A synthetic glance about the basic outlines of Hare's Meta-ethics is offered in this paper to support the idea that Hume's law is still a productive resource for ethical studies. Hare accepted the emotivist premise that moral judgments do not, in the same way as ordinary statements do, state matters of fact that are either true or false, but denied that therefore they must be forms of exclamation. The essential character of moral discourse consisted, not, as the emotivists had held, (...) in its links with subjective attitudes, but with action; moral judgments were prescriptive, in that they expressed commitments to action on the part of the person uttering them, and at the same time their rationality was assured by their universalisability, i.e. their property of applying not merely to the person uttering them, but to all similar persons in similar circumstances. (shrink)

Peter Railton argues for a form of moral realism which holds that moral judgments can bear truth values in a fundamental non-epistemic sense of truth; that moral properties are objective, though relational; that moral properties supervene upon natural properties, and may be reducible to them; that moral inquiry is of a piece with empirical inquiry. He also thinks that it cannot be known a priori whether bivalence holds for moral judgments, and that a rational agent may fail to have a (...) reason for obeying moral imperatives, although they may be applicable to him. In this paper, Railton's moral theories are carefully examined and compared with noncognitivistic ones. (shrink)

Neopositivistic philosophers held that Popper's destructive criticism to inductive methods is wrong. The legend according to which Popper's criticism, in the final analysis, is inconsistent is greatly widespread also amongst neopositivistic Italian scholars. I argue that they are wrong, and that, in general, Popper's view about induction is true. According to Popper all scientific concepts are theoretical, for every assertion not only entails hypotheses but it is also hypothetical, that is not sure and always falsifiable. I argue that the validity (...) and the strength of Popper's criticism to induction is independent from the view according to which all scientific concepts are theoretical. (shrink)

In this paper the importance of Tarski's truth definition is evaluated like a productive resource to criticize Nietzsche's nihilistic view and any pragmatic understanding of truth.

In this paper, partly historical and partly theoretical, after having shortly outlined the development of the meta-ethics in the 1900?s starting from the Tractatus of Wittgenstein, I argue it is possible to sustain that emotivism and intuitionism are unsatisfactory ethical conceptions, while on the contrary, reason (intended in a logical-deductive sense) plays an effective role both in ethical discussions and in choices. There are some characteristics of the ethical language (prescriptivity, universalizability and predominance) that cannot be eluded (pain the non (...) significativity of the same language) by those who want to morally reason, i.e. by those who intend to regulate their own behaviour on the basis of knowledged and coherent principles. These characteristics can be found whether or not all possible ontological-metaphysics foundations of morals are taken into account. Furthermore the deontic logic systems allow the formalization of ethical theories and - at least in principle - a rigorous critical discussion of the same, but obviously nothing can be affirmed on the value of truth of the axioms of a system. In the deontic logic systems Hume?s law is assumed as an implicit result of inferential (conventional) rules and the acceptance of Hume?s law as a logical-linguistic thesis does not involve the cancellation of values (nihilism) or ethical relativism or indifferentism. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to support the idea that pragmatism is still a productive resource for the study of health and disease. Combining the results of thermodynamic theories with evolutionism, some said that the biological structures selected by evolution are perfect to maximize the conservation of energy; as a consequence, they tend to reduce the entropy in the organism. Thus, a process can be defined as pathological if it increases the entropy, which means a diminished efficiency of the (...) organism. .The point of view of pragmatism is useful to disprove the thesis of those who define disease only in relation to a reduced efficiency of the organism. (shrink)

(draft; call for comments) The normative judgements are grounded in intrinsic features of believing or intending and surely they are an irremovable element in constitutive aims of believing or intending. Many philosophers have claimed that the intentional is normative (this claim is the analogue, within the philosophy of mind, of the claim that is often made within the philosophy of language, that meaning is normative). The normative judgements are grounded in intrinsic features of the intentional states of the human mind. (...) Our intentional states are always correlated with our dispositions; when I refer to our ?dispositions? here, I do not mean to focus exclusively on our behavioural dispositions; I mean to include our mental dispositions as well, such as our dispositions to revise our beliefs and intentions in response to various conditions. We can hold that the normative nature of our judgement is intrinsic with our rational dispositions: the rational dispositions of our mind have essential normative properties, even if we must not identify mental properties with their normative role in mental activity.In this contest I deal with the concepts of factual ultimate aim and normative ultimate aim. (shrink)

