La fundamentación de la física clásica llevó a Descartes a encontrar en el "ego cogito" la condición necesaria de todas las representaciones posibles: los conceptos de materia y de movimiento, tal como los exigía la nueva ciencia fueron concebidos por él inicialmente en una forma extremadamente racionalista, lo cual convirtió al "yo pienso" en el sujeto, en el fundamento de todo lo que puede ser real. Algunos científicos han sostenido que el "yo" según Descartes supone una tal preeminencia de la (...) epistemología, que impide pensar la moral y la situación del hombre frente a la incertidumbre de la vida. Se verá en el artículo que el sujeto hace de la naturaleza un mero objeto, pero mantiene su propia esfera, la de la libertad, hacia la cual estará dirigida toda la admiración después de que Descartes lograra resolver el enigma del universo. (shrink)

¿Cuántas imágenes hacen un poema? ¿Cuántas palabras se necesitan para construir un pensamiento? Vemos palabras de la misma manera que vemos árboles y casas, pero no vemos el bosque ni la ciudad como no vemos el poema y el pensamiento; lo verdaderamente esencial de ambos permanece oculto a nuestra simple y cotidiana mirada. El ojo y el oído se han acostumbrado a ver y a oír, es natural, es lo que se espera de dos órganos que están hechos para cumplir (...) esta misión. Pero ni vemos ni oímos más allá de los límites creados por la rutina de nuestra cotidianidad, hemos fijado a la superficie el paisaje y todo cuanto lo contiene: colores, olores, sonidos y texturas; vemos sin ver, oímos sin oír, olemos sin oler, tocamos sin sentir; esto es, sin diferenciar. Sin duda, establecer la diferencia, en cada acontecimiento particular, nos permitiría ir más allá de lo que simplemente se pone frente a nosotros; estamos tentados a nombrar esta diferencia como profundidad, pero mucho me temo que la profundidad también es una trampa, se trataría más bien de saber moverse entre ambas; sería algo así como dejarse sorprender por lo nuevo que hay en lo mismo, por lo imperceptible e invisible que existe en lo real y visible de la cotidianidad. (shrink)

El objeto de este artículo consiste en señalar las relaciones entre el método, la física y la metafísica cartesianas. Puede afirmarse que a partir de la idea básica de como debe ser la ciencia, Descartes concibe su física y fija el mecanicismo como la condición de toda explicación y de toda inteligibilidad; de estos se siguen las consecuencias metafísicas concernientes a la distinción del cuerpo y del alma y los temas finales de su unión que tanta claridad aportan sobre los (...) sentimientos y la moral. (shrink)

Es paradójico cómo la vida suele entenderse de manera menos equivocada desde la ficción, la realidad en sí y por sí se convierte en una trampa donde la razón que la justifica termina por dibujarle sus propios barrotes. Tal vez lo que sucede es que la razón no tiene tan completamente asegurada una razón, de la misma manera que la locura no está ausente de razón y de sentido; es evidente que siempre hallaremos una razón en la locura y una (...) locura en cada razón. Exacerbar la razón o la locura nos pondrá siempre en el ojo del huracán, nos hará visibles ante los demás, nos personalizará, es decir, descubrirá en cada uno de nosotros a un personaje. (shrink)

¿Estamos los seres humanos predeterminado o somos creadores de nuestro propio destino? La respuesta puede ser inmediata, algo parecido al texto de Erich Fromm que nos sirvió de epigrafe, o demorarse un poco en algunas consideraciones históricas que nos permitan hacer el recorrido de aquello que hemos pensado a lo largo de una historia en la cual no nos conformamos con simplemente ser o existir, sino que buscamos razones que expliquen esos modos de ser y de existir, intentando claridad sobre (...) nuestro ethos. (shrink)

El presente número de la Revista Escritos recoge algunos artículos cuyos resultados fueron presentados en el II Congreso Iberoamericano de Bioética e Investigación, llevado a cabo por la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana en convenio con la Corporación Universitaria Lasallista, entre el 17 y 19 de agosto de 2016. Así mismo, se incluyen algunas de las ponencias leídas por los invitados centrales del evento.

