At its mid-point of implementation, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—and broader sustainability—is challenged by multiple crises facing the international community. Despite the unprecedented adoption of the 2030 Agenda by UN Member States in 2015, there are clear signals that there is inadequate progress on achieving the Agenda's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This article aims to encourage discussion, from an affective research angle, on potential emotional barriers to SDG implementation. It equally strives to spur greater insight into how the field (...) of affective sciences can help overcome these and other hurdles and provide invaluable insights and recommendations to bridge the gap between policy and practice. (shrink)

Because of its appeal to the imagination, the intellect, the affections, and the will, literature has an invaluable role in the applied ethics education of business professionals and college students. This essay reaps ethics and ethical leadership insights from King Lear, while relishing its aesthetic value. By its side, core concepts underlying a proper understanding of applied ethics and hence ethical leadership are emphasized; particularly, the elements of human nature, moral agency and responsibility, the difference between morality and ethics, and (...) an overview of virtue ethics and key intellectual and moral virtues. Stressing the connection between literature and moral philosophy, this essay shows how poetry can engagingly and compellingly transmit ethical concepts and values in leadership education. (shrink)

Antecedentes. En el 2007 se legalizó el aborto en la Ciudad de México, acusando una elevada mortalidad materna por aborto.Objetivo. Analizar los datos generales de la mortalidad materna y por aborto en el país y en la capital.Metodología. Estudio retrospectivo, con datos obtenidos del INEGI. Cálculo de la razón de mortalidad materna general y por aborto. Análisis de correlación de Pearson y regresión lineal de los resultados. Análisis de tendencias de incremento y decremento anual. Desglose de muertes maternas.Resultado. Regresión lineal (...) sobre la RMM nacional (R² = 0.87) con tendencia a la baja; RMM por aborto nacional (R² = 0.49) con débil tendencia hacia la baja; RMM por aborto en la Ciudad de México (R² = 0.001) no muestra una tendencia hacia la baja.Conclusión. La despenalización del aborto en la Ciudad de México no mostró tener un impacto en la reducción de muertes maternas por aborto. El aborto provocado ocupa el 12° lugar de las muertes maternas en México. (shrink)

A partir del libro IX del De Trinitate, Agustín refl exiona sobre el modode conocerse el alma a sí misma y plantea que no puede el alma anhelarconocerse si no se conoce ya de algún modo, porque “nadie ama lodesconocido”. En este contexto hay un pasaje en el que Agustín describeexplícitamente el conocimiento que el alma tiene de sí como sustancial,comparando su modo de existir en el alma con el modo de existir el almamisma. Luego de (...) exponer qué puede signifi car el término sustancial enel De Trinitate, y cómo es posible que el alma se busque si ya se conoce,mostraremos que se puede afi rmar que el alma tiene un conocimientosustancial de sí, a pesar de la ambigüedad –en algunos casos terminológicay en otros, de sentido– de los textos. (shrink)

En Político (268d-277a) la historia ficticia de la reversión periódica del universo expresa la existencia en el universo de dos fuerzas o tendencias en concurrencia: la que orienta al mundo y al hombre hacia su télos, que es lo más perfecto, y la tendencia hacia el desorden y la confusión, es decir, la puramente mecánica y azarosa. Finalidad y mecanismo las dos tendencias que están presentes en Timeo, reaparecen en el libro de Leyes bajo la forma de un alma (...) buena y un alma mala. La primera es la que da cuenta del movimiento racional del mundo, en tanto que la segunda es causante de su movimiento alocado e irregular (897c-d). En Político las dos tendencias o fuerzas rectoras del universo alternan su predominancia, están en tensión. Y es la medida de esa alternancia la que salva al mundo de la destrucción y hace que se mantenga el equilibrio. Ese juego de tensiones traduce la existencia de una proporcionalidad en el seno del universo, gracias a la cual el mundo es precisamente un kósmos. En el Timeo el equilibrio resulta de la persuasión que la inteligencia ejerce sobre la necesidad, orientándola hacia lo mejor. También en Leyes reaparece esta idea, en X 906a ese equilibrio consiste en una tensión entre lo racional y lo irracional que hay en el universo. (shrink)

