Este artigo, apoiado na perspectiva teórica sócio-histórico-cultural, discute a atividade na qual sujeitos se envolvem como constitutiva dos papeis sociais que exercem. Objetiva desencadear discussão acerca da dinâmica discursiva em contextos de formação crítico-colaborativa de professores, focalizando os discursos de autoridade e internamente persuasivo (BAKHTIN, 2010) e sua coocorrência nas situações de negociação de significados. Tal distinção constitui-se relevante por permitir compreender diferentes enunciados argumentativos ou não, proferidos por educadores em formação, que se proximam ou se distanciam daqueles proferidos por (...) seus formadores ou por vozes teóricas isoladas da prática, indicando possibilidades de criação ou diminuição da expansão dialógica. A partir da ênfase no discurso internamente persuasivo, procura-se destacar o papel crítico-colaborativo da argumentação na formação de educadores. Exemplos selecionados de um corpus de pesquisa coletado em escola pública de São Paulo subsidiará a discussão, por sua vez, apoiada em Bakhtin (2010) e Vygotsky (1998; 2001). (shrink)

The elite theory of Max Weber has recently been rediscovered by political scientists and political theorists who have sought to explore both the heuristic and the normative potential of plebiscitary leader democracy. Notwithstanding the merits of this wave of studies, this paper argues that attention should be shifted from Weber's context-specific defence of plebiscitary leadership in post-WWI Germany to his broader conception of charisma as an attempt to grasp the enigma of significant social and political change. Contemporary democratic theory, this (...) paper contends, can fruitfully draw on Weber to sink into the antinomies and ambiguities of a transformative democratic politics. (shrink)

The ethical issues concerning the use of PGD to select embryos of a particular HLA type are numerous. They arise from the potentially conflicting interests between those of the pre-existing child, the subject of a treatment which may be curative, and those of the sibling to be created, who cannot give consent to the donation, together with the problem of the destruction of potentially healthy embryos. This essay focuses on the web of vulnerabilities affecting the parents, the sick child and (...) the “saviour sibling,” while addressing three areas: science, bioethics and literature. The novel My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, provides the reader with an in-depth view of the conflicting interests and emotional problems that affect the Fitzgeralds, a family experiencing the pain of seeing one of their children dying while facing the tragic consequences of trying to save this child by having another offspring. (shrink)

Despite recent progress in the identification of genes that regulate longevity, aging remains a mysterious process. One influential hypothesis is the idea that the potential for cell division and replacement are important factors in aging. In this work, we review and discuss this perspective in the context of interventions in mammals that appear to accelerate or retard aging. Rather than focus on molecular mechanisms, we interpret results from an integrative biology perspective of how gene products affect cellular functions, which in (...) turn impact on tissues and organisms. We review evidence suggesting that mutations that give rise to features resembling premature aging tend to be associated with cellular phenotypes such as increased apoptosis or premature replicative senescence. In contrast, many interventions in mice that extend lifespan and might delay aging, including caloric restriction, tend to either hinder apoptosis or result in smaller animals and thus may be the product of fewer cell divisions. Therefore, it appears plausible that changes in the number of times that cells, and particularly stem cells, divide during an organism's lifespan influence longevity and aging. We discuss possible mechanisms related to this hypothesis and propose experimental paradigms. BioEssays 30:567–578, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Provocatively, David Armstrong's properties are supposed to be both universals and spatio-temporal. What does this amount to? I consider four of Armstrong's views, in order of ascending plausibility: (1) the exemplification account, on which universals are exemplified by space-times; (2) the location account, on which universals are located at space-times; (3) the first constituent account, on which spatio-temporal relations are elements of what I call the form of time; and, the true view, (4) the second constituent account, on which universals (...) are spatio-temporal only 'derivatively' by being constituents of states of affairs which are so 'primarily'. The first two accounts are rejected because they entail that space-times must be substantival. In making plausible the second constituent account, I distinguish primitive and derivative spatio-temporality. Something is primitively spatio-temporal when it is at a space-time, or stands in spatio-temporal relations. Something is derivatively spatio-temporal when it is a constituent of something primitively spatio-temporal. (shrink)

Culling is used in traditional public health policies to control animal populations. These policies aim primarily to protect human interests but often fail to provide scientific evidence of effectiveness. In this article, we defend the need to move from a strictly anthropocentric approach to disease control towards a One Health ethics, using culling practices as an example. We focus on the recent badger culls in the UK, claiming that, based on data provided by the English Government, these culls may be (...) unjustified, all thing considered. We highlight the relevance of ethical reasoning rooted in One Health for this discussion, and make several suggestions including a moratorium on culling until data are provided to support the effectiveness of culling; to conduct a randomized trial to compare proactive culling with alternative methods; to apply deliberative democratic methods to assess public opinion towards the culls, and to find in Brexit an opportunity for aiming for more effective control measures. (shrink)

Presentism: Essential Readings contains writings—classic and contemporary—that acquaint the reader with different versions of presentism, standard philosophical and scientific objections to presentism, and their attempted solutions. Detailed introductions to each part of the book make the discussions accessible to students and those unfamiliar with this fascinating and controversial philosophy.

