This article gives an overview of the nursing ethics arguments on euthanasia in general, and on nurses' involvement in euthanasia in particular, through an argument-based literature review. An in-depth study of these arguments in this literature will enable nurses to engage in the euthanasia debate. We critically appraised 41 publications published between January 1987 and June 2007. Nursing ethics arguments on (nurses' involvement in) euthanasia are guided primarily by the principles of respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence and justice. Ethical arguments (...) related to the nursing profession are described. From a care perspective, we discuss arguments that evaluate to what degree euthanasia can be considered positively or negatively as a form of good nursing care. Most arguments in the principle-, profession- and care-orientated approaches to nursing ethics are used both pro and contra euthanasia in general, and nurses' involvement in euthanasia in particular. (shrink)

Starting from Justus Lipsius's _Monita et exempla politica _, this book offers a collection of essays dealing with the disputed Macchiavellian, Tacitean or Neostoic character of Lipsius's political thought, and its impact on the dynamics of political discourse in Early Modern Europe.

This essay sets up a dialogue between Lefort’s view on the relationship between the state and modern society and Foucault’s thesis of a governmental turn in the modern power regime, whereby the relations between state and society are thoroughly redrawn. What are the main results? 1) Whereas Lefort’s political ontology leaves room for divergent agencies from which the symbolic institution of the social may unfold, his preoccupation with democracy leans him to inseparably link the symbolic institution of modern society with (...) the functioning of the modern state. 2) By contrast, Foucault’s history of governmentality documents a shift from the political and legal power regime to the biopolitical regime. This shift seems to be accompanied by a turn in the regime of the symbolic institution of modern society. Where that institution hitherto relied on the state, today, a symbiosis of state and neoliberal governmentality seems to be taking over. 3) This shift in power regimes brings along major problems. In political respect, it leads to a re-adjustment of the instituting representations of contemporary society, to a depoliticization of political and social relations, and to the erosion of democracy. (shrink)

Populisme. Sinds extreem rechts recent een bepaald soort salonfähigkeit heeft weten te verwerven in het democratische bestel wordt de term door zelfverklaarde democraten te pas en te onpas gehanteerd om bijvoorkeur ‘rechtse’, maar bij uitbreiding ook alle andere tegenstanders te desavoueren die uit zijn op al te gemakkelijk politiek succes. Vanuit dat perspectief veroorzaakt de term ‘populisme’ geen enkel probleem: het is een dankbare politieke diskwalificatie die iedereen graag gebruikt, maar die niemand graag krijgt toebedeeld.

The expansion of livestock production throughout the world has led to increased demand for high protein animal feed. This expansion has created economic benefits for livestock farmers and other actors in the chain, but also resulted in environmental and social side effects. This study aims to identify a set of sustainability issues that cover the environmental, economic and social dimensions of soymeal and beef production chains. The method applied combines the results of multiple studies, including a literature review and stakeholder (...) surveys. Stakeholder surveys were conducted for three different interest groups and two geographical regions . Our results reveal that the selection of issues in most sustainability assessment studies is a relatively arbitrary decision, while the literature also states that identifying issues is an important step in a sustainability assessment. Defining sustainability issues from a whole chain perspective is important, as issues of sustainability emerge at various stages along the production chain, and are found to vary across stakeholders’ interests. Business stakeholders, for example, perceived economic issues to be more important, whereas the majority of consumer stakeholders and other stakeholders perceived social and environmental issues, respectively, to be more important. Different education levels, knowledge, and living patterns in various geographical regions can affect the stakeholders’ perceptions. The combination of a heterogeneous group of stakeholders and the consideration of multiple chain stages constitutes a useful approach to identify sustainability issues along food chains. (shrink)

Prof. Burkard Sievers was born in 1942 in Kiel, Germany. After studying philosophy in Frankfurt and sociology in Münster he worked for a number of years in the United States at the University of Michigan, Columbia University in New York and in Washington. At present he is full professor of organisation development' at the Bergische Universität, Wuppertal, Germany.He has published a number of articles in the area of 'organisational sociology’ in which he approaches management problems in organisations from a variety (...) of unusual perspectives. His most important book was published by Walter de Gruyter in 1994 under the title Work, Death and Life Itself — Essays on Management and Organisation and was awarded the HBK prize for employee participation in an organisation in 1995. (shrink)