Tras una breve introducción destinada a recordar las grandes líneas del pensamiento de plotiniano, el trabajo analiza tres modos de conocimiento o de aprehensión que caracterizan los tres niveles de la realidad o hipóstasis. En el nivel de la inteligencia, nous, al que se denomina nivel noético, se verifica un tipo de conocimiento genuino, que es el autoconocimiento. En el nivel del alma, psiché, nivel dianoético, se da un conocimiento de tipo discursivo que sólo en sentido secundario y derivado (...) es conocimiento de sí. Por fin, en el nivel de lo Uno, tó ghén, nivel supranoético, puede hablarse de un conocimiento de sí solo en sentido traslaticio y “eminencial”, puesto que el primer principio de la realidad, que es absoluta unidad, al no tener duplicidad alguna, en sentido estricto no puede tener pensamiento, ni siquiera de sí mismo, pero, al mismo, no es algo inherte, si no absoluta plenitud. El trabajo intenta mostrar cómo Plotino se apoya en el tipo de conocimiento de la inteligencia, que le sirve de punto nodal, para articular los tres modos de conocimiento y para caracterizar un “infra-autoconocimiento”, el del alma, y un “supra-autoconocimiento”, el de lo Uno. (shrink)

En Político (268d-277a) la historia ficticia de la reversión periódica del universo expresa la existencia en el universo de dos fuerzas o tendencias en concurrencia: la que orienta al mundo y al hombre hacia su télos, que es lo más perfecto, y la tendencia hacia el desorden y la confusión, es decir, la puramente mecánica y azarosa. Finalidad y mecanismo las dos tendencias que están presentes en Timeo, reaparecen en el libro de Leyes bajo la forma de un alma (...) buena y un alma mala. La primera es la que da cuenta del movimiento racional del mundo, en tanto que la segunda es causante de su movimiento alocado e irregular (897c-d). En Político las dos tendencias o fuerzas rectoras del universo alternan su predominancia, están en tensión. Y es la medida de esa alternancia la que salva al mundo de la destrucción y hace que se mantenga el equilibrio. Ese juego de tensiones traduce la existencia de una proporcionalidad en el seno del universo, gracias a la cual el mundo es precisamente un kósmos. En el Timeo el equilibrio resulta de la persuasión que la inteligencia ejerce sobre la necesidad, orientándola hacia lo mejor. También en Leyes reaparece esta idea, en X 906a ese equilibrio consiste en una tensión entre lo racional y lo irracional que hay en el universo. (shrink)

Santo Tomás de Aquino comenzó a redactar estos Comentarios a las correspondientes obras de Aristóteles en Roma (1268) y los terminó en París (1269). Son un complemento al tratado "Del alma" y dan por supuesto lo que este tratado explica sobre la esencia, las facultades y los actos del alma, especialmente los actos de los sentidos, tanto externos como internos. Aunque a lo largo de sus "Comentarios" Santo Tomás repite algunos rasgos básicos de la sensación expuestos en "Del (...) alma", su preocupación es explanar la psicofísica de tales actos en relación con sus objetos respectivos. Por lo que a la secuencia de estos libros se refiere, se aprecia un avance vital desde el comentario esquivo al "De sensu et sensato" al cautivante comentario al "De memoria et reminiscentia". Al traspasar la raya ideal que divide el mundo exterior y el interior, penetramos en un ámbito de luz orientadora y de ejercicio persuasivo. (shrink)

Apresentação de Psicologia Racional e a Ideia Pseudo-racional de Alma, de Michelle Grier.

A importância da memória na Subida do Monte Carmelo advém de sua capacidade de manter as experiências agradáveis ou desagradáveis, permitindolhes que se aprofundem e se ramifiquem na alma, com graves repercussões na vida espiritual. A memória busca, no arquivo de imagens e vivências, dados que alimentem a agressividade, a cobiça, a paixão, soberba e vingança; com o agravante de que não tem limites de duração, o que lhe permite realizar continuamente esta sua ação. A alma, quando retém (...) e apreende preferencialmente a lembrança de amarguras passadas, acaba não se abrindo para a ação divina que ora se lhe manifesta. Por isso, para que participe diretamente da comunhão divina,da mesma forma que as demais potências espirituais, a memória deve esvaziarse. A purificação e o esvaziamento da memória não prescrevem o esquecimento do que se conhece ou se lembra, apenas manifestam a necessidade de ela ficar livre de considerações particulares numa esperança que a purifica a fim de deixá-la livre para receber a comunicação divina. (shrink)