This paper proposes freedom as the condition of possibility for the construction of trust in human relationships. The methodology used is a review of the scientific literature of the most recent moral and political philosophy. As a result of the dialogue between different positions, it is discovered that freedom, despite being present in the act of trust, is forgotten in the discussion around trust, a forgetfulness that has as its main causes the assumption that trust is natural and the confusion (...) between the propensity to trust and the act of trusting. All this leads to proposing an approach of the act of trusting that starts from the freedom of the trustee and the trustor. (shrink)

Este artículo analiza las “palabras sobre Dios” de cinco comunidades eclesiales periféricas de Medellín, a través de un método hermenéutico y etnográfico. Lo anterior se desarrolla en dos momentos; el primero, caracteriza la población sujeto y objeto de estudio; y el segundo, identifica la visiones y atributos de Dios que estas personas poseen desde la experiencia de lo religioso. Se concluye que la mayoría de las personas que participaron del estudio suponen la existencia de Dios, lo conciben como un ser (...) personal, eterno, espiritual y supremo. En sus afirmaciones se evidencia la influencia de una visión trinitaria de la divinidad que implica un acto de confianza. Dios, en ese contexto, es sobre todo poderoso, actúa y crea. En la manifestación de la experiencia de las personas no se percibe una diferencia conceptual en relación con la visión de Dios que profesa el cristianismo; y aunque hay un uso del lenguaje tradicional para referirse a los contenidos de la fe, no es sencilla la manera en que comprenden y explican cada uno de ellos. Lo anterior tiene una incidencia en las prácticas eclesiales. (shrink)

Esta investigación pone en diálogo las posiciones de Hobbes y de Spaemann respecto a la naturaleza de la confianza, para lo cual se asume una postura hermenéutica. Los principales resultados de esta arrojan que para Hobbes la confianza ha de ser aprendida, pues la desconfianza es lo primero con lo que se encuentra el ser humano; mientras que, para Spaemann, el hombre es un ser confiado y aprende a desconfiar. Como efecto de este diálogo se descubre que ambos autores tienen (...) como base para la confianza la sociabilidad humana, por lo cual se concluye que la disposición de la confianza se da en la naturaleza humana como condición de posibilidad para el acto de confiar. (shrink)

Ficción y mito son algo más que lenguajes o formas narrativas, son estructuras arquitectónicas a través de las que se fija el pensamiento y su forma manifiesta de aparecer en la cotidianidad; este texto pretende rastrear la fundación de América Latina a través de la literatura en su forma de ficción y mito.

There is an evident lack of studies examining the pursuit of excellence in futsal. The aims of this study were to evaluate anthropometric and physiological variables that may contribute to distinguishing among performance levels in professional futsal players and to evaluate correlates of those variables. The participants were 75 male professionals (age = 25.1 ± 5.1 years, body height = 182.3 ± 6.2 cm, body mass = 80.8 ± 10.4 kg), who were divided into performance levels using two criteria: (i) (...) starters (first teams) vs. non-starters (substitutes) and (ii) top-level players (members of the national team and players who participated in top-level team competition in Europe) vs. high-level players (team players competing at the highest national competitive rank). Variables included anthropometrics (body height and mass, BMI, body fat percentage), generic tests of physiological capacities [5- and 10-m sprints, countermovement jump, broad jump, 20-yard test, reactive strength index (RSI)], and futsal-specific fitness tests [kicking speed by dominant and non-dominant leg, futsal-specific tests of change of direction speed, and reactive agility (FSRAG) involving/not involving dribbling the ball]. Top-level players outperformed high-level players in RSI, broad jump, kicking speed, and FSRAG involving dribbling. Starters achieved better results than non-starters in fewer variables, including kicking speed and RSI. Body fat percentage negatively influenced FSRAG involving dribbling, and RSI. FSRAG, RSI, and kicking speed were significantly correlated, indicating the similar physiological background of these capacities. The findings suggest that enhanced reactive strength and the ability to rapidly change direction speed in response to external stimulus while executing futsal-specific motor tasks (e.g., dribbling), along with players’ ability to kick the ball speedily, can be considered essential qualities required for advanced performance in futsal. Consequently, futsal strength and conditioning training should be targeted toward lowering relative body fat, maximizing lower-body reactive strength and including futsal-specific skills (e.g., dribbling, shooting) in reactive agility drills. (shrink)