Widespread amongst scholars is the legend according to which Locke shows a strong aversion to abstract ideas, similar to that of Berkley in the Treatise. This legend is endorsed by influential commentators on Locke. He does not even propose the reduction of ideas to mental pictures (a reduction which in Berkeley and Hume will form the base of the negation of the existence of abstract ideas in the mind). Locke is not in the least afraid of abstract ideas; his constant (...) concern, which is evident in his treatment of the complex question of the relation between real and nominal essence, is to refute the position of the Scholastics, according to which a universal concept in the mind (post rem) reflects the universal present in all things as substantial form (the universal in re), without assuming positions which are purely conventionalist and nominalist with regard to knowledge, such as those of Mersenne, Gassendi, Hobbes and sceptical and anti-Cartesian free-thinkers. To show this, I offer an analysis of the relation Locke makes between real and nominal essence, with regard to the relations which link term to idea and idea to things. The nature of the relation between signifier and signified is variable, though, in the relation between ideas and things with respect to the various kinds of complex ideas which the human mind may frame. The greatest difference is to be found between complex ideas of mixed mode and complex ideas of substance. (shrink)

Giacinto Tredici (1880-1964; Bishop of Brescia from 1934 to 1964) was the main supporter of cardinal Desirè Mercier's philosophical thesis in Italy and one of the main protagonists of the Thomistic revival in Italian philosophy in the first years of XX century. The Thomistic revival was not simply in seminaries and pontifical universities but throughout the world in colleges and universities. Giacinto Tredici was a teacher of philosophy (from 1904 to 1910) and theology (from 1910 to 1924). In this paper (...) Tredici's philosophical works are analysed and evaluated. (shrink)

The idea of disease as an objective malfunctioning cannot be accepted for many different reasons. “Malfunctioning” or “failure” have a meaning only if the perfect working condition or normality is univocally determined. The differences between a person and any other person are not unimportant and cannot be ignored neither in diagnosis nor in treatment. These differences can be ascribable to three different sets of reasons: 1.illnesses leave irreversible marks on the organic structure, for they modify the information an organism has (...) at least as far as the neuroendocrine and immune systems are involved; 2.there are individual differences in the immune system; 3.there are individual differences in the functional organization of the brain that are not due only to biological causes. Furthermore the subjective perception of the illness itself must be included among the elements that determine the features of an illness. Notwithstanding the presence of the same symptoms and the same tests readings, two people may perceive their illness in a different way, with effects on the course of the illness itself and the effectiveness of the treatment. The idea of disease also depends on the cultural context. (shrink)

Este trabalho coteja o comentário de Santo Tomás de Aquino com o texto da Ética a Nicômaco de Aristóteles no que diz respeito à noção de felicidade como bem supremo e sua identificação com o exercício da contemplação. Mostra-se como o caráter literal do texto de Santo Tomás não impede algumas ultrapassagens das posições aristotélicas.

O artigo se detém no exame de algunsfragmentos de Heráclito, onde se surpreende umadenúncia radical na origem de nossa cultura 'democrática'.Trata-se do afastamento da lei da cidadecom relação ao que deveria ser seu fundamentopermanentemente transformador, a Dfke,Justiça, 'lei divina'. Essa é vista como centro detensão que explode as alianças e os contratos tribais,baseados num lógos degradado.

