This essay is an attempt to shed light on the ontological question about death taking the ethical point of view. First, the author sets out a differentiation between the death and the question about it. After a brief historical description, taking as examples the Epicurean and Christian standpoints, it is presented the thinking about the death in the contemporary philosophy. Although in this perspective there is an ontological preponderance in the different interpretations and concepts that surrounds the death. That is (...) why, at the end, it is showed a new way to understand the death that concerns the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and his ethical turn. -/- Este ensayo es un intento de arrojar luz sobre la cuestión ontológica sobre la muerte de tomar el punto de vista ético. En primer lugar, el autor establece una diferenciación entre la muerte y la cuestión al respecto. Después de una breve descripción histórica, tomando como ejemplo el punto de vista epicúreo y cristiana, se presenta la forma de pensar acerca de la muerte en la filosofía contemporánea. Aunque en este punto de vista hay una preponderancia ontológica en las diferentes interpretaciones y conceptos que rodean la muerte. Por eso, al final, se mostró una nueva forma de entender la muerte que se refiere a la filosofía de Emmanuel Levinas y su giro ético. (shrink)

El presente texto es una colección de ensayos que giran en torno a la polémica obra del filósofo francés Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980). Como bien se hace notar en la introducción del libro, este no es un intento apologético, sino más bien crítico. Por ello, el autor lejos de reafirmar lo que ya el pensador existencialista ha dicho, se centra en uno de los puntos más contradictorios de su obra: la relación de la muerte con la libertad humana. Para ello, (...) se examinan las principales teorías que, a su juicio, han participado en la conformación de lo que entendemos por muerte. Y junto a esta tradición, analiza también las actitudes respecto a ese concepto desde el sentido común y las ciencias modernas. En el segundo capítulo introduce y contextualiza el momento específico en que emergió el existencialismo. Y concluye con su específica crítica al pensador francés desde la obra El ser y la nada. (shrink)

In recent decades, the problem of post-truth has emerged. Values such as fairness, objectivity, and critical dialogue have become more difficult to achieve. Various characteristics are associated with this, such as the emergence of new technologies and a new era in political relations with the rise of fundamentalism and populism. Besides, the reference to postmodernism is always commonplace in the bibliography on the subject. Considering this, the article’s main objective is to philosophically analyze the theoretical foundation of post-truth, postmodernism. From (...) the methodological point of view, this theoretical study will take the interpretive approach as a reference. Interpretive hermeneutical criticism has been combined with a documentary analysis of the main works that address this problem. The article explains the main characteristics of the concept, considering the current and notorious interpretation, and then interprets the position that criticizes postmodernism as the theoretical basis of the post-truth era. It concludes by defining that the relationship between post-truth and its theoretical foundation has a dogmatic and contradictory character since it confronts subjectivist relativism with the dogma of a realist metaphysics. (shrink)

La frase con la que a veces se ha llamado a Francisco de Asís «il più santo tra gli italiani, il più italiano tra i santi» puede causar sorpresa desde fuera de Italia por su afirmación demasiado exclusiva de una nacionalidad. Algunas sugestiones que surgen de la lectura de unas lí­neas de Jorge Luis Borges orientan un posible sentido de interpretación sobre la representación subjetiva de ideales patrióticos. Además de ello, tomando como base la investigación de Felice Accrocca para (...) determi­nar el origen de la frase, se observa cómo la segunda parte de esta se encuentra por primera vez en la obra de Vincenzo Gioberti (1843); con ella se buscaba elogiar las cualidades del Santo que caracterizarían un emblema patriótico para la unificación de la Italia. Se completa la breve crónica histórica que expone Accrocca con las vicisitudes de la frase eslogan, en cuanto a su uso ideológico y político, incluyendo la manipulación de la figura del Santo. Sin embargo, la necesidad de precisar otros elementos ausentes en el trabajo de Accrocca lleva al examen de algunos textos con argumentaciones sobre la identificación del amor al prójimo con el amor a la patria. Se indica asimismo cómo la frase inicial se convirtió en memorable retruécano en un discurso de Geremia Brunelli (1882). Finalmente, la proclamación de Francisco de Asís como Patrono de Italia (1939) busca recuperar el sentido de los valores que el Santo ejemplifica más allá de la exaltación patriótica y aun en contraposición con una exacerbación de esta. (shrink)

