Con il presente lavoro l'A. si propone di dimostrare che l'introduzione nel lessico tecnico latino di materia, come traduzione di hyle, è antecedente al De inventione ciceroniano e al De rerum natura di Lucrezio, i primi testi a presentare questa innovazione nei campi rispettivamente della retorica e della filosofia. Dall'esame dei passi più significativi delle due opere, tra quelli in cui compare materia, e da considerazioni esterne ai testi stessi, si ricava, a giudizio dell'A., che il termine venne utilizzato come (...) parte integrante de/lessico tecnico preesistente, poiché mancano quegli elementi che accompagnano una neoformazione semantica alla sua prima comparsa certificandone, esplicitamente o implicitamente, la valenza traslata. (shrink)

The variety \ of semi-Heyting algebras was introduced by H. P. Sankappanavar [13] as an abstraction of the variety of Heyting algebras. Semi-Heyting algebras are the algebraic models for a logic HsH, known as semi-intuitionistic logic, which is equivalent to the one defined by a Hilbert style calculus in Cornejo :9–25, 2011) [6]. In this article we introduce a Gentzen style sequent calculus GsH for the semi-intuitionistic logic whose associated logic GsH is the same as HsH. The advantage of this (...) presentation of the logic is that we can prove a cut-elimination theorem for GsH that allows us to prove the decidability of the logic. As a direct consequence, we also obtain the decidability of the equational theory of semi-Heyting algebras. (shrink)

La historiografía ha revisado el falso mito de la «idílica convivencia» de las tres culturas. Para ello, ha alejado la cohabitación pacífica entre las tres religiones del imaginario colectivo medieval. Los vínculos entre la mayoría cristiana y la minoría judía sufrieron una serie de alteraciones a lo largo de la Edad Media como consecuencia de la coexistencia y de los episodios de violencia. Así pues, el objetivo de este trabajo es identificar los sustantivos y adjetivos que hacen referencia a los (...) judíos en los discursos medievales de los siglos XIV y XV. (shrink)

I may feel guilty for situations and events in which I seemed to play no causal role, which (it would seem) would have been exactly the same had I never existed. What is the reason for this guilt? The paper argues that it is to be found in a sense of universal connectedness: I take myself to always make a difference, no matter how distant I appear to be from anything that happens.

A logic is a doctrine of the logos, that is, of meaningful discourse; hence the first thing we expect from it is an account of what makes the logos meaningful — of what a meaning is. There is no single such doctrine or account: it is part of the immense richness of meaningful discourse that we can shift back and forth between several logics — several organized ways of reasoning, of providing reasons or grounds for our claims. Building on previous (...) work on Hegel's dialectical logic, the author here identifies three distinct logics simultaneously in play in our conversations. Analytic logic structures its organization of discourse around negation, contraries, and hence arguments forcing a conclusion to follow (under threat of inconsistency) from some premises. Dialectical logic's main tool is the construction of narratives, hence the attempted incorporation of interlocutors within one's own story. The third option, here labeled gradual logic, sees sorites (which are recalcitrant anomalies for the analytic approach) as ideal cases, since the bleeding of a predicate into an alleged contrary points the way to reaching an agreement among initially conflicting parties: to them eventually coming to regard themselves as stressing different aspects of one and the same thing. (shrink)

The famous passage from Descartes' Sixth Meditation (54), proving that I am distinct from my body, is analysed in a way that it presupposes the following argument: (1) God can make X and Y distinct. (2) I f God can make X and Y distinct, then X and Y are distinct. (3) Therefore, X and Y are distinct. (2) is shown up as the crucial premise, several objections to it and possible ways out are discussed with the result that Descartes (...) needs to avoid references to God within the argument for the real distinctness of mind and body. (shrink)

In this paper we obtain characterizations of subalgebras of Heyting algebras and De Morgan Heyting algebras. In both cases we obtain these characterizations by defining certain equivalence relations on the Priestley-type topological representations of the corresponding algebras. As a particular case we derive the characterization of maximal subalgebras of Heyting algebras given by M. Adams for the finite case.

