Should Lesbian and women's events have policies banning sadomasochists or sadomasochistic acts? This question is being heatedly debated in the Lesbian community. In this paper, I examine the moral and political problems with sadomasochism from a Lesbian-feminist perspective, concluding that sadomasochism is antifeminist and antiliberatory for many reasons. Then, given this conclusion, I explore how events such as women's music festivals should determine their policies about sadomasochism.

Trust is often an assumed outcome of participation in Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) as they directly connect producers with consumers. It is based on this potential for trust “between producers and consumers” that AFNs have emerged as a significant field of food studies analysis as it also suggests a capacity for AFNs to foster associated embedded qualities, like ‘morality’, ‘social justice’, ‘ecology’ and ‘equity’. These positive benefits of AFNs, however, cannot be taken for granted as trust is not necessarily an (...) outcome of AFN participation. Using Chinese case studies of AFNs, which are characterised by a distinct form of trust pressure—consumers who are particularly cynical about small scale farmers, food safety and the organic credentials of producers—this paper highlights how the dynamics of trust are in constant flux between producers and consumers. I suggest that it is the careful construction of the aesthetic and multi-sensory qualities of food, which is often celebrated via social media, that human centred relations in Chinese AFNs are mediated. This leads to two key conclusions: first, that the key variable for establishing trust is satisfying the consumer's desire for safe (i.e. "fresh") food; and second, the materiality of the food and the perception of foods materiality (especially through social media), must both be actively constructed by the farmer to fit the consumer's ideal of freshness. (shrink)

This paper explores the filmic trajectories experienced by the protagonists in two case studies: Lightning Over Water by Nicholas Ray and Wim Wenders, and Sick, The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist by Kirby Dick. In both films, the limitexperience, caused by a disease, becomes an active device, one that produces knowledge for the protagonists. In this radical experience, what is revealed is the link between selfrepresentation and a will to self-destruction, and the normative margins of rationality are questioned. (...) Based on the studies of Jean-Luc Nancy, Jean Baudrillard and Clément Rosset, this essay examines an approach to terminal illness and self-representation both in the context of pain and the voyeuristic process of death as a spectacle. (shrink)

In this study I intend to prove that there is a close connection between ethical purposes of Environmental Philosophy as World Philosophy and the idea of sacred nature as part of the “world” in a phenomenological sense, which includes sacred space as defined in the philosophy of religion. The main points that intersect here are: the idea of sacred space; the perception of virtue in a sacred world; the beauty of creation: nature, life, human sensibility. The theoretical background of this (...) study contains points of view that express phenomenological, hermeneutic, theological, and aesthetic conceptions belonging to authors and exegetes such as Mircea Eliade, William E. Paden, David Cave, Ion Ianoși, Douglas Allen, Arnold Berleant, and Vincent Blok. I believe that the neglect of the environment-as-a-condition-of-life (the consequences of which can already be seen in ecological imbalances) is caused by, among other factors, the desacralization of human attitudes towards nature and the world of life. Few people still have a feeling of sacred nature or the aesthetic emotion of perceiving beauty in natural forms. The relationship with the environment and nature is reduced to its exploitation as a source of economic profit or as a way for spending free time, a source of personal comfort devoid of any spiritual significance. Surely we cannot go back to archaic religions or medieval Christianity, but we can reintegrate into our moral values something of those cultures’ admiration and respect for the beauty/sublimity of nature and the world as expressions of divine creation, as something sacred. Philosophical debates related to this retrieval and their dissemination could be part of solving the ecological problems of the contemporary world. (shrink)

Journal of Philosophy of Education, EarlyView.

Volume 18, Issue 3, June 2019, Page 221-238.

