La filosofía de Spinoza fue expuesta en su obra más representativa Ética: Demostrada según el orden geométrico, la cual fue publicada en 1677, el mismo año de su muerte. Esta no tiene otro objetivo que orientar al hombre de hoy en la comprensión de sí mismo a través de la comprensión de los afectos. Es por ello que esta reflexión se orienta a partir de lo que propone Spinoza: “No se trata de eliminar los afectos sino más bien de orientarlos (...) por el buen camino”. Este análisis se llevará a cabo en cuatro momentos: en primer lugar, la importancia de la ética en Spinoza; en segundo lugar, el papel de los afectos; en tercer lugar, la necesidad de llegar a una comprensión de los afectos; y por último, la libertad fundamentada en la ética, para terminar mostrando una posición que esquiva el determinismo. (shrink)

According to a growing body of studies, people’s ability to forecast future emotional experiences is generally biased. Nonetheless, the existing literature has mainly explored affective forecasting in relation to specific events, whereas little is still known about the ability to make general estimations of future emotional states. Based on existing evidence suggesting future-oriented disposition as a key factor for mental health, the aims of the current study were (1) to investigate the relationship between negative (NA) and positive (PA) affective forecasting (...) biases and perceived psychological well-being, and (2) to explore whether positively biased predictions are associated with resilience and foster one’s skills to cope with stressful events. To do so, we asked 85 undergraduate students to forecast PA and NA over two weeks, as well as to report their daily affect through a web-based Ecological Momentary Assessment. According to the results, positively biased PA forecasting (i.e., overestimating positive emotional states) was associated with greater perceived psychological well-being and higher resilience. When high levels of stress were experienced, participants holding an optimistic, yet biased, estimation of future PA were more likely to successfully manage stressors, thus maintaining lower levels of NA and higher levels of positive emotions. We suggest that positively biased PA forecasting is an adaptive cognitive distortion that boosts people’s resilience and mental health, thus opening new avenues for the promotion of psychological well-being. (shrink)

In this article, we identify various kinds of injustice at work in the global care chains by looking at the damages they entail and at some of their ties. Taking as our point of reference an invidious privileges dilemma that poses a real challenge to feminist theories, we analyze first the moral harm that, as Eva Kittay maintains, follows the fracturing of central, interpersonal and affective relationships of the women migrant workers. This specific moral harm of care relationships is not (...) reducible to other kinds of social injustice. These other kinds are identified by applying Nancy Fraser’s questioning of the frame problem to the global care chains. We can then talk of an interdependence of several genres or axes of injustice (maldistribution, misrecognition and misrepresentation) that work and intersect at several scales. (shrink)

Esta obra está pensada para que sirva como ayuda para cursos universitarios de Filosofía de la Ciencia. Además de ocuparse del conocimiento científico, se propone una filosofía de la actividad científica, en la que se tienen presentes las interrelaciones entre ciencia y tecnología. Se abordan asimismo cuestiones relativas a valores que rigen la práctica científica.

In this paper I argue that some human reproductive genome editing interventions can be therapeutic in nature, and thus that it is false that all such interventions just create healthy individuals. I do this by showing that the conditions established by a therapy definition are met by certain reproductive genome editing interventions. I then defend this position against two objections: (a) reproductive genome editing interventions do not attain one of the two conditions for something to be a therapy, and (b) (...) some reproductive genome editing interventions are therapeutic but in a nonstandard way. In the Conclusion I call for a more nuanced discussion of the nature of reproductive genome editing interventions. (shrink)

I analyze the extent to which classical phase transitions, both first order and continuous, pose a challenge for intertheoretic reduction. My contention is that phase transitions are compatible with a notion of reduction that combines Nagelian reduction and what Thomas Nickles called Reduction2. I also argue that, even if the same approach to reduction applies to both types of phase transitions, there is a crucial difference in their physical treatment: in addition to the thermodynamic limit, in continuous phase transitions there (...) is a second infinite limit involved, which marks an important difference in the reduction of first-order and continuous phase transitions. (shrink)