Socially responsible consumption reflects a consumer's political and ethical act. Its measurement is dependent on the socio-economic and cultural context. Consequently, measurement instruments reflecting various behaviour profiles of global consumers have been developed. This study employs a Latin-American-specific measurement instrument to compare socially responsible consumption behaviours in Colombia, Mexico and Peru, countries with the same cultural cluster, that is they reflect a set of values shaped by religion, family, a sense of authority and a nationalist bias in their cultural pattern. (...) The empirical test included confirmatory factorial analysis exercise, factorial invariance analysis and a contrast analysis of variance. The results for the three Latin American countries show the following. (i) The Mexican consumer, compared to the Peruvian and Colombian one, exhibits a stronger tendency to evaluate external practices of corporate social responsibility as a criterion of consumption. (ii) The rationality of the Mexican consumer is better in terms of consumption volume of products, resources and services. Finally, (iii) Peruvian and Mexican consumers (vs. Colombian consumers) exhibit a tendency to assess the responsible practices of companies in labour matters more as a consumption criterion. This study provides empirical evidence of the context-dependent nature of measuring socially responsible consumption. For practitioners, identifying consumer profiles based on the market context enables them to customise goods and services. Moreover, policymakers should implement a sustainable consumption agenda with public policy guidelines tailored to the specific context. (shrink)

We review the properties of Global Index Grammars (GIGs), a grammar formalism that uses a stack of indices associated with productions and has restricted context-sensitive power. We show how the control of the derivation is performed and how this impacts in the descriptive power of this formalism both in the string languages and the structural descriptions that GIGs can generate.

En este artículo exponemos los presupuestos que permiten una reflexión crítica sobre la esfera pública desde una perspectiva marxista. Hemos partido de la consideración del contexto de discusión reciente sobre las ideas políticas de Marx y de la relevancia del concepto de esfera pública para mostrar la importancia de algunos de sus conceptos críticos para la filosofía política. El texto es producto de una investigación dedicada a la elaboración de un marco conceptual que persigue el desarrollo de un análisis crítico (...) de la esfera pública en la actualidad y en el que se ha establecido que algunas cuestiones claves, vinculadas a los conceptos de lenguaje y experiencia, se encontraban presentes en la obra de Marx. En este sentido, el texto presenta una novedosa reflexión al tratar la actualidad del pensamiento de Marx desde el análisis de un problema político contemporáneo que permite poner en evidencia las implicaciones críticas y radicales que poseen sus fundamentos filosófico-críticos para los discursos y las instituciones políticas contemporáneas como la esfera pública. (shrink)

Stories, in pictorial format, orally narrated, and later on as narrative texts, have played a key role in human evolution and to this day continue to surreptitiously teach us things and skills. In recent decades, psychologists and cognitive scientists have begun documenting the role of stories, and particularly fiction, in refining our sociocognitive skills. In this essay, I focus specifically on how stories, particularly written fiction, hone our emotion recognition skills. I present a brief overview of existing theorizing and research (...) findings, and propose the less-is-more hypothesis, according to which emotion recognition skills are sharpened by stories that do not tell us, but rather show us the emotional life of fictional characters. (shrink)

A selection of Perlman's (social service, U. of Chicago) recent essays responsibility, and who need ongoing support to better center themselves in their professions. No index. of relevance for contemporary social work, especially in its casework and groupwork forms. The selections reflect two concerns. First is the number of entrants to social work (and frequently to the most difficult publicly supported welfare programs) who have only rudimentary education in the field, and need the support of ongoing education to help them (...) maintain focus and direction. The second concern is with the number of more advanced graduates who have been prematurely placed in positions with supervisory or teaching Working from within the analytic tradition, and employing analytic tools, distinctions, and methods of argument, Bencivenga (philosophy, U. of California-Irvine) attempts to transform and save the tradition, under increasing assault by its post-analytic critics. Eleven essays (nine previously published) cover topics in aesthetics, language, logic, metaphysics, ethics, and meta-philosophy. Cloth edition (unseen), $35. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR. (shrink)

