Objective: Illness perceptions are important predictors of emotional and behavioral responses in many diseases. The current study aims to investigate the COVID-19-related IP throughout Europe. The specific goals are to understand the temporal development, identify predictors and examine the impacts of IP on perceived stress and preventive behaviors.Methods: This was a time-series-cross-section study of 7,032 participants from 16 European countries using multilevel modeling from April to June 2020. IP were measured with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Temporal patterns were observed (...) considering the date of participation and the date recoded to account the epidemiological evolution of each country. The outcomes considered were perceived stress and COVID-19 preventive behaviors.Results: There were significant trends, over time, for several IP, suggesting a small decrease in negativity in the perception of COVID-19 in the community. Age, gender, and education level related to some, but not all, IP. Considering the self-regulation model, perceptions consistently predicted general stress and were less consistently related to preventive behaviors. Country showed no effect in the predictive model, suggesting that national differences may have little relevance for IP, in this context.Conclusion: The present study provides a comprehensive picture of COVID-19 IP in Europe in an early stage of the pandemic. The results shed light on the process of IP formation with implications for health-related outcomes and their evolution. (shrink)

Background:The theoretical framework of Jϋrgen Habermas suggests that effective communication requires competent participants with an objective attitude that complies with the rules and worlds designated as objective, social and subjective. This situation determines communicative action, which stimulates the search for mutual understanding and results in a process of interaction that promotes self-determination.Objectives:In this study, the discharge letters of patients with myocardial infarction were explored regarding the provision of information. The patient’s right to information and the duty of informing were analysed (...) according to the perspective of Jϋrgen Habermas.Research design:This was a cross-sectional analysis (from a broader longitudinal study) of all discharge letters that were directly related to nursing interventions regarding the provision of information to 106 patients. In this major study, the difficulties faced by patients who experienced a myocardial infarction and the changes in their lifestyles were analysed based on the type of information received.Ethical considerations:The hospital Ethics Committee approved the study, which complied with ethical principles and required informed consent.Findings:In the nursing letters, interventions related to the provision of information were conducted at an average of 3.59 interventions per patient. For 8.5% of the patients, however, no interventions related to the provision of information were performed. The most common area of information during hospitalisation was related to the management of signs and symptoms and applied to 90.6% patients.Discussion:The nursing interventions did not cover patient education, transition processes or awareness of the disease. Thus, the right to information can be questioned.Conclusion:Information is a right, and communication is extremely important. Health professionals should be aware of this importance regarding both care management and the satisfaction guarantee. The sharing of information by health professionals based on their competency is essential for patients to exercise their right to self-determination and decision-making. (shrink)

What is considered ugly, grotesque or unpleasant by the fashion world? The first collection presented by Rei Kawakubo in Paris was classified as offensive to Western aesthetic standards, for it questioned the French ideal of beauty and elegance. Through silhouettes covered in frayed, perforated and monochromatic fabrics, Kawakubo disrupted the established notion of the beautiful body, stripping it of the clichés of femininity, explicit sexuality and glamour. Under the lens of Vilém Flusser’s philosophy, the Japanese fashion designer created the new, (...) the beautiful, that which is capable of expanding the parameters of the real. (shrink)

The coronavirus disease pandemic fundamentally disrupted humans’ social life and behavior. Public health measures may have inadvertently impacted how people care for each other. This study investigated prosocial behavior, its association well-being, and predictors of prosocial behavior during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and sought to understand whether region-specific differences exist. Participants from eight regions clustering multiple countries around the world responded to a cross-sectional online-survey investigating the psychological consequences of the first upsurge of lockdowns in spring 2020. Prosocial behavior (...) was reported to occur frequently. Multiple regression analyses showed that prosocial behavior was associated with better well-being consistently across regions. With regard to predictors of prosocial behavior, high levels of perceived social support were most strongly associated with prosocial behavior, followed by high levels of perceived stress, positive affect and psychological flexibility. Sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of prosocial behavior were similar across regions. (shrink)

RESUMO A empatia, em Edith Stein, é uma vivência que permite o conhecimento do outro, mas também do "sujeito empatizante". Pela teoria "do vivenciar completo", alcança-se não apenas um conhecimento da vivência do outro, mas também dos valores subjacentes à sua ação. Através desta teoria, pretende-se responder à proposta levinasiana de uma responsabilidade total, por um lado, e, por outro, de P. Ricœur, que apresenta a necessidade de uma relação que pense ao mesmo tempo a reflexividade do si mesmo. A (...) empatia permite um modo de constituição personalizadora para os dois sujeitos que mantém, de modo simultâneo, a unicidade e a alteridade de cada um. ABSTRACT According to Edith Stein, empathy is an experience that allows for knowledge of the other and of the "empathizing subject". The notion of "full experience" makes it possible to know the experience of the other, as well as the values underlying his/her actions. On the basis of this theory, the article seeks to respond to Levinas' proposal of total responsibility, on the one hand and to P. Ricœur, who argues in favor of a relation that, at the same time, takes into account the reflexivity of the self, on the other. Empathy allows for a personalized mode of constitution of the two subjects, which, simultaneously preserves the singularity and alterity of each. (shrink)

According to a particular interpretation of quantum mechanics, the causal role of human consciousness in the measuring process is called upon to solve a foundational problem called the “measurement problem.” Traditionally, this interpretation is tied up with the metaphysics of substance dualism. As such, this interpretation of quantum mechanics inherits the dualist’s mind-body problem. Our working hypothesis is that a process-based approach to the consciousness causes collapse interpretation (CCCI) ---leaning on Whitehead’s solution to the mind-body problem--- offers a better metaphysical (...) understanding of consciousness and its role in interpreting quantum mechanics. This article is the kickoff for such a research program in the metaphysics of science. (shrink)

We define a notion of realizability, based on a new assignment of formulas, which does not care for precise witnesses of existential statements, but only for bounds for them. The novel form of realizability supports a very general form of the FAN theorem, refutes Markov's principle but meshes well with some classical principles, including the lesser limited principle of omniscience and weak König's lemma. We discuss some applications, as well as some previous results in the literature.

