In the standard Okishio-Morishima approach, the existence of profits is proved to be equivalent to the exploitation of labor. Yet, it can also be proved that the existence of profits is equivalent to the “exploitation” of any good. Labor and commodity exploitation are just different numerical representations of the productiveness of the economy. This paper presents an alternative approach to exploitation theory which is related to the “New Interpretation” (Duménil 1980; Foley 1982). In this approach, labor exploitation captures unequal social (...) relations among producers. The equivalence between the existence of profits and labor exploitation holds, whereas it is proved that there is no relation between profits and commodity “exploitation.”. (shrink)

Roberto Esposito is one of the most prolific and important exponents of contemporary Italian political theory.

This book by Roberto Esposito - a leading Italian political philosopher - is a highly original exploration of the relationship between human bodies and societies. The original function of law, even before it was codified, was to preserve peaceful cohabitation between people who were exposed to the risk of destructive conflict. Just as the human body's immune system protects the organism from deadly incursions by viruses and other threats, law also ensures the survival of the community in a life-threatening (...) situation. It protects and prolongs life. But the function of law as a form of immunization points to a more disturbing consideration. Like the individual body, the collective body can be immunized from the perceived danger only by allowing a little of what threatens it to enter its protective boundaries. This means that in order to escape the clutches of death, life is forced to incorporate within itself the lethal principle. Starting from this reflection on the nature of immunization, Esposito offers a wide-ranging analysis of contemporary biopolitics. Never more than at present has the demand for immunization come to characterize all aspects of our existence. The more we feel at risk of being infiltrated and infected by foreign elements, the more the life of the individual and society closes off within its protective boundaries, forcing us to choose between a self-destructive outcome and a more radical alternative based on a new conception of community. (shrink)

Joining an antagonistic phosphoinositide (PtdInsP) kinase and phosphatase into a single protein complex may regulate rapid and local PtdInsP changes. This may be important for processes such as membrane fission that require a specific PtdInsP and that are innately local and rapid. Such a complex could couple vesicle formation, with erasing of the identity of the donor organelle from the vesicle prior to its fusion with target organelles, thus preventing organelle identity intermixing. Coordinating signals are postulated to switch the relative (...) activities of the kinase and phosphatase in a spatio‐temporal manner that matches membrane fission events. The discovery of two such complexes supports this hypothesis. One regulates the interconversion of phosphatidylinositol and PtdIns(3)P by joining the Vps34 PtdIns 3‐kinase and the myotubularin 3‐phosphatases. The other regulates the interconversion between PtdIns(3)P and PtdIns(3,5)P2 through the Fab1/PIKfyve kinase and the Fig4/mFig4 phosphatase. These lipids are essential components of the endosomal identity code. (shrink)

There is much effort nowadays to protect communication networks against different cybersecurity attacks (which are more and more sophisticated) that look for systems’ vulnerabilities they could exploit for malicious purposes. Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDSs) are popular tools to detect and classify such attacks, most of them based on ML models. However, ML-based NIDSs cannot be trained by feeding them with network traffic data as it is. Thus, a Feature Engineering (FE) process plays a crucial role transforming network traffic raw (...) data onto derived one suitable for ML models. In this work, we study the effects of applying one such FE technique in different ways on the performance of two ML models (linear and non-linear) and their selected features. This the Feature as a Counter approach. The derived observations are computed from either with the same number of raw samples, (batch-based approaches) or by aggregating them by time intervals (timestamp-based approach). Results show that there is no significant differences between the proposed approaches neither in the performance of the models nor in the selected features that validate our proposal making it feasible to be widely used as a standard FE method. (shrink)

Roberto Esposito is one of leading figures in a new generation of Italian philosophers. This book criticizes the notion of the person and develops an original account of the concept of the impersonal - what he calls the third person.

Osservazioni sulle fonti luterane della controversia De notitia Dei naturali insita in infantibusStarting from a passage of Adam Steuart’s refutation of Descartes’ Notae in programma quoddam, this essay reconstructs the debate on the innate idea of God in infants that took place in Lutheran-oriented philosophy and theology between the end of the 16th and the middle of the 18th century. It is shown that one of the most common questions in modern philosophy is closely connected with theological thinking - in (...) this case Lutheran - from the formulation of the dogmatic systems up until their criticism by the Enlightenment. Also explained is the way in which the reception of Cartesianism was singularly influenced by the various backgrounds and the different and continuously changing polemical goals that inspired each author. In fact, Descartes was even accused of being a Lutheran. (shrink)