Some scholars claim that in Derrida's Of Grammatology the author presents China and its script as essentially and radically Other when compared to the West. In this paper, I argue that Derrida's discussion of Leibniz, his critique of the notions of ‘phonetic writing’ and ‘ideograph’, and the distinction he makes between ‘logocentrism’ and ‘phonocentrism’, enables him to deconstruct an essentialist conception of China or Chinese writing. However, far from conceiving China in a relativist or ethnocentric manner, Derrida also pays attention (...) to the historicity of the encounter between European philosophy and China. In order to underline the transcultural potential of deconstruction, I discuss the concept of ‘crypt’ in light of the Chinese translation of the word ‘ différance’. This allows me to reinterpret what I claim to be Derrida's problematic reference to Chinese writing as ‘outside of all logocentrism’ from the point of view of his philosophy of translation. 1. (shrink)

El reto de todas las sociedades, tanto a nivel de lo que se ha denominado formación (Bildung) como de lo que constituye la institucionalización jurídico-política, es el problema del mal que se concretiza a la manera de la banalización y destrucción de la humanidad misma. La filosofía práctica kantiana asume este desafío y plantea un proyecto ético-político que pasa a través de lo pedagógico y estético. El propósito de este artículo es hacer una exploración en torno a las posibilidades de (...) configuración moral y jurídica de tos sujetos a partir de los planteamientos kantianos, contrastándolas con la dificultad permanente que para ellas representa el mal radical. Para esto se procederá a través de cuatro apartados. El primero versará sobre los presupuestos antropológicos o rasgos humanos que se convierten en condición de posibilidad tanto de la moralización como de la normalización. El segundo tendrá como tema la legislación ético-moral ahondando en el concepto de autonomia. El tercero planteará la relación entre ética y política a través de lo jurídico para, finalmente, esbozar algunas conclusiones. (shrink)

En este artículo exponemos los presupuestos que permiten una reflexión crítica sobre la esfera pública desde una perspectiva marxista. Hemos partido de la consideración del contexto de discusión reciente sobre las ideas políticas de Marx y de la relevancia del concepto de esfera pública para mostrar la importancia de algunos de sus conceptos críticos para la filosofía política. El texto es producto de una investigación dedicada a la elaboración de un marco conceptual que persigue el desarrollo de un análisis crítico (...) de la esfera pública en la actualidad y en el que se ha establecido que algunas cuestiones claves, vinculadas a los conceptos de lenguaje y experiencia, se encontraban presentes en la obra de Marx. En este sentido, el texto presenta una novedosa reflexión al tratar la actualidad del pensamiento de Marx desde el análisis de un problema político contemporáneo que permite poner en evidencia las implicaciones críticas y radicales que poseen sus fundamentos filosófico-críticos para los discursos y las instituciones políticas contemporáneas como la esfera pública. (shrink)

El reto de todas las sociedades, tanto a nivel de lo que se ha denominado formación (Bildung) como de lo que constituye la institucionalización jurídico-política, es el problema del mal que se concretiza a la manera de la banalización y destrucción de la humanidad misma. La filosofía práctica kantiana asume este desafío y plantea un proyecto ético-político que pasa a través de lo pedagógico y estético. El propósito de este artículo es hacer una exploración en torno a las posibilidades de (...) configuración moral y jurídica de tos sujetos a partir de los planteamientos kantianos, contrastándolas con la dificultad permanente que para ellas representa el mal radical. Para esto se procederá a través de cuatro apartados. El primero versará sobre los presupuestos antropológicos o rasgos humanos que se convierten en condición de posibilidad tanto de la moralización como de la normalización. El segundo tendrá como tema la legislación ético-moral ahondando en el concepto de autonomia. El tercero planteará la relación entre ética y política a través de lo jurídico para, finalmente, esbozar algunas conclusiones. (shrink)