By now it has been pretty well established that the Flemish Jesuit Leonardus Lessius was an economist of the highest grade. Joseph A. Schumpeter, perhaps the 20th century’s most important historian of economics, afforded Lessius more than ample mention in his monumental work, History of Economic Analysis. In Interest and Usury, Schumpeter’s pupil, Bernard W. Dempsey, likewise gave Lessius generous attention. The Belgian historian Raymond de Roover, however, who considered Lessius to be primarily a deserving epigone of the famous ‘Salamanca (...) School’, did not completely share their enthusiasm, at least initially. De Roover’s somewhat lukewarm attitude was, nevertheless, drowned out by the laudatory contribution of Barry T. Gordon on the subject in his Economic Analysis Before Adam Smith. Robert Beutels brought respect to Lessius’ work in his bio-bibliographical essay published in 1987 and restored something of the honour due to Lessius which, according to Beutels, he had been unjustly denied, certainly in his own land.The image of Lessius presented by all these authors is uncommonly fresh, yet at the same time surprisingly familiar. In their works they have shown him to be a modern thinker who merits comparison with contemporary economists. His analyses give witness to his profound insight into the economy of his day and are still relevant, thought not directly applicable, for economists today. The market principle, portfolio theory, the quantity theory of money, and much more can, according to the authors we have mentioned, be found in Lessius. But does this rather trendy image of Lessius agree with the historical reality?An appropriate way to begin answering this question would be to examine his discussion on the lending of money and the taking of interest in his monumental tractate of 1605, On Justice and Law . Did Lessius endorse or reject the traditional proscription against usury? When did he consider it permissible to claim interest? To what extent did his moral judgment depend on an economic analysis of the phenomenon of interest? Perhaps the answers to these questions will enable us to judge Lessius as both economist and ethicist, as he rightly deserves. (shrink)

In het personalisme staat de menselijke persoon centraal. Niet het individu en zijn enge eigenbelang, maar de mensen in verbondenheid met elkaar, hun leefwereld en idealen. De personalistische filosofie heeft haar stempel gedrukt op onze samenleving. Tot op vandaag functioneert ze als inspiratiebron voor maatschappelijke projecten. 0Misschien juist omwille van die sterke impact in het verleden heeft het personalisme vandaag een wat stoffig imago. Dit boek maakt daar komaf mee. Denkers en doeners van diverse pluimage stellen zich de vraag wat (...) een hedendaags personalisme kan inhouden. Welke impulsen kan het personalisme geven aan de samenleving van morgen? Hoe kunnen we dat concretiseren, in diverse domeinen, van economie tot ecologie, van psychologie tot politiek? 0Zo blijkt dat personalisten nog steeds tegen de stroom in zwemmen. Tegenover de materialistische en individualistische reflex van onze samenleving houden ze een warm pleidooi voor het relationele en het spirituele. Met oog voor concrete initiatieven en ruimte om de personalistische traditie kritisch te bekijken, zet dit boek de toon voor een breed maatschappelijk debat. Dit is leesvoer voor iedereen die met een open geest wil nadenken over een betere samenleving. (shrink)

Some fictionalist approaches to the notion of scientific model are based on the concept of game of make-believe developed by Kendall Walton, without proposing a similar interpretation of it. The distinction between authorized and unauthorized games can be one of the sources of those divergences. In relation to the distinction made by Walton, the de dicto and de re modalities of the fiction-operator reflect different epistemological engagements concerning objects which satisfy properties. This paper aims at following up on the proposals (...) formulated by Roman Frigg and Adam Toon by using some modal logic concepts, notably by defining the identities of properties in modal contexts in terms of world-lines. Applying a model to a target-system consists in transposing fictional truths into actual situations, through an extrapolation that goes beyond the games of make-believe. (shrink)

We are going to analyse the issue of alterity in the philosophy of Miguel de Unamuno through the study of Abel Sánchez. In this nivola, Unamuno examines the concept of envy and establishes the bases of a theory of alterity based on the specular relationship with the other, which it is constituted by the scarcities of the one who looks. We will also look at what are the philosophical premises of this narration, in which way it is linked with the (...) organic philosophy of Unamuno, and what its relationship with the theatre piece El Otro is, released more than a decade after but of a quite similar subject. Finally, we will outline a possible theory of the alterity by Unamuno that it is formulated through the fraternity and altruistic help. (shrink)

