Mexico has long suffered from poverty. Two common government approaches to poverty reduction are public spending for social programs, and public spending for economic competitiveness programs. This article summarizes the nature and effects of these two approaches based on information published in Mexican journals and international research institution reports written in Spanish. Since 1990, public spending for social programs has increased at an annual rate of 7%, whereas spending for economic competitiveness programs has become stagnant. Researchers (...) report that: (1) spending on social programs may not be the primary cause for poverty reduction, (2) social programs may not be reaching those with the greatest need, and (3) social program spending may be causing a decrease in productivity and economic growth. More resources are needed for economic competitiveness programs that increase workforce productivity and well-paid jobs. (shrink)

Is vision merely a state of the beholder’s sensory organ which can be explained as an immediate effect caused by external sensible objects? Or is it rather a successive process in which the observer actively scanning the surrounding environment plays a major part? These two general attitudes towards visual perception were both developed already by ancient thinkers. The former is embraced by natural philosophers (e.g., atomists and Aristotelians) and is often labelled “intromissionist”, based on their assumption that vision is an (...) outcome of the causal influence exerted by an external object upon a sensory organ receiving an entity from the object. The latter attitude to vision as a successive process is rather linked to the “extramissionist” theories of the proponents of geometrical optics (such as Euclid or Ptolemy) who suggest that an entity – a visual ray – is sent forth from the eyes to the object. The present paper focuses on the contributions to this ancient controversy proposed by some 13th-century Latin thinkers. [...]. (shrink)

In this article I will try to show that economic inequality, the militarization of states, hatred and violence are the main causes of most armed conflicts. By supporting my argument upon a line originated in the East, but which is not unknown in Western thought, I propose to go on researching both Gandhian pacifism and some values consciously cultivated by Buddhism, such as the value of universal compassion, which are very important to strengthen a culture of peace.

(From editorial:) This volume aims to refute the disparaging image of scholastic philosophy as a rather homogeneous tradition of commentaries on Aristotle lacking in originality. Although Aristotelianism was, of course, a very important philosophical paradigm among the scholastics, their works also evince many features and tenets of Platonic or Augustinian origin. Several issues characteristic for Platonism and Augustinianism are discussed in this volume – for example, the role of attention in perception, the extramissionist theory of vision, the metaphysics of light, (...) the illumination theory, the fi rst-person perspective, and self-refl ection. The topics investigated primarily in Aristotelianism include the ontology of sensibles, their causal effi cacy, the role of the medium, and the distinction between the internal senses. (shrink)

“Reasonable hostility” is a norm of communicative conduct initially developed by studying public exchanges in education governance meetings in local U.S. communities. In this paper I consider the norm’s usefulness for and applicability to a U.S. state-level public hearing about a bill to legalize civil unions. Following an explication of reasonable hostility and grounded practical theory, the approach to inquiry that guides my work, I de-scribe Hawaii’s 2009, 18-hour pub-lic hearing and analyze selected segments of it. I show that this (...) par-ticular public hearing raised de-mands for testifiers on the anti-civil union side of the argument that rea-sonable hostility does not do a good job of addressing. Development of a norm of communication conduct for this practice, as well as others, must engage with the culture and time-specific beliefs that a society holds, beliefs that will shape not only how to argue but what may be argued and what must be assumed about particular categories of persons. (shrink)

As a negative protective right, freedom of science is – within the limits marked by other fundamental liberty rights – widely accepted. This also applies, pars pro toto, to the field of medical research. It is far less clear, however, whether a positive claim to medical research can be justified as well. Research of this kind could be articu- lated by potential beneficiaries of its applications as a welfare right. If one bases pub- lic obligations on the concept of fostering (...) individual liberties and, in addition, bears in mind the existential importance of effective therapies especially for severe dis- eases, the presumption of such a claim may not be unfounded. Yet, if such a claim can be justified its proper addressee still needs to be identified. Against the back- ground of frequent criticism directed against pharmaceutical companies, asserting that they disregard certain patient groups or types of diseases in their research activ- ities in a morally irresponsible way, the attempt to clarify this issue gains immediate practical relevance. (shrink)

Problemi savremene teorije ličnosti -- Porodica kao ljudska zajednica -- Samorealizacija čoveka jednakošću i slobodom -- Kultura kao most između utopije i stvarnosti.

Neste livro, o autor relaciona aspectos filosóficos, sociológicos e jurídicos, abordando temas essenciais à introdução ao estudo do Direito, como a estrutura, validade e classificação da norma jurídica, as fontes e os princípios gerais do Direito e a hermenêutica jurídica. Encontra-se totalmente adaptado à Lei n. 10.406/2002, que instituiu o novo Código Civil.