Multiple selves is a conventional assumption in behavioural welfare economics for modelling intrapersonal well-being. Yet an important question is which self has normative authority over others. In this paper, we advance an argument for what we call the ‘ontological approach’ to personal identity in behavioural welfare economics. According to this approach, ethical questions – such as which preference should be granted normative authority over another – can be informed by the ontological criterion of personal persistence, which aims at determining what (...) it takes for an individual to persist from one time to another. (shrink)

The Earth is facing pressing societal grand challenges that require urgent managerial action. Responsible management learning has emerged as a discipline to prepare managers to act as responsible leaders that can effectively address such pressing challenges. This article aims to extend current knowledge on RML in the domain of corporate sustainability through the application of threshold concepts, novel ideas which provide a doorway to new knowledge and transform a learner’s mindset. Specifically, after conducting a systematic review of the management literature, (...) we identify 33 CS threshold concepts that are useful for mainstream managers and practitioners in their RML process. We group them into six CS threshold concept themes that can help managers understand the complexities and interconnectedness that characterize CS. Finally, we map CS threshold concepts with key competences for effective RML. Therefore, our contribution relies on translating existing CS theoretical frameworks into transformative, specific, understandable and applicable pieces of knowledge that might help mainstream managers to embed CS principles in their daily management practices. (shrink)

The Earth is facing pressing societal grand challenges that require urgent managerial action. Responsible management learning has emerged as a discipline to prepare managers to act as responsible leaders that can effectively address such pressing challenges. This article aims to extend current knowledge on RML in the domain of corporate sustainability through the application of threshold concepts, novel ideas which provide a doorway to new knowledge and transform a learner’s mindset. Specifically, after conducting a systematic review of the management literature, (...) we identify 33 CS threshold concepts that are useful for mainstream managers and practitioners in their RML process. We group them into six CS threshold concept themes that can help managers understand the complexities and interconnectedness that characterize CS. Finally, we map CS threshold concepts with key competences for effective RML. Therefore, our contribution relies on translating existing CS theoretical frameworks into transformative, specific, understandable and applicable pieces of knowledge that might help mainstream managers to embed CS principles in their daily management practices. (shrink)

We use this editorial essay as a call for a more effective use of new technologies, such as mobile apps and Web 2.0 tools, to educate students and other relevant stakeholders on business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability topics. We identify three overarching reasons that justify the need for new ways of teaching that further incorporate technology to foster the innovative thinking needed to tackle imminent societal grand challenges such as climate change and increasing inequality. First, we are facing (...) a new generation of millennials and Generation Z students who are digital natives and more likely to search for educational content on their electronic devices. Second, new technologies offer opportunities to reach students globally, helping to democratize education. Third, we posit that the intrinsic characteristics of societal grand challenges, which are complex, uncertain, and evaluative, can benefit from technology as an effective translator of multilayered concepts into more digestible action items. Our essay ends with a brief summary of the four essays included in the thematic symposium: “There is an App for that! The Use of New Technologies and Apps in Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Education.”. (shrink)

