Este artículo estudia la justificación normativa de la adopción de los ensayos clínicos aleatorizados por parte de las autoridades sanitarias británicas como estándar metodológico en 1946. A partir de un análisis de los distintos intereses de los participantes en el proceso (pacientes, médicos, farmacéuticas y el propio Estado) argumentamos que la aleatorización se adoptó como mecanismo de asignación imparcial de tratamientos, aunque sus propiedades estadísticas no fueran bien comprendidas. Tal justificación permanece aún vigente.

En este trabajo analizamos cómo se articula la justificación estadística de las conclusiones obtenidas en los ensayos clínicos aleatorizados con sus condiciones de aceptabilidad ética y política. Pretendemos mostrar cómo varía tal justificación dependiendo de nuestra concepción de la probabilidad y, correlativamente, qué argumentos éticos se pueden ofrecer sobre cada una de ellas. Veremos cómo los enfoques frecuentista y bayesiano resultan defendibles en el ámbito de los ensayos clínicos y defenderemos que, para su aceptación pública, se les debe exigir garantías (...) de imparcialidad cuyo mejor ejemplo es la propia técnica de aleatorización. /// This paper analyses how to combine the statistical justification of the results obtained in a randomised clinical trial and the ethical and social arguments that support its implementation. It aims at showing how this justification varies according to the view on probability we adopt and the different ethical cases that can be made to sustain it. Both the frequentist and the Bayesian approaches to the design of clinical trials will be seen as equally defensible on these grounds. To be socially acceptable both approaches must meet an impartiality requirement, which is best served by the technique of randomisation. (shrink)

La renta básica se nos presenta en la obra de Philippe van Parijs como una propuesta política filosóficamente argumentada, de modo tal que convencerá tanto al teórico de la justicia como al ciudadano que votará su implantación. En este artículo analizamos la argumentación de van Parijs mostrando cómo la efectividad política de sus tesis sólo se sostiene a costa de reducir el debate sobre la renta básica a los términos de su propia concepción de la ética. Ponemos en duda, por (...) nuestra parte, el alcance de esta reducción sobre un doble plano: diluye por completo la dimensión prudencial de toda argumentación política, y no deja más alternativa que la educación sentimental para quienes no se dejen convencer por el equilibrio reflexivo. (shrink)

Nous proposons dans cet article de rechercher chez les prédécesseurs de Frank Knight un peu de lumière pour éclairer sa distinction entrerisque etincertitude. D'une part, la lecture des économistes qui l'ont précédé permet de comprendre sa situation dans lapolémique sur la répartition. D'autre part, l'examen des sources philosophiques qui informent sa théorie de la connaissance conduit à analyser l'opposition risque/incertitude comme une opposition théorie de la probabilité/théorie de la connaissance (imparfaite). Le recours à l'épistémologie de Knight fait saisir en quoi (...) sa démarche philosophique le mène à conclure par l'absurde la polémique sur la répartition, et l'autorise alors à proposer une reconstruction de la théorie économique comme science des choix rationnels. (shrink)

IntroductionCardiology is characterized by its state-of-the-art biomedical technology and the predominance of Evidence-Based Medicine. This predominance makes it difficult for healthcare professionals to deal with the ethical dilemmas that emerge in this subspecialty. This paper is a first endeavor to empirically investigate the axiological foundations of the healthcare professionals in a cardiology hospital. Our pilot study selected, as the target population, cardiology personnel not only because of their difficult ethical deliberations but also because of the stringent conditions in which they (...) have to make them. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reconsider clinical ethics and Value-Based Medicine. This study proposes a qualitative analysis of the values and the virtues of healthcare professionals in a cardiology hospital in order to establish how the former impact upon the medical and ethical decisions made by the latter.ResultsWe point out the need for strengthening the roles of healthcare personnel as educators and guidance counselors in order to meet the ends of medicine, as well as the need for an ethical discernment that is compatible with our results, namely, that the ethical values developed by healthcare professionals stem from their life history as well as their professional education.ConclusionWe establish the kind of actions, communication skills and empathy that are required to build a stronger patient-healthcare professional relationship, which at the same time improves prognosis, treatment efficiency and therapeutic adhesion. (shrink)

The so-called uncontrolled donation after circulatory determination of death (uDCDD) have been implemented in several countries, including Spain and France, to increase the availability of organs for transplantation. These protocols allow obtaining kidneys, livers and lungs of patients who do not survive cardio-pulmonary resuscitation performed in out-of-hospital settings. Simultaneously with the development and recent proliferation of these protocols, some emergency teams have begun to employ unconventional methods of CPR, with still uncertain but promising results. The coexistence of these two possibilities (...) raises some questions: At what point should attempts to save a patient with circulatory arrest be abandoned so that this individual can begin to be considered as a potential organ donor? How to manage potential conflicts of loyalties that may arise within emergency and procurement teams? How should the information to the families of those patients and potential organ donors be managed? This article gathers the conclusions of a workshop in which an interdisciplinary working group addressed these and other questions related to DCDD and non-conventional CPR. (shrink)

