Desde hace algunos años, vengo leyendo -y analizando- con gran interés los volúmenes de la historia y formas de la mentira y el engaño desde todos los aspectos humanísticos posibles que tan rigurosamente ha trabajado el Profesor Miguel Catalán a lo largo de su vida, con la finalidad de analizar, en último término, la ética aplicada al ordenamiento social. En las páginas publicadas en los volúmenes de esta amplia obra he aprendido que toda gran mentira necesita de una pequeña verdad (...) que la sustente, he aprendido que hay mentiras piadosas - que no son precisamente las religiosas- que conducen a la creatividad de mundos mejores, incluso a través del pataleo del perdedor o de la protesta marginal del que no es escuchado en la palestra; un ejemplo hermoso lo hemos visto en la creación de la utopía como protesta política y como género literario; he aprendido que uno es veraz cuando es paternal con sus hijos, pero que se adentra por los caminos de la mentira interesada cuando es paternalista con los “adultos” a los que pretende engañar y someter. A lo largo de todos estos volúmenes nos hemos topado con los paternalismos religiosos, con los paternalismos políticos, con los paternalismos económicos y publicitarios, y los hemos estudiado desde los mitos, las tradiciones, las políticas dictatoriales, los populismos más sangrantes, recorriendo todos los aspectos humanísticos del hombre y todas las ciencias sociales tanto de Oriente como de Occidente. Hoy quiero reflexionar un poco más en detalle sobre La mentira nociva. Seudología XI, siendo el primer libro póstumo del Profesor Miguel Catalán, si bien previamente ya había escrito otros dos volúmenes que el autor quería dejar como cierre de toda la serie de Seudología. Por ello cabe destacar que, mientras escribo estas líneas, acaba de publicarse La traición. Seudología XII, el último volumen que ha editado este año la Editorial Verbum, y en breve saldrá el último tomo que versará sobre la mentira benéfica, según hemos podido saber a través de su viuda, María Picazo, fiel colaboradora en esta inmensa obra. Rematará así esta maravillosa historia del ser humano, que ha ganado tantos premios, y que ya he ido mencionando en otras ocasiones: los Premios de Ensayo Juan Gil-Albert y Alfons El Magnànim, el Premio de Ensayo e Investigación Juan Andrés, así como el de la Crítica Valenciana. De los tomos nuevos tendremos ocasión de hablar en un futuro, por lo que, como señalaba, dedicaré este pequeño estudio a La mentira nociva. Seudología XI. (shrink)

I am going to argue that it is time to come to terms with the difficulty of understanding what it means to be physical and start thinking about the mind-body problem from a new perspective. Instead of construing it as the problem of finding a place for mentality in a fundamentally physical world, we should think of it as the problem of finding a place for mentality in a fundamentally nonmental world, a world that is at its most fundamental level (...) entirely nonmental. The mind-body problem, I want to argue, is the problem of determining whether mentality can be accounted for in terms of nonmental phenomena. In other words, it is the question, ‘is mentality a fundamental feature of the world’. (shrink)

Might the world be structured, as Leibniz thought, so that every part of matter is divided ad infinitum? The Physicist David Bohm accepted infinitely decomposable matter, and even Steven Weinberg, a staunch supporter of the idea that science is converging on a final theory, admits the possibility of an endless chain of ever more fundamental theories. However, if there is no fundamental level, physicalism, thought of as the view that everything is determined by fundamental phenomena and that all fundamental phenomena (...) are physical, turns out false, for in such a world, there are no fundamental phenoma, and so fundamental phenomena determine nothing. While some take physicalism necessarily to posit a fundamental level, here I present a thesis of physicalism that allows for its truth even in an infinitely decomposable world. (shrink)

Might the world be structured, as Leibniz thought, so that every part of matter is divided ad infinitum? The Physicist David Bohm accepted infinitely decomposable matter, and even Steven Weinberg, a staunch supporter of the idea that science is converging on a final theory, admits the possibility of an endless chain of ever more fundamental theories. However, if there is no fundamental level, physicalism, thought of as the view that everything is determined by fundamental phenomena and that all fundamental phenomena (...) are physical, turns out false, for in such a world, there are no fundamental phenomena, and so fundamental phenomena determine nothing. While some take physicalism necessarily to posit a fundamental level, here I present a thesis of physicalism that allows for its truth even in an infinitely decomposable world. (shrink)

Do we remember what pain feels like? Investigations into this question have sometimes led to ambiguous or apparently contradictory results. Building on research on pain memory by Rohini Terry and colleagues, I argue that this lack of agreement may be due in part to the difficulty researchers face when trying to convey to their study's participants the type of memory they are being tasked with recalling. To address this difficulty, I introduce the concept of 'qualitative memory', which, arguably, is the (...) sort of memory we have of what red looks like yet lack with respect to pain. I also briefly address a number of consequences the acknowledgment of qualitative memory would potentially have for philosophy, arguing that if we fail to have qualitative memories of certain sensations, such as pain, the standard philosophical accounts of experience, rational choice, and the sources of moral action may all need revision. (shrink)

Susan Schneider argues that physicalism must be false if abstracta are part of the physicalist's dependence base. In opposition to her view, here I set out some reasons to think that abstracta in general, including abstracta that are woven into the dependence base, are something physicalists can countenance with consistency.