Voluntary sustainability standards that establish global rules for firms’ environmental and/or social conduct and allow for verification of firm compliance via third-party certification hold the promise to govern firms’ sustainability conduct in a globalizing world economy. However, the recent proliferation of competing and overlapping global sustainability standards that have been developed by various stakeholders with different agendas, creates uncertainties for firms that likely reduce their propensity to adopt any standard. Without widespread adoption these standards cannot effectively govern firm conduct and (...) in contrast create barriers for firms’ access to export markets. We suggest that the uncertainties associated with competing standards and the effect of these uncertainties on standard certification decisions are especially large for firms in emerging economies because these firms lack access to information about current and future standards and the resources to obtain certifications to multiple standards. We theoretically propose and empirically identify three distinct sources of sustainability standard uncertainty: diversity of customer requirements, dynamism of customer requirements, and the unpredictability of the future evolution of standard and propose that each of these sources reduces firms’ propensity to obtain certification to any standard. Our empirical results based on certifications to food safety standards by a sample of 97 Mexican food exporting firms confirm that three distinct sources of sustainability standard uncertainty exist and that all of them negatively impact certification. We discuss ethical implications and offer recommendations for both suppliers as well as standard setting organizations. (shrink)

In virtue of what does a linguistic act count as an insult? I discuss five main approaches to this question, according to which an insult is determined by (i) the semantic properties of the expression used; (ii) the insulter, her intention, or attitudes; (iii) the addressee and her personal standard; (iv) the features of the speech act performed; and (v) the standard of the relevant social group. I endorse the last, objectivist account, according to which an act x counts as (...) an insult if and only if x is assessed as demeaning when addressed at A by the standard of the relevant social group at t. (shrink)

This article analyzes the adoption of voluntary environmental management programs by firms operating in Mexico. Mexican firms can obtain national certification (Clean Industry) and/or international certification (ISO 14001). Based on institutional entrepreneurship theory, we posit that the role played by first movers as institutional entrepreneurs is crucial if these programs are to become established with sufficient strength and appeal. This understanding is especially important in an environment where more than one program can be adopted. We tested several hypotheses on the (...) behaviors of 1328 facilities operating in Mexico, half of which (664) had certified environmental management programs. Of the 664 certified facilities, 217 were classified as early adopters. Three variables predicted the likelihood of a facility being an early adopter: (1) connected to international market, (2) in the maquila sector, and (3) linked to an industry association that offers free resources. (shrink)

Economic methodologists most often study the relations between models and reality while focusing on the issues of the model's epistemic relevance in terms of its relation to the ‘real world’ and representing the real world in a model. We complement the discussion by bringing the model's constructive mechanisms or self-implementing technologies in play. By this, we mean the elements of the economic model that are aimed at ‘implementing’ it by envisaging the ways to change the reality in order to bring (...) it more in line with the model. We are thus concerned mainly not with the ways to change the model to ‘fit’ the reality, but rather with the model's own armature that is supposed to transform the world along theoretical lines. The case we study is Arrow–Debreu–McKenzie general equilibrium model. In particular, we show the following: gradient methods and stability could be regarded as constructive mechanisms of general equilibrium modeling in the context of market socialism debates; the obsession of general eq.. (shrink)

In this study we replicated the explanatory effect of a label which had been found by Giffin et al.. In their experiments, they used vignettes describing an odd behavior of a person based on culturally specific disorders that were unfamiliar to respondents. It turned out that explanations which explain an odd behavior through a person’s tendency to behave that way seemed more persuasive if the disorder was given a label that was used in the explanation. We replicated these results in (...) Experiment 1, and in a follow-up Experiment 2 we examined the familiarity with category information and the evaluation of that category over time. We realized that the label effect persists even when people make judgments based on their recollections about a category. Furthermore, according to a content analysis of the recollections, participants in the label condition remembered more information from the vignettes but tended to forget an artificial label; however, they used other words from the disorder domain instead. This allowed us to suggest a new interpretation of this effect: we suppose that in the Giffin et al. experiments the label did not bring any new features to a category itself, but pointed to a relevant domain instead, so the effect appeared from the activation of areas of knowledge in semantic memory and the application of relevant schema for learning a new phenomenon. (shrink)

