Psychedelics have been recognized as model interventions for studying altered states of consciousness. However, few empirical studies of the shamanic state of consciousness, which is anecdotally similar to the psychedelic state, exist. We investigated the neural correlates of shamanic trance using high-density electroencephalography (EEG) in 24 shamanic practitioners and 24 healthy controls during rest, shamanic drumming, and classical music listening, followed by an assessment of altered states of consciousness. EEG data were used to assess changes in absolute power, connectivity, signal (...) diversity, and criticality, which were correlated with assessment measures. We also compared assessment scores to those of individuals in a previous study under the influence of psychedelics. Shamanic practitioners were significantly different from controls in several domains of altered states of consciousness, with scores comparable to or exceeding that of healthy volunteers under the influence of psychedelics. Practitioners also displayed increased gamma power during drumming that positively correlated with elementary visual alterations. Furthermore, shamanic practitioners had decreased low alpha and increased low beta connectivity during drumming and classical music and decreased neural signal diversity in the gamma band during drumming that inversely correlated with insightfulness. Finally, criticality in practitioners was increased during drumming in the low and high beta and gamma bands, with increases in the low beta band correlating with complex imagery and elementary visual alterations. These findings suggest that psychedelic drug-induced and non-pharmacologic alterations in consciousness have overlapping phenomenal traits but are distinct states of consciousness, as reflected by the unique brain-related changes during shamanic trance compared to previous literature investigating the psychedelic state. (shrink)

Mesmo que se possa ponderar que em Apel não exista uma metafísica no sentido tradicional do termo, há que se considerar que existem aí elementos típicos de uma postura metafísica. Dessa forma, a transformação semiótica- transcendental levada adiante por Apel em relação à ética kantiana não se constitui em uma transformação pós-metafísica no sentido estrito do termo, pois, se por um lado Apel recusa os pressupostos metafísicos presentes na ética de Kant, por outro se vale de elementos que, de alguma (...) maneira, sempre estiveram na base da tradição da metafísica ocidental. A novidade é que esses pressupostos aparecem agora reconstruídos a partir de um prisma semiótico-transcendental. Apel opera assim uma espécie de novo deslocamento dentro do deslocamento já efetuado por Kant em relação à metafísica tradicional. (shrink)

Much has been written about recidivist punishments, particularly within the area of criminology. However there is a notorious lack of penal philosophical reflection on this issue. This book attempts to fill that gap by presenting the philosopher’s view on this matter as a way of furthering the debate on recidivist punishments.

Research involving transgender and gender diverse people (TGD) increased in the last years, mostly concerning healthcare associated to this population. Few studies dedicated their analysis to the impact of parental support on transgender people, even though this is an important aspect in creating a safe environment on which these individuals can build their identity. In addition, the link between family support, TGD identity and homelessness is not completely established. Thus, due to the specificities of the family context of TGD individuals, (...) the aim of this study is to investigate the association between family support and TGD in different moments of the process of gender affirmation. In addition, this study also aims to explore the relationship between a lack of social support and low self-esteem, home abandonment, and dwelling in the street. The survey was designed based on the TransPULSE project and was made available in electronic format. The sample was constituted of 423 TGD residents in two Brazilian states. A Structural Equation Model analysis suggested that the impact of gender affirmation status on homelessness was mediated by parental support, through self-esteem, and the need to move from home. The association between the status of the gender affirmation procedures, family support and self-esteem was significant and indicated that the further TGD individuals advanced in gender affirmation, the more self-esteem and family support they would have. The association between family support and self-esteem indicated that family support was associated with higher self-esteem. Low family support was associated with the willingness to move from home due to one’s TGD status and there was also a significant correlation between low self-esteem and the willingness to move from home due to one’s TGD status. Finally, homelessness was associated with the willingness to move with a large effect size. Limitations include the sample that was constituted by individuals with Internet access and who had more contact with TGD communities. The findings indicate directions for interventions involving TGD people and their families, considering the parental relationship as a critical variable to improve TGD quality of life in the process of gender affirmation. (shrink)