Mary knows all there is to know about physics, chemistry and neurophysiology, yet has never experienced colour. Most philosophers think that if Mary learns something genuinely new upon seeing colour for the first time, then physicalism is false. I argue, however, that physicalism is consistent with Mary's acquisition of new information. Indeed, even if she has perfect powers of deduction, and higher-level physical facts are a priori deducible from lower-level ones, Mary may still lack concepts which are required in order (...) to deduce from the lower-level physical facts what it is like to see red. (shrink)

Our work aimed to study the relationships between different dimensions of school climate, moral disengagement, empathy, and bullying behaviors (perpetration and victimization). The study sample consisted of 629 students (304 boys and 325 girls) aged 12–14 years (M= 12.55,SD= 0.67). Results showed how different dimensions of school climate predicted moral disengagement, empathy, and victimization, and these, in turn, predicted bullying perpetration. The results show the need to generate favorable educational environments to reduce the levels of moral disengagement and victimization and (...) to increase empathy in students as a strategy to prevent negative consequences related to bullying. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar las relaciones que se establecen entre turismo, ideología y poder. En concreto, se quiere profundizar en la comprensión de los argumentos que legitiman o cuestionan la consideración del turismo como un derecho social. La explicación que se propone se fundamenta en la revisión de documentos publicados por organizaciones que tienen un rol significativo en el sistema turístico. Finalmente, se caracterizan y comparan las posiciones de tres bloques ideológicos: neoliberal, del capitalismo social y altermundista, (...) que pugnan por imponer su definición de la realidad turística y su valoración de lo que debería ser. (shrink)

El De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis de Genadio de Marsella se encuentra próximo a la tradición de los símbolos, compilaciones doctrinarias de consulta ágil, por su estructura interna y contenidos. El examen del tratado genadiano contribuye a delimitar su contexto de composición, así como las preferencias dogmáticas de su autor. The De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis of Gennadius of Massilia is close to the tradition of symbols, easy to read doctrinal compilations, because of its structure and contents. The exam of Gennadius’ book contributes to (...) define its composition context and its author’s dogmatic choices. (shrink)

Research examining Service-Learning in Physical Education Teacher Education is ample. However, long-term investigations are still scarce and literature demands the application of this type of design to uncover the effects of SL on the long run. This study followed a longitudinal quantitative approach; thus, the participants completed the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire in three occasions. Results show that there exist significant differences between mean values of the global outcomes of the CASQ; concretely, there was an improvement in the first (...) interval followed by a decrease in the second period. Regarding the different dimensions of the CASQ, leadership skills, attitudes towards social justice and attitudes towards diversity showed significant differences too. This research leads towards better understanding of methodological strategies promoting quality education, positing SL as an adequate possibility in this respect, also in the long term. (shrink)

La visión imperante en el derecho internacional actual concibe los derechos humanos como normas relativas al trato que los Estados brindan a su propia población. Esta posición, que se conoce como la “perspectiva estatista” sobre los derechos humanos, es actualmente resistida por varios autores. En este artículo intentaré defender la perspectiva estatista contra una serie de críticas recientemente formuladas por Cristina Lafont en Isegoría y en otras importantes revistas especializadas. En particular, trataré de probar que, contrariamente a lo que Lafont (...) argumenta, esta perspectiva captura adecuadamente la razón de ser de la práctica contemporánea de los derechos humanos y dispone de recursos para resguardar los intereses de los seres humanos de las nuevas amenazas surgidas en un mundo globalizado. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to focus on Wittgenstein's conception about Psychology as Science. For that purpose we analyse first Wittgenstein's approach to the psychological questions conected with his new theory of meaning. Then, we intend to concentrate on his idea of Psychology as Science, separating the scientist's from the philosopher's tasks. Finally, we intend to place wittgensteinian view about Psychology as Science in relation to the different views defending a methodological dualism connected with the methodological tension unity-diversity of (...) Science. (shrink)

Impaired emotional capacity in antisocial populations is a well-known reality. Taking the dimensional approach to the study of emotion, emotions are perceived as a disposition to action; they emerge from arousal of the appetitive or aversive system, and result in subjective, behavioral, and physiological responses that are modulated by the dimensions of valence, arousal, and dominance. This study uses the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) to study the interaction between the type of picture presented (pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant) and group (...) (adolescents under custody in juvenile justice centers, adolescents under non-custodial measures, and secondary school students) in the emotional assessment of these dimensions. The interaction between the study variables was statistically significant. Statistically significant differences were found between the three types of pictures presented, in the ratings of unpleasant pictures between the custody group and the group of secondary students in regular schooling in valence, and in the ratings of unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant pictures in arousal, between the custody group and all groups. Discriminant analyses of each affective dimension indicate that the unpleasant pictures with violent and/or aggressive content tend to be in the functions that most differentiate the antisocial groups. (shrink)

Chondrogenesis is a key process in skeletogenesis since endochondral ossification requires the formation of a cartilaginous template. Knowledge of molecular mechanisms regulating chondrogenesis is extremely valuable not only to understand many human disorders but also in regenerative medicine. Embryonic skeletogenesis is an excellent model to study this mechanism. Most cartilages share the cellular basis underlying chondrogenesis but the high heterogeneity in morphologies of the different skeletal elements appears to be generated by differential participation of a variety of chondrogenic signals. Here (...) we overview the regulatory factors responsible for chondrogenesis concluding that early chondrogenic signals for the digit cartilages differ from those implicated in the formation of other axial and appendicular skeletal components. BioEssays 29:725–737, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)