Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

ABSTRACT:Ethical research on consumption has focused mainly on the obligations, principles and values guiding consumers' actions and reasons for action. In doing so, it has concerned itself mostly with such bounded contexts as voluntary simplifiers, anti-consumption movements or so-called ‘ethical consumers,’ thereby fostering an artificial opposition between ethical and non-ethical consumption. This paper proposes virtue ethics as a more apt conceptual framework for the ethical analysis of consumption because it takes into account the developmental dynamic triggered by engagement in consumption (...) practices. We build on MacIntyre's goods-virtues-practices-institutions framework and Beabout's concept of a domain-relative practice and argue that when engaging in consumption activities, agents may pursue goods internal to practices, further their individual life narratives and contribute to the good of their communities, thus developing virtues that perfect themselves both as consumers and as ethical agents. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:Ethical research on consumption has focused mainly on the obligations, principles and values guiding consumers' actions and reasons for action. In doing so, it has concerned itself mostly with such bounded contexts as voluntary simplifiers, anti-consumption movements or so-called ‘ethical consumers,’ thereby fostering an artificial opposition between ethical and non-ethical consumption. This paper proposes virtue ethics as a more apt conceptual framework for the ethical analysis of consumption because it takes into account the developmental dynamic triggered by engagement in consumption (...) practices. We build on MacIntyre's goods-virtues-practices-institutions framework and Beabout's concept of a domain-relative practice and argue that when engaging in consumption activities, agents may pursue goods internal to practices, further their individual life narratives and contribute to the good of their communities, thus developing virtues that perfect themselves both as consumers and as ethical agents. (shrink)

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the approach to the health-disease system, raising the question about the principles of bioethics present in physician–patient relations. The principles while widely accepted may not be sufficient for a comprehensive ethical analysis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the perception of these principles and the physician–patient relationship during a hospital stay through a qualitative approach. Method Sixteen semi-structured interviews took place to know the patients’ perception during their 2020 hospitalization for COVID-19. (...) The data was analyzed through the constant comparison method, creating categories and comparing them. In the end, seven categories were established and were grouped in three: bioethical principles (dignity, charity, vulnerability, autonomy), doctor-patient relationship (participant commitment, informed consent, health staff-patient relationship) and the experience of the disease (illness, the role of the family). Results The research found that most patients described a positive experience, with the feeling of having been well cared for with no sense of discrimination or injustice done. The majority also reported that their autonomy was respected in the treatment decisions. The evaluation of these attitudes is an area of opportunity, especially when the patients' vulnerability is at risk. Conclusions The ethics of virtue offers a better reflection of how human beings manifest themselves by emphasizing the development of virtuous character and behaviors that allow them to realize their values in life. Authorized by the Research Ethics Committee with registration: DI/18/105-B/3/308. (shrink)

Background:The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shortage of qualified nurses in Spain. As a result, the government authorized the hiring of senior students.Objectives:To explore the ethical dilemmas and ethical conflicts experienced by final-year nursing students who worked during the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.Research design:A qualitative exploratory study was conducted using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were carried out using a question guide. Interviews took place via a private video chat room platform. A thematic, inductive (...) analysis was performed of the information gathered.Participants and research context:Eighteen nursing students were recruited from two universities of Madrid, aged between 18 and 65 years old, enrolled in the fourth year of nursing studies and who were hired under a relief contract for health professionals during the pandemic.Ethical considerations:The present study was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.Results:Three specific themes emerged: (a) coping with patient triage, (b) difficulties in providing end-of-life care, and (c) coping with patient death. Nursing students participated in the process of patient selection for resource allocation and ICU bed occupancy. They were shown how to care for patients who were not admitted to the ICU, in their last moments and were faced with the difficulties of applying end-of-life care. Finally, the nursing students were confronted with the death of their patients, in overwhelming numbers and under adverse conditions.Conclusions:These findings can help shed light on the ethical dilemmas and ethical conflicts faced by novice nursing students, incorporated into the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, it was described that students may normalize the death due to the exhaustion and overwhelmed routine. (shrink)

