ObjectiveTo compare techniques for computing clustering and switching scores in terms of agreement, correlation, and empirical value as predictors of incident cognitive impairment.MethodsWe transcribed animal and letter F fluency recordings on 640 cases of ICI and matched controls from a national epidemiological study, amending each transcription with word timings. We then calculated clustering and switching scores, as well as scores indexing speed of responses, using techniques described in the literature. We evaluated agreement among the techniques with Cohen’s κ and calculated (...) correlations among the scores. After fitting a base model with raw scores, repetitions, and intrusions, we fit a series of Bayesian logistic regression models adding either clustering and switching scores or speed scores, comparing the models in terms of several metrics. We partitioned the ICI cases into acute and progressive cases and repeated the regression analysis for each group.ResultsFor animal fluency, we found that models with speed scores derived using the slope difference algorithm achieved the best values of the Watanabe–Akaike Information Criterion, but with good net reclassification improvement only for the progressive group. For letter fluency, different models excelled for prediction of acute and progressive cases. For acute cases, NRI was best for speed scores derived from a network model, while for progressive cases, the best model used clustering and switching scores derived from the same network model. Combining variables from the best animal and letter F models led to marginal improvements in model fit and NRI only for the all-cases and acute-cases analyses.ConclusionSpeed scores improve a base model for predicting progressive cognitive impairment from animal fluency. Letter fluency scores may provide complementary information. (shrink)

Earp, Lewis, and Hart argue the pursuit of racial justice requires a summary end to the war on drugs. In surveying the racially disparate harms of an enforcement-oriented, punitive, and ulti...

In this article, we first review the development of clinical ethics in pediatrics in the United States. We report that, over the last 40 years, most children’s hospitals have ethics committees but that those committees are rarely consulted. We speculate that the reasons for the paucity of ethics consults might be because ethical dilemmas are aired in other venues. The role of the ethics consultant, then, might be to shape the institutional climate and create safe spaces for the discussion of (...) difficult and sometimes contentious issues. Finally, we report how pediatric clinical ethics has evolved differently in a number of other countries around the world. (shrink)

This article examines the emergence of casuistical case analysis as a methodological alternative to more theory-driven approaches in bioethics research and education. Focusing on The Abuse of Casuistry by A. Jonsen and S. Toulmin, the article articulates the most characteristic features of this modernday casuistry (e.g., the priority allotted to case interpretation and analogical reasoning over abstract theory, the resemblance of casuistry to common law traditions, the ‘open texture’ of its principles, etc.) and discusses some problems with casuistry as an (...) ‘anti-theoretical’ method. It is argued that casuistry so defined is ‘theory modest’ rather than ‘theory free’ and that ethical theory can still play a significant role in casuistical analysis; that casuistical analyses will encounter conflicting ‘deep’ interpretations of our social practices and institutions, and are therefore unlikely sources of increased social consensus on controversial bioethical questions; that its conventionalism raises questions about casuistry's ability to criticize norms embedded in the societal consensus; and that casuistry's emphasis upon analogical reasoning may tend to reinforce the individualistic nature of much bioethical writing. It is concluded that, notwithstanding these problems, casuistry represents a promising alternative to the regnant model of ‘applied ethics’ (i.e., to the ritualistic invocation of the so-called ‘principles of bioethics’). The pedagogical implications of casuistry are addressed throughout the paper and include the following recommendations: (1) use real cases, (2) make them long, richly detailed and comprehensive, (3) present complex sequences of cases, (4) stress the problem of ‘moral diagnosis’, and (5) be ever mindful of the limits of casuistical analysis. Keywords: casuistry, interpretation, methodology, pedagogy CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

John Barrow is increasingly recognized as one of our most elegant and accomplished science writers, a brilliant commentator on cosmology, mathematics, and modern physics. Barrow now tackles the heady topic of impossibility, in perhaps his strongest book yet. Writing with grace and insight, Barrow argues convincingly that there are limits to human discovery, that there are things that are ultimately unknowable, undoable, or unreachable. He first examines the limits on scientific inquiry imposed by the deficiencies of the human mind: (...) our brain evolved to meet the demands of our immediate environment, Barrow notes, and much that lies outside this small circle may also lie outside our understanding. Barrow investigates practical impossibilities, such as those imposed by complexity, uncomputability, or the finiteness of time, space, and resources. Is the universe finite or infinite? Can information be transmitted faster than the speed of light? The book also examines the deeper theoretical restrictions on our ability to know, including Godel's theorem--which proved that there were things that could not be proved--and Arrow's Impossibility theorem about democratic voting systems. Finally, having explored the limits imposed on us from without, Barrow considers whether there are limits we should impose upon ourselves. For instance, if the secrets of the atom are to be found only by recreating extreme environments at great financial cost, just how much should we devote to that quest? Weaving together this intriguing tapestry, he illuminates some of the most profound questions of science, from the possibility of time travel to the very structure of the universe. (shrink)

