El presente artículo se propone analizar la contraposición entre ciertos supuestos básicos del liberalismo, aún en sus versiones más igualitarias, y aquello que consideramos es un requisito para el desarrollo de la democracia. Principalmente se cuestionará la suposición de egoísmo que atraviesa la obra de John Rawls, quien cuando procura ajustar su propuesta de justicia distributiva al realismo psicológico, es cuando más se aferra al pesimismo antropológico que caracterizara al liberalismo desde su emergencia. Sostendremos pues, que la suposición de egoísmo (...) que Rawls es incapaz de dejar de lado, es una justificación nada neutral de la propiedad privada y del mercado, a la que el liberalismo ha recurrido aún de espaldas a la complejidad que es propia de las relaciones humanas efectivas, es decir, cuando el argumento liberal se dice más realista, es cuando es más ideológico. La democracia se funda, por el contrario, en la posibilidad de matizar dicho egoísmo y por ende, mientras los argumentos liberales permanezcan ciegos a ello, no podrán constituir una defensa efectiva de la democracia, sino por el contrario, serán una amenaza para las bases materiales de ésta. (shrink)

En este trabajo proponemos una lectura de la filosofía política de Smith, a partir de su teoría de la obligación política, en tanto crítica del contractualismo. El autor rechaza la hipótesis del estado de naturaleza y el consentimiento de los individuos, proponiendo, en cambio, una teoría basada en la opinión, pero, sobre todo, en la ilusión de que la sociedad comercial nos conducirá a la felicidad. Rastrearemos estas ideas en tres de sus textos más importantes: La teoría de los sentimientos (...) morales, La riqueza de las naciones y Lecciones de jurisprudencia. (shrink)

Mientras Carole Pateman (1988) afirma que «para las feministas la democracia no ha existido jamás», Julieta Kirkwood (1986) sostiene que «no hay democracia sin feminismo». Ambas aluden a la deuda del ideal democrático con la emancipación de las mujeres, e incluso a la función estructural de la exclusión de las mujeres en la democracia liberal. A partir de los encuentros y desencuentros entre democracia y feminismo, el presente artículo pretende ofrecer una definición de la democracia feminista que vaya más allá (...) de la inclusión a través de la acción afirmativa, abordando las tensiones que esta genera en el debate feminista de las últimas décadas y los nuevos desafíos en torno a las políticas de redistribución y de reconocimiento. ¿Es posible superar la opresión y la dominación a partir de políticas centradas en el interés de grupo? ¿Cómo se define ese interés sin esencializar la diferencia? Responder a estas preguntas resulta clave para plantear un concepto eficaz de democracia feminista. (shrink)

El primer objetivo del presente artículo es reconstruir el concepto de obligación política en Hume a partir de lo expuesto en el _Tratado de la naturaleza humana_ y en algunos de sus ensayos políticos. Hume es crítico del contractualismo y su idea del consentimiento como fundamento de la legitimidad de la autoridad, proponiendo en su lugar lo que llama “aquiescencia precaria”. El segundo objetivo es analizar el alcance del escepticismo humeano respecto de la obligación política y verificar si se extiende (...) a la obligación de cumplir las reglas de justicia. Para ello analizaremos la figura del _sensible knave_ introducida en la Investigación de los principios de la moral, y la respuesta que Hume le da a quienes se resisten a cumplir las reglas. Concluiremos que el escepticismo humeano que se ve reflejado en su comprensión de la obligación política, afecta también a su respuesta a los potenciales infractores de las reglas, sin embargo, más que un fallo en el argumento de Hume sería una ventaja para pensar la política más allá de los dogmatismos. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In the following text we aim to present a proposal of interpretation of Hobbes's work from sociobiology viewpoint. Despite the fact it may strike some at first as an anachronism or straightforward wrong, reading the philosopher of Mamelsbury from a sociobiological perspective, can shed light on some particular aspects of his argument, particularly those referring to the construction of human nature and its influence on the modulation of the state of nature and on the justification of authority and political (...) obligation. So, Hobbes proceeds as a sociobiologist since he offers us a tale about the emergence of morality from where it didn't exist before and moves from there to a specific understanding of political authority. RESUMO No texto a seguir, pretendemos apresentar uma proposta de interpretação da obra de Hobbes a partir de sociobiologia. Apesar de poder chocar alguns em primeiro lugar como um anacronismo ou errado, ler o filósofo da Mamelsbury a partir de uma perspectiva sociobiológica pode lançar luz sobre alguns aspectos particulares do seu argumento, em especial os referentes à construção da natureza humana e sua influência sobre a modulação do estado de natureza e sobre a justificação da autoridade e obrigação política. Portanto, Hobbes procede como um sociobiólogo, já que ele nos oferece um conto sobre o surgimento da moralidade de onde ela não existia antes e se move de lá para uma compreensão específica da autoridade política. (shrink)