El encargo que recibe la escuela de gestionar las emociones para producir indicadores, mejorar la convivencia o desarrollar las competencias, es solo una de las aristas que tiene la educación escolarizada. En este artículo, y a partir de las vivencias en algunas instituciones educativas de la ciudad de Medellín, se busca indicar otra ruta posible para las emociones en la escuela; aquella que está referida no a su gestión, sino a la comprensión de su componente cognitivo para, por la vía (...) de la formación, contribuir a la transformación creativa de sí. * Este artículo recoge algunas reflexiones del proyecto de investigación Educación global/pedagogía planetaria y espacio social. Una relación colaborativa entre Suiza y Colombia, que desarrollamos en convenio con la Universidad Pedagógica de Berna, con un equipo binacional. En Berna: Angela Stienen y Katryn Oester; en Colombia: Jesús Alberto Echeverri, Juan Camilo Estrada, Juan Carlos Vásquez García. (shrink)

We report three experimental studies of reasoning with double conditionals, i.e. problems based on premises of the form: If A then B. If B then C. where A, B, and C, describe everyday events. We manipulated both the logical structure of the problems, using all four possible arrangements (or “figures” of their constituents, A, B, and C, and the believability of the two salient conditional conclusions that might follow from them, i.e. If A then C, or If C then A. (...) The experiments showed that with figures for which there was a valid conclusion, the participants more often, and more rapidly, drew the valid conclusion when it was believable than when it was unbelievable. With figures for which there were no valid conclusions, the participants tended to draw whichever of the two conclusions was believable. These results were predicted by the theory that reasoning depends on constructing mental models of the premises. (shrink)

"Epistola a Memeceo, Maximas capitales, Sentencias vaticanas, fragmentos y testimonios; texto griego y traduccion": p. [87]-161.

Con una indagación cualitativa se intenta averiguar si el método de palabras generatrices de Paulo Freire presenta ventajas para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de la lengua escrita castellana en la edad infantil. Se extraen los datos de la experiencia práctica acumulada por profesorado que lo ha aplicado en el segundo ciclo. Cinco maestras aportan informes escritos individuales y dos equipos docentes se constituyen en grupos de discusión. Tras la categorización y análisis de los datos, se concluye que el método tiene muchas ventajas. (...) Entre las ventajas de tipo didáctico cabe resaltar el respeto al protagonismo del alumnado y a su pensamiento sincrético, ser muy motivador, conseguir la comprensión lectora desde el principio, desarrollar simultáneamente las conciencias léxica, silábica y fonológica; enriquecer el vocabulario, fijar una ortografía correcta, integrar todos los ámbitos de conocimiento, y desarrollar la capacidad simbólica y la creatividad. Como ventajas de tipo pedagógico: considerar los efectos de tipo actitudinal que actúan sobre los procesos cognoscitivos, adaptarse a los contextos, permitir al profesorado conocer mejor a su alumnado, propiciar el desarrollo de la dimensión afectivo-emocional, favorecer la socialización por trabajarse siempre en grupo y la ayuda entre iguales, el buen clima de aprendizaje y la colaboración familiar. (shrink)

Primeramente, haremos un repaso por la noción de diálogo, relación o encuentro en las artes y el pensamiento que se desarrollan durante los años sesenta del pasado siglo y fuertemente a partir del episodio de revueltas del 68. Sostenemos que en las artes, lo dialógico representó una estrategia política por partida doble: la conversación y el encuentro eran tanto un vector de ruptura con los modos de apreciar y vivir lo sensible y de entender el hecho artístico, como un procedimiento (...) para someter el individualismo y construir una presencia corporal y común considerada perdida y/o necesaria. Seguidamente veremos en qué sentido el diálogo se presenta como una de las claves de la filosofía política actual preocupada por combatir al sujeto individualista e hiperproductivo que propugna el neoliberalismo. Finalmente, trataremos de llevar a efecto esta invitación a dialogar. Así, la última sección de este escrito tomará la forma de una conversación entre nosotros, para interrogarnos juntos sobre algunas de las cuestiones anteriormente esbozadas. (shrink)