Quin tipus de teixit configura un diàleg de Plató? Què mostren els seus brodats? Què representa? Quina relació manté amb el coneixement i amb la seva transmissió? Aquest text respon en part a algunes d’aquestes qüestions a partir de dos passatges del diàleg anomenat Fedre en els quals Sòcrates utilitza el recurs del vel per construir els seus dos discursos. Es defensarà que comprendre què posa en joc el vel resulta fonamental per a entendre correctament la manera en què Sòcrates (...) parla amb el seu interlocutor i en la qual Plató confecciona el diàleg per als potencials lectors. L’objectiu principal d’aquest text és mostrar alguns dels trets essencials del dir platònic. (shrink)

Las siguientes páginas versan sobre la idea del Estado en la obra de José Ortega y Gasset, mostrando los cambios que en torno a aquella idea se producen en su pensamiento. En un primer periodo de mocedad, Ortega idealiza el papel de Estado influido por la tradición del pensamiento clásico y germano. En un segundo momento, a partir de la programática fecha de 1914, se producirá un giro en su pensamiento, quedando el Estado al servicio de la sociedad o la (...) realidad nacional, y por lo tanto en una posición “subalterna” frente a la posición dominante que Ortega le concedía en sus primeros años como intelectual. (shrink)

No texto começa-se por recordar a controvérsia em torno da existência da filosofia portuguesa que se sustenta consubstanciar-se na questão: "há ou não filosofias especificamente nacionais, a cada nação corresponde uma filosofia própria?". Para solucionar o problema, seria indispensável fixar de modo indiscutível as noções de filosofia e nação. Não se aceitando a intuição das essências, que daria de modo directo e imediato as referidas noções, e entendendo-se que conceitos verdadeiros só podem surgir fundados num sistema, tentou-se, apenas, formular definições (...) convencionais de filosofia e nação, para estabelecer relações inegáveis entre elas, o que poderia dar um contributo para a problemática das filosofias nacionais, na hipótese de tais definições serem exactas ou, pelo menos, terem encontrado defensores. Considerou-se filosofia uma concepção do mundo racional, e nação uma certa comunidade de homens ligados pela istória e, porventura, por uma linguagem própria. Se a cada nação correspondesse uma filosofia cair-se-ia no relativismo, que é insustentável. Se se perfilhasse o ponto de vista que a filosofia depende da linguagem, logo da nação, a resposta seria que a linguagem expressa o pensamento, não é o pensamento. Assevera-se que uma concepção racional do mundo é sempre universal e que uma certa comunidade é, a fortiori, particular. A relação entre filosofia e nação será pois a do universal com o particular. Não é lícito absorver a filosofia na nação, como se esta fosse o universal concreto, nem dissolver aquela num universal que, nessa altura, seria abstracto. O universal supera o particular, sem o destruir, estando numa relação dialéctica com ele. O universal é, assim, universalização do particular. Por consequência, a filosofia será nacional mas de um "nacional" que se saiba auto-ultrapassar. O momento nacional é somente um momento da filosofia, não a própria filosofia na sua universalidade. /// Le texte commence par rappeler la controverse autor de l'existence de la philosophie portugaise, dont on affirme qu'elle s'identifie avec la question "y a-t-il, ou non, des philosophies spécifiquement nationales? A chaque nation correspond une philosophie propre?". Pour apporter une solution à ce problème, il serait indispensable de fixer de façon indiscutable les notions de philosophies et de nation. Comme on n'accepte pas l'intuition des essences, qui fournirait de façon directe et immédiate les notions mentionnées et comme on pense que de vrais concepts ne peuveunt surgir que fondés en un système, on a seulement essayé de formuler des définitions conventionnelles de philosophie et de nation en vue d'établir des relations irrécusables entre elles, ce qui pourrait constituer un apport pour la problématique des philosophies nationales, dans l'hypothèse que de telles définitions sont exactes ou ont, pour le moins, rencontré des adeptes. On considère la philosophie comme une conception rationnelle du monde et la nation, une certainne communauté d'hommes liés par l'histoire et, en particulier, pour une langue propre. Si à chaque nation correspondait une philosophie, on tomberait dans le relativisme, ce qui est insoutenable. Si l'on partageait le point de vue d'après lequel la philosophie dépend du langage, par suite, de la nation, la réponse serait que le langage exprime la pensée, n'est pas la pensée. On assure qu'une conception rationnelle du monde est toujours universelle et qu'une communauté donnée est particulière. La relation entre philosophie et nation sera donc celle qui existe entre l'universel et le particulier. Il n'est pas licite d'absorber la philosophie dans la nation, comme si celle-ci était l'universel concret, ni dissoudre celle-là dans un universel qui alors serait abstrait. /// Is there or is there not a specifically national philosophy? To each nation is there a corresponding philosophy? To answer these questions, which are certainly pertinent to the controversy concerning the existence of a Portuguese philosophy, one should state clearly what can be meant by philosophy and nation. By eliminating the approach by which one imagines it possible to have immediate and direct intuitions of these notions and by considering that true concepts are those that can be founded within a system, an attempt has been made here to formulate conventional definitions of philosophy and of nation in the hope that these definitions could be conjugated and made more precise. The idea that there be at the same time a rational world and a particular rationality, belonging to a particular community of men bound together by a common history and language, has been judged illusory. If to every nation there were a corresponding philosophy, an unbearable relativism would prevail. If one were to maintain that philosophy depended on language, and thus a nation, then the response would be that while language expresses thought, language is not thought. It is not legitimate to assimilate philosophy to a nation, as if the latter were a concrete universal; in this sense, it would be simply abstract. The universal overcomes the particular without destroying it, for the relationship is dialectical in nature: the universal is thus the universalization of the particular. Therefore, philosophy in national if one considers national as that which is capable of overcoming itself; the national moment is only a moment of philosophy, and not philosophy as such in its universality. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the reception of Bertrand de Jouvenel’s Du Pouvoir in post-war America. I show how Jouvenel drew on a firmly established tradition of ‘aristocratic liberalism’ in French political thought, which in turn allowed him to develop a pessimistic outlook on modern Western political culture as inherently conducive to totalitarianism. This profound pessimism allowed Du Pouvoir, which fell relatively flat in France itself, to become a critical success in the Anglophone world. Jouvenel’s jeremiad resonated in particular with Cold (...) War warriors such as Friedrich Hayek. (shrink)