In this chapter, we discuss a selection of current views of the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). We focus on the different predictions they make, in particular with respect to the role of prefrontal cortex (PFC) during visual experiences, which is an area of critical interest and some source of contention. Our discussion of these views focuses on the level of functional anatomy, rather than at the neuronal circuitry level. We take this approach because we currently understand more about experimental (...) evidence at this coarse level and because these results are appropriate for arbitrating between current theoretical frameworks. We discuss the Two-Visual-Systems Hypothesis (Milner & Goodale 1995; 2006), Local Recurrency (Lamme 2010; Lamme 2006), Higher Order (Lau 2008; Lau & Rosenthal 2011) and Global Workspace theories (Baars 1997; Baars 2005; Dehaene & Naccache 2001; Dehaene 2014). Despite the apparent stark differences between conscious and unconscious perceptual processing, available evidence suggests that their neural substrates must be largely shared. This indicates that the difference in neural activity between conscious and unconscious perceptual processing is likely to be subtle and highly specialized. We argue that current experimental evidence about the involvement of specific activity in prefrontal cortex supports the higher order neural theory of consciousness. In consequence, imaging techniques that focus only on marked differences between conscious and unconscious level of activity are likely to be insensitive to the relevant neural activity patterns that underlie conscious experiences. Finally, it follows from the evidence we discuss that the functional advantages of conscious over unconscious perceptual processing may be more limited than commonly thought. (shrink)

When a circular coin is rotated in depth, is there any sense in which it comes to resemble an ellipse? While this question is at the center of a rich and divided philosophical tradition (with some scholars answering affirmatively and some negatively), Morales et al. (2020, 2021) took an empirical approach, reporting 10 experiments whose results favor such perspectival similarity. Recently, Burge and Burge (2022) offered a vigorous critique of this work, objecting to its approach and conclusions on both philosophical (...) and empirical grounds. Here, we answer these objections on both fronts. We show that Burge and Burge’s critique rests on misunderstandings of Morales et al.’s claims; of the relation between the data and conclusions; and of the philosophical context in which the work appears. Specifically, Burge and Burge attribute to us a much stronger (and stranger) view than we hold, involving the introduction of “a new entity” located “in some intermediate position(s) between the distal shape and the retinal image.” We do not hold this view. Indeed, once properly understood, most of Burge and Burge’s objections favor Morales et al.’s claims rather than oppose them. Finally, we discuss several questions that remain unanswered, and reflect on a productive path forward on these issues of foundational scientific and philosophical interest. (shrink)

Arguably the most foundational principle in perception research is that our experience of the world goes beyond the retinal image; we perceive the distal environment itself, not the proximal stimulation it causes. Shape may be the paradigm case of such “unconscious inference”: When a coin is rotated in depth, we infer the circular object it truly is, discarding the perspectival ellipse projected on our eyes. But is this really the fate of such perspectival shapes? Or does a tilted coin retain (...) an elliptical appearance even when we know it’s circular? This question has generated heated debate from Locke and Hume to the present; but whereas extant arguments rely primarily on introspection, this problem is also open to empirical test. If tilted coins bear a representational similarity to elliptical objects, then a circular coin should, when rotated, impair search for a distal ellipse. Here, nine experiments demonstrate that this is so, suggesting that perspectival shapes persist in the mind far longer than traditionally assumed. Subjects saw search arrays of three-dimensional “coins,” and simply had to locate a distally elliptical coin. Surprisingly, rotated circular coins slowed search for elliptical targets, even when subjects clearly knew the rotated coins were circular. This pattern arose with static and dynamic cues, couldn’t be explained by strategic responding or unfamiliarity, generalized across shape classes, and occurred even with sustained viewing. Finally, these effects extended beyond artificial displays to real-world objects viewed in naturalistic, full-cue conditions. We conclude that objects have a remarkably persistent dual character: their objective shape “out there,” and their perspectival shape “from here.”. (shrink)

