We examine the necessary physical underpinnings for setting up the cosmological standard model with a global cosmic time parameter. In particular, we discuss the role of Weyl's principle which asserts that cosmic matter moves according to certain regularity requirements. After a brief historical introduction to Weyl's principle we argue that although the principle is often not explicitly mentioned in modern standard texts on cosmology, it is implicitly assumed and is, in fact, necessary for a physically well-defined notion of cosmic time. (...) We finally point out that Weyl's principle might be in conflict with the wide-spread idea that the universe at some very early stage can be described exclusively in terms of quantum theory. (shrink)

The cosmological constant problem arises at the intersection between general relativity and quantum field theory, and is regarded as a fundamental problem in modern physics. In this paper we describe the historical and conceptual origin of the cosmological constant problem which is intimately connected to the vacuum concept in quantum field theory. We critically discuss how the problem rests on the notion of physically real vacuum energy, and which relations between general relativity and quantum field theory are assumed in order (...) to make the problem well-defined. (shrink)

In this manuscript we initiate a systematic examination of the physical basis for the time concept in cosmology. We discuss and defend the idea that the physical basis of the time concept is necessarily related to physical processes which could conceivably take place among the material constituents available in the universe. As a consequence we motivate the idea that one cannot, in a well-defined manner, speak about time ‘before’ such physical processes were possible, and in particular, the idea that one (...) cannot speak about a time scale ‘before’ scale-setting physical processes were possible. It is common practice to link the concept of cosmic time with a space-time metric set up to describe the universe at large scales, and then define a cosmic time t as what is measured by a comoving standard clock. We want to examine, however, the physical basis for setting up a comoving reference frame and, in particular, what could be meant by a standard clock. For this purpose we introduce the concept of a `core' of a clock and we ask if such a core can - in principle - be found in the available physics contemplated in the various `stages' of the early universe. We find that a first problem arises above the quark-gluon phase transition where there might be no bound systems left, and the concept of a physical length scale to a certain extent disappears. A more serious problem appears above the electroweak phase transition believed to occur at $\sim 10^{-11}$ seconds. At this point the property of mass disappears and it becomes difficult to identify a physical basis for concepts like length scale, energy scale and temperature - which are all intimately linked to the concept of time in modern cosmology. This situation suggests that the concept of a time scale in `very early' universe cosmology lacks a physical basis or, at least, that the time scale will have to be based on speculative new physics. (shrink)

In this manuscript we initiate a systematic examination of the physical basis for the time concept in cosmology. We discuss and defend the idea that the physical basis of the time concept is necessarily related to physical processes which could conceivably take place among the material constituents available in the universe. As a consequence we motivate the idea that one cannot, in a well-defined manner, speak about time ‘before’ such physical processes were possible, and in particular, the idea that one (...) cannot speak about a time scale ‘before’ scale-setting physical processes were possible. It is common practice to link the concept of cosmic time with a space-time metric set up to describe the universe at large scales, and then define a cosmic time t as what is measured by a comoving standard clock. We want to examine, however, the physical basis for setting up a comoving reference frame and, in particular, what could be meant by a standard clock. For this purpose we introduce the concept of a `core' of a clock and we ask if such a core can - in principle - be found in the available physics contemplated in the various `stages' of the early universe. We find that a first problem arises above the quark-gluon phase transition where there might be no bound systems left, and the concept of a physical length scale to a certain extent disappears. A more serious problem appears above the electroweak phase transition believed to occur at $\sim 10^{-11}$ seconds. At this point the property of mass disappears and it becomes difficult to identify a physical basis for concepts like length scale, energy scale and temperature - which are all intimately linked to the concept of time in modern cosmology. This situation suggests that the concept of a time scale in `very early' universe cosmology lacks a physical basis or, at least, that the time scale will have to be based on speculative new physics. (shrink)

The cosmological constant problem arises at the intersection between general relativity and quantum field theory, and is regarded as a fundamental problem in modern physics. In this paper we describe the historical and conceptual origin of the cosmological constant problem which is intimately connected to the vacuum concept in quantum field theory. We critically discuss how the problem rests on the notion of physically real vacuum energy, and which relations between general relativity and quantum field theory are assumed in order (...) to make the problem well-defined. (shrink)

The Casimir force between two neutral metallic plates is often considered conclusive evidence for the reality of electromagnetic zero-point fluctuations in ‘empty space’. However, it is not well known that the Casimir force can be derived from many different points of view. The purpose of this note is to supply a conceptually oriented introduction to a representative set of these different interpretations. The different accounts suggest that the Casimir effect reveals nothing conclusive about the nature of the vacuum.