A intervenção percorre a história dos atributos antonianos, iniciando-se pela figura e suas vestes: Menino de coro, Cónego regrante de Santo Agostinho e Franciscano. Analisa a evolução das vestes franciscanas e o caso único com adereços de Doutor. As primeiras representações portuguesas mostram António com o atributo da cruz, reveladora de um seguidor de Cristo pobre e crucificado. O livro aparece aberto ou fechado e caracteriza um depositário da doutrina evangélica. O Menino Jesus é atributo preferido desde o século (...) XV. Começa por aparecer sobre o peito e depois a aparição adopta variadíssimas posições em relação, muitas vezes, com o livro. A açucena, documentada desde quinhentos, torna-se mais habitual desde o século XVII. Estudam--se também os atributos por contaminação com Santo Antão Abade. Novos temas relacionam o Santo com as almas do Purgatório e com a devoção ao pão dos pobres, muito divulgada no século XIX. (shrink)

Resenha de: SOARES, Emanoel Luís Roque. As vinte e uma faces de Exu na filosofia afrodescendente da educação. Cruz das Almas/Belo Horizonte: EdUFRB/Fino Traço, 2016.

Se propone rastrear la interpretación que Schiller lleva a cabo en las Cartas sobre la educación estética del hombre del análisis kantiano del juicio de gusto puro como asociado con una suspensión de toda determinación que hace posible la experiencia de la belleza. Para Schiller, esto resulta en una temporalidad de lo bello experimentada como suspensión, que se torna adicionalmente en una suspensión de la temporalidad. El artículo muestra cómo este concepto resulta esencial para el concepto de crítica estética en (...) Schiller, que se relaciona con una capacidad de la experiencia estética de desactivar formas de violencia que, según el diagnóstico que Schiller propone en las Cartas, saturan su presente histórico. Con ello, el artículo pretende mostrar la pertinencia de la obra de Schiller para la configuración de este aspecto de la crítica filosófica-histórica. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of Spanish nurses in relation to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. In an online questionnaire completed by 390 nurses from Andalusia, 59.1% adequately identified a euthanasia situation and 64.1% a situation involving physician-assisted suicide. Around 69% were aware that both practices were illegal in Spain, while 21.4% had received requests for euthanasia and a further 7.8% for assisted suicide. A total of 22.6% believed that cases of euthanasia had (...) occurred in Spain and 11.4% believed the same for assisted suicide. There was greater support (70%) for legalisation of euthanasia than for assisted suicide (65%), combined with a greater predisposition towards carrying out euthanasia (54%), if it were to be legalised, than participating in assisted suicide (47.3%). Nurses in Andalusia should be offered more education about issues pertaining to the end of life, and extensive research into this area should be undertaken. (shrink)

Objetivo: El siguiente artículo tiene como propósito la revisión de la literatura existente cuyo enfoque sea las herramientas tecnológicas utilizadas para el abordaje del paciente con síntomas de salud mental, de manera virtual, para describir las ventajas, la eficacia, la efectividad y los beneficios de estas herramientas, a partir de la literatura encontrada. Métodos: se realizó una búsqueda en las bases de datos Pubmed, Elsevier, UpToDate, Journal of Medical Internet Research y Google Académico. Se identificó un total de 58 artículos (...) que versan sobre la eficacia y efectividad de las diferentes modalidades digitales (tales como aplicaciones, cuestionarios en línea, mensajes de texto, etc.) que tratan la salud mental. Resultados: la búsqueda realizada arrojó un total de 58 artículos. Tras la eliminación de duplicados, el número fue de 50 artículos. Después de la caracterización de la información basada en la revisión de la totalidad del contenido, fueron elegidos 30 artículos para que sirvieran como base para la construcción de la síntesis de datos. Conclusiones: las herramientas virtuales utilizadas en salud mental ofrecen un sin fin de beneficios para prestar un servicio con un acceso más sencillo a la población, de forma económica y efectiva, sin temor a que los pacientes sean estigmatizados al momento de buscar ayuda, como se pudo evidenciar en los artículos presentados. Además, las herramientas digitales utilizadas en psiquiatría han demostrado ser eficaces y seguras, sin embargo, son de reciente aparición y cuentan con una cantidad limitada de estudios que demuestren objetivamente su eficacia en esta área. (shrink)

