Since Mill's seminal work On Liberty, philosophers and political theorists have accepted that we should respect the decisions of individual agents when those decisions affect no one other than themselves. Indeed, to respect autonomy is often understood to be the chief way to bear witness to the intrinsic value of persons. In this book, Sarah Conly rejects the idea of autonomy as inviolable. Drawing on sources from behavioural economics and social psychology, she argues that we are so often irrational in (...) making our decisions that our autonomous choices often undercut the achievement of our own goals. Thus in many cases it would advance our goals more effectively if government were to prevent us from acting in accordance with our decisions. Her argument challenges widely held views of moral agency, democratic values and the public/private distinction, and will interest readers in ethics, political philosophy, political theory and philosophy of law. (shrink)

A compelling argument for the morality of limitations on procreation in lessening the harmful environmental effects of unchecked populationWe live in a world where a burgeoning global population has started to have a major and destructive environmental impact. The results, including climate change and the struggle for limited resources, appear to be inevitable aspects of a difficult future. Mandatory population control might be a possible last resort to combat this problem, but is also a potentially immoral and undesirable violation of (...) human rights. Since so many view procreation as an essential component of the right to personal happiness and autonomy, the dominant view remains that the government does not have the right to impose these restrictions on its own citizens, for the sake of future people who have yet to exist.Sarah Conly is first to make the contentious argument that not only is it wrong to have more than one child in the face of such concerns, we do not even retain the right to do so. In One Child, Conly argues that autonomy and personal rights are not unlimited, especially if one's body may cause harm to anyone, and that the government has a moral obligation to protect both current and future citizens. Conly gives readers a thought-provoking and accessible exposure to the problem of population growth and develops a credible view of what our moral obligations really are, to generations present and future. (shrink)

In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, the innocent Tess is the object of Alec d’Urberville’s dishonorable intentions. Alec uses every wile he can think of to seduce the poor and ignorant Tess, who works keeping hens in his mother’s house: he flatters her, he impresses her with a show of wealth, he gives help to her family to win her gratitude, and he reacts with irritation and indignation when she nonetheless continues to repulse his advances, causing her to feel shame at (...) her own ingratitude and confusion as to what is right. Tess, anchored both by her own sense of virtue and her distrust of Alec’s character, continues to hold out until one fatal night when, through Alec’s machinations, they are lost together in a wood. At Tess’s insistence Alec leaves her to scout out the path home. When he returns, he finds her asleep under a tree. Hardy does not go into detail at this critical juncture. Rather, he reflects “why it was that upon this beautiful feminine tissue, sensitive as gossamer, and practically blank as snow as yet, there should have been traced such a coarse pattern as it was doomed to receive; why so often the coarse appropriates the finer thus, the wrong man the woman, the wrong woman the man, many thousand years of analytical philosophy have failed to explain to our sense of order.”. (shrink)

O artigo apresenta uma analise a partir da renovação eclesiológica do Vaticano II, em seguida apresenta a pneumatologia como origem desta renovação. A comunhão na Igreja só será possível através do Espírito Santo.

This is a really good book. Brettschneider’s When the State Speaks is both provocative and persuasive, resolving a stubborn conflict within democratic theory in a way many will initially reject, but which he argues for so effectively that, by the end, the controversial appears the commonsensical.The problem Brettschneider addresses is one with which we are all familiar. In democracies we believe in the right to free speech. We believe that this right is implied by the underlying principles of democracy, and (...) believe that the exercise of this right is essential for democracy to function. We are presented with a conflict when some people use their right to free speech to advocate values that are contradictory to democracy: to argue that not everyone should be allowed to speak, to argue that not all citizens are equal, to argue that some people should be discriminated against for reasons of race, religion, sex, or other distinctions that, in a democracy, we hold to be irrelevant. The probl. (shrink)

Critics have argued that utilitarians, by the very nature of the system they endorse, cannot maintain their integrity; and that they cannot, in the end, be individuals of the sort human beings want to be. In my dissertation I explore this criticism and argue that utilitarianism need not endanger integrity, that it need not undercut autonomy, and that it need not deny individuality of any sort. ;Bernard Williams is the major proponent of this criticism. Williams argues that a utilitarian cannot (...) maintain the commitment to projects and principles which is necessary for a person to be an individual. He cannot have what Williams calls "ground projects," projects which are so central to him that they are what give point to his life. The reasons Williams gives for this are varied, and the connections between his various criticisms are not always clear. In the thesis I first analyze the arguments Williams uses against utilitarianism. I show that Williams' arguments that a utilitarian cannot have ground projects depends on a false assumption about the emotional attachment required for a person to be committed to his projects in a way that individuates. I argue that Williams demands an emotional attachment that blinds one to rational consideration, in a way that we will find unacceptable. ;Williams offers an account of individuality which claims that utilitarianism does not allow the proper sort of emotional attachment to projects because it is too necessarily rational a system. W. D. Falk, on the contrary, offers a theory which if correct will show utilitarianism to be an insufficiently rational system. Falk argues that any moral system which declares that there are universal moral rules by which all people's behavior should be regulated undercuts the autonomy of the agents to whom it dictates. If one is to be autonomous, one must do only what one has reason to do. An agent has reason to do something only if he would be motivated to do it upon reflection. If utilitarianism does not motivate some particular agent, that agent, in order to preserve rationality and autonomy, ought not to follow utilitarianism. ;In response to these criticisms I suggest a more plausible notion of individuality which requires neither irrational emotional attachment nor Falk's subjective standard of rational choice. I then advocate a modified form of utilitarianism which does not pose the dangers to individuality which traditional forms of utilitarianism may. In this version, we broaden the notion of utility so that our evaluative beliefs are of special importance in our determination of what things have utility. When utility-maximization is construed in this way it does not pose special dangers for individuality. (shrink)