El presente artículo analiza los primeros escritos de Heidegger, en el contexto de sus orígenes católicos y antimodernos, a fin de mostrar en ellos una serie de aspectos característicos. La pretensión final consiste en poner de relieve los elementos valorativos y cosmovisionales que dirigen el pensamiento de Heidegger en sus inicios. De ese modo, se vuelve posible dejar planteada la pregunta de si dichos elementos no siguen jugando un papel decisivo, aunque menos visible ya, en toda la filosofía del primer (...) Heidegger. (shrink)

Dans une lettre à son épouse, Sade fait l'éloge de la bizarrerie et l’élève au rang de catégorie esthétique sous le nom de « principe de délicatesse ». Cela peut sembler paradoxal, comme l'a bien remarqué Michel Delon, que celui qui énonce le devoir de délicatesse est celui-là même dont le nom est devenu synonyme de brutalité. Le terme est en effet ambigu et possède dans l'oeuvre du marquis plusieurs sens: de l'échange de soins entre Juliette et sa maîtresse préférée (...) La Durand, en passant par une simple manie sexuelle, jusqu'à la fantaisie « la plus bizarre et la plus singulière de toutes », celle qui dépend d'une richesse fastueuse et qui ne s'achève que sur un tas de corps baignés de sang. Il s'agit d'abord d'examiner les différents sens du terme chez Sade ; puis d'analyser les interprétations que Roland Barthes, Annie Le Brun et Michel Delon donnent de la délicatesse scélérate ; enfin de mettre en évidence sa spécificité par rapport à la prodigalité luxurieuse. (shrink)

In this paper I propose an account of representation for scientific models based on Kendall Walton’s ‘make-believe’ theory of representation in art. I first set out the problem of scientific representation and respond to a recent argument due to Craig Callender and Jonathan Cohen, which aims to show that the problem may be easily dismissed. I then introduce my account of models as props in games of make-believe and show how it offers a solution to the problem. Finally, I demonstrate (...) an important advantage my account has over other theories of scientific representation. All existing theories analyse scientific representation in terms of relations, such as similarity or denotation. By contrast, my account does not take representation in modelling to be essentially relational. For this reason, it can accommodate a group of models often ignored in discussions of scientific representation, namely models which are representational but which represent no actual object. (shrink)

La complejidad de la Crítica de la razón pura comienza a disolverse al contemplar su gestación desde los textos precríticos. Este artículo analiza la evolución de los “conceptos” de espacio y tiempo en los textos anteriores a la Crítica. Con ello se logran dos cosas: la primera, facilitar la lectura de la Crítica de la razón pura y la segunda demostrar que la reflexión que guía el comienzo de la filosofía trascendental no es otra que la fundamentación filosófica de la (...) física. (shrink)