Aberrations introduced by the atmospheric turbulence in large telescopes are compensated using adaptive optics systems, where the use of deformable mirrors and multiple sensors relies on complex control systems. Recently, the development of larger scales of telescopes as the E-ELT or TMT has created a computational challenge due to the increasing complexity of the new adaptive optics systems. The Complex Atmospheric Reconstructor based on Machine Learning is an algorithm based on artificial neural networks, designed to compensate the atmospheric turbulence. During (...) recent years, the use of GPUs has been proved to be a great solution to speed up the learning process of neural networks, and different frameworks have been created to ease their development. The implementation of CARMEN in different Multi-GPU frameworks is presented in this paper, along with its development in a language originally developed for GPU, like CUDA. This implementation offers the best response for all the presented cases, although its advantage of using more than one GPU occurs only in large networks. (shrink)

We report five experiments showing that the activation of the end-terms of a syllogism is determined by their position in the composite model of the premises. We show that it is not determined by the position of the terms in the rule being applied (Ford, 1994), by the syntactic role of the terms in the premises (Polk & Newell, 1995; Wetherick & Gilhooly, 1990), by the type of conclusion (Chater & Oaksford, 1999), or by the terms from the source premise (...) (Stenning & Yule, 1997). In our first experiment we found that after reading a categorical premise, the most active term is the last term in the premise. In Experiments 2, 3, and 4 we demonstrated that this pattern of activity is due to the position of the concepts in the model of the premises, regardless of the delay after reading the premises (150 or 2000 msec) or the quantity of the quantifiers (universal or existential). The fifth experiment showed that the pattern switches around after participants evaluate a conclusion. We propose that the last element in the model maintains a higher level of activity during the comprehension process because it is generally used to attach the incoming information. After this process, the first term becomes more active because it is the concept to which the whole representation is referred. These results are predicted by the mental model theory (Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991), but not by the verbal reasoning theory (Polk & Newell, 1995), the graphical methods theory (Yule & Stenning, 1992), the attachment-heuristic theory (Chater & Oaksford, 1999), or the mental rules theory (Ford, 1994). (shrink)

Contemporary literature distinguishes two ways to defend the claim that cognition is a matter of representations: one, cognition involves representation-hungry tasks; two, cognition involves a complex form of informational covariation between subcomponents of a system with an adaptive function. Each of these conceptions involves a different notion of representation, and promotes a particular view of the architecture of cognition. But despite the differences, each of them aims to support the claim that cognition is a matter of representations on architectural constraints. (...) The objective of this article is twofold: one, it is argued that architectural constraints do not entail either of those two ways to defend the claim that cognition is a matter of representations; two, it is claimed that both notions of representation share an objectionable common element – namely, the idea of a model that grounds the representational reading– that must be abandoned, in favor of a more economical explanation in terms of causal relations, in order to get a clear view of cognition. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to discuss the nature of nonconceptual, as opposed to conceptual, states and their content, by exploring the suggestion that the distinction between the conceptual and the nonconceptual be mapped onto the distinction between the linguistic and the nonlinguistic. This approach gives special relevance to our intuitions about the cognitive relationship between small children and adults, especially regarding the acquisition of concepts, in the course of normal cognitive development. Assuming that there is a developmental challenge (...) to be met, the paper considers both the conceptualist and nonconceptualist strategies used to meet it; and concludes that conceptualism is a more satisfying option. (shrink)

Sobre el libro de Carlos García Gual El redescubrimiento de la sensibilidad en el siglo XII. Editado por Akal en 2009.

