In this article we present symmetric diffusion networks, a family of networks that instantiate the principles of continuous, stochastic, adaptive and interactive propagation of information. Using methods of Markovion diffusion theory, we formalize the activation dynamics of these networks and then show that they can be trained to reproduce entire multivariate probability distributions on their outputs using the contrastive Hebbion learning rule (CHL). We show that CHL performs gradient descent on an error function that captures differences between desired and obtained (...) continuous multivariate probability distributions. This allows the learning algorithm to go beyond expected values of output units and to approximate complete probability distributions on continuous multivariate activation spaces. We argue that learning continuous distributions is an important task underlying a variety of real‐life situations that were beyond the scope of previous connectionist networks. Deterministic networks, like back propagation, cannot learn this task because they are limited to learning average values of independent output units. Previous stochastic connectionist networks could learn probability distributions but they were limited to discrete variables. Simulations show that symmetric diffusion networks can be trained with the CHL rule to approximate discrete and continuous probability distributions of various types. (shrink)

No nos aventuramos realmente a decir nada muy original cuando decimos que la religión, o, mejor dicho, las religiones, son un fenómeno sumamente complejo que para su estudio científico requiere de una mirada atenta que trate de comprender las múltiples aristas que parecen dividirse y reproducirse según nos acercamos a cualquiera de sus fenómenos y representaciones.

Philosophical hermeneutics has become an unavoidable reference in the field throughout the twentieth century but has seldom been extended to draw conclusions in the area of political theory. Two intellectuals that have contributed to such a project are Charles Taylor and Gianni Vattimo, although they exhibit some important differences in key aspects of this enterprise, both at the level of the conceptual premises and at that of the prescribed policies and objectives. Here I examine these thinkers’ notion of tradition – (...) an essential feature of hermeneutical theories – its ontological underpinnings, and the place each of them assign to it in sociopolitical decision-making, especially in the context of multicultural societies. In the end, I argue for the superiority of Taylor’s model of understanding and employing tradition in current political and moral debates. (shrink)

The facts and inferences exposed in this writing, and the arguments that support it, allow us to conclude that the «extension of the mind», opened during the evolutionary process, since always and today accelerated by the work of human intervention, in no case authorizes us to consider that the «extension of mind» has changed human nature, as we have always known it. Therefore, there is no justification to speak of transhumanism, as if a new man, a «transhuman», had appeared at (...) the moment of the Singularity, whose nature had undergone substantial changes in relation to the usual human nature. For this reason, we consider that we should continue speaking of an «extensive humanism». No more. (shrink)

The article examines the difficulties posed by Jürgen Habermas’s proposal regarding the role of religion in the public sphere, in order to clarify and analyze its philosophical assumptions. The article then goes on to set forth five objections on the basis of the debate over same-sex marriage, and to relate those objections to Habermas’s philosophical assumptions, in order to show the need for a more detailed review of the problem.

En este trabajo se examinan las estrategias discursivas de la literatura de Cervantes y Gracián en torno a la formación del sí mismo y el estatuto del mundo en su sentido metafísico. Conceptos tales como «valor» y «corazón” debieran ser leídos desde una perspectiva ética que delimita esencialmente la constitución del ser humano y de su mundo. Estas estrategias muestran cómo se suelen abordar teóricamente los inicios de la Modernidad desde sus últimas consideraciones (propias del idealismo alemán) y cómo tal (...) vínculo debe ser reconsiderado. (shrink)

Ante la reciente publicación de la última obra sistemática del filósofo alemán J. Habermas titulada _Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie_ (y su pronta traducción al español), el texto se propone mostrar las características fundamentales de la comprensión habermasiana sobre la misma actividad filosófica. Para esto, primero se describe la base teórica sobre la cual Habermas construye el sentido de sus reflexiones filosóficas, esto es, el sentido posmetafísico desde el cual Habermas desarrolla su pensamiento filosófico. Posteriormente, se exponen los tres roles (...) que Habermas asigna a la actividad filosófica y se concluye evidenciando las conexiones entre la filosofía posmetafísica de Habermas y la democracia; conexiones que nos permitirían caracterizar a la filosofía posmetafísica habermasiana como una filosofía democrática y, sobre esta base, leer mejor el supuesto «giro religioso» de la filosofía de Habermas. (shrink)