This article aims at two objectives, the first is to prove the insufficiency of the Kantian ethics matrix to give an account of vulnerability and precarity that are part of human existence. We will show how the “losing” side of ethical theories of modernity, offer a richer frame to asses human interdependency. Our second objective is to pose the hypothesis about a relation between those discourses of freedom as autonomy and the negation of human vulnerability and hence of the relegation (...) or subalterization of the ethical arguments based on care. (shrink)

El presente texto tiene como objetivo problematizar el proyecto republicano de democracia igualitaria desde la perspectiva de su realizabilidad. Se trata de contraponer el optimismo que encontramos por parte de quienes participan de los movimientos de la sociedad civil, con la perspectiva desencantada o insuficientemente comprometida de algunos sectores de la sociedad, que pese a apoyar las reivindicaciones en cuestión, no están dispuestos a hacer los sacrificios que un compromiso sustantivo demanda. Releer el proyecto republicano desde la simpatía, nos permite (...) comprender los desafíos que un proyecto político republicano debe afrontar para llevar a cabo las transformaciones sociales necesarias. (shrink)

En el artículo analizaremos el problema de la obligación política en Hobbes, entendiendo esta como una compulsión de carácter moral a la obediencia a las leyes, por oposición a un cálculo meramente prudencial. Contra la lectura tradicional que considera a Hobbes un teórico del consentimiento, afirmaremos que el consentimiento juega un rol secundario para la obligación y que esta se sostiene aparentemente en las leyes de naturaleza como preceptos de razón prudencial, orientados a la autopreservación. Explicaremos que la teoría de (...) Hobbes justifica más bien lo que Carole Pateman denomina una teoría de la “obediencia política”, fallando en justificar la obligación. (shrink)

This article proposes that the meditation on contemporary violence, in the Eduardo Nicol’s works, is part of a broad process of philosophical reflection of three decades, which questions the present and the future of humanity. Violence, for Nicol, is the display of a special rationality, born in Modernity, which he calls “force majeure reason” (razón de fuerza mayor) that is a change of life regime in the contemporary human being, sometimes to the basic need for survival, utility and a network (...) of forcedness that reduces possibilities and freedom. In this way, the article traces in Nicol´s work the conformation —from the notion, to the idea and the conceptual framework— of violence as a disposition, act and system. Political regulation, hate and intersubjective violence, hostility and war in a global world are the focus of this collaboration. Este artículo propone que la meditación sobre la violencia contemporánea, en la obra de Eduardo Nicol, está inscrita en un amplio proceso de reflexión filosófica de tres décadas, que interroga sobre el presente y el porvenir de la humanidad. La violencia, para Nicol, es el despliegue de una racionalidad peculiar —gestada en la Modernidad— por disolvente de la verdad, a la cual él llama “razón de fuerza mayor”. De este modo, el artículo rastrea en la obra de este filósofo la conformación —desde la noción, hasta la idea y marco conceptual— de la violencia en tanto disposición, acto y sistema. La regulación política, el odio y la violencia intersubjetiva, la hostilidad y la guerra en un mundo global son el foco de atención de este artículo. (shrink)

The sense of agency is a central aspect of human self-consciousness and refers to the experience of oneself as the agent of one’s own actions. Several different cognitive theories on the sense of agency have been proposed implying divergent empirical approaches and results, especially with respect to neural correlates. A multifactorial and multilevel model of the sense of agency may provide the most constructive framework for integrating divergent theories and findings, meeting the complex nature of this intriguing phenomenon.

