Ample scholarship demonstrates that data-intensive technologies have the capacity to cause serious harm and that their developers are obliged to address ethics in their work. This ethnographic paper tells the story of data scientists attempting to instantiate a carefully considered ethical vision into a data infrastructure while balancing competing priorities, negotiating divergent interests, and wrestling with contrasting values. I use their story to develop the concept of “ethical abduction,” which I characterize as an exemplary process by which actors can intentionally (...) and systematically address ethical issues that arise during their day-to-day actions by making decisions with consideration for a foundational ethical worldview. It entails tacking back and forth between divergent but complementary ways of thinking: between establishing ideals and making decisions given practical constraints; between understanding historical context and anticipating future consequences; between acknowledging structural dependencies and accepting responsibility for moral agency. (shrink)

The serotonin transporter plays an important role in regulating serotonergic transmission via removal of serotonin from synaptic clefts. Alterations in 5-HTT expression and subsequent 5-HT transmission have been found to be associated with changes in behaviour, such as fearfulness or activity, in humans and other vertebrates. In humans, alterations in 5-HTT expression have been suggested to be able to lead to better learning performance, with more fearful persons being better at learning. Similar effects of the variation in the 5-HTT on (...) fearfulness have been found in chickens, and in this study, we investigated effects on learning. Therefore, we tested 52 adult laying hens, differing in their functional 5-HTT genotype in an operant learning paradigm in three different phases and in a tonic immobility test for fearfulness. We found that the 5-HTT polymorphism affects the initial learning performance of laying hens, with homogeneous wild-type hens being the slowest learners, and the most fearful birds. W/W hens, showed significantly more choices to solve the initial learning task and had the highest latencies in a tonic immobility test, indicating the highest fearfulness. Our results provide interesting first insights into the role of 5-HTT in chickens and its sensitive interaction with the environment. We further suggest that the 5-HTT gene can be an interesting target gene for future breeding strategies as well as for further experimental studies. (shrink)

Given the difficulties in Business & Society research to establish causality, one of the crucial tasks in the sciences, a Quasi-Experimental Approach (QEA) is suggested as a research design suitable to a variety of questions in the field. Triangulation is also suggested as a complement to the QEA way to tease out plausible alternative explanations. A recently published study is used as an illustrative example.

On trouvera dans ce Lectures de Platon une diversité d'interprétations liées à différents choix méthodologiques. Des lectures "analytiques" voisinent avec des lectures "contemplatives" et quasi mystiques, des partisans d'un système caché de doctrines non écrites côtoient des philologues qui tiennent pour préalables indispensables les décisions quant à la chronologie des oeuvres écrites, mais un trait commun se dégage avec évidence, à savoir que lire Platon, c'est être sensible aux risques pris, à la diversité des chemins frayés, aux "digressions" qui se (...) révèlent être les seules voies possibles, aux différences de vitesse d'une pensée déroutante que ne décourage ni petit ni grand problème, et qui reconnaît dans sa liberté la condition de sa rencontre avec la vérité. La nature du texte de Platon possède cette singulière puissance : forcer chacun, quand il s'efforce de l'interpréter, à dévoiler la manière dont il se représente ce que c'est que penser, et, au-delà, à révéler ce qu'il attend de la philosophie. (shrink)

Micro Credit programs lend money to poor borrowers using innovative mechanisms such as group lending under joint liability while successfully accounting forthe presence of asymmetric information in underdeveloped financial markets. MC Programs have achieved what the conventional financial institutions and the government have not been able to: lend to the poor, recuperate loans and have a positive impact in poverty reduction. While loan recuperation is high (95% for our focus group ALSOL Chiapas), administrative costs also remain high. Social Responsible Savers (...) and Donors play a key role in providing continuous funding to Micro Credit Programs. (shrink)

In this paper we argue for a naturalistic solution to some of the methodological controversies in regulatory science, on the basis of two case studies: toxicology and health claim regulation. We analyze the debates related to the scientific evidence that is considered necessary for regulatory decision making in each of those two fields, with a particular attention to the interactions between scientific and regulatory aspects. This analysis allows us to identify two general stances in the debate: a) one that argues (...) for more permissive standards of evidence and for methodological pluralism, and b) an opposing one that not only defends strict evidence requirements but also stipulates the use of one particular scientific methodologies for data generation. We argue that the real-world outcomes produced by alternative regulatory options are a vital piece of information that allows for the empirical assessment of these two stances. In particular, this information on outcomes makes it possible to analyze which standards of evidence and scientific methods generate the most useful knowledge as input for regulatory decision making. Our conclusion is that instead of an a priori selection of methodologies and standards, such decisions ought to be based on empirical evidence related to real-world outcomes. (shrink)