The Danish philosopher K. E. Løgstrup is best known in the Anglo-American world for his original work in ethics, primarily in _The Ethical Demand _. Løgstrup continued to write extensively on issues in ethics and phenomenology throughout his life, and extracts from some of his later writings are now also available in translation in _Beyond the Ethical Demand_. In _Concern for the Other: The Ethics of K. E. Løgstrup_, eleven scholars examine the structure, intention, and originality of Løgstrup's ethics as (...) a whole. This collection of essays is a companion to _Beyond the Ethical Demand_, as well as to _The Ethical Demand_. The essays examine Løgstrup’s crucial concept of the “sovereign expressions of life”; his view of moral principles as a substitute for, or inferior form of, ethics; his relationships to other philosophers, including the twentieth-century British moral philosophers; and the role of his Lutheran background in his ethics. Løgstrup also firmly advanced the controversial thesis, examined by several essays in this volume, that the demand for “other-concern” central to his ethics does not depend on religious faith. “The significance of Løgstrup’s work is well demonstrated by the substantive criticisms made of that work by the essays here collected. Hopefully this book will encourage others to engage this significant but unfortunately not well-known thinker.” —_Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School_ “Svend Andersen and Kees van Kooten Niekerk have done a great service for everyone with the publication of this stellar book on the thought of Knud E. Løgstrup, the most prominent Danish theologian-philosopher of the last century. CONCERN FOR THE OTHER includes essays by renowned thinkers who critically engage Løgstrup’s work with both insight and depth. The book thereby provides an engagement with this important thinker’s ideas about morality, trust, and responsibility and yet also presents features of the current state of the debate within ethics. I enthusiastically commend this book to anyone interested in contemporary ethics and moral theory as well as the relation between theology and philosophy.” —_William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics, The University of Chicago_. (shrink)

The strong weak truth table (sw) reducibility was suggested by Downey, Hirschfeldt, and LaForte as a measure of relative randomness, alternative to the Solovay reducibility. It also occurs naturally in proofs in classical computability theory as well as in the recent work of Soare, Nabutovsky, and Weinberger on applications of computability to differential geometry. We study the sw-degrees of c.e. reals and construct a c.e. real which has no random c.e. real (i.e., Ω number) sw-above it.

A necessidade de homens e mulheres de fé esclarecida e bem fundamentada na política tornou-se preponderante na contemporaneidade. Vive-se em um contexto em que muitos perderam a esperança e não acreditam mais na política. Na perspectiva cristã, a fé se traduz na prática do amor e é alimentada pela esperança. Não é possível sonhar com uma qualidade de vida melhor, em âmbito pessoal e coletivo, se não houver pessoas de fé na política, imbuídas dessa missão. O Movimento Nacional Fé e (...) Política – MF&P, criado em 1989, e constituído por grupos de pessoas atuantes em comunidades eclesiais, movimentos populares, partidos políticos, sindicatos e outros espaços de organização social, surgiu para promover estratégias em favor da justiça social e da dignidade humana. O trabalho é feito através da reflexão, da celebração, do aprofundamento e estudo, em grupos, seminários, retiros e encontros, tendo como lema principal, atualmente, a Cultura do Bem-Viver. O objetivo deste trabalho, a partir do material bibliográfico do MF&P e de outros pesquisadores, foi analisar o contexto do nascimento e o desenvolvimento do MF&P no Brasil. Para isso, identificou a produção editorial e o histórico dos encontros e seminários, das fases do movimento, chegando à época atual, quando, a partir de 2011, o movimento incluiu a Cultura do Bem-Viver como novo horizonte ético e político. A metodologia utilizada foi a revisão de literatura e análise do material publicado de forma impressa e também na forma digital, no site do movimento, e em publicações de membros que fazem parte do MF&P. Pode-se concluir que, através de sua história, das publicações e dos encontros regionais e nacionais, o movimento abriu perspectivas sobre novas formas de se fazer política, que contemplam e reforçam a atenção para com a ética, o cuidado, a dignidade e a justiça social. É um movimento dinâmico que contribui como um caminho para uma nova sociedade que possa usufruir de seus direitos fundamentais. (shrink)

Este artigo tem por objetivo proceder à relação entre as teorias da linguagem e o estudo das religiões, notadamente por meio da apresentação do quadro epistemológico da semiótica greimasiana de linha francesa. O artigo, de natureza teórica, ao observar as recorrências dos mecanismos de construção do sentido dos textos, presentes nos enunciados de interpretação religiosa, efetivados pela semiótica, procura realizar um breve histórico desses estudos, traçando algumas considerações acerca de como se processa o projeto da semiótica no que concerne ao (...) tratamento de enunciados das linguagens da religião. Do mesmo modo que a área que trata das Linguagens da Religião, a semiótica greimasiana da qual trabalhamos, difere-se de propostas centradas nos aspectos de comunicação religiosa e nos aspectos de relações midiáticas, tomando por base os aspectos mais elementares da relação entre religião e linguagem. Ao tomarmos a religião como prática social, presente no espaço tensivo das práticas, esperamos contribuir com a apresentação de uma epistemologia diferenciada no que concerne ao tratamento das linguagens da religião. (shrink)

O artigo apresenta e interpreta a gravura De smalle en de brede Weg de Hieronymus Wierix, criada no ano de 1619 na cidade de Antuérpia, já sob domínio espanhol. O objetivo é analisar uma expressão da cultura visual religiosa católica que influenciou as Américas e o Brasil colônia e que inspirou a cultura visual evangélica brasileira, no caso, mediante a xilogravura de Charlotte Reihlen no século 19. Como método aplicam-se os três passos de interpretação de arte religiosa renascentista propostos por (...) Ernst Panofsky, a descrição pré-iconográfica, a análise iconográfica e a interpretação iconológica. Espera-se enriquecer a compreensão da cultura visual religiosa na América Latina e no Brasil, inclusive em sua transconfessionalidade, investigando seu rico fundo imaginário. (shrink)

