T echnocrati c fundamentalis m (neocons ) an d theocrati c fundamentalis m (teocons) ar e t w o manifestation s o f politica l though t v e r y restrict i v e o f democra c y . Th e f irst on e ha s a highe r incidenc e i n th e f iel d o f econo m y an d th e secon d on e i n tha t o f the (...) religion , bu t bot h imp l y a stron g challeng e fo r th e democrati c State . Thi s a r ticl e deals wit h th e mor e o r les s fo r ma l conjunctio n bet w ee n bot h kind s o f fundamentalism , that appear s an d acts , e v e n a t a globa l l e v el , a s a v e r y conse r v at i v e reactio n agains t the mai n demand s o f c i vi c laicis m an d o f pr o g ress i v e policies . Th e autho r maintain s that th e an s w e r t o thes e n e w fundamentalisms , li k e t o th e ol d d o gmatisms , i s no t a t all th e relat i vism , bu t th e critica l an d aut o critica l thought . Th e poin t i s t o ad v ance , with thi s critica l attitude , i n th e const r uctio n o f n e w democrati c fo r mulations , pr o vided wit h a mor e stron g fundamen t i n te r m s o f ethica l l e gitima c y an d socia l l e gitimation. (shrink)

Por razones de eficacia (cohesión social, comunidad cívica) y, unidas a ellas, por razones éticas (valores de libertad, igualdad y solidaridad) la propuesta normativa de nuestro tiempo debe ser la universalización de la democracia. No hay futuro para nadie si no se avanza en ella, en la universalización de los derechos humanos, en su protección y realización efectiva en esa escala. Frente a los hechos que impone hoy el neoliberalismo conservador y la muy desigual globalización realmente existente, deben prevalecer los (...) derechos que derivan de la filosofía ética, política y jurídica de la democracia. Su expresión institucional -se estima aquí- es aquella que se concreta en la fórmula o paradigma del Estado social y democrático de Derecho: es decir, un Estado de importante intervención cualitativa; una sociedad civil más y mejor vertebrada, de trama más ajustada, más inclusiva de los nuevos movimientos sociales (feministas, ecologistas, antixenófobos, etc.); un sistema económico mixto, con sector público estatal y social donde el mercado y el sector privado encuentren coherente articulación; todo ello para la protección y realización de los derechos humanos civiles y políticos, económicos, sociales y culturales, así como los nuevos derechos fundamentales de las minorías, los derivados de las diferencias personales y sociales (étnicas, sexuales...), del medio ambiente, etc. En definitiva la razón de ser del Estado de Derecho es la protección y realización efectiva de los derechos humanos. La universalización de éstos y de la democracia exige, pues, la universalización del Estado social y democrático de Derecho. (shrink)

Frente a la mala «Razón de Estado», del pasado y del presente, se alegan aquí algunas de las posibles y potenciales buenas razones del Estado, también como exigencias válidas para el futuro. Con ello se pretende coadyuvar a una imprescindible recuperación teórica y práctica de la política y, con ella, de la cultura y de la ética en el espacio público. Ante el actual poder omnimodo e «incontrolado» de la economía, de su versión pretendidamente única, la del «capitalismo científico» y (...) la muy desigual «globalización», se hace necesario tomar completamente en serio la perspectiva de los intereses generales : y, dentro de ellos, los legítimos intereses individuales y, en especial, los de aquellos amplios sectores sociales dotados de muchos menos poderes y posibilidades. La ética de los valores ilustrados de libertad, igualdad, fraternidad , así como la seguridad que deriva de la propia cohesión social -justicia y eficiencia unidas- constituyen la base de esas buenas razones del Estado. (shrink)

Most theories of slurs fall into one of two families: those which understand slurring terms to involve special descriptive/informational content (however conveyed), and those which understand them to encode special emotive/expressive content. Our view is that both offer essential insights, but that part of what sets slurs apart is use-theoretic content. In particular, we urge that slurring words belong at the intersection of a number of categories in a sociolinguistic register taxonomy, one that usually includes [+slang] and [+vulgar] and always (...) includes [-polite] and [+derogatory]. Thus, e.g., what distinguishes ‘Chinese’ from ‘chink’ is neither a peculiar sort of descriptive nor emotional content, but rather the fact that ‘chink’ is lexically marked as belonging to different registers than ‘Chinese’. It is, moreover, partly such facts which makes slurring ethically unacceptable. (shrink)

