This chapter contains sections titled: Logic and epistemology The eternity of the world Human happiness.

This chapter contains sections titled: Philosophy as a “professional” project Philosophy and faith Theory of knowledge Metaphysics The eternity of the world The unicity of the intellect.

Que la théorie de la « double vérité » n'a jamais été soutenue par les aristotéliciens radicaux du moyen âge est une certitude déjà acquise par les historiens. Le terme même d' « averroïstes » par lequel on les identifiait a été sérieusement mis en cause. Pourtant, il est évident que les maîtres és arts de Paris, dans la deuxième moitié du XIIIe siécle, ont éprouvé des difficultés considérables à mettre en harmonie les vérités de foi et les conclusions du (...) raisonnement philosophique. Comment se posait ce conflit et quelle voie de réconciliation ont-ils cherchée? Deux ouvrages récents nous donnent l'occasion de reprendre ce problème qui a fait déjà couler beaucoup d'encre dans l'historiographie du XXe siècle. Il s'agit de la monographie monumentale de M. Van Steenberghen sur Siger de Brabant et l'étude fondamentale de M.R. Hissette sur la condamnation de 1277. (shrink)

Les seules preuves philosophiques de l’existence des substances séparées qui répondent aux exigences épistémologiques de Thomas sont des arguments aristotéliciens dont les conclusions, basées sur des prémisses d’une astronomie et une physique obsolètes, sont inacceptables. Thomas prit des distances à leur égard et, laissé sans alternative philosophique, proposa une série d’arguments théologiques dont la cohérence et valeur logique sont mis en question. Puisqu’il n’y a pas de preuve philosophique de l’existence des substances séparées, leur notion devrait être exclue du discours (...) philosophique. (shrink)

As the basis for this translation, Robb has used the Latin text of the Quaestiones de anima which he edited in 1968. Since both the English version and the Latin text are responsibilities of the same scholar, should the former be judged by the quality of the latter? This approach does not seem fair, especially since Robb did not present his original text as a critical edition, but rather as a "corrected" edition, designed to serve students of medieval philosophy until (...) the Leonine Commission published its definitive text. In fact Robb's edition achieved its goal very well, and has been an excellent tool for many studies of Thomas's anthropology. However, our analysis of the whole tradition of Quaestiones de anima has revealed two facts unknown to Robb: first, that the manuscript he used for his edition, although excellent, represents a late stage in the transmission of the text; and second, that the independent family, whose existence Robb was able to establish, is both larger than Robb thought and more authoritative than the university tradition. We hope to prove these points in the edition we are preparing for the Leonine Commission, which will differ from Robb's Latin text in many details. Given these conditions, we shall here limit ourselves to examining Robb's translation with respect to two questions: is it faithful to the text of Robb's Latin edition? and in what sense does it represent an improvement over this edition? (shrink)

Modelos neurocognitivos têm sido propostos para investigar a consciência. O objetivo é responder à pergunta sobre como o cérebro é capaz de produzir estados conscientes qualitativos. Os modelos são representações teóricas baseadas em algumas pesquisas empíricas. Contudo, a questão central, aparentemente trivial para alguns autores, refere-se à representatividade e confiabilidade dos modelos, i.e., saber se são capazes de explicar como a consciência emerge de processos neurais. Esses modelos são considerados como guia no estudo científico da consciência: os modelos cognitivos de (...) Dennett e Baars, os modelos neurobiológicos de Edelman, Dehaene et al., de Damásio, e o modelo neurodinâmico proposto por Freeman. O presente texto visa a analisar a coerência e a plausibilidade dos modelos, i.e., se realmente explicam a “consciência” e suas propriedades em termos neurais ou se explicam apenas mecanismos neurobiológicos subjacentes no cérebro. O objetivo é avaliar escopo e limites dos modelos além da aplicabilidade na resolução do problema da consciência. Neurocognitive models are proposed in order to study the problem of consciousness. The models are attempts to answer the question of how the brain can generate conscious and qualitative states. Models are theoretical representations based on empirical data. Nonetheless, the central question concerns the reliability and the representativeness of the models, i.e., whether they in fact represent what they are supposed to explain, viz., how consciousness can emerge from neuronal processes. Such models are taken to be a guide for the scientific study of consciousness. Presently, there are six models: the multiple draft, the global workspace, the dynamic core, the global neuronal workspace, the somatic markers hypothesis, and the neurodynamic model. This text is a survey and a philosophical analysis of the models of consciousness, and it considers their plausibility and coherence. I will concentrate on two points: whether the neuroscientific models are able to explain ‘consciousness’ and its properties in neural terms, or whether the models only explain the neural correlates of conscious states, and the scope, limitations and applicability of the models in the attempt to solve the problem of consciousness. (shrink)