This paper addresses the relationship between epistemic difference and hermeneutical injustice, starting from an example discussed by Townsend and Townsend: the case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. My thesis is that translation is inevitably at work in communicative exchanges involving epistemic difference, and that considering the problem of translation allows us to refine our understanding of epistemic injustice and mobilise further resources to respond to it. In a first step, (...) I will discuss McGlynn’s critique of Townsend and Townsend’s approach, and in particular the notion of discursive injustice elaborated by Kukla. Drawing on the notion of symbolic institution as theorised by the Belgian phenomenologist Marc Richir, I will show how translation is at work in this case, seeking to pinpoint the hermeneutical injustice at play. In a second step, I will reflect on the different paradigms of translation and argue for a broad, processual and layered conception of it. Building on Antonio Gramsci’s concept of translatability of languages, I will introduce the notion of epistemic translatability as that which allows translational strategies to be devised across epistemic difference in order to counter hermeneutical injustice. (shrink)

Traditionally attributed to Didymus the Blind, this anonymous work on the Trinity found in the Cod. Rom. Angel. gr. 116, has no certain authorship. The article throws light on the numerous parallels among the so-called De Trinitate and passages from Basil, the two Gregorys, Athanasius, the pseudo-Basilian books IV and V of the Adversus Eunomium, as well as from some writings of Cyril of Alexandria. Even though the question of the paternity of De Trinitate is still destined to remain clouded, (...) the parallels pointed out by the Author tend definitely to exclude Didymus as the author of this anonymous theological tract. (shrink)

In this paper, the possibility of considering liturgy as a work of laziness is developed from one essay of radicalization of the ritual notions of “counterstructure” and “liminality” (V. Turner). We begin by highlighting the fundamental aspect of François Nault’s theological reflection on laziness : the investigation of a new modality of action. We immediately turn to the paradox represented by the daily invitation to enter within the “today” of the divine rest that nourishes the Christian ritual work. Then we (...) reconsider the issue of liturgy as work to question both the thesis that liturgy is the true paradigm of modern work and duty (Agamben) and the perspective that makes it the core of leisure and culture (Pieper). We finally return to the issue of laziness to offer a ritual rereading of the dialectic that connects it to work. (shrink)

Introduction: Novel coronavirus is having a devastating psychological impact on patients, especially patients with cancer. This work aims to evaluate mood disorders of cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy during COVID-19 in comparison with cancer patients who underwent radiation therapy in 2019.Materials and Methods: We included all the patients undergoing radiation therapy at our department in two-time points and during the COVID-19 outbreak. All the patients were asked to fulfill a validated questionnaire, the Symptom Distress thermometer, and the Beck Depression Inventory (...) v.2. We took into account the COVID-19 outbreak and also sex, age, week of radiation treatment, and disease.Results: We included 458 patients, with a median age of 64 years. STAI-Y1 median score was 40, whereas the median score of SDT was five and BDI-2 median score was 11. STAI-Y1, SDT, and BDI-2 were significantly correlated with the COVID-19 outbreak, sex, week of treatment, and disease.Conclusions: The prevalence of mood disorders in patients undergoing radiation therapy is higher than expected and even higher during the COVID-19 outbreak. These measurements could be useful as a baseline to start medical humanities programs to decrease these scores. (shrink)

Benz is a most prolific writer on the history of speculative theology and theosophy and he is especially well-known for his studies on Oetinger and Swedenborg, but at the beginning of his long career he devoted several books to earlier doctrinal developments. There have been many other serious attempts at a comprehensive exposition of the evolution of the different branches of Franciscan theology but the present one is especially interesting because of its strong speculative foundations. Although speculative, these foundations do (...) not prevent a continual elaboration of the political context of the genesis of ideas. From the "predecessor" Joachin da Fiore through Saint Francis himself, to the little known figures of Angelo Clareno, and Olivi and Arnoldo da Villanova, we see the unfolding of the eschatologically orientated theories of the "spiritual church," the challenge which they represented to the "official" theology of the late middle ages, and the ways they were neutralized by the Church of Rome. The book is dealing with more than obscure heresies of remote ages: it expounds issues and ideas which foreshadow and anticipate German Idealism's philosophy of history.--M. J. V. (shrink)