Entender a reflexão enquanto um exercício lúdico é compreender que o pensamento pode voltar-se para ele mesmo com o intuito de jogar com as suas próprias possibilidades. A reflexão filosófica pode ser vista sob a perspectiva do lúdico uma vez que o pensamento está cheio de um jogo de ideias que suscita uma superação constante, um ir além, um querer ver até aonde pode levar. O homem vai fazendo experiências com o próprio modo de pensar. O esforço em experienciar outras (...) formas de pensar vai abrindo novas perspectivas naquele que se exercita ludicamente através do imenso campo do imaginário. Sendo a literatura um campo fértil ao exercício da imaginação, pois, este é um aspecto do literário em si mesmo, pode-se dizer que o exercício da imaginação dá uma dimensão especial ao texto lido, principalmente quando o aluno é instigado nesse processo a manifestar espontaneamente o produto da sua atividade imaginativa. Trata-se, então, de um relato de experiência a partir de uma intervenção feita no IFRN, com a Filosofia para alunos do Ensino Médio, utilizando a mediação da literatura sartriana. A literatura existencialista, enquanto gênero literário, na qual Sartre obteve grande destaque, teve o mérito de fazer com que o seu leitor pudesse pensar acerca dos problemas e angústias do cotidiano, bem como, tacitamente, o colocava diante de decisões éticas sobre as quais somente um indivíduo livre poderia se posicionar. Dentro dessa perspectiva, pensa-se que a leitura e o diálogo travado em torno do romance de Sartre, A Náusea, conseguiu estimular o imaginário dos alunos com um discurso compatível com a ideia de se veicularem conhecimentos filosóficos sem, contudo, banalizá-los. (shrink)

"Este livro apresenta a você, profissional ou estudante, a mais completa visão do papel da Ética nas Ciências Contábeis e sua contribuição para o correto desempenho social da atividade contábil. Totalmente revitalizada, esta nova edição baseia-se na promulgação mais recente do Código de Ética Profissional do Contador (CEPC) pelo Plenário do Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (CFC). Traz, também, as atualizações decorrentes da legislação profissional e da organização dos Conselhos de Contabilidade, procedidas pelo Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (CFC). Neste livro você (...) encontra os principais aspectos filosóficos da Ética, sua história, as diferentes correntes de pensamento, os princípios e as normas éticas e morais. E, ainda, a legislação profissional e a organização dos Conselhos de Contabilidade, discorrendo sobre as habilidades requeridas para o exercício da profissão, as particularidades desse mercado de trabalho e informações contábeis, inclusive aspectos relacionados à auditoria ¿ uma das mais importantes funções exercidas pelo profissional da Contabilidade. Para compreender as melhores e mais adequadas práticas relativas ao exercício de suas atividades profissionais (segundo a entidade de classe), os autores apresentam o CEPC na íntegra acompanhado de uma valiosa exposição analítica. Ao final de cada capítulo, há uma bateria de questões cuidadosamente elaboradas para auxiliar você a fixar os assuntos tratados no livro. Além disso, uma sequência de testes composta por questões que já foram objeto de provas de Exame de Sufi ciência, cuja resolução constitui um treinamento que permite ao estudante avaliar o grau de seus conhecimentos e se familiarizar com o perfil das provas do CFC. Você tem em mãos um verdadeiro manual para estudo, reflexão e fixação dos princípios e da legislação que regem a profissão do contador, imprescindível para a formação do pensamento crítico e para o bom exercício da cidadania, da justiça e dos valores. APLICAÇÃO: este livro é indicado para profissionais e estudantes do curso de Ciências Contábeis, nas disciplinas de Ética Geral e Profissional e História do Pensamento Econômico.". (shrink)