Partiendo de una reflexión sobre los distintos modos de nombrar el seguimiento de Cristo y de algunas de las principales formas en que se ha concretado en el Ife del cristiano a lo largo de la historia (martirio, vida monástica, vida contemplativa, vida activa, etc.), llegamos a las Sociedades de Vida Apostólica, como un camino original y genuino, cuya primera manfestación se encuentra en el Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. En las dos notas siguientes (pp. 579-602 y 603-618) se hace (...) una breve descripción histórica sobre este peculiar santo, señalando, al mismo tiempo, los rasgos más distintivos de su espiritualidad y de su obra. (shrink)

Las formas de pensar la dominación social han cambiado durante las últimas décadas en la teoría política, dejando atrás esquemas diádicos con centros de poder definidos. En este artículo comparamos autores de la nueva lectura de Marx, la crítica del valor y la interseccionalidad, que han ayudado redefinir la dominación social durante las últimas décadas complejizando los paradigmas que las preceden, el marxismo tradicional y el feminismo negro, respectivamente. El artículo analiza el concepto de dominación social de estas nuevas lecturas (...) de Marx atendiendo a las críticas que la interseccionalidad ha dirigido contra el marxismo tradicional. Así mostramos las posibilidades de diálogo entre estos enfoques, pero también las innegables dificultades que existen. (shrink)

Loin des traites du gouvernement visant a definir les bornes du pouvoir legitime, le Discours de la servitude volontaire presente la tyrannie comme la negation radicale de toute communaute civile. La ou tout est a un, aucune chose publique ne saurait subsister.Or la racine de cette appropriation tyrannique, c'est, en chacun, l'alienation consentie ou la servitude volontaire. De ce fondement enigmatique et revoltant de toute domination, La Boetie tire une serie de paradoxes qui sont autant d'avertissements constamment adresses a la (...) philosophie politique des Modernes. (shrink)

O estudo do estado de exceção, paradoxo central da política moderna, é objeto da análise de diferentes vertentes conceituais que envolvem o poder soberano e o seu exercício. Sua prática tem importantes consequências para as Relações Internacionais, como no caso de refugiados, que muitas vezes se encontram à margem do amparo legal estatal por sua singular situação, carentes do exercício da cidadania e liberdade para agirem como agentes políticos transformadores do meio social. Este artigo propõe um delineamento de teorias político-filosóficas (...) sobre o tema, que perpassa o pensamento central de pensadores fundamentais para se entender o poder e a exceção, como Carl Schmitt, Walter Benjamim, Michael Foucault e Giorgio Agamben. Deste modo, faz-se uma reflexão de como os conceitos de poder constituinte, amigo e inimigo, discurso da verdade, contingência, mecânica do poder e vida nua ajudariam a explicar o refugiado e a sua condição limite ante à excepcionalidade no âmbito das Relações Internacionais. Esse desencadeamento teórico tem por objetivo compreender o exercício do poder de exceção usado como tática aplicada para adestrar a vida humana em sociedade, inserindo-o nas definições de biopoder e biopolítica, especialmente quando do exame das circunstâncias envolvendo os refugiados. (shrink)

Godenschemering van Daniël de Waele is een theologische cultuurgeschiedenis die de evolutie van het geloof in God uitdiept in de loop der tijd. Israël ontdekte in een polytheïstische wereld de Ene God, die door de tijd heen steeds humaner werd en dichterbij kwam. Hoe is het geloof na die grote stap geëvolueerd? Hoe past het verdampen van het geloof, dat uiteindelijk eindigde in de dood van God, in deze evolutie? En welke rol heeft het bestormen van de godenbeelden gespeeld? De (...) Waele ontwaart naast deze geloofsevolutie een andere geschiedenis: een blijvende zoektocht naar de ene God. (shrink)

This book develops a new approach to the mind called mental fictionalism. The key idea behind this approach is that the mind is a useful fiction. The book begins with our ordinary conception of the mind (known as folk psychology). At present, the dominant interpretation of folk psychology sees it as an attempt to describe our inner machinery (a view the author calls Cartesianism). The representational theory of mind (or representationalism) argues that our folk theory is true, and that our (...) thoughts (especially our propositional attitudes, such as beliefs and desires) are representations inside our heads. Mental fictionalism offers a new interpretation of folk psychology. According to mental fictionalism, when we attribute beliefs and desires, we do not claim that people have representations inside their heads; we merely pretend that they do. Our ordinary conception of the mind is fundamentally metaphorical: we project the ‘outer world’ of human culture (especially language) onto the ‘inner world’ of the mind. This is an enormously useful way of making sense of people and their behaviour. But we should not forget that this inner world is only a fiction. (shrink)