BackgroundMonitoring recovery–stress balance in sport is becoming more relevant to prevent training maladaptation and reach the optimal performance for each athlete. The use of questionnaires that identify the athlete’s recovery–stress state have much acceptance in sports due to reliability and useful, furthermore for its low cost. Identifying possible differences between sport modalities and sex is important to determine specific needs and possible intervention ways to keep a recovery–stress balance. The aim was to analyze the differences in the recovery–stress state and (...) mood states by sex and sport type during the competitive phase in young Mexican athletes. As a secondary objective, the psychometric properties of the Mexican version of the Recovery–Stress Questionnaire for Athletes were analyzed.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried on with 461 athletes, 17.95 years old, from six sports disciplines. The RESTQ-Sport and Profile of Mood States were applied in a single moment. Differences by sex and sports modality were analyzed. RESTQ-Sport’s confirmatory factor analysis was performed after the stress and recovery theoretical structure of two stress and two recovery dimensions, and last, the concurrent validation with the POMS was carried on.ResultsSignificant differences by sex were found in the General Recovery and Sport Stress dimensions of the RESTQ-Sport as well as Vigor factor of the POMS, being higher for men; furthermore, both the Sport Recovery dimension of RESTQ-Sport and Cholera and the Fatigue and Depression factors from POMS also had differences by sport type, showing a less recovery and high stress for individual sport athletes. Goodness-of-fit indexes of the model for the RESTQ-Sport were acceptable. Pearson’s correlation between questionnaires was moderate.ConclusionThe recovery–stress state shows differences in the function of sex and sport modality. More special attention is suggested for women and individual sport athletes. The higher punctuation for men compared with women in sport stress dimension did not negatively affect the recovery–stress balance for male athletes. Finally, the Mexican context adaptation of the RESTQ-Sport provides a psychometric instrument suitable to assess the recovery–stress balance in Mexican athletes. (shrink)

It is no coincidence that some of the great psychological novels from the eighteenth century were all published either before or round about the appearance of the term “rights of man”, which only began to take hold after 1789. By going through some of the novels of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially Pride and Prejudice (1813), by Jane Austen, we shall analyse more keenly in what way the key traits of the notion of gentleman that prevailed over the (...) eighteenth century were deeply intertwined with a rather conservative cultivation of the idea of dignity; and the chief argument we shall advocate is that these novels help us tell the story of the fall from grace of the Augustan conception of dignity and the provenance of its universal recognition to all men and women. The rise of individual rights that sprang therefrom would not have ensued, were it not for a thriving strong sense of autonomy and cultural wisdom among educated citizens inspired by heroes and heroines of the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centry English novel. (shrink)

Situationists in moral philosophy infer from empirical studies in social psychology that human beings lack cross-situational behavioral consistency: that is, for the most part, we human beings are not able to act in the same trait-relevant way across a range of distinct types of situations, because those situational differences trigger differences in behavior. In this paper we defend the following thesis: one who accepts this conclusion (that is, one who judges that human beings in general are not possessed of behavioral (...) consistency) cannot make a promise in good faith. This has important consequences for the ethical institution of promising and its associated reactive attitudes. (shrink)

El propósito del estudio que generó el presente artículo fue analizar las percepciones de coordinadores y docentes tutores sobre el desarrollo de competencias generales en estudiantes de pregrado desde la acción tutorial. El estudio se realizó según el enfoque cualitativo y diseño fenomenológico, cuya población la constituyeron coordinadores y docentes tutores de estudiantes de pregrado de una Universidad de Lima desde sus experiencias en la acción tutorial. El tamaño de la muestra se determinó por el criterio de saturación. Los datos (...) se recogieron por medio de una guía de encuesta estructurada y el rigor científico se orientó según criterios de calidad: credibilidad, transferibilidad, dependencia y confirmabilidad. Se encontró como resultado principal que la acción tutorial contribuye al desarrollo de algunas competencias genéricas, tales como las comunicativas escritas y orales, y el trabajo en equipo, que son las más valoradas por la experiencia tutorial, ya que se requiere de comunicación fluida. (shrink)