An obstacle for the attribution of self-consciousness to animals is that they lack the linguistic ability to use the first-person pronoun. To overcome the obstacle, current tests rely on the availability of behavioural measures of self-consciousness in the absence of language. However, this is not sufficient, for unless a distinction is drawn between epistemic and expressive varieties of self-consciousness, further puzzles threaten the validity of the research. This paper defends the distinction and shows how to re-evaluate current research into animal (...) self-consciousness in its light, so as to improve conceptual clarity in this area. (shrink)

Recommending the identity of bidders in public procurement auctions has a significant impact in many areas of public procurement, but it has not yet been studied in depth. A bidders recommender would be a very beneficial tool because a supplier can search appropriate tenders and, vice versa, a public procurement agency can discover automatically unknown companies which are suitable for its tender. This paper develops a pioneering algorithm to recommend potential bidders using a machine learning method, particularly a random forest (...) classifier. The bidders recommender is described theoretically, so it can be implemented or adapted to any particular situation. It has been successfully validated with a case study: an actual Spanish tender dataset which has 102,087 tenders from 2014 to 2020 and a company dataset which has 1,353,213 Spanish companies. Quantitative, graphical, and statistical descriptions of both datasets are presented. The results of the case study were satisfactory: the winning bidding company is within the recommended companies group, from 24% to 38% of the tenders, according to different test conditions and scenarios. (shrink)

Descartes posee una visión práctica de la medicina encaminada a la conservación de la salud. Acorde a dicho cometido, los fármacos que hallamos en el Remedia et vires medicamentorum y en su Excerpta anatomica desempeñan un importante papel, en tanto que conforman los instrumentos que posibilitan recuperar la salud ante distintas enfermedades. El presente artículo se propone examinar dichos remedios, dilucidando su estatuto en la medicina cartesiana y su posible origen en farmacopeas clásicas.

La epistemología contemporánea sostiene la imagen de Descartes como un fundamentalista epistemológico clásico, apelando, para ello, a las certezas metafísicas y a la presunta deducción del resto de conocimiento a partir de dichos principios. Con todo, un examen más detallado del proyecto epistemológico cartesiano pone en cuestión esta interpretación. El presente artículo analiza el papel de la deducción y la certeza moral a fin de redefinir el fundamentalismo de Descartes en términos moderados.

Descartes and the fruits of mechanics: the conquest of the earthly good life Resumen: El proyecto de Descartes profesa un notable interés encaminado al dominio de la naturaleza que, en última instancia, debe conducir al sujeto a vivir la mejor vida posible. A este propósito se dirigen los distintos frutos, resultado de la ciencia cartesiana: Medicina, Moral y Mecánica. El presente artículo analiza los frutos de la mecánica a fin de determinar su papel respecto a la consecución de una buena (...) vida. Para ello se analizará el tipo de bien de que nos provee la mecánica, así como los distintos instrumentos que permiten su consecución. Palabras clave: artefactos, artesanos, bienes terrenales, buena vida, comodidad, Descartes, frutos de la mecánica.: The Cartesian project professes a remarkable interest in the mastery of nature which, ultimately, leads the subject to live the best possible life. The various fruits of the philosophical tree which result from the Cartesian science —Medicine, Moral and Mechanics— are directed to this purpose. This paper analyzes the fruits of mechanics in order to determine its role in the achievement of a good life. For this purpose, it will be analyzed the kind of good which mechanics provides us and the various instruments necessary to achieve it. Keywords: artifacts, craftsman, Descartes, comfort, earthly goods, fruits of mechanics, good life. (shrink)

RESUMENLa interpretación actual de la ciencia cartesiana ya no concibe ésta como una mera deducción desde los principios metafísicos, sino que reivindica el papel de la experiencia en ella. El presente artículo tratará de dar un paso más, defendiendo que existe una dimensión instrumental en la ciencia cartesiana. Para ello, se analizará la modificación que Descartes realiza en la Dióptrica de la relación artificial-natural y que posibilita una lectura instrumentalista.PALABRAS CLAVEDESCARTES, ARTIFICIAL, NATURAL, INSTRUMENTALISMO, CIENCIAABSTRACTThe current interpretation of the Cartesian science (...) no longer sees it as a mere deduction from the metaphysical principles, but claims the role of experience in it. This paper will try to go one step further, arguing that there is an instrumental dimension in the Cartesian science. With this purpose in mind, we will analyze the modification performed by Descartes in the Dioptrics regarding the artifitial-natural relation, which enables this instrumentalist reading.KEYWORDS DESCARTES, ARTIFICIAL, NATURAL, INSTRUMENTALISM, SCIENCE. (shrink)