Nosso número 70 traz uma série de reflexões que tocam cruzamentos entre a Filosofia, a Educação e, neles, um sentido de formação que, de alguma maneira, reúne em comum essas duas regiões do saber. Aliás, é sobretudo em torno desse sentido de comum, para além do domínio do conhecimento, mobilizando densas questões de ordem moral e política, que o dossiê Governo das diferenças e as cartografias do ingovernável na educação: entre a arte e a política, organizado pelos professores Pedro Ângelo (...) Pagni e Divino José da Silva, nos conduz entre os inúmeros desafios do Mesmo e da Diferença. Aproveitamos para convidar à leitura de sua apresentação! Nesse momento em que nos movemos, em um mundo que usávamos “partilhar” por meio da informação, e que vemos agora experienciado em comum pela presença global de uma ameaça invisível e pela intensificação de práticas de recusa da diferença: sucumbimos ou resistimos? Que controvérsias produtoras, resistências e afirmações somos capazes de sustentar? Diante do conflito entre uma tradição que nos formou, ao mesmo tempo em que cristalizava preconceitos e privilégios, e os esforços emancipatórios que clamam por diferença e equidade ética, política e material: o que pode nos oferecer o pensamento? Ele diz respeito ao que nos fortalece diante da experiência oscilante entre o medo e o enfrentamento, ao entrecruzamento mesmo entre o “pessimismo da inteligência” e o “otimismo da vontade” gramscianos. É nele que podemos sustentar o desafio do “um” nas margens e contornos da diferença, desdobrando sentidos do resistir e do formar que, em sentidos distintos de alcance e significância, podemos oferecer aos processos totalizadores de condução da existência. [...] Nós, da Revista Educação e Filosofia, esperamos que você, leitora e leitor, façam grande proveito da leitura! (shrink)

Limited health literacy is a pervasive and independent risk factor for poor health outcomes. Despite decades of reports exhibiting that the healthcare system is overly complex, unneeded complexity remains commonplace and endangers the lives of patients, especially those with limited health literacy. In this article, we define health literacy and describe the empirical evidence associating health literacy and poor health outcomes. We recast the issue of poor health literacy from within the ethical perspective of the least well-off and argue that (...) poor health outcomes deriving from limited health literacy ought to be understood as a fundamental injustice of the healthcare system. We offer three proposals that attempt to rectify this injustice, including: universal precautions that presume limited health literacy for all healthcare users; expanded use of technology supported communication; and clinical incentives that account for limited health literacy. (shrink)

Most theories of learning would predict a gradual acquisition and refinement of skills as learning progresses, and while some highlight exponential growth, this fails to explain why natural cognitive development typically progresses in stages. Models that do span multiple developmental stages typically have parameters to “switch” between stages. We argue that by taking an embodied view, the interaction between learning mechanisms, the resulting behavior of the agent, and the opportunities for learning that the environment provides can account for the stage-wise (...) development of cognitive abilities. We summarize work relevant to this hypothesis and suggest two simple mechanisms that account for some developmental transitions: neural readiness focuses on changes in the neural substrate resulting from ongoing learning, and perceptual readiness focuses on the perceptual requirements for learning new tasks. Previous work has demonstrated these mechanisms in replications of a wide variety of infant language experiments, spanning multiple developmental stages. Here we piece this work together as a single model of ongoing learning with no parameter changes at all. The model, an instance of the Epigenetic Robotics Architecture embodied on the iCub humanoid robot, exhibits ongoing multi-stage development while learning pre-linguistic and then basic language skills. (shrink)