Regulatory science, which generates knowledge relevant for regulatory decision?making, is different from standard academic science in that it is oriented mainly towards the attainment of non?epistemic (practical) aims. The role of uncertainty and the limits to the relevance of academic science are being recognized more and more explicitly in regulatory decision?making. This has led to the introduction of regulation?specific scientific methodologies in order to generate decision?relevant data. However, recent practical experience with such non?standard methodologies indicates that they, too, may be (...) subject to important limitations. We argue that the attainment of non?epistemic values and aims (like the protection of human health and the environment) requires not only control of the quality of the data and the methodologies, but also the selection of the level of regulation deemed adequate in each specific case (including a decision about which of the two, under?regulation or over?regulation, would be more acceptable). (shrink)

Le débat sur le rôle des valeurs en science survient également dans les sciences appliquées, en particulier dans les sciences régulatives. Nous proposons une analyse, sous l’angle des valeurs, des controverses récentes sur le rôle de la connaissance scientifique dans la régulation des risques technologiques. Nous distinguons trois perspectives sur les valeurs cognitives et non-cognitives, dans le contexte de l’évaluation et de la gestion du risque. Notre analyse montre que les deux types de valeurs interagissent au sein du processus de (...) génération de connaissances dans les sciences régulatives, et que des propositions de changements méthodologiques dépendent de la reconnaissance explicite du rôle opérant des valeurs. Notre contribution indique que l’analyse philosophique des valeurs peut aider à clarifier les controverses actuelles sur les risques technologiques. (shrink)

Le débat sur le rôle des valeurs en science survient également dans les sciences appliquées, en particulier dans les sciences régulatives. Nous proposons une analyse, sous l’angle des valeurs, des controverses récentes sur le rôle de la connaissance scientifique dans la régulation des risques technologiques. Nous distinguons trois perspectives sur les valeurs cognitives et non-cognitives, dans le contexte de l’évaluation et de la gestion du risque. Notre analyse montre que les deux types de valeurs interagissent au sein du processus de (...) génération de connaissances dans les sciences régulatives, et que des propositions de changements méthodologiques dépendent de la reconnaissance explicite du rôle opérant des valeurs. Notre contribution indique que l’analyse philosophique des valeurs peut aider à clarifier les controverses actuelles sur les risques technologiques. (shrink)

The function and legitimacy of values in decision making is a critically important issue in the contemporary analysis of science. It is particularly relevant for some of the more application-oriented areas of science, specifically decision-oriented science in the field of regulation of technological risks. Our main objective in this paper is to assess the diversity of roles that non-cognitive values related to decision making can adopt in the kinds of scientific activity that underlie risk regulation. We start out, first, by (...) analyzing the issue of values with the help of a framework taken from the wider philosophical debate on science and values. Second, we study the principal conceptualizations used by scholars who have applied them to numerous case studies. Third, we appraise the links between those conceptualizations and learning processes in decision-oriented science. In this, we recur to the concept of methodological learning, i.e., learning about the best methodologies for generating knowledge that is useful for science-based regulatory decisions. The main result of our analysis is that non-cognitive values can contribute to methodological improvements in science in three principal ways: as basis for critical analysis, for contextualizing methodologies, and for establishing the burden of proof. (shrink)

The relevance of scientific knowledge for science and technology policy and regulation has led to a growing debate about the role of values. This article contributes to the clarification of what specific functions cognitive and noncognitive values adopt in knowledge generation and decisions, and what consequences the operation of values has for policy making and regulation. For our analysis, we differentiate between three different types of decision approaches, each of which shows a particular constellation of cognitive and noncognitive values. Our (...) objectives are to present a structured analysis of the varying functions that different kinds of values can adopt, as well as the value-related tensions and trade-offs they give rise to. We argue that the operation of noncognitive values in scientific knowledge generation, policy, and regulatory decision making can be understood as an enabling factor, rather than a limiting one. (shrink)