RESUMEN Fundamentación: la intervención de los anestesiólogos durante el preoperatorio de los pacientes con fractura del tercio proximal del fémur no queda reducida a la recopilación de datos científicos de carácter biológico, es una exigencia actual enfrentarse al paciente con una profunda comprensión de su esencia social y desde una posición humanista. Objetivo: determinar las condiciones sociales del sufrimiento de los pacientes con fractura del tercio proximal del fémur durante el preoperatorio. Método: se realizó un estudio de revisión sistemática cualitativa, (...) con la información cualitativa descriptiva a través de la recolección, evaluación, verificación y síntesis de las evidencias existentes. Resultados: si está indicada la intervención quirúrgica, se asegura la prevención de la discapacidad en la población envejecida vulnerable o frágil con alto riesgo quirúrgico. La fragilidad como proceso dinámico produce la transición a mayor fragilidad y su vez conduce a un espiral de resultados adversos de salud con carácter multidimensional y progresivo. Discusión: la ética del cuidado destaca la importancia de valorar el sufrimiento del paciente, la necesidad y sensibilidad para responder de tal forma que se proteja al paciente y sus familiares de la sensación de aislamiento, abandono y discapacidad propios de la enfermedad. El cuidado es una actividad permanente y cotidiana de la vida de las personas, el cuidado por parte de los anestesiólogos incluye profesionalidad a lo cotidiano. ABSTRACT Background: the intervention of the anesthesiologists during the preoperatory of the patients with fracture of the third proximal of the femur is not reduced to the summary of scientific data of biological character; it is a current demand to face the patient with a deep understanding of its social essence and from a humanist position. Objective: to determine the social conditions of the suffering of the patients with fracture of the third proximal of the femur during the preoperatory. Method: it was carried out a study of qualitative systematic revision, with the descriptive qualitative information through the gathering, evaluation, verification and synthesis of the existent evidences. Results: if it is suitable the surgical intervention.The fragility like dynamic process produces the transition to more fragility and its time it drives to a hairspring ofadverse resultsof health with multidimensional character and progressive. Discusión: the ethics of the care highlights the importance of valuing the patient's suffering, the necessity and sensibility to respond in such a way that is protected to the patient and its relatives of the isolation sensation, abandonment of the illness. The care is a permanent and daily activity of the life of people the care on the part of the anesthesiologists. (shrink)

La formación profesional tiene un carácter contextualizado que responde a las exigencias que la época, la sociedad y el país reclaman a las universidades. La Estomatología en Cuba no se encuentra al margen de estos preceptos por lo que desarrolla un plan de estudio que acentúa la flexibilidad para realizar modificaciones necesarias y pertinentes. El estudiante al culminar la carrera debe brindar una atención estomatológica integral donde las anomalías dentomaxilofaciales constituyen la tercera línea de trabajo. Estas ocasionan afectaciones estéticas que (...) repercuten en la autoestima y adaptación social de niños y adolescentes por lo que se necesita de una orientación sicoeducativa, acción para la cual el profesional deberá estar preparado. A partir de las insuficiencias detectadas en el proceso formativo del estomatólogo, el objetivo del presente trabajo es proponer un curso propio sobre la temática para favorecer la graduación de un profesional capaz de resolver los problemas que afectan el complejo estomatognático con un enfoque biosicosocial. Los métodos empleados fueron el histórico-lógico y análisis-síntesis. Professional training has a contextualized nature which reflects the demands that the time, society and the country require from universities. In Cuba, Stomatology is not out of these precepts and therefore it carries out a syllabus that emphasizes flexibility to make necessary and appropriate changes. When students graduate, they must provide a complete stomatological care where dental maxillofacial anomalies are the third line of work. They cause aesthetic harm that affects children and teenagers' self-esteem and social adaptation which makes psych educational guidance necessary; a situation professional must be prepared for. Starting from the weak points discovered in the training process of stomatologists, a crash course in the subject is suggested in order to favor the graduation of professionals who are able to solve problems that affect the stomatognatic complex with a biopsychosocial approach, through the use of required methods, techniques and procedures. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the consolidation of Molecular Evolution, a field originating in the 1960s at the interface of molecular biology, biochemistry, evolutionary biology, biophysics and studies on the origin of life and exobiology. The claim is made that Molecular Evolution became a discipline by integrating different sorts of scientific traditions: experimental, theoretical and comparative. The author critically incorporates Timothy Lenoir’s treatment of disciplines , as well as ideas developed by Stephen Toulmin on the same subject. On their account disciplines (...) are spaces where the social and epistemic dimensions of science are deeply and complexly interwoven. However, a more detailed account of discipline formation and the dynamics of an emerging disciplinary field is lacking in their analysis. The present essay suggests focusing on the role of scientific concepts in the double configuration of disciplines: the social/political and the epistemic order. In the case of Molecular Evolution the concepts of molecular clock and informational molecules played a central role, both in differentiating molecular from classical evolutionists, and in promoting communication between the different sorts of traditions integrated in Molecular Evolution. The paper finishes with a reflection on the historicity of disciplines, and the historicity of our concepts of disciplines. (shrink)

