There are two different notions of seed at work in the Generation of Animals: seed as the spermatic residue, which concerns only the male and the female generative contributions, and seed as the kuêma and first mixture of the two generative contributions. The latter is a notion of seed common to plants and animals. The passage in GA I.18, 724b12–22 where Aristotle distinguishes between these two notions of seed has been mistakenly discredited as inauthentic or simply as irrelevant for understanding (...) the seeds of animals. On the other hand, recent studies have rather focused on the seed as spermatic residue, paying little attention to the notion of seed as kuêma. In this paper I defend the authenticity and relevance of this passage and show how understanding the notion of seed as kuêma is essential to have a complete picture of Aristotle’s account of seed. This common notion of seed makes sense of Aristotle’s otherwise puzzling use of the word “sperma” to designate the seeds of plants, the kuêma, the fertilized eggs, and the first mixture of the two generative contributions. It also proves helpful in determining what the word ‘sperma’ stands for in key passages, such as Metaph. IX.7. (shrink)

According to Aristotle’s homonymy principle, when we use a common name to refer to wholes and parts that lack the capacity to carry out the function signified by the name, we are using the name in a homonymous way. For example, pictures and statues of a man, or a dead eye, are called “man” and “eye” only homonymously because they cannot carry out their proper function, i.e., to live and to see. This principle serves well Aristotle’s purposes in natural philosophy, (...) for it avoids a reduction of the essence of living bodies and their parts to their material composition and shape. This principle, however, leaves unexplained why we still use those names in common language, despite their homonymy. Using Aristotle’s own comments on homonymy, I will examine the role played by external figure, for it explains why such homonyms are not accidental. In fact, they are correct forms of linguistic usage in non-philosophical contexts. (shrink)

Journal Name: Apeiron Issue: Ahead of print.

In this article, I present in a systematic way Aristotle’s understanding of movement (kinêsis) as efficient cause in the Generation of Animals. This aspect of movement is not disclosed in the approach to movement as an incomplete activity in contrast to energeia, which has been extensively discussed in the literature. I explain in which sense movement is the efficient cause of generation and how this movement is related to the other factors, in particular the source of movement, the seminal fluid, (...) pneuma, and the vital heat, as well as to the form and the soul. The role of movement as efficient cause of generation shows how, for Aristotle, form and soul are inseparable from matter and movement in nature. Explaining the role of movement as efficient cause of generation also helps to make sense of the multiplicity of factors involved in the efficient causality of generation. The key to articulating these factors with one another is the identity of form of the generative movement, which is specifically the same in the source, in the tools, and in the substance that is coming into being. (shrink)

The article attempts to examine Walter Benjamin’s relationship whit the academic institution. A significant fact of this situation is the one that occurs whith the attempt to achieve teaching qualification, and, as we know, it ends up being an unfavorable and unfortunate experience. However, we believe that from this scene, beyond the purely anecdotal, it encompasses a critical exercise with academia in general and, specifically, with normative forms of writing production to which it submits. Along with the above, an attempt (...) is made to explore Benjamin’s relationship with the university institution and the place that could correspond to it. (shrink)

This volume has 41 chapters written to honor the 100th birthday of Mario Bunge. It celebrates the work of this influential Argentine/Canadian physicist and philosopher. Contributions show the value of Bunge’s science-informed philosophy and his systematic approach to philosophical problems. The chapters explore the exceptionally wide spectrum of Bunge’s contributions to: metaphysics, methodology and philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of physics, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of social science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of technology, moral philosophy, social and political (...) philosophy, medical philosophy, and education. The contributors include scholars from 16 countries. Bunge combines ontological realism with epistemological fallibilism. He believes that science provides the best and most warranted knowledge of the natural and social world, and that such knowledge is the only sound basis for moral decision making and social and political reform. Bunge argues for the unity of knowledge. In his eyes, science and philosophy constitute a fruitful and necessary partnership. Readers will discover the wisdom of this approach and will gain insight into the utility of cross-disciplinary scholarship. This anthology will appeal to researchers, students, and teachers in philosophy of science, social science, and liberal education programmes. 1. Introduction Section I. An Academic Vocation Section II. Philosophy Section III. Physics and Philosophy of Physics Section IV. Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind Section V. Sociology and Social Theory Section VI. Ethics and Political Philosophy Section VII. Biology and Philosophy of Biology Section VIII. Mathematics Section IX. Education Section X. Varia Section XI. Bibliography. (shrink)