At the turn of the 21st century, Susan Leigh Anderson and Michael Anderson conceived and introduced the Machine Ethics research program, that aimed to highlight the requirements under which autonomous artificial intelligence systems could demonstrate ethical behavior guided by moral values, and at the same time to show that these values, as well as ethics in general, can be representable and computable. Today, the interaction between humans and AI entities is already part of our everyday lives; in the near (...) future it is expected to play a key role in scientific research, medical practice, public administration, education and other fields of civic life. In view of this, the debate over the ethical behavior of machines is more crucial than ever and the search for answers, directions and regulations is imperative at an academic, institutional as well as at a technical level. Our discussion with the two inspirers and originators of Machine Ethics highlights the epistemological, metaphysical and ethical questions arising by this project, as well as the realistic and pragmatic demands that dominate artificial intelligence and robotics research programs. Most of all, however, it sheds light upon the contribution of Susan and Michael Anderson regarding the introduction and undertaking of a main objective related to the creation of ethical autonomous agents, that will not be based on the “imperfect” patterns of human behavior, or on preloaded hierarchical laws and human-centric values. (shrink)

This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called 'argument by repetition' (ABR). ABR controls the script by repeating the script, and it often distracts audiences in the process. Truthiness is a key to how ABR is a pervasive propaganda technique. ABR takes many forms: jingles for advertising shampoo, phrases politicians use to evoke fear or gain favor, and narratives to malign certain groups of people. Adolf Hitler's Big Lie technique in Mein Kampf extols the usefulness (...) of this technique in swaying masses of people. Hitler and his Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, utilized this Big Lie technique to repeat the narrative of an “International Jewry”, which launched World War I to kill all Germans; this repeated lie helped turn cultural anti‐ Semitism into the Holocaust, as many would argue. ABR seeks to convince an audience not by facts or logic but by the psychological and emotional power of repetition. (shrink)

Grâce à l’analyse de quatre autobiographies de femmes de ménage écrites entre 1975 et 2012, cet article interroge la manière dont le régime temporel propre à une activité professionnelle contribue à la définition de la structure du récit autobiographique. Il s’agit d’analyser les nouvelles rhétoriques développées pour raconter l’histoire d’une vie dans laquelle l’axe de la narration est ancré sur un rôle social particulier et se définit par une activité spécifique : faire le ménage chez les autres.Le choix du corpus (...) d’analyse nous permet de mettre en perspective diverses expériences de femmes de ménage. On s’appuiera ainsi sur les autobiographies de Maria Arondo et Fatima Elayoubi, ayant respectivement migré en France depuis l’Espagne et le Maroc. Mais aussi sur les récits de Louise Rafkin et Isaure qui, dotées d’une formation en lettres, décident d’entreprendre l’aventure de devenir femme de ménage pour la raconter. Malgré leurs différences, ces expériences singulières ont des points communs et soulignent, chacune à leur manière, la particularité de cette relation de travail. (shrink)

With the arrival of the nineteenth century, a process of change guided the treatment of three basic elements in the development of mathematics: rigour, the arithmetization and the clarification of the concept of function, categorised as the most important tool in the development of the mathematical analysis. In this paper we will show how several prominent mathematicians contributed greatly to the development of these basic elements that allowed the solid underpinning of mathematics and the consideration of mathematics as an axiomatic (...) way of thinking in which anyone can deduce valid conclusions from certain types of premises. This nineteenth century stage shares, possibly with the Heroic Age of Ancient Greece, the most revolutionary period in all history of mathematics. (shrink)

Desde mediados del siglo XX, el devenir de la salvaguarda relacionada con las viviendas ha avanzado desde la monumentalidad hasta el contexto, desde la individualización hasta la caracterización paisajística, desde las condiciones materiales hasta los aspectos vivenciales. Sin embargo, amparar el cuerpo de las residencias típicas de cada territorio, en especial en los dinámicos marcos urbanos, resultó —y resulta— un desafío. Las experimentaciones de propuestas hacia un amparo residencial a más largo plazo han coincidido en dos aspectos de interés: la (...) promoción de indicadores de sustentabilidad patrimonial, inscriptos en cada marco estatal-local preservacionista, junto con el reconocimiento y el tratamiento del rol usuario. En este sentido, desde variables histórico-arquitectónicas y sociales se propuso la construcción y la aplicación de indicadores de sustentabilidad patrimonial residencial para visibilizar problemas y potencialidades hacia una formulación de estrategias de preservación apropiadas. Para ello se abordó la ciudad de Mar del Plata, una aglomeración intermedia bonaerense paradigmática debido a sus dinamismos pasados y presentes, con foco en sus chalets “estilo Mar del Plata” y sus usuarios. Se analizaron dos barrios históricos —Stella Maris y La Perla—, donde sobrevive una relevante diversidad de chalets en un marco de múltiples riesgos que afectan su permanencia. Desde una perspectiva principalmente cualitativa, apoyada por datos cuantitativos, se articularon relevamientos in situ, fuentes escritas (investigaciones previas, artículos científicos, cartas patrimoniales), gráficas (planimetrías, fotografías, imágenes aéreas) y orales (encuestas, entrevistas). De esta manera, la indagación desarrollada permitió avanzar en renovados caminos para progresar en la salvaguarda del legado residencial contextual. (shrink)