La afamada helenista francesa Nicole Loraux, en sus textos La Cité divisée y La guerre dans la famille, ambos de 1997, ya nos había introducido a una redefinición topológica de la guerra civil, es decir de la stásis, asignándole una posición de centralidad en el contexto de las relaciones entre ciudad y familia, reexaminando el modo en que el dominio del oîkos conurba a la realidad de la ciudad. Centrada en el texto platónico del Menéxeno, Loraux había advertido (...) que la stásis era un conflicto propio del parentesco de sangre (phylon) entre los miembros de la pólis, de manera tal que la guerra, no sería sino oikeîos pólemos, esto es, un asunto consustancial a la familia y a las relaciones entre ellas, en la misma medida que sería inherente a la ciudad y constitutiva de la vida política. Pues bien, un acabado estudio de semejante problema –pero que excederá con un sello muy personal los límites de la indagación de Loraux– es el que ahora nos viene a ofrecer Juan Pablo Arancibia. (shrink)

A lo largo de la historia, el devenir de los acontecimientos ha hecho que determinados autores, que quizá en su época gozaron de fama y popularidad, hayan caído en el olvido o hayan sido forzados al ostracismo. Un caso clásico sería el del poeta y narrador estadounidense William Gilmore Simms quien, antes de la Guerra de Secesión, disfrutó de los laureles de la fama y la admiración de sus contemporáneos. Sin embargo, su apoyo a la causa confederada ha hecho (...) de él un autor prácticamente olvidado hoy en día. El caso de Joseph de Maistre es similar, pues también se enmarca dentro del apoyo a las causas perdidas o, más concretamente, a las causas que, andando el tiempo, no han resultado las vencedoras. Su apoyo a la causa contrarevolucionaria en el momento en que Europa se abría a la contemporaneidad social y política lo ha convertido en una isla en el pensamiento moderno, a pesar de que en su momento fuera un intelectual conocido y un pensador político respetado en los círculos conservadores. Como bien pone de manifiesto la Dra. Guerrero en su introducción, habría que esperar hasta 2007, para que la figura del senador saboyano volviera a los círculos académicos franceses, cuando Philippe Sollers escribió su ya clásico “Elogio de un maldito”. [...]. (shrink)

Evidence does not support the claim that observers universally recognize basic emotions from signals on the face. The percentage of observers who matched the face with the predicted emotion (matching score) is not universal, but varies with culture and language. Matching scores are also inflated by the commonly used methods: within-subject design; posed, exaggerated facial expressions (devoid of context); multiple examples of each type of expression; and a response format that funnels a variety of interpretations into one word specified by (...) the experimenter. Without these methodological aids, matching scores are modest and subject to various explanations. (shrink)

Resumen:La afamada helenista francesa Nicole Loraux, en sus textos La Cité divisée y La guerre dans la famille, ambos de 1997, ya nos había introducido a una redefinición topológica de la guerra civil, es decir de la stásis, asignándole una posición de centralidad en el contexto de las relaciones entre ciudad y familia, reexaminando el modo en que el dominio del oîkos conurba a la realidad de la ciudad. Centrada en el texto platónico del Menéxeno, Loraux había advertido (...) que la stásis era un conflicto propio del parentesco de sangre (phylon) entre los miembros de la pólis, de manera tal que la guerra, no sería sino oikeîos pólemos, esto es, un asunto consustancial a la familia y a las relaciones entre ellas, en la misma medida que sería inherente a la ciudad y constitutiva de la vida política. Pues bien, un acabado estudio de semejante problema –pero que excederá con un sello muy personal los límites de la indagación de Loraux– es el que ahora nos viene a ofrecer Juan Pablo Arancibia. (shrink)

First, we explain the conception of trustworthiness that we employ. We model trustworthiness as a relation among a trustor, a trustee, and a field of trust defined and delimited by its scope. In addition, both potential trustors and potential trustees are modeled as being more or less reliable in signaling either their willingness to trust or their willingness to prove trustworthy in various fields in relation to various other agents. Second, following Alfano (forthcoming) we argue that the social scale of (...) a potential trust relationship partly determines both explanatory and normative aspects of the relation. Most of the philosophical literature focuses on dyadic trust between a pair of agents (Baier 1986, Jones 1996, Jones 2012, McGeer 2008, Pettit 1995), but there are also small communities of trust (Alfano forthcoming) and trust in large institutions (Potter 2002, Govier 1997, Townley & Garfield 2013, Hardin 2002). The mechanisms that induce people to extend their trust vary depending on the size of the community in question, and the ways in which trustworthiness can be established and trusting warranted vary with these mechanisms. Mechanisms that work in dyads and small communities are often unavailable in the context of trusting an institution or branch of government. Establishing trust on this larger social scale therefore requires new or modified mechanisms. In the third section of the paper, we recommend three policies that – we argue – tend to make institutions more trustworthy and to reliably signal that trustworthiness to the public. First, they should ensure that their decision-making processes are as open and transparent as possible. Second, they should make efforts to engage stakeholders in dialogue with decision-makers such as managers, members of the C-Suite, and highly-placed policy-makers. Third, they should foster diversity – gender, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic background, disability, etc. – in their workforce at all levels, but especially in management and positions of power. We conclude by discussing the warrant for distrust in institutions that do not adopt these policies, which we contend is especially pertinent for people who belong to groups that have historically faced (and in many cases still do face) oppression. (shrink)

