RESUMENSe realzia un estudio sobre el ámbito de problemas que conciernen a la Estética de la comunicación en cuanto parte del os estudios estéticos dedicada a la investigación de la dimensión estética de lso actos comunicativos y de las relaciones que con ello se establecen entre la Estética y la Teoría de la comunicación por un lado y los fenómenos estéticos y los medios de comunicaciónPALABRAS CLAVEESTETICA-COMUNICACIÒN-ARTE-MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIONABSTRACTThis is a study on the problems of the Aesthetics of Communication, being (...) a part of tgeneral Aesthetics focused on the aesthetic dimension of communication and the relations, on one side, betweeen Aesthetics and the Theory of communnication, and, on the other, betwerrn the aesthetic issues and the mediaKEYWORDSAESTHETICS-COMUNICATION -ART-MEDIA. (shrink)

El filósofo mexicano Emilio Uranga (1921-1988) es recordado por su Análisis del ser del mexicano (1952) y por su labor como periodista político y asesor de López Mateos, Díaz Ordaz, Echeverría y López Portillo. Es posible tender un puente entre los dos aspectos, gracias a su concepción ontologizante de la Revolución Mexicana, leitmotiv de su producción teórica.

Currently, the concept of the cell as a society or an ecosystem of molecular elements is gaining increasing acceptance. The basic idea arose in the 19th century, from the surmise that there is not just a single unit underlying an individual’s appearance, but a plurality of entities with both collaborative and conflicting relationships. The following hypothesis is based around this model. The incompatible activities taking place between different original elements, which were subsumed into the first cell and could not be (...) eliminated, had to be controlled very closely. Similarly, a strong level of control had to be developed over many cellular elements after the cell changed its genome to DNA. We assume that at least some of those original RNA agents and other biomolecules which carry incompatibilities and risks, are retained within current cells, although they are now under strict control. A virus functions as a signal informing these repressed cellular RNAs and other elements of ancient origin how to restore suppressed degrees of molecular freedom, favoring pre-existing molecular affinities and activities, re-establishing ancient molecular webs of interactions, and giving fragments of ancient coded information the opportunity to be re-expressed. Collectively, these newly activated mechanisms lead to different possibilities for pathological cell states. All these processes are opposed by cell-control mechanisms. Thus, in this new scenario, the battle is considered intracellular rather than between the virus and the cell. And so the virus is treated as the signal that precipitates the cell’s change from a latent to an active pathological state. (shrink)

La complejidad de una enfermedad terminal pone en evidencia la vulnerabilidad del ser humano ante el dolor y el sufrimiento, y acentúa la crisis subjetiva que acompaña no solo al paciente, sino también al médico que lo asiste. Revisamos la propuesta de un estudio posicionado en la ética del cuidado de quienes necesitan atención integral en el final de la vida. Nos referimos a la investigación titulada “Final de vida, cuidados paliativos y empatía. Manejo de la empatía como recurso fundamental (...) frente a la toma de decisiones al final de la vida” (1). Un extracto de dicho trabajo señala la importancia de que los médicos puedan ubicar el sufrimiento del paciente separado de ellos mismos, de manera que sostengan una resonancia empática que los posicione con capacidad para entrar en el mundo del paciente y su enfermedad, con firmeza personal y profesional. Definimos un espacio de reflexión acerca del sentido del sufrimiento, su correlato en la práctica clínica y un argumento fundamental al momento de proponer una legislación vinculada al final de la vida. (shrink)

v. 1. Lenguaje, retórica y poética filosófica -- v. 2. Vico y la cultura europea -- v. 3. El pensamiento hispánico y propuestas viquianas para el nuevo siglo.