Riassunto: In letteratura è nota la tendenza delle persone a punire i comportamenti sleali, anche nel caso in cui tali comportamenti non li riguardino direttamente, e tale punizione possa implicare un costo personale. Sono stati individuati differenti comportamenti di punizione: la punizione altruistica, la punizione di comportamenti sleali ; l’altruismo parrocchiale, la tendenza attraverso la punizione a proteggere e favorire, anche senza alcun guadagno personale, i membri del proprio gruppo a scapito di quelli di altri gruppi, e la punizione antisociale, (...) la punizione a proprio costo di comportamenti di tipo leale, cooperativo. Recentemente l’interesse scientifico nell’ambito delle neuroscienze si è orientato sui processi neuronali coinvolti nei comportamenti di cooperazione e punizione modulati dai propri o differenti contesti di appartenenza di gruppo. Studi recenti hanno indagato non soltanto le differenze comportamentali, ma anche i correlati neurali sottostanti i processi di punizione di comportamenti sleali, che possono violare la cooperazione nei diversi contesti di gruppo. Studi comportamentali mostrano come la punizione di un comportamento sleale si verifichi in differenti contesti di gruppo. Recenti ricerche relative ai correlati neurali evidenziano, durante questo tipo di comportamento, il reclutamento delle aree del reward, del sistema della gratificazione. Esso, quindi, potrebbe rivestire un ruolo centrale nella motivazione e gratificazione della punizione di un comportamento sleale. Parole chiave: Punizione altruistica; Altruismo parrocchiale; Punizione antisociale; Contesti Ingroup e Outgroup; fMRI Punishment and Cooperation in Ingroup and Outgroup Context: The tendency of people to punish unfair behavior, even when this behavior does not directly affect them, or the punishment implies a personal cost, has been reported in the literature. Different types of punishment have been identified: altruistic punishment, the punishment of unfair behaviour; parochial altruism, the tendency to use punishment to protect and favor members of one’s group at the expense of members of other groups, even when it involves no personal gain; and anti-social punishment, punishment of loyal or cooperative behaviors which entails a personal cost. Recently, research in neuroscience has focused on how neuronal processes involved in cooperation and punishment behaviors may be modulated across different personal and group membership contexts. Recent studies have investigated not only behavioral differences, but also the neural correlates of punishing unfair behaviors, which may violate the principle of cooperation in certain group contexts. Behavioral studies show how the punishment of unfair behavior occurs in different group settings. Recent research into the neural correlates of punishment shows the recruitment of the reward areas and the gratification system, suggesting these play a central role in motivation and gratification for punishment of unfair behavior. Keywords: Altruistic Punishment; Parochial Altruism; Antisocial Punishment; Ingroup and Outgroup Settings; fMRI. (shrink)

Apresenta-se neste artigo o papel desempenhado pelo bispo e arcebispo de Cuiabá Dom Francisco de Aquino Corrêa na construção da identidade mato-grossense, entre as décadas de 1910 a 1930. Como governador de Mato Grosso, interveio na esfera cultural a fim de fortalecer as elites cuiabanas e superar as crises política, econômica e social. Para tal, arregimentou um grupo de intelectuais que se empenharam na construção da identidade regional assentada na idealização das terras e do homem mato-grossense, superando os estigmas de (...) fronteira-sertão. Para tal, criou o Instituto Histórico e Geográfico de Mato Grosso e a Academia Mato-grossense de Letras, símbolos regionais, e realizou sucessivas manifestações culturais. Como membro da hierarquia eclesiástica, empenhou-se em recuperar o prestígio da Igreja Católica, valorizar os aspectos religiosos da cultura brasileira e propagar o regionalismo, o nacionalismo e o culto à nação. (shrink)

Riassunto: Se anche i concetti astratti possono essere spiegati completamente attraverso un approccio embodied e grounded è argomento di un crescente dibattito. Tuttavia, le teorie proposte tendono a trattarli come un insieme unitario opposto a quello dei concetti concreti; e nelle ricerche empiriche non c’è concordanza sui criteri per selezionare gli stimoli. Questo studio investiga le implicazioni di tali limitazioni con l’obiettivo di proporre un approccio di ricerca alternativo. Verranno brevemente esaminate le differenze fra parole astratte e concrete, nonché i (...) modelli che ne descrivono la relazione. Dopo aver presentato le recenti prospettive di ricerca, si vedrà come le ipotesi delle teorie a rappresentazione multipla trovano riscontro in alcuni parametri psicolinguistici utili ad analizzare le differenze fra tipi di concetti astratti sulla base delle loro molteplici dimensioni. Si suggerisce così di integrare il modello del continuum monodimensionale della concretezza/astrattezza, al fine di rendere conto della rappresentazione delle varietà dei concetti astratti. Parole chiave: Embodied e Grounded Cognition; Varietà dei Concetti Astratti; Continuum; Rappresentazione Multipla; Dimensioni Semantiche Embodied Cognition and the Challenge ofConcepts. A Multidimensional Approach Abstract: Whether abstract concepts can also be fully explained by an embodied and grounded approach, is a topic of increasing debate. However, the theories that have been put forward tend to treat abstract concepts as a unitary whole in opposition to [the category of] concrete concepts; furthermore, in empirical research there is no agreement on the criteria for selecting stimuli. This study investigates the implications of these limitations with the aim of proposing an alternative research approach. We briefly analyze the differences between abstract and concrete concepts and the models used to describe their relationships. After introducing recent research perspectives, we highlight how the hypotheses of multiple representation theories are reflected in various psycholinguistic parameters that are useful for analyzing differences between types of abstract concepts across multiple dimensions. We suggest integrating the model of the monodimensional continuum of concreteness/abstractness, in order to provide an account for the varieties of abstract concepts. Keywords: Embodied and Grounded Cognition; Varieties of Abstract Concepts; Continuum; Multiple Representation; Semantic Dimensions. (shrink)

Resenha da obra Aparecida: significados e perspectivas, organizada pelo Professor Doutor Wagner Lopez Sanchez. Referência: SANCHEZ, Wagner Lopes. Aparecida: significados e perspectivas. Aparecida: Editora Santuário, 2018. 214 p.