Questions like “Do you believe that p?” can be meant deliberatively (i.e., the question whether to believe that p) or self‐ascriptively (i.e., the question whether the addressee already believes that p). Therefore, an utterance of “I believe that p” can be a proper answer either to a deliberative or to a self‐ascriptive question. In the latter case, an utterance of “I believe that p” is a self‐ascription of belief, but in the former case, it is not. Instead, it is an (...) episode of the belief formed by deliberation. In failing to make these distinctions, contemporary discussions of the transparency of belief mistakenly assume that a proper answer to questions like “Do you believe that p?” is always a self‐ascription of belief. Adhering to the distinctions results in a better account of the transparency of belief. (shrink)

Este artículo analiza las estrategias utilizadas por Descartes para «desencantar el mundo», a fin de suprimir los elementos herméticos de las explicaciones científicas cartesianas y someter todos los fenómenos naturales a nuestro control. Para ello, apelo a la distinción entre elementos causales —cualidades ocultas— y sus efectos —efectos admirables— como las dos dimensiones que deben ser incorporadas bajo las explicaciones científicas para garantizar el cálculo de los fenómenos y su dominio.

RESUMEN La interpretación habitual de Descartes sostiene que la nueva ciencia cartesiana es resultado del remplazo, en las explicaciones científicas, de las causas finales y formales por las causas eficientes. Si bien dicha afirmación en líneas generales es correcta, se ha tendido a asumir que las causas eficientes no entrañan problema alguno. Este artículo desea cuestionar dicha asunción, poniendo de manifiesto una serie de problemáticas concernientes a la cognoscibilidad de las causas eficientes. ABSTRACT The common interpretation of Descartes argues that (...) the new science is a result of Cartesian replacement, in scientific explanations, of the final and formal causes by the efficient causes. While this statement is broadly correct, it has tended to assume that efficient causes do not imply any problem. This paper wishes to question this assumption, showing a number of problems concerning the knowability of efficient causes. (shrink)

El hábito cartesiano constituye el elemento clave que posibilita la implantación de determinadas regularidades en mente y cuerpo, facilitando la intervención del sujeto en ambas dimensiones. Así, se observa cómo el hábito juega un importante papel en propuestas cartesianas centrales ― la asunción del método, los prejuicios de la infancia o la educación de las pasiones―, de forma que toda comprensión que se dirija a examinar éstas, deberá referirse previamente al concepto cartesiano de hábito. El presente artículo tratará, en consecuencia, (...) de elucidar el sentido de hábito. Para ello se efectuará una distinción entre los tipos de movimientos encargados de generar distintos hábitos y las diversas formas de memoria que permiten preservar las conexiones sobre las que éste se genera. Una vez ofrecida esta explicación sobre cómo se producen los hábitos, se propondrá una categorización apelando a la distinción establecida por Descartes entre alma y cuerpo. (shrink)

In her helpful response, Carrie Figdor provides answers to the two criticisms I raised against her defense of literalism in my review article. In doing so, she usefully clarifies the argument for t...

This paper argues that the weaker elements in the anti-sceptical strategy deployed by Sosa in "A Virtue Epistemology" can be improved, within the general framework provided by virtue epistemology, if internalism about perceptual experience is abandoned.

The topic of this paper is the conceptual possibility of being someone else. This thought occurs in the first person, and in principle it could be entertained by any subject of experience. The paper will focus on the examination of the content of such a thought: i.e., what exactly is meant by the possibility of being someone else? By way of comparing this thought with other possibilities (e.g., the possibility of being taller), it will be shown that the possibility of (...) being someone else lacks coherence, mainly because it goes against many reasonable and well-established beliefs held about ourselves and our identity. (shrink)