Ethics and integrity should be intertwined within the concept of Responsible Research. Integrity Officers should also be Ethics Officers, enforcing compliance with rules and norms, but also raising awareness on the meaning of ethics in researchers’ daily work. Paul Ricoeur’s definition of Ethics – “the aim of living a good life with and for others in just institutions” (Ricoeur in Oneself as Another. University of Chicago Press, 1994 ) –, points out the relational dimension of Ethics that matters to all (...) the stakeholders in scientific research. The dialogical interaction between Ethics and Integrity can help to prevent researchers from assuming self-regulation as the only possible path to be followed. In this paper, the challenges and the opportunities posed by this approach will be outlined and discussed, mainly, the challenges of building trust bottom up, while setting up restrictions to comply with rules and norms top down. Concerning the opportunities, the focus will be on making better science and building a solid network among the various stakeholders of the research system. (shrink)

This essay addresses the moral nature of corporate social media platforms through the lenses of Axel Honneth’s concept of justice, according to which relations of mutual recognition must be institutionalized into spheres of social freedom to claim a just society. This perspective allows us to observe how platforms configure a symmetrically inverted form of ethical sphere, in which users are led to formulate non-autonomous desires that can only be realized socially. We characterize this as social unfreedom. A just platform ought (...) to be the one in which rights and self-legislation capabilities enable users to have a stake in governing how these digital spaces can be designed to foster the practical realization of users’ autonomous aims, the essay argues. (shrink)

Resumo Qual o papel da religião numa sociedade secularizada? Qual o papel da Igreja? O artigo propõe uma reflexão sobre essas questões a partir de um "diálogo virtual" entre o teólogo alemão Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) e o filósofo italiano contemporâneo Gianni Vattimo. Esses dois autores, separados pelo tempo e pela geografia, aproximam-se, no entanto, na forma de pensar o fenômeno da secularização - ambos a entendem como algo intrínseco ao Ocidente cristão. A dissolução do sacro e o movimento em direção (...) à autonomia humana foram percebidos por esses dois pensadores não como ameaças à religião cristã, mas como possibilidades de sua plena realização, concretizada por meio do engajamento social. Diante do fim das certezas e das verdades absolutas - quadro pós-moderno que já se delineava na década de 1940 e ganha contornos mais precisos no princípio do século XXI, tanto Bonhoeffer quanto Vattimo pensaram uma teologia capaz de abrir mão dos pressupostos metafísicos. Palavras-chave: Filosofia; Teologia; Pós-modernidade; Secularização; Eclesiologia.What is the role of religion in a secularized society? What is the role of the Church? This article suggests a reflection on these questions based on a "virtual dialogue" between German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) and contemporary Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo. Though separated by time and geography, those authors are close to each other in the way they view the secularization phenomenon - both understand it as intrinsic to the Christian West. The dissolution of the sacred and the movement towards human autonomy were perceived by the two thinkers not as threats to the Christian religion, but as possibilities of its full accomplishment, made real by social commitment. Facing the end of certainties and absolute truths - a postmodern framework that starts to take shape in the 1940s and acquires more definite contours in the beginning of the 21st century - Bonhoeffer and Vattimo were able to think a theology capable of giving up its metaphysical presuppositions. Key words: Philosophy; Theology; Postmodernity; Secularization; Ecclesiology. (shrink)

This article observes the imagination of the end of the world in the Anthropocene era and, at the same time, intends, from an anthropological turn that considers other possibilities of human existence on Earth, to imagine how Amerindian cosmovision can promote not only an ontological but also an epistemological turn in the field of contemporary law and politics. A conflicted but not impossible dialogue between the naturalistic matrix of Western thought and Amerindian multinaturalism, in search of “ideas to postpone the (...) end of the world”. (shrink)

Orphan drug policy often gives ‘special treatment’ to rare diseases, by giving additional priority or making exceptions to specific drugs, based on the rarity of the conditions they aim to treat. This essay argues that the goal of orphan drug policy should be to make prevalence irrelevant to funding decisions. It aims to demonstrate that it is severity, not prevalence, which drives our judgments that important claims are being overlooked when treatments for severe rare diseases are not funded. It shows (...) that prioritising severity avoids problems caused by prioritising rarity, and that it is compatible with a range of normative frameworks. The implications of a severity-based view for drug development are then derived. The severity-based view also accounts for what is wrong with how the current system of drug development unfairly neglects common diseases that burden the developing world. Lastly, the implications of a severity-based view for current orphan drug policies are discussed. There are no data in this work. (shrink)