Mechanistic information is used in the field of risk assessment in order to clarify two controversial methodological issues, the selection of inference guides and the definition of standards of evidence. In this paper we present an analysis of the concept of mechanistic information in risk assessment by recurring to previous philosophical analyses of mechanistic explanation. Our conclusion is that the conceptual analysis of mechanistic explanation facilitates a better characterization of the concept of mechanistic information. However, it also shows that the (...) use of this kind of information in risk assessment is heavily influenced by pragmatic factors, which have not been sufficiently taken into account in philosophical analysis. Mechanistic models are like hypothesis that have to be validated empirically. Due to their dependence on the standards of evidence, they are subject to the same pragmatic factors. Therefore, recurring to mechanistic information does not lead to closure of the methodological controversies in risk assessment. (shrink)

The issue of internalism and externalism in historiography of science was intensely debated two decades ago. The conclusions of such debate on the ‘context of science’ appear to be a reinstatement of the positivist view of the ‘content of science’ as comprising only ideas and concepts uninfluenced by extra-scientific factors. The description of the roles of politics, economy, and socio-cultural factors in science was limited only within the ‘context of science’. This article seeks to resituate the ‘content of science’ debate (...) within the historical accounts of the Scientific Revolution to illustrate that their resort to historicism indicates that such content does not emerge from the void. It argues that, though some historicist accounts like Alexandre Koyré’s reinstate the positivist argument on the nature of the ‘content of science’, such historicist internalism greatly differs from positivist internalism, largely due to its acceptance of metaphysics in science. Therefore, as long as historicism is relied on to describe the content of science, a clear-cut distinction of the historicist internalism and externalism will be difficult to establish. (shrink)

Résumé — " De la pensée moderne à la pensée antique le chemin serait court et direct, si l’on voulait le prendre. " Par cette formule extraite de L’enracinement Simone Weil indique combien sa lecture du platonisme procède d’une attention à la lettre même du texte, directement et sans intermédiaire, et d’une conception de la pensée elle-même comme cheminement – cheminement orienté, infini ou indéfini, singulier, toujours en mouvement, en tout cas sans terme assigné. Il en résulte une interprétation du (...) philosophe antique assez proche des études platoniciennes contemporaines, car dépourvue du prisme de l’ " idéalisme platonicien " standard, et fondatrice pour la pensée weilienne. Le dernier Platon, celui de La République, du Timée et des Lois, permet à Simone Weil de définir au mieux ce que penser veut dire.— " From modern thought to antique thought, the path could be short and direct, should one wish to take it. " Through this phrase, taken from L’enracinement Simone Weil reveals how her interpretation of Platonism derives both from her special attention to the very letter of the text in a direct way, and from her understanding of thought itself as a development – an oriented, infinite or indefinite, unique and unremitting progression, anyway one which is without any circumscribed limit. The ensuing interpretation of the antique philosopher is rather close to that of contemporary Platonic studies, since it is devoid of the distorting vision of commonplace " Plato idealism " and is the very foundation of Weilean thought. The late Plato of The Republic, Timaeus and The Laws enables Simone Weil to best define what thinking means. (shrink)

The concept of ‘femicide’ was first formulated in 1992 by Jill Radford and Diana Russell; nonetheless, it has not been widely discussed in feminist philosophical arenas.This situation has led to a narrow understanding and/or misunderstanding of the concept. For example, it is often applied to a phenomenon mistakenly assumed to occur “only in third world countries” or said to essentialize women. Through a new-materialist methodology, this paper contributes to the discussion on this concept from a feminist theoretical perspective.

En este trabajo analizamos una de las propuestas recientes que defienden modificaciones metodológicas en la evaluación de riesgos respecto a los estándares de prueba: el enfoque basado en el peso de las pruebas (weight of evidence). Este enfoque puede interpretarse como un caso de ciencia precautoria en la investigación sobre riesgos. Esto es, se trata de una metodología que pretende proporcionar resultados más protectores de la salud pública y del entorno que las metodologías usuales en la evaluación de riesgos. Sin (...) embargo, existe la posibilidad de que quienes se muestran en contra de la regulación de ciertas aplicaciones tecnológicas introduzcan artificialmente incertidumbre en el cuerpo de la evidencia. En consecuencia, la metodologia del peso de las pruebas no conduce de manera automática a una mayor protección de la salud pública y del ambiente. Por ello es necesario analizar cada innovación valorando los posibles riesgos y los posibles beneficios sociales, y decidir en cada caso cuál de las dos posibilidades, la subregulación o la sobrerregulación, es más aceptable. El conocimiento científico es un elemento necesario para llevar a cabo esta valoración, pero no la determina.This paper analyzes one recent proposal for modifying the metodologies used in risk assessment: the Weight-Of-Evidence (WOE) approach. This approach is an example of precautionary science in risk research, i.e. a methodology which aims at a better protection of human health and the environment. However, some groups opposed to the regulation of certain technologies have started artificially introducing uncertainties into the body of evidence. This means that the WOE approach does not automatically lead to a higher level of health or environmental protection. It is therefore necessary to analyze each innovation on a case-by-case basis in order to evaluateits risks and benefits, and decide if to accept lower or, on the contrary, higher standards for its regulation. Scientific knowledge is a necessary element in this assessment, but not the decisive one. (shrink)