We agree with Branigan & Pickering that structural priming experiments should supplant grammaticality judgments for testing linguistic representation. However, B&P overlook a vast linguistic literature that converges with – but extends – the experimental findings. B&P conclude that syntax is functionally independent of the lexicon. We argue that a broader approach to priming reveals cracks in the façade of syntactic autonomy.

This essay is a reappraisal of Pierre Hadot's concept of spiritual exercises in response to recent criticisms of his work. The author argues that contrary to the claims of his critics, Hadot articulates a compelling argument that spiritual exercises that employ imaginative, rhetorical, and cognitive techniques are both necessary for and successful at producing a subject in which reason is integrated into human character. Such exercises are critical for overcoming the effects of habit, as a result of which everyday conduct (...) resists rational control, and Hadot provides a nuanced account of how particular practices affect different aspects of emotion, behavior, and thought. The concept of spiritual exercises remains a viable component of theoretical frameworks for the study of religious ethics, though the author concludes that Hadot's position on habit and its role in ethical practice requires further investigation. (shrink)

Sobre la utilidad del estudio de la jurisprudencia de John Austin, es la obra que esclarece la esencia del derecho y de la legislación, el propio objeto de la jurisprudencia que conforma en su plataforma el beneficio del conocimiento de una ciencia cuya finalidad es desentrañar los mecanismos y principios de las reglamentaciones y estatutos que rigen el comportamiento humano en las sociedades establecidas. El autor indaga y profundiza en la necesidad de estudiar la naturaleza del derecho y en (...) distinguir las diversas clases de leyes que lo conforman y se aplican en el campo jurídico. Propone la utilidad que tiene el estudio de la jurisprudencia en el acontecer reglamentario, la importancia de definir los comienzos que constituyen el propio objeto de las leyes, no con el fin de determinar su valor, criterio o medida, cuyo trabajo es del legislador; sino de exponer los principios y distinciones comunes a los sistemas del derecho. John Austin plantea las ventajas que se obtienen al analizar el sistema del derecho mediante el descubrimiento y la definición de los componentes que integran las normas que lo fundamentan, arrojando luz sobre la oscuridad verbal que puede confundir el derecho y la moral. (shrink)

McCormick’s book engages with the theoretical and political positions discussed by the Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli about five centuries ago, and, in particular, the creation of the tribunes of the plebs. In ancient Rome, plebeian power had been institutionalised through the creation of tribunes. According to McCormick, a similar institution would offer a legitimate forum for expression to the people in modern democracies. In fact, following Machiavelli’s suggestions, this would contribute to the implementation of a new form of democracy, more (...) respectful of the people and more eager to defend values such as freedom and independence from the influence of the powerful and the rich. In this review, Filippo Del Lucchese comments on McCormick’s book from a Marxist point of view. One of the strongest points of the book is the discussion of the opposition between democracy and republicanism. Over the last decades, the latter has in fact been absorbed into the sphere of influence of the Cambridge School, and neutralised, or at least defused its most interesting and radical aspects. McCormick’s attempt to repoliticise the Machiavellian discourse is indeed praiseworthy, yet, by mainly focusing on the ‘institutionalisation’ of popular power, McCormick fails to discern the most radical elements of Machiavelli’s thought. From this angle, the review discusses McCormick’s use of the category of ‘class’ and offers a different perspective on the revolutionary dimension. (shrink)

