Joseph Hannon has expressed a most surprising objection to Aquinas scholar Prof William E. Carroll in his latest paper “Theological Objections to a Metaphysicalist Interpretation of Creation.” The main claim is that Prof. Carroll misunderstands Aquinas' doctrine of creatio ex nihilo by reducing it to a metaphysical notion, rather than considering it in its full theological sense. In this paper I show Hannon's misinterpretation of Carroll's and Thomas Aquinas' thought, particularly by stressing the dependence that the doctrine of providence through (...) secondary causes has on the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. (shrink)

In consciousness studies there is a growing tendency to consider experience as (i) fundamentally affective and (ii) deeply interlinked with interoceptive and homeostatic bodily processes. However, this view still needs further development to be part of any rigorous theory of consciousness. To advance in this direction, we ask: (1) is there any affective type that is always present in consciousness?, (2) is it related to interoception and homeostasis?, and (3) what are its properties? Here we analyse and compare Jim Russell's (...) core affect and Thomas Fuchs' concept of vitality, and propose a more encompassing notion that subsumes both: continuous organismic sentience. It provides affirmative answers to questions 1 and 2, and, regarding question 3, a preliminary list of thirteen properties divided into ontological, phenomenological, and functional categories. This is the first of a series of studies that will systematically address different notions of a fundamental, homeostatically-rooted affective type, to achieve a rigorous, unified concept for consciousness science. (shrink)

The relevance of inner speech for human psychology, especially for higher-order cognitive functions, is widely recognized. However, the study of the phenomenology of inner speech, that is, what it is like for a subject to experience internally speaking his/her voice, has received much less attention. This study explores the subjective experience of inner speech through empathy for pain paradigm. To this end, an experimental phenomenological method was implemented. Sixteen healthy subjects were exposed to videos of sportswomen/sportsmen having physical accidents practicing (...) extreme sports. Immediately after the exposure to the stimuli, a phenomenological interview was conducted to gather data about bodily sensations, emotions, motivations, and inner speech of watching other people’s accidents. Participant’s inner speech expresses concern about the consequences the accident could generate to the sportswomen/sportsmen or about the participants themselves. Simultaneously, participants’ inner speech happened with negative emotional feelings, many sensations distributed throughout their bodies, and a felt knowledge coming from a meaningful but pre-reflective and pre-verbal bodily dimension. Our findings show that inner speech in empathy is not merely a psycholinguistic process or high-order cognitive function, but rather it is a complex experience that occurs deeply related to meaningful emotions, bodily sensations, and an implicit, somatically felt knowledge. (shrink)

I wish to express, first of all, my profound gratitude to Professor J. M. Bochenski, without whose assistance the present work would have not been possible. To be concise, I would like to state that his contribution to this book may be viewed at three levels: (1) that of the general spirit, (2) that of the specific ideas, theses or approaches which are expressed in its pages, (3) that of this work qua doctoral dissertation. The general spirit which has guided (...) my research coincides with that underlying Professor :Oochenski's own works, in particular his Formale Logik (Munchen 1956). Moreover, the particular occasion which suggested my investigation was a statement included in that book according to which the literature in the field still lacked a detailed work on Frege (p. 317). I wish, likewise, to express my gratitude to other professors of the University of Fribourg for their generous help. I mention especially Professors P. Wyser, M. D. Philippe, N. Luyten, and V. Kuiper. I have also benefited from Professor E. Specker's lectures at the Eidge nossische Technische Hochschule (ZUrich) and from Professor Olof Gigon's lectures at the University of Bern. From an earlier period I wish to express my gratitude to the professors of the philosophy department of the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, especially the late Professor Francisco Romero. The Swiss National Library (Bern) has greatly facilitated access to bibliographical sources, and the library of the University of Munster (Westphalien) has kindly provided microfilms of Frege's Nachlap. (shrink)