G. E. Moore's ‘A Defence of Common Sense’ has generated the kind of interest and contrariety which often accompany what is new, provocative, and even important in philosophy. Moore himself reportedly agreed with Wittgenstein's estimate that this was his best article, while C. D. Broad has lamented its very great but largely unfortunate influence. Although the essay inspired Wittgenstein to explore the basis of Moore's claim to know many propositions of common sense to be true, A. J. Ayer judges its (...) enduring value to lie in provoking a more sophisticated conception of the very type of metaphysics which disputes any such unqualified claim of certainty. (shrink)

Esse artigo mostra o significado da unicidade da ética e da estética no Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Primeiro, ele apresenta os principais aspectos ética tractatiana: que ela não hierarquiza fatos, que ela é eudemonista, e que ela não propõe qualquer finalidade externa às ações do sujeito ético. Segundo, ele mostra que a obra de arte é a expressão da vida de um ponto de vista ético, ou seja, ela é a expressão do significado da vida de um ponto de vista da eternidade. (...) Concluindo, ele mostra que essa concepção propõe uma delimitação absoluta que separa o que é arte e que não é arte. (shrink)

O artigo tenta compreender como o software livre tornou-se vetor de um movimento social militante para criação e difusão de bens comuns. Como, para além de suas características de “meio” esses softwares foram transformados em questões de política, economia, sociedade, cultura e ética? São emergência, os modos de organização e as ideologias desse movimento que o artigo se propõe a analisar.

Assim como em outras partes do mundo, a situação midiática na Ásia sofre a influência dos poderes políticos, econômicos e culturais, refletidos em uma variedade de sistemas de funcionamento da mídia. Este artigo é trecho de tese de doutorado defendida em 2007 e analisa os discursos jornalísticos em três jornais (da Indonésia, da Malásia e de Cingapura) referentes aos atentados de Bali em 2002; contra o hotel JW Marriott em Jacarta em 2003; contra a embaixada da Austrália em Jacarta em (...) 2004 e ao atentado suicida em Bali em 2005. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to identify the support provided by senior management at universities to assist in the transition to electronic management. The study population consists of different administrative levels in the universities, with total of (239) employees. The study sample consisted of (148) individuals from different administrative levels, with a response rate of (84.31%). The researchers used the questionnaire as a tool for the study, the descriptive analytical approach to achieve the objectives of the study, and the (...) SPSS program was used to analyze the study data. The results of the study showed that the university administration supports the transition to electronic management. The concept of e- management is a broad concept that involves several different electronic systems, and the transition to it requires extensive changes from organizational structure to business processes. Computerized information systems are sufficient to initiate a transition to electronic management. The use of e-HRM modules is still very limited and greatly reduces the benefits of an electronic pyramid. Self-service systems are not interrelated with pay and payment systems, and researchers explain this because e-HRM systems are not complete at the universities. Universities also follow the strategy of combining traditional and electronic business, a positive indicator of the transition to e- management. The study reached several recommendations for the purposes of the university managements to take the formal and practical approach to the systems of electronic management. The expansion of the use of electronic forms to manage employees to take advantage of their multiple advantages such as reducing costs and reducing the time of completion of transactions. -/- . (shrink)

The E-Z Reader model (Reichle et al. 1998; 1999) provides a theoretical framework for understanding how word identification, visual processing, attention, and oculomotor control jointly determine when and where the eyes move during reading. In this article, we first review what is known about eye movements during reading. Then we provide an updated version of the model (E-Z Reader 7) and describe how it accounts for basic findings about eye movement control in reading. We then review several alternative models of (...) eye movement control in reading, discussing both their core assumptions and their theoretical scope. On the basis of this discussion, we conclude that E-Z Reader provides the most comprehensive account of eye movement control during reading. Finally, we provide a brief overview of what is known about the neural systems that support the various components of reading, and suggest how the cognitive constructs of our model might map onto this neural architecture. Key Words: attention; eye-movement control; E-Z Reader; fixations; lexical access; models; reading; regressions; saccades. (shrink)

This paper provides a new analysis of e - trust , trust occurring in digital contexts, among the artificial agents of a distributed artificial system. The analysis endorses a non-psychological approach and rests on a Kantian regulative ideal of a rational agent, able to choose the best option for itself, given a specific scenario and a goal to achieve. The paper first introduces e-trust describing its relevance for the contemporary society and then presents a new theoretical analysis of this phenomenon. (...) The analysis first focuses on an agent’s trustworthiness , this one is presented as the necessary requirement for e-trust to occur. Then, a new definition of e-trust as a second-order-property of first-order relations is presented. It is shown that the second-order-property of e-trust has the effect of minimising an agent’s effort and commitment in the achievement of a given goal. On this basis, a method is provided for the objective assessment of the levels of e-trust occurring among the artificial agents of a distributed artificial system. (shrink)

E. F. Carritt (1876-1964) was educated at and taught in Oxford University. He made substantial contributions both to aesthetics and to moral philosophy. The focus of this entry is his work in moral philosophy. His most notable works in this field are The Theory of Morals (1928) and Ethical and Political Thinking (1947). Carritt developed views in metaethics and in normative ethics. In meta-ethics he defends a cognitivist, non-naturalist moral realism and was among the first to respond to A. J. (...) Ayer’s emotivist challenge to this view. In normative ethics he advocates a deontological view in which there is a plurality of obligations and of non-instrumental goods. In the context of defending this view he raised some penetrating and novel criticisms of ideal utilitarianism. He held that it is not acceptable to revise our reflective common-sense moral attitudes in the face of philosophical moral theories, and that moral philosophy is only indirectly practical. (shrink)

A review of David E. Cooper's book, "Animals and Misanthropy", which argues that reflection on awful treatment of animals justifies a negative critical judgment on human life and culture.