Rationale: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the hippocampus is proposed for enhancement of memory impaired by injury or disease. Many pre-clinical DBS paradigms can be addressed in epilepsy patients undergoing intracranial monitoring for seizure localization, since they already have electrodes implanted in brain areas of interest. Even though epilepsy is usually not a memory disorder targeted by DBS, the studies can nevertheless model other memory-impacting disorders, such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Methods: Human patients undergoing Phase II invasive monitoring for (...) intractable epilepsy were implanted with depth electrodes capable of recording neurophysiological signals. Subjects performed a delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) memory task while hippocampal ensembles from CA1 and CA3 cell layers were recorded to estimate a multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) model of CA3-to-CA1 neural encoding and a memory decoding model (MDM) to decode memory information from CA3 and CA1 neuronal signals. After model estimation, subjects again performed the DMS task while either MIMO-based or MDM-based patterned stimulation was delivered to CA1 electrode sites during the encoding phase of the DMS trials. Each subject was sorted (post hoc) by prior experience of repeated and/or mild-to-moderate brain injury (RMBI), TBI, or no history (control) and scored for percentage successful delayed recognition (DR) recall on stimulated vs. non-stimulated DMS trials. The subject’s medical history was unknown to the experimenters until after individual subject memory retention results were scored. Results: When examined compared to control subjects, both TBI and RMBI subjects showed increased memory retention in response to both MIMO and MDM-based hippocampal stimulation. Furthermore, effects of stimulation were also greater in subjects who were evaluated as having pre-existing mild-to-moderate memory impairment. Conclusion: These results show that hippocampal stimulation for memory facilitation was more beneficial for subjects who had previously suffered a brain injury (other than epilepsy), compared to control (epilepsy) subjects who had not suffered a brain injury. This study demonstrates that the epilepsy/intracranial recording model can be extended to test the ability of DBS to restore memory function in subjects who previously suffered a brain injury other than epilepsy, and support further investigation into the beneficial effect of DBS in TBI patients. (shrink)

In congenitally or prelingually deaf childrencochlear implantation is open to seriousethical challenge. The ethical dimension ofthis technology is closely related to both asocial standard of quality of life and to theuncertainty of the overall results of cochlearimplantation. Uncertainty with regards theacquisition of oral communicative skills.However, in the western world, available datasuggest that deafness is associated with thelowest educational level and the lowest familyincome. Notwithstanding the existence of aDeaf-World, deafness should be considered as ahandicap. Therefore, society should provide themeans for the (...) fulfilment of a deaf child'sspecific needs.For the time being there is no definitiveanswer with regard the best way to rehabilitatea particular deaf child. Therefore,communitarian values may be acceptable. If thedeaf child parents' decide not to implant,their decision should be respected. Guardiansare entitled to determine which standard ofbest interest to use in a specificcircumstance. They are the proper judges ofwhat (re)habilitation process is best for theirdeaf child. However, most deaf children areborn to two hearing parents. Probably, theywill not be acculturated in the Deaf-World. Itfollows that cochlear implantation is awelcomed (re)habilitation technology.If auditory (re)habilitation will in the futureprovide the necessary communicative skills, inparticular oral language acquisition, customs,values and attitudes of the hearing worldshould be regarded as necessary to accomplish adeaf child's right to an open future. Ifcochlear implantation technology will provideall deaf children with the capacity to developacceptable oral communicative skills –whatever the hearing status of the family andthe cultural environment – then auditory(re)habilitation will be an ethical imperative. (shrink)

RESUMO No presente estudo de casos, discutimos a produção de sentidos carregados com elementos prosódicos no começo da vida. Alinhamos essa discussão com observações de Bakhtin acerca de características da enunciação. Com esse alinhamento investimos em explicações sobre o status linguístico da prosódia nos diálogos entre adulto e bebês em situação de aquisição de linguagem. Os dados foram registros videográficos da interação de duas díades adulto-criança, uma francesa e uma brasileira, durante atividades cotidianas1. Nas análises, comparamos variações da curva entonacional (...) dos enunciados dos adultos com vocalizações dos bebês. Nos resultados discutimos como essas variações refletiram exercícios de posições axiológicas, discutidas no âmbito da apropriação enunciativa. Concluímos que os aspectos prosódicos são recursos principais para enunciação no começo da vida e vinculam as práticas com a linguagem ao desenvolvimento humano. ABSTRACT In the present case study, we discuss meaning production, which is full of prosodic elements in early life. We align this discussion with Bakhtin's observations about the characteristics of enunciation. With this alignment, we invested in explanations about the linguistic status of prosody in dialogues between adults and babies in the process of language acquisition. The data we discuss consist of videographic records of interactions of two adult-child dyads, one French and one Brazilian, both recorded during daily life activities.1 In the analyses, we compared variations in the intonational curves of the adults’ utterances with the babies’ vocalizations. In the results, we discuss how these variations reflected in practices of axiological positions, discussed in the context of enunciative appropriation. We conclude that prosodic aspects are the main resources for enunciation at the beginning of life and they enable the link between language practices and human development. (shrink)