A partir de la reforma penal ilustrada y el normativismo jurídico contemporáneo, las sociedades modernas han intentado valerse de una culpabilización útil y objetiva, en contraposición a ideas metafísicas y teológicas tradicionales de castigo. Sin embargo, la moralidad social que subyace y acompaña la aplicación del Derecho penal está atravesada por motivos premodernos e intereses técnicos y económicos que han hecho de la racionalidad culpabilizadora un ejercicio complejo; entretejido con nociones como maldad, ejemplaridad, seguridad, control y productividad. El objetivo de (...) este ensayo es entonces mostrar el relativismo de la culpabilidad en las sociedades securitarias actuales y sus avatares en medio de la tensión dada entre poderes legales e ilegales y doctrinas neoliberales y neoconservadoras. (shrink)

This article explores the comparison between Derrida and Zhuangzi and their approaches to the question of metaphor and analogy, examining the deconstruction of essentialist and culturalist forms of philosophical comparativism. The author contends that the notion of ‘Western metaphysics’ relies on an implicit comparison between the West and its others, shaped not only by philosophical factors but also by historical, sociological and strategic considerations, as exemplified in Aristotle’s exclusion and subjection of metaphor. Derrida’s approach in ‘White Mythology’, with its ‘internal (...) reading’ and ‘quasi-transcendental’ perspective, challenges the unity and identity of the conventional representation of philosophy as a Western achievement. However, the article also advocates for an ‘external’ and ‘quasi-empiricist’ viewpoint that recognises the erratic character of comparisons, resisting the appropriation of philosophical differences into general categories such as ‘Western’ or ‘Chinese philosophy’. (shrink)

Este artículo, siguiendo al filósofo francés Vladimir Jankélévitch, desvela la ética de la resistencia como una vía frente a la imposibilidad de perdonar en casos de violencia extrema y, en particular, cuando no hay arrepentimiento por parte del victimario. La senda de la resistencia configura, entonces, no solo el compromiso y la necesidad de mantener vivo el recuerdo del horror y la preciosa ipséité, sino la posibilidad de re-sentir y re-significar el silencio como un modo de dignificar a las víctimas, (...) sin permitir que el lugar de lo moral sea usurpado por lo jurídico o lo legal. La tesis central que queremos sostener aquí se rige por la siguiente afirmación: si no podemos perdonar, por lo menos podemos resistir. La resistencia está relacionada con el deber de la memoria y con la recuperación de la voz silenciada de las víctimas en el espacio público. This article, following the teachings of the French philosopher Vladimir Jankélé-vitch, presents the ethics of resistance as a path facing the impossibility of pardon in cases of extreme violence and, in particular, when there is no remorse on the part of the violence performer. The path of resistance shapes, therefore, not only the commitment and the need to keep alive the memory of the horror and the cherished ipséité, but also the possibility to feel again and redefine silence as a way to honour the victims without allowing the moral stance to be usurped by the judicial system or the rule of law. The central thesis that we would like to hold here is based on the following statement: If we cannot forgive at least we can resist. Resistance concerns the duty of memory and the recovery of the silenced voice of victims in the public space. (shrink)

This is a highly original, wide-ranging, and unorthodox discourse on the idea of philosophy contained in Kant's major work, the Critique of Pure Reason. Bencivenga proposes a novel explanation of the Critique's celebrated "obscurity." This great obstacle to reading Kant, Bencivenga argues, has nothing to do with Kant's being a bad writer or with his having anything very complicated to say; rather, it is the natural result of the kind of operation Kant was performing: a universal conceptual revolution. Bencivenga contends (...) that in rejecting the traditional way of doing philosophy, Kant was proposing a paradigm shift comparable in magnitude to Copernicus's overthrow of the Ptolemaic view of the cosmos. Kant, however, was not successful in establishing his idea of philosophy as the new paradigm, and the old view persists in many contemporary versions. Bencivenga argues in favor of Kant's position, which he sees as entailing the view that the role of philosophy is to offer a plausible story about how objectivity might be grounded in certain principles of coherence of our mental states. This book is the story of Kant's revolutionary turnabout, what motivated it, and where it took him; it reveals Kant not only as a figure of historical importance, but as a source of ideas of great contemporary interest. (shrink)