This paper investigates the relationship between Stakeholder Engagement (SE) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), approaching CSR as a complex system made up of components and interactions. Adopting a System Thinking approach to analyze CSR in a stakeholders-company network, explorative research is conducted through three stages: (1) a critical literature review aimed to identify the components of the CSR system model, (2) the development of the dataset and of the Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) model, (3) the analysis of the CSR behavior (...) in light of the ‘system archetypes’ underpinning the system. The analysis reveals both the structure and the dynamics of CSR and explain its behavior in light of the stakeholder engagement network variables. Findings from this research underscore the existence of six feedback loops, which characterize the relation CSR-SE. The ‘company-stakeholder fit’ acts as a growth engine for the stakeholder engagement network, however other balancing dynamics (e.g., detriment of business objectives) require a tradeoff between Social and Business orientation. This paper contributes to a more profound understanding of the relation between CSR and stakeholder engagement, showing in particular the link between CSR and SE under the assumption of stakeholder-company network. The insights provided serve as a guide for managers and policymakers to navigate the complex dynamics of SE to inform effective strategies of CSR based on network structural actions. (shrink)

We investigate certain Brouwer-Zadeh lattices that serve as abstract counterparts of lattices of effects in Hilbert spaces under the spectral ordering. These algebras, called PBZ*-lattices, can also be seen as generalisations of orthomodular lattices and are remarkable for the collapse of three notions of “sharpness” that are distinct in general Brouwer-Zadeh lattices. We investigate the structure theory of PBZ*-lattices and their reducts; in particular, we prove some embedding results for PBZ*-lattices and provide an initial description of the lattice of PBZ*-varieties.

O presente ensaio parte dos questionamentos construídos por Machado de Assis no artigo “Notícia da atual literatura brasileira: instinto de nacionalidade”, para analisar o lugar que o discurso marginal ocupa na produção literária contemporânea. Nesta perspectiva, utilizando como referência o conceito construído por Machado de Assis, investigo a possibilidade de observarmos a presença de um “Instinto de Marginalidade” na atual literatura brasileira, que não mais se baseia no intuito de formação de uma “literatura nacional”, isto é, unificadora e essencialista, mas (...) como vozes da dissonância e da alteridade. Assim, se o “Instinto de nacionalidade”, detectado por Machado em sua época, serviria a uma busca de independência, não estaríamos igualmente presenciando um ensejo de diferenciação das minorias? E, dessa forma, ainda seguindo os passos do crítico, não correríamos o risco da busca de uma “cor local” que salvaguardaria as fronteiras entre margem e centro? (shrink)

O presente artigo busca demonstrar a estreita relação entre as culturas de consumo e as mídias —entendidas como mediadoras das relações socioculturais— na contemporaneidade, na medida em que colocam em ação processos de formação de significações simbólicas, a partir das diferentes práticas, bens e hábitos de consumo. Esses processos produzem “jogos de aparência” que permitem a negociação na construção da própria imagem por meio dos usos e consumos referentes à vestimenta, a estilos e também ao corpo. Além disso, a própriaabordagem (...) antropológica sobre o consumo e a aparência é problematizada ao evidenciar que essas relações são construções simbólicas onde os termos utilizados devem ser entendidos a partir do contexto da sua produção. (shrink)

We analyse the liberal ethics of noninterference in social choice. A liberal principle, capturing noninterfering views of society and inspired by John Stuart Mill's conception of liberty, is examined. The principle expresses the idea that society should not penalise individuals after changes in their situation that do not affect others. An impossibility for liberal approaches is highlighted: every social decision rule that satisfies unanimity and a general principle of noninterference must be dictatorial. This raises some important issues for liberal approaches (...) in social choice and political philosophy. (shrink)

Egalitarian theorists, since Rawls, have in the main advocated equalizing some objective measure of individual well-being, such as primary goods, functionings, or resources, rather than subjective welfare. This discussion, however, has assumed, implicitly, a static environment. By analyzing a society that survives for many generations, we demonstrate that equality of opportunity for some objective condition is incompatible with human development over time. We argue that this incompatibility can be resolved by equalizing opportunities for welfare. Thus, “subjectivism” seems necessary if we (...) are to hope for a society that can both equalize opportunities and support the development of human capacity over time. (shrink)

This paper extends the analysis of liberal principles in social choice recently proposed by Mariotti and Veneziani (2009a) to infinitely-lived societies. First, some novel characterisations of inegalitarian leximax social welfare relations are derived based on the Individual Benefit Principle (IBP), which incorporates a liberal, non-interfering view of society. This is surprising because the IBP does not explicitly incorporate any preference for inequality, nor does it assign priority to well-off members of society. Second, some impossibility results are derived that highlight a (...) general tension between standard fairness and efficiency axioms in social choice, and a liberal Principle of Non-Interference that generalises IBP. (shrink)

Male-to-female transsexualism manifests itself in the form of a discrepancy between the male sex assigned at birth and the subjective experience of belonging to the female gender, which in many cases also involves a somatic transition by cross-sex hormone treatment and genital surgery. Until now, no studies related to MtF transsexualism have been carried out within the framework of a phenomenological/existential approach. This paradigm would make it possible to better articulate the transsexual experience beyond the simplistic diagnostic criteria by which (...) it is currently defined. In this study, I will reread MtF transsexualism in the light of Ludwig Binswanger’s theories on Mannerism and Jean Paul Sartre’s remarks on the self and the body. I will do this largely by focusing on first-hand accounts of the MtF transsexual’s experience, in other words from a first-person viewpoint. Finally, I will present some considerations on the meaning of psychological intervention in this field. (shrink)