I have two aims in this paper. In §§2-4 I contend that Moore has two arguments (not one) for the view that that ‘good’ denotes a non-natural property not to be identified with the naturalistic properties of science and common sense (or, for that matter, the more exotic properties posited by metaphysicians and theologians). The first argument, the Barren Tautology Argument (or the BTA), is derived, via Sidgwick, from a long tradition of anti-naturalist polemic. But the second argument, the Open (...) Question Argument proper (or the OQA), seems to have been Moore’s own invention and was probably devised to deal with naturalistic theories, such as Russell’s, which are immune to the Barren Tautology Argument. The OQA is valid and not (as Frankena (1939) has alleged) question-begging. Moreover, if its premises were true, it would have disposed of the desire-to-desire theory. But as I explain in §5, from 1970 onwards, two key premises of the OQA were successively called into question, the one because philosophers came to believe in synthetic identities between properties and the other because it led to the Paradox of Analysis. By 1989 a philosopher like Lewis could put forward precisely the kind of theory that Moore professed to have refuted with a clean intellectual conscience. However, in §§6-8 I shall argue that all is not lost for the OQA. I first press an objection to the desire-to-desire theory derived from Kripke’s famous epistemic argument. On reflection this argument looks uncannily like the OQA. But the premise on which it relies is weaker than the one that betrayed Moore by leading to the Paradox of Analysis. This suggests three conclusions: 1) that the desire-to-desire theory is false; 2) that the OQA can be revived, albeit in a modified form; and 3) that the revived OQA poses a serious threat to what might be called semantic naturalism. (shrink)

The effectiveness of information retrieval technology in electronic discovery (E-discovery) has become the subject of judicial rulings and practitioner controversy. The scale and nature of E-discovery tasks, however, has pushed traditional information retrieval evaluation approaches to their limits. This paper reviews the legal and operational context of E-discovery and the approaches to evaluating search technology that have evolved in the research community. It then describes a multi-year effort carried out as part of the Text Retrieval Conference to develop evaluation methods (...) for responsive review tasks in E-discovery. This work has led to new approaches to measuring effectiveness in both batch and interactive frameworks, large data sets, and some surprising results for the recall and precision of Boolean and statistical information retrieval methods. The paper concludes by offering some thoughts about future research in both the legal and technical communities toward the goal of reliable, effective use of information retrieval in E-discovery. (shrink)

La metafísica después de ser ignorada por años ha regresado al centro de la escena en la filosofía contemporánea. Tomás de Aquino ha vivido una historia muy parecida, lo que dio nacimiento al tomismo analítico. A pesar de los trabajos desarrollados en esta línea de investigación, la metafísica del Aquinate ha sido fuertemente ignorada. Sin embargo, la metafísica de Tomás de Aquino tiene una ventaja, poco discutida entre los tomistas y tomasinos, y es la de ser una metafísica esencialista. Así, (...) en armonía con el trabajo del metafísico E. J. Lowe, quien presenta su metafísica como “esencialista seria”, se quiere mostrar que la metafísica del Aquinate tiene las mismas virtudes del “esencialismo serio”, lo que permite postularla como una posición válida y plausible para la metafísica contemporánea. (shrink)

This article provides a critical view on the development and deployment phase of the e-ID in Belgium since 1999. It is based on extensive desk research and fifteen in depth-interviews with experts and stakeholders from government, administration, academia and industry who have been key in the development of the e-ID. The article identifies different elements that influenced, both in a positive and negative way, the societal, technical and political aspects of the Belgian e-ID. It shows that no severe problems occurred (...) during the initial deployment phase, which came to an end in 2009 providing over eight million Belgian citizens with an e-ID. The pre-existence of a National Register and the preliminary experiences with the exchange of digital information between administrative entities in the field of Social Security enabled and facilitated the development and the distribution of the e-ID. However, the research also reveals that usage of the e-ID by citizens and uptake of e-ID based services by administration and business remains limited due to multiple factors. The complex system of state structures in Belgium and as a consequence the dispersion of competences across different governmental entities makes that no unified approach to e-government and e-ID based services has been developed. From the industries’ point of view the privacy framework and the strictly regulated use of the National Registration Number provides no clear view on the allowed use of data accessible through the e-ID hampering take up in this area. (shrink)

This contribution offers an evaluation of e contrario reasoning in which the interpretation of a legal rule is based on the context of the law system . A model is presented which will show all the explicit and implicit elements of the argument at work and will also point out how these distinct parts are interrelated. By questioning the content and justificatory power of these elements, the weak spots in the argument can be laid bare. It will be argued that (...) e contrario reasoning inevitably requires a dubious argumentative step, which renders the argument intrinsically weak. The model is applied to a European lawsuit on French cheese. (shrink)

In this paper it is exactly proved that the standard transformations of the three-dimensional (3D) vectors of the electric and magnetic fields E and B are not relativistically correct transformations. Thence the 3D vectors E and B are not well-defined quantities in the 4D space-time and, contrary to the general belief, the usual Maxwell equations with the 3D E and B are not in agreement with the special relativity. The 4-vectors E a and B a , as well-defined 4D quantities, (...) are introduced instead of ill-defined 3D E and B. The proof is given in the tensor and the Clifford algebra formalisms. (shrink)

O objetivo desse artigo é lançar luz sobre a tese da indeterminação da referência de Quine, usando para isso a distinção feita por Frege entre agregados e conjuntos. Além da distinção fregiana, usaremos também algumas noções de teoria dos modelos, tais como “modelos alternativos” e “morfismos entre traduções”.