The main objective of this work is to understand the daily practices of user management in post-reformist devices in the Brazilian mental health field. Through Foucault's genealogical work on government practices, understood as forms of conducting the behavior of others, it is possible to open a possible field for the study of the practices of psi knowledge, considering them as forms of management that act by through the free and natural acts of individuals. More specifically, our goal is to examine (...) day-to-day practices on some reformist devices such as CAPS through user files. Basically, two driving models have been found in the new devices: 1) Cases with frank intervention of production of commitments and agreements with users, seeking the entry of this to varied activities and political leadership ; 2) Cases with little response from the user, in which the forms of conduction are implemented by policies of inclusion of family members and close reference characters in the management of the patient's life. (shrink)

This research aims to fill a major gap in the relevant literature on small businesses in developing countries, specifically concerning the development of models to better explain economic and environmental performance as a result of environmental compliance, thus moving toward an explanation of the sustainable behavior of these businesses. Data from 186 pottery craft businesses located in three Mexican states (Oaxaca, Puebla and Tlaxcala) reveal that environmental compliance significantly influences economic and environmental performance, with the mediating role of environmental innovation, (...) confirming the Porter hypothesis in the context of small businesses in an emerging economy. Environmental compliance is an important factor in improving the economic and environmental performance of small businesses in emerging economies. (shrink)

O presente artigo apresenta os resultados de um estudo de caso clínico que buscou compreender os processos psíquicos associados às manifestações de angústia e do sintoma na infância. Com base na teoria psicanalítica, pretendeu-se identificar a representação do paciente de suas figuras parentais, ass..

This book is the outcome of the Workshop Ciências Humanas, held in the city of São Pedro (SP), by thePROPe (Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" - Unesp), with the aim of comprising ebooks for the collection "Desafios Contemporâneos". On this occasion, a team of teachers and representatives of research groups, formed by academics Evandro Fiorin, José Marcos Romão da Silva, Maria Antônia Benutti, Paula da Cruz Landim, Paulo Roberto Masseran, Rosa Maria Araújo Simões (...) and Rosangela da Silva Leote (of several university units and different courses), discussed the ideas of its formulation according to the following "Art, science and creative processes; philosophy in Brazil: incorporation or creation. (shrink)

This study examines how multinational corporations (MNCs) from the retail sector deal with four challenges they face when adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies: the challenge of developing well-performing CSR projects and programs, building competitive advantages based on CSR, responding to local stakeholder issues in the host countries and learning from different CSR experiences on a worldwide basis. Based on in-depth case studies of two globally leading retail MNCs (with strong operations in Latin America), the concept of Transverse CSR Management (...) emerged. Transverse CSR Management is defined as a distinctive form of organizational configuration that crosses different functional areas, country operations, and the boundaries of the firm. In particular, this article makes three main contributions: (1) we identify four central challenges faced by MNC managers when developing their CSR strategies; (2) we propose the concept of Transverse CSR Management to face these central challenges (together, at the same time) and identify its key elements (top management, external stakeholders, functional areas, and country subsidiaries); and (3) we propose four mechanisms (hierarchical, relational, cultural, and collaborative) through which the concept of Transverse CSR Management can be implemented by practicing managers. This study provides valuable insights for MNC managers in headquarters and subsidiaries on the issues they need to address in order to successfully deal with the four CSRrelated challenges. (shrink)

As the official UK COVID Inquiry is investigating the response by the government to the 2020 global pandemic, revealing the difficulties that the Johnson administration had to face and the overall lack of adequate preparedness at the top of the UK executive, people are becoming growingly aware of the many challenges that such situations pose in terms of crisis management and public governance. Beyond the somewhat sterile blame game played by leading political actors, this formal accountability forum has also revealed (...) competing narratives about the crisis that might have hampered any coherent political solution. This article proposes to focus on the ‘official’ narratives by the UK government and to analyse critically the way Boris Johnson narrativised his political response to the pandemic in order to examine how his unconventional style of leadership was deployed during a global crisis. Using a typology of crisis management inspired by crisis expert and leadership scholar Arjen Boin, the objective is to examine how ‘crisis narratives’ framed the way the UK government responded to the crisis. (shrink)

Immigration reform is a highly complex and multifaceted task with significant economic, political and religio-cultural repercussions thereby bringing tremendous ethical challenges and implications. This article explores the possible contribution of modern Catholic Social Teaching in addressing the ethical challenges of immigration reform, particularly in the United States, by examining key themes that could address critical issues in the current debate on immigration reform and arguing how an ethic of risk which, the author submits, runs through the key themes of Catholic (...) Social Teaching explored in this paper, could then serve as an approach in articulating how Christian discipleship could foreground citizenship in the context of immigration. (shrink)