El contexto cordobés en torno a 1969 fue especialmente fértil para la emergencia de prácticas artísticas militantes. En el marco de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba movilizada por los acontecimientos sociales y políticos, surgió Libre Teatro Libre (LTL), que fue luego uno de los grupos de teatro militante más reconocidos de la época. Realizaré un recorrido crítico por el proceso político en torno al Cordobazo a través del análisis de la experiencia de LTL, poniendo de relieve aspectos significativos que operan (...) como metonimia (por asociación o por contraste) de otras experiencias, para reflexionar en torno a problemáticas como las conexiones entre militancia y experimentación; las apuestas estéticas en función de los objetivos artístico-políticos; entre otras. (shrink)

Mobile health applications that promise the user to help her with some aspect of her health are very popular: for-profit apps such as MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, or Headspace have tens of millions of users each. For-profit health apps are designed and run as optimization systems. One would expect that these health apps aim to optimize the health of the user, but in reality they aim to optimize user engagement and, in effect, conversion. This is problematic, I argue, because digital health environments (...) that aim to optimize user engagement risk being manipulative. To develop this argument, I first provide a brief analysis of the underlying business models and the resulting designs of the digital environments provided by popular for-profit health apps. In a second step, I present a concept of manipulation that can help analyze digital environments such as health apps. In the last part of the article, I use my concept of manipulation to analyze the manipulative potential of for-profit health apps. Although for-profit health can certainly empower their users, the conditions for empowerment also largely overlap with the conditions for manipulation. As a result, we should be cautious when embracing the empowerment discourse surrounding health apps. An additional aim of this article is to contribute to the rapidly growing literature on digital choice architectures and the ethics of influencing behavior through such choice architectures. I take health apps to be a paradigmatic example of digital choice architectures that give rise to ethical questions, so my analysis of the manipulative potential of health apps can also inform the larger literature on digital choice architectures. (shrink)

This volume unites established authors and rising young voices in philosophical theology and philosophy of religion to offer the single most wide-ranging examination of theological determinism-in terms of both authors represented and issues investigated-published to date. Fifteen contributors present discussions about theological determinism, the view that God determines everything that occurs in the world. Some authors provide arguments in favor of this position, while others provide considerations against it. Many contributors investigate the relationship between theological determinism and other philosophical issues, (...) theological doctrines, or moral attitudes and practices. This book is essential reading for all those interested in the relationship between theological determinism and philosophical thought. (shrink)

The Buddhist jhanas--successive states of deep focus or meditative absorbtion--demystified. A very practical guidebook for meditators for navigating their way through these states of bliss and concentration. One of the elements of the Eightfold Path the Buddha taught is Right Concentration: the one-pointedness of mind that, together with ethics, livelihood, meditation, and so forth, leads to the ultimate freedom from suffering. The Jhanas are the method the Buddha himself taught for achieving Right Concentration. They are a series of eight successive (...) states, beginning with bliss and moving on toward radically nonconceptual states. The fact that they can usually be achieved only during prolonged meditation retreat tends to keep them shrouded in mystery. Leigh Brasington is here to unshroud them. He takes away the mystique and gives instructions for them in plain, accessible language, noting the various pitfalls to avoid along the way, and then providing a wealth of material on the theory of jhana practice--all geared toward the practitioner rather than the scholar. (shrink)

[1] Man and spirit: the speculative philosophers.--[2] Man and man: the social philosophers.--[3] Man and the state: the political philosophers.--[4] Man and the universe: the philosophers of science.