The majority of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) self-assemble in the form dimeric/oligomeric complexes along the plasma membrane. Due to the molecular interactions they participate, GPCRs can potentially provide the framework for discriminating a wide variety of intercellular signals, as based on some kind of combinatorial receptor codes. GPCRs can in fact transduce signals from the external milieu by modifying the activity of such intracellular proteins as adenylyl cyclases, phospholipases and ion channels via interactions with specific G-proteins. However, in spite of (...) the number of cell functions they can actually control, both GPCRs and their associated signal transduction pathways are extremely well conserved, for only a few alleles with null or minor functional alterations have so far been found. This would seem to suggest that, beside a mechanism for DNA repairing, there must be another level of quality control that may help maintaining GPCRs rather stable throughout evolution. We propose here receptor oligomerization to be a basic molecular mechanism controlling GPCRs redundancy in many different cell types, and the plasma membrane as the first hierarchical cell structure at which selective categorical sensing may occur. Categorical sensing can be seen as the cellular capacity for identifying and ordering complex patterns of mixed signals out of a contextual matrix, i.e., the recognition of meaningful patterns out of ubiquitous signals. In this context, redundancy and degeneracy may appear as the required feature to integrate the cell system into functional units of progressively higher hierarchical levels. (shrink)

This article considers categorical perception (CP) as a crucial process involved in all sort of communication throughout the biological hierarchy, i.e. in all of biosemiosis. Until now, there has been consideration of CP exclusively within the functional cycle of perception–cognition–action and it has not been considered the possibility to extend this kind of phenomena to the mere physiological level. To generalise the notion of CP in this sense, I have proposed to distinguish between categorical perception (CP) and categorical sensing (CS) (...) in order to extend the CP framework to all communication processes in living systems, including intracellular, intercellular, metabolic, physiological, cognitive and ecological levels. The main idea is to provide an account that considers the heterarchical embeddedness of many instances of CP and CS. This will take me to relate the hierarchical nature of categorical sensing and perception with the equally hierarchical issues of the “binding problem”, “triadic causality”, the “emergent interpretant” and the increasing semiotic freedom observed in biological and cognitive systems. (shrink)

In this introductory article to the special issue on Multi-level semiosis we attempt to stage the background for qualifying the notion of “multi-levelness” when considering communication processes and semiosis in all life forms, i.e. from the cellular to the organismic level. While structures are organized hierarchically, communication processes require a kind of processual organization that may be better described as being heterarchical. Theoretically, the challenge arises in the temporal domain, that is, in the developmental and evolutionary dimension of dynamic semiotic (...) processes. We discuss the importance of this fundamental difference in order to explain how levels, domains and orders of magnitude, on the one hand, and synchronic and diachronic processes, on the other, contribute to the overall organization of every living being. To account for such multi-level organization, semiotic freedom is assumed to be a scalar property that endows living systems at different levels and domains with the capacity to ponder selectively the overall structural coherence and functional compatibility of their heterarchical processing, which is increasingly less conditioned by the underlying molecular determinism. (shrink)

The egg behaves as a prospective cell sustaining the developmental processes of the future embryo. In biosemiotic terms, this apparent teleonomic behaviour can be accounted for without referring to the exclusive causal role played by its genetic makeup. We envision two different processes that are uniquely found in the oocyte: (1) the first involves the mechanisms by which large amounts of mRNA accumulate in the ooplasm to establish the embryo axes prior to fertilization; (2) the second involves transfer of an (...) excess of maternally supplied ribosomes to the oocyte to provide the future embryo with newly synthesized proteins. In this paper, we argue that the information required to sustain embryonic development is not due to any physical properties of the zygotic DNA and the maternal mRNAs, but to their spatially and temporally ordered relationship in the zygote’s internal space. (shrink)

En este artículo se discuten las críticas de John Dupré contra la unidad metodológica de la ciencia. Como se sabe, a partir de la premisa del desorden de las cosas, Dupré rechaza tanto las versiones fuertes como las variantes débiles de unificación, pero construye sus mejores argumentos contra las últimas a partir de la tesis de que no hay una solución satisfactoria del problema de la demarcación. Tras exponer los argumentos de Dupré en favor de la implausibilidad de cualquier formulación (...) débil de la tesis de la unidad de la ciencia (incluyendo aquellas que se enfocan en la unidad metodológica), explicaré su formulación del problema de la demarcación, examinaré su caracterización de la teoría de la falsabilidad de Popper y responderé a sus argumentos en contra de la posición de Popper sobre la cientificidad. Mis argumentos mostrarán la inadecuación del tratamiento que da Dupré a este problema y señalarán una ruta para mostrar que la solución de Popper al problema de la demarcación, por medio del criterio de falsabilidad, permite defender una forma no reduccionista de la unidad de la ciencia. (shrink)