This paper aims to rediscover, contextualize and call attention to a work of maghāzī commissioned by the Almohad caliph al-Murtaḍā, found in manuscript 296 of the Qarawiyyīn library, and hitherto unnoticed by the vast majority of researchers. This work should be seen and read in the framework of the Almohad historical context in which it was written. I will also highlight the intellectual project and the legitimizing interests shown by the caliph al-Murtaḍā who, in the context of the crisis of (...) the Almohad Empire, encouraged the revival of the Unitary movement through a new reading of the remembrance of the early days of Islam and of the Almohad movement, and of jihād. I will include the paleographic edition of the introduction to the manuscript as an annex. In this introduction one may already observe examples of some of the interesting points of this text. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Klio Jahrgang: 96 Heft: 1 Seiten: 291-295.

Una experiencia de Teatro en el IES Universidad Laboral. Muestra de Teatro Escolar Gijón.

Esta investigación reúne las voces y perspectivas de un grupo de mujeres indígenas en la zona sur andina ecuatoriana (Azuay, Cañar y Loja), y muestra la estructura social y las formas organizativas en los espacios que ocupan en el tejido social. Desde un enfoque intercultural y de género, y desde imaginarios esbozados a partir de la alteridad, la repetición y la reafirmación de estereotipos, el estudio analiza aspectos identitarios de la construcción femenina indígena en el territorio. La metodología utilizada es (...) cualitativa con herramientas etnográficas que derivan en entrevistas semiestructuradas y en la autoetnografía. Los resultados exponen el estado actual de un feminismo flagelado por la discriminación, la desigualdad, los silencios y la esencialización a las que son sometidas las mujeres indígenas no solo por su condición femenina, sino por su condición étnica y cultural. (shrink)

Publicado en el volumen colectivo editado por Jesús G. Maestro y Inger Enkvist, Contra los mitos y sofismas de las “teorías literarias” posmodernas, Academia del Hispanismo, Vigo 2010, págs 89-104.

Kris McDaniel has argued that strong composition as identity entails a principle he calls the Plural Duplication Principle, and that is inconsistent with the possibility of strongly emergent properties. Theodore Sider has objected that this possibility is only inconsistent with a closely analogous principle he calls the Set Duplication Principle. According to Sider, however, the friend of strong composition as identity is under no pressure to accept. In this paper, I argue that she has strong reason to accept either or (...) a principle that is also inconsistent with the possibility of strongly emergent properties. (shrink)

Se busca rastrear la imagen que Platón tiene de Heráclito y articularla con la estructura argumentativa del Cratilo, para comprender las necesidades textuales a las que responde la doctrina del flujo perpetuo, es decir, la discusión sobre la corrección (ὀρθότης) del nombre. Gracias a la inclusión del testimonio heraclíteo, resulta posible rastrear la presunta consolidación de la tesis sobre los nombres primarios y los secundarios como el eje de la separación entre dos planos de realidad (uno estable y uno móvil) (...) y de la teoría de las Ideas -es decir, como la base de la epistemología platónica presente en los diálogos de madurez-. The article seeks to trace the image Plato has of Heraclitus and connect it with the argumentative structure of the Cratylus in order to understand the textual needs that give rise to the doctrine of perpetual flux, that is, the discussion regarding the correctness (ὀρθότης) of names. The inclusion of Heraclitus's testimony makes it possible to trace the alleged consolidation of the thesis regarding primary and secondary names as the axis of separation between two levels of reality (one stable, the other, changing) and the theory of Ideas -that is, as the basis of Plato's epistemology as set forth in the late dialogues-. (shrink)

We support the development of non-reductive cognitive science and the naturalization of phenomenology for this purpose, and we agree that the ‘relational turn’ defended by Gallagher is a necessary step in this direction. However, we believe that certain aspects of his relational concept of nature need clarification. In particular, Gallagher does not say whether or how teleology, affect, and other value-related properties of life and mind can be naturalized within this framework. In this paper, we argue that (1) given the (...) phenomenological standards recognized by Gallagher, his commitment to a naturalized phenomenology should entail a commitment to a naturalized concept of value; and (2) the kind of ‘relational nature’ described by Gallagher in his paper is insufficient for this purpose. (shrink)