El propósito del presente artículo es estudiar la respuesta humana al don divino según el comentario de Tomás de Aquino y Martín Lutero a la Carta a los Romanos. Si bien ambos autores asumen una postura antipelagiana, la concepción tomista, al reconocer el valor positivo del orden creado, comprende con mayor hondura metafísica la acción justificadora y santificadora de Dios en la creatura humana. Por otra parte, la exégesis de Lutero, más existencial, es especialmente aguda e incisiva desde este punto (...) de vista. En ambos casos es posible deducir que el punto de partida de la exégesis no es una reflexión abstracta sino un diálogo personal y vital con el Apóstol. El artículo profundizará en los comentarios a Rm 5,5, pasaje central en el pensamiento de san Agustín, cuya influencia es patente tanto en la exégesis de Tomás de Aquino como en la de Martín Lutero. Para estos efectos se apoyará en las recientes reflexiones sobre la categoría de don con la que se analizará la gracia divina, pues ésta contribuye a poner de manifiesto la diferencia entre una visión extrínseca o forense de la justificación y santificación, en la que se acentúa la pasividad del cristiano ante el don inmerecido recibido (Lutero), y una salvación que trasforma al cristiano para que responda al amor de Dios desde el amor (Tomás de Aquino). (shrink)

Este texto tiene por objetivo mostrar algunas de las condiciones que facilitan o complican el acceso al derecho a la educación, así como la permanencia de la escuela para familias jornaleras agrícolas migrantes en los tiempos del SARS-CoV- 2, considerando que gran parte del proceso de aprendizaje recae sobre las propias familias. Se realiza un análisis desde la cultura y la gramática escolar, contemplando las características de la escuela para estas familias y las posibilidades que tienen de responder a las (...) condiciones derivadas del programa oficial mexicano “Aprende en casa”. Se realizó un estudio cualitativo de alcance descriptivo, con entrevistas a hombres y mujeres de estas familias, con relación al conocimiento que tienen acerca de la pandemia, sobre las condiciones para hacer posible el cuidado necesario para no contagiarse y la escolarización para niñas y niños; se retomó información sobre las características de las familias y sus dinámicas, derivadas de investigaciones anteriores. Se encontró que algunos jornaleros y sus familias tienen acceso a información, que asumen la consigna de cuidado en tanto posibilidades materiales; y que por lo que ellos y ellas conocen, son pocas las posibilidades de escolarización en esta época. Se concluye con la necesidad de generar estrategias colectivas y buscar el apoyo de empresarios, sociedad civil y autoridades educativas. (shrink)

Este artículo busca poner en diálogo la reflexión ética de Ignacio Ellacuría con la reflexión de filosofía ética y política actual, así como poner de manifiesto las virtualidades que su pensamiento crítico-realista posee. Comienza por un análisis personal del autor sobre el concepto de libertad que servirá de horizonte para situar las diversas reflexiones éticas y políticas, también la ética de la liberación ellacuriana.