Las discusiones sobre epistemología confiabilista suelen centrarse en elexamen de teorías de proceso confiable, según las cuales una creencia esjustificada syss es producida por procesos que son generalmente confiables.Pero la noción de “proceso-tipo confiable” es muy controvertida. Por ejemplo,autores como Conee y Feldman consideran que las teorías de la justificaciónde proceso confiable son irremediablemente defectuosas, debido al “problemade la generalidad”. En este trabajo me propongo bosquejar la idea central dejustificación en términos confiabilistas, y determinar hasta qué punto sepueden sostener las (...) críticas de Conee y Feldman contra la noción alstonianade confiabilismo de proceso. Finalmente, sugiero una estrategia paraneutralizar las objeciones de Conee y Feldman, y una propuesta esquemáticapara justificar los procesos-tipo que generan las creencias confiables. (shrink)

En este artículo examino el problema del estatus epistémico de las teorías científicas, a la luz de la epistemología de Popper. A partir del planteamiento controversial “ninguna teoría científica es verdadera” (A) que resulta un buen candidato para expresar de manera sintética una de las implicaciones fundamentales de la teoría popperiana de la verosimilitud, analizo algunas críticas a la concepción falibilista de la ciencia y sugiero formas de desarrollar apropiadamente el sentido de (A), junto con el de otros planteamientos de (...) la misma familia. Argumentaré que sólo mediante estos planteamientos podemos comprender de manera adecuada la empresa de la ciencia, y que ellos no representan el colapso de la epistemología. Por otra parte, mostraré cómo construir estos planteamientos de tal suerte que salgan airosos ante las críticas más comunes. Así mismo, examinaré el sentido de la locución “conocimiento científico” con el fin de mostrar que no es aconsejable interpretarla según el sentido tradicional de la palabra “conocimiento”. Ofreceré razones para concluir que si el enunciado (A) y sus parientes se matizan correctamente, estaremos en una posición mejor para conseguir una representación funcional de la empresa de la ciencia. (shrink)

Bienvenidos a una nueva entrega de la revista Discusiones Filosóficas. En esta oportunidad presentamos con orgullo el fascículo 28 de nuestra publicación, para el cual hemos seleccionado nueve artículos de investigadores nacionales y extranjeros. De conformidad con los frecuentemente modificados estándares de calidad para las publicaciones periódicas, el cuerpo editorial de la revista se ha comprometido de lleno con el cumplimiento de la periodicidad y procurará que cada nueva entrega nos acerque paulatinamente no sólo a los plazos establecidos, sino a (...) las ondiciones que se van introduciendo. Sin embargo, es preciso registrar la preocupación que embarga a muchos editores colombianos por la constante modificación de las condiciones para obtener el reconocimiento e inclusión en la base hemerográfica de COLCIENCIAS. (shrink)

Por medio de estas líneas extendemos un caluroso saludo a todos nuestros lectores, así como a autores, revisores y a todas las demás personas que contribuyen a que la revista Discusiones Filosóficas se mantenga activa en la comunidad académica nacional e internacional. Las revistas de filosofía de nuestro país reciben cada vez más exigencias y presiones de diversa índole, motivadas en los modelos de medición y los dictados de la cienciometría concatenados con ideas absurdas sobre la naturaleza de la investigación (...) de calidad en el área y la manera correcta de compartir y hacer circular sus resultados. Pese a todos estos escollos, con esta entrega alcanzamos ya los cuarenta fascículos, un logro importante pues son muchas las dificultades que hemos tenido que sortear para llegar a esta meta después de más de dos décadas de existencia de la revista. Como es apenas natural, este es un logro que se debe acreditar a muchas personas, entre los cuales es preciso mencionar a los autores, los evaluadores (sin cuyo generoso y desinteresado trabajo no sería posible seleccionar los mejores artículos) y a los integrantes del equipo técnico editorial que siempre nos han apoyado. Para esta entrega, y luego de un largo y dispendioso proceso, hemos seleccionado ocho artículos de investigación y una reseña. (shrink)