Este livro reúne textos de divulgação científica da área de Linguística que foram publicados no sítio do Departamento de Linguística e Filologia da UFRJ. Numa linguagem acessível, os trabalhos, que se destinam a um público amplo e não especializado, abordam temas atuais e de interesse geral relativos tanto aos aspectos gramaticais e fonológicos quanto sócio-políticos e culturais de diversas línguas naturais.

The increasing costs of healthcare delivery led to different political and administrative approaches trying to preserve the core values of the welfare state. This approach has well documented weaknesses namely with regard to healthcare rationing. The objective of this paper is to evaluate if independent healthcare regulation is an important tool with regard to the construction of fair processes for setting limits to healthcare. Methodologically the authors depart from Norman Daniels’ and James Sabin’s theory of accountability for reasonableness and try (...) to determine if new regulatory models—namely independent agencies—perform better with regard to the public disclosure of the reasons and rationales of healthcare rationing. In publicly financed healthcare systems independent regulation is an important tool to assure fair and reasonable procedures of prioritising services. In accordance with the principle of public accountability, independent regulatory agencies are particularly well suited to assure publicity of the decision-making processes, relevance of the rationale involved and particularly mechanisms for challenge and dispute resolution regarding limit setting decisions. It follows that independent healthcare regulation could be regarded not only as an instrument for performance improvement but also as a tool of social justice. The authors conclude by stating that accountability for reasonableness should be regarded as a landmark of any healthcare reform. And therefore regulators have the social task of assuring that the rationales for limit-setting decisions are clearly accessible to the public. (shrink)

The paper identifies three recent lines of interpretation of the politics that can be derived from Deleuze and Guattari, all of which share a way of reading the dualisms in their work that can be traced back to how they understand the actual/virtual partition, and to an alleged pre-eminence of the virtual over the actual. It is argued that this reading is not only inaccurate, but obscures the political dimension of Deleuze and Guattari's work. Clarifying the latter requires a reinterpretation (...) of the dualisms involved (as dyads rather than binaries), of the relation between virtual and actual (as a formal distinction where one acts back upon the other), and the drawing of a clear distinction between what Deleuze calls a ‘transcendent exercise’ of thought and sensibility and the properly metaphysical exercise that sets up the distinction between virtual and actual. What then appears is an image of Deleuze's and Guattari's thought that is far more concerned with practical questions and with a situated political practice of intervention. (shrink)

BackgroundAdvance directives (ADs) were implemented in Portugal in 2012. Although more than a decade has passed since Law 25/2012 came into force, Portuguese people have very low levels of adherence. In this context, this study aimed to identify and analyse the attitudes of people aged 18 or older living in Portugal towards ADs and to determine the relationships between sociodemographic variables (gender/marital status/religion/level of education/residence/whether they were a health professional/whether they had already drawn up a living will) and people’s attitudes (...) towards ADs.MethodsAn online cross-sectional analytical study was conducted using a convenience sample. For this purpose, a request (email) that publicized the link to a –form—which included sociodemographic data and the General Public Attitudes Toward Advance Care Directives (GPATACD) scale—was sent to 28 higher education institutions and 30 senior universities, covering all of mainland Portugal and the islands (Azores and Madeira). The data were collected between January and February 2023.ResultsA total of 950 adults from completed the online form. The lower scores (mean 1 and 2) obtained in most responses by applying the GPATACD scale show that the sample of the Portuguese population has a very positive attitude towards ADs. The data showed that women, agnostics/atheists, health professionals and those who had already made a living will had more positive attitudes (p < 0.001) towards ADs. There were no statistically significant differences in the attitudes of the Portuguese population sample towards ADs in relation to marital status, education level, and residence.ConclusionThe results obtained enable us to confirm that this sample of the Portuguese population has a positive attitude towards ADs. We verify that there are certain fringes of this sample with certain sociodemographic characteristics (women, agnostics/atheists, health professionals and those who had already made a living will) that have a more positive attitude towards ADs. This data could facilitate the implementation and adjustment of relevant measures, particularly in the field of health education and aimed at groups with less favourable attitudes, to increase the effectiveness of voluntary exercise of citizens’ autonomy in end-of-life care planning. (shrink)

The development of neuropsychological assessment methods using virtual reality (VR) is a valid and promising option for the detection of cognitive impairment in the older people, focusing on activities composed of tasks of multiple demands. This study verified the association of age, schooling, and general cognitive status on the performance of neurologically healthy older adults in ECO-VR, a virtual reality task of multiple demands for neuropsychological assessment. A total of 111 older adults answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Mini Mental State (...) Examination, the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (third edition), and the ECO-VR. Correlation analyses, multiple linear regression, and comparisons between groups (effects by age and schooling groups) were used to evaluate the results. The ECO-VR total score was significantly associated with age, years of education, MMSE, and Vocabulary subtest. The linear regression models identified that age was the main predictor for total score and rule breaking of ECO-VR. According to the univariate analysis, it was identified the main effect of age group and schooling group in the total ECO-VR score, but there was no interaction effect. The results are discussed in order to understand the role of sociodemographic characteristics in the performance of older adults in a virtual reality task of multiple demands. It was also verified the possibility use of virtual reality for neuropsychological assessment of older adults. (shrink)