I describe a problem about the relations among symmetries, laws and measurable quantities. I explain why several ways of trying to solve it will not work, and I sketch a solution that might work. I discuss this problem in the context of Newtonian theories, but it also arises for many other physical theories. The problem is that there are two ways of defining the space-time symmetries of a physical theory: as its dynamical symmetries or as its empirical symmetries. The two (...) definitions are not equivalent, yet they pick out the same extension. This coincidence cries out for explanation, and it is not clear what the explanation could be. The Puzzle: Symmetries, Measurability and Invariance 1.1 The symmetries and the measurable quantities of Newtonian mechanics 1.2 The puzzle Two Easy Answers Another Unsuccessful Solution: Appeal to Geometrical Symmetries Locating the Puzzle The Relation between Laws and Measurability A Possible Solution CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to reconstruct and present in a critical perspective the main methodological devices of John Rawls’ Political Liberalism, which introduces the idea of the overlapped consensus as a way to guarantee, in a political sense, social justice within contemporary democratic societies. Those methodological devices are presented in order to reveal their conceptual failures when contrasted with real world situations and to indicate three elements: a) the psychologism of the theory which reduces the individuals of (...) the comprehensive doctrines to an inhuman procedural forgetting of the historical facticity that defines them and provides them with meaning and identity; b) how unfair the overlapped consensus might be, considering that it is developed without taking into account the doctrines and at the expenses of the historical processes for power and struggles for recognition of such doctrines; iii) the limited reach of the methodological devices when applied to the real world, i.e., that when those devices are faced with the realities of the doctrines they lack practical justification. Because of that, liberalism should be considered as another tradition which struggles with the doctrines. (shrink)

Muy distinto a otros libros de carácter similar, cuidadosamente razonado, pero sin realizar un análisis técnico de la naturaleza y significado del conocimiento científico, ¿Qué es la ciencia? abre el camino a la reconciliación en la llamada “guerra de las ciencias”. A través de la descripción de cómo los científicos abordan realmente la investigación y transmiten sus resultados, muestra que la filosofía, la psicología y la sociología de la ciencia están inextricablemente relacionadas, y que el “realismo” y el “relativismo” son (...) sólo dos caras de la misma moneda. Estudia, además, cómo, para bien y para mal, la nueva cultura de la investigación “postacadémica”, basada en el trabajo en equipo y la responsabilidad, está cambiando las características filosóficas, supuestamente eternas, de la ciencia. (shrink)

Kurt Gödel, mathematician and logician, was one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Gödel fled Nazi Germany, fearing for his Jewish wife and fed up with Nazi interference in the affairs of the mathematics institute at the University of Göttingen. In 1933 he settled at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he joined the group of world-famous mathematicians who made up its original faculty. His 1940 book, better known by its short title, The Consistency of (...) the Continuum Hypothesis, is a classic of modern mathematics. The continuum hypothesis, introduced by mathematician George Cantor in 1877, states that there is no set of numbers between the integers and real numbers. It was later included as the first of mathematician David Hilbert's twenty-three unsolved math problems, famously delivered as a manifesto to the field of mathematics at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris in 1900. In The Consistency of the Continuum Hypothesis Gödel set forth his proof for this problem. In 1999, Time magazine ranked him higher than fellow scientists Edwin Hubble, Enrico Fermi, John Maynard Keynes, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Jonas Salk. He is most renowned for his proof in 1931 of the 'incompleteness theorem,' in which he demonstrated that there are problems that cannot be solved by any set of rules or procedures. His proof wrought fruitful havoc in mathematics, logic, and beyond. (shrink)

Mathias Frisch has argued that the requirement that electromagnetic dispersion processes are causal adds empirical content not found in electrodynamic theory. I urge that this attempt to reconstitute a local principle of causality in physics fails. An independent principle is not needed to recover the results of dispersion theory. The use of ‘causality conditions’ proves to be the mere adding of causal labels to an already presumed fact. If instead one seeks a broader, independently formulated grounding for the conditions, that (...) grounding either fails or dissolves into vagueness and ambiguity, as has traditionally been the fate of candidate principles of causality. Introduction Scattering in Classical Electrodynamics Sufficiency of the Physics Failure of the Principle of Causality Proposed 4.1 A sometimes principle 4.2 The conditions of applicability are obscure 4.3 Effects can come before their causes 4.4 Vagueness of the relata and of the notion of causal process Conclusion CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

This paper examines the role of triadic relations, in which sign action consists, as occurring in physical nature prior to and independently of biological life. Peirce’s idea of “being in future” as sufficient for the notion of Interpretant opens the way to semiotic understanding of the universe’s physical evolution: when an Interpretant, as a physical situation, results indirectly from a direct dyadic interaction that changes the relation of the universe in the direction of being closer to being able to sustain (...) life, that new situation must be regarded as a Thirdness in comparison with the presupposed Secondness. (shrink)