For centuries pilgrimages are present in Christianity. For Catholics, the importance of devotions and visits to the Marian sanctuaries is indisputable. The number of visitors and pilgrims to these temples make the local economy an important destination of religious tourism. In order to understand the economic determinants of religious tourism, two sanctuaries were studied, namely, Aparecida and Fatima. Given the large collection of statistical information of the Portuguese Sanctuary, it was verified through the Vector Autoregressive model that Gross Domestic Product (...) and Unemployment have a causal unidirectional relation with the pilgrimages. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag model revealed that an increase in Gross Domestic Product and international arrivals in the short term positively impacts the number of pilgrims. Through the Ordinary Least Squares regression, significant statistical relationships between climatic factors and visitors in the Sanctuary of Fatima were found. The Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average forecast method was applied to the number of monthly visitors to the Sanctuary of Aparecida and to the number of pilgrims in the Sanctuary of Fatima, the results show a strong seasonality and that the first and last months of the year are periods of low demand. The results of this study allow a new look at religious tourism in the Marian context, the empirical results allow those responsible for establishing public policies, tourism agents and the administration of the Sanctuaries to direct their actions. Measures planned and executed jointly between the various agents can benefit residents, visitors, pilgrims, the tourism sector, the local economy and the Sanctuaries themselves. (shrink)

: O presente artigo evidencia, por um lado, o mérito da filosofia de Espinosa, pelo fato de haver submetido a oposição das partes e do todo, do corpo e da alma, da matéria e do espírito, à unidade da substância, já que toda parte singular da substância pertence à sua natureza. Por outro lado, destaca a crítica de Feuerbach a Espinosa, porque a filosofia deste é, na verdade, uma filosofia da identidade, que não reconhece, como Hegel também assinala, a substância (...) como espírito e o espírito como substância, e não determina suficientemente a unidade da matéria e do espírito, já que falta a ela a realidade da diferença, da determinidade. Enquanto Espinosa identifica Deus com a natureza (Deus sive natura) e, mediante a natureza divina (a substância), supera a contradição de Descartes entre matéria (res extensa) e espírito (res cogitans), Feuerbach quer, em oposição ao panteísmo, a diferença entre natureza e Deus (aut Deus aut natura). (shrink)

In the contemporary times, we observe that the called post-modern culture enabled the youth culture to do the own constructions and choices, including religion. This research tried to understand how occurred the cultural and religious construction of youth urban tribes, here represented for headbangers from Caverna de Adulão Community. In this community, the rock was used as an instrument of socialization among the youth. The hypothesis of this research consists in observing that the religious practicing can be affected for cultural (...) changes. While some religious institutions resist changes, others take advantage of it. We could observe that the adaptations of some evangelical churches to the necessities of youth and their cultural practicing can be what attract them to Caverna de Adulão Community, where the rock was allied to religious practicing. At the first part of the paper we described the strategies used to promote the community of youth that are in most varied urban tribes, participants of Caverna de Adulão Community. We tried to identify the motivation of youth that seek to become part of evangelical groups. In the second part we presented how the music and the service, contextualized to youth, as the case of rock, can be attractive to the urban tribes and how this phenomenon open a dialog between religion and the youth culture. At the end we analyzed how occurs the socialization among evangelical youth from urban tribes with rock, both culturally and religiously, in order to understand how the construction of the religious phenomenon happens in Caverna de Adulão Community. The methodology used was established through the bibliographic research and field research with socio-anthropological-ethnographic studying, through participant observation and discussions in focal group. We verified, at the end of the paper, that our hypothesis was partially proved when we observe that rock exerted, in the studied community, the socializing role among the members. However, today rock has moved away from the center of sociability and other elements come into its place, which has given the community greater cultural diversity. (shrink)

Este trabalho possui como mote apresentar a importância dos conceitos de perdão e promessa para a teoria da ação em Hannah Arendt. Possui como base as obra de Hannah Arendt, principalmente A condição humana. Num primeiro momento apresentaremos brevemente os conceitos de ação, pluralidade e natalidade e sua relação com a irreversibilidade e imprevisibilidade no interior do pensamento de Arendt, e em um segundo momento se fará a exposição do importante diagnóstico que a pensadora realiza sobre a situação da tradição (...) face aos eventos políticos do século XX, a fim de compreendermos a necessidade de uma ressignificação da teoria da ação política no ocidente. Por fim, a partir da compreensão dos perigos dessa ruptura com a tradição, evidenciaremos a importância dos conceitos de perdão e promessa como meios de remediar a contigencialidade da ação diante da ausência de uma tradição que assegurasse a possibilidade da existência do espaço do agir político. Deste modo, a hipótese conclusiva desta pesquisa é que diante da ausência de fatores que assegurem e motivem os mortais a adentrarem no campo da política e através da ação e do discurso povoarem o espaço público, é necessário ressignificar a teoria da ação política, e tal ressignificação ocorre no pensamento arendtiano através dos conceitos de perdão e promessa. (shrink)

