This book consists of an edited collection of original essays of the highest academic quality by seasoned experts in their fields of cognitive science. The essays are interdisciplinary, drawing from many of the fields known collectively as “the cognitive sciences.” Topics discussed represent a significant cross-section of the most current and interesting issues in cognitive science. Specific topics include matters regarding machine learning and cognitive architecture, the nature of cognitive content, the relationship of information to cognition, the role of language (...) and communication in cognition, the nature of embodied cognition, selective topics in visual cognition, brain connectivity, computation and simulation, social and technological issues within the cognitive sciences, and significant issues in the history of neuroscience. This book will be of interest to both professional researchers and newer students and graduate students in the fields of cognitive science—including computer science, linguistics, philosophy, psychology and neuroscience. The essays are in English and are designed to be as free as possible of technical jargon and therefore accessible to young scholars and to scholars who are new to the cognitive neurosciences. In addition to several entries by single authors, the book contains several interesting roundtables where researchers contribute answers to a central question presented to those in the focus group on one of the core areas listed above. This exciting approach provides a variety of perspectives from across disciplines on topics of current concern in the cognitive sciences. (shrink)

We present here a digital scenario to simulate the emergence of self-organized symbol-based communication among artificial creatures inhabiting a virtual world of predatory events. In order to design the environment and creatures, we seek theoretical and empirical constraints from C.S.Peirce Semiotics and an ethological case study of communication among animals. Our results show that the creatures, assuming the role of sign users and learners, behave collectively as a complex system, where self-organization of communicative interactions plays a major role in the (...) emergence of symbol-based communication. We also strive for a careful use of the theoretical concepts involved, including the concepts of symbol, communication, and emergence, and we use a multi-level model as a basis for the interpretation of inter-level relationships in the semiotic processes we are studying. (shrink)

Uma das questões que desafia educadores e educador@s [1], inserid@s no campo da relação que envolve os processos de ensino e de aprendizagem, consiste no papel da educação do ponto de vista da vida em sociedade. E uma resposta aceita de forma genérica aponta para a dimensão da humanização. Questiona-se: até que ponto a relação educativa possui a capacidade e potencialidade de humanizar? Como relacionar a construção do conhecimento à perspectiva de valoração que promova a sociabilidade humana? A partir destes (...) questionamentos abordamos duas dimensões fundamentais: a ética e a moral, campos que estão na base da cultura, do mito, das relações de poder e, portanto, da política. Assim, esse texto objetiva refletir sobre os impactos da ética e da moral nas relações de poder e no processo de humanização, apontando para uma relação dialógica, na perspectiva da alteridade, como uma das saídas viáveis para a humanidade. E para tanto, utilizamos Martin Buber (1974, 1987) e Paulo Freire (1979, 1983) como principais referências teóricas, pensando o papel da educação no enfrentamento deste problema. A partir das leituras, compreendemos o conceito de alteridade, que aponta para o caminho da desmitologização da realidade por meio desta mesma dimensão, que pode ser compreendida no campo da educação. Concluímos que, somente na perspectiva da ética, esta relação pode ser dialógica. E, somente na relação dialógica este processo pode ser transformador e libertador. Esse procedimento educativo potencializa relações de solidariedade e, consequentemente, humaniza em seu significado mais pleno de ser com @ outr@. [1] Utilizamos o símbolo “@” para referenciar de modo simultâneo os gêneros feminino e masculino. Trata-se de um posicionamento político-cultural que vem de encontro às normas gramaticais postas. (shrink)

To identify how digital media are being used by community-led initiatives of the Centro Region of Portugal, and to identify the requirements that a digital platform for mediation between agents in the territory should have, two focus groups were conducted, involving six small-sized community-led initiatives and six larger-sized community-led initiatives. This article details the results of these focus groups, according to the following main categories: use of existing communication and mediation tools; the purpose of use of digital tools; type of (...) experiences prompted by digital tools and attributes and features desired in a digital platform to support community-led initiatives. The results show differences between the use and needs of digital tools by small- and larger-sized initiatives and offer interesting insights to prototype an innovative digital solution, to enhance the actions of community-led initiatives. A reference framework for digital mediation strategies and a mobile app prototype were developed, based on these surveys. The article contributes with an analytical view about the development of digital solutions, which aim to strengthen the relationship among agents of local communities and promote mediation mechanisms among all stakeholders in territorial-based innovation. (shrink)