El artículo tiene por objeto analizar la construcción del conocimiento mapuche según el discurso de kimches. Sostenemos que en la educación familiar existe un proceso de construcción de conocimientos propios como un sistema de saberes y contenidos educativos para la formación de personas. La metodología empleada es la investigación educativa. Los resultados parciales muestran una descripción acerca de la lógica de los conocimientos educativos propios, para contextualizar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de las ciencias en el medio escolar, desde la (...) educación intercultural en contexto mapuche. The aim of this article is to analyze the construction of Mapuche knowledge based on the kimches speech. We argue that within family education, there exists a process of constructing their own knowledge, as a system of knowledge and educational contents for forming individuals. The research methodology applied corresponds to education research. Preliminary results describe the logic of individual educational knowledge from intercultural education in the Mapuche context, so as to contextualize the teaching and learning of Science in schools. (shrink)

The debate concerning the so-called U.S. Health and Human Services Contraception Mandate has been adequately framed, in the academic field, within the traditional ethical doctrine on cooperation with evil. This principle will allow us to conclude whether employers may ethically comply with the onerous existing law or not. The discussion has been quite heated, because the practical conclusions authors have reached vary widely, depending on which interpretation of the theory they rely on. In this paper, some of these explanations are (...) addressed and analyzed from the standpoint of the Thomistic theory of action, which is now the most common point of view. This work concludes that, although the Contraception Mandate will most likely be repealed by the current U.S. administration, as things once stood, compliance with it may have been ethically licit in some cases. (shrink)

This paper focuses in the panorama and diagnosis that Frochaux outlines in his text L’homme Seul about culture and civilization as distancing of man with respect to nature. Such idea is resumed in his theses “The history is biology engrafted on the geographical.” For the author one of the several consequences of this situation is that such distancing was consolidated and arts were stagnated, just as the progress made profane all the reality and all mystery and holiness vanished from it. (...) The canon disappeared. Reality was divided between the sacred and the profane; profane was all that was conquered by man, sacred all unconquered by man. So history could be perceived as the permanent struggle between sacred and profane. The distancing is promoted by society’s eagerness for material development. Linked with it, progress has generated in us some guilt. Progress implies guilt, as a fatality. For man, distancing from the animal world where was created, is the price that should be paid for becoming the man of today, erected as the centre of all creation. But one could ask watching the ways of the current world: ¿Was not such that was lost more valuable that such that was won? ¿Was that rupture and distancing from the natural and animal world worthy of the society we now have? This betrayal of man to both nature and animals creates him a permanent guilt, guilt that do not disappears despite the progress achieved by him. This guilt is the original guilt. Seeking putting himself above the natural and animal world man believes he is superior. But man has only refined the animal skills and has used them for the destruction of nature and the animal world. All that is animal is extremely multiplied when transformed into human. Man is a synthesis of a little bit of all animals. But no animal species makes war among its own members as man do. Frochaux faces history, economics and arts with all these theses, leaving on us a strong feeling of scepticism. (shrink)

This research addresses a lack of evidence on the positive and negative health outcomes of competitive online gaming and esports, particularly among young people and adolescents. Well-being outcomes, along with mitigation strategies were measured through a cross sectional survey of Australian gamers and non-gamers aged between 12 and 24 years, and parents of the 12–17-year-olds surveyed. Adverse health consequences were associated with heavy gaming, more so than light/casual gaming, suggesting that interventions that target moderated engagement could be effective. It provides (...) timely insights in an online gaming landscape that has rapidly evolved over the past decade, and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, to include the hyper-connected, highly commercialized and rapidly growing online gaming and esports sector. (shrink)

The dual-process model of cognition but most especially its reflective component, system 2 processing, shows strong conceptual links with critical thinking. In fact, the salient characteristics of system 2 processing are so strikingly close to that of critical thinking, that it is tempting to claim that critical thinking is system 2 processing, no more and no less. In this article, I consider the two sides of that claim: Does critical thinking always require system 2 processing? And does system 2 processing (...) always result in critical thinking? I argue that it is plausible and helpful to consider that critical thinking requires system 2 processing. In particular, this assumption can provide interesting insights and benchmarks for critical thinking education. On the other hand, I show that system 2 processing can result in a range of outcomes which are either contradictory with critical thinking, or of debatable social desirability—which suggests that there is more to critical thinking than mere system 2 processing, and more to system 2 processing than just critical thinking. (shrink)

RESUMENSe asume normalmente que, en las conversaciones ordinarias, los hablantes evitan los significados múltiplesy que los oyentes desambiguan automáticamente las proferencias en función del contexto. En contraste, nosotros queremos hacer ver que la gente explota activamente la polisemia en la conversación a fin de establecer y consolidar los lazos sociales entre los hablantes. y esto también consolida a la larga, el sistema compartido de significados. nuestra investigación sobre el uso pragmático de la polisemia constrasta con la investigación tradicional sobre la (...) polisemia, que se ha centrado en oraciones artificiales tomadas fuera de contexto. En vez de estudira esta "polisemia muerta", nosotros queremos estudiar la "polisemia viva", y en la medida en que es creada y explotada en la integración lingüística. PALABRAS CLAVEAMBIGÜEDAD-CHISTE-METÁFORA-POLISEMIAABSTRACTIt is normally asumed that in ordinary discourse speakers avoid multiple meanings and hearesrs disambiguate utterances automatically in context. We want to show by contrast that people actively exploit polysemy in conversation so as to establish and strengthen social bonds between speakers. In the long run this also streghens the shared system of meanings. our research into the pragmatic use o polysemy contrast with traditional research into polysemy wich has focused on artificial sentences taken out of context. instead of studying this "dead polisemy" we want to study "live polysemy", as it is created and exploited in linguistic interactionKEYWORDSAMBIGUITY-JOKE-METHAPHOR-POLYSEMY. (shrink)