Given the very large numbers of documents involved in e-discovery investigations, lawyers face a considerable challenge of collaborative sensemaking. We report findings from three workplace studies which looked at different aspects of how this challenge was met. From a sociotechnical perspective, the studies aimed to understand how investigators collectively and individually worked with information to support sensemaking and decision making. Here, we focus on discovery-led refinement; specifically, how engaging with the materials of the investigations led to discoveries that supported refinement (...) of the problems and new strategies for addressing them. These refinements were essential for tractability. We begin with observations which show how new lines of enquiry were recursively embedded. We then analyse the conceptual structure of a line of enquiry and consider how reflecting this in e-discovery support systems might support scalability and group collaboration. We then focus on the individual activity of manual document review where refinement corresponded with the inductive identification of classes of irrelevant and relevant documents within a collection. Our observations point to the effects of priming on dealing with these efficiently and to issues of cognitive ergonomics at the human–computer interface. We use these observations to introduce visualisations that might enable reviewers to deal with such refinements more efficiently. (shrink)

Neste artigo, pretendemos defender a tese segundo a qual julgamentos sociais se iniciam com a percepção emocional e com o processamento de informações emocionais no reconhecimento de expressões faciais. Para tanto, revisaremos modelos que discutem (i) os mecanismos pelos quais as expressões faciais são codificadas para transmitir informações e ser percebidas pelos outros, (ii) os mecanismos perceptivos de decodificação e categorização de expressões faciais e, por fim, (iii) os mecanismos pelos quais o reconhecimento de expressões faciais geram respostas emocionais e (...) ajustes comportamentais e, por fim, (iv) a eficiência de nosso sistema perceptual na decodificação desses processos. Com essa discussão, nossa intenção é a de (i) explicitar em que sentido nossa percepção emocional de expressões faciais é u m dos principais mecanismos evolutivos de regulação da vida e que (ii) o processamento de informações emocionais é um poderoso instrumento para assegurar a sobrevivência e sustentar razoáveis interações sociais. (shrink)

The information overload in E-Discovery proceedings makes reviewing expensive and it increases the risk of failure to produce results on time and consistently. New interactive techniques have been introduced to increase reviewer productivity. In contrast, the techniques presented in this article propose an alternative method that tries to reduce information during culling so that less information needs to be reviewed. The proposed method first focuses on mapping the email collection universe using straightforward statistical methods based on keyword filtering combined with (...) date time and custodian identities. Subsequently, a social network is constructed from the email collection that is analyzed by filtering on date time and keywords. By using the network context we expect to provide a better understanding of the keyword hits and the ability to discard certain parts of the collection. (shrink)

Pragma-dialectical approaches to legal argumentation seem to be rather different from traditional approaches appealing to standards of propositional logic. Pragma-dialectical analysis of arguments by analogy and e contrario seem to fall foul to the rigors of logical analysis, in which problems or even concepts of analogy and e contrario seem to disappear. The brunt of both types of special legal argumentation appears to be borne by often implicit general principles and an appeal to the system of the law as a (...) whole. Still, pragma-dialectics and logical analysis of legal argument are best seen as fruitfully supplementing each other in ongoing research of ever evolving legal argument. (shrink)

E-inclusion is getting a lot of attention in Europe these days. The European Commission and EU Member States have initiated e-inclusion strategies aimed at reaching out to the e-excluded and bringing them into the mainstream of society and the economy. The benefits of mainstreaming the excluded are numerous. Good practices play an important role in the strategies, and examples can be found in e-health, e-learning, e-government, e-inclusion and other e-domains. So laudable seems the rationale for e-inclusion, few have questioned the (...) benefits. In fact, e-inclusion does raise ethical issues, and this paper discusses a few of the key ones. The paper draws several conclusions, principally regarding the need for some empirical research on what happens to the e-excluded once they have access to information and communications technologies, notably the Internet. (shrink)

In this work, we provide a broad overview of the distinct stages of E-Discovery. We portray them as an interconnected, often complex workflow process, while relating them to the general Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM). We start with the definition of E-Discovery. We then describe the very positive role that NIST’s Text REtrieval Conference (TREC) has added to the science of E-Discovery, in terms of the tasks involved and the evaluation of the legal discovery work performed. Given the critical nature (...) that data analysis plays at various stages of the process, we present a pyramid model, which complements the EDRM model: for gathering and hosting; indexing; searching and navigating; and finally consolidating and summarizing E-Discovery findings. Next we discuss where the current areas of need and areas of growth appear to be, using one of the field’s most authoritative surveys of providers and consumers of E-Discovery products and services. We subsequently address some areas of Artificial Intelligence, both Information Retrieval-related and not, which promise to make future contributions to the E-Discovery discipline. Some of these areas include data mining applied to e-mail and social networks, classification and machine learning, and the technologies that will enable next generation E-Discovery. The lesson we convey is that the more IR researchers and others understand the broader context of E-Discovery, including the stages that occur before and after primary search, the greater will be the prospects for broader solutions, creative optimizations and synergies yet to be tapped. (shrink)

