Drawing on Vilm Flusser's view of the relationship between humans and the computer (machines), I explore a new ontological framework for our beingin-the-world. I begin by raising critical questions regarding our endeavours and efforts to create endlessly expanding semiotic knowledge spaces based on technological innovation (e.g. Wikipedia or the Universal Electronic Library) in order to reflect on this development from a Flusserian perspective, i.e. as an anthropological challenge to designing interhuman relations. By searching for new ontological conditions for humans, technology (...) and knowledge, I want to probe into responses and new perspectives/models of knowledge sharing. How would we have to rethink the relation between semiotic telematic knowledge spaces and their structure/architecture, and the concrete given (our relationships, intersubjectivity, etc.)? What are the consequences of these findings for the macrosocial structures of encounter where knowledge exchange is a key element? Which are the epistemic models most suited to articulating a productive interdisciplinary knowledge exchange? My approach intends to weave knowledge and space, memory, technology and lived experience into an ontological fabric, and, in so doing, place humans and their communicative needs at the centre of my considerations. (shrink)

Donna Haraway inaugura em “O Manifesto Ciborgue” (1985) uma tradição no estudo do pós-humanismo, desafiando noções relacionadas ao capitalismo, colonialismo, feminismo e ao significado do que é ser humano. Em 2008, Sarah Juliet Lauro & Karen Embry propõem “A Zombie Manifesto” (2008), texto importante para o chamado “zombie studies”, emprestando o espírito e alguns princípios do texto de Haraway. Pretendo estabelecer uma comparação entre os modelos de pós-humanismo estabelecidos por Donna Haraway em “O Manifesto Ciborgue” e Sarah Juliet Lauro & (...) Karen Embry em “A Zombie Manifesto”. Ambos os textos usam da ironia, da análise da realidade social e da ideia de fraturar fronteiras para construir modelos opostos. Enquanto Haraway trata da necessidade de permeabilidade das fronteiras corporais, negociando hibridismos com máquinas, Lauro & Embry defendem que o corpo é a prisão do sujeito e defendem que o pós-humanismo só pode se iniciar na morte do sujeito individual, usando os zumbis haitianos e cinematográficos como metáforas para a coletivização do antissujeito pós-humano. (shrink)

Chapter II of Foucault's The Care of the Self, 'The Cultivation of the Self,' is arguably one of the most controversial sections of the entire History of Sexuality. The diatribe over this chapter was initially mounted by Pierre Hadot's critical essay 'Reflections on the Idea of the 'Cultivation of the Self." Therein, Hadot objects to Foucault’s dissolution of the Stoic doctrinal antinomy between voluptas ('pleasure') and gaudium ('joy') and, thereby, to the relegation of the latter notion to the subordinate status (...) of 'another form of pleasure', on the one side, and of Seneca himself to the problematic rank of a sort of Epicurean on the other. The present investigation aims to unveil this aspect of the Foucault-Hadot querelle as only a pseudo-controversy engendered by Seneca recurring to two different terminological registers throughout his writings: the so-called verbum publicum and the significatio Stoica. (shrink)

This article challenges the recurrent critique that Pierre Hadot’s identification of ancient philosophy with the practice of spiritual exercises introduces a non- or irrational dimension into metaphilosophy. The occasion to do this is provided by Kerem Eksen’s recent reading of Descartes’s Meditations as consisting of solely intellectual, rather than spiritual, exercises—since the latter, Eksen claims, involve extrarational means and ends. Part 2 presents an alternative account of the role of cognition in the ancient meditatio at issue in understanding Descartes’s antecedents. (...) This account is indebted to Michel Foucault’s characterization of ancient meditation as involving two cognitive mechanisms: an appropriation of thought, and an experiment in identification. Part 3 argues that attempts such as Eksen’s to depict spiritual exercises as wholly noncognitive themselves are the product of an “unexamined Cartesianism” that is fundamentally at odds with the monistic psychology of ancient Stoics like Marcus Aurelius as discussed in Hadot’s studies. (shrink)

Frequently, rationally less justifiable arguments and often so called implicit assumptions (which are not explicitly clarified) regarding our conceptions of reality are perhaps an underestimated but crucial factor causing controversial discussions between the representatives of equal and different disciplines. The essay conceptualizes the separation of academic disciplines from a new theoretical viewpoint by looking at the fundamental structures of reality on the level of the roots, not the fruits. Basic assumptions and deeply rooted convictions and conceptions of reality, theories and (...) models in quantum physics, consciousness studies and art may thereby be regarded as a cause for communication problems. Can a wider scope of how to define the foundation of science support the concept of a necessary initiation of a movement towards a more expansive and deliberate synchronization of the separate disciplines into new synthetic combinations of knowledge? The essay speculatively concludes with some central points of how new modes of knowledge production may be envisioned. It includes a perspective on the origin of knowledge with a wider scope that goes beyond the conventional frameworks of scientific and artistic exploration. (shrink)