Consciousness and confidence seem intimately related. Accordingly, some researchers use confidence ratings as a measure of, or proxy for, consciousness. Rosenthal discusses the potential connections between the two, and rejects confidence as a valid measure of consciousness. He argues that there are better alternatives to get at conscious experiences such as direct subjective reports of awareness (i.e. subjects’ reports of perceiving something or of the degree of visibility of a stimulus). In this chapter, we offer a different perspective. Confidence ratings (...) in general, and metacognitive measures in particular, may offer important advantages over subjective ratings. The arguments we offer here are supported by empirical, practical and socio-strategic considerations. However, we do not suggest consciousness and confidence are interchangeable. We recognize the limitations of confidence ratings in some experimental designs and for some research questions. Nevertheless, we also address a potential conceptual link between consciousness and confidence that stems from Rosenthal’s very own work on mental quality space theory. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Identity Identity of Latin American Philosophy Four Approaches History of the Controversy Conclusion References Further Reading.

Dynamic Theodicy (DT) is a broad concept we bring up to designate some modern Philosophical Theology attempts to reconcile the necessary and perfect existence of God with the contingent characteristics of human life. In this paper we analyze such approaches and discuss how they have become incomprehensible because the metaphysical assumptions implicit in these explanations have lost their intrinsic relation to the natural human desire for salvation. In the first part we show Charles Hartshorne's DT-model, arising from the modal logic (...) of perfection, and the modern rational problems of this position in making infinite-necessary Being (God) and finite-contingent being (human) compatible. We note that at the heart of the contradictions in this DT account is a dialectical mode of thinking that makes it difficult to find a correct solution to this dichotomy, and to assume a human desire that could be considered related to lifelong goals. In the second part, supported by the proposal of Hans Urs von Balthasar's DT, we develop the concepts of bodily vulnerability, corporeal intentionality, and natural desire for salvation, which come from an Aristotelian-Thomistic thought. This theory is established in order to build an argument, following Alasdair MacIntyre’s ethical framework, on how to make possible the recovery of a metaphysical and anthropological desire that transcends natural aging and goes beyond death. We conclude that both human dependence and the virtues that arise naturally when human beings decide to seek the good of their transcendent condition, make it possible to recover the natural desire for salvation through divine and human love. (shrink)

In 1961, at the age of nineteen, Jorge J. E. Gracia escaped from the island of Cuba by passing himself off as a Catholic seminarian. He arrived in the United States with just a few spare belongings and his mother's diamond ring secured in a hole in one of his shoes. With a Diamond in My Shoe tells the story of Gracia's quest for identity--from his early years in Cuba and as a refugee in Miami to his formative role (...) in institutionalizing the field of Latin American philosophy in the US academy. Committed to integrating into Anglo America without forgetting his roots, Gracia reflects on his struggles and successes as an immigrant and academic, bringing a philosopher's eye to bear on his personal and professional development as a leading Latinx scholar. (shrink)

"Databases containing the accumulated genomic data of the research community are growing exponentially. This book contains cutting-edge insights from scholars, bioethicists and legal practitioners who work at the ever-changing intersection of law and bioinformatics"--Page 4 of cover.

'Sound Effects' collects original articles on English and American prose fiction which analyse vocal phenomena by using the psychoanalytic concept of the object voice - introduced by J. Lacan and theorised by M. Dolar - as their interpretative tool.