Retrieval of relevant unstructured information from the ever-increasing textual communications of individuals and businesses has become a major barrier to effective litigation/defense, mergers/acquisitions, and regulatory compliance. Such e-discovery requires simultaneously high precision with high recall (high-P/R) and is therefore a prototype for many legal reasoning tasks. The requisite exhaustive information retrieval (IR) system must employ very different techniques than those applicable in the hyper-precise, consumer search task where insignificant recall is the accepted norm. We apply Russell, et al.’s cognitive task (...) analysis of sensemaking by intelligence analysts to develop a semi-autonomous system that achieves high IR accuracy of F1 ≥ 0.8 compared to F1 < 0.4 typical of computer-assisted human-assessment (CAHA) or alternative approaches such as Roitblat, et al.’s. By understanding the ‘Learning Loop Complexes’ of lawyers engaged in successful small-scale document review, we have used socio-technical design principles to create roles, processes, and technologies for scalable human-assisted computer-assessment (HACA). Results from the NIST-TREC Legal Track’s interactive task from both 2008 and 2009 validate the efficacy of this sensemaking approach to the high-P/R IR task. (shrink)

Autonomous e-coaching systems offer their users suggestions for action, thereby affecting the user's decision-making process. More specifically, the suggestions that these systems make influence the options for action that people actually consider. Surprisingly though, options and the corresponding process of option generation --- a decision-making stage preceding intention formation and action selection --- has received very little attention in the various disciplines studying decision making. We argue that this neglect is unjustified and that it is important, particularly for designers of (...) autonomous e-coaching systems, to understand how human option generation works. The aims of this paper are threefold. The first aim is to generate awareness with designers of autonomous e-coaching systems that these systems do in fact influence their users' options. The second is to show that understanding the interplay between a person's options and the e-coaching system's suggestions is important for improving the effectiveness of the system. The third is that the very same interplay is also crucial for designing e-coaching systems that respect people's autonomy. (shrink)

The present paper offers a libertarian reading of one of the most important Chinese novels of the twentieth century, The Travels of Laocan, written by Chinese entrepreneur Liu E between 1903 and 1906. I start with an exposition of the ideas associated with the concept of “Asian values,” the evident cultural unviability of this notion, and how “Asian authoritarianism” has been rationalized and justified on the basis of a Hobbesian conception of human nature. Next, I examine Liu E’s life and (...) career as an entrepreneur in a highly interventionist society. Finally, I focus on his magnum opus, The Travels of Laocan, a fictionalized autobiography that explains Liu E’s philosophical and libertarian ideas. (shrink)

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of anew policy style within the E.U., characterized by voluntary policy transfer between member states and soft policy instruments including exchange of best practice, targets, benchmarking and national league tables. This article examines how these methods have been used by gender mainstreaming advocates and evaluates the impact of this strategy to-date upon E.U. policy-making procedures and outputs. It is argued that mainstreaming has provided new opportunities for feminists to influence the E.U. policy agenda, but (...) that the impact of mainstreaming varies between sectors and member states. The concluding section considers the implications of E.U. mainstreaming from the perspective of the European Women's Lobby(E.W.L.). This discussion highlights the potential opportunities and risks for feminists of mainstreaming. (shrink)

The ageing society poses significant challenges to Europe’s economy and society. In coming to grips with these issues, we must be aware of their ethical dimensions. Values are the heart of the European Union, as Article 1a of the Lisbon Treaty makes clear: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity…”. The notion of Europe as a community of values has various important implications, including the development of inclusion policies. A special case of exclusion concerns the (...) gap between those people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without access to it, the “digital divide”, which in Europe is chiefly age-related. Policies to overcome the digital divide and, more generally speaking, e-inclusion policies addressing the ageing population raise some ethical problems. Among younger senior citizens, say those between 65 and 80 years old, the main issues are likely to be universal access to ICT and e-participation. Among the older senior citizens, say those more than 80 years old, the main issues are mental and physical deterioration and assistive technology. An approach geared towards the protection of human rights could match the different needs of senior citizens and provide concrete guidance to evaluate information technologies for them. (shrink)

O presente artigo tenciona promover um debate entre Gadamer e Habermas, respectivamente partindo das obras La herencia de Europa e A inclusão do outro: estudos de teoria política, no que tange ao problema do multiculturalismo nas sociedades democráticas contemporâneas, uma vez que a partir da globalização econômica e homogeneização cultural surgem graves riscos de autoalienação por parte de certas comunidades e o desrespeito para com as diferenças culturais das minorias inatas. Os pensadores aqui estudados têm como proposta uma racionalidade alternativa (...) voltada ao diálogo solidário, bem como ao respeito intersubjetivo que deve ser constantemente motivado a partir da formação educacional dos sujeitos pertencentes às mais diferentes culturas e nacionalidades. (shrink)

This paper discusses privacy and the monitoring of e-mail in the context of the international nature of the modern world. Its three main aims are: (1) to highlight the problems involved in discussing an essentially philosophical question within a legal framework, and thus to show that providing purely legal answers to an ethical question is an inadequate approach to the problem of privacy on the Internet; (2) to discuss and define what privacy in the medium of the Internet actually is; (...) and (3) to apply a globally acceptable ethical approach of international human rights to the problem of privacy on the Internet, and thus to answer the question of what is and is not morally permissible in this area, especially in light of recent heightened concerns about terrorist activities. It concludes that the monitoring of e-mail is, at least in the vast majority of cases, an unjustified infringement of the right to privacy, even if this monitoring is only aimed at preventing the commission of acts of terrorism. (shrink)