El problema de la libertad es uno de los más áridos de la filosofía. Paul Ricoeur intenta reconstruir el problema tomando el eje del análisis: la naturaleza dicotómica de los discursos sostenidos sobre la cuestión. De un lado, tenemos la “perspectiva de la tercera persona”. Desde esta mirada, cada acto que realizamos está causalmente determinada. Por el otro lado, tenemos la “perspectiva de la tercera persona”, en la que todas nuestras acciones libres parecieran brotar del “yo”. El problema comienza cuando (...) intentamos reconciliar ambas perspectivas. Este trabajo revisará algunos de los argumentos presentados por ambos lados, y el posicionamiento de Ricoeur en el debate. (shrink)

En este trabajo, nos proponemos redefinir las posturas que toman parte en el debate entre realismo y antirrealismo científicos, dejando de concebirlas únicamente como doctrinas o teorías que describen cómo es el mundo. En cambio, acorde al camino iniciado por van Fraassen en The empirical stance, optamos por definirlas como stances: políticas, estrategias o perspectivas a partir de las cuales construimos creencias fácticas. Así, en primera instancia nos dedicamos a entender qué es una stance y cómo caracterizar esta noción. En (...) segundo lugar, exploramos metodologías y enfoques para tratar el realismo y el antirrealismo como stances, y, en esta clave, definirlos adecuadamente. Por último, examinamos el impacto de esta propuesta en la explicación de los acuerdos y desacuerdos en el debate, evaluando los grados de afinidad o distancia en las perspectivas en juego. (shrink)

En este breve comentario discuto algunos aspectos de la interpretación de la epistemología de Davidson que sugiere Willian Duica en su reciente libro. Luego de una presentación somera del libro me centro en tres asuntos centrales de la interpretación de Duica. En primer lugar, argumento que su lectura de la crítica de Davidson al dualismo esquema/contenido es muy restrictiva y deja abierta la posibilidad de un realismo directo empirista. En segundo lugar, argumento que en su lectura el propio Duica se (...) compromete inadvertidamente con un empirismo de este tipo y, de este modo, su interpretación entra en tensión con el coherentismo de Davidson. Finalmente, discuto algunos aspectos de la interpretación que hace Duica de la tesis davidsoniana de la triangulación. (shrink)

We extend the languages of both basic and graded modal logic with the infinity diamond, a modality that expresses the existence of infinitely many successors having a certain property. In both cases we define a natural notion of bisimilarity for the resulting formalisms, that we dub $\mathtt {ML}^{\infty }$ and $\mathtt {GML}^{\infty }$, respectively. We then characterise these logics as the bisimulation-invariant fragments of the naturally corresponding predicate logic, viz., the extension of first-order logic with the infinity quantifier. Furthermore, for (...) both $\mathtt {ML}^{\infty }$ and $\mathtt {GML}^{\infty }$ we provide a sound and complete axiomatisation for the set of formulas that are valid in every Kripke frame, we prove a small model property with respect to a widened class of weighted models, and we establish decidability of the satisfiability problem. (shrink)

This paper examines the value awarded by Duns Escoto to the defence of god -understood as Lave- who acts in a completely free mannner and is omnipotent. I also studies the implications of his philosophical position when confrontingthe relationships between faith and reason, theology and philosophy, intellect and will, necessity and contingency. His analysis of The Philosopher, Aristotle, is also discussed.

Thomas Bradwardine fue, con Guillermo de Ockham, tal vez el pensador más destacado del siglo XIV Influyó en los terrenos de la lógica, la ciencia (matemáticas y física) y la teología. Su obra más importante fue: De Causa Dei con fra Pellagium et D e virtute causarum. En ella aborda profundamente un problema fundamental, discutido antes y después (sobre todo en los siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII): el de la libertad del hombre, el de la posible concordia entre necesidad y (...) libertad. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness has an underlying emergentist metaphysics, specifically of a kind that has received minimal attention and we may call functionalist emergentism. I will try to show that in this scientific theory conscious experience is a functional-role property possessed by the whole system, not by their parts, which is dependent on, but also (purportedly) causally powerful over and above, the properties of the parts. However, I will argue that depicting conscious (...) experience as a functional-role emergent property threatens the whole coherence of the theory because, by definition, functional-realizers do all the causal work associated with the instantiation of any functional-role property on any occasion. Hence, to preserve the causal power of consciousness, which, as we will see, is one of the fundamental building blocks of the theory, linked to the assertion of the very existence of consciousness, phenomenal properties should be re-thought as realizers of the relevant informationally integrated causal-roles. (shrink)

