This paper describes the Eunomos software, an advanced legal document and knowledge management system, based on legislative XML and ontologies. We describe the challenges of legal research in an increasingly complex, multi-level and multi-lingual world and how the Eunomos software helps users cut through the information overload to get the legal information they need in an organized and structured way and keep track of the state of the relevant law on any given topic. Using NLP tools to semi-automate the lower-skill (...) tasks makes this ambitious project a realistic commercial prospect as it helps keep costs down while at the same time allowing greater coverage. We describe the core system from workflow and technical perspectives, and discuss applications of the system for various user groups. (shrink)

It has been suggested that future application of stem-cell derived gametes might lead to the possibility for same-sex couples to have genetically related children. Still, for this to become possible, the technique of gamete derivation and techniques of reprogramming somatic cells to a pluripotent state would have to be perfected. Moreover, egg cells would have to be derived from male cells and sperm cells from female cells, which is believed to be particularly difficult, if not impossible. We suggest a more (...) plausible scenario to provide same-sex couples with the possibility to parent a child who is genetically related to both parents. Although technical feasibility is an advantage, disadvantages are that cooperation of a donor of the opposite sex is still required and that the partners are genetically linked to the resulting child in a different degree. However, since in our scenario the donor's genetic contribution would not outweigh any of the parents' genetic contribution, this alternative route may ease the fear for a possible parental claim by the donor. Like many other applications in the field of infertility treatment, the goal to create SCD-gametes for reproductive purposes is largely based on the high value attributed to genetic parenthood. Although we believe that genetic relatedness is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for ‘good’ parenthood, we do believe that many people may consider our scenario a welcome alternative. (shrink)

In the field of medically assisted reproduction (MAR), there is a growing emphasis on the importance of introducing new assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) only after thorough preclinical safety research, including the use of animal models. At the same time, there is international support for the three R’s (replace, reduce, refine), and the European Union even aims at the full replacement of animals for research. The apparent tension between these two trends underlines the urgency of an explicit justification of the use (...) of animals for the development and preclinical testing of new ARTs. Considering that the use of animals remains necessary for specific forms of ART research and taking account of different views on the moral importance of helping people to have a genetically related child, we argue that, in principle, the importance of safety research as part of responsible innovation outweighs the limited infringement of animal wellbeing involved in ART research. (shrink)

Guido de Ruggiero (1888-1948) was perhaps the greatest Italian intellectual historian in the twentieth century. He was a fierce champion of liberalism, an ardent opponent of Fascism, an insightful critic and interpreter of his contemporaries, and a formidable philosopher in his own right. Idealism & Experience: The Philosophy of Guido de Ruggiero comprises eight new critical essays, as well as English translations of five of de Ruggiero's most important shorter writings, which chart the development of his thought between (...) 1914 and 1946. Taken together, these essays reveal the range, richness and philosophical sophistication of de Ruggiero's ideas, enabling Anglophone readers to appreciate their enduring relevance in our own troubled times. (shrink)

We invite systematic consideration of the metaphors of cycles and circulation as a long-term theme in the history of the life and environmental sciences and medicine. Ubiquitous in ancient religious and philosophical traditions, especially in representing the seasons and the motions of celestial bodies, circles once symbolized perfection. Over the centuries cyclic images in western medicine, natural philosophy, natural history and eventually biology gained independence from cosmology and theology and came to depend less on strictly circular forms. As potent ‘canonical (...) icons’, cycles also interacted with representations of linear and irreversible change, including arrows, arcs, scales, series and trees, as in theories of the Earth and of evolution. In modern times life cycles and reproductive cycles have often been held to characterize life, in some cases especially female life, while human efforts selectively to foster and disrupt these cycles have harnessed their productivity in medicine and agriculture. But strong cyclic metaphors have continued to link physiology and climatology, medicine and economics, and biology and manufacturing, notably through the relations between land, food and population. From the grand nineteenth-century transformations of matter to systems ecology, the circulation of molecules through organic and inorganic compartments has posed the problem of maintaining identity in the face of flux and highlights the seductive ability of cyclic schemes to imply closure where no original state was in fact restored. More concerted attention to cycles and circulation will enrich analyses of the power of metaphors to naturalize understandings of life and their shaping by practical interests and political imaginations. (shrink)