For millennia, diagnosticians distinguished natural sadness that arose from social circumstances from depressive disorders that were disproportionate to their contexts. In 1980, the DSM-III transformed this tradition through equating depressive disorders with symptoms without regard to context. Nevertheless, it excluded grieving people without especially severe or enduring symptoms from diagnosis. Subsequently, considerable empirical research indicated that bereavement was not unique but a model for all stressor-maintained conditions. Yet, despite the evidence showing that the causes, prognoses, and optimal treatments for context-specific (...) depressions differ from those that aren’t, the DSM-5 removed the bereavement exclusion from the diagnostic criteria for major depression. This article considers the reasons behind this elimination and its implications for the research, labeling, and treatment of depression. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:BOOK REVIEWS 475 whereas in some texts Aquinas explicitly teaches that the higher senses of vision and hearing are the ones that mainly (praecipue, principaliter) lead to aesthetic experience.t5 Moreover, the statement that only in the thirteenth century was the question of the distinction between the higher and lower senses explicitly raised (p. l13f.), is true only if the author meant to exclude the pre-medieval or patristic as well (...) as the ancient period of philosophy.16 Finally, there is one technical weakness in this book that cannot be left unmentioned. The overwhelming majority of references are not to the original medieval texts treated and/or quoted in the three-volume edition, but to the number of volume and page in that edition. Thus the reader must be both familiar with French and in possession of the original three-volume work, or remain hopelessly frustrated every time he wishes to consult the original texts or at least know which texts are being mentioned. Yet, if one knows French, he does not need the English translation; and if he is also fortunate enough to have access to the original three-volume version, he will not need the abridged version of the original work at all. For this reason, should there be a second edition of this translation, the references should be changed from the l~tudes to the original medieval works. Although the negative remarks are more lengthy in this review than the positive evaluation is, it would be a grave mistake to conclude from this that the defects outweigh the value of the book. As a matter of fact, upon finishing the reading of this translation of De Bruyne's work, this reviewer was left with the conviction that, in the final balance, the reader can only greatly benefit from this work, and we all owe gratitude to the translator for having made this highly informative work available in the English language. FRANCIS J. KOVACH University of Oklahoma 1~ Summ. theol. I-II,27,1,ad 3; In Psalm. 44,2. ~6 Cf. Plato, Hipp. maL 298 A; Gorg. 474 D; Leg. XII, 961 D; Aristotle, De an. III,3, 429a 3; Augustine, De lib. arb. II,7, 16-19; 14,38; De ord. II,ll, etc. Le origini del metodo analitico: il Cinquecento. By Angelo Crescini. (Udine: Del Bianco, 1965. Published by the Istituto di Filosofia, Facnlt~ di Lettere e Filosofia of the Universit~ degli Studi di Trieste. Pp. 340. L 5,000) Professor Crescini has certainly picked a topic of great interest upon which to write. Recent students of Renaissance logic such as N. W. Gilbert, V. Mufioz Delgado, W. Ong, G. Papuli, W. Risse, and C. Vasoli have pointed out the vitality and significance associated with the development of the logical thought of the period. The general question of methodology has produced an enormous scholarly literature in recent years,I but much remains to be done before we fully understand how various methodologies have evolved and what relation philosophical discussions of method have had to the actual practice of science. Therefore, it would be most desirable to have a 1 For further information see Laurens Laudan, "Theories of Scientific Method from Plato to Mach: A Bibliographical Review," History of Science 7 (1968), 1-63. 476 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY detailed, comprehensive, and accurate study of the evolution of analytic method during the sixteenth century, particularly in view of the significance taken on by such a methodology with the 'rise of modern science'. With such a background in view the reviewer comes to this volume in anticipation of being generally enlightened on various matters. Unfortunately, Crescini's book is on the whole disappointing, although nearly everyone will find the odd bit of information of which he was not previously aware. It definitely does not, however, establish a solid foundation for later studies. The book is organized into three principal parts, dealing with the development of the analytic method in logic (pp. 21-188), in the natural sciences (pp. 189-284), and in mathematics (vv. 285-328). The first section treats discussions of the topic among writers on logical subject, under which heading are included 'humanist' logicians such as... (shrink)

Galen’s commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms is transmitted by a large amount of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. Some of them remarkably display a “mixed” text, in which Galen’s commentary is combined with passages from the later commentator Theophilus. Most important among these is the Marc. gr. V 9 (coll. 1017), which inserts two large passages by Theophilus into the Galenic commentary (i. e. VI 1-38; VII 12-73). Both of them were copied by the late physician and student of John Argyropoulos (...) in Constantinople, Demetrios Angelos, who was not primarly involved in the production, but purchased the manuscript after completion and restored its text using another commentary on the Aphorisms, which he had at his disposal. This paper aims at investigating codicological, paleographical and philological aspects of the Marc. gr. V 9, in order to retrace the origin of its mixed commentary and place it in its historical-cultural context. (shrink)

A philosophical assessment of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, exposing some errors of reasoning that undermine part of the foundation of his atheism. Distinctions between theism, atheism and agnosticism are also provided and explored for their significance to Dawkins’ argument.