A pandemia da covid-19 ao redor do mundo suscitou na esfera pública uma profusão de discursos negacionistas da parte de lideranças políticas que foram seguidos pela sociedade civil. Ao situar essa manifestação no contexto social mais amplo da emergência de uma nova dinâmica política marcada por regimes de democracias iliberais, o objetivo desse texto é apresentar os aspectos filosóficos que subjazem o discurso negacionista na experiência brasileira mais recente. Tendo como base uma crítica obscurantista do progresso e uma filosofia da (...) história retrógrada e conspiracionista, essa constelação filosófica tornou-se legitimador da extrema-direita internacional e, em especial no Brasil, do bolsonarismo. (shrink)

Trata-se de uma “reconstrução com reserva genealógica” das bases historiográficas e ideológicas do liberalismo politico e dos desdobramentos teóricos da teoria da justiça de John Rawls, tendo como fio de condutor as contribuições da filósofa Katrina Forrester e de interlocutores acerca das fases de surgimento, consolidação e expansão da paisagem intelectual, para, em seguida, avaliar os potenciais e limites da sequência de acontecimentos que tornaram possível a tradição do liberalismo igualitário se estabelecer como paradigma incontornável, e não menos controverso, na (...) história da filosofia moral e do pensamento político do século XX. (shrink)

em Origens do totalitarismo , publicada em 1951, Arendt pensa o grande mal do século XX: o fenômeno totalitário como destruição da pluralidade humana, negação da semelhança dos homens e da sua pertença a uma mesma humanidade. Esse mal, para ela, reduz-se a dois regimes: o nazismo de Hitler e o comunismo de Stalin. A proposta deste artigo é analisar as características comuns entre esses dois regimes como descritas por Arendt.

A violência é um dos conceitos mais importante do pensamento político de Arendt. No entanto, ela observa a falta de um estudo sistemática, bem como a banalização desse conceito, escondendo assim o seu caráter instrumental. O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar a compreensão de Arendt desse conceito no campo da política, como aparece em sua obra sobre a violência.

A partir da obra Origens do totalitarismo de Arendt, este estudo apresenta a ideia totalitária do “tudo é possível” e a sua colocação em prática no século XX, em nome de um projeto político de dominação total que considerou o homem como um ser supérfluo com o qual se poderia fazer qualquer coisa, inclusive transformá-lo em um indivíduo capaz de obedecer cegamente os princípios ideológicos do governo totalitário encarnados na pessoa do “chefe”. Mas, por outro lado também, este estudo apresenta (...) o posicionamento de Arendt que inverte a ideia totalitária do “tudo é possível” para pensar uma nova política que seja o inverso radical do totalitarismo, uma política na qual todos possam manifestar a sua liberdade através de ação e do discurso na presença de seus pares; para isso, a nossa autora aposta na capacidade humana de “começar algo novo” com seus próprios recursos. (shrink)

Para Arendt, a autoridade desapareceu do mundo moderno. Para entendermos esse posicionamento radical é necessário compreendermos o sentido atribuído pela pensadora ao termo autoridade. Este é o objetivo fundamental deste artigo.