In the present contribution, the author contends, first, that “the perfect piece of Stoicism” that Emerson wanted to make out of Thoreau’s philosophical correspondence with his disciple Harrison Blake in Letters to Various Persons (1865) was neither concerned with a personality stereotype, as Sophia Thoreau feared, nor with the specifically Stoic way of living, as Richardson and Risinger have claimed in response. This first edition of Thoreau’s correspondence was in fact meant to be representative of that generally philosophical “art of (...) living well” to which Thoreau was entirely committed. Second, the author provides a comparative analysis of Thoreau’s philosophical letters to his pupil and Seneca’s epistolary with Lucilius, in order to ascertain precisely how Thoreau’s letter-writing itself, apart from Emerson’s framing of it, might have been informed by his knowledge and interest in Stoic epistolary practices. (shrink)

O terror, enquanto gênero, explora a tese psicanalítica de que a fantasia organiza a relação individual com a realidade. Os filmes de terror com zumbis, por sua vez, podem explorar e explicitar teses psicanalíticas fundadas por Sigmund Freud, como nos casos dos conceitos infamiliar e pulsões. Dentre os conteúdos ficcionais de zumbis, certamente uma das séries mais populares e a mais duradoura (2010 - atualmente) é The Walking Dead, baseada na obra de Robert Kirkman. Assim, este artigo propõe como objetivo (...) geral a percepção de como algumas teorias de Freud se relacionam com o audiovisual de zumbis a partir de títulos específicos, isto é, escolhemos a figura do zumbi para estudar tais conceitos da teoria psicanalítica. O infamiliar trata daquilo que é aterrorizante, que promove “angústia e horror” e que remete ao antigo conhecido e íntimo. O infamiliar é tudo aquilo que deveria permanecer afastado dos olhos e do conhecimento, em segredo, ocultado e que se revelou. Para Freud, um conceito imprescindível, fundamental e convencional da Psicanálise é o de pulsão, que atua como uma força constante, atacando do interior do corpo e da qual a fuga é ineficaz. Freud sugere, inicialmente, a diferenciação entre dois grupos de pulsões primordiais: as pulsões do Eu e as pulsões sexuais. Freud caracteriza a pulsão sexual como um conceito fronteiriço entre o somático e o psíquico. Também esclarece que uma pulsão de morte é “uma pressão inerente ao orgânico animado para restabelecer um estado anterior”, abandonada pela influência de forças externas. Dois episódios da série televisiva The Walking Dead serão analisados de acordo com os conceitos freudianos estudados: o primeiro episódio da primeira temporada, intitulado Days Gone Bye, e o último episódio também da primeira temporada, intitulado TS-19, ambos televisionados no ano de 2010. (shrink)

Este trabalho busca relacionar a imagem do zumbi como Antropocênica. Para isto, é abordado o conceito de Antropoceno, definido como o período atual no qual processos e condições geológicas são impactados por atividades humanas. Também, insere-se a figura do zumbi, uma espécie de morto-vivo que retorna à vida por alguma causa sobrenatural ou científica. Por fim, traz-se o conceito de débito de extinção, que acontece quando um habitat natural é modificado ao ponto de não mais comportar a manutenção da vida (...) das espécies que ali viviam. Interpretar o zumbi como uma figura simbólica antropocênica é possível por ser uma criatura cujas origens se dão no processo colonial e revolucionário do Haiti. O estudo do zumbi é uma ferramenta para o entendimento do imperialismo e do colonialismo, dois dos sintomas do período que é caracterizado pela alteração geológica antropogênica. Os filmes de zumbi contemporâneos representam o Antropoceno, pois, de maneira geral, as causas de contaminação são antropogênicas, além de serem obras que criticam o consumo e o capitalismo estadunidenses. São, ainda, filmes sobre exploração econômica que abordam os norte-americanos se tornando zumbis, consumindo tudo sem pausa, “canibalizando” os produtos. Conclui-se que o Antropoceno é o período dos zumbis: os seres humanos que alteraram e degradaram o próprio habitat, se autocondenando à morte - à zumbificação. Ao mesmo tempo que o zumbi pode ser uma imagem de diagnóstico e de oferecimento de ferramentas, é também uma imagem de reconhecimento. O zumbi cinematográfico, como coletividade e como a negação do individualismo, serve de instrumento para superar o Antropoceno.Palavras–Chave: Antropoceno; Zumbi; Ficção Científica; Colonialismo. (shrink)

While rules and exemplars are usually viewed as opposites, this paper argues that they form end points of the same distribution. By representing both rules and exemplars as (partial) trees, we can take into account the fluid middle ground between the two extremes. This insight is the starting point for a new theory of language learning that is based on the following idea: If a language learner does not know which phrase‐structure trees should be assigned to initial sentences, s/he allows (...) (implicitly) for all possible trees and lets linguistic experience decide which is the “best” tree for each sentence. The best tree is obtained by maximizing “structural analogy” between a sentence and previous sentences, which is formalized by the most probable shortest combination of subtrees from all trees of previous sentences. Corpus‐based experiments with this model on the Penn Treebank and the Childes database indicate that it can learn both exemplar‐based and rule‐based aspects of language, ranging from phrasal verbs to auxiliary fronting. By having learned the syntactic structures of sentences, we have also learned the grammar implicit in these structures, which can in turn be used to produce new sentences. We show that our model mimicks children’s language development from item‐based constructions to abstract constructions, and that the model can simulate some of the errors made by children in producing complex questions. (shrink)