Este estudo resulta de uma investigação sobre as aproximações teóricas entre o pensamento de Willard Van Omar Quine e o pragmatismo filosófico de John Dewey. O enfoque desta abordagem é a concepção naturalista e realista de conhecimento desenvolvida por estes dois teóricos. Busca-‑se compreender as conexões conceituais presentes na epistemologia de ambos, sobretudo, as referências de Quine a um empirismo radical e sem dogmas. O critério de análise comparatória será as seguintes teses: a ruptura com a filosofia apriorística, o naturalismo (...) realista, a crítica aos dogmas do empirismo, a defesa do holismo como alternativa à visão tradicional do conhecimento. (shrink)

Este ensayo busca examinar en qué medida el modelo de interpretación constructiva, sustentado por Ronald Dworkin en el ámbito de su teoría del derecho como integridad, se ajusta y permite explicar las experiencias jurídicas que se desarrollan bajo los sistemas de derecho de la tradición jurídica romano-canónica. Lo que se intenta demostrar es que no obstante el modelo de Dworkin no se ajuste bien a nuestras experiencias jurídicas, algunos de los argumentos centrales de su crítica al modelo positivista constituyen una (...) importante contribución a la teoría del enjuiciamiento y, con algunos ajustes, efectivamente ayudan a comprender y explicar nuestras prácticas jurídicas. Con todo, el modelo de interpretación constructiva no parece constituir una alternativa, sino más bien un complemento necesario a una teoría positivista moderada como la de H. L. A. Hart. (shrink)

Review of _Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism, _eds. Sol Goldberg, Scott Ury and Kalman Weiser, Palgrave Critical Studies of Antisemitism and Racism (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).

Com a publicação da obra "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature", Rorty passa a ser criticado pelos intérpretes do pragmatismo clássico e comentadores de John Dewey. Estes críticos consideram que enquanto o pragmatismo clássico é uma tentativa de entender e criar uma estrutura nova que legitime a investigação científica, o pragmatismo de Rorty se afirma como um abandono da própria tentativa de aprender mais sobre a natureza e sobre as condições de adequação da investigação. Dewey nunca virou totalmente as costas (...) à metafísica, que está presente particularmente em "Experience and Nature". Contudo, Rorty pretende encontrar em Dewey uma antecipação de sua própria visão de filosofia. Dessa maneira, deliberadamente, Rorty separa o Dewey “bom” do “mau” e considera inadequada a publicação de livro de Dewey "Experience and Nature". Nesse artigo, vamos nos concentrar nas críticas formuladas por Thelma Lavine, James Gouinlock e David Hall sobre a pertinência de falarmos em continuidade do pragmatismo no neopragmatismo de Rorty. Esta escolha teve como critério a maneira como esses autores se esforçam para recuperar a originalidade do pensamento do pragmatista pioneiro, não aceitando, sobretudo, uma interpretação que não reconheça na obra dele uma dimensão simultaneamente metafísica e epistêmica. Por fim, apresentamos a nossa interpretação que consiste em considerar que o Dewey de Rorty não é uma boa hipótese porque nega a dimensão cientista do pragmatista clássico e superdimensiona seu historicismo, deixando de considerar que o pragmatismo deweyano tem uma dimensão historicista e cientista ao mesmo tempo e sua metafísica é distinta das metafísicas clássicas, segundo a qual conceituo de metafísica empírica. (shrink)

Neste artigo, procura-se demonstrar que, para Espinosa, do capítulo I ao XV do TTP, a imaginação e a superstição estão diretamente vinculadas ao sentimento do medo na medida em que o medo e a superstição revelam uma possibilidade de manifestação confusa e inadequada da imaginação, a qual nem sempre opera de forma negativa. De fato, a superstição e crença desmesurada no poder da imaginação são causadas, em geral, pelo medo de males futuros ou de não obter os bens almejados. A (...) religião, construída sob esse edifício, isto é, a partir da idéia de um Deus contingente, cuja imagem está impregnada de superstição, surge como uma espécie de refúgio contra esse medo, minando assim a potência de agir do homem. Contudo, diferentemente do que se possa pensar, o efeito não é somente o ofuscamento da razão por uma vida regida por esse tipo de religião, há também implicações políticas nessa relação entre medo, imaginação e superstição. Segundo Espinosa, quanto mais mistério tiver a religião, mais medo será possível incutir na mente dos homens, abrindo assim uma porta para a manipulação e dominação não só no campo teológicometafísico, mas também no político. (shrink)