This paper inquires into the nature and causes of credulous belief and proposes a way of making negative evidence more salient to believers so that they are less likely to fall into the habit of credulous believing. Contrasting the work of Richard Swinburne with recent work in cognitive psychology, the author argues that for the “strong credulity hypothesis”, namely that our comprehension of testimony is closely linked to an initial (albeit temporary) acceptance of what speakers claim. That is, we are (...) literally “set up” to believe irrespective of whether the belief in question is reasonable. In order to “neutralize” the effect of initial credulity, the author describes a pro/con procedure (suitable for a number of classes, e.g. critical thinking) that allows for the systematic analysis of beliefs and testimony. (shrink)

Physicist Alan Sokal achieved a moment of fame by announcing that he had succeeded in publishing an article in the cultural studies journal Social Text, which was 'sprinkled with nonsense' about developments in quantum gravity physics that supposedly converge with post- modernist themes. Sokal announced his hoax in an article in the liter ary magazine Lingua Franca. This touched off an intense flurry of commentary. Many commentators praised Sokal for exposing shoddy editorial standards in the cultural studies field, while others (...) denounced him for committing scientific fraud. With few exceptions, both Sokal's celebrants and detractors accepted his claim that he did not believe what he said in the Social Text article. Under the circumstances, it is puzzling that they took seriously what he said in Lingua Franca, and did not con sider that he was once again 'successfully pretending to be himself'. In this paper, I suggest that the Lingua Franca article also achieved a parody, and that those who took Sokal seriously were once again taken in by the voice of scientific authority. (shrink)

A semejanza de nuestras modernas urbes, la Atenas del siglo V a. C. era una ciudad multicultural. Convivían en ella gentes de procedencias diversas, de distintas razas y lenguas, que profesaban cultos dispares. Este es, según lo expone Norbert Bilbeny, un dato fundamental para entender la filosofia de Sócrates, basada en el ejercicio sistemático, en la plaza pública, del diálogo y del disenso. Y es, al mismo tiempo, uno de los factores que explican la vigencia, al cabo de tantos siglos, (...) de un pensamiento que inquiere sobre las prácticas del hombre como ser moral. El presente ensayo dibuja con claridad las líneas maestras de una aventura intelectual que empieza en el autoconocimiento y desemboca en la política: la aventura de Sócrates, cuyas enseñanzas mantienen plena validez en el mundo de hoy. (shrink)

The article considers the configuration of the ordained minister with Christ, starting first from the Old Testament figures that St. Augustine highlights as well as the theological consequences that he draws from these figures in relation to the priesthood. Subsequently, the article addresses the internal and external configuration that the ordained minister must have with Christ, the only Priest. In relation to the internal configuration, the importance of prayer and the configuration of the ordained minister with the feelings of Christ (...) are highlighted, so that he can become an instrument of God’s mercy. The configuration of the ordained minister to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is also discussed, as well as the patience and trust that every ordained minister must have in God. The external elements of the configuration of the ordained minister to Christ are also highlighted, starting from the lifestyle of Christ, dedicated only to the proclamation of the kingdom, the importance of the mission and the joy in the exercise of the pastoral ministry. (shrink)

William Ockham and John Wyclif develop strikingly different accounts of the Eucharist in the light of strikingly different metaphysical assumptions. Ockham assumes that God can create or annihilate any other actual being without creating or destroying anything not a part of it and so that God can annihilate a substance while preserving its real accidents. Wyclif supposes that to annihilate a being is to annihilate not only its accidents but everything in its Porphyrian tree. Ockham takes being to be univocal, (...) Wyclif allows that there might be distinct ways of being. Both attempt to negotiate difficult terrain between their metaphysics and the theological orthodoxy of their time but with quite different results. While Ockham admits that consubstantiation (the co-presence of the bread and wine and the body and blood of Christ) is the most rationally defensible of the alternative accounts of the Eucharist available to him, he strives to develop an account both consistent with his metaphysics and with a plausible understanding of transubstantiation. Wyclif begins with a similar project but in the end concludes that consubstantiation is the best account of the Eucharist. (shrink)

Balancing the pros and cons of two options is undoubtedly a very appealing decision procedure, but one that has received scarce scientific attention so far, either formally or empirically. We describe a formal framework for pros and cons decisions, where the arguments under consideration can be of varying importance, but whose importance cannot be precisely quantified. We then define eight heuristics for balancing these pros and cons, and compare the predictions of these to the choices made by 62 human participants (...) on a selection of 33 situations. The Levelwise Tallying heuristic clearly emerges as a winner in this competition. Further refinements of this heuristic are considered in the discussion, as well as its relation to Take the Best and Cumulative Prospect Theory. (shrink)

Riassunto: La fenomenologia, in virtù del suo stesso nome, pare rivendicare un diritto di prelazione sui fenomeni. È sufficiente, tuttavia, uno sguardo panoramico sulla storia della filosofia o, più generalmente, delle scienze per rilevare il vasto impiego che si va affermando, senza fenomenologia, del concetto di fenomeno. In cosa consisterebbe allora la specificità della comprensione fenomenologica dei “fenomeni”? Per rispondere a questa domanda, riconsidereremo il dibattito tra Edmund Husserl autore delle Logische Untersuchungen e Paul Natorp, filosofo neokantiano di Marburgo, le (...) cui tesi presentano un duplice interesse: l’avere, per un verso, sollecitato lo stesso Husserl a una precisazione della proposta fenomenologica; l’aver, per l’altro, anticipato alcuni tra gli argomenti di maggior rilievo nell’ambito delle scienze cognitive in merito ai vari tentativi di naturalizzazione della coscienza. Parole chiave: Fenomeno; Intenzionalità; Oggetto; Edmund Husserl; Paul Natorp Phenomena With or Without Phenomenology. An Open Dialogue: Phenomenology, by its very name, seems to invoke a priority claim on the study of phenomena. Yet a glance at the history of philosophy or, more generally, the sciences, suffices to demonstrate how widely the concept of “phenomena” has been used outside phenomenology. So, what exactly is unique to the phenomenological understanding of phenomena? In order to formulate a possible answer, we reactivate the debate between the Husserl of the Logische Untersuchungen and Paul Natorp, a neo-Kantian philosopher from Marburg. This debate is of interest on two fronts: first, because Natorp’s criticism directly forced Husserl to clarify his views on phenomenology; second, because the debate anticipated some of the most important arguments on naturalizing consciousness in the cognitive sciences. Keywords: Phenomenon; Intentionality; Object; Edmund Husserl; Paul Natorp. (shrink)