El presente artículo tiene como propósito criticar y reformular la teoría de valores del autor y filósofo argentino Risieri Frondizi. Para ello, se someterán a falsacionismo las tesis según las cuales la cualidad estructural es, primero, estructuralista y no analítica y, segundo, empírica, de acuerdo con la metodología holista de la ciencia. La crítica, así, se desarrollará a partir de los siguientes interrogantes. Inicialmente, ¿el autor acude al holismo o al reduccionismo como enfoques metodológicos de desarrollo? Finalmente, ¿cuál es la (...) distinción lógica entre el valor como cualidad sui géneris y el valor como cualidad estructural? (shrink)

The online version of the original article can be found under doi:10.1007/s11948-007-9045-2.

The hard problem of consciousness is about how we could explain in physicalist terms why we are conscious. The meta-problem of consciousness is about how we could explain why we have a hard problem of consciousness. In this note I argue that the phenomenal concept strategy can in principle provide a satisfactory solution to the meta-problem.

This paper investigates the role that universities play in supporting social entrepreneurs (SEs) across their ecosystem. Adopting the resource-based view (RBV) approach, we argue that universities attract, mobilize, and deploy multiple resources that benefit SEs through four main mechanisms (i.e., teaching, research, outreach, and the development of partnerships). We use a qualitative approach of 62 semi-structured interviews and 8 focus groups in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia. Our contribution shows that employing different resources and engaging in supportive activities of universities towards (...) SEs facilitate the development of university capabilities, such as an increased reputation, development of leadership skills for students and staff, and wider access to ecosystem resources that support other university activities related to teaching, research, and community outreach. The role that partnerships play in the development of these capabilities is fundamental, thanks to the different strategic alliances and mobilization of resources between universities and other actors while supporting SEs. This study contributes to our understanding of the role universities can play to intensify the nature of supportive ecosystems for SEs. This contribution is relevant not only to academics but also to practitioners, as this will shed light on the building, development, and scaling of a supportive ecosystem for SEs. (shrink)

Socially responsible human resource management (SR‐HRM) is becoming increasingly important for academics and managers. The interface between HRM and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the subject of analysis in this article. It adopts a contextual perspective to analyze whether the institutional context influences the implementation of socially responsible HRM (SR‐HRM). Considering the differences in the national institutional contexts across Europe, this study explores the different models of SR‐HRM in that region. The research is focused on a sample of 153 companies (...) headquartered in Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The findings evidence the influence exerted by the national institutional context on the implementation of SR‐HRM. Differences among country clusters suggest the existence of different models of SR‐HRM in Europe. However, these models do not correspond to the blocks on HRM or on CSR identified by the literature but instead provide a novel categorization. (shrink)