En este trabajo analizamos una de las propuestas recientes que defienden modificaciones metodológicas en la evaluación de riesgos respecto a los estándares de prueba: el enfoque basado en el peso de las pruebas (weight of evidence). Este enfoque puede interpretarse como un caso de ciencia precautoria en la investigación sobre riesgos. Esto es, se trata de una metodología que pretende proporcionar resultados más protectores de la salud pública y del entorno que las metodologías usuales en la evaluación de riesgos. Sin (...) embargo, existe la posibilidad de que quienes se muestran en contra de la regulación de ciertas aplicaciones tecnológicas introduzcan artificialmente incertidumbre en el cuerpo de la evidencia. En consecuencia, la metodología del peso de las pruebas no conduce de manera automática a una mayor protección de la salud pública y del ambiente. Por ello es necesario analizar cada innovación valorando los posibles riesgos y los posibles beneficios sociales, y decidir en cada caso cuál de las dos posibilidades, la subregulación o la sobrerregulación, es más aceptable. El conocimiento científico es un elemento necesario para llevar a cabo esta valoración, pero no la determina.This paper analyzes one recent proposal for modifying the metodologies used in risk assessment: the Weight-Of-Evidence (WOE) approach. This approach is an example of precautionary science in risk research, i.e. a methodology which aims at a better protection of human health and the environment. However, some groups opposed to the regulation of certain technologies have started artificially introducing uncertainties into the body of evidence. This means that the WOE approach does not automatically lead to a higher level of health or environmental protection. It is therefore necessary to analyze each innovation on a case-by-case basis in order to evaluate its risks and benefits, and decide if to accept lower or, on the contrary, higher standards for its regulation. Scientific knowledge is a necessary element in this assessment, but not the decisive one. (shrink)

En este breve comentario se pretende dialogar con el estimulante texto de Guillermo Hurtado y profundizar en lo que parece su mayor preocupación: el papel político que la filosofía analítica debe desempeñar en una relación crítica y constructiva con las democracias latinoamericanas. In this brief paper we intend to engage in a dialogue with the stimulating text of Guillermo Hurtado, deepening in what we think is its main concern: the political role that analytical philosophy should take in a critical and (...) constructive relationship with Latin American democracies. (shrink)

Introducción: La ablación o mutilación genital femenina incluye una amplia variedad de prácticas que suponen la extirpación total o parcial de los genitales externos o su alteración por razones que no son de índole médica. Causa daños irreversibles y pone en peligro la salud, e incluso la vida de la mujer o niña afectada. Objetivo: Caracterizar la mutilación genital femenina y sus complicaciones a largo plazo en la comunidad de Fajikunda, Gambia, entre marzo y septiembre de 2012. Método: Se realizó (...) un estudio descriptivo prospectivo a 117 mujeres que asistieron al centro de salud por cualquier motivo que requiriera examen ginecológico y se estudiaron las variables grupo de edades, tipo de mutilación, grupo étnico y complicaciones. Resultados: Del total, 98 mujeres eran de 45 años de edad o menos; la clitoridectomía fue la práctica más frecuente; la inflamación pélvica crónica y el dolor en los genitales fueron las complicaciones a largo plazo que mayor asociación estadística demostraron con relación a la mutilación. La anorgasmia presentó una alta incidencia en la población estudiada. Conclusiones: La prevalencia de la mutilación genital femenina en Fajikunda es aproximadamente la misma que en Gambia, la tipo I es la más practicada y generalmente en jóvenes de la etnia Mandinga. Introduction: The ablation or female genital mutilation includes a wide variety of practices dealing with total or partial extirpation of the external genitalia or its alterations for reasons other than of medical nature. It causes irreversible damages and puts in danger the health or even the life of the woman or child involved. Objective