Resumen: Husserl propone una teoría sobre la intersubjetividad que parte de la conciencia trascendental como inserta en el mundo de la vida donde están los otros y donde la comunidad se construye bajo una estructura de esencias que garantiza la comunalidad. El mundo de la vida es dado y compartido por todas las conciencias intencionales y trascendentales, es condición para intuiciones empíricas y eidéticas, la epoché y las reducciones eidética y trascendental. Cada momento del método fenomenológico se basa en la (...) existencia de un mundo de la vida independiente de la subjetividad. En este mundo, hay objetos reales y, entre estos, los otros, reconocidos por analogía a través de la empatía. Desde una perspectiva metodológico-epistemológico, el yo es anterior al mundo y a los otros yos. El yo constituye, en sentido fenomenológico, la realidad. La conciencia es el lugar de evidenciación de la realidad. No obstante, en la perspectiva ontológica, es lo contrario. El mundo de la vida es anterior a la conciencia individual. El mundo de la vida está ahí, disponible, existente, independiente del sujeto, funcionando con su propio orden, con sus leyes y reglas. Es el yo el que esta insertado en el mundo de la vida y que se esfuerza por desvendarlo. La realidad se impone y el yo es, sobre todo, miembro de una comunidad de otros yos. Aun así, ¿cómo compartir las experiencias? Las vivencias pueden ser diferentes, pero hay un límite en las variaciones, un límite dado por la esencia del objeto vivido y por las leyes que rigen las relaciones de tal objeto. Así, la constitución del mundo y de sus objetos está permanentemente en progreso. Es posible donarles nuevos sentidos, en los límites de su esencia. Para Husserl, la constitución comunal del mundo es la condición de posibilidad para la existencia de sujetos separados unos de los otros, y este entendimiento recíproco solo es posible a través de la constitución trascendental de la objetividad. Así, no hay una separación entre la intersubjetividad y la constitución del mundo, es la comunidad de yos la que dona sentidos a las objetividades. En el mundo de la vida con los otros en comunidad. -/- Abstract: Husserl proposes a theory on intersubjectivity that starts from transcendental consciousness as inserted in the lifeworld where the others and where the community are built under a structure of essences that guarantees communality. The lifeworld is given and shared by all intentional and transcendental consciousnesses, it is a condition for empirical and eidetic intuitions, the epoché and the eidetic and transcendental reductions. Every moment of the phenomenological method is based on the existence of a lifeworld independent of subjectivity. In this world, there are real objects and, among these, the others, recognized by analogy through empathy. From a methodologicalepistemological perspective, the self is prior to the world and the other selves. The self constitutes, in a phenomenological sense, reality. Consciousness is the locus of evidence of reality. However, from the ontological perspective, it is the opposite. The lifeworld is prior to individual consciousness. The lifeworld is there, available, existing, independent of subjectivity, functioning with its own order, with its laws and rules. It is the self that is inserted in the lifeworld and that strives to unveil it. Reality prevails and the self is, above all, a member of a community of other selves. Even so, how to share the experiences? The experiences can be different, but there is a limit in variations, a limit given by the essence of the lived object and by the laws that govern the relation of the object. Thus, the constitution of the world and its objects is permanently in progress. It is possible to give them new meanings, within the limits of their essence. For Husserl, the communal constitution of the world is the condition of possibility for the existence of subjects separated from each other, and this reciprocal understanding is only possible through the transcendental constitution of objectivity. therefore, there is no separation between intersubjectivity and the constitution of the world, it is the community of selves that gives meaning to objectivities. (shrink)

Recognize the “philo- sophia ” as such, this side of Postmodernism, means, starting from the surprising studies of Heribert Boeder, see it as a thought epochally built on a Wisdom, that is, on a initial Knowledge about the Destiny of Man. For the philo-sophical thought of the so-called “German Idealism”, that Wisdom is neither that of the Muses, as in the First epoch, neither the “Christian sapientia”, as in the Middle epoch, but the “Civil Consciousness” about Duty and Freedom.

Philosophical Dilemmas: A Pro and Con Introduction to the Major Questions and Philosophers, Fourth Edition, outlines the classic arguments made by philosophers through the ages. It features sixty-three brief topical essays by author Phil Washburn organized around thirty-one fundamental philosophical questions like "Does God exist?" "Is morality relative?" and "Are we free?" Each essay takes a definite stand and promotes it vigorously, creating a sharp contrast between the two positions and giving each abstract theory a more personal and believable "voice." (...) The accessible writing style and conflicting answers encourage students to examine the different positions and to think carefully about which essay makes the stronger case. This fourth edition, a major revision, now enriches the discussion of each philosophical question by adding fifty-four brief essays--two in each chapter--on great philosophers who held conflicting viewpoints on the issues covered. Additionally, the chapters have been rearranged so that these essays and the philosophers discussed appear in approximate chronological order, from Plato and Protagoras to Wittgenstein and Searle. The text is enhanced by numerous pedagogical features including an introduction to each issue, key terms, chapter summaries, study questions after each essay, chronologies, a glossary, and an appendix on how to write an essay. A Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/washburn contains online sources and self-test questions for students and numerous instructor resources: introductions to the issues; summaries of the topical essays; summary points, PowerPoint-based slides, and test questions for the historical essays; answers to the critical questions that follow each essay; test questions on the topical essays; suggestions for class discussions; and a list of online resources. (shrink)

Este artículo trata acerca del compromiso político de los autores de la Teoría crítica. Muchas veces se les ha reclamado (todavía sucede en las discusiones presentes) no haber sido más cercanos a algún grupo político, a algún gobierno de izquierda, algún partido o sindicato. En el contexto de esa crítica, esbozo estas reflexiones para demostrar que su compromiso con la emancipación humana sólo pudo ser tan incondicional por la distancia que mantuvieron con las organizaciones de izquierda existentes en su tiempo.