In this study, we examine the philosophical bases of one of the leading clinical psychological methods of therapy for anxiety, anger, and depression, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). We trace this method back to its philosophical roots in the Stoic, Buddhist, Taoist, and Existentialist philosophical traditions. We start by discussing the tenets of CBT, and then we expand on the philosophical traditions that ground this approach. Given that CBT has had a clinically measured positive effect on the psychological well-being of individuals, (...) it becomes important to study the philosophical foundations on which this therapy is based. (shrink)

A cognitive assessment strategy that is not limited to examining a set of summary test scores may be more helpful for early detection of emergent illness such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and may permit a better understanding of cognitive functions and dysfunctions in those with AD and other dementia disorders. A revisit of the work already undertaken by Kaplan and colleagues using the Boston Process-Approach provides a solid basis for identifying new opportunities to capture data on neurocognitive processes, test-taking strategies (...) and response styles. Thus, this critical review will combine traditional process-based assessment strategies with support provided or offered by newer technologies that have the potential to add value to data collection and interpretation. There is now considerable interest in neuropsychological test administration using computer/digital technology, both in research and in clinical settings. To add value, any computerized version of an existing cognitive test should respect the administration procedure for which normative data were obtained, should be time-saving in terms of scoring and interpretation, and should, we argue, facilitate gathering information about the processes and strategies followed in test completion. This article will offer an overview of the steps needed when implementing computerization of neuropsychological tests using a Process-Based Approach (PBA) to these technology-based adaptations and will discuss further developments in this area by linking it to future technological developments that may be possible in the area of neuropsychological assessment. Additionally, an overview of neuropsychological tests that may benefit from computerization will be presented, together with suggestions on the specific processes, strategies and features that may be captured with the aid of such computerization. Finally, hypotheses on how virtual reality could be an asset for the future of the PBA to neuropsychological assessment will also be discussed. (shrink)

What does it mean to say that some features, such as gender, race and sexual orientation, are socially constructed? Many scholars claim that social constructionism about a kind is a version of realism about that kind, according to which the corresponding kind is a social construction, that it, it is constituted by social factors and practices. Social constructionism, then, is a version of realism about a kind that asserts that the kind is real, and puts forward a particular view about (...) the nature of the kind, namely, that it is constituted by social factors and practices. Social constructivists about human kinds such as gender, race and sexual orientation often make an additional claim, namely, that these kinds are social constructions but they are typically believed to be biological kinds (that is, people are typically wrong about the nature of these kinds). Ron Mallon (2017) calls social constructions that are (falsely) taken to be biological kinds covert social constructions. This paper is about how we could have terms in our natural language that come to refer to covert social constructions. (shrink)

A proliferation of tests exists for the assessment of auditory-verbal memory processes. However, from a clinical practice perspective, the situation is less clear when it comes to the ready availability of reliable and valid tests for the evaluation of visual/visuo-spatial memory processes. While, at face value, there appear to be a wide range of available tests of visual/visuo-spatial memory, utilizing different types of materials and assessment strategies, a number of criticisms have been, and arguably should be, leveled at the majority (...) of these tests. The criticisms that have been directed toward what are typically considered to be visual/visuo-spatial memory tests, such as the potential for verbal mediation, over-abstraction of stimuli, the requirement of a drawing response, and the lack of sensitivity to unilateral brain lesions, mean that, in reality, the number of readily available valid tests of visual/visuo-spatial memory is, at best, limited. This article offers a critical, historical review on the existing measures and resources for the neuropsychological assessment of visual/visuo-spatial memory, and it showcases some examples of newer tests that have aimed to overcome the challenges of assessing these important aspects of memory. The article also identifies new trends and examples of how technological advances such as virtual reality may add value to overcome previous obstacles to assessment, thereby offering professionals more reliable, accurate means to evaluate visual/visuo-spatial memory in clinical practice. (shrink)