Critique of idealistic naturalism: methodological pollution in the main stream of American philosophy, by D. Riepe.--Ex nihilo nihil fit: philosophy's "starting point," by D. H. DeGrood.--An historical critique of empiricism, by J. E. Hansen.--Epilogue on Berkeley, by R. W. Sellars.--Mandala thinking, by A. Mackay.--An empirical conception of freedom, by E. D'Angelo.--Heidegger on the essence of truth, by M. Farber.--Minding as a material force, by H. L. Parsons.--The crisis of the 1890's and the shaping of twentieth century America, by R. (...) B. Carson.--Ideology, scientific philosophy, and Marxism, by J. Somerville.--Marx and critical scientific thought, by M. Marković.--Experimentalism extended to politics, by E. Guevara.--The unity of opposites: a dialectical principle, by V. J. McGill and W. T. Parry.--A need definition of "value," by R. Handy.--Alienation and social action, by A. Schaff.--Naturalism in the Tao of Confucius and Lao Tzu, by D. H.-F. Poe.--Bibliography (p. 260-269). (shrink)

Attention is often dichotomized into controlled vs. automatic processing, where controlled processing is slow, flexible, and intentional, and automatic processing is fast, inflexible, and unintentional. In contrast to this strict dichotomy, there is mounting evidence for context-specific processes that are engaged rapidly yet are also flexible. In the present study we extend this idea to the domain of implicit learning to examine whether flexibility in automatic processes can be implemented through the reliance on contextual features. Across three experiments we show (...) that participants can learn implicitly two complementary sequences that are associated with distinct contexts, and that transfer of learning when the two contexts are randomly intermixed depends on the distinctiveness of the two contexts. Our results point to the role of context-specific processes in the acquisition and expression of implicit sequence knowledge, and also suggest that episodic details can be represented in sequence knowledge. (shrink)

Os artigos contidos neste número de Veritas, como é de praxe, na edição que corresponde ao mês de dezembro de cada ano, versam sobre temas ligados direta e indiretamente à dialética. Os projetos integrados de Dialética: conhecimento e linguagem, ética e política, sob a coordenação do professor Dr. Carlos Roberto V. Cirne Lima, com a participação dos professores Dr. Manfredo Araújo de Oliveira, Dr. Tadeu Weber, Dr. Jayme Paviani, Me. Angelo Cenci, Doutorando Eduardo Luft, Doutorando Sérgio Augusto Sardi, Doutorando (...) Custódio Luís S. de Almeida e outros professores que estão se integrando ao programa de pesquisa, começam a mostrar os primeiros resultados de uma política de coordenação e sistematização da produção científica. Estes projetos sintonizados com as linhas de pesquisa do Curso de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia, Mestrado e Doutorado, da PUCRS, contribuem para a investigação de problemas filosóficos reatualizados e aprofundados sob o enfoque dialético. Os projetos de pesquisa em andamento ao responderem às perguntas o que é dialética e o que é filosofia investigam questões fundamentais da filosofia e da cultura contemporâneas remetendo-as aos métodos filosóficos desde as suas origens gregas. Os números especiais da revista Veritas têm, portanto, a função de publicar resultados parciais destas pesquisas realizadas pelos professores do núcleo Dialética: conhecimento e linguagem, ética e política e de seus colaboradores e interlocutores. (shrink)