Caracterizando como alternativa las reflexiones en torno a la noción de “diferencia” que hacen autores como Lazzarato, Virno, Agamben, ‘Bifo’, Rancière y Negri, entre otros, acerca de las posturas políticas que, o bien parten de la identidad sociológica, o bien de la igualdad o el acuerdo como axioma de lo político, el texto propone un llamado de atención respecto de la necesaria ampliación que, en la concepción de lo político, implican estas perspectivas, sobre todo entendiéndolas como prisma de análisis de (...) los procesos de producción de subjetividades en nuestros tiempos. (shrink)

This paper presents an account of the nature of stem cells based on the philosophical concept of disposition. It is argued that stem cells can be conceived as dispositional objects, and adopting this attitude allows overcoming some of the controversies surrounding the nature of stemness (most notably, the state vs. entity debate) because it offers a framework that accommodates the lessons from different theories. Additionally, the account is simultaneously useful for interpreting stem cell experiments and guiding potential interventions. The account (...) shows how different levels, both molecular and emergent network-level, play the primary causal role in explaining some empirical results, and hence they suggest that the explanations can be mechanistic or topological, respectively. The realization that any of these levels may play a more prominent causal role than another allows suggesting interventions at the genetic, molecular and population levels. (shrink)

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) stands out as one of the most promising approaches to scientifically understand the emergence of consciousness. Even if it borrows from the phenomenology of consciousness to derive its axiomatic formulation, IIT does not initially adhere to any particular ontological position. However, its founder leans towards Panpsychism. More recently, Owen has studied the pros and cons of different ontologies as a metaphysical basis for IIT, defending a hylomorphic stance where en-grounding, en-forming relations gain the upper hand in (...) the causal narrative. This paper aims at (1) complementing Owen’s work by invoking additional arguments against physicalist IIT, both reductive and non-reductive; and (2) improving Owen’s characterization of non-physicalist causality through a “nested” version of hylomorphism that avoids the combination problem of Panpsychism. (shrink)

In einem Brief an Christiaan Huygens aus dem Jahre 1679 schlägt Leibniz eine neue von der Cartesischen Algebra verschiedene Characteristica geometrica vor. Dieser Entwurf wurde von einigen Wissenschaftshistorikern als ein Vorläufer der Analysis situs oder Topologie betrachtet. Im Jahre 1846 erhielt Graßmann einen Preis, der ausgesetzt worden war für die Konstruktion eines geometrischen Kalküls, der dem Leibnizschen ähnlich sein sollte. Im folgenden kritisierte ich die heute gemeinhin vertretene Auffassung, die Geometnsche Analyse von Graßmann sei die legitime mathematische Weiterentwicklung der geometrischen (...) Konzeptionen von Leibniz. Zunächst breite ich einige wenig bekannte historische Fakten bezüglich Leibniz und Graßmann aus und dann gehe ich dazu über, Kritik an Graßmanns Lektüre des Leibnizschen Textes zu üben. Die Frage nach dem wissenschaftlichen Wert der Gedanken, die Leibniz Huygens gegenüber äußert, möchte ich jedoch bis zur bald zu erwartenden Publikation zahlreicher Leibniz-Texte zu diesem Thema offen lassen. (shrink)

Some Comments on de Melo-Martin and Harris.

It has been commonplace to equate Foucault’s 1979 series of lectures at the Collège de France with the claim that for neoliberalism, unlike for classical liberalism, the market needs to be artificially constructed. The article expands this claim to its full expression, taking it beyond what otherwise would be a simple divulgation of a basic neoliberal tenet. It zeroes in on Foucault’s own insight: that neoliberal constructivism is not directed at the market as such, but, in principle, at society, arguing (...) that the value of this insight goes beyond the critique of a neoliberal present. The neoliberal rationale rather helps him to reveal a unique historical architecture, a latent approach to the social dissimilar to the one that has long predominated in the human sciences. The inversion of homo œconomicus in neoliberal theory amounted to the unearthing of a ‘social subject of interest’ within civil society. Such a subject, barely recognized by neoliberals who simply instrumentalize it for the sake of the market, demonstrates that the social is not necessarily the natural product of ethical subjects; that society may also need to be constructed. (shrink)