De acuerdo con la fenomenología husserliana la experiencia primordial del valor descansa en vivencias emotivas. Para sostener esta idea Husserl sugiere el paralelismo entre la percepción externa y la percepción de los valores. El objetivo de este trabajo es clarificar tal paralelismo enfatizando un problema particular del análisis husserliano: la tonalidad afectiva del objeto de valor y su relación con la apercepción sentimental involucrada en la experiencia de los valores.According to husserlian phenomenology the primordial experience of value lays in emotive (...) lived-experiences. In order to sustain his Idea Husserl suggest a parallelism between the external perception and the perception of values. The aim of this work is to clarify such parallelism stressing a particular problem of husserlian analysis: the affective tonality of the object of value and its relation to the feeling apperception involved in the experience of values. (shrink)

A systematic effort to rethink Freud's theory of the unconscious, aiming to separate out the different forms of unconsciousness.

El problema que Bradwardine ha de afrontar como central en su antropología,consiste en mostrar hasta qué punto es libre el hombre, y qué implica esa libertad humana. Esta es la cuestión fundamental y sobre ella gravita todo lo que el Doctor profirndus piensa acerca de Dios. Pero para afrontarla con rigor, si bien Tomás Bradwardine no lo indica específicamente en su obra, es convenientehacer ver que el problema afecta a dos órdenes diferentes, tanto de la realidad como del estudio de (...) la misma. Uno de estos órdenes, e natural, se refiere al hombre en cuanto criatura, capaz, como se verá, de elegir libremente, y, por tanto, no sometida a la necesidad de un modo determinante, así como a la cooperación general de las causas primera y segundas en todo obrar en cuanto tal. Es en este orden donde Bradwardine habrá de intentar hacer compatibles los atributos divinos y la libertad de elección humana, el libre albedrío. Porsu parte, los problemas planteados en el orden sobrenatural, el orden de la gracia, pertenecen a la teología revelada. Se abordan cuestiones como la de si el hombre es capaz de hacer el bien y liberarse del pecado por sí mismo, sin el auxilio de la gracia, si puede salvarse por sus propias fuerzas, si está en sus manos el initumfidei... Bradwardine afrontará el problema de la libertad, eje de su antropología, en relación a ambos órdenes, pues reivindicar al hombre como ser completo equivale a reivindicarlo como libre, se pone en juego su verdadera humanidad. (shrink)

La viabilidad del modelo de la sociedad de bienestar se encuentra en entredicho. El argumento de la insostenibilidad económica de su realización ha propiciado una versión muy limitada de su efecto redistributivo y transformador que limita su radio de acción a la satisfacción de las necesidades más perentorias del individuo. La rehabilitación del modelo reclama la ponderación razonada de la densidad normativa de los bienes en juego que en ningún caso pudiera derivar en la discriminación en el disfrute de los (...) derechos concernidos. Se impone al respecto el cumplimiento irrestricto de los deberes generales positivos enderezados a la eliminación de los condicionamientos de las voluntades individuales que conforman el consenso definiendo el sentido democrático de las políticas de bienestar. (shrink)

The paper outlines an attempt at phenomenological description of two intermingled dimensions of human vulnerability. First, vulnerability understood as an essential dimension in the constitution of embodiment and second, vulnerability in regard to trust, as a form of emotive interpersonal disposition. In either case, vulnerability does not only refer to mere physical fragility but to the situational horizon where from emerge progressive anticipations of “possible harm”. According to this account, vulnerability appears as a practical horizon of emotional awareness of risk (...) involving not only bodily fragility but a dimension of concrete existence of individual persons, namely, the intimate affectation of being harmed, injured or deprived or a practical aim. In this context the paper claims for a second and more radical sense of vulnerability that problematize the classical account of emotive protentionality, following Anthony Steinbock´s description of moral emotions. In this regard, vulnerability of trust involves an emotional risk and fragility that opens to consideration a dimension of human existence revealing human persons in their absolute and individual concreteness. (shrink)