Ignacio de Luzán escribió la poética española más influyente del siglo xviii, en un período en el que la ópera italiana ocupaba un lugar esencial en todas las cortes de Europa. Sin embargo, este género recibe un tratamiento marginal en su obra. Esto puede resultar sorprendente en un autor que no solo conoció las óperas realizadas en España durante los reinados de Felipe V y Fernando VI, sino que además fue un gran defensor de Metastasio como poeta, traduciendo algunos (...) de sus libretos por encargo de la corte. En este artículo analizamos el lugar del melodrama en su obra, mostrando la influencia recibida de las poéticas italianas, sobre todo de Crescimbeni, Gravina, Muratori y Maffei, que entendieron el género desde las ideas aristotélicas sobre la tragedia griega. Como veremos, la clave de su poética es la contraposición entre artes liberales y serviles, que le obliga a situar la música en un lugar inferior respecto a la poesía. (shrink)

Desde el pensamiento de Martín Heidegger nos preguntarnos por el sentido de la vida propiamente tal, que nos permita una comprensión amplia del mismo sin reducirlo a cuestiones formales tales como: el amor, el poder, el saber, la ciencia, la religión, el arte, la política, entre otros. Para ello, es preciso una aproximación hermenéutica a lo que Heidegger denomina Dasein , en cuanto éste se comprende en la ocupación y en la familiaridad con los entes que están -ahí en el (...) mundo, además de estar arrojados a su tener que ser. Lo que conlleva al Dasein a la apertura de posibilidades de su poder ser. Dejamos abierta la pregunta sobre el sentido y el ser, para seguir profundizando en este aspecto. (shrink)

Publicamos dos obras desconocidas de Ellacuria: "Comunicación y trabajo" y "El sentido de la historia". Ambos textos han permanecido inéditos porque su elaboración no había sido completada. Sin embargo, muestran dos aspectos de este pensamiento l filosófico es tan interesante que podría ser necesario para que los estudiosos les tengan en cuenta la importancia del trabajoy comunicación para la realidad personal y si la historia tiene un sentido o no y cuál podría ser este sentido.

El Repertorio bibliográfico sobre Martin Heidegger que se presenta a continuación, reúne la información obtenida de las más de 240 revistas de filosofía disponibles en la Hemeroteca de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. El Repertorio incluye referencias bibliográficas completas de los artículos, reseñas, estudios críticos, traducciones y otros documentos que abordan la obra del importante pensador alemán hasta el año 2010.

Although science is our most reliable producer of knowledge, it can also be used to create ignorance, unjustified doubt, and misinformation. In doing so, agnotological practices result not only in epistemic harms but also in social ones. A way to prevent or minimise such harms is to impede these ignorance-producing practices. In this paper, I explore various challenges to such a proposal. I first argue that reliably identifying agnotological practices in a way that permits the prevention of relevant harms is (...) more difficult than it might appear. I focus on an identifying criterion that many find apt for the task: bad faith motives. I then consider an objection—that reliable criteria are unnecessary to successfully address the concerns raised by agnotological strategies—and I show that it fails. I conclude by exploring other ways of conceptualising the problems attributed to agnotological practices. In particular, I challenge the focus on misinformation as the main problem of concern. (shrink)

Identidad y misión de la Universidad Católica - Constitución Apostólica ex corde eclesial sobre la Universidad Católica (extracto) Juan Pablo II - La Universidad latinoamericana hoy / Ignacio Martín Baró, S.J. / - El rol de las Universidades Católicas en la tarea de evangelizar las culturas en América Latina / César Jerez S.J. / - Generar cultura autónoma / Ignacio Martín Baró, S.J / - La enseñanza de cómo ser crítico / John Passmore / - El capitalismo del (...) saber / Iván Illich / - Ensayo sobre educación en América Latina / Ernesto Sábato / - Los retos de la conciencia moderna - Discurso sobre espíritu positivo / Augusto Comte / - En torno a la crítica de la filosofía del derecho de Hegel / Kart Marx / - Prólogo a la contribución a la crítica de la economía política (1859) / Kart Marx / - El neocapitalismo como caldo de cultivo / Carlos Díaz / - La defensa de la libertad / Josef Pieper / - Moral para intelectuales / Carlos Vaz Ferreira / - Desafíos de la globalización / Luis Ugalde S.J.... (shrink)