In all countries where health care access is considered a social right, regulation is both a tool of performance improvement as well as an instrument of social justice. Both social (equity in access) and economical (promoting competition) regulation are at stake due to the nature of the good itself. Different modalities of regulation do exist and usually new regulatory cycles include the creation of stronger regulatory agencies. Indeed, health care regulation is rising steadily in most developed countries as a consequence (...) of the introduction of the New Public Management perspective to provide essential public goods.Health care is delivered by different organisations with very different cultural backgrounds—public and private (profit and non-profit)—that should be accountable for their decisions. Control by regulatory agencies is instrumental to accomplish this goal. However, there is some dispute with regards the degree of regulatory autonomy. The objective of this paper is to determine if independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) are effective in carrying out health care regulation. The authors apply Walshe’s analytical framework to the Regulatory Authority of Health (Portugal) to answer the question if independent regulation works.In conclusion, the two year experience of the Regulatory Authority of Health is important not only because the primary goals of independent regulation were achieved but also because this authority is now a full partner in the health care sector. However, independent agencies need to develop strong mechanisms of accountability because good regulatory governance is the paradigm of this institutional innovation. (shrink)

The allocation of resources for health, as well as the distribution of other social goods, being a political problem, can also be observed as belonging to the universe of distributive justice, considering that all citizens must have the necessary means for an acceptable physical, psychological and social performance. Individual autonomy, paradigm of a full citizenship in a modern society, cannot otherwise be achieved. Human dignity seems to imply that no citizen can be excluded from the basic health system due to (...) the lack of financial resources. Indeed, equal access of all citizens to basic social goods and therefore to key places in society – principle of fair equality of opportunities – is one of the core aspects of Rawls's difference principle. It is, in essence, about ensuring the exercise of the right to individual self-determination in the relationship between the individual and society, as well as the right to play a social role according to skills and merit. But, it is not only the theory of the social contract that provides for a fair equality of opportunities. Different perspectives of justice contemplate this ideal. As suggested by Tristram Engelhardt Jr individual autonomy must be interpreted as a value in itself and a determining factor for the exercise of a full citizenship. But, justice is an ideal that must be progressively built. Whether in a specific society or on a global scale. And, the great challenge of humanity is precisely to recognize the existing intercultural differences and propose sufficiently flexible ideological systems that can be applied in different countries with very different levels of social and economic development. Without detracting from the ethical principles that should underpin the construction of the 21st century global society. (shrink)

The lack of economic sustainability of most healthcare systems and a higher demand for quality and safety has contributed to the development of regulation as a decisive factor for modernisation, innovation and competitiveness in the health sector. The aim of this paper is to determine the importance of the principle of public accountability in healthcare regulation, stressing the fact that sunshine regulation—as a direct and transparent control over health activities—is vital for an effective regulatory activity, for an appropriate supervision of (...) the different agents, to avoid quality shading problems and for healthy competition in this sector. Methodologically, the authors depart from Kieran Walshe’s regulatory theory that foresees healthcare regulation as an instrument of performance improvement and they articulate this theory with the different regulatory strategies. The authors conclude that sunshine regulation takes on a special relevance as, by promoting publicity of the performance indicators, it contributes directly and indirectly to an overall improvement of the healthcare services, namely in countries were citizens are more critical with regard to the overall performance of the system. Indeed, sunshine regulation contributes to the achievement of high levels of transparency, which are fundamental to overcoming some of the market failures that are inevitable in the transformation of a vertical and integrated public system into a decentralised network where entrepreneurialism appears to be the predominant culture. (shrink)

Questions of social justice and health-care costs are some of the concerns of society. The cost caused by cardiovascular diseases can have an enormous impact, and it is important to know what patients think about illness costs when they are hospitalized. Two interviews were realized in a longitudinal study, in a sample of 106 patients submitted to expensive techniques in Cardiology (Portugal), to understand the patients’ perception about the health costs and behavior changes based on awareness. We can conclude that (...) cardiovascular diseases are a global phenomenon that generally affects all social groups. From those interviewed, 83% of the patients agree about getting information concerning the treatments and intervention costs during hospitalization because the information about costs can bring the necessary tools for improvement in patients and health resources; 70.8% of the patients say that this information could bring awareness to the patient’s life, enhancing responsibility and personal autonomy. (shrink)

The health sector is facing many challenges, and there is a need to maintain the delivery of high‐quality health‐care. Issues related to equity and access to health‐care have emerged in a context of an economic recession in which the sustainability of the health system depends on everyone, including the actions and decisions of professionals. Therefore, nurses and their skills may be the answer to ethical, professional and community health management, but this recession could lead to major problems in the education (...) of nurses in daily health‐care practice. Due to the limited availability of resources, nurses are increasingly taking leadership positions, continuing to develop their critical abilities and thinking skills, and considering sciences such as deontology and ethics. The main goals of this study were to reflect on the economic recession and its impact on health‐care and to demonstrate the contribution of nursing to the sustainability of health‐care and in the promotion of individuals' dignity. The authors conclude that health‐care depends on economic redistribution and, in this context, needs to be equitable and fair. Nurses have the responsibility to develop their profession according to the underlying sciences and can therefore strategically help the healthcare system. (shrink)