How is scientific knowledge used, adapted, and extended in deriving phenomena and real-world systems? This paper aims at developing a general account of 'applying science' within the exemplar-based framework of Data-Oriented Processing (DOP), which is also known as Exemplar-Based Explanation (EBE). According to the exemplar-based paradigm, phenomena are explained not by deriving them all the way down from theoretical laws and boundary conditions but by modelling them on previously derived phenomena that function as exemplars. To accomplish this, DOP proposes to (...) maintain a corpus of derivation trees of previous phenomena together with a matching algorithm that combines subtrees from the corpus to derive new phenomena. By using a notion of derivational similarity, a new phenomenon can be modelled as closely as possible on previously explained phenomena. I will propose an instantiation of DOP which integrates theoretical and phenomenological modelling and which generalises over various disciplines, from fluid mechanics to language technology. I argue that DOP provides a solution for what I call Kuhn's problem and that it redresses Kitcher's account of explanation. (shrink)

Fruto de una convergencia de motivos e intereses procedentes de diversas disciplinas, los estudios sobre la argumentación han adquirido sus propias señas de identidad como conocimiento, análisis y evaluación del discurso argumentativo a través de sus dimensiones o proyecciones lógica, dialéctica, retórica y socio-institucional. La presente obra trata de reunir, precisar y articular las nociones básicas y los conceptos determinantes de los desarrollos que hoy tienen lugar en ese campo. Este Compendio de lógica, argumentación y retórica se ofrece como una (...) obra de referencia, una herramienta de trabajo y un estímulo para los estudiantes de —y los interesados o los preocupados por— la argumentación, tanto en el plano internacional como, primordialmente, en el medio cultural hispánico e hispanoamericano. No existía hasta ahora una publicación de estas características, a pesar de su necesidad tanto desde el punto de vista didáctico, y en atención a intereses prácticos, como desde el punto de vista teórico. Su elaboración ha ocupado a 59 autores, especialistas y estudiosos de diversos medios académicos y nacionalidades, en la confección de las 176 entradas de las que consta. (shrink)

Rousseau's conception of virtue is puzzling, for he sometimes defines virtue as self-mastery and sometimes as patriotism. The prevailing Kantian interpretation emphasizes the first definition with its man-citizen thesis, while attributing the latter to Rousseau's inconsistency. This article challenges this reading and argues that Rousseau intentionally operates with two conceptions of virtue: political virtue as love of fatherland and moral virtue as love of humanity. While the former relies on a state-level amour-propre that draws motivation from the division between nations, (...) the latter hinges on conscience—an intelligent form of amour de soi—that reaches universal humanity. Underlying the two virtues is the irreconcilable tension between nature and politics. Where nature demands universal happiness incorporating all humans, politics necessitates passions that entail division. Retrieving Rousseau's dual conception of virtue highlights Rousseau's fundamental pessimism toward human politics, which has been blurred in the emerging Kantian-liberal scholarship. (shrink)

BackgroundEthically challenging critical events and decisions are common in nursing homes. This paper presents nursing home doctors’ descriptions of how they include the patient and next of kin in end-of-life decisions.MethodsWe performed ten focus groups with 30 nursing home doctors. Advance care planning; aspects of decisions on life-prolonging treatment, and conflict with next of kin were subject to in-depth analysis and condensation.ResultsThe doctors described large variations in attitudes and practices in all aspects of end-of-life decisions. In conflict situations, many doctors (...) were more concerned about the opinion of next of kin than ensuring the patient’s best interest.ConclusionsMany end-of-life decisions appear arbitrary or influenced by factors independent of the individual patient’s values and interests and are not based on systematic ethical reflections. To protect patient autonomy in nursing homes, stronger emphasis on legal and ethical knowledge among nursing home doctors is needed. (shrink)

According to Marx’s unfinished critique of political economy, capitalist relations of production rely on what Marx refers to in Capital as ‘the mute compulsion of economic relations’. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that this constitutes a distinct form of economic power which cannot be reduced to either ideology or violence, and to provide the conceptual groundwork for a systematic theory of capital’s mute compulsion.

Unlike basic sciences, scientific research in advanced technologies aims to explain, predict, and describe not phenomena in nature, but phenomena in technological artefacts, thereby producing knowledge that is utilized in technological design. This article first explains why the covering‐law view of applying science is inadequate for characterizing this research practice. Instead, the covering‐law approach and causal explanation are integrated in this practice. Ludwig Prandtl’s approach to concrete fluid flows is used as an example of scientific research in the engineering sciences. (...) A methodology of distinguishing between regions in space and/or phases in time that show distinct physical behaviours is specific to this research practice. Accordingly, two types of models specific to the engineering sciences are introduced. The diagrammatic model represents the causal explanation of physical behaviour in distinct spatial regions or time phases; the nomo‐mathematical model represents the phenomenon in terms of a set of mathematically formulated laws. (shrink)