Neste texto, procuro encontrar as origens de um dos mais importantes conceitos de Gilles Deleuze, o conceito de Imagem-tempo. Este conceito remete-nos para os primeiros textos de Deleuze dedicados à filosofia de Espinosa e ao problema do autómato espiritual e relaciona-se directamente com o problema da passividade/actividade do espectador. Ou seja, o conceito crucial na sua filosofia do cinema, a Imagem-tempo, esconde uma importante reflexão sobre a Imagem cinematográfica como arte de massas, os (im)poderes do pensamento e o modo fascista (...) de se pensar. This text seeks to find the origins of one of the most important of Gilles Deleuze's concepts, the concept of Time-image. This concept leads us to his first texts regarding Spinoza's philosophy and the problem of the spiritual automaton, and concerns directly with the problem of passivity/activity of the film goer. That is to say that the crucial concept of his film philosophy, Time-image, hides a fundamental consideration on the cinematic image as a mass art, the (un)powers of thinking and the fascist way of thought. (shrink)

Prenatal screening for foetal abnormalities such as Down's syndrome differs from other forms of population screening in that the usual aim of achieving health gains through treatment or prevention does not seem to apply. This type of screening leads to no other options but the choice between continuing or terminating the pregnancy and can only be morally justified if its aim is to provide meaningful options for reproductive choice to pregnant women and their partners. However, this aim should not be (...) understood as maximizing reproductive choice per se. Only if understood as allowing prospective parents to avoid suffering related to living with (a child with) serious disorders and handicaps can prenatal screening be a publicly or collectively funded programme. The alternative of moving prenatal testing outside the healthcare system into the private sector is problematic, as it makes these tests accessible only to those who can afford to pay for it. New developments in prenatal screening will have to be assessed in terms of whether and to what extent they either contribute to or undermine the stated aim of providing meaningful options for reproductive choice. In the light of this criterion, this article discusses the introduction of the new non‐invasive prenatal test (NIPT), the tendency to widen the scope of follow‐up testing, as well as the possible future scenarios of genome‐wide screening and ‘prenatal personalised medicine’. The article ends with recommendations for further debate, research and analysis. (shrink)

This article contains a reply to Guido Vanheeswijck’s critical study of my book Vloeibare waarden. Politiek, zorg en onderwijs in de laatmoderne tijd. I respond to his criticisms on the following topics: what is behind the liquidity of values; conservatism and the sacred; autonomy and the transcendence of values. The discussion also contains insights relevant to these topics from the work of Leszek Kolakowki.

Este artigo apresenta o projeto de G. Vico para o estabelecimento da ciência moral. Vico esteve empenhado na emancipação do estudo das manifestações objetivas do espírito por intermédio da reforma do racionalismo cartesiano. A crítica ao iluminismo é feita com a retomada do conceito de barbárie no âmbito da filosofia, contrapondo-o ao conceito de esclarecimento do Século das Luzes.

En el presente trabajo me propongo rastrear algunos nexos existentes entre la obra de Donald Davidson (1917-2003) y dos de los mayores exponentes del movimiento pragmatista clásico: Charles S. Peirce (1839-1914) y William James (1842-1910). Con dicho objetivo, partiré de una caracterización básica del pragmatismo clásico; luego, examinaré ciertas concepciones propias del pragmatismo de Peirce y de James con el propósito de establecer afinidades con el pensamiento davidsoniano. Finalmente, y teniendo en cuenta la vinculación anterior, reflexionaré brevemente sobre la vigencia (...) –muchas veces poco reconocida– de las ideas pragmatistas clásicas en el contexto de las discusiones de la filosofía contemporánea. (shrink)

Esta pesquisa propõe refletir sobre as políticas de isolamento social, decorrentes do quadro de Emergência de Saúde Pública de Importância Internacional causado pela pandemia do COVID-19, como formas capazes de implicar em um controle social mais intenso a um grupo social específico. Parte-se do pressuposto de que processos de criminalização não necessariamente alcançam os comportamentos mais agressivos, pois o que determina a criminalização é uma correlação de forças políticas e econômicas. Utiliza-se a metodologia dialógica, que busca a construção de conhecimento (...) compartilhado por meio do uso de fontes interdisciplinares do saber, a proposta desta pesquisa é analisar a medida de isolamento social a partir de discussões entre a biopolítica e a criminologia crítica, refletindo sobre a quem é endereçada a proteção do isolamento social e uma eventual criminalização do descumprimento das medidas públicas. (shrink)