This paper draws on an in-depth phenomenological analysis of some interviews taken from volunteers, inviting them to reflect on their lived experiences of meaningfulness in the context of volunteering and citizenship. It is found that while some testimonies reinforce the standard conceptions of meaningfulness, other testimonies vary from it. The main challenge of this contribution consists in phenomenologically describing this alternative picture of meaningfulness, depicted as the event of witnessing. In a final part, the authors consider how volunteering is at (...) times especially prone to further experiences of witnessing. (shrink)

Our natural environment is in a lamentable state, notwithstanding today’s increasing ecological awareness. One cause frequently cited is our diminished perception of and relation to nature on ontological grounds. None of the alternative visions offered to date has been considered to really challenge the prevailing detached utilitarian and empirical framework. However, continued attempts on various levels are needed to rearticulate and reinvigorate the currently dormant and neglected plurality of approaches to nature. Although neither Heidegger nor Levinas was primarily concerned with (...) the relation of humans to nature, their works do seem to offer a voice to express our genuine way of being as a “Dasein in the world,” and the depth of its implications, as well as to reveal the “exteriority of nature.” A close examination of their views can show how they may contribute to a broadening of our perception, so that nature may appear to us not primarily as a commodity but foremost as an inspiring source of meaningfulness that at the same time appeals to our ethical ability. (shrink)

Several psychosocial models have been proposed to explain the etiology of eating disorders and obesity separately despite research suggesting they should be conceptualized within a shared theoretical framework. The objective of the current study was to test an integrated comprehensive model consisting of a host of common risk and protective factors expected to explain both eating and weight disorders simultaneously in a large school-based sample of adolescents. Data were collected from 3,043 youth from 41 schools in the Ottawa region, Canada. (...) Working with interested school staff, validated self-report scales in the form of a questionnaire booklet were administered to participating students to assess several understood risk and protective factors common to both eating disorders and obesity. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were taken at the end of the questionnaire administration period by trained research staff. Structural equation modeling with cross-validation was used to test the hypothesized model. Findings demonstrated that dysregulated eating was associated with both eating disorder and weight status with diet culture and emotion dysregulation directly associated with some of these disordered eating patterns. It equally pointed to how lifestyle made up of high sedentary behaviors, low vigorous exercise and varied eating patterns contributed to both emotion dysregulation and poor body image which subsequently affected eating issues and weight status simultaneously, signaling the complex interplay of psychosocial factors that underlie these concerns. This study provides evidence for an integrated psychosocial model consisting of socio-environmental, psychological, and behavioral factors may best explain the complex interplay of risk and protective factors influencing eating disorders and obesity. It equally highlights understanding the direct and indirect effects of some of the most salient risk factors involved in eating and weight-related concerns, including the strong effects of diet culture and stressors such as weight-based teasing, providing interventionalists evidence of important risk factors to consider targeting in eating disorder and weight-based prevention efforts. (shrink)

Two experiments examined false recall for lists of semantically and phonologically associated words as a function of presentation duration. Veridical recall increased with long exposure durations for all lists. For semantically associated lists, false recall increased from 20–250 ms, then decreased. There was a high level of false recall with 20 ms durations for phonologically associated lists , which declined as duration increased. In Experiment 2, for lists presented at 20 and 50 ms rates, false recall given zero correct recall (...) was observed frequently, suggesting that conscious recollection of studied words was not necessary for phonological false memory. Differences between phonologically and semantically associated lists were consistent with a feature integration model based on automatic initial processing of phonetic features of words. (shrink)