In his philosophical works, Cicero rationally considers death to be either the end of man or the passage of the soul to a better state. Though he sentimentally fells closer to the latter idea. The Consolatio takes a special position, in that it unconditionally accepts the immortality of the soul and eternal retribution, the alternative now concerning rewards and punishments. He seems to consider his daughter's survival as depending from his efforts to this effect, and does not appear to expect (...) a reunion with her after his own death. In the Divine Comedy Dante takes advantage of Cicero's Somnium Scipionis to describe his view of the universe from the Heaven of Fixed Stars, and in his Convivio uses the De amicitia and specially the De senectute in order to prove the immortality of the soul. To do so, he presents as the absolute truth the arguments employed by Cicero to illustrate the positive side of the Socratic alternative. (shrink)

The theory of evolution has beenused in arguments regarding animalexperimentation. Two such arguments areanalyzed, one against and one in favor. Eachargument stresses the relevance of the theoryof evolution to normative ethics but attemptsexplicitly to avoid the so-called naturalisticfallacy.According to the argument against animalexperimentation, the theory of evolution`undermines' the idea of a special humandignity and supports `moral individualism'. Thelatter view implies that if it is wrong to usehumans in experiments, then it is also wrong touse animals, unless there are relevantdifferences between (...) them that justify adifference in treatment. No such differencescan be found with regard to animals which lead`biographical lives'.The argument in favor of animal experimentationis based on evolutionary psychology. It statesthat humans, as all social animals, arespeciesist by nature and stresses that thisshould be taken seriously in normative ethics.This does not mean that animal interests shouldnot be considered, only that vital humaninterests may outweigh them.In order to assess the arguments, one has totake a stand on certain more basic issues: `is'versus `ought', impartiality versus specialobligations, and feelings/intuitions versusreason. Given the author's own position withregard to these more basic considerations, theevolutionary argument in favor of animalexperimentation is judged to be more convincingthan the one against but not decisive. It isalso maintained that not all animal experimentsare acceptable. Which animal experiments areacceptable and which are not has to be decidedon a case-by-case basis. (shrink)

This work deals with the discussion about the characterization of the emotions that maintain the so called "cognitive current" and "perceptive current". These have been canonically conceived as incompatible ways of accounting for the same phenomenon: the basic emotions. In this paper I intend to examine the disagreement between these opposing approaches, seeking to clarify the scope of this disagreement, and to elucidate the key concepts on this discussion. The article reviews the structure that is detailed below. Each of the (...) positions in question is presented first. To this end, both philosophy and psychology have been considered: R. Solomon and R. Lazarus (cognitive perspective) and W. James and R. Zajonc (perceptive perspective). In this section (The approaches in dispute) I will try to offer a conceptual reconstruction of each of the positions, establishing the fundamental theses of each of them, to be examined in depth in the next section (Cognition and perception) in order to show that the disagreement itself and the difficulties that emerge from it, to provide an adequate characterization of the phenomenon, that can be overcome or at least, must be reconceptualized. In this sense, I will offer two ways in which this reconceptualization can be given: in a dissolute sense, by showing that the discrepancy between the two perspectives are based on false dichotomies, turning the discussion into a terminological disagreement. Second, I will outline a mode of resolution in the proper sense along with consideration. (The meaning of "emotion": are there unconscious emotions?). (shrink)

In “The Political Dilemmas of Mexico’s Transformations: A Philosophical Approach”, Virginia Aspe explores the character of political transformations in Mexico addressing the following questions: a) What does the notion “political transformation of Mexico” entail? b) What are the philosophical arguments behind the three political transformations that Mexico has experienced since the 19th century? c) What are the political arguments with which the so-called “fourth political transformation” of Mexico is being promoted? Our article offers a series of arguments to begin a (...) conversation on some of the most salient contentions of professor Aspe regarding the phenomenon of political transformation lato sensu and the political transformations that Mexico has undergone, asking ourselves, specifically, if the rise of Obradorism to power can really be incorporated into that theoretical field with which Mexcan political history has been articulated. (shrink)

San Pedro de Alcántara destaca por su vida de profundización en la vida contemplativa y mística. Un ejemplo palpable de esta actitud la encontramos su Tratado de Oración y Meditación. En esta reflexión realizamos una lectura filosófica de un párrafo de la meditación del primar día de esta obra alcantarina. Desde la antropología existencial, el autor del Tratado nos invita a la contemplación de uno mismo, para llegar a la trascendencia y la alteridad que deja su huella en lo más (...) profundo del ser personal. Saint Pedro of Alcántara stands out for his enthusiasm for a comtemplative and mystical life. A very good instance of his disposition towards this can be found in his “Tratado de Oración y Meditación”. In this reflection we can interpret philosophically a paragraph from this particular work, which deals with meditation on the first day, that is to say, on Monday. By means of existential anthropology, the author invites us to look thoroughly into ourselves so that we can reach a transcendental state which will mark our inner self. (shrink)