O ensino de filosofia para/com crianças: uma revisão sistemática da literatura Resumo: O presente estudo tem como objetivo identificar, na literatura existente, quais os estudos sobre filosofia para/com crianças que investigam sobre as experiências das crianças nessa prática. Por meio de uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura (RSL), realizada em três etapas: planejamento, seleção e extração, em cinco bases de dados diferentes, encontramos trinta e três (33) pesquisas sobre o ensino de filosofia para crianças (Philosophy for Children), porém, apenas duas (2) (...) pesquisas que abordam especificamente sobre as experiências das crianças com o ensino de filosofia. Por meio dessa Revisão, desejamos contribuir com as pesquisas sobre Filosofia para Crianças. Palavras-chave: Crianças; Filosofia; Infância; Revisão. The teaching philosophy to/with children: a sistematic review of literature Abstract: The presente study aims to indetify, in the existing literature, which studies on philosophy for / with children that investigate children’s experience in this practice. Through Sistematic Literature Review (SLR), carried out in the three stages: planning, selection and extraction, in five different databases, we found thirty-three (33) researches on teaching philosophy to children, however, only two (2) surveys that specifically address children’s experiences with teaching philosophy. Through this Review we wish to contribute to research on Philosophy for Children. Keywords: Children; Philosophy; Childhood; Review. La enseñanza de la filosofía con/para niños: una revisión sistemática de la literatura Resumen: El presente estudio tiene como objetivo identificar, en la literatura existente, qué estudios de filosofía para / con niños que investigan las experiencias de los niños en esta práctica. Mediante una Revisión Sistemática de la Literatura (RSL), realizada en tres etapas: planificación, selección y extracción, en cinco bases de datos diferentes, encontramos treinta y tres (33) investigaciones sobre la enseñanza de la filosofía a los niños (Filosofía para Niños) sin embargo, solo dos (2) encuestas que abordan específicamente las experiencias de los niños con la enseñanza de la filosofía. A través de esta revisión, deseamos contribuir a la investigación sobre Filosofía para Niños. Palabras Clave: Niños; Filosofía; Infancia; Revisión. Data de registro: 07/01/2021 Data de aceite: 22/09/2021. (shrink)

O artigo pretende formular uma breve reflexão sobre o pensamento de Tomás de Aquino no campo da ética e do direito romano sobre as oscilações e paradoxos das práticas inquisitoriais na Idade Média. No medievo a Criação e a onipotência de Deus abrigam, enfim, a pensar um poder absoluto adaptado ao mundo senhorial, portanto, a partir do século XII o domínio da Igreja e da monarquia acendem as fogueiras onde se queimam os livros e os homens para extirpar do ocidente (...) cristão as heresias. Ao se construir um processo inquisitorial ocorre a necessidade irreprimível da confissão da verdade. Os fatos que parecem comuns alteram-se e passam a ser considerados crimes de infidelidade contra a tradição e a majestade divina, e logo tornam-se peça de contestação provocando polêmicas acusatórias, amparadas no degesto, isto é, no direito romano. Devemos ressaltar, nesse panorama, que a grande maioria dos pensadores dos séculos XII e XIII era proveniente de ordens religiosas católicas, os Padres da Igreja que exerciam domínio político, intelectual e cultural, especialmente a ordem dos dominicanos representada pela figura de Tomás de Aquino. Os dominicanos eram afeitos aos estudos e a produção de teses legitimada pela Igreja romana. Isso favoreceu o desenvolvimento do modelo inquisitorial dotado de fundamentação acadêmica e, portanto, realista. Tomás de Aquino se dedicou a apresentar correções e ajustes diante das oscilações e paradoxos no trato com a pessoa humana no período crucial da história medieval. (shrink)

This paper describes Stein’s process for establishing the relationship between finite and temporal beings and infinite and eternal beings. Although she contextualized her research in the fields of phenomenology and ontology, Stein surpasses these domains. Following Aquinas, Stein uses the analogy to trace the ascension towards the sense of Being. However, this process ends up being closest to the position of St. Augustine. In fact, the author first draws up a temporal analogy and then a personal analogy starting from two (...) pieces of evidence: the certainty of “I am”, from Augustine, Descartes, and Husserl, and the divine “I am”, according to the name that God reveals of himself: “I am who I am”. Through personal analogy, the author goes beyond phenomenology and ontology, while the category “person” includes both being and an attributed fullness. (shrink)

Founded in Asia, in the third century, by Mani, manicheism constituted, by itself, in a doctrinal viewpoint, in a gnosis that mixed oriental principles of sects/religions, specially from Zoroastrism and Budism, Greek-Roman Philosophy and Christianism. His basic thesis consisted of statement of two ontological principles: Good or Light, presented by the sun, and Evil or Darkness, personified in matter. From this ontological Dualism arose a cosmology/soteriology that presented the salvation history of world in three moments: the first-one, initial, embodies the (...) two principles cosmic origins and their first conflicts. The second-one, medial, is the mixture time is characterized by the downfall of one the Light parts in the matter, as well as it is the universe being creation time. At last, the third-one, final, marks the liberation of all Light particles, imbricated in the matter, meaning the Light return to Father's kingdom and the matter's definitive downfall into the hell. (shrink)