In his genetic phenomenology, Husserl introduces types, pre-predicative frames of experience that guide the perception and cognition of objects. In this essay, I argue that there are two types that are functionally almost identical to Kant’s schemata. To support this conclusion, I first present an interpretation of Kant’s discussion of schemata. I argue that we must see schemata as pure, a priori cognitions that involve only pure intuition, pure concepts of the understanding, and the imagination. I offer two analogies to (...) explain how schemata function to subsume objects under concepts and to anticipate possible objects of experience before moving on to discuss the schema of substance. Next, I present a brief explanation of Husserl’s genetic phenomenology, organizing my presentation around the idea of apperception. This paves the way for a demonstration of how the fundamental type is best understood as standing at the center of a cluster of concepts, including apperception, passive belief, natural bodies, and the one spatio-temporal horizon of experience. I argue that the fundamental type is central to Husserl’s attempt to ground logic in pre-predicative experience. Finally, I compare two specific types with schemata on the grounds cultivated in the previous sections. The first of these types, the fundamental type, functions to pre-predicatively anticipate objects of possible experience, just as schemata do. The second of these types, which is implied by but never discussed in Husserl’s work, serves to mediate between a formal system of rules and an intuitive grasp of the world, just as schemata do. (shrink)

Margarita Diaz-Andreu offers an innovative history of archaeology during the nineteenth century, encompassing all its fields from the origins of humanity to the medieval period, and all areas of the world. The development of archaeology is placed within the framework of contemporary political events, with a particular focus upon the ideologies of nationalism and imperialism. Diaz-Andreu examines a wide range of issues, including the creation of institutions, the conversion of the study of antiquities into a profession, public memory, changes in (...) archaeological thought and practice, and the effect on archaeology of racism, religion, the belief in progress, hegemony, and resistance. (shrink)

Altruism and solidarity are concepts that are closely related to organ donation for transplantation. On the one hand, they are typically used for encouraging people to donate. On the other hand, they also underpin the regulations in force in each country to different extents. They are often used indistinctly and equivocally, despite the different ethical implications of each concept. This paper aims to clarify to what extent we can speak of altruism and solidarity in the predominant models of organ donation. (...) It also raises the ethical question of whether these categories are adequate as a basis for such models, bearing in mind that organs are a scarce resource and that a shortage of them may mean that fewer lives are saved or improved. (shrink)

El presente artículo trata sobre cómo la fenomenología del dolor físico puede entablar un dialogo con las ciencias médicas, brindando, por un lado, un marco teórico sobre la relación mente-cuerpo que no sea reduccionista y, por otro lado, algunos aspectos que mejoren la posibilidad de la cuantificación del dolor mediante test de evaluación del dolor, a partir del refinamiento de los reportes subjetivos. El artículo que divide en tres secciones: la consideración fenomenológica del dolor; la consideración médica del dolor y (...) la relación con la fenomenología; y por último, el para qué de dicha relación. (shrink)

En este artículo, se aborda, desde una óptica Spinoziana, el problema de la libertad. Spinoza rechaza la libertad como el libre albedrío. Sin embargo, considera que podemos tener agencia (libertad) en tanto, guiados por el conocimiento de las causas de nuestros afectos, actuemos en favor de nuestro conatus. Esta investigación está dividida en tres capítulos: En el primero, se reconstruye, someramente, la posición de Spinoza sobre el libre albedrío; en el segundo, se desarrolla su propuesta de agencia; finalmente, en el (...) tercero, se busca reactualizar las consideraciones de Spinoza en torno a la discusión contemporánea sobre problema de la libertad. (shrink)

Education is a fundamental pillar in human development, and its evolution throughout history has been influenced by a variety of factors, including imaginative culture and human nature. In this study, we explore how educational methods have evolved in response to the interaction between these two aspects. We look at how human creativity, imagination, and adaptation have influenced the way we teach and learn, from early forms of knowledge transmission to more contemporary approaches focused on active student engagement and the development (...) of practical skills. Our research is based on a comprehensive review of the academic literature in the fields of education, evolutionary psychology, cultural anthropology, and imagination studies. We explore how societies have used imagination as a tool to transmit knowledge and values, as well as to foster creativity and individual expression. We also examine how adaptive aspects of human nature, such as the ability to learn collaboratively and adapt to changing environments, have influenced the way educational methods are designed. Our results show a clear evolution in educational methods over time, from approaches focused on the one-way transmission of knowledge to more interactive and participatory models that encourage exploration and discovery. We identify common patterns in the way societies have used imagination and adaptation to promote learning and socialization and discuss the implications of these findings for contemporary education. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of understanding the relationship between imaginative culture, human nature, and education. It provides a solid foundation for the design of educational methods that harness the innate creativity and adaptability of human beings and offers guidance for educators and policymakers on how to promote meaningful and lasting learning in today's world. (shrink)