In the article, we carry out a theoretical reflection on the contributions of Paulo Freire's pedagogy. Given the diversity of themes that Freire covers, we make a first approach to his pedagogical-political thought and for this we do it through a brief biographical journey through the main life stages of the author. The great Brazilian educator was a person who had a special concern for the other, for denouncing injustices and for showing us that human beings have in our hands (...) the possibilities of change and transformation. In order to address all these questions, according to Freire, it is necessary to do so from a critical reading of the world in which we live. To delve deeper and understand essential aspects of his life and also of his work, we do so with people close to the author who have had the opportunity to live and work with him and know, in depth, his pedagogical legacy. As a result of this journey through his pedagogical work, we offer some reflections that invite us to look at the validity and timeliness of his approaches. Freire's pedagogy proposes a critical reading of the world that does not generate hopelessness, but rather allows us to see the resistance, the ways to get ahead, the construction of the new, the permanent possibilities that human beings have to rebuild our lives. Freire spoke of hope as an inherent issue in teaching practice, remembering, at the same time, that change, although difficult, is possible. (shrink)

The article, first, reconstructs and criticizes Sandro Nannini’s incompatibilistic concept of freedom of decision and, second, develops a compatibilistic alternative, a synthesis of a rationalistic and an autonomous approach. Nannini justifies his conception primarily from a naturalistic point of view: it reflects our sense of agency, so he says. This is criticized as empirically wrong and methodically mistaken: The theory of freedom of decision is, actually, normative; it is about good decisions; naturalism cannot establish normative claims. The alternative is based, (...) methodically, on an idealizing hermeneutics, which tries to reconstruct the point of free decisions, and then justifies the resulting concept practically: Free decisions, conceived in this way, realize optimally our autonomous desires. (shrink)

The article, first, reconstructs and criticizes Sandro Nannini’s incompatibilistic concept of freedom of decision and, second, develops a compatibilistic alternative, a synthesis of a rationalistic and an autonomous approach. Nannini justifies his conception primarily from a naturalistic point of view: it reflects our sense of agency, so he says. This is criticized as empirically wrong and methodically mistaken: The theory of freedom of decision is, actually, normative; it is about good decisions; naturalism cannot establish normative claims. The alternative is based, (...) methodically, on an idealizing hermeneutics, which tries to reconstruct the point of free decisions, and then justifies the resulting concept practically: Free decisions, conceived in this way, realize optimally our autonomous desires. (shrink)

In the essay I analyse Micheletti’s three theses concerning: (a) the notion of mystery in relation to the “evidentialistic claim”; (b) analogical metaphysics in relation to “univocist immanentism” and to the importance of developing an analogical theism; (c) the fallibilistic conception of reason in relation to natural law, universalistic ethics and the so-called “essentialism” applied to individual human nature. I will try to show how deep is the intertwining and mutual implication of mystery and analogy – in metaphysics and theology, (...) in epistemology and ontology, in anthropology and ethics – and how Micheletti’s works have been an important step in bringing these two notions back to the center of the discussion that introduces oneself in the “question of God” and in the “question of Human being”. (shrink)

The paper discusses some of the problems that may be encountered in writing the history of geology with the help of non-written sources, but also offers suggestions as to the kinds of sources that may prove useful. It considers particularly the well-known proposition of R. G. Collingwood that historical writing should involve the attempted 're-enactment of past experience', and also criticisms of such idealist philosophies of history as have been made by Michel Foucault. In considering the relative merits of these (...) two contrasting views, an example is taken from the author's own work, which illustrates the point that attempted 'thought reading', in the manner commended by Collingwood, can sometimes lead to error; thus Foucault's position gains some support. However, it is contended that so much geological knowledge is specific to particular localities that much of the primary literature may be unintelligible without at least some first-hand knowledge of those localities. Thus, an appropriate mix of written and unwritten sources is necessary for writing the history of geology. (shrink)

If Fichte influenced in Kant like a reagent so that this took conscience of thelast consequences of his unfinished system, Would it be necessary to say thesame of Schelling? In principle, everything leads us to a negative answers.During the nineties Schelling was considered as a mere pupil and until..

The present paper is framed within one of the predominant currents of contemporary philosophy of science, which is based in case studies, in order to construct a solid, non-speculative, metatheory. In this paper classical genetics is formally analized and reconstructed with the instruments, duly modified and extended in accordance with the considered case, of the structuralist view of theories, in such a way that that theory can be characterized as a refinement of an earlier introduced model of genetics, which determines (...) the fundamental traits of any genetical model. Finally, from the reconstruction of classical genetics, the so-called “mendelism” is formally characterized trying to do justice, and to precise, some recent results in the historiography of genetics. (shrink)

Hernán Cortés, the conquistador of Mexico, conquered Mesoamerican territories between 1519 and 1525. Over the course of those years he maintained an intense epistolary exchange with the Emperor Charles V, to whom he wrote his Cartas de relación and many other letters and memories. In return, the emperor rewarded Cortés with vassals, titles and honors. However, as time passed, when Cortés established his home in the New Spain, the epistolary exchange, which was so fruitful at the beginning, in the end (...) became a nuisance for Charles V because of the constant complaints of the conquistador. As a consequence, between 1530 and 1547, after the glorious years, the relationship between Cortés and the monarch became estranged and complicated. This paper analyzes some of the letters Cortés sent to the emperor, and reflects on the importance of his figure in 16th century Spain, as well as the relevance of a relationship, that of the emperor and the conquistador, that changed the face of the known world. (shrink)

El presente trabajo tiene como propósito evaluar los dos modos principales mediante los cuales se presenta en la Ilíada la posibilidad de alterar la fábula tradicional: los denominados pasajes de inversión y ciertos discursos persuasivos directos. Si bien en diferentes niveles de la narración, ambos mecanismos compositivos presentan una reflexión implícita sobre el rango de elecciones posibles para el narrador primario, como aedo, y para los personajes, mortales o dioses, como agentes narrativos. Para establecer la comparación entre ambos dispositivos, nos (...) servimos de cuatro conceptos de la teoría narratológica: focalización y nivel, tipo y función de la narración. This work aims to assess the two main ways displayed through the Iliad for possibly altering the traditional tale: the so called reversal passages and certain persuasive direct discourses. Although at different narrative levels, both composing devices display an implicit consideration about the range of choices available for the primary narrator, as a singer, as well as for the characters, mortals or gods, as narrative agents. For comparing both devices, we make use of four concepts belonging to narratological theory: focalization, narrative level, type and function. (shrink)