This dissertation aims to examine whether John Searle’s biological naturalism is a more viable alternative to current physicalist and functionalist positions in dealing with the issue of free will. Thus, my strategy is to identify the assumptions of these lines of thought and their philosophical consequences. In order to accomplish this goal the concept of intrinsic intentionality is taken as a guide. I begin by defining what is meant by free will and go on to broadly characterize physicalist and functionalist (...) positions in philosophy of mind. Then, I go on to show how the question of free will arises and can be crucial to such currents of thought. Subsequently, I summarize the biological naturalist position (especially regarding the ontology of consciousness and the question of intentionality) and oppose it to physicalism and functionalism in order to examine the possibility of free will. In this opposition, each theory is decomposed into its main tenets so that they can be critically analyzed. In this analysis, it appears that free will does not seem to find any room in the scenario presented by physicalism and functionalism. It is argued that Searlean biological naturalism is able to explain – better than the other two positions – how free action can be motivated by something that is external to the mental state which is itself performing the action. I then evaluate the ethical implications of these findings, articulating the issues of intrinsic intentionality, free will, strong artificial intelligence in order to conclude that current machines cannot be assigned moral responsibility, since they are not capable of intrinsic intentionality. Then, I argue for the evolutionary origin of intentionality and therefore morality. Finally, I argue that neuroscience does not eliminate moral responsibility since it does not prove that free will is an illusion, i.e., that this branch of science does not contradict John Searle’s biological naturalism. (shrink)

The European Union faced high risks from personal data proliferation to individuals’ privacy. Legislation has emerged that seeks to articulate all interests at stake, balancing the need for data flow from EU countries with protecting personal data: the General Data Protection Regulation. One of the mechanisms established by this new law to strengthen the individual’s control over their data is the so-called “right to be forgotten”, the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of records. In gender transition, this (...) right represents a powerful form of control over personal data, especially health data that may reveal a gender with which they do not identify and reject. Therefore, it is pertinent to discern whether the right to have personal data deleted—in particular, health data—is ethically acceptable in gender transition. Towards addressing the ethical dimensions of the right to be forgotten in this case, this study presents relevant concepts, briefly outlines history, ethics and law of records considering the evolution from paper to electronic format, the main aspects of identity construction and gender identity, and explores the relationship between privacy, data protection/information control and identity projection. Also, it discusses in gender transition the relation between “the right to self-determination”, “the right to delete”, and “the right to identity and individuality”. Conclusions on the ethical admissibility of the ‘right to be forgotten’ to control gender-affirming information are presented. (shrink)

A obra intitulada, “Pedagogia social de rua: análise e sistematização de uma experiência vivida”, tem como autora Maria Stela Santos Graciani. Foi publicada no ano de 2005, em São Paulo, pela editora Cortez, pertencendo ao 4° volume da Coleção Prospectiva.

Explicit forms of rationing have already been implemented in some countries, and many of these prioritization systems resort to Norman Daniels’ “accountability for reasonableness” methodology. However, a question still remains: is “accountability for reasonableness” not only legitimate but also fair? The objective of this paper is to try to adjust “accountability for reasonableness” to the World Health Organization’s holistic view of health and propose an evolutionary perspective in relation to the “normal” functioning standard proposed by Norman Daniels. To accomplish this (...) purpose the authors depart from the “normal” functioning standard to a model that promotes effective opportunity for everyone in health care access, because even within the “normal” functioning criteria some treatments and medical interventions should have priority upon others. Equal opportunity function is a mathematical function that helps to hierarchize moral relevant necessities in health care according to this point of view. It is concluded, first, that accountability for reasonableness is an extremely valuable tool to address the issue of setting limits in health care; second, that what is called in this paper “equal opportunity function” might reflect how accountability for reasonableness results in fair limit-setting decisions; and third, that this methodology must be further specified to best achieve fair limit-setting decisions. Indeed, when resources are especially scarce the methodology suggested in this paper might allow not only prioritizing in an “all or nothing” basis but can contribute to a hierarchy system of priorities in health care. (shrink)

In this article I aim to clarify the role of science and technology in Weil's account of the formation and maintenance of the bureaucratic state as a totalitarian form of State, which allows to identify the similarities between capitalist, fascist and communist regimes. In the first section I characterize Weil's conception of modernity. Having The Need for Roots as my main reference, first, I reconstruct Weil's conceptualization of human nature, after I explore the meanings and signs of uprootedness and Weil's (...) critique of Marxism. In the second section, I analyze the relationship between Revolution, Totalitarianism and the invention of the bureaucratic State. I retake Weil's critique of Marx and the Marxists arguing that science and technology must be subjected to a new criticism today, for they have been reduced to mere means of a totalitarian logic, which ultimately reinforces social oppression. I conclude by rescuing Weil's defense of the fundamental value of individual freedom and of thought, for our humanity lies in it. (shrink)

