafe siguiente se explicita la diferencia existente, en el interior de la comprensión temporal de lo total, entre lohistóricoy loescatológico; en eltercerepígrafe se analizan los móviles que llevan a Lévinas (...) a sustituir lo metafísico por lo ético, revelando a este segundo saber como filosofíaprimera; y, finalmente, el cuarto y el quinto epígrafe quedan dedicados a entender dos conceptos que, entrelazados, condensan la matriz conceptual desde donde Lévinas acentúa la originalidad de su propuesta: el rostro del Otroy la idea de infinito. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es dar cuenta de los conceptos de sujeto, subjetivación y ontología histórica de nosotros mismos. Estas categorías son esenciales en las pesquisas de Foucault de los años 80-84. De igual manera, desde estos conceptos, Foucault pudo pensar al sujeto de forma alterna al modo como este fue configurado en Occidente. En efecto, en sus intensas búsquedas encuentra en la tradición moderna, Baudelaire y Kant, pistas para considerar al sujeto no como un dato estático, sino como (...) alguien que se gestiona a través de procesos históricos que lo van delineando y que lo habilitan en la empresa de construirse, de elaborarse a sí mismo, esto es, mediante procesos de subjetivación. Finalmente, la tradición antigua, es decir, la tradición greco-latina, le ofrece elementos teóricos sustanciales para reflexionar sobre las condiciones en las que se pueden configurar modos de vida, estilos de existencia que operen como ejes de resistencia a las formas que se nos han impuesto. (shrink)

Molinists hold that there are contingently true counterfactuals about what agents would do if put in specific circumstances, that God knows these prior to creation, and that God uses this knowledge in choosing how to create. In this essay we critique Molinism, arguing that if these theses were true, agents would not be free. Consider Eve’s sinning upon being tempted by a serpent. We argue that if Molinism is true, then there is some set of facts that fully explains both (...) Eve’s action and everything else Eve does that influences that action; and that if this is the case, Eve does not act freely. The first premise of this argument follows from the explanatory relations the Molinist is committed to, and the second premise follows from libertarian intuitions about free will. (shrink)

El 10 de octubre de 2016 se celebró, en la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad Complutense, un encuentro titulado Ramón enseñó en público su Arte - Raimundus Artem suam publice legit. Coloquio 700 aniversario de Ramon Llull, auspiciado por el Departamento de Filosofía y Sociedad, y organizado por José Luis Villacañas y José Higuera Rubio. En el marco de esa jornada, José Luis Villacañas sugirió la posibilidad de publicar los resultados de este encuentro en una entrega especial de (...) la revista ASHF, y encargó a los editores del monográfico un estudio bibliográfico de la obra de Llull y de la historia del lulismo. Debido al gran número de compromisos asumidos durante el aniversario luliano algunos de los participantes de aquella reunión postergaron su contribución. Por lo tanto, ofrecemos en este número especial los resultados del coloquio, enriquecidos con otras aportaciones que surgieron en el contexto del aniversario luliano celebrado en Santa fe de Bogotá durante la exposición bibliográfica que la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia dedicó a la figura de Llull y a las ediciones que conserva de su obra recogidas por las bibliotecas coloniales neogranadinas. La convergencia de estos trabajos y de sus autores ha tomado algún tiempo, percance agravado por las contingencias ocurridas el año anterior. Sin embargo, esperamos que este volumen permita al lector aproximarse tanto a la obra luliana como a su variada y prolongada recepción. (shrink)

Hay algunas personas libres que tienen algo semejante a una brújula, por eso en tiempos oscuros necesitamos lo que Albert Camus ofrece: un ejemplo vivo (no una lista de respuestas) de integridad, compasión y buen juicio. Tuvo que elegir (quizá como todos) entre el absurdo y la rebeldía, y después entre una actitud cotidiana de miedo o confianza. Finalmente, Camus nos dice que la naturaleza del ser humano y la belleza del mundo deben equilibrar las ambiciones históricas.

El presente estudio se ocupa de las relaciones entre la forma y el fondo del discurso filosófico; más exactamente, de las implicaciones y consecuencias del texto fragmentario, tanto en sentido teórico como práctico. De manera concreta, el comentario de Lichtenberg, Nietzsche y Adorno permite rastrear en autores de una misma tradición cultural ciertos elementos de continuidad a través de perspectivas históricas y enfoques diferentes. Puede decirse que en este conjunto el pensamiento en forma fragmentaria sirve para una crítica general de (...) la modernidad desde posiciones distintas, pero también complementarias. Por último, se ofrece un boceto de lo que puede ser una teoría compleja del fragmento. (shrink)

Es difícil de sintetizar, en un breve espacio, la ingente producción de estudios lulianos enfocados sobre los aspectos filosóficos de la obra del polígrafo mallorquín. Sin embargo, existen algunos tópicos preponderantes alrededor de los cuales se ha desarrollado el trabajo de los especialistas. Dicha producción debe su consolidación, en los últimos años, a la edición crítica de las obras lulianas en latín y catalán, así como la traducción en otras lenguas modernas. Esto ha hecho crecer el interés en la Obra (...) Luliana y en las posibilidades de estudiarla en comparación con el contexto intelectual en la que tuvo su origen. Se referirá la emergencia del género Companion en los estudios lulianos; la bibliografía en torno al diálogo interreligioso y el proyecto luliano de conversión universal, en la que estaban incluidas las comunidades académicas medievales; los estudios sobre la psicología del conocimiento; además de la disputa luliana contra el denominado “averroísmo” latino y el tratamiento de la figura de Ramon Llull como “laico”. También se indicará brevemente el aporte a estos estudios desde el otro lado del Atlántico. A manera de conclusión, se indicarán ciertas investigaciones que podrían ampliar la perspectiva de los estudios lulianos, ya que indican las consecuencias de una investigación comparativa de la obra luliana dentro del contexto medieval. (shrink)

La aparición de un tal “Sócrates” en la "Declaratio" de Ramon Llull sugiere una posible síntesis luliana de la recepción medieval de este personaje de la filosofía antigua, reflejada en el comportamiento de este personaje durante el diálogo que muestra esta obra. Sócrates conocido por los medievales como el fundador de la filosofía y la ética fue descrito tanto en obras filosóficas e históricas, como en una larga tradición de sentencias, hechos y anécdotas que provienen de distintas tradiciones como la (...) árabe y vernácula. Además, existen imágenes de un Sócrates dedicado al arte medieval de la trascripción de textos o en un ejercicio dialéctico. Estos ejemplos se verán reflejados en la obra luliana y mostrarán el interés de Llull por la filosofía antigua y un ideal de filósofo “cristianizado” por los medievales. (shrink)

Following Aristotle, Averroes rejects atomism and the infinite division of geometric lines. Thus, his arguments dealt with the continuity and contiguity of the non-atomic parts of motion. He vindicates the perceptual aspect of physical movement that shows itself like in-progress-path between two edge points A and B, in which there are middle parts where qualitative, local, or quantitative changes occur. Ramon Llull took the lines’ geometrical points as “motion parts.” Points are intermediate divisions that represent physical phenomena by the continuity (...) of geometrical lines, surfaces, and figures. Also, he appeals to relational logic to spot the middle parts between A and B into the in-progress-path of motion. Those middle parts are signified by a dynamic vocabulary, called: correlative language. This contribution focuses on the conceptual environment of Llull’s assumptions, in which Averroes’ Latin readers explored the geometry and the vocabulary of motion intermediate parts. (shrink)