El artículo presenta una propuesta para promover la comprensión de las nociones de posibilidad, necesidad y validez argumental. Por medio de un criterio psicológico, la propuesta busca que los estudiantes capten dichas nociones de forma intuitiva antes de comenzar a usar las pruebas formales de validez. Se muestra cómo puede adaptarse la propuesta en el uso de los diagramas de Venn y en la diagramación de algunas formas silogísticas que la teoría clásica del silogismo considera válidas pero que no aparecen (...) como formas válidas en la diagramación canónica que usa los diagramas de Venn. (shrink)

Presentación del Monográfico sobre Racionalidad y Neurociencias (Daímon 59, 2013).

An automatic theorem prover for a proof system in the style of dual tableaux for the relational logic associated with modal logic K has been introduced. Although there are many well-known implementations of provers for modal logic, as far as we know, it is the first implementation of a specific relational prover for a standard modal logic. There are two main contributions in this paper. First, the implementation of new rules, called (k1) and (k2), which substitute the classical relational rules (...) for composition and negation of composition in order to guarantee not only that every proof tree is finite but also to decrease the number of applied rules in dual tableaux. Second, the implementation of an order of application of the rules which ensures that the proof tree obtained is unique.As a consequence, we have implemented a decision procedure for modal logic K. Moreover, this work would be the basis for successive extensions of this logic, such as T, B and S4. (shrink)

The term “globalization” was popularized by Marshall McLuhan in War and Peace in the Global Village. In the book, McLuhan described how the global media shaped current events surrounding the Vietnam War [1] and also predicted how modern information and communication technologies would accelerate world progress through trade and knowledge development. Globalization now refers to a broad range of issues regarding the movement of goods and services through trade liberalization, and the movement of people through migration. Much has also been (...) written on the global effects of environmental degradation, population growth, and economic disparities. In addition, the pace of scientific development has accelerated, with both negative and positive implications for global health. Concerns for national health transcend borders, with a need for shared human security and an enhanced role for international cooperation and development [2]. These issues have significant bioethical implications, and thus a renewed academic focus on the ethical dimensions of public health is needed. Future developments in science and health policy also require a firm grounding in bioethical principles. These core principles include beneficence; nonmaleficence ; respect for persons and human dignity ; and attention to equity and social justice. According to the World Health Organization [3], global ethical approaches should monitor and update ethical norms for research, as necessary; anticipate ethical implications of advances in science and technology for health; apply internationally accepted codes of ethics; ensure that agreed standards guide future work on the human genome; and ensure that quality in health systems and services is assessed and promoted. (shrink)

State sovereignty is often thought to be absolute, unlimited. This paper argues that there is no such a thing as absolute State sovereignty. Indeed, absolute sovereignty is impossible because all sovereignty is necessarily underpinned by its conditions of possibility—i.e. limited sovereignty is the norm, though the nature of the limitations varies. The article consists of two main sections: the concept of sovereignty: this section is focused on some of the limitations the concept of sovereignty itself presents; and a historical account (...) of the notion of sovereignty as it was used in the Ancient Times. The particular focus on early notions of a modern concept such as sovereignty has to do with the fact that this early notion has been anthropomorphised with societal evolution. Therein, the current concept of State sovereignty embraces the same limitations it had in its ancient form as a non-fully developed conceptual idea. The implications of understanding State sovereignty as limited rather than absolute are several, both directly and indirectly. A main immediate consequence is that sovereign States can cooperate together, limit their sovereignty and still be considered sovereign. (shrink)