Este artículo intenta mostrar la intrínseca unión que se da entre experiencia de fe cristiana y promoción de los derechos humanos. El autor que se escoge como guía en este problema es Ignacio Ellacuría, como reconocimiento a su aportación a la reflexión sobre fe y justicia, cercano el 30 aniversario de su asesinato. El signo de los derechos humanos nos llama a ir transformando toda la realidad de la Iglesia. Tanto en su relación con el mundo, como en su (...) propia configuración interna. (shrink)

The argument from inductive risk has been embraced by many as a successful account of the role of values in science that challenges the value-free ideal. We argue that it is not obvious that the argument from inductive risk actually undermines the value-free ideal. This is because the inductive risk argument endorses an assumption held by proponents of the value-free ideal: that contextual values never play an appropriate role in determining evidence. We show that challenging the value-free ideal ultimately requires (...) rejecting this assumption. (shrink)

Philosophers of science, particularly those working on science and values, often talk about the need for science to be socially responsible. However, what this means is not clear. In this paper, we review the contributions of philosophers of science to the debate over socially responsible science and explore the dimensions that a fruitful account of socially responsible science should address. Our review shows that offering a comprehensive account is difficult. We contend that broad calls for socially responsible science that fail (...) to attend to relevant dimensions are not the solution, as they preclude meaningful changes to research institutions and practices. We conclude that narrower, more explicit accounts are more likely to lead to substantive transformation. (shrink)

A new reprogenetic technology, mitochondrial replacement, is making its appearance and, unsurprisingly given its promise to wash off our earthly stains --or at least the scourges of sexual reproduction--, John Harris finds only reasons to celebrate this new scientific feat.1 In fact, he finds mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs) so “unreservedly welcome” that he believes those who reject them suffer from “a large degree of desperation and not a little callousness.”2 Believing myself to be neither desperate nor callous, but finding myself (...) also no closer at all – not even after reading his article—to following Harris in welcoming these technologies wholeheartedly, it seems appropriate to respond. (shrink)

Because of the important benefits that biomedical research offers to humans, some have argued that people have a general moral obligation to participate in research. Although the defense of such a putative moral duty has raised controversy, few scholars, on either side of the debate, have attended to the social context in which research takes place and where such an obligation will be discharged. By reflecting on the social context in which a presumed duty to participate in research will obtain, (...) this article shows that decontextualized discussions of this putative moral obligation are problematic. (shrink)

Many have argued that allowing and encouraging public avenues for dissent and critical evaluation of scientific research is a necessary condition for promoting the objectivity of scientific communities and advancing scientific knowledge . The history of science reveals many cases where an existing scientific consensus was later shown to be wrong . Dissent plays a crucial role in uncovering potential problems and limitations of consensus views. Thus, many have argued that scientific communities ought to increase opportunities for dissenting views to (...) be heard and taken seriously. Such opportunities are necessary for both limiting the influence .. (shrink)

Recently, some have proposed moral bioenhancement as a solution to the serious moral evils that humans face. Seemingly disillusioned with traditional methods of moral education, proponents of bioenhancement believe that we should pursue and apply biotechnological means to morally enhance human beings. Such proposal has generated a lively debate about the permissibility of moral bioenhancement. We argue here that such debate is specious. The claim that moral bioenhancement is a solution - whether permissible or not - to the serious moral (...) problems that affect human beings is based on several problematic framing assumptions. We evaluate here three of such assumptions: the first rests on a contested understanding of morality, the second consist in a mistaken conception of human moral problems, and the third relates to problematic presuppositions grounding the interpretation of existent scientific evidence presented to defend moral bioenhancement. Once these framing assumptions are identified and critically evaluated, it becomes clear that the moral bioenhancement debate is misguided. (shrink)