This paper challenges the recommendation of 1981 President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research that all jurisdictions in the United States should adopt the Uniform Determination of Death Act, which endorses a whole-brain, rather than a higher-brain, definition of death. I argue that the Commission was wrong to reject the "personhood argument" for the higher-brain definition on the grounds that there is no consensus among philosophers or the general population as to what (...) constitutes "personhood". I claim that philosophers agree that some potential for cognitive function is necessary for personhood and that, when this is absent in cases of anencephaly and persistent vegetative state (PVS), the individual should be considered dead. I further argue that the lack of consensus among the general population is due in large measure to misunderstandings about the medical reality of PVS and beliefs influenced by feelings for a specific individual in PVS. I also examine and reject two tutiorist arguments which have been used to support the Commission's position: that the higher-brain definition would threaten the severely senile and severely retarded, and that there are not currently adequate medical techniques for determining when all higher-brain activities have ceased. Keywords: death, personhood, persistent vegetative state, anencephaly CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

Este artículo busca demostrar que el pensamiento de Paul Valéry desarrolla un análisis crítico de las condiciones en que el arte establece su relación con el sistema económico moderno. Para validar dicha hipótesis, inicialmente es presentada la noción de “máquina económica”, con la que es descrita la teoría de la economía, y son definidas las características de los objetos útiles e inútiles que componen el mercado. A su turno, el artículo detalla el proceso histórico de la mercantilización del arte en (...) la época moderna, y aclara las razones por las cuales los productores y consumidores de obras artísticas asumen una forma de apropiación diferente hacia estas. Se prueba que, debido a la primacía de la naturaleza simbólica de la obra artística, la generación y actualización de su valor cuantitativo y cualitativo se enfrenta a un alto grado de indeterminabilidad. También se demuestra la existencia de una teoría estética argumentada con la que el autor francés propone la apreciación del valor de la obra. Por último, es descrito el papel que debe asumir la crítica ante la producción artística destinada para el consumo social. (shrink)

Este artículo, como lo dice su título, es una actualización del primer "Newton en la red". Intenta resumir los nuevos retos que el Newton Project ha tenido que afrontar, en particular, la investigación sobre ingeniería de software requerida para generar un resultado confiable de los manuscritos junto conn el comentario académico.

En este artículo se analizan las relaciones del conocimiento científico con las sociedades en las que se produce. Tras repasar sus diversas funciones en tipos distintos de sociedades, la discusión se centra en los fines de la ciencia en las sociedades democráticas pluralistas. Frente al cada vez mayor rol instrumental de la ciencia, por el que ha recibido los nombres de «ciencia postacadémica» o «tecnociencia», se defienden los roles no instrumentales tradicionales de la investigación académica clásica. Se argumenta que sólo (...) si la ciencia académica mantiene su autonomía y su integridad frente a intereses políticos o empresariales podrá ser de utilidad al público al ofrecerle conocimiento imparcial y fidedigno frente a los sesgos producidos por la naturaleza propia de la ciencia postacadémica. (shrink)

Wendell Stephenson argues in this issue of The journal that the National Institutes of Health's standards for the treatment of laboratory animals fail to give any guidance concerning human well-being nor do they balance human well-being and animal well-being. Stephenson fails, however, to demonstrate how such a balance is to be known. In arguing for reform he implies greater state control without showing that such control would improve the situation. Indeed there are good reasons to think that such control may (...) be harmful. Keywords: animal well-being, economics, human well-being, state control, Stephenson CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

When we go back-by means of the epoché of the world, following Michel Henry-towards the originary “how” of all manifestation, we stumble once and again upon the phenomenological situation of the body. The body is, then that originary hinge by means of which I manifest world in a continuous resistance. It will be, as well, within my own body where I am always aware of oneself, according to my own affection. Thus, the material condition of the body will be that (...) of my internal body, or subjective body-as Henry initially read in Maine de Biran-or that of my flesh, as Henry himself would later say. Bearing all this in mind, the intermediate situation of one’s own affection, of this body of mine, with regard to the world and the videor, turns out to be an appropriate medium to attempt a preliminary study of the problematic situation of the internal time of affection. For this purpose, we shall revise the analysis offered by Michel Henry in Material Phenomenology and in Incarnation, indicating possible aporias, as well as alternatives to these last ones.Cuando, siguiendo a Michel Henry, retrocedemos en una epoché hacia el “cómo” originario de toda manifestación, tropezamos una y otra vez con la situación fenomenológica del cuerpo. El cuerpo es, pues, esta bisagra originaria a través de la cual yo manifiesto el mundo en continua resistencia. También será dentro del propio cuerpo donde uno será siempre autoconsciente, de acuerdo con la propia afección. Por eso, la condición material del cuerpo será la de mi cuerpo interior o cuerpo subjetivo, de acuerdo con la lectura inicial que Henry hace de Maine de Biran; o de mi carne, como dirá el mismo Henry más tarde. Teniendo en cuenta todo ello, la situación intermedia, situación de la afección propia y la de mi cuerpo en relación con el mundo y el videor, resulta ser un medio apropiado para emprender un estudio preliminar de la problemática situación del tiempo interno de la afección. Para ello, revisaremos el análisis que Michel Henry ofrece en Material Phenomenology y en Incarnation, indicando las posibles aporías, así como posibles alternativas. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar la actualidad de la crítica epicúreaa las supersticiones morales, específicamente aquellas relacionadas conla culpabilidad y, con esta, la depuración de algunos obstáculos paralograr la felicidad terrena. Para ello se hace el análisis de varios aspectosclaves de la ética de Epicuro: Ethos y physis; Ética del deseo; Culpa ycorporeidad; Resistencia in situ; Moral de la amistad; Política y justicia;Culpa y temporalidad. La metodología es fundamentalmente hermenéuticay genealógica (Foucault) dado el análisis textual y la mirada (...) crítica quebusca recuperar la resistencia epicúrea como perspectiva fecunda para laelaboración de una ética anti-capitalista en el contexto moderno. (shrink)