Así como los seres humanos en medio de sus marcadas diferencias tienen todos igual valor en dignidad sostenemos que es también plausible asumir, como lo hace Taylor en su hipótesis inicial, que las culturas en medio de sus notables diferencias tengan igual valor en cuanto que siendo todas ellas concreciones colectivas históricas de la tarea auto-formativa del ser humano tienen algo importante que decir a la humanidad.En el encuentro dialógico de las culturas que se da desde siempre se llega eso (...) sí a valoraciones comparativas explícitas, jerarquizantes la mayoría de las veces; desde el punto de vista hermenéutico, sin embargo, tiene tan poco sentido jerarquizar culturas como lo tiene jerarquizar comprensiones, ya que cada vez que algo se comprende se comprende de manera diferente. Esta reflexión es hoy de especial relevancia ante la difamación de la multiculturalidad como re-tribalización de la sociedad liberal pluralista en medio del terror antiterrorista globalizado que vivimos. (shrink)

This paper offers a comparison between the aristocratic radicalism of Nietzsche and that of the Colombian philosopher, Nicolás Gómez Dávila, in order to point out their points of contact and their differences. This leads to the analysis of the uneven reception of their ideas, which at the same time ..

Musical ensemble performances provide an ideal environment to gain knowledge about complex human interactions. Network structures of synchronization can reflect specific roles of individual performers on the one hand and a higher level of organization of all performers as a superordinate system on the other. This study builds on research on joint singing, using hyperscanning of respiration and heart rate variability from eight professional singers. Singers performed polyphonic music, distributing their breathing within the same voice and singing without and with (...) physical contact: that is touching each other's shoulder or waist. The idea of singing with touch was motivated by historical depictions of ensemble performances that showed singers touching each other. It raises the question of the potential benefit of touch for group performances. From a psycho-physiological point of view, physical contact should increase the synchronization of singing coordination. The results confirm previous findings on synchronization of respiration and HRV during choir singing and extend those findings to a non-homophonic musical repertoire while also revealing an increase in synchronization in respiration during physical contact. These effects were significant across different frequency ranges. The effect of physical contact was stronger when all singers were singing in comparison to the partial ensemble. Importantly, the synchronization could not be fully explained by the singing action or by the standing position or touch. This finding suggests a higher level of organization of all singers, forming a superordinate system. (shrink)

Within Special Relativity accelerated systems can be described as those systems in which standard clock synchronism does not hold. Therefore, the ε -generalized Lorentz equations derived by Winnie are the equations governing accelerated systems. The ε -generalized equation for time is used in analyzing two cases of the clock paradox: (1) the case in which a clock travels in a straight line, stops, and returns, and (2) the case in which a clock travels with uniform velocity in a circular path. (...) The treatment of case (1) of the paradox within this generalization of the Special Theory is compared with Møller's treatment of it within the General Theory. (shrink)

This paper pretends to give elements for the urgent dialogue between Gadamer is hermeneutic philosophy and Nietzsche is work. From the version given by Gadamer of the initial disencounter with the Zarathustra, we move on to the count made by him of the growing height of interpretation, term that..

Ya la ironía socrática dijo que la filosofía no progresaba porque se ocupaba siempre de los mismos asuntos; el saber filosófico, asediado por la cuestión de su legitimidad, muestra su capacidad regenerativa volviendo siempre sobre sus fundamentos histórico-conceptuales. De ahí que quien intente defi..

Ganar conciencia del pluralismo en el que discurre en sus diferentes ámbitos la vida de nuestro momento histórico presupone haber aceptado que la movilidad de la existencia se da en el fluir interpretativo de todo sentido y que la verdad humana es radicalmente temporal. Vivir en un mundo determinado globalmente por imágenes fugaces de portentosa manipulación electrónica tiene que habernos sensibilizado al fluir incesante de todo sentido, cuyo sistemático desconocimiento hizo que durante tanto tiempo se desconociera y reprimiera ideológicamente la (...) creatividad interpretativa del ser humano. En la filosofía de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, como lo vamos a bosquejar en toda brevedad, se dio, sin embargo, la rehabilitación de la interpretación en tanto que la auto-comprensión de las ciencias humanas se vio circundada de aires de liberación que resultaron de la creciente concientización de la temporalidad radical de lo humano. [Fragmento]. (shrink)