Some authors have talken about the problem of the future contingents Aristotle exposed in De Interpretatione IX. But most of them do not explain the role of that chapter in his own work. Last analysis always try to find a formal solution. And this is very significative because De Interpretatione is a treatise that belongs to the semantic of the Organon. In this article we show that: 1. The aim of the problem of future contigents is not only formal and (...) the frame of the Aristotle’s solution. 2. Its implication with others important concepts in his philosophy like “substance”, “truth” and “dialectics”. (shrink)

Desde un enfoque naturalista, el presente artículo muestra la importancia de las evidencias paleoantropológicas en el estudio de la formación de la conciencia moral. Desde el análisis de los restos fósiles del Pleistoceno, se busca profundizar en la hipótesis de Darwin sobre el origen de la conciencia moral siguiendo su obra _El origen del hombre_ (1871). Desde este punto de vista, la conciencia moral se va desarrollando de manera gradual y continua mediante mecanismos genéticos y culturales durante la evolución humana. (...) De alguna manera, la moral forma parte de nuestra estructura antropológica y la posibilidad de dar en libertad contenido a esa moral responde también a un proceso evolutivo. (shrink)

El fenómeno artístico ha puesto de manifiesto la complejidad de su realidad, haciendo manifiesta la reflexión y construcción de la Modernidad. El arte moderno, con el consiguiente doble giro que abrieron las vanguardias históricas del arte, ha supuesto la expansión de las teorías y las formas estéticas con la misma pluralidad con que las nuevas ciencias sociales abrieron la indagación positivista que ocupó la transición al siglo XX. La crítica de la vanguardia al clasicismo, en su radical autonomía, pone de (...) manifiesto la realidad latente de la implicación de una subjetividad de mundo que muestra la naturaleza de la obra en la inmediatez del valor de su lenguaje, y de una estética que se erige como crítica de la representación ajena a la originaria subjetividad inaugural de mundo. Clasicismo, pensamiento estético y contestación crítica de la Modernidad descorren el cortinaje de un diálogo por el que el arte, en su memoria poética, despliega la puesta en acción de la imaginación y el deseo en la construcción de Mundo y en la comprensión de lo dado. En este despliegue, donde los contextos culturales son esenciales, se inscribe un particular cruce de la estética y la ética que, en la natural apuesta común de apertura del valor, no puede ignorar la práctica de toda educación estética contemporánea. (shrink)

La concepción semántica en filosofía de la ciencia propuso las relaciones de isomorfismo (van Fraassen) y semejanza (Giere) para analizar las representaciones científicas. Recientemente, Ibarra y Mormann han sugerido una geometrización de la concepción representacional en filosofía de la ciencia. Este artículo afirma que es precisa una relación mas general (la de homeomorfismo) para reconstruir las representaciones científicas externas que son utilizadas en la practica científica contemporánea, y especialmente en la visualización científica digitalizada.The semantical view on philosophy of science has (...) proposed the relationships of isomorfism (van Fraassen) and similitude (Giere) in order to analyse scientific representations. Recently, Ibarra & Mormann have suggested a geometrization of the representational view on philosophy of science. This contribution claims that a more general relationship (homeomorfism) is needed to reconstruct external representations used in contemporary scientific practice and, specially, in scientific digitalized visualization. (shrink)