En este libro, John Perry elabora una teoria "reflexivo-referencial" de los indexicos, los demostrativos y los nombres propios. La Filosofia del Lenguaje del siglo veinte se vio condicionada por dos tradiciones enfrentadas en torno a esos temas: el descriptivismo y el referencialismo. Los textos referecialistas clasicos de, entre otros, Saul Kripke, Keith Donnellan y David Kaplan son de los anos 70. Curiosamente, parece que ya habian sido refutados casi un siglo antes por los problemas de co-referencia y no-referencia planteados (...) por Frege y Russell. La teoria de Perry, que toma prestadas ideas de ambas tradiciones asi como de Burks y Reichenbach, situa el origen de los problemas en la atencion exclusiva a un tipo de contenido: el contenido llamado referencial o completamente incremental. La tradicion referencialista se caracteriza por la tesis de que los indexicos proporcionan un contenido que involucra a individuos pero no a sus condiciones de identificacion. La tradicion descriptivista se caracteriza por la tesis de que el contenido referencial no explica todas las condiciones de identificacion que ofrecen los nombres y los indexicos. Perry nos propone una familia coherente y estructurada de contenidos -desde contenidos reflexivos que imponen condiciones a la proferencia hasta contenidos completamente incrementales que ponen condiciones solo a los objetos de la referencia-que sirve para reconciliar lo mejor de ambas tradiciones. Book jacket. (shrink)

Toda teoría del significado debe ofrecer, básicamente, una explicación del fenómeno mediante el cual atribuimos a ciertos hechos o acciones un significado. A menos que una teoría tal pretenda proponer un uso restrictivo del término significar, deberá considerar, en primera instancia, los usos más relevantes o representativos de “significar”, para adecuarse con ello a la dimensión pragmática del problema y ofrecer así una comprensión general del significado. La propuesta de H. P. Grice satisface, con grandes méritos, este requisito. Su artículo (...) Meaning,1 publicado en 1957, es un caso ejemplar del proceder analítico en las investigaciones filosóficas sobre el lenguaje. (shrink)

Con la obra La construcción de la realidad social1 el filósofo norteamericano John Rogers Searle ha puesto el análisis filosófico del lenguaje en lo más fundamental de los estudios sociológicos. Su propuesta está enfocada en las estructuras y funciones sociales que determinan la creación y el mantenimiento de los hechos institucionales. Este artículo se propone mostrar cómo el lenguaje es constitutivo de estos hechos, bajo la orientación de los siguientes interrogantes: ¿cómo un grupo de individuos constituye una sociedad que (...) supera la individualidad de sus miembros?, ¿cómo garantizan los individuos la estabilidad de la sociedad?, ¿cómo se explican las diversas formas de interacción social? y ¿por qué medios se hace efectiva esa interacción? El punto de partida será el reconocimiento de la sujeción social en la interacción social de la cotidianidad, seguido de una breve presentación de la teoría general de hechos institucionales para evaluar, finalmente, la función del lenguaje en la creación de estos hechos y los orígenes del poder institucional. (shrink)

Undoubtedly, the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch establishes a dialogue with the thesis of love exposed by Diotima of Mantinea in Plato's Banquet, in the sense of understanding love as a solitary adventure and primarily individual expansion. However, more than transferring the ideas of the Greek philosopher, the film opens a discussion about its validity and topicality in specific situations such as identity, ideology and gender. This is why anagnorisis becomes anamnesis in the film; dialectics is an agon, and (...) identity, a becoming. (shrink)