This book provides the first intellectual history of cosmopolitan ideas in the early modern age. The roots of modern cosmopolitanism can be traced back to as early as the 1500s when a meta-narrative and awareness of the cosmopolitan idea came into existence. Unearthing occurrences of cosmopolitan language in popular media and analysing the writings of leading thinkers, Leigh T.I. Penman illustrates how cosmopolitanism was not, as previously thought, purely secular and inclusive but could be sacred and exclusive too. And, (...) significantly, this book reveals the extent to which these contesting ideas of cosmopolitanism influenced the modern concept of the cosmopolitan. (shrink)

This Element considers the relationship between the traditional view of God as all-powerful, all-knowing and wholly good on the one hand, and the idea of human free will on the other. It focuses on the potential threats to human free will arising from two divine attributes: God's exhaustive foreknowledge and God's providential control of creation.

Empirical realist ecologists, such as C. S. Holling, face significant methodological contradictions; for instance, they must cope with the problem that ecological models and theories of climate change, resilience and succession cannot make predictions in open systems. Generally, they respond to this problem by supplementing their empirical realism with transcendental idealism: they therefore say that their models are simply metaphorical or heuristic, that is, 'not true' in that they are not empirical. Thus, they explicitly deny an ontology for what their (...) models are about. Nevertheless, in their practice, ecologists act as if their theories do have an ontology and thus tell us something truthful about the real world. This discrepancy leaves ecology vulnerable to unnecessary critique, such as that climate science is not real science. Transcendental realism offers a solution because it releases ecologists from the requirement to make predictions; but it does so without denying ontology. This provides several advantages to ecologists. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis article presents a philosophy of science for ecology – deep naturalism – based on Roy Bhaskar’s transcendental realism. It includes a model of the emergence of ecosystems, analogous to...

“Ponerle el cuerpo al trabajo” es en Chile tanto una expresión popular que resalta la materia-lidad del esfuerzo en todo tipo de actividad económica, como también una metáfora que nos lleva a reflexionar sobre la “falta de cuerpo” de la narrativa reciente, en que escasos relatos corporeizan las voces y experiencias de sus narradorxs a partir del trabajo físico/manual. Este artículo aborda una excepción, la novela Panaderos, de Nicolás Meneses, que presenta con detalle la cotidianidad de una madre temporera, un (...) padre panadero y la incursión del narrador, hijo mayor de esta familia, en la panadería de un supermercado. Todxs ellxs realizan oficios manuales descritos a partir del riesgo y el accidente corporal, bajo lógicas empresariales desprovistas de empatía o justicia, denunciadas por el estallido social chileno. (shrink)

En 1919, la même année où Jean Giraudoux fait son « Adieu à la guerre », il écrit « Les morts d’Elpénor ». En 1926, à côté de trois autres histoires, ce texte intégrera le corps d’Elpénor, déterminant l’ensemble, une collection de quatre textes écrits pendant dix-huit ans, le premier étant « Cyclope », écrit en 1908 ; le deuxième, « Sirènes », en 1912 ; le troisième en 1919 ; et le dernier en 1926, « Les nouvelles morts d’Elpénor (...) ». Quand « Cyclope » et « Sirènes » sortent respectivement chez Le Matin en 1908 et chez Paris-Journal en 1912 aucun d’entre eux ne mentionne Elpénor. Bref, c’est avec le développement des deux dernières histoires, que Elpénor, cette figure effacée chez Homère et absente dans les deux premiers textes de Giraudoux, vole la vedette. Cet article voudrait montrer comment la mise à jour du héros et de ses histoires est en dialogue avec la guerre vécue par l’auteur, pour proposer comment les vieilles histoires, lorsqu’elles sont renouvelées, participent à un processus qui leur permet d’élaborer les défis du présent, communiquant le présent, à travers un code déjà public, l’Odyssée. (shrink)

Las directrices anticipadas aún no se encuentran legisladas en todos los estados de la República mexicana. En algunos de los estados en los que sí se encuentran legisladas, se prohíbe expresamente su validez durante el periodo de gestación. Lo anterior representa dilemas bioéticos y jurídicos importantes, los cuales revisamos para esclarecer las diversas interrogantes que surgen en materia de la protección tanto del bebé como de la madre gestante. Concluimos que existe una necesidad de desarrollar una ley federal que homologue (...) las directrices anticipadas, garantizando una muerte digna a todos los mexicanos, y que establezca que en caso de encontrarse en periodo de gestación, se busque asesoría por un comité de bioética que apoye a determinar en cada caso particular, las condiciones que favorezcan el desarrollo y supervivencia del bebé, siempre que sea posible, sin recurrir a tratamientos y/o medidas extraordinarias que pongan el riesgo la muerte digna y libre de sufrimiento de la madre. (shrink)