The realization that there is a process of transnationalization of the Brazilian prison-based criminal group self-named First Command of the Capital can only be understood as an effect of the practices, forms of operation, activities, and configurations taken by criminal networks within the structural changes associated with globalization, particularly the dynamics of the illicit markets for cocaine and marijuana. Understanding PCC's process of transnationalization entails considering the specificities of a group that has its origins in prisons and the particularities of (...) the Brazilian criminal dynamic, in the center of which prisons occupy an increasingly important place. Even though PCC has participated and amplified its international presence, and has in fact entered these global networks to operate within them, they do so in a way that is still devoted to its performance in Brazil. However, there are elements that indicate that the group is evolving toward new configurations in this global criminal market, especially that of drug trafficking. (shrink)

It is intended to problematize the concept of essence, based on Edmundo Huserl’s menology, which is directly related to the zero of knowledge, which takes place from the process of époche, or suspension of the degree of judgment, to apprehend the knowledge of to intentional experiences (Husserl, 1907). Would we be able to reach the zero degree of knowledge? Would it be possible to apprehend the essence of things? Would the phenomenological method give us elements that allow it to aim (...) at things? Would we be able to overcome, through suspension of judgments, the concepts that we use on a daily basis? What essence would this be, when we are formed and conformed to the concept of essence, as a pure form deriving from the Platonic doctrine (Plato, 1972). What conclusion can we reach on this matter? And what are the consequences for a rigorous reading of the concept of essence in Husserl? This is our intention in this article, as a reflective challenge. (shrink)

Recently, psychological phenomena have been expanded to new domains, crisscrossing boundaries of organizational levels, with the emergence of areas such as social personality and ecosystem learning. In this contribution, we analyze the ascription of an individual-based concept (personality) to the social level. Although justified boundary crossings can boost new approaches and applications, the indiscriminate misuse of concepts refrains the growth of scientific areas. The concept of social personality is based mainly on the detection of repeated group differences across a population, (...) in a direct transposition of personality concepts from the individual to the social level. We show that this direct transposition is problematic for avowing the nonsensical ascription of personality even to simple electronic devices. To go beyond a metaphoric use of social personality, we apply the organizational approach to a review of social insect communication networks. Our conceptual analysis shows that socially self-organized systems, such as isolated ant trails and bee’s recruitment groups, are too simple to have social personality. The situation is more nuanced when measuring the collective choice between nest sites or foraging patches: some species show positive and negative feedbacks between two or more self-organized social structures so that these co-dependent structures are inter-related by second-order, social information systems, complying with a formal requirement for having social personality: the social closure of constraints. Other requirements include the decoupling between individual and social dynamics, and the self-regulation of collective decision processes. Social personality results to be sometimes a metaphorical transposition of a psychological concept to a social phenomenon. The application of this organizational approach to cases of learning ecosystems, or evolutionary learning, could help to ground theoretically the ascription of psychological properties to levels of analysis beyond the individual, up to meta-populations or ecological communities. (shrink)

Manicheism is founded in two world originating ontological principles: Good or Light, presented by the sun and Evil or Darkness, personinified in the matter. From this ontological dualism proceeds the idea which man is not responsible to the evil he practices according to, but this-one (evil) is to be blamed to his bad nature, in other words evil is inherent to his corporal nature. Hence, strictly speaking, there is no real evil in manicheism, but only natural evil. However, paradoxally, manicheism (...) refers to a duty Moral, which through the man good part (the soul) must struggle in order to be liberated from matter´s bonds (the boddy), through an ascetical rigorous life, materialized in three commandments observance, the to called three seals: mouth, hands and breast seals. (shrink)

The dynamic of changes in the rules in team games materialize from research and debate between experts and coaches before being implemented by the International Federations. In Handball, the last changes occurred in 2016, and one of them was to substitute the goalkeeper with an additional field player allowing teams to play “empty goal” while using the additional field player.This study aimed to analyze and characterize the use of the 7 vs. 6 strategical-tactical option for the attack in the 2020 (...) Men’s European Championship. We also analyzed whether the game time and partial score influenced the use of 7 vs. 6 and its efficiency. Observational methodology and a mixed ad hoc instrument combining field format and category systems validated by experts were used. Data were taken from 28 matches involving teams in the first 12 positions in the 2020 Men’s European Championship. The total number of offensive sequences in an organized attack method in 7 vs. 6 with an empty goal were analyzed. Sequential analysis techniques with lags, prospective and retrospective, and polar coordinate analysis were used. The results showed that these solutions had poor efficiency, except for the Portuguese National Team; teams using the 7 vs. 6 tactic option had no negative consequences or increased risk with the opponent response; partial score influenced the decision to use 7 vs. 6 strategic option, and game time was associated with 7 vs. 6 play options and detected patterns. (shrink)

The coming to office of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has brought to the fore the need to understand the rise of the far right and to come to terms with the conflicted legacies of more than a decade of rule under the Workers’ Party. This forum brings together six leading intellectuals from different traditions on the left and introduces their reflections on the contradictions and complexities of the Workers’ Party, the 2008 crisis, the June 2013 protests, the weakness of the (...) Brazilian left, corruption, and on how to characterise Bolsonaro’s regime. Their interventions offer crucial insights that are relevant today not just to Brazil, or even Latin America, but to the politics of the left worldwide. (shrink)