The explanation of the phenomenon of Brownian motion, given by Einstein in 1905 and based on the kinetic–molecular conception of matter, is considered one of the fundamental pillars supporting atomism in its victorious struggle against phenomenological physics in the early years of this century. Despite the importance of the subject, there exists no specific study on it of sufficient depth. Generally speaking, most histories of physics repeat the following scheme: the discovery made by Robert Brown in 1827 , of the (...) continuous movement of small particles suspended in a fluid did not arouse interest for a long time. Finally, at the close of the century, Gouy's research brought it to the attention of the physicists. Gouy was convinced that Brownian motion constituted a clear demonstration of the existence of molecules in continuous movement. Nevertheless, he did not work out any mathematized theory that could be subjected to quantitative confirmation. All nineteenth-century research remained at the qualitative level and yet it was able to clarify some general characteristics of the phenomenon: the completely irregular, unceasing, motion of the particles is not produced by external causes. It does not depend on the nature of the particles but only on their size. The first significant measurements, carried out by Felix Exner in 1900, appeared to deny the possibility of reconciling the kinetic theory with Brownian motion. The discovery of the ultra-microscope then allowed Zsigmondy to perceive the presence of movements, which were completely analogous to Brown's, in the particles of the colloids; these movements were rather smaller in size than those invesigated up to then. Thus Zsigmondy aroused interest in the phenomenon. Finally, in 1905, Einstein succeeded in stating the mathematical laws governing the movements of particles on the basis of the principles of the kinetic–molecular theory. The following year Smoluchowski arrived at conclusions which corresponded to Einstein's. These laws received a first, rough confirmation in the years immediately following by the work of The Svedberg, Seddig and, for some historians, Henri. Then in 1908 Jean Perrin gave it a definitive confirmation. (shrink)

En el presente trabajo nos hemos propuesto la factura de una exposición sucinta en torno a la crítica contra la metafísica clásica desde la perspectiva de Eduardo Nicol. Puede decirse que, desde el punto de vista de nuestro autor, la característica básica de la metafísica ha consistido en el soterramiento del ser, es decir, la metafísica clásica, de alguna u otra manera, ha versado acerca de un ser atemporal y oculto. El ocultamiento del ser ha estado íntimamente ligado al olvido (...) del tiempo y al endiosamiento de la razón; justo por esto Nicol se propone ahora una recuperación de la visibilidad del ser en aras de un contradiscurso del método. (shrink)

This paper deals with recent work on the role of objects in cognition and the methodological problems created by findings and theories in various strands of the cognitive sciences. The term ‘object’ is here mean to refer to spatially extended items that persist over time. The main theses of this paper are as follows. First, we should ideally consider the various notions and representations of objects and objecthood that emerge from the literature as components of something akin to the notion (...) of internalized language that is at the core of mainstream linguistics. There appear to be as many different I-representations of objects as there are fields of investigation, and this creates some interesting methodological problems. Second, it is important to assess whether these different notions may be traced back to a common ground of underlying principles. Existing unification attempts either underestimate the differences between the I-representations or pave the way to an eliminative position that would dispose of the variety of I-notions altogether. The paper builds on these previous attempts and proposes to use again an analogy from linguistics in order to show how commonalities and differences between the various I-notions can be accounted for. Third, this framework can allow us to make sense of some so far piecemeal analyses of the commonsense notion of an object. (shrink)

Nonhuman animals are the most prominent alterity with which humans have engaged in interaction and in comparative self-definition. The reference point of nonhuman alterity is central both to the development of humanism and of posthumanism. In the complex and nonlinear interfaces with nonhumans, humans are extensively hybridized in a process that defines their very humanity. Understanding humans as open and interactive animals rather than as closed and autarchic entities is indispensable to the dismantling of humanism and the development of posthuman (...) thought. Nonhuman and human animals host and are hosted by one another in dynamic and emergent relations. (shrink)

Technoscientific progress brings into question both anthropocentric epistemology and anthropocentric/humanistic ontology, which considers the human being as a self-constructing and self-sufficient entity. Even though, Darwinism recomposes the humanistic disjunction between reality and representation: by defining the human being as the result of an adaptive reflection, it reveals the idealistic character of post-Cartesian thought, which is the backbone of philosophical anthropocentrism. The non-human can be a dialogic entity if and only if it is considered not as “animal-by” but “animal-with”, that is, (...) free to express its authenticity in terms of subjectivity, diversity and uniqueness. Whilst the post-human laboratory celebrates the power of human beings, the post-humanistic perspective emphasizes the conjugation with the non-human. (shrink)