This is a greatly expanded version of my article "Anarchism and the Beats," which was published in the book, The Philosophy of the Beats, by the University Press of Kentucky in 2012. It is both an historical and a philosophical analysis of the postwar American counterculture. It charts the historical origins of the postwar American counterculture from the anarchists and romantic poets of the early nineteenth century to a complex network of beat poets and pacifist anarchists in the early decades (...) after World War II. The beat poets understood themselves to be religious prophets of a new form of liberated consciousness. Poetry was both a means to achieve this new form of consciousness and a means to express that consciousness once it was achieved by other means including travel, psychedelic drugs, sex or meditation. The transformation of consciousness sought by the beats was therefore primarily religious in nature, not political or ideological. However, that does not mean that the beats believed that the transformation of consciousness they sought had no political or social implications. On the contrary, the beats were almost all anarchists. It merely means that, for them, political ideology follows consciousness, not the reverse. (shrink)

The increasing demographic changes of populations in many countries require an approach for managing the complexity of sociocultural differences. Such an approach could help healthcare organizations to address healthcare disparities and inequities, and promote cultural safety for healthcare providers and patients alike. Almutairi's critical cultural competence (CCC) is a comprehensive approach that holds great promise for managing difficulties arising from sociocultural and linguistic issues during cross‐cultural interactions.CCChas addressed the limitations of many other cultural competence approaches that have been discussed in (...) the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to define the construct ofCCCand the theoretical components of theCCC. (shrink)

Most theories of learning would predict a gradual acquisition and refinement of skills as learning progresses, and while some highlight exponential growth, this fails to explain why natural cognitive development typically progresses in stages. Models that do span multiple developmental stages typically have parameters to “switch” between stages. We argue that by taking an embodied view, the interaction between learning mechanisms, the resulting behavior of the agent, and the opportunities for learning that the environment provides can account for the stage‐wise (...) development of cognitive abilities. We summarize work relevant to this hypothesis and suggest two simple mechanisms that account for some developmental transitions: neural readiness focuses on changes in the neural substrate resulting from ongoing learning, and perceptual readiness focuses on the perceptual requirements for learning new tasks. Previous work has demonstrated these mechanisms in replications of a wide variety of infant language experiments, spanning multiple developmental stages. Here we piece this work together as a single model of ongoing learning with no parameter changes at all. The model, an instance of the Epigenetic Robotics Architecture (Morse et al 2010) embodied on the iCub humanoid robot, exhibits ongoing multi‐stage development while learning pre‐linguistic and then basic language skills. (shrink)

L’intento di questo contributo è accennare a come la considerazione dell’influenza esercitata da Spinoza sul pensiero di Sini rappresenti un punto di partenza privilegiato per intendere la concezione che quest’ultimo ha della pratica filosofica. A partire dalla lettura siniana dell’ Etica, per come è svolta all’interno di Archivio Spinoza. La verità e la vita, vengono toccati temi quali l’esercizio filosofico, il «limite» e la «logica del finito», il rapporto tra soggetto e oggetto e, soprattutto, il nucleo etico della filosofia.

The present article aims to provide an original interpretation of Jan Patočka’s philosophy of history starting from the consideration of the debt it holds with Heidegger’s thought, in particular with the existential analytic of Being and time. Of Heidegger’s analytics, in fact, Patočka grasps and assumes with great radicality and originality the peculiar ‘modal logic’, according to which the existential dimension of closure, inauthenticity and estrangement from oneself is not opposed ‘frontally’ to that of openness, authenticity and nearness to oneself (...) of existence, being rather co-owned by it in the form of a privative modalization. We have therefore aimed to show how such a scheme is the one by which Patočka, in his Heretical Essays, interprets the whole adventure of Western history starting from its ‘emersion’ in ancient Greece. In particular, thanks to such a reconstruction we were able to shed light on the position of the phenomenon of work in Patočka’s philosophy: the Patočkian conception of work, understood as an obstacle par excellence to authentic historical existence, represents not only the true stakes of the comparison of the phenomenological- existential line in which Patočka is inserted with a Marxist theory of alienation; starting from here, moreover, it is potentially a clearer framework of the Patočkian genealogy of Western civilization and its form of subjectivity in relation to the approach of other genealogical philosophies of the last century. (shrink)