Cardiology is characterized by its state-of-the-art biomedical technology and the predominance of Evidence-Based Medicine. This predominance makes it difficult for healthcare professionals to deal with the ethical dilemmas that emerge in this subspecialty. This paper is a first endeavor to empirically investigate the axiological foundations of the healthcare professionals in a cardiology hospital. Our pilot study selected, as the target population, cardiology personnel not only because of their difficult ethical deliberations but also because of the stringent conditions in which they (...) have to make them. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reconsider clinical ethics and Value-Based Medicine. This study proposes a qualitative analysis of the values and the virtues of healthcare professionals in a cardiology hospital in order to establish how the former impact upon the medical and ethical decisions made by the latter. (shrink)

Exploramos las tensiones entre narración y materia en la obra de David Lynch. Partiendo de algunas investigaciones recientes -especialmente los trabajos de Català Domènech y Pacôme Thiellement-, proponemos una aproximación al problema de la materia lyncheana que tome como metodología el análisis formal del discurso. Comenzaremos preguntándonos por el uso mismo de la materia que el director aplica en sus creaciones en relación con el aura benjaminiana. En segundo lugar, propondremos un recorrido cronológico que nos permita explorar cómo ha (...) sido la evolución en su manejo de los materiales a partir de tres posibles etapas: el aprendizaje de los códigos artísticos pretéritos -tanto en lo que toca a la herencia de las bellas artes como al reciente pasado cinematográfico-, la paulatina quiebra de los mismos mediante el recurso del video digital o la cita postmoderna, y finalmente, el replanteamiento de sus propias imágenes en un contexto postdigital. (shrink)

First published in 1995, The Visual Brain in Action remains a seminal publication in the cognitive sciences. For this new edition, a very substantial and illustrated epilogue has been added to the book in which Milner and Goodale review the key developments that support or challenge the views that were put forward in the first edition.

Philosophers and theologians from around the world and throughout history have grappled with such fundamental issues as the nature of the world and man's relation to it, as well as the optimal forms of human perception, language and behaviour. Yet it has always been difficult to compare the works of thinkers from different eras and cultures. In this work of systematic philosophy, David Dilworth places the major texts of ancient and modern, and Western and Oriental philosphy and religion into (...) one comparative framework. His study reveals affinities between thinkers who lived centuries and continents apart and produces numerous insights by bringing together the greatest philosophical texts into a single scheme. (shrink)

Figures of Thought looks at how mathematical works can be read as texts and examines their textual strategies. David Reed offers the first sustained and critical attempt to find a consistent argument or narrative thread in mathematical texts. Reed selects mathematicians from a range of historical periods and compares their approaches to organizing and arguing texts, using an extended commentary on Euclid's Elements as a central structuring framework. He develops fascinating interpretations of mathematicians' work throughout history, from Descartes to (...) Hilbert, Kronecker, Dedekind, Weil and Grothendieck. Reed traces the implications of this approach to the understanding of the history and development of mathematics. (shrink)

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts We have not used OCR, as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

I. Prelude -- About this Book -- II. School Mathematics and Its Consequences -- The Foundations of Mathematical Thinking -- Compression, Connection and Blending of Mathematical Ideas -- Set-befores, Met-befores and Long-term Learning -- Mathematics and the Emotions -- The Three Worlds of Mathematics -- Journeys through Embodiment and Symbolism -- Problem-Solving and Proof -- III. Interlude -- The Historical Evolution of Mathematics -- IV. University Mathematics and Beyond -- The Transition to Formal Knowledge -- Blending Knowledge Structures in the (...) Calculus -- Expert Thinking and Structure Theorems -- Contemplating the Infinitely Large and the Infinitely Small -- Expanding the Frontiers through Mathematical Research -- Reflections -- Appendix: Where the Ideas Came From. (shrink)

Understanding how activity in the brain leads to a subjective percept is of great interest to philosophers and neuroscientists alike. In the last years, neurophysiological experiments have approached this problem directly by measuring neural signals in animals as they experience well-defined visual percepts. Stimuli in these studies are often inherently ambiguous, and thus rely upon the subjective report, generally from trained monkeys, to provide a measure of perception. By correlating activity levels in the brain to this report, one can speculate (...) on the role of individual neurons and groups of neurons in the formation and maintenance of a particular percept. However, in order to draw valid conclusions from such experiments, it is critical that the responses accurately and reliably reflect what is perceived. For this reason, a number of behavioural paradigms have been developed to control and evaluate the truthfulness of responses from behaving animals. Here we describe several approaches to optimizing the reliability of a monkey's perceptual report, and argue that their combination provides an invaluable approach in the study of subjective visual perception. (shrink)

Tribe, David Review(s) of: A Wealth of insights: Humanist Thought since the Enlightenment, by Bill Cooke Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2011; ISBN 9781591027270.