Hegel critica la falta de consecuencia de la teología cristiana tradicional por hacer de Diosalgo inaccesible, abstracto, desligado de la realidad finita, y por aceptar la facticidad de laconciencia religiosa como una postura alienada, que no lucha por la transformación de larealidad. Pero la racionalización de la fe cristiana introducida por el reduccionismo deHegel es desenmascarada por la teología consciente de que el discurso de la filosofía sobrela religión elimina el elemento de misterio y relación interpersonal que es constitutivo dela (...) experiencia religiosa cristiana. La fe cuestiona todo discurso sobre Dios. (shrink)

Entrevista com Luiz Felipe de Alencastro.

En las Filípicas, Cicerón utilizó una amplia variedad de invectivas para denigrar a Antonio, retratándolo como un individuo antisocial que encarnaba todas las taras morales y vicios. Lo describió como un enemigo del Estado y un tirano que aspiraba a la autocracia y buscaba eliminar a los boni, defensores de la República. Estos insultos se analizan a lo largo del artículo y se observa en ellos una inversión de las virtudes cardinales descritas por Cicerón. Según Cicerón, estas virtudes eran las (...) cualidades que un estadista debía poseer, tal y como se detalla en su obra De Officiis, que escribió al mismo tiempo que pronunciaba las Filípicas. (shrink)

Theories about the changes on the organisms, in the time scale, are know since the 18th century. However, the most famous, as well as the more debated, was the one by Charles Robert Darwin, in his great book On the origin of species. It is interesting to note that while this naturalist was born, in 1809, a book by the French naturalist Jean Baptiste Antoine Pierre de Monet, known as Lamarck, was published, Philosophie zoologique, where another theory of the transformations (...) of the organisms were also proposed. Darwin cited that theory quite enthusiastically, as he himself said in the On the origin; his first scientific work were, in fact, inspired in Lamarck, his theory of inheritance, in another of his books, Variation of animals and plants under domestication, was basically lamarckian, particularly related to the inheritance of acquired characters. And, “from so simple beginning”, as Darwin expressed in the last lines of The origin, the “theory of species transmutations”, as he called at first his theory, was changed in the following years, until achieving the hegemonic theory of the XXth century, called The Evolutionary Synthesis. Is this journey that will be presented here, culminating with a contemporary proposal, in 2010, called The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis which is still being confronted with the former theory. Keywords: Biological evolution. Processes of evolution. Genetics. History and philosophy of biology. (shrink)

_Efficacy of Palliative Care in Pain Relieving_ _Eficácia dos cuidados paliativos no alívio do sofrimento_ El alivio del sufrimiento es uno de los principales objetivos médicos. Mediante una escala de medición cuantitativa del sufrimiento se investigó la repercusión de la atención del servicio de cuidados paliativos. El estudio se realizó en pacientes con enfermedades avanzadas atendidos en el principal hospital de referencia de dicha especialidad en Argentina. El 88% de los participantes refirió sufrimiento en la primera consulta. Este porcentaje disminuyó (...) al 44% luego del seguimiento clínico de cuidados paliativos. Este estudio evidencia que la atención médica competente de Cuidados Paliativos logra reducir el sufrimiento, asegurando una calidad de vida adecuada durante la enfermedad, hasta su final natural. De este modo, los Cuidados Paliativos constituyen una respuesta médica y ética válida frente a la eutanasia. (shrink)

From the time of his very first courses, Heidegger seeks to thematize the radically finite dynamic for human life. As he considers traditional metaphysics to be incapable of facing this finitude, he engages in a critical examination of its most fundamental presuppositions. This article attempts to elucidate Heidegger's critique by means of twodifferent detours. First I show that the idea of self-realization, which Aristotle understood to be the most perfect movement, is unable to account for the tragic, unstable and internally (...) divided structure of human life. Whereas the idea of self-realization determined the ensuing history of metaphysics — including Hegel — to a considerable extent, I understand Heidegger to develop against the background of this tradition a dynamic principle which allows us to conceive of every human striving as essentially threatene by the very principle that makes it possible. I then turn to Greek tragedy, especially to Oedipus Rex, to clarify this radically finite principle in terms of the essential structure of the tragic as such. The tendency of both human life and philosophy to turn away from this essentially tragic movement can be understood as the 'fall' which is inherent in all efforts of the human being to raise itself above itself. Heidegger's own thinking, on the other hand, can be characterized as a finite attempt to withstand this predominant tendency of western philosophy. (shrink)