En la doctrina del derecho internacional de Hermann Heller el dato fundamental del orden jurídico lo constituye la presencia de unidades decisorias soberanas, individualizadoras del derecho. Heller agrega que, paradojalmente, la existencia del derecho positivo depende de la acción legibus soluta de tales unidades comunitarias. Aunque obligados por “principios jurídicos fundamentales”, los Estados, ante una amenaza que los ponga en riesgo y comprometa, por ende, a la totalidad del orden jurídico, pueden modificar a éste último parcialmente. Así pues, respecto del (...) orden jurídico positivo, el Estado permanece como elemento determinante. Y, dado que en el orden internacional no hay una civitas maxima, sino pluralidad de Estados, serán éstos quienes libremente determinen el derecho internacional público. El Estado nace y perdura como una cierta realidad social y existe como sociedad política –con la legitimidad correspondiente- aun cuando no entable relaciones jurídico-internacionales de ninguna especie. En conclusión, para Heller si el Estado no aparece ni pervive por decisión del derecho internacional, luego tampoco su potestad se origina en una delegación o distribución de funciones emanada de tal orden normativo. (shrink)

In this essay, I focus on Norberto Bobbio’s reflections on human rights. Firstly, I seek to establish his underlying conception of philosophy: although it is impossible to spell out the philosophical foundations of human rights, this does not imply that philosophical thought, in the sense of critical reason, cannot make a useful contribution and provide valuable arguments in support of human rights. Secondly, I examine the related issue of the justification of human rights and assess his theory on the basis (...) of its own conception of a possible foundation. The way we answer the question of coherence also clarifies (a) what model of civil association is compatible with such a foundation, i.e. with such a worldview; (b) what model is absolutely incompatible with it; and finally (c) what intermediate solutions are there, if there are any. I argue that the communitarian variants of the conception of rights are distortions: collective or cultural rights, i.e. rights of a community towards which all of its members have duties, appearing alongside individual rights, trump individual rights, i.e. the rights linked to personhood that once constituted the most effective legal and political means for emancipating the individual from the power of the community. I therefore consider the “Copernican Revolution” of individualism and its consequences in Bobbio’s thought. As the example of personal freedom shows, where rights are ascribed principally to groups or communities rather than to individuals, we have good reason to fear that rights will turn out to be merely the privilege of the few. Once we follow this line of though in Bobbio, the ecumenical openness to alternative approaches and the argument from “the consensus of the people” yield to a clearly universalistic perspective that derives from the Enlightenment and can be interpreted as the product of the specifically modern version of natural law theory. (shrink)

In his most recent book, Ermanno Bencivenga offers a stylistically and conceptually exciting investigation of the nature of language, mind, and personhood and the many ways the three connect. Bencivenga, one of the most iconoclastic voices to emerge in contemporary American philosophy, contests the basic assumptions of analytic (and also, to an extent, postmodern) approaches to these topics. His exploration leads through fascinating discussions of education, courage, pain, time and history, selfhood, subjectivity and objectivity, reality, facts, the empirical, power (...) and transgression, silence, privacy and publicity, and play—all themes that are shown to be integral to our thinking about language. Relentessly bending the rules, Bencivenga frustrates our expectations of a "proper" theory of language. He invokes the transgressions of Nietzsche and Wittgenstein even as he appropriates the aphoristic style of Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Written in a philosophically playful and experimental mode, A Theory of Language and Mind draws the reader into a sense of continual surprise, therapeutic discomfort, and discovery. (shrink)