The discipline of nursing has experienced the movement from modernism to postmodernism through expressions ranging from dualistic and polarized discourse to contradicting pluralistic positions. For the purpose of this paper, these responses are described as ways of knowing and are examined for their impact on the evolution of the nursing discipline. Reciprocal interdependence is offered as an alternate way of knowing capable of incorporating differing world views into a coherent and comprehensive systemic whole. The reflexive and potentially transformational impact of (...) reciprocal interdependence on the advancement of nursing knowledge is reviewed through a discussion of the value of polarity, as well as the contribution of complementary and dialectical perspectives to the maintenance of interactions between the whole and its constituents. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The 1987 Amendment to the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act (Vic) allows the creation of embryos specifically for research purposes, as long as the proposed experiment takes place within 24 hours. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there is aany significant ethical difference between creating embryos specifically for research and using those that are surplus from the new reproductive technologies. The relevant arguments in this debate can be grouped under three heads: those focussing on the embryo; those (...) focussing on the possible consequences of these practices and those focussing on the women who donate the eggs. (shrink)

This final comment provides, a theoretical framework on how to conceive the self as presented in the key-note paper ‘Meaningfulness, volunteering and being moved. The event of witnessing’. This is deemed requisite to achieve a full understanding of how depth in meaningfulness comes about.

I analyse Drenthen's article 'Ecological restoration and place attachment: emplacing non-places?' (Environmental Values 18(3): 285-312), focusing in particular on his use of the notions of 'appropriation' and 'estrangement' from the perspective of meaningfulness. I show that, for deeper meaningfulness as place attachment, within the appropriable there is always a tension with the non-appropriable; there is a successful connection between both. Estrangement and loss of meaning occur the moment the non-appropriable resides outside the familiar. Drenthen unintentionally causes confusion by failing to (...) take this subtlety into account systematically. (shrink)

Philosophers who write about the meaning of life are few nowadays. Thesubject has lost its attractiveness. Perceived from a viewpoint of logical positivism or language philosophy, the whole issue of meaningfulness seems rather pointless. It is often considered to be related to metaphysics, making it less suitable for philosophical inquiry. The topic of meaningfulness seems too intangible. Indeed, the few philosophers that have embarked on examining meaningfulness have proven to be well aware of the challenges this poses. At times they (...) acknowledge that the more they concentrate on the subject, the more it seems to fall apart into unintelligible pieces about whichnothing of philosophical value can be said. (shrink)

The question of the meaning and meaningfulness of life is neglected by philosophers today. Meaning is implicitly assumed to be associated with individual choices and preferences. This article argues that meaningfulness works in another way as well, when something provokes meaningfulness. One of the consequences of this vision is that there may well be implicit "standards" for meaning. Certain benchmarks for meaning-references concerned with our "being-in-the-world"-have not been explored fully enough. Another point that as been neglected in the recent discussion (...) on meaningfulness is the very structure of being that is appealed to. This is the key to the experience of a deeper kind of meaningfulness. (shrink)

ABSTRACTMetaphysics has long been regarded as providing meaning to the world. Subsequent progressive replacement attempts of this narrative by a scientific approach have generally led to a view of life as being void of meaning. However, this has not affected the quest for meaning or for an understanding of this meaning, despite an increasing societal neglect of the importance of its pursuit. This article aims to contribute to a philosophical understanding of the sense of life in the world, drawing on (...) Jean-Luc Nancy's understanding of sense as developed in his Sense of the World. To talk of “sense” rather than of “meaning” is an unconventional choice in the field, yet both differ from one another in that sense refers to an opening as the very possibility of meaningfulness generally. This means that, to understand meaning, we must understand sense. Key to Nancy's conception of sense is the transitivity of the verb being; being traverses itself from being as non-being “to” being as existence. Nancy is concer... (shrink)

This paper describes the relation between the surpassing and ethics. It first describes how we re-think the surpassing. We divide it into a non-reflective and a reflective level. Next we link it to ethics. The point we want to make is that in order for something to be ethical it needs a surpassing element. Yet not all surpassing elements lead to ethics. Therefore, we will first delineate the surpassing.

First, to what level of quality can medical ethics a spire, if it ignores callous discrimination in medrcal practice against large populations of the innocent poor? Second, how effective can such theories be in addressing the critical issues of medical and clinical ethics if they are unable to contribute to the closing of the gap of sociomedical disparity?Marcio Fabri dos Anjos, Medical Ethics in the Developing World: A Liberation Theology Perspective.