The relationship between great statesmen and political parties and what this means for political science and theories of the state; studies of Otto von Bismarck, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi and Nikola Pasic and their struggles for the public good and the national interest.

Tandis que l’expression ‘waste time’ ne nécessite pas d’adjoint, ceci n’est pas le cas de ‘spend time’ (e.g. ‘he spent time on his homework.’) Pourquoi? L’étude propose une analyse des deux expressions et avance l’idée que l’utilisation du temps en tant que ressource nécessite la conceptualisation d’un événement concomitant (cf. Lawlor 1986). La référence à celui-ci s’impose en fonction de son rôle d’entité de référence (the ‘Ground’ ; Talmy 1985, 2000), rôle conceptuel qui déclenche la présence d’un adjoint chez spend (...) mais pas chez waste, ce dernier faisant déjà référence indirecte à l’événement cible. Ensuite, on trouve dans les travaux sur la métaphore conceptuelle une quantité importante d’exemples linguistiques. Or, des analyses linguistiques profondes font souvent défaut (Evans 2013). Je propose donc une étude de corpus de spend time et waste time en ciblant des variables précises, tels que les types d’adjoints utilisés. Les adjoints de spend time, contrairement à ceux de waste time, font souvent référence à la co-présence humaine, ce qui contraste également avec les adjoints de l’expression spend money. Ce dernier constat soutient donc l’idée que les métaphores conceptuelles n’entraînent pas de correspondance parfaite entre les domaines source et cible (Fauconnier & Turner 2008) et que le domaine du temps, en tant que domaine cible, ne doit pas être considéré uniquement dans le cadre du domaine source (cf. Evans 2013). (shrink)

This article focuses on applying some of Žižek’s theoretical work to a specific space within the capitalist conjuncture, the pub. Jürgen Habermas’ influential conception of the public sphere has shown the important role of the caffeine-centric cafés of the past in producing a lively democratic movement. As most any trip to a post-modern coffeehouse will attest, however, such locations have become little more than outlets for free and always individualized Wi-Fi. But the local pub, in the current political climate, has (...) attained something more. The central argument here is that pub culture, built on neither action nor reaction, is the last bastion of anti-capitalism. Indeed, if Bartleby’s “I’d prefer not to,” was an effective response to the demands of capitalism in the work place, then “I’d prefer another” does such duty with even more resistance and relevance for the present. To make this case, and explore its implications, I will turn to key insights from theorists such as Žižek, Lawrence Grossberg, and Deleuze and Guattari, while also comparing and contrasting today’s global pub culture to that of the historical role of the café. (shrink)

The Government uses various policy tools to reduce alcohol consumption. There are restrictions on promotions, information campaigns, and pricing policies. These policies do not stand unchallenged. Restrictions on promotions irk business, information campaigns fail to reach the less educated, and pricing policies hurt responsible but poor consumers. So what about Thaler and Sunstein’s Nudge? Nudges keep choices open but change the “choice architecture” so as to help those who would like to drink less, and they do so in ways that (...) constructively engage business. Let us focus on one choice environment here, namely beer consumption in British pubs. (shrink)

The business community of Canada manifests questionable moral and ethical standards in its criticism of government spending, since it itself bears considerable responsibility for the increase in government spending and budget deficits. The contradiction arises from the failure of the business community to recognize the liberalization of society at large and the associated social responsibility for the well-being of its citizens; a well-being manifested in income maintenance programmes, in access to education and training, in health care, and others. (...) The failure to recognize such expectations is manifested in its failure to provide adequately for the retirement of its employees, for the health care of its employees, for laid-off and seperated employees, thereby shifting the burden to government. Further, it has failed to assume responsibility for the training and retraining of the workers it employs, including high-level workers trained specifically to its purposes in business schools. While expecting government to bear full financial responsibility for income maintenance, health, education and training, the business community makes every effort to deny government the revenues it needs to meet its obligations. The avoidance of tax payments stands high amongst business objectives, manifested in the employment of highly paid accountants and tax lawyers specifically for the purpose. Finally, in their criticism of government spending, business spokesmen deliberately fail to distinguish between consumption spending and capital investment spending, notwithstanding the significant contribution to the production infrastructure of the economy of government investment expenditures. If the capital expenditures were to be taken out of the government's budget, the deficit will decrease substantially. (shrink)

*The views expressed in this commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the American Medical Association.