Classificado pelo pensamento político contemporâneo como novidade singular na história da humanidade e considerado como exemplo emblemático da erosão do político, o fenômeno totalitário provocou polêmicas em relação aos termos utilizados no processo da sua compreensão. Por exemplo, quando se afirmou que o seu objetivo supremo era “transformar a natureza humana”, essa expressão causou ruído desconfortável aos ouvidos daqueles que, sintonizados à tradição metafísica, sempre definiram a natureza humana como uma essência imutável. Este artigo discute e aponta o significado e (...) o alcance dessa expressão no pensamento político contemporâneo, desmistificando-a da sua origem metafísica. (shrink)

Quando o tema em questão é o pensamento político contemporâneo, os estudos de Arendt são indispensáveis. Ela se tornou uma referência nesse assunto, desde a publicação da sua obra Origens do totalitarismo. Neste artigo, no entanto, o objetivo não é discutir ou analisar o conceito de política dessa autora e nem relacioná-lo necessariamente a uma determinada teoria ou forma de governo, mas sim apresentar de modo introdutório e elementar, alguns aspectos das suas considerações e dos seus posicionamentos sobre o sentimento (...) de compaixão na política como entendida por ela, especialmente como aparecem em sua obra Da revolução. (shrink)

A proposta deste artigo é refletir sobre os termos “ente e essência” como aparecem no texto de Tomás de Aquino e explicar o sentido da afirmação “o ente e a essência são o que é concebido primeiro pelo intelecto”.

O texto se propõe a examinar o procedimento desconstrutivo levado a cabo por Jacques Derrida com relação a aspectos da filosofia da linguagem em Edmund Husserl, através especialmente da investigação e crítica da natureza da significação.

Exemplifying a fruitful fusion of French and German approaches to social theory, The Power of Dialogue transforms Jurgen Habermas's version of critical theory into a new "critical hermeneutics" that builds on both Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics and Michel Foucault's studies of power and discourse. At the book's core is the question of how social power shapes and influences meaning and how the process of interpretation, while implicated in social forms of power, can nevertheless achieve reflective distance and a critique of (...) power. It offers an original perspective on such issues as the impact of prejudice and cultural background on scientific interpretation, the need to understand others without assimilating their otherness, and the "truth" of interpretation. (shrink)

Exemplifying a fruitful fusion of French and German approaches to social theory, The Power of Dialogue transforms Jurgen Habermas's version of critical theory into a new "critical hermeneutics" that builds on both Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics and Michel Foucault's studies of power and discourse. At the book's core is the question of how social power shapes and influences meaning and how the process of interpretation, while implicated in social forms of power, can nevertheless achieve reflective distance and a critique of (...) power. It offers an original perspective on such issues as the impact of prejudice and cultural background on scientific interpretation, the need to understand others without assimilating their otherness, and the "truth" of interpretation. (shrink)

Purpose: In both analytic and continental philosophy, the linguistic turn jettisoned philosophical foundationalism and gave way to a new pragmatic-hermeneutic turn regarding understanding, truth, and meaning. Yet now intentional consciousness -- i.e., the relation between thought and language -- still poses an issue. At stake is the convincing reconstruction of consciousness based on symbolic mediation. Method: In order to contribute to this discussion, the paper takes up Cassirer's argument for the necessity of "symbolic forms" for thought. It introduces an ideal-typical (...) notion of the sign, and develops, on this basis, the relevance of Cassirer's arguments from symbolic synthesis and from symbolic articulation in order to finally assess the prospects of a theory of symbolic meaning after Cassirer. Results: The paper shows that consciousness is prone to a semiotic analysis and points the way for future desiderata of a theory of meaning. Implications: The results are relevant for philosophy, psychology, semiotics, as well as cultural studies. The paper projects a position of symbolic epistemic constructivism by reconstructing the mind and world, or subject-object, as emerging from the prior source of symbolic mediation. (shrink)

Zones of social abandonment are emerging everywhere in Brazil’s big cities—places like Vita, where the unwanted, the mentally ill, the sick, and the homeless are left to die. This haunting, unforgettable story centers on a young woman named Catarina, increasingly paralyzed and said to be mad, living out her time at Vita. Anthropologist João Biehl leads a detective-like journey to know Catarina; to unravel the cryptic, poetic words that are part of the “dictionary” she is compiling; and to trace the (...) complex network of family, medicine, state, and economy in which her abandonment and pathology took form. As Biehl painstakingly relates Catarina’s words to a vanished world and elucidates her condition, we learn of subjectivities unmade and remade under economic pressures, pharmaceuticals as moral technologies, a public common sense that lets the unsound and unproductive die, and anthropology’s unique power to work through these juxtaposed fields. _Vita’s_ methodological innovations, bold fieldwork, and rigorous social theory make it an essential reading for anyone who is grappling with how to understand the conditions of life, thought and ethics in the contemporary world. (shrink)