As a journalistic genre, reportage is determined by the context in which it is pro­duced but, unlike news, it does not depend on current events. For this reason, the reporter is not obliged to be brief and has a vocation for style. This is the case of Ryszard Kapuściński (Pińsk, 1932-Warsaw, 2007), who was the correspondent of the communist-era Polish Press Agency in Latin America between 1967 and 1972, when the Latin American literary boom was at its peak. After this (...) experience, the reporter returned several times to the New Continent. What if the main Latin American influence on Kapuściński was actually the style, exploring a new genre, the so-called Magical Journalism? (shrink)

Recently the literature dedicated to the Kantian reception of Spinoza has experienced a significant increase. There are several studies dedicated to mapping the presence of the latter in both pre-critical and critical writings of the former, and different are the results achieved by each. Yet, with the exception of a few references to the section in which Spinozism is presented as the only alternative to transcendental idealism, the Critique of Practical Reason is almost never mentioned nor, even less, is it (...) customary to look at it in an attempt to find something that attenuates the contrast between the two philosophies. The aim of this essay is to show how it is precisely in the second Critic, and in particular by introducing the Fact of Reason, that Kant thinks, so to speak, together with Spinoza. Indeed, in 1788 the moral law works as an adequate idea that makes us active causes, and the experience of the freedom procured by the conscience that we have of it is, therefore, very similar to the experience of eternity illustrated by the fifth book of the Ethics. (shrink)

Este artículo investiga la coherencia entre la propuesta de una organización modular masiva de la mente y el enfoque de las heurísticas simples. Se discute una serie de potenciales conflictos entre los dos programas, pero finalmente son desestimados. De todos modos, el programa de las heurísticas simples sí termina socavando uno de los muchos argumentos propuestos para apoyar la modularidad masiva, al menos en el modo en que esta última es comprendida por los filósofos. Así que un resultado de la (...) argumentación será forzarnos a reexaminar la mejor manera de caracterizar la noción de modularidad en la ciencia cognitiva, para que la tesis de la modularidad masiva no deba ser abandonada completamente. Lo que está en juego en esta discusión es si existe una noción de "módulo" que esté bien motivada, de modo que tengamos una buena razón para pensar que la mente humana deba ser masivamente modular en su organización. Argumentaré que tal noción existe. This chapter investigates the extent to which claims of massive modular organization of the mind are consistent with the main elements of the simple heuristics research program. A number of potential sources of conflict between the two programs are investigated and defused. However, the simple heuristics program turns out to undermine one of the main arguments offered in support of massive modularity, at least as the latter is generally understood by philosophers. So one result of the argument will be to force us to re-examine the way in which the notion of modularity in cognitive science should best be characterized, if the thesis of massive modularity isn't to be abandoned altogether. What is at stake in this discussion, is whether there is a well-motivated notion of "module" such that we have good reason to think that the human mind must be massively modular in its organization. I shall be arguing that there is. (shrink)

RESUMENEl artículo que se presenta aquí traducido se editó en alemán en un volumen homenaje al filósofo Heinrich Rombach, quien se ha sabido unido a la «escuela de Freiburg » (en Briesgau) y determinado por la conexión entre Husserl y Heidegger, que, a pesar de las diferencias, es Fenomenología. Amigos, colegas y discípulos del profesor Rombach, por entonces profesor activo de la Universidad de Würzburg, dejaron en ese volumen huellas de haber oteado brechas y caminos muy distintos, en pos de (...) alcanzar espacios abiertos, libres y diversos, propios de un filosofar que se sabe estructural, intermundano e intercultural. La participación de Franco Volpi, que se concentró en el Welt und Gegenwelt de Rombach, caminó a la par de quienes transitaron el primero de los tres movimientos, que emprendió la filosofía de Rombach y que se llama Hermética filosófica. Inspirado, pues, por la lectura del Welt und Gegenwelt, Volpi defiende que con el proyecto de la hermética el pensar de Rombach aventaja, de modo radical, la Zeitkritik de Heidegger de los fundamentos epocales, en cuyo caso el profesor italiano pone a consideración el aporte de la Hermética en la tradición de la filosofía alemana, que alcanza al fundador de la escuela hermeneútica. La carta de respuesta de Rombach, por su lado, desmiente el haber tenido que ver con la Zeitkritik heideggeriana, y lleva a primer plano lo fundamental del fenómeno hermético, esto es, la unidad inmediata e inseparable de ser humano y realidad, lo cual acontece como el respectivo caminar juntos o a la par, y sería algo con lo cual se topa quien lo pueda ver. Hermética sería entonces el arte de ver esa unidad inmediata.PALABRAS CLAVEROMBACH–HERMÉTICA–HERMENEÚTICA–FENOMENOLOGÍA–CONCREATIVO.ABSTRACTThis is a translation of an article originally published in German in a special issue dedicated to philosopher Heinrich Rombach. Rombach identified himself as a member of the “Freiburg School” in Breisgau, and delimited by the connection between Husserl and Heidegger, which, despite their differences is Phenomenology. Friends, colleagues and disciples of Professor Rombach, who was back then an active Professor at the University of Würzburg, left traces in this volume of having glimpsed very different paths and gaps in the pursuit of reaching free, open and diverse spaces, characteristic of a structural, intermundane, and intercultural way of doing philosophy. Franco Volpi’s contribution moved along others who focused on the Rombach`s Welt und Gegenwelt, following the first of three movements undertaken by Rombach`s philosophy, namely philosophical Hermetics. Inspired by Welt und Gegenwelt, Volpi claims that with the hermetic project, the thought of Rombach surpasses, in a radical way, the Heideggerian Zeitkritik, and so the Italian Professor examines the contribution of the Hermetics in the tradition of German philosophy, that includes the founder of the school of hermeneutics. The letter with Rombach`s reply to Volpi`s claim, on the other hand, denies Rombach`s involvement with the Zeikritik. Instead, Rombach emphasizes the centrality of the hermetic phenomenon, that is, the immediate and inseparable unity of human being and reality, which happens as they respectively move along together or at the same time, understood by Rombach as a special discover for who can grasp it. According to this, Hermetic is the art of seeing that immediate unity.KEYWORDSROMBACH–HERMETICS–HERMENEUTICS–PHENOMENOLOGY–CONCREATIVE. (shrink)

One’s first reaction on seeing this book might be to wonder why it is labelled "Aristotle" at all. The de Mundo has long been regarded as spurious, the work of a later Peripatetic, or even of the vaguely Stoicizing eclecticism which was already, in the later Hellenistic period, beginning to see Aristotle and Plato as the proponents of the same philosophy. There has, however, been no general agreement about where precisely in that framework it should be placed, and Reale, who (...) has recently tried, not without success, to rehabilitate Melissus as a serious thinker, now tries to rehabilitate the de Mundo as a genuine work of Aristotle: he thinks the lack of agreement among the critics is itself an argument in its favor. Restoring the original attribution seems to be the main purpose of what is in fact the first full scale edition with commentary of the de Mundo. It contains a text, largely that established by Lorimer, with translation en face, a long introduction, copious notes and a full word index; the text and translation occupy less than a fifth of the whole. As far as a non-Italian can judge the translation is accurate—and free of effusive expansion. The notes are a real mine of information. So it should be said at the start that whether or not one accepts Reale’s thesis about genuineness does not affect the value of the edition as such. The question of authenticity is discussed with great thoroughness in the introduction, with considerable backing, some of it perhaps inevitably repetitious, in the form of detailed discussion in the notes. At the start Reale lists the charges levelled against the work at various times. These are that in general it contains non-Aristotelian elements, that the style is completely different from Aristotle’s, as is the method, being one of assertion rather than demonstration. Further, much of the material in the scientific section is post-Aristotelian, and the "Orphic hymn" of chapter 7 shows Stoic influence. Reale argues that the first three charges will stick only if the basis of discussion is the Aristotle of the treatises and claims that the objectionable material in the de Mundo can be paralleled from the exoteric works. Thus all the pre-Jaeger discussion is misconceived. (shrink)

Para entender por qué la interacción de la ciencia y el derecho puede ser tan problemática, no basta con apuntar vagamente hacia un supuesto contraste entre los “modos de pensamiento” científico y jurídico. Es necesario considerar, en cambio, las consecuencias de los distintos objetivos que tanto la ciencia como el derecho persiguen, así como las limitaciones bajo las cuales dichos objetivos son perseguidos, y las diferentes culturas que involucran a ambas empresas. Desde esa perspectiva, es posible observar no sólo por (...) qué el derecho en algunas ocasiones pide más de lo que la ciencia puede dar en tanto que en otras recibe menos de lo que la ciencia podría dar, sino también por qué la simple dicotomía “inferencia científica” vs. “razonamiento jurídico” es en realidad más engañosa que útil. (shrink)

The so-called ‘‘species problem’’ has plagued evolution- ary biology since before Darwin’s publication of the aptly titled Origin of Species. Many biologists think the problem is just a matter of semantics; others complain that it will not be solved until we have more empirical data. Yet, we don’t seem to be able to escape discussing it and teaching seminars about it. In this paper, I briefly examine the main themes of the biological and philosophical liter- atures on the species problem, (...) focusing on identifying common threads as well as relevant differences. I then argue two fundamental points. First, the species problem is not primarily an empirical one, but it is rather fraught with philosophical questions that require—but cannot be settled by—empirical evidence. Second, the (dis-)solution lies in explicitly adopting Wittgenstein’s idea of ‘‘family resemblance’’ or cluster concepts, and to consider spe- cies as an example of such concepts. This solution has several attractive features, including bringing together apparently diverging themes of discussion among bio- logists and philosophers. The current proposal is con- ceptually independent (though not incompatible) with the pluralist approach to the species problem advocated by Mishler, Donoghue, Kitcher and Dupre ́, which implies that distinct aspects of the species question need to be emphasized depending on the goals of the researcher. From the biological literature, the concept of species that most closely matches the philosophical discussion pre- sented here is Templeton’s cohesion idea. (shrink)

Unfinished Worlds es un libro incompleto que, en cuanto obra, unidad o ensamble, articula un caleidoscopio que permite avisar nuevas configuraciones de la obra de Gadamer. No pretendo insinuar que esté escrito a medias o que tenga cortes y errores inexplicables que dificulten su lectura. Más bien, quiero señalar que se trata de un escrito que pone en movimiento las tesis de Gadamer sobre la textualidad y asume radicalmente uno de sus postulados: no existe un sentido completo o acabado, el (...) sentido siempre se está realizando. La ontología del lenguaje y de la lingüisticidad (o mejor, lenguajidad) nos revela su ´fundamental´ finitud en cuanto la lengua es siempre una visión parcial de mundo que sólo pervive en su trasmisión. Sin embargo, también ocurre con el sentido algo desconcertante: la belleza que se manifiesta en la obra de arte es avasalladora y acapara nuestra atención con una promesa de perfección e infinitud. Entonces, al experimentar lo bello no podemos más que decir con Goethe “so wahr, so seiend” (tan verdadero, tan siendo). ¿Cómo sobrevive la hermenéutica filosófica a esta aparente contradicción? (shrink)