The clash between these two dimensions of human condition – but also their complementary nature – make utopia and melancholy specially compelling as they address us today from Don Quixote’s text, providing an accurate standing from which both the author and his protagonist become our contemporaries. Taking an ethic point of departure, we shall consider the aim of the fantasies of Don Quixote is to modify the reality in a certain moral sense, despite of his ridiculously and impractical goals. At (...) the same time The Quixote’s utopia is interrelated with the melancholic Quixote’s character. The melancholy arises from the ethic conscience which is leaded by the moral duty of the justice. This article shows clearly the double melancholic and utopian nature of Don Quixote’s character, which is chaired by a modern ethic conscience. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to critically examine David Shaw, Wybo Dondorp, and Guido de Wert’s arguments in favour of the procurement of human organs from human/nonhuman-primate chimeras, specifically from great-ape/human chimeras. My main claim is that their arguments fail and are in need of substantial revision. To prove this I first introduce the topic, and then reconstruct Shaw et al.’s position and arguments. Next, I show that Shaw et al.: (1) failed to properly apply the subsidiarity and proportionality (...) principles; (2) neglected species overlapping cases in their ethical assessment; (3) ignored the ethics literature on borderline persons; and (4) misunderstood McMahan’s two-tiered moral theory. These mistakes render an important part of their conclusions either false or problematic to the point that they would no longer endorse them. Finally I will briefly mention a possible multipolar solution to the human organ shortage problem that would reduce the need for chimeras’ organs. (shrink)

La consideración del sujeto cognoscente, en los raciocinios de Charles Taylor, se encuentra relacionada con la crítica dirigida, inequívocamente, a las limitaciones e inconsistencias halladas en los posicionamientos filosóficos que atraviesan los raciocinios tanto del liberalismo como del comunitarismo. En contraste con tales teorías, Taylor sabe apreciar la tradición hermenéutica que busca otorgar algún sentido a la vida y al propio sujeto. Para que un discurso moral le resulte aceptable a este filósofo, debe tener en cuenta la experiencia concreta de (...) la vida y los horizontes de valores compartidos por las culturas que apoyan las acciones consiguientes. El encuadramiento moral aquí implicado pudiera contribuir no sólo a enriquerecer la comprensión epistemológica sino también a valorar todo aquello propenso a ser articulado participatoriamente y fundido para beneficio colectivo. (shrink)

The reductionist/anti-reductionist debate about testimonial justification (and knowledge) can be taken to collapse into a controversy about two kinds of underlying monitoring mechanism. The nature and structure of this mechanism remains an enigma in the debate. We suggest that the underlying monitoring mechanism amounts to emotion-based stereotyping. Our main argument in favor of the stereotype hypothesis about testimonial monitoring is that the underlying psychological mechanism responsible for testimonial monitoring has several conditions to satisfy. Each of these conditions is satisfied by (...) our “hot” stereotypical capacities. Intergroup emotions play a key role here. Intergroup emotions inform the agent about which candidate stereotype is better suited to the current situation. Emotions serve as evidence that makes a certain stereotype and its particular profile of features more or less expected. (shrink)

We start from an understanding of the human person as a communicative and symbolic reality. We emphasise the more subjective aspect of education, as showing the best of the person (educere) by creatively appropriating the treasures of history (educare). With these premises, we approach narratives that are surprising for the heterodoxy (resistance) they manifest, with respect to the social reality in which they were written, in the 1st century, in which they were written. In this approach it becomes evident that (...) the interruption of the silence of women, which appears in these narratives, shows the radical value of the human personal reality, opening an egalitarian educational space. (shrink)

Empirical research on Rational Choice Theory has brought up two focus of the economics laws problem. On one hand, we find the authors who state that the neoclassical economics laws are explanatory and predictive on specific cases: in transparent contexts in which the standard rationality operates successfully. On the other hand, we find the authors who state that the descriptive theories of the rational choice opens up a research path in which fundamental principles of the neoclassical building could be questioned. (...) Both view points have generated an important standard Rational Choice Theory revision what has produced the so called descriptive view point . It implies understanding that most of the choices take place under risky or uncertainty conditions and, that, these choices are far more complex than the normative Rational Choice Theory supposes. This article's main goal is to expand the descriptive point of view in rational choice, theorizing how some factors, coming from the social and cultural environment, operate within the rational choice. Into space of this research essay we find the debatable question of whether these sort of proposals expands the explanation of the deviation of the rational choice normative theory, and that, of the disturbing causes of the microeconomics laws, or they call into question fundamental principles of these laws and therefore they are opening the possibility to focus some economics issues in a new different manner. (shrink)