In most European countries, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the imposition of physical distancing rules, resulting in a drastic and sudden reduction of real-life social interactions. Even people not directly affected by the virus itself were impacted in their physical and/or mental health, as well as in their financial security, by governmental lockdown measures. We investigated whether the combination of these events had changed people's appraisal of social scenes by testing 241 participants recruited mainly in Italy, (...) Austria, and Germany in an online, preregistered study conducted about 50 days after the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe. Images depicting individuals alone, in small groups, and in large groups were rated in terms of valence, arousal, and perceived physical distance. Pre-pandemic normative ratings were obtained from a validated database. Several self-report measures were also taken, and condensed into four factors through factor analysis. All images were rated as more arousing compared to the pre-pandemic period, and the greater the decrease in real-life physical interactions reported by participants, the higher the ratings of arousal. As expected, only images depicting large gatherings of people were rated less positively during, compared to before, the pandemic. These ratings of valence were, however, moderated by a factor that included participants' number of days in isolation, relationship closeness, and perceived COVID-19 threat. Higher scores on this factor were associated with more positive ratings of images of individuals alone and in small groups, suggesting an increased appreciation of safer social situations, such as intimate and small-group contacts. The same factor was inversely related to the perceived physical distance between individuals in images of small and large groups, suggesting an impact of lockdown measures and contagion-related worries on the representation of interpersonal space. These findings point to rapid and compelling psychological and social consequences of the lockdown measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of social groups. Further studies should assess the long-term impact of such events as typical everyday life is restored. (shrink)

The world’s elderly population is growing, and in Chile they represent 16.2% of the total population. In Chile, old age is marked by retirement, with a dramatic decrease in income that brings precariousness. Older adults are economically, socially, and psychologically vulnerable populations. This condition increases their likelihood of disengaging from their usual social environment, facilitating their isolation, sadness, and discomfort. From the perspective of social identity, well-being can be explained by two principles: social groups’ importance for health and people’s psychological (...) identification with those groups. This study analyzes the relationships between belonging to the neighborhood and extra-neighborhood groups and neighborhood social identification with WB. Urban or rural location and gender are measured, and the sample is 1,475 older Chilean adults of both sexes. The results show that the majority are not members of social groups, and the remaining 48% are members of one or two groups or organizations. Only 4.47% belong to three groups or organizations. Those who belong to groups obtain higher scores, emotional–mental WB, and positive emotions than older adults who do not belong to any organization. Urban and rural older adults have the same level of WB. Membership in close social organizations or distant ones causes different WB associations. Membership in neighborhood councils reduces gender differences in self-assessment of health. This result supports the idea that participation in heterogeneous groups with a shared sense of belonging to the neighborhood is associated with higher WB and lower perceived loneliness. Social identification with the neighborhood, rather than belonging to the group, had the most widespread impact on WB and health indicators. The variable social identification with the neighborhood was consistently associated with indicators of hedonic WB. (shrink)

This paper argues, contrary to Fodor’s well-known position, that the iconic and discursive modes of representation are not mutually exclusive categories. It is argued that there exists at least a third kind of representation which blends the semantic properties of icons and the syntactic properties of discourses. We reason that this iconic-discursive genus behaves differently from other representational formats, such as distributed representations or maps, previously put forward as challenging Fodor’s basic distinction. A reflection follows about how this kind of (...) representation impacts on the Fodorian issues for which the original dual distinction was argumentatively instrumental, namely, the kinds of codes and possible inter-code relations accessible to the representational mind. The suggestion is put forward that iconic-discursive representations may facilitate trade-offs between the world and the representational mind, as well as between the differently complex levels of representation that mediate between percepts and concepts. We conclude that such aspects of the computational mind, which until now appeared to be stubbornly resistant with respect to a conciliation of Hume’s empiricism and Fodor’s computationalism, may be more easily accessed and understood taking advantage of the biosemiotics perspective and acknowledging the richness of the biosemiotics codes accessible to cognition. (shrink)

Las ideas de Michel Foucault han tenido una gran influencia en las ciencias de la educación. Los estudios acerca de la sociedad disciplinaria se han convertido en una referencia ineludible para pensar las dinámicas de la institución escolar. Sin embargo, esa influencia a menudo se reduce a su enfoque crítico y deconstructivo, sin elaborar adecuadamente los aspectos propositivos y la influencia constructiva que su teoría puede ofrecer. Estetrabajo parte de la hipótesis de que los últimos estudios del filósofo brindan un (...) marco conceptual sólido que va más allá la mera crítica hacia las relaciones de poder, aportando intuiciones relevantes para aplicar al campo educativo. Siguiendo esta lógica, en la presente propuesta se explorarán algunos conceptos claves del pensamientotardío de Foucault: régimen de verdad, prácticas de sí, psicagogia y parresía. Estos conceptos permitirán rastrear la importancia de los últimos trabajos de Foucault para pensar la tarea educativa. Dichos trabajos invitan a considerar la potencia de la filosofía, ya no solo para cuestionar las estructuras sedimentadas, sino también como una fuerza motivadora de procesos de transformación ética y posibilidades de invención para la trama vital delos individuos. En síntesis, la argumentación permitirá mostrar que la interpretación que el filósofo realiza tanto de la filosofía estoica como del cinismo a —través de la noción de parresía— proporciona pautas claras para aplicar al trabajo pedagógico y a la relación docente-alumno. (shrink)