On 30 June 2021, Ohio state Governor, Mike DeWine, signed a Bill which would enact the state's budget for the next two years. In addition to its core funding imperatives, the Bill also contained an amendment significantly expanding entitlements of health care providers to conscientiously object to professional duties to provide controversial health care services. This amendment has been heavily criticised as providing the means to allow health care providers to discriminate against a wide range of persons by denying them (...) access to often contested services such as abortion and contraception. In this paper, we examine the implications of this amendment and situate it in relation to other legislative actions intended to guarantee absolute rights to conscientious objection. In doing so, we argue that the entitlements extended to health care providers by these Bills are overly broad and ignore their potential to allow significant harm to be caused to clients. We then argue that if health care providers should have rights to conscientiously object, then any legislation intended to protect such rights should be limited, specific, and parsimonious. Where it is not, the ideological liberty of HCPs treads dangerously on the physical freedom of their clients. (shrink)

The more we rely on digital assistants, online search engines, and AI systems to revise our system of beliefs and increase our body of knowledge, the less we are able to resort to some independent criterion, unrelated to further digital tools, in order to asses the epistemic reliability of the outputs delivered by them. This raises some important questions to epistemology in general and pressing questions to applied to epistemology in particular. In this paper, we propose an experimental method for (...) the assessment of GPT-3’s capacity to generate consistent and coherent sets of outputs. When several outputs to one and the same input are very repetitive they tend to be consistent with each other, that is they do not contradict each other. But consistency does not make the set of outputs as a whole more informative than the outputs considered individually. We argue that the less informative a set of outputs is, the less coherent it is. We establish a conceptual distinction between consistency and coherence in the light of what some epistemologists refer to as a coherence theories of truth and justification. While much attention has been given to GPT-3’s capacity to produce internally coherent individual outputs, we argue, instead, that more attention should be given to its capacity to produce consistent and coherent outputs generated on a single-input-multiple-outputs basis. (shrink)

The coming to office of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has brought to the fore the need to understand the rise of the far right and to come to terms with the conflicted legacies of more than a decade of rule under the Workers’ Party. This forum brings together six leading intellectuals from different traditions on the left and introduces their reflections on the contradictions and complexities of the Workers’ Party, the 2008 crisis, the June 2013 protests, the weakness of the (...) Brazilian left, corruption, and on how to characterise Bolsonaro’s regime. Their interventions offer crucial insights that are relevant today not just to Brazil, or even Latin America, but to the politics of the left worldwide. (shrink)

The aim of this research is to analyze the effects of innovation strategies, Total Quality Management dimensions, and internationalization strategies that Higher Education Institutions might adopt, and their effects on their organizational performance. Due to globalization and the constant changes and demands that have taken place today, HEIs are forced to seek new quality assurance instruments in higher education, to ensure greater competitiveness in the markets and their survival. To examine the association between the independent variables, namely, TQM dimensions, innovation (...) strategies, and internationalization strategies with the dependent variable, that is organizational performance of HEIs, we have chosen to use multiple linear regression analysis. A nine-predictor multiple linear regression model was proposed. The nine predictor variables are Communication, Involvement/teacher empowerment, Development/Teacher training, Continuous improvement, Leadership/Administration’s Commitment, Data analysis/Measurement of results, Focus on students, Innovation Strategies, and Internationalization strategy. We conclude that some TQM variables have a significant association with the organizational performance of HEIs, namely, Involvement/teacher empowerment, and Development/teacher training. On the other hand, also the Innovation strategies and Internationalization strategy have a significant association with the organizational performance of HEIs. This research is of enormous importance for the study of HEIs, considering their role in the development of any country and its impact on society as creators of knowledge and science. Since these institutions increasingly must deal with extremely competitive market environments, knowledge of the factors that can assist in increasing the organizational performance of HEIs is of great relevance. (shrink)

Background Infertility is an increasingly prevalent disease in society and is considered by the World Health Organization to be a public health problem. An important ethical issue arises from the clarification of reproductive rights in a fair and equal way. The objective of this study was to deepen and update the knowledge and discussion about the difficulty of accessing infertility treatments in Brazil. Methods A cross-sectional observational study was carried out through the application of an online questionnaire that collected the (...) socioeconomic characteristics of couples and identify how barriers to infertility care affect the most vulnerable populations. We included couples who sought medical assistance to achieve pregnancy at two clinics in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Results A total of 201 questionnaires were analyzed. Most couples self-declared as white and the average age of wives was 36 years and husbands 38 years. 65% (65%) of couples would proceed with the treatment in a different city to which they lived, 37% evaluated as having easy access to a medical specialist only after indication, and more than half of the participating have thought about giving up the treatment due to some difficulty in accessing it. 39% of participants sought more than one medical service to find better reception, 42% of couples sought more than one medical service to define where it would be better financially, and 67.2% referred to the high cost of treatments, that is, financial issues, as a great difficulty in accessing medical services and/or treatment. Although 72.6% of couples considered having a good quality of life, 54.2% admitted that infertility and the search for treatment generated anxiety/stress in the couple’s life. Conclusion There is a need for public education on reproductive health and for policymakers to raise awareness of the importance of the difficulty that many couples face in seeking treatment to become pregnant, especially in countries with less financial resources. Indeed, it is commonly accepted that there is a universal human right to access healthcare of appropriate quality as a matter of justice. Discussion of access to reproductive technologies should be considered taking into account the longstanding ethical debate regarding fertility, fecundity, and infertility, as well as reproductive care. (shrink)