Die Beitrage des Sammelbandes widmen sich aus theologisch-philosophischer Perspektive der historischen Rezeption und der systematischen Relevanz des Freiheitsstreits zwischen Martin Luther und Erasmus von Rotterdam. Im systematischen Zentrum steht das jeweilige freiheitstheoretische Verstandnis des Menschen, seiner epistemischen und voluntativen Vermogen und seines metaphysischen Ortes innerhalb der Schopfung, besonders sein Verhaltnis zu Gott. Aus historischer Perspektive wird die Rezeption von Luthers Freiheitsbegriff durch Leibniz, Kant, Hegel, Schelling und in der analytischen Philosophie untersucht. Mit Beitragen von Christine Axt-Piscalar, Frank Dettinger, Thomas Frisch, (...) Volker Gerhardt, Friedrich Hermanni, Amit Kravitz, Jorg Noller, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Birgit Recki, Georg Sans SJ, Ruben Schneider und Gunther Wenz. (shrink)

Leibniz was probably the last universal scholar in modern times who made original and innovative achievements in all the essential fields of knowledge of his time: as a reform-oriented lawyer, a multilateral thinking diplomat, as a mathematician of infinitesimal calculus, as the inventor of a calculating machine and in the mining of horizontal wind power, as an organizer of science and as one of the first historians who strived for source-critical methodical objectivity. However, this baroque diversity can only be understood (...) from the center of a monadological philosophy, which wants to establish the unity of scientific worldview and metaphysical concept of the world. It is distorted in the classical reception because only Leibniz the Theodicy was known. The topicality of Leibniz today consists in re-exposing the original basic idea of unity in diversity and asking how it can be made fruitful for philosophical and political thought in the 21st century. This book is a translation of the original German 1st edition Leibniz und die Folgen by Jörg Zimmer, published by J.B. Metzler, imprint of Springer-Verlag GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2018. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors. (shrink)

This paper addresses the question whetherbullshitis a reasonable pragmatic category. In the first part of the paper, drawing on the insights of Harry Frankfurt’s seminal essay, bullshit is defined as an act of insincere asserting where the speaker shows a loose concern for the truth, and does not want the addressee to become aware of condition. The author adds to this definition the condition requiring that the bullshitter expresses morecertaintythan is adequate with respect to condition. In the second part of (...) the paper, it is discussed whether the above definition can cope with special types of bullshit considered to be a challenge to Frankfurt’s definition. These areevasive bullshitting,bullshit lies, andbald-faced bullshitting. It is shown that there is hope for establishing a reasonable pragmatic category of bullshitting if it is related to certain levels of pragmatic description, e.g. conversational implicatures, that can explain the putative challenges. (shrink)

Does an inclination towards incest exist and why is incest prohibited? There are mainly two points of view: that of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and that of Edward Westermarck, a Finnish-British anthropologist. Freud is of the opinion that men have a profound desire for incest, whereas Westermarck presumes an instinctive aversion against it. Nowadays the discussion has received fresh impulse due to a modem interpretation of Westermarck’s theory and the controversy over the sexual abuse of children in their (...) families. The author is in favour of the Westermarck theory and tries to explain the prohibition of incest based on a natural inhibition towards incest. (shrink)

In konsequentialistischenKonsequentialismusTheorienEthikdeontologische (s. a. Pflichtenethik) hängt die moralische Richtigkeit oder Falschheit einer Handlung nur davon ab, wie gut oder schlecht ihre Konsequenzen (verglichen mit den Konsequenzen der anderen HandlungsalternativenKonsequentialismusHandlungskonsequentialismus) sind. Aus dieser definierenden Eigenschaft konsequentialistischer Theorien ergibt sich fast zwingend als weitere typische Eigenschaft die Maximierung des Guten, die in einer schwächeren Form als Maximierungserlaubnis und in einer stärkeren Form als Maximierungsgebot vertreten werden kann: Wenn die Richtigkeit einer Handlung nur von den Konsequenzen abhängt, liegt es nahe anzunehmen, dass es (...) niemals moralisch falsch und folglich immer moralisch erlaubt ist, die Handlung mit den besten Konsequenzen auszuführen. Diese Maximierungserlaubnis unterscheidet konsequentialistische Theorien insbesondere von deontologischen Theorien, in denen die Handlung mit den besten Konsequenzen oft verboten ist: Da in deontologischen Theorien die Richtigkeit nicht nur von den Konsequenzen, sondern auch von anderen Faktoren (z. B. der intrinsischen Schlechtheit bestimmter Handlungsweisen) abhängt, kann es Situationen geben, in denen ein solcher Faktor die Gutheit der Konsequenzen überwiegt und es deshalb verboten ist, die Handlung mit den besten Konsequenzen auszuführen. (shrink)

A provocative examination of the artistic interpretation of twelve of Borges’s most famous stories.