Data do not speak for themselves. Data must be narrated—put to work in particular contexts, sunk into narratives that give them shape and meaning, and mobilized as part of broader processes of interpretation and meaning-making. We examine these processes through the lens of ethnographic practice and, in particular, ethnography’s attention to narrative processes. We draw on a particular case in which digital data must be animated and narrated by different groups in order to examine broader questions of how we might (...) come to understand data ethnographically. (shrink)

Despite the growing interest in societal impact in the business and society literature, there remains a notable gap in research on the impact of health interventions on physical and mental health and social welfare. To address this gap, we shift the unit of analysis to the intervention, akin to the level of analysis used in health research. Drawing on a curated subset of health interventions in the workplace from the public health literature, we argue that management scholars can adopt the (...) methods used by public health scholars to design and assess health interventions. By tapping into the rich insights gained from these studies, management scholars can propose evidence-based interventions and policies that can enhance health outcomes, improve productivity, and cultivate a healthier workplace atmosphere. Collaborating with public health researchers, business and society scholars can help create a new field of research on corporate health policy. (shrink)

What are the consequences of evolutionary theory for the epistemic standing of our beliefs? Evolutionary considerations can be used to either justify or debunk a variety of beliefs. This paper argues that evolutionary approaches to human cognition must at least allow for approximately reliable cognitive capacities. Approaches that portray human cognition as so deeply biased and deficient that no knowledge is possible are internally incoherent and self-defeating. As evolutionary theory offers the current best hope for a naturalistic epistemology, evolutionary approaches (...) to epistemic justification seem to be committed to the view that our sensory systems and belief-formation processes are at least approximately accurate. However, for that reason they are vulnerable to the charge of circularity, and their success seems to be limited to commonsense beliefs. This paper offers an extension of evolutionary arguments by considering the use of external media in human cognitive processes: we suggest that the way humans supplement their evolved cognitive capacities with external tools may provide an effective way to increase the reliability of their beliefs and to counter evolved cognitive biases. (shrink)

The feeling of error (FOE) is the subjective experience that something went wrong during a reasoning or calculation task. The main goal of the present study was to assess the accuracy of the FOE in the context of mental mathematical calculation. We used the number bisection task (NBT) to evoke this metacognitive feeling and assessed it by asking participants if they felt they have committed an error after solving the task. In the NBT participants have to determine whether the number (...) presented in the middle of a triplet corresponds to the arithmetic mean of the two outer numbers (e.g., 07_16_25) with a Yes/No answer. Our results show that FOE reports were strongly correlated with arithmetic errors and numerical properties of the NBT, suggesting that the FOE accurately represents the error. This finding indicates that even very fast metacognitive feelings are reliable when it comes to evaluating one’s own mental performance. Moreover, our results suggest that the occurrence of FOEs is determined by the fluency with which each triplet was solved and the post-decision evaluation processes that occurred after the NBT was solved. Additionally, we asked participants to report their confidence in the given answer for the cases where they did not report FOEs. Participants reported less confidence for the (objectively) incorrect answers than for the (objectively) correct ones, suggesting that in cases where they did not have a conscious FOE they still were able to implicitly detect their errors. Remarkably, confidence was also determined by the fluency of the NBT. (shrink)

The argument from design stands as one of the most intuitively compelling arguments for the existence of a divine Creator. Yet, for many scientists and philosophers, Hume's critique and Darwin's theory of natural selection have definitely undermined the idea that we can draw any analogy from design in artifacts to design in nature. Here, we examine empirical studies from developmental and experimental psychology to investigate the cognitive basis of the design argument. From this it becomes clear that humans spontaneously discern (...) purpose in nature. When constructed theologically and philosophically correctly, the design argument is not presented as conclusive evidence for God's existence but rather as an abductive, probabilistic argument. We examine the cognitive basis of probabilistic judgments in relationship to natural theology. Placing emphasis on how people assess improbable events, we clarify the intuitive appeal of Paley's watch analogy. We conclude that the reason why some scientists find the design argument compelling and others do not lies not in any intrinsic differences in assessing design in nature but rather in the prior probability they place on complexity being produced by chance events or by a Creator. This difference provides atheists and theists with a rational basis for disagreement. (shrink)