Previous research using immersive virtual reality (VR) has shown that after a short period of embodiment of White people in a Black virtual body their implicit racial bias against Black people diminishes. Here we tested the effects of some socio-cognitive variables that could contribute to enhancing or reducing the implicit racial bias. The first aim of the study was to assess the beneficial effects of cooperation within a VR scenario, the second aim was to provide preliminary testing of the hypothesis (...) that empathy and political attitudes could contribute to implicit bias about race, while the third aim was to explore the relationship between political attitudes and empathy. We had (Caucasian) participants embodied in a Black virtual body and engaged either in a cooperative (Coop group) or in a non-cooperative (Neutral group) activity with a confederate experimenter embodying another Black avatar. Before and after VR, we measured participants’ implicit racial bias by means of Implicit Association Test (IAT) and their perceived closeness toward the confederate experimenter. Before VR we also assessed participants’ political attitudes and empathy traits. Results revealed that, as compared to the Neutral group, the Coop group showed lower IAT scores after the social interaction. Interestingly, in the Neutral but not the Coop group the perceived closeness toward the confederate experimenter was associated with the initial racial bias: the more the participants reduced their distance, the more they reduced their IAT score. Moreover, reported traits of empathy and political attitudes significantly explained the variance observed in the initial implicit bias, with perspective-taking, empathic concern, and personal distress being significant predictors of the IAT scores. Finally, there was a relationship between political attitudes and empathy: the more participants considered themselves as left-wing voters, the higher their perspective-taking and empathic concern scores. We discuss these findings within the neuroscientific and social cognition field and encourage scholars from different domains to further explore whether and under which conditions a given manipulation for reducing racial bias could be efficiently transposed in VR. (shrink)

U članku se propituje autorstvo i vrijeme nastanka Ātmabodhe, poznate filozofske pjesme koja na popularan, ali i pjesnički imaginativan način razlaže glavna učenja indijske filozofske škole Advaita Vedānte. Iako se Ātmabodha tradicionalno pripisuje velikom filozofu Śaṅkari (8. stoljeće), u članku se iznose argumenti koji govore u prilog tezi da je djelo nastalo nekoliko stoljeća nakon Śaṅkare. Osim suvremene stilometrijske metode General Imposters Framework, koja ju ne prepoznaje kao Śaṅkarino djelo, Ātmabodha također ne zadovoljava Hackerov kriterij kolofona. U članku se stavlja (...) poseban naglasak na doktrinarne i terminološke osobitosti u Ātmabodhi koje pripadaju vremenu nakon Śaṅkare. Osobit je primjer shvaćanje pojma neznanja, uz uvođenje kasnijih termina i koncepata. Dostupni dokazi upućuju na to da bi djelo moglo datirati iz vremena između 11. i ranog 14. stoljeća. (shrink)

The paper reconstructs the connections between the evolution of Patrick Suppes’ measurement theory from 1951 to 1958 and the research in utility analysis he conducted between 1953 and 1957 within the Stanford Value Theory Project. In particular, the paper shows that Suppes’ superseding of the classical understanding of measurement, his endorsement of the representational view of measurement, and his conceiving of an axiomatic version of the latter were prompted by his research in utility analysis.

A renewed search for legal certainty is a reaction to the preponderance of judge made law, which has been in turn prompted by the democratic deficit of the EU and the impact of Anglo-American law. The problem is that the search is oblivious to both systematic interpretation and the need of re-systematization of law. The paper defines systematic interpretation, relates the definition to standard French and German conceptions, indicates the room for systematic interpretation in Anglo-American laws, and states prima facie (...) reasons for a re-systematization of law as a prerequisite of systematic interpretation. The problem cannot be appreciated outside its proper context. It is a disregard for causation and evaluation. Hence the paper outlines Aristotle’s understanding of causation and evaluation in his presentation of phronesis, reconsiders continental European legal thought in the light of Aristotle’s presentation, and offers policy-oriented jurisprudence as a remedy to the deficit of evaluation and causation in European legal thought. A solution to the problem offers a typology of criteria and clarifies positive and fundamental legal concepts, positive and fundamental criteria of systematization, and the place of criteria in knowledge of law. The usefulness of the criteria is demonstrated by a common approach to the systematization of law and an alternative diagnosis of a defect of systematization diagnosed by an authority in history and philosophy of law rather than legal theory. (shrink)

Autor analizira nacin na koji se argument prvog okupatora, koji je izvorno artikulisan kao argument u prilog privatnog vlasnistva, u medjunarodnim sporovima koristi kao razlog za dobijanje politicke kontrole nad nekom teritorijom. Autor zakljucuje da se u slucaju spora oko Kosova tim argumentom danas moze zahtevati podela suvereniteta na osnovu podele kosovske teritorije.