Although surprising to some proponents of sex selection for non-medical reasons (Dahl 2005), a considerable amount of critical debate has been raised by this practice (Blyth, Frith, and Crawshaw 2008; Dawson and Trounson 1996; Dickens 2002; Harris 2005; Heyd 2003; Holm 2004; Macklin 2010; Malpani 2002; McDougall 2005; Purdy 2007; Seavilleklein and Sherwin 2007; Steinbock 2002; Strange and Chadwick 2010; Wilkinson 2008). While abortion or infanticide has long been used as means of sex selection, a new technology—preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)—has (...) become a highly efficient, and arguably less controversial, way of ensuring the birth of a child of a particular sex. PGD, used in combination with in vitro .. (shrink)

Hastings Center Report, Volume 52, Issue 5, Page 3-3, September–October 2022.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced recently that food products derived from some animal clones and their offspring are safe for human consumption. In response to criticism that it had failed to engage with ethical, social, and economic concerns raised by livestock cloning, the FDA argued that addressing normative issues prior to issuing a final ruling on animal cloning is not part of its mission. In this article, the authors reject the FDA's claim that its mission to protect (...) and advance public health can be accomplished without considering ethical issues or without making value judgments. The authors offer two arguments in support of their position. First, the agency's mission statement presupposes significant normative commitments and judgments. Second, the FDA's risk assessment of food products from cloned animals and their offspring is itself clearly shaped by a variety of normative commitments. (shrink)

Despite increasing recognition of the ways in which ethical and social values play a role in science (Kitcher 2001; Longino 1990, 2002), scientists are often still reluctant to acknowledge or discuss ethical and social values at stake in their research. Even when research is closely connected to developing public policy, it is generally held that it should be empirical data, and not the values of scientists, that inform policy. According to this view, scientists need not, and should not, endorse non-epistemic (...) values related to their research, as doing so may bias their assessment of what the evidence is. As a result, debates over science-based policy tend to be construed solely as empirical discussions to be .. (shrink)

Discussions about whether new biomedical technologies threaten or violate human dignity are now common. Indeed, appeals to human dignity have played a central role in national and international debates about whether to allow particular kinds of biomedical investigations. The focus of this paper is on chimera research. I argue here that both those who claim that particular types of human-nonhuman chimera research threaten human dignity and those who argue that such threat does not exist fail to make their case. I (...) first introduce some of the arguments that have been offered supporting the claim that the creation of certain sorts of chimeras threatens or violates human dignity. I next present opponents' assessments of such arguments. Finally I critically analyze both the critics' and the supporters' claims about whether chimera research threatens human dignity. (shrink)

The use of genome embryo editing tools in reproduction is often touted as a way to ensure the birth of healthy and genetically related children. Many would agree that this is a worthy goal. The purpose of this paper is to argue that, if we are concerned with justice, accepting such goal as morally appropriate commits one to rejecting the development of embryo editing for reproductive purposes. This is so because safer and more effective means exist that can allow many (...) more prospective parents to achieve the same valued goal and that offer additional benefits. (shrink)

A growing number of jurisdictions hold that gamete donors must be identifiable to the children born with their eggs or sperm, on grounds that being able to know about one's genetic origins is a fundamental moral right. But the argument for that belief has not yet been adequately made.

It is argued here that bioethicists might inadvertently be promoting genetic determinism: the idea that genes alone determine human traits and behaviours. Discussions about genetic testing are used to exemplify how they might be doing so. Quite often bioethicists use clinical cases to support particular moral obligations or rights as if these cases were representative of the kind of information we can acquire about human diseases through genetic testing, when they are not. On other occasions, the clinical cases are presented (...) in simplistic ways that portray genetic testing as yielding information more accurate than it actually is. It is concluded that, because of the problematic implications that the ideology of genetic determinism might have for individuals’ wellbeing and for our public policies, bioethicists should be careful to present these issues in ways that do not promote questionable ideas about the causal role of genes in human diseases and behaviours. (shrink)