Tribe, David I was disappointed, but not surprised, by criticisms of my 'On science, good, bad and ugly' , which may also have prompted the appearance in the same issue of other articles confirming points in mine. While I don't agree with many details, Massimo Pigliucci's 'Science needs philosophy' directs timely attention to 'an over-enthusiastic embrace of science' and a scientism which 'leads to nihilism'.

Tribe, David Review of: On the nature being: A personal exploration into the origins of consciousness, by Geoffrey Collins, Geoffrey Collins and Creative Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2012-13. Amazon $US6 online.

Is something true because we believe it to be so or because it is true? How can a culturally bound community achieve scientific knowledge when values, attitudes, and desires shape its beliefs? In this book an eminent philosopher considers various schools of thought on the nature of truth. David Weissman argues that truth exists in the correspondence between statement and fact: what can be said about our world can be measured against a reality that has a character and existence (...) independent of any property we ascribe to it. Weissman begins by evaluating the transcendental paradigm of Kant that has exercised enormous influence in the development of Western thought over the past two hundred years. He develops his critique of the Kantian model, in which value judgments underlie the perception or construction of truth, asserting that it is seriously flawed because it renders a determination of truth impossible. Weissman examines various value-driven perspectives on truth developed by such philosophers as Foucault, Derrida, and Rorty, for whom truth is only the set of affirmations, principles, and procedures sanctioned by power and value. However, says Weissman, truth is the required adjunct to desire. Knowing who we are, where we have been, and the consequences of what we have done is the essential preparation for choosing what to do next. We must respect the integrity of a world we have not made and find our way within it with the help of attitudes and desires that have been informed by truth. (shrink)

Leading contemporary Jewish thinker David Novak has here compiled ten of his essays on a variety of issues in Jewish ethics. Drawing constantly on classical Jewish tradition, Novak also looks at a wide range of modern critical scholarship on the ancient sources. He aims to point out certain common features of Jewish and Christian ethics and the normative implications of this overlapping of traditions; he assumes the reality of a "Judeo-Christian ethic," while refusing to minimize the doctrinal differences between (...) the two traditions. The essays address such major normative issues in social justice as ecology, war and peace, the treatment of minorities, and the approach to AIDS patients. This combination of theoretical reflection and practical application, along with careful and detailed analysis of classical Jewish texts, makes the book a welcome contribution to contemporary ethical theory and normative ethics as well as a work of original Jewish theology. (shrink)

Locke claimed that a government (with legislative, executive and judicial functions) is necessary to relieve people of the inconveniences of a state of nature. But those three functions can be provided by private arrangements in a state of nature.

From his first publication, the Tractatus, to the posthumous publication of the Philosophical Investigations Wittgenstein draws attention to the way in which surface grammatical similarities mask underlying grammatical diversity. In the Tractatus he writes.

???Everyone agrees that the moral features of things supervene on their natural features??? , 22). Everyone is wrong, or so I will argue. In the first section, I explain the version of moral supervenience that Smith and others argue everyone should accept. In the second section, I argue that the mere conceptual possibility of a divine command theory of morality is sufficient to refute the version of moral supervenience under consideration. Lastly, I consider and respond to two objections, showing, among (...) other things, that while DCT is sufficient to refute this version of moral supervenience it is not necessary. (shrink)

David Harvey : On peut difficilement imaginer vérification plus spectaculaire de ce que tu prédis depuis très longtemps dans tes théories que l’actuelle crise du système financier mondial. Y a-t-il des aspects de la crise qui t’ont surpris? Giovanni Arrighi : Ma prédiction était très simple. Dans The Long Twentieth Century, je qualifiais de crise annonciatrice d’un régime d’accumulation le début de la financiarisation et je faisais remarquer qu’après un certain temps – en général environ un demi-siècle – la (...) crise terminale suivait. L’hypothèse fondamentale est que toutes ces expansions financières ne pouvaient pas tenir parce qu’elles amenaient à la spéculation plus de capital qu’il n’était possible d’en gérer – en d’autres termes, ces expansions financières avaient tendance à créer des bulles de différentes sortes. Je prévoyais que cette expansion financière mènerait à une crise terminale parce que, aujourd’hui comme dans le passé, les bulles ne peuvent pas tenir. (shrink)

The Modern Philosophical Revolution breaks new ground by demonstrating the continuity of European philosophy from Kant to Derrida. Much of the literature on European philosophy has emphasised the breaks that have occurred in the course of two centuries of thinking. But as David Walsh argues, such a reading overlooks the extent to which Kant, Hegel, and Schelling were already engaged in the turn toward existence as the only viable mode of philosophising. Where many similar studies summarise individual thinkers, this (...) book provides a framework for understanding the relationships between them. Walsh thus dispels much of the confusion that assails readers when they are only exposed to the bewildering range of positions taken by the philosophers he examines. His book serves as an indispensable guide to a philosophical tradition that continues to have resonance in the post-modern world. (shrink)