Zones of social abandonment are emerging everywhere in Brazil’s big cities—places like Vita, where the unwanted, the mentally ill, the sick, and the homeless are left to die. This haunting, unforgettable story centers on a young woman named Catarina, increasingly paralyzed and said to be mad, living out her time at Vita. Anthropologist João Biehl leads a detective-like journey to know Catarina; to unravel the cryptic, poetic words that are part of the “dictionary” she is compiling; and to trace the (...) complex network of family, medicine, state, and economy in which her abandonment and pathology took form. An instant classic, _Vita_ has been widely acclaimed for its bold fieldwork, theoretical innovation, and literary force. Reflecting on how Catarina’s life story continues, this updated edition offers the reader a powerful new afterword and gripping new photographs following Biehl and Eskerod’s return to Vita. Anthropology at its finest, _Vita_ is essential reading for anyone who is grappling with how to understand the conditions of life, thought, and ethics in the contemporary world. (shrink)

(1997). Alienation as epistemological source: Reflexivity and social background after Mannheim and Bourdieu. Social Epistemology: Vol. 11, New Directions in the Sociology of Knowledge, pp. 141-164.

The Second Vatican Council was built within a solidly constituted tradition in the Catholic Church. All councils were held within the traditional and legal parameters of the Church. The question about the condition of possibility of a renewal Council under this tradition shows relevant. The Vatican II is the result of a negotiation between renewal and preservation. Pope John XXIII personally coordinated the construction of the legitimacy of the new event, following steps which may be rescued during the preparatory stages (...) of the great assembly. The reading of this process from sociological parameters may elucidate its plausibility within the tradition and the Church's bureaucratic organization. Pope John started ably a church renewal process, opening a new phase in the long Catholic tradition. Under his Pope condition, he knew how to seed the idea of a revamping event in the name of a divine inspiration and with the set of bishops’ participation of the Church. (shrink)

This innovative volume is an extended intellectual conversation about the ways personal lives are being undone and remade today. Examining the ethnography of the modern subject, this preeminent group of scholars probes the continuity and diversity of modes of personhood across a range of Western and non-Western societies. Contributors consider what happens to individual subjectivity when stable or imagined environments such as nations and communities are transformed or displaced by free trade economics, terrorism, and war; how new information and medical (...) technologies reshape the relation one has to oneself; and which forms of subjectivity and life possibilities are produced against a world in pieces. The transdisciplinary conversation includes anthropologists, historians of science, psychologists, a literary critic, a philosopher, physicians, and an economist. The authors touch on how we think and write about contingency, human agency, and ethics today. (shrink)

Our present moral traits are unable to provide the level of large-scale co-operation necessary to deal with risks such as nuclear proliferation, drastic climate change and pandemics. In order to survive in an environment with powerful and easily available technologies, some authors claim that we need to improve our moral traits with moral enhancement. But this is prone to produce paradoxical effects, be self-reinforcing and harm personal identity. The risks of moral enhancement require the use of a safety framework; such (...) a framework should guarantee practical robustness to moral uncertainty, empirical adequacy, correct balance between dispositions, preservation of identity, and be sensitive to practical considerations such as emergent social effects. A virtue theory can meet all these desiderata. Possible frameworks incorporate them to variable degrees. The social value orientations framework is one of the most promising candidates. (shrink)