Experiences of contact with nature in school education might be beneficial for promoting ecological lifestyles and the wellbeing of children, families, and teachers. Many theories and empirical evidence on restorative environments, as well as on the foundations of classical pedagogical approaches, recognize the value of the direct experience with natural elements, and the related psychological and educational outcomes. In this work we present two studies focusing on the contact with nature in outdoor education interventions with primary and secondary school students (...) in Italy. A questionnaire measuring connectedness to nature, psycho-physical wellbeing, pro-environmental attitudes, students’ life satisfaction, pro-social behavior, empathy and anxiety was completed before and after the education program by the participants to the intervention group and by students of a control group. The students in the intervention groups participated in environmental education programs consisting in guided activities in contact with the nature during four visits in one of two natural protected areas. The students in the control groups attended the same schools as the intervention group but they were not involved in the environmental education program. The students in both the groups completed the questionnaire in the same weeks of the year. Findings show that taking part to the outdoor education program has positive outcomes on psycho-physical wellbeing, on connectedness to nature and on pro-social behavior of students in the intervention group, compared to the control group. The implications related to the effectiveness of outdoor education interventions and future directions of research and practice in environmental psychology and education are discussed. (shrink)

Neste ano comemoramos os cinquenta anos de abertura do Concílio Vaticano II. Este Concílio foi o grande incentivador dos ministérios leigos dentro da Igreja. Através de algumas de suas obras conciliares podemos identificar a missão dos leigos na prática de evangelização na Igreja e no mundo. A presença de uma teologia do laicato mais sistematizada com o Vaticano II influenciou sobremaneira as Conferências Episcopais Latino-Americanas. Na América Latina o protagonismo dos leigos vem ocupando destaque no processo de decisão da Igreja. (...) A presença dos leigos no seio da comunidade eclesial tem renovado a estrutura tradicional da Igreja. (shrink)

Desde a criação do Plano de Emergência em 1962, às vésperas do Concílio Vaticano II, a Igreja no Brasil tem trabalhado para preparar padres, religiosos e leigos para a renovação da própria Igreja. Com as novidades trazidas pelos documentos do Vaticano II e pelas conclusões das Assembleias das Conferências Episcopais Latino-Americanas, a Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil se abre para uma inserção mais significativa dos leigos na vida e na missão da Igreja. Esta participação ativa dos leigos se fará (...) presente em todos os documentos de ação pastoral da Igreja, passando pelos Planos da Pastoral de Conjunto, chegando até as Diretrizes Gerais da Ação Evangelizadora da Igreja no Brasil. (shrink)

This study intends to present, analyse and evaluate the fairly divergent interpretations elaborated by experts studying St. Thomas, from the 1930s onwards, with regard to his doctrine of analogy, particularly in the transcendental context of the question of God. With this purpose in mind, it proceeds in three stages. In the first place, we offer an inventory of the successive positions adopted by St. Thomas on this matter, from the Scriptum to the Summa theologiae. Secondly, we study the theories of (...) analogy of Maurilio Texeira-Leite Penido, Johann Baptist Metz and Cornelio Fabro, highlighting the very close link between these theories and the respective ontologies of these authors. In this way, we bring out the connection between the way each author understands the Thomasian esse and the way his thought reflects upon analogy. In the third place, we outline the development of the historiographical reconstructions of the problem which have emerged in the time from the end of the Second World War up to our own days. This brief reconstruction provides us with criteria of judgment to undertake a historical and a theoretical evaluation of the three positions investigated in the second part. (shrink)

During the nineteenth century the theatre building - and in particular the opera house - imposed itself as tangible proof of the civic progress of Western societies. As Mazzini theorised the “civilization of the multitudes” through the arts, the theatre became the place where this yearning could be pursued. The momentum of Italian theatre construction was impressive during the nineteenth century, both in the major centres and in the small provincial towns. Rome, from this point of view, represents a significant (...) exception. Until the end of the 19th century, the city, although equipped with important venues of the old regime, did not have an opera house conceived in contemporary terms. To fill the gap, for about a century and a half, designers from different backgrounds will work to equip the capital with an opera house worthy of its aspirations. Drawing on rare or little-known sources, produced among others by architects Pietro Sangiorgi, Antonio Lovatti, and Marcello Piacentini, the contribution reflects on the positioning of a large opera house in the urban layout of the capital. From the papal Rome and the liberal age, to the fascist period, the longed opera house tries to give new, contemporary meanings to a building that will come to stand out for its fascinating outdatedness. (shrink)