Competing theories on the semantics of group pejorative terms (also known as‘slurs’)comprise both advocates and opponents to the Identity Thesis (IT), according to whichthese terms and their neutral counterparts do not differ in semantic value. In the oppo-nents’camp, Christopher Hom has offered an argument based on substitution of slurs andneutral counterparts that both supports his semanticist approach and cast doubts on all IT-based approaches to slurs. We aim to point to a dilemma triggered by this argument based on evidence showing (...) that substitution of some words (including but not restricted to slurs)for non-problematically co-referential pairs may fail to preserve truth-values in some linguistics contexts. (shrink)

We study 944 shareholder proposals submitted to 343 U.S. firms on climate change issues during 2009–2022. We use logistic and two-stage regression to estimate the propensity for a firm to be targeted or subjected to a vote at the annual general meeting and, for voted proposals, the determinants of that vote. We also examine whether climate-related proposals affect investor returns and how they relate to firms’ future environmental performance and greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to a matched sample, we first find (...) that activists target larger, more carbon-intensive, and less R&D-active firms. Second, voting likelihood is higher for firms with repeated and operations-related proposals and lower pre-proposal environmental ratings. By contrast, disclosure-related proposals are likelier to be negotiated and withdrawn. Third, repeated and operations-related proposals receive higher votes in favor, whereas votes on carbon-intensive firms do not. Fourth, building on the theory that investors act as if they distinguish among the different shareholder proposals based on the expected cost to the firm, we find evidence to support this idea. We find that investors respond negatively to ex-ante costlier proposals, such as those that relate to emissions reduction and target carbon-intensive firms. Fifth, targets’ future environmental performance rating is almost twenty percent higher after a proposal than before compared to the matched sample, whereas emissions do not budge appreciably. (shrink)

Three arguments summarize opposition to laws protecting LGBTQ+ persons from discrimination: (1) The pseudo-democratic argument (social change should be free of governmental coercion); (2) The clinical argument (homosexuality is an illness); (3) The choice argument (homosexuality is a choice). My purpose is to show the three are vulnerable to damaging objections. This article reflects conditions as they were in 1987 in the USA. For example, the expression LGBTQ+ had not been coined. My use of "gays and lesbians," then believed to (...) be inclusive, excluded a lot of people. (shrink)

This paper raises a principled objection against the idea that Bayesian confirmation theory can be used to explain the conjunction fallacy. The paper demonstrates that confirmation-based explanations are limited in scope and can only be applied to cases of the fallacy of a certain restricted kind. In particular; confirmation-based explanations cannot account for the inverse conjunction fallacy, a more recently discovered form of the conjunction fallacy. Once the problem has been set out, the paper explores four different ways for the (...) confirmation theorist to come to terms with the problem, and argues that none of them are successful. (shrink)

I argue that Husserl’s account of passive synthesis can be developed into a phenomenology of peripheral experience. Peripheral experiences are not defined by their location in visual space but by their phenomenal and intentional character, by what these experiences are like and how they present things in the world. Further, I argue that peripheral experience is of a piece with our most basic background convictions about the world. As such, the periphery is epistemically neutral, but not therefore empty of meaning. (...) It is meaningful as holding open the possibility of further activity, both practical and intellectual. I explore these ideas by focusing on peripheral color experience. Husserl’s discussions of associative synthesis, affection, and doxic and nondoxic forms of attention prove key to detailing peripheral color experience. I end by arguing that at the periphery, intentional content and phenomenal content come apart. (shrink)