VVe argue in this essay that the real violence in schools is a result of the structural violence of oppresive social conditions that force students, especially low-income African American and Latino males, tofeel vulnerable, angry, and resistant to the normative expectations of “police-like” school environments. Instead of making attempts to transform these oppressive conditions and explore alternatives outsideof these frameworks, schools utilize the ideological state apparatuses (ISA’s) to justify the construction of certain students (e.g., African American and Latino males) as (...) “violent/deviant/disabled” therebymaking it an individual rather than a social problem. On the other hand, we contend, a political economic analysis of educational contexts makes critical linkages between race, class, and disabilityand in doing so offers an alternative way of re-theorizing identity. Additionally this argument will aIso demonstrate how a political economic analysis exposes and re-orients one towards a collective (global) struggle for social transfornlation in critical multicultural contexts. (shrink)

In this paper we seek to take notice of the evolution and continuity of Jan Patočka’s phenomenology on the topic of the world and human existence’s relationship with it. We believe that this problem underlies and stimulates Patočka’s whole phenomenological research and we think that it is a key element to understand the ensemble of his thought.

I discuss the role of beauty in physics. Physicists are sometimes described as platonists for their conviction that the fundamental laws are elegant and aesthetic arguments represent an important epistemic tool. After a review of the ideas of Plato and some of the leading figures of modern physics, which suggest that this is indeed the case, I present a list of current aesthetic criteria. I focus on symmetry and unity and demonstrate their increasing relevance in an array of experimentally verified (...) theories. I also deal with an open issue of naturalness as the third criterion. The laws of nature appear increasingly beautiful as we uncover them, and it is important to see if the trend continues in the future. (shrink)

El trabajo utiliza las herramientas conceptuales de la discusión sobre injusticia epistémica para analizar tres contextos de cuidado emocional y la atención a la salud mental, tales como: las redes sociales de apoyo informal, la atención terapéutica y la atención psiquiátrica. El propósito es mostrar el tipo de dinámicas sociales que, en dichos contextos, derivan en una exclusión del testimonio de las personas que recurren a ellas. La tesis central sostiene que entender las diversas dinámicas sociales que propician los distintos (...) tipos de exclusiones, implica desglosar circunstancias sociales de diferente calado, algunas de las cuales se encuentran interrelacionadas, como lo representan la producción de sesgos derivados de diferentes tipos de prejuicios (de identidad o participación), mientras que, otras, responden a la constitución de un exceso de credibilidad otorgado a determinados campos expertos. De esta forma la invitación es a pensar que la restitución de la justicia epistémica en este tipo de atención y cuidado no depende ni de la corrección de una sola instancia social, ni de la mejora de un solo sistema experto. (shrink)

The oldest preserved commentary on the Br̥hadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad was composed by Śaṅkara. Sureśvara composed a sub-commentary on this commentary, while Ānandagiri composed commentaries both on Śaṅkara’s commentary and on Sureśvara’s sub-commentary. All these four books contain a number of passages from earlier works which are not preserved. Sureśvara and Ānandagiri attributed some of these passages to a commentator named Bhartr̥prapañca. The aim of this article is to present a philological method which will establish which of the passages might be paraphrases and (...) which might be quotations from Bhartr̥prapañca’s lost commentary composed in the scope of the bhedābheda theory. This article will argue that Śaṅkara paraphrases Bhartr̥prapañca’s text, while Ānandagiri quotes most probably Bhartr̥prapañca’s text literally. This text was metrically adjusted by Sureśvara who paraphrases Bhartr̥prapañca by shortening and adjusting the original text in order to fit into the pattern of the śloka meter. If this is true, it is possible to establish a methodology which may help us to reconstruct portions of the oldest known commentary on the Br̥hadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad. (shrink)