El objetivo de este ensayo es reexaminar el fenómeno conocido como determinismo tecnológico. Si bien la creencia en algo así como un desarrollo tecnológico autónomo, con una especie de lógica propia, ha sido recientemente criticada y descartada por varios filósofos de la tecnología, aquí se piensa que dicha conclusión es injusta y apresurada. Con base en las importantes contribuciones teóricas de Hans Freyer y Friedrich Rapp --usualmente no tomadas en cuenta en la discusión actual--, se muestra cómo se puede ver (...) que el determinismo tecnológico desempeña un papel ineludible en lo que Karl Löwith ha llamado la "dialéctica de la historia". /// The aim of this paper is to take a second look at the phenomenon known as technological determinism. Although the belief in something like an autonomous, technological development, with a sort of logic of its own, has been recently attacked and dismissed by many philosophers of technology, here it is argued that such a conclusion is hasty and unfair. Relying on the important theoretical contributions of Hans Freyer and Friedrich Rapp --not usually considered in the current debate--, it is showed how technological determinism can be seen to play an ineludible role in what Karl Löwith has named the "dialectic of history". (shrink)

En este artículo, el autor ofrece una interpretación de la importancia filosófica actual de la Ilustración escocesa. Después de un amplio repaso de las principales características de este movimiento y del pensamiento de figuras escocesas clave del siglo XVIII, se propone que discusiones del momento en tomo a la naturaleza y perspectivas del progreso en la historia, podrían beneficiarse de una reconsideración crítica de ciertos puntos de vista expuestos por los literati escoceses.

Aunque es erróneo creer en un desarrollo tecnológico absolutamente autónomo e independiente de constreñimientos humanos o sociales, la propia impresionante dinámica del actual avance tecnológico hace tentador creer en algún tipo de determinismo tecnológico. En el marco de la teoría de las consecuencias no intencionadas de la acción humana en la historia es posible acomodar una variante moderada, no absoluta de determinismo tecnológico. En ella hay cabida para un reconocimiento objetivo de la contingencia y finitud humanas junto a claras exigencias (...) de responsabilidad. (shrink)

In some small-scale societies, a sexual division of labor is common. For subadult hunter-gatherers, the onset of this division dates to middle childhood and the start of puberty; however, there is apparently no physiological explanation for this timing. The present study uses an experimental approach to evaluate possible energetic differences by sex in gathering-related activities. The energetic cost of gathering-related activities was measured in a sample of 42 subjects of both sexes aged between 8 and 14 years. Body mass and (...) other anthropometric variables were also recorded. Our results show that the energetic differences in the simulated gathering activities depend only on body mass. Both sexes expend a similar amount of energy during locomotion activities related to gathering. Discarding the energetic factor, the sexual division of tasks may be explained as an adaptation to acquire the skills needed to undertake the complex activities required during adulthood as early as possible. Carrying out gathering activities during childhood and adolescence could be favored by the growth and development cycles of Homo sapiens. Moreover, if most of the energetic costs of gathering activities depend on body mass, the delayed growth in humans relative to other primates allows subadults to practice these tasks for longer periods, and to become better at performing them. In fact, this strategy could enable them to acquire adults’ complex skills at a low energetic cost that can be easily subsidized by other members of the group. (shrink)

Social and environmental problems attributed to current electricity sector restructuring structures are spelled out. The energy source choices and market power of large industrial and commercial users versus residential consumers are compared. An institutional analytic approach is used to reveal the best option to alleviate the social and environmental problems associated with electricity restructuring. Community aggregation emerges with great potential to achieve meaningful social and environmental improvement.