The Weber thesis on a hypothetical imprint of Protestantism in the «spirit» of capitalism has been widely spread. Not willing to discredit his proposal, the truth is that, being falsifiable with difficulty, some careless wordings have been derived from it claiming to explain the present economical circumstances through differential religious facts. Being religion an unparalleled all covering feature, such circumstances depend on many factors. It has been claimed some scientific status through the most diverse socioeconomic data. This is something also (...) applicable to those who claim to refute him. The intoxication so emanated from the Weber’s work seems disconcerting, seeing in it from an attempt to legitimate capitalism to a confirmation of the Black Legend. This work does not try to support or reject the thesis, but to investigate the kind of issues that could cause its formulation. For this purpose, it focuses on less usual questions, such as the analysis of the doctrinal features of Protestantism from which the Weber’s arguments would arise. (shrink)

In a recent remarkable article, Froese (2023) presents his Irruption Theory to explain how motivations can make a behavioral difference in motivated activity. In this opinion article, we review the main tenets of Froese’s theory, and highlight its difficulty in overcoming the randomness challenge it supposedly solves, that is, the issue of how adaptive behavior can arise in the face of material underdetermination. To advance our understanding of motivated behavior in line with Froese’s approach, we recommend that future work should (...) endorse a multilevel pluralistic approach to causation and explanation in which motivations could genuinely play an irreducible role. Additionally, in line with the life-mind continuity thesis, we suggest that the best place to look for the interplay between motivations and nonmotivational physical, biological, and dynamical factors, may be at the level of the continuous feeling of being an embodied, living organism. (shrink)

Visión de Rodolfo Vigo -- Visión de Josep Aguiló Regla.

Tomando como marco de referencia algunos conceptos básicos de la teoría política de Gramsci, el objetivo principal de este artículo es criticar la función hegemónica e ideológica que la democracia representativa desempeña en el contexto social e histórico de la globalización neoliberal. Lejos de avanzar hacia el ideal emancipador que representa, en la época del neoliberalismo globalizado la democracia es un instrumento de dominación al servicio de una regulación social excluyente y desigual que origina nuevas formas de autoritarismo.

Attempts to solve the issue of divine action in nature have resulted in many innovative proposals seeking to explain how God can act within nature without disrupting the created order but introducing novelty in the history of the universe. My goal is to show how Aquinas' doctrine of providence, mainly as expressed in his De Potentia Dei, fulfils the criteria for an account of divine action: that God's action is providential in the sense that God is involved in the individual (...) and particular here and now. -/- . (shrink)

The deep influence of affectivity on learning is now widely acknowledged (Keefer et al., 2018; Sánchez-Álvarez et al., 2021). For instance, it has been shown that affect influences key learning-relevant processes, such as motivation, perception, behavior, and critical thinking (Izard, 2002; Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Evidence also shows that emotion and mood strongly influence attention, which in turn drives learning and memory (Elbertson et al., 2010; Elias et al., 1997). Intersubjective phenomena, such as the degree of affection and respect between (...) child and teacher, also affect the child’s learning processes, academic outcomes, and brain development (Kusché & Greenberg, 2006; Ryan & Patrick, 2001). However, the relevant literature is not paying attention to increasing evidence showing that affective phenomena are rooted in interoceptive and homeostatic self- and co-regulatory processes within and between people’s living bodies (Barrett, 2017; Carvalho & Damasio, 2021; Craig, 2015, 2018; Fotopoulou et al., 2022; Fotopoulou & Tsakiris, 2017; Seth & Friston, 2016). In this theoretical chapter, we explore this connection and its importance for learning. We argue that affective experience plays a fundamental role in learning, and that affective experience is rooted in the homeostatic self-/co-regulation of living bodies. Therefore, the homeostatic self-/co-regulation of living bodies plays a fundamental role in learning. In other words, there is an intra- and interpersonal somatic dimension of learning that demands explicit consideration in educational contexts. In this way, we aim to contribute to an understanding of learning and education that moves away from an individualistic, brain-centered information-processing conception toward one centered on sentient, interdependent living bodies. (shrink)