One of the best-known aspects of José Carlos Mariátegui’s philosophy is his concept of a revolutionary myth. What does this revolutionary myth entail, how and why did Mariátegui develop this idea? The following article situates Mariátegui’s thought in both the historical and intellectual context of the 1920’s in order to answer these questions. This is relevant because Mariátegui’s philosophy and his revolutionary myth have influenced several Latin American revolutionaries such as Ernesto Che Guevara and Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). Mariátegui’s ideas (...) have thus changed the lives and history of Latin Americans and it is important that we neither demonize nor idolize Mariátegui’s intellectual work without first attempting to understand it. (shrink)

Alfred I. Tauber (ed.), Organism and the Origins of Self. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991. xix + 384 pp., US$ 110.00 (US$ 25.00 paperback). This is a fascinating book based on a 1990 symposium at Boston University. It promises to change the way one conceives of the organism. The authors start from different specializations but provide a most tantalizing feast of ideas. Richard Lewontin commences the book with a strange foreword. Lewontin submits that the concern with the "self and (...) private identity in modern biology is ... only one manifestation of the ideology of individualism that is a shibboleth of our particular [bourgeois] form of social organization" (p. xix). If this is the case, the reader should stop reading the book and ask for her money back. But I advise patience. Tauber's introduction is a mixture of the history of the medical notion of disease and the advocacy of a dialectical concept of the self as the interpenetration of part and whole. Tauber highlights Elie Metchnikoff's appealing idea of phagocytosis as just one form of the active organism striving to attain harmony among competing cells. (shrink)

Nuestro lenguaje no solo describe el mundo que nos rodea: muchas expresiones que usamos habitualmente (desde predicados de gusto a expresiones como “interesante” o “divertido”) tienen por función valorar los objetos que constituyen nuestro entorno. Las oraciones que las contienen son sensibles a la evaluación: su valor de verdad depende del estándar evaluativo saliente en contexto y su emisión puede dar lugar a desacuerdos duros. El presente trabajo examina la ex- tensión de esta categoría a oraciones con predicados y verbos (...) normativos (éticos, epistémicos, procedimen- tales y deontológicos). Se presta especial atención a la posibilidad de estas oraciones de generar desacuerdos duros, en el marco de una teoría que comprende a las aserciones como adquisición de compromisos discur- sivos y prácticos. (shrink)

SPANISH: Las parejas del mismo sexo tienen razón cuando dicen que negarles el matrimonio es discriminar contra ellas; pero otorgar el matrimonio a las parejas del mismo sexo sin dar a familias no conyugales los beneficios que el matrimonio provee remediaría la injusticia hacia las primeras sin subsanar la iniquidad hacia las segundas. Crear una sociedad que favorece solo una opción para reconocer las relaciones de serio compromiso no debe ser la meta de un movimiento progresista. -/- ENGLISH: Same-sex couples (...) are right when they say that denying them marriage is discriminating against them; but granting marriage to same-sex couples without giving non-marital families the benefits marriage provides would remedy the injustice towards the former without correcting the iniquity towards the latter. Creating a society that favors only one option to recognize committed relationships should not be the goal of a progressive movement. -/- . (shrink)

Recently Díaz, Hössjer and Marks (DHM) presented a Bayesian framework to measure cosmological tuning (either fine or coarse) that uses maximum entropy (maxent) distributions on unbounded sample spaces as priors for the parameters of the physical models (https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2021/07/020). The DHM framework stands in contrast to previous attempts to measure tuning that rely on a uniform prior assumption. However, since the parameters of the models often take values in spaces of infinite size, the uniformity assumption is unwarranted. This is known (...) as the normalization problem. In this paper we explain why and how the DHM framework not only evades the normalization problem but also circumvents other objections to the tuning measurement like the so called weak anthropic principle, the selection of a single maxent distribution and, importantly, the lack of invariance of maxent distributions with respect to data transformations. We also propose to treat fine-tuning as an emergence problem to avoid infinite loops in the prior distribution of hyperparameters (common to all Bayesian analysis), and explain that previous attempts to measure tuning using uniform priors are particular cases of the DHM framework. Finally, we prove a theorem, explaining when tuning is fine or coarse for different families of distributions. The theorem is summarized in a table for ease of reference, and the tuning of three physical parameters is analyzed using the conclusions of the theorem. (shrink)