Sprachkritik ist die linguistisch begründete, positive wie negative Würdigung der menschlichen Sprache und ihrer Leistungen. Diese Einführung konzentriert sich auf das System, die Normen und den Gebrauch grammatischer und lexikalisch-semantischer Strukturen der deutschen Sprache. Die Kritik der Leistungen des Deutschen in Bezug auf die Aneignung, Wahrnehmung, Erkenntnis und Darstellung der so genannten außersprachlichen Wirklichkeit wird aus drei Perspektiven fokussiert: Aus der Perspektive der Linguistik steht der sprachliche Ausdruck im Mittelpunkt, dessen kommunikative Funktion als Element des sprachlichen Handelns unter dem Aspekt (...) der Angemessenheit bewertet wird. Aus der Perspektive der Sprachdidaktik wird Sprachkritik als die sprachdidaktisch fundierte und unterrichtsmethodisch modellierte kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Sprache und Sprachgebrauch zum Zweck des sprachlichen Lernens sowie, hauptsächlich, der sprachlichen Bildung in den Blick genommen. Ansätze und Methoden sprachkritischen Denkens und Handelns in der laienlinguistischen Öffentlichkeit schließlich werden als Kritik an Sprachgebrauchsnormen beschrieben, der nicht linguistische, sondern meist ästhetische oder politische Motive zugrunde liegen. (shrink)

This paper analyzes the institution of benefit payments from the constitutional economics point of view. Benefit payments cannot be legitimized only by the veil of uncertainty about the personal future income position. From the constitutional economics perspective, they are only justified if externalities of poverty as a genuine public good problem are taken into account. A system of public benefit payments raise up two problems: first it has to overcome the problem of free-riding with regard to transfer payments, and secondly (...) it should not provide incentives for the beneficiary to restrain the own efforts to work. Hence a double commitment is necessary: On the one hand, this commitment must regulate, in which way a citizen is engaged in the financing transfer payments, and on the other hand it has to include obligations for the potential recipients of the transfer payments to immediately return to working life. (shrink)

What constitutes personhood? How are persons and their bodies related? What is the relationship between personhood and value? The Unity of a Person: Philosophical Perspectives explores the current debates surrounding the philosophy of personal identity and offers a fresh approach to this important topic. It is original in bringing together three approaches to personal identity that are traditionally treated separately: the metaphysical, the phenomenological and the social. By examining these three areas this volume establishes connections between the underlying metaphysical issues (...) surrounding personal identity and the specific forms of personal existence such as self-consciousness, action, and normativity. Topics discussed include personhood and animalism, process ontology, self-identity over time, sociality and personhood, and the normative status of personhood. With chapters by an outstanding international roster of contributors, this collection will be of great interest to those studying personal identity and the nature of the self in metaphysics, philosophy of mind and phenomenology. (shrink)

Every action decision made by an actor is preceded by a special definition of the situation that first structures the preferences and expectations from which the selection of an action proceeds in a second step. In a conception based on the ‚subjective expected utility‘ (SEU) Esser 1996 modelled the definition of a situation as a dual structure comprising two stages of selection: the selection of the model and the selection of the mode of information processing. In this paper it is (...) shown how a link to a threedimensional picture of the situation emerges from the formal assumptions of these two selection steps. Depending on the selected utility ratios this picture then represents the choice of the mode of information processing as a function of subjective probabilities. (shrink)