This study examined the effects of an issue-based science teaching strategy on middle school students in a rural Idaho school. Two eighth-grade classes investigated an issue of local significance—the use of the Bear River. Using the Jurisprudential Inquiry Model of Science, Technology and Society (STS) as a guide, students researched and debated the issue. They attempted to create a Worldwide Web site to share the information collected and ideas generated with other students and interested adults. This article describes the challenges (...) encountered in attempting to integrate the use of technology as part of this project as well as the resulting positive outcomes for students. (shrink)

Resumen: El presente trabajo pretende contribuir a la discusión sobre la interculturalidad, en perspectiva crítica, desde la filosofía de la praxis histórica de Ignacio Ellacuría, y de la filosofía del reconocimiento de Raúl Fornet Betancourt. Esta propuesta surge como contribución desde la comprensión de una realidad histórica en permanente proceso, dinamismo, respectividad y novedad, y en donde la praxis histórica permite entenderla como apropiación de posibilidades y transformación social: This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on interculturality, in critical (...) perspective, from the philosophy of the historical practice of Ignacio Ellacuría, and the philosophy of the recognition of Raúl Fornet Betancourt. This proposal arises as a contribution from the understanding of a historical reality in a permanent process, dynamism, respectivity and novelty, and where historical praxis allows understanding it as an appropriation of possibilities and social transformation. (shrink)

Optando por la retórica, Las Casas busca un modelo antropológico nuevo, distinto tanto del humanismo elitista, como del erasmismo voluntarista. En esta búsqueda quisiéramos poner énfasis, argumentando a favor de un resultado revolucionario a la luz de sus objetivos prácticos: cesar el homicidio y garantizar la libertad a los indios en cada aspecto de su vida. Desde aquí, nos referiremos a esta postura revolucionaria que bebe de Aristóteles y de santo Tomás, pero que es capaz de superarlos, a favor de (...) una defensa de lo propiamente humano, que estriba precisamente en reconocer que todas las comunidades tienen la posibilidad de realizarse autónomamente. Por esto, creemos que se puede hallar, en Bartolomé de las Casas, una importante contribución a la cuestión del reconocimiento, pero aún más, un importante punto de partida para los desafíos de una filosofía intercultural. (shrink)

_Decolonizing Educational Research_ examines the ways through which coloniality manifests in contexts of knowledge and meaning making, specifically within educational research and formal schooling. Purposefully situated beyond popular deconstructionist theory and anthropocentric perspectives, the book investigates the longstanding traditions of oppression, racism, and white supremacy that are systemically reseated and reinforced by learning and social interaction. Through these meaningful explorations into the unfixed and often interrupted narratives of culture, history, place, and identity, a bold, timely, and hopeful vision emerges to (...) conceive of how research in secondary and higher education institutions might break free of colonial genealogies and their widespread complicities. (shrink)

Contemporary liberal democracies contain multiple cultural, religious, and philosophical traditions. Within these societies, different interpretive communities provide divergent models for understanding health, illness, and moral obligations. Bioethicists commonly draw upon models of moral reasoning that presume the existence of shared moral intuitions. Principlist bioethics, case-based models of moral deliberation, intuitionist frameworks, and cost-benefit analyses all emphasise the uniformity of moral reasoning. However, religious and cultural differences challenge assumptions about common modes of moral deliberation. Too often, bioethicists minimize or ignore the (...) existence of multiple traditions of moral inquiry. Careful consideration of the presence of multiple horizons for moral deliberation generates challenging questions about the capacity of bioethicists to effectively resolve complex cases and social policy disputes. (shrink)

Although it is very often taken for granted that there is something fundamental, the literature appears to have developed with little to no careful consideration of what exactly it is that the fundamentalia are supposed to do. If we are to have a good reason to believe that there is something fundamental, we need not only to know what exactly it is that the fundamentalia are invoked for, but why it is that nothing else is available for the task to (...) hand. A good argument in defense of fundamentality, then, will contain an assumption that stipulates an explanatory target; along with a second, crucial, assumption that tells us that no dependent entity is available to do the work that needs to be done. In this paper, I explore both of these assumptions. (shrink)