Resumo: O presente texto aborda as Teses ad Feuerbach elaboradas por Marx, com intuito de extrair elementos de ordem ontometodológica que possam subsidiar a reflexão à filosofia da educação. Entendemos, na esteira de Lukács e Mészáros, que o pensamento marxiano se distingue qualitativamente do padrão de cientificidade moderno, em razão da instauração de uma ontologia de base materialista e dialética do ser social. Isso significa que a teoria social marxiana possui, como seu núcleo mais essencial, a historicidade na abordagem ontológica (...) dos fenômenos sociais, buscando compreendê-los em sua gênese e na função social que desempenham no processo de reprodução social. Com isso, no texto aqui em debate, tratamos da radicalidade revolucionária do escrito abordado, em suas potencialidades ao debate educacional.: This paper analyses Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach in order to extract onto-methodological elements in support of a philosophy of education. We understand, in light of the analyses of Lukács and Mészáros, that Marxian thought differs qualitatively from modern scientific standards because of its introduction of a materialist and dialectical ontology of social being. This means that Marxian social theory has historicity in the ontological approach to social phenomena as its most essential core, and it seeks to understand these phenomena in their genesis and in terms of the social role they play in the process of social reproduction. We treat the revolutionary radicalism of the text under discussion in light of its potential to contribute to the educational debate. (shrink)

Among the studies on the history of philosophy recently published in Italy, one that may be of some interest to the English reader is by D R . Abbagnano , a young pupil of Aliotta , and is devoted to the new English idealism. 1 Truthfully speaking, the term ‘ new ’ is inappropriate, or partly so, because Abbagnano dedicates the greater part of his study to what we might call the ‘ old ’ idealism in England, represented by Stirling, (...) the two Cairds, Wallace, Green, and Bradley. However, he does also pass in review the more recent doctrines, particularly those of J. H. Muirhead, G. H. Howison, D. G. Richtie, J. E. Creighton, J. B. Baillie, J. S. Mackenzie, H. Jones, W. E. Hocking, A. S. Pringle Pattison, and G. P. Adams. Abbagnano regards as a distinctive trait of English idealism inspired by Hegel as opposed to Hegel himself, this, that “for Hegel the absolute is essentially process, change and becoming; it is thought which differentiates itself and becomes articulate in a life of its own, in the threefold rhythm of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, in which each moment passes into the next. For Green, Bradley, and Royce, the absolute is on the other hand immutability, completeness, static perfection, in which each process and becoming is overcome and resolved.” At any rate, Abbagnano is equally unsympathetic towards Hegel and towards his followers, against whom he opposes, not without scholastic ingenuity, his own irrationalistic views, set out in another book whose contents are sufficiently expressed in the title. 1. (shrink)

a) Das sprachlich-Iogische Interesse der Gegenwartsphilosophie Wer die zeitgenossische philosophische Diskussion verfolgt, dem muB sogleich auffallen, wie sehr heute in vielen Kreisen der Zugang zu allen Problemen yom SprachIichen und Logischen her gesucht wird, wie der Gebrauch von Wortern und Zeichen, wie die fiir deren Systeme geltenden Gesetze ins Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit geruckt sind. EinfluBreiche philosophische Bucher tragen Titel wie: "Logisch-philosophische Ab­ handlung", "Der logische Aufbau der Welt", "Der Wahrheitsbegriff in den formaIisierten Sprachen", "Ethik und Sprache"l, um nur einige besonders (...) wichtige und charakteristische Werke aus der Fulle der vor­ handenen herauszugreifen. 1m Zusammenhang damit ist ein hoch­ entwickeltes technisches Niveau der Terminologie erreicht worden, und Ergebnisse von groBer philosophischer Tragweite sind zu verzeichnen; vor allem die neuen Einsichten in die Moglichkeiten und Grenzen der FormaIisierung sind von kaum zu uberschatzender Wichtigkeit2. Besonders symptomatisch fur das Anwachsen des dem Sprachlichen und Logischen bezeugten Interesses ist die seit der Jahrhundertwende an verschiedenen Orten neu einsetzende Ausarbeitung einer ganz all­ gemeinen Theorie der Zeichen. Denker wie C. S. PEmcE, E. HUSSERL nnd F. DE SAUSSURE, welchc voneinander weitgehendst unabhangigen Traditionen angehoren, stehen am Ausgangspunkt dieser Entwicklung. Da die einzelnen Linien dieser Entwicklung bisher noch kaum neben­ einander gesetzt worden sind, diirfte ein Versuch, sie kurz zu skizzieren, erwiinscht sein: In den Vereinigten Staaten ist es der mathematische Logiker C. S. PEIRCE (1839-1914), der eine allgemeine Zeichentheorie ("semiotic") begriindete und ihr die Untersuchung der sprachlichen Zeichen unterordnete. (shrink)