An overcomplete logic is a logic that ‘ceases to make the difference’: According to such a logic, all inferences hold independently of the nature of the statements involved. A negation-inconsistent logic is a logic having at least one model that satisfies both some statement and its negation. A negation-incomplete logic has at least one model according to which neither some statement nor its negation are satisfied. Paraconsistent logics are negation-inconsistent yet non-overcomplete; paracomplete logics are negation-incomplete yet non-overcomplete. A paranormal logic (...) is simply a logic that is both paraconsistent and paracomplete. -/- Despite being perfectly consistent and complete with respect to classical negation, nearly every normal modal logic, in its ordinary language and interpretation, admits to some latent paranormality: It is paracomplete with respect to a negation defined as an impossibility operator, and paraconsistent with respect to a negation defined as non-necessity. In fact, as it will be shown here, even in languages without a primitive classical negation, normal modal logics can often be alternatively characterized directly by way of their paranormal negations and related operators. So, instead of talking about ‘necessity’, ‘possibility’, and so on, modal logics could be seen just as devices tailored for the study of (modal) negation. This paper shows how and to what extent this alternative characterization of modal logics can be realized. (shrink)

To measure non-cognitive facets of competence, we developed and tested a new method that we refer to as Embedded Experience Sampling (EES). Domain-specific problem-solving competence is a multi-faceted construct that is not limited to cognitive facets such as domain knowledge or problem-solving strategies but also comprises non-cognitive facets in the sense of domain-specific emotional and motivational dispositions such as interest and self-concept. However, in empirical studies non-cognitive facets are usually either neglected or measured by generalized self-report questionnaires that are detached (...) from the performance assessment. To enable an integrated measurement, we developed the EES method to collect data on non-cognitive facets during scenario-based low-stakes assessments. Test-takers are requested to stop at certain times and spontaneously answer short items (EES items) regarding their actual experience of the problem situation. These EES items are embedded in an EES event that resembles typical social interactions with non-player characters. To evaluate the feasibility and validity of the method, we implemented EES in a series of three studies in the context of commercial vocational education and training (VET): A feasibility study with 77 trainees, a pilot study with 20 trainees, and the main study with 780 trainees who worked on three complex problem scenarios in a computer-based office simulation. In the present paper, we investigate how test-takers perceived the EES events, and whether social desirability biased their answers, and investigate the internal structure of the data and the relationship between EES data and data from several other sources. Interview data and survey data indicated no biases due to social desirability and no additional burden for the test-takers due to the EES events. A correlation analysis following the multitrait-multimethod approach as well as the calibration of a multidimensional model based on Item Response Theory (IRT) also supported the construct validity. Furthermore, EES data shows substantial correlations with test motivation but almost zero correlations with data from generalized retrospective self-report questionnaires on non-cognitive facets. Altogether, EES offers an alternative approach to measuring non-cognitive facets of competence under certain conditions. For instance, EES is also based on self-reporting and thus might not be suitable for high-stakes testing. (shrink)

Ao longo da história, a relação entre a filosofia e a política tem-se revelado espinhosa, denunciando a dificuldade em se conceptualizar sobre o que é por natureza antagónico à cristalização, porque particular e pluralista. Na esfera da opinião, o filósofo deve restringir-se a analisar, criticar, rever e aperfeiçoar os valores políticos coevos, a explicar aos seus conterrâneos o universo de acepções sociais partilhadas, consciente de que a sua concepção fundamenta uma via entre as muitas poss...

By engaging Robert Pippin's Hegelian account of ?rational agency as ethical life?, the essay explores the consequences of an intersubjectivist conception of ethical agency. Pippin's core project consists of showing that intentional agency must be conceived within the social context of reason-giving practices which provide the necessary sense-making background of action. This socially grounded meaningfulness of action requires us to redefine agency as a social achievement, as real only if socially recognized. For Pippin, this means that ethical agency essentially becomes (...) the identifying expression of the situated agent with rationally acceptable and socially actualized modes of self-realization. In contrast, I argue that core features of agency such as intentional causality and reflexivity need to be more fully integrated into a social conception of agency. By drawing on a hermeneutic appropriation of G. H. Mead's intersubjective account, we come to see that the developing self emerges via processes of perspective-taking which involve intentional causality as well as reflexivity. The presumed opposition between an intentional-causalist and an expressivist account of agency thus becomes obsolete. The new account is put to a comparative test with Pippin's approach with regard to the issues of analyzing social power, approaching cultural difference, and conceiving of the relation between critical theory and the agents' everyday social self-understanding. (shrink)