This paper intends to provide a short assessment on how Marx and Weber approached social inequality. The assessment is conducted using evolutionary rationality. Even though Marx and Weber had seemingly contrasting approaches, I argue that in reality both are complementary and can be better understood using Darwinian evolutionary theory or “Universal Darwinism” as the locus in which the two rationalities described formation processes based on competition for the survival of social forces and the crafting of adaptive and advantageous strategies that (...) allow for the synchronic and diachronic reproduction of social groups. (shrink)

Resulta evidente la actual proliferación de títulos con el Holocausto como telón de fondo; basta con echar un vistazo a las estanterías de las librerías, las cuales acogen multitud de volúmenes que encierran en sus páginas este triste capítulo de la historia. El acercamiento a dicho tema se ha planteado desde distintos enfoques desde el siglo XX -literario, histórico e historiográfico, psicológico, filosófico, etc.-, de ahí que haya sido estudiado en la escuela a partir de multitud de propuestas en materias (...) como Educación Ético-Cívica, Geografía e Historia, Lengua Castellana y Literatura, etc. A raíz de la relación entre historia, ficción y realidad, tan en boga en la actualidad debido al éxito de obras basadas en historias reales, surge un debate que ocasiona una reflexión sobre la imagen que ofrecen estos libros. Este puede ser llevado al aula para discurrir acerca de los límites entre la historia y la literatura, a la vez que se fomentan valores y se superan prejuicios con el fin de que no se repita un episodio similar. (shrink)

Resumen: En este artículo se hará, en primer lugar, una breve revisión de las diferentes interpretaciones del escepticismo de Michel de Montaigne; en segundo lugar, una tentativa de unificación de dichas interpretaciones -utilizando la del profesor F. Brahami como referente heurístico- a partir de los rasgos más generales presentes en el escepticismo del bordolés; y, en tercer lugar, se identificarán estos rasgos en la obra Notas de Nicolás Gómez Dávila, que para los autores es un texto escéptico de corte montaigniano.: (...) In this article we will do, in the first place, a brief review of the different interpretations on Michel de Montaigne's skepticism. In the second place, we will try to unify these interpretations -with the one of Professor Brahami as heuristic reference-, considering the more general traits of his skepticism. Thirdly, we will try to identify these traits in the work Notas of Nicolás Gómez Dávila that, in our opinion, is a skeptical montaignian text. (shrink)

RESUMEN El artículo responde algunas críticas planteadas por Ignacio Ávila a mi interpretación de la epistemología davidsoniana. Presento argumentos en contra de: a) que sea necesario distinguir entre representaciones epistemológicamente “peligrosas”e “inofensivas”; b) que el empirismo mínimo sea un tipo de realismo directo; c) que mi uso de la expresión “evidencia distal” y el interés por la teoría de la correspondencia sean asuntos ajenos a Davidson. Finalmente, sostengo que la triangulación es un elemento fundamental de la epistemología davidsoniana, pues permite (...) sortear la ansiedad realista manteniéndose en una postura no representacionalista. ABSTRACT In this article, I respond to some of Ignacio Ávila's criticisms of my interpretation of Davidson’s epistemology. I argue against: a) the need to distinguish between epistemologically “dangerous” and “harmless” representations; b) the idea that minimal empiricism is a kind of direct realism; and c) the claim that my usage of the expression “distal evidence” and interest in the theory of correspondence are issues that do not pertain to Davidson. Finally, I claim that triangulation is a key element in Davidsonian epistemology since it allows us to deal with the realist anxiety while maintaining a non-representationalist viewpoint. (shrink)

Can gene editing and agroecology be complementary? Various formulations of this question now animate debates over the future of food systems, including in the UN Committee on World Food Security and at the UN Food Systems Summit. Previous analyses have discussed the risks of gene editing for agroecosystems, smallholders, and the concentration of wealth by and for agro-industry. This paper takes a different approach, unpacking the epistemic, socioeconomic, and ontological politics inherent in complementarity. I ask: How is complementarity understood? Who (...) is asking and defining this question? What are the politics of entertaining the debate at all? I sketch the epistemic foundations of science and technology that organize different notions of evidence used in agroecology and genetic engineering. On this base, I offer 8 angles on the compatibility question, exploring the historical contradictions that complementarity discourses reveal and the contemporary work they do. I work through questions of technological neutrality, “root cause” problems, working with nature, encoding racism, and dilemmas of ownership and access. These questions, I argue, require a reckoning with ontologies of coloniality-modernity, which help us get underneath—and beyond—the complementarity question. Finally, I offer a framework for thinking about and working toward technology sovereignty. (shrink)

Narratives of seed ‘loss’ and ‘persistence’ remain at loggerheads. Crop genetic diversity is rapidly eroding worldwide, we are told, and numerous studies support this claim. Other data, however, suggests an alternative storyline: far from disappearing, seed diversity persists around the world, resisting the homogenizing forces of modern capitalism. Which of these accounts is closer to the truth? As it turns out, crop biodiversity is more easily invoked than measured, more easily wielded than understood. In this essay, I contend that the (...) impasse reveals an error in the asking. We must, instead, look to the ontological, epistemic, and narrative dimensions of agrobiodiversity—and to the science, politics, and cultures of each. How is diversity empirically defined and measured? Who creates and categorizes diversity? Who does not? How is such knowledge mobilized in the accounts and narratives of different interest groups? Where, when, and why does a narrative hold true? This multi-dimensional view of agrobiodiversity makes space for a greater understanding of how diversity is created, maintained, and renewed. It suggests policy and institutional support for systems that engender such renewal of diversity, both in and ex situ. (shrink)

Agostinho ocupa um papel importante como ponte entre a filosofia antiga e a Idade Média. Sobre Aristóteles, mostrou conhecer as obras Categorias, Tópicos e Da interpretação, traduzidas por Mário Vitorino. Não obstante isso, Agostinho faz uso muito mais intenso da filosofia de Platão e de Plotino. Assim, este pensador cristão considerou possível conciliar preocupação cristã com reflexão filosófica a partir da tradição grega, bastando somente, neste processo, a realização de algumas correções. Deste modo, apresenta-se a forma como Agostinho incorporou a (...) reflexão grega e conciliou razão e fé. (shrink)

Uno de los aspectos que resaltan en la obra de Dante es su persistente manera de atacar a la Iglesia Romana y la Divina comedia abunda en ataques directos a una serie de Papas en cuyas obras corruptas Dante acusa la decadencia de la institución eclesiástica y la crisis de la concepción política medieval. Los argumentos de Dante contra el papado corren principalmente por dos vías. La primera, se dedica a evidenciar la corrupción del clero y sus inconvenientes, siendo la (...) Divina Comedia la más completa recopilación de estos ataques. La segunda se embarca en un profundo cuestionamiento al poder temporal que se ha arrogado el Papado Medieval, situación a la que se culpa de los problemas de corrupción que vive el mundo -entre los que se cuentan la anarquía italiana. (shrink)

La presente investigación se propone mostrar la génesis y desarrollo de la tentativa matriz de la filosofía de Gilles Deleuze, el empirismo trascendental. Para ello, se realizará una revisión de las problemáticas por las que atraviesa dicha tentativa a lo largo de la obra de este pensador. Cuidadosa atención recibirán a propósito de la génesis del empirismo trascendental el problema del hábito y el de la constitución de la subjetividad, que Deleuze reconoce en Hume (Empirisme et subjectivité, 1953). A partir (...) de ellos, se establecerán los caracteres principales del que se identifica como problema de los principios, en cuyo seno se define una relación particular entre principio y génesis. Gracias al establecimiento riguroso de dicha relación, Deleuze integra los aportes del empirismo y los de la filosofía trascendental bajo una misma propuesta filosófica. Esta propuesta tendrá a la vista el desarrollo de una crítica sistemática hacia lo dado, con lo cual tanto el objeto como el sujeto del pensar precisarán ser sometidos a una indagación acerca de su génesis. Definido el empirismo trascendental como la tentativa filosófica que apunta a pensar la génesis trascendental o actualización de lo dado, esta investigación espera dar cuenta del ámbito de dicha génesis así como de los principios de determinación que la rigen. Para ello se estudiarán las nociones de campo trascendental, plan de inmanencia y continuo ideal (Différence et répétition, 1968; Logique du sens, 1969). Al abordar esta última noción, se pondrá especial interés en dilucidar la reformulación que efectúa Deleuze de los princip ios de razón suficiente, de indiscernibilidad y de continuidad de Leibniz (Le Pli, 1988). (shrink)

Em Como é ser um morcego?, Thomas Nagel examina a po-lêmica questão da descrição dos eventos mentais e sugere que somente uma fenomenologia objetiva, ainda por ser construída, seria capaz de dar con-ta da dimensão universal característica dos enunciados da ciência – pen-sada como discurso da terceira pessoa –, ao mesmo tempo em que salva-guardaria o caráter particular atribuído aos estados mentais, acerca dos quais se supõe que a perspectiva da primeira pessoa detenha um conhe-cimento privilegiado. A presente comunicação pretende (...) mostrar, a partir das críticas à psicologia formuladas por filósofos contemporâneos de tradições distintas, como Wittgenstein e Georges Politzer, que esse im-passe em torno do cunho subjetivo dos eventos mentais e a descrição objetiva dos mesmos requerida pela ciência repousa justamente na ilusão de que se tem, na primeira pessoa, acesso privilegiado aos próprios esta-dos mentais. A impossibilidade de uma linguagem privada, apontada por Wittgenstein, assim como a noção de “drama”, proposta por Politzer como constituindo o fato psicológico por excelência, parecem fazer con-vergir as vertentes continental e anglo-saxã da filosofia contemporânea no que tange à desconstrução da antiga ilusão de uma vida interior que antecederia as práticas lingüísticas. Em uma palavra, pretende-se mostrar que é somente no âmbito da linguagem – portanto, de uma perspectiva universal –, que se constrói um discurso do particular – aquele acerca dos próprios eventos mentais.In What is it like to be a bat?, Thomas Nagel examines the polemic question about the description of mental events and sug-gests that only what he calls an objective phenomenology, yet to be formulated in a distant future, could finally confer the universal dimension of scien-tific statements, regarded as third person discourse par excellence, to those mental statements, which characteristic is to preserve the first person perspective. The present paper intends to show that George Politzer’s and Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophies of psychology, despite their dif-ferent theoretical approaches, had already pointed out, far before Nagel’s article, that the dilemma concerning the objectivity of third person per-spective of science and the first person perspective of mental statements is a consequence of the illusion that one has, from the first person per-spective, a privileged access to one’s own mental events. Wittgenstein’s argument on the impossibility of a private language and Politzer’s notion of drama as constituting the very psychological fact in stead of what he calls “Classical Psychology” concepts of “mind” and “behaviour”, both converge to the deconstruction of the ancient illusion of an “interior life” which anticipates, and therefore determines linguistic practices. In other words, this paper aims to point out that only from a linguistic realm, therefore, from an universal perspective, it is possible to construct a par-ticular discourse – that one regarding ones own mental events. (shrink)

Fundado en un vasto conocimiento de la historia y cultura occidentales, Cristóbal Holzapfel describe el guión de acuerdo al cual se presentan las diferentes concepciones acerca de lo humano que rigen en la conformación de cada época.

Following some of the main arguments Derrida develops in ‘White Mythology’, in this article I propose an unexplored dialogue between Derrida and Althusser considering the use and the place that each of them gives to metaphor in their philosophical strategies. I give special attention to some rather isolated passages of ‘Elements of Self-Criticism’ and ‘Lenin and Philosophy’, where Althusser, against all evidence, seems to be quite aware of the importance of metaphor and mataphorization in every philosophical practice. As Balibar has (...) argued, contrary to the metaphysical tradition, metaphor would not be the opposite but what anticipates the concept. In this sense, it is possible to observe how Althusser’s work has continuously put into practice – as the singular signature of his theoretical practice – something that I call the ‘detour of metaphor’ as a necessary ‘deviation’ for the production of new concepts. Without any evidence that Althusser may have known Derrida’s essay, I show how Althusser’s own theoretical work, one in which ‘metaphor’ as a philosophical theme appears to be rather anecdotic, is unexpectedly close to Derrida’s own positions concerning the margins of philosophy and its ‘outside’, the relation to the metaphysical tradition, and the importance of strategy in philosophy. (shrink)

Gilles Deleuze’s research during the 1980s focused on the 17th century German thinker G. W. Leibniz. In 1988, Deleuze published Le Pli, which forms part of a series of works on modern philosophy. This book displays Deleuze’s attention to the interpretations of contemporary commentators on modern philosophy, in this case, on Leibniz. In this context, there occurred a brief and important dialogue between Deleuze and Christiane Frémont, the French commentator and translator of Leibniz, with regard to their respective interpretations of (...) the great German philosopher. This article intends to give an account of the main topics present in that conversation. Firstly, we can say they involve 1) the problem of body and the Leibnizian vinculum substantiale, 2) the question of singularities, 3) the principle of economy and incompossibility, and 4) the Deleuzian concept of vice-diction. Our hypothesis in this study is that the readings made by both authors of the German thinker are mutually involved. It is essential, in order to support this hypothesis, to make precise the demarcations of relations between such readings. For this reason, our research will focus on Frémont’s study Singularités, individus et relations dans le système de Leibniz (2003) and on Deleuze’s work Le Pli (1988). We hope to determine the topics that emerge in the relationship, and to specify convergences and divergences of interpretation. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to review the game concept of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) in his books Logic of Sense (1969) and The fold (1988). As suggested by other authors of contemporary metaphysics, Deleuze's issue with game arises from the evaluation of the philosophical and historical importance that reason represents for Leibniz. In this sense, this article gets the notion of play of principles in which Deleuze attempted, in 1988, to characterize the concept of principle in (...) the German author. Because of the connections with the problem of ideal game, we focussed on establishing links with the principles with which Deleuze describes the game in Logic of Sense. (shrink)

La noción de materialismo de Georges Bataille se erige como una crítica a las con cepciones metafísicas o idealistas del materialismo A partir de una reconstrucción de lo que Bataille expone en distintos lugares de sus escritos de juventud, se propone una interpretación del “bajo materialismo” de Bataille desde su particular lectura de Nietzsche y Marx, que, al intentar hacer compatibles elementos de una y otra fi losofía, desemboca en una discusión crítica con ambos autores. Esta discusión que, a su (...) vez, puede ser leída como antecedente de una deconstrucción del materialismo como la que lleva a cabo Jacques Derrida. (shrink)

As in other Latin American countries, Muslim presence in Argentina traces its origin to Arab migration waves in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; most of these immigrants came from Lebanon and Syria. We can identify three historical periods; each of these stages involves different degrees of institutionalization, diversification, visibility and negotiation of recognition in the national arena. Currently, Islam is one of the religious options available in a plural religious field and, increasingly, the communities are composed of Muslim (...) Arab descendants and converts. This paper analyze the adhesion to Islam as a dynamic process that includes conversion, tradition, return to religion and intra-Islamic transit among Muslim descendants. Using an ethnographic approach I will examine individual trajectories of converts and Muslim descendants, on the basis of these analyses I will try to establish a critical dialogue with the literature on conversion to Islam. This article also problematizes the converts/Muslim descendants’ dichotomy in order to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamic of adhesion to Islam. (shrink)

Una potencia de libre pensamiento inigualada atraviesa la filosofía del siglo XX. De la mano con las filosofías nietzscheana y heideggeriana que tan profundamente marcan nuestra época, surgen dos filósofos franceses cuya obra llena de pasión incita a la reflexión incesante. Cabe agregar a ello la silenciosa complicidad con que llegan a las intuiciones más profundas de sus respectivos pensamientos. Surge, entonces, un arduo y fructífero camino para la investigación: la dilucidación de las importantes conexiones con que se desenvuelve la (...) creación filosófica de Deleuze y Foucault. (shrink)

Kasahara, Javier. “Una relectura leibniziana al mecanicismo.” _Eidos_ 22 (2015): 35-48.

La noción de materialismo de Georges Bataille se erige como una crítica a las concepciones metafísicas o idealistas del materialismo A partir de una reconstrucción de lo que Bataille expone en distintos lugares de sus escritos de juventud, se propone una interpretación del "bajo materialismo" de Bataille desde su particular lectura de Nietzsche y Marx, que, al intentar hacer compatibles elementos de una y otra filosofía, desemboca en una discusión crítica con ambos autores. Esta discusión que, a su vez, puede (...) ser leída como antecedente de una deconstrucción del materialismo como la que lleva a cabo Jacques Derrida. Georges Bataille's notion of materialism can be seen as a critique of metaphysical or idealist conceptions of materialism. On the basis of the reconstruction of Bataille's statements in his different early writings, the paper provides an interpretation of Bataille's "base materialism" based on his peculiar reading of Nietzsche and Marx. The attempt to make compatible elements from both philosophies leads to a critical discussion with the authors, which, in turn, can be read as a forerunner of the deconstruction of materialism carried out by Jacques Derrida. (shrink)

Los cambios de la globalización imponen a la realidad educativa planteamientos que prevean la posibilidad de no separar a la educación de sus imperativos de formación en la cultura, el conocimiento y la ciudadanía actuales. De ahí que la necesidad de adaptación económica de los países al nuevo orden económico internacional es preciso que se vea acompañada de una reflexión profunda en los desafíos de formación valórica que toda pedagogía debiera tener por intención. Como reconocen diversos autores, en toda aproximación (...) pedagógica al conocimiento se hayan imbricadas implicancias formativas cuyo valor ético, caracterizado por el incentivo de virtudes sociales y capacidades de autonomización y deliberación, constituye el núcleo de una reformulación no sólo de la labor cotidiana del docente, sino de su necesidad de profesionalización; la que debe entrañar una docencia comprometida con los intereses comunes de la sociedad y de quienes reciben formación educativa. (shrink)

This paper presents some annotations on mental health, from the point of view of implicit notions of madness. To this end, we propose a distinction between the medical, phenomenological existential and socio-critical models. We focus in the latter two in order to achieve a critical approach about the subject, dominated by the medical perspective. According to Foucault's earliest works, this article begins by evaluating criteria of normality in terms of the historical genesis of madness concept. Then, we describe the medical (...) model based on the distinction between illness and symptom. Later, we focus on the phenomenological-existential model to describe the ontological fragility in Laing, i.e. the original core of the self and the world experienced by the schizophrenic person. Finally, we add some considerations related to the social origin of schizophrenia, as stated in the Cooper's and Foucault's perspectives. (shrink)

Considerando traços da conceptualização das noções de “repetição” e “hábito”, presentes em Empirisme et subjectivité (DELEUZE, 1953, em diante ES), esperamos fazer algumas anotações acerca do percurso que leva até Différence et répétition, tese que Deleuze apresenta em 1968 (doravante DR), cujo capítulo II se debruça na constituição da síntese do presente. Para tanto, será necessário estabelecermos duas etapas na determinação desse percurso. Na primeira etapa, abordaremos a forma em que Deleuze descreve o hábito como princípio complementar ao princípio de (...) experiência na construção do conhecimento. A segunda etapa do percurso requer detalhar a forma em que se produz a articulação das noções citadas em DR. (shrink)

This article focuses on Stuart Hall’s reading of Louis Althusser’s main theoretical works. Since the early 1970s, Hall has undertaken a critical confrontation with Althusser’s ‘structural Marxism’, rescuing those useful concepts to think cultural difference and identity, without failing to criticize his ‘superstructuralist’ interpretation of Marx. However, what Hall will retain as Althusser’s most important contribution is, above all, his theory of ideology. In this context, I follow an idea formulated by Hall that could be read as summarizing the theoretical (...) and political scope of Althusser’s contribution to Cultural Studies: ‘he enabled me to live in and with difference’. By complicating classical interpretations schemes in the Marxist tradition, Hall’s Althusser may be read as a ‘thinker of difference’ who opens up a whole research program to reconsider class conflicts as traversed (or ‘overdetermined’) by gender, racial or colonial conflicts. (shrink)

Comme Bergson clarifie, il est nécessaire de distinguer la multiplicité numérique, propred'éléments homogènes dans l'espace, de celle qui est intensive qui représente le déroulement de la durée ou temporalité (Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience). Pour Deleuze, qui reprendre cette distinction (Différence et répétition, Logique du sens), l'intensité constitue cette différence radicale qui produit des séries de succession hétérogènes dont le déroulement détermine la forme du temps. De cette façon, une sérieintensive dans la succession temporaire engage son propre (...) développement avec celui ded'une autre différente avec lequel elle se trouve en tension. La durée est composée, donc,d'une succession multiple de séries identifiées entre eux. Ici, Deleuze reprend la notion leibnizienne d'incompossibilité (Le Pli). Celle-ci représente l'incompatibilité entre le mondeeffectivement créé et l'infinité de mondes possibles que la divinité a pu concevoir. Deleuzecroit, cependant, qu'il est nécessaire de reconnaître que l'incompatibilité entre les séries d'événements menace incessamment au monde et ne constitue pas seulement unedisjonction à résoudre par la divinité au moment de le créer. Alors, notre article tenteradéterminer la manière dans laquelle Deleuze reprend la pensée de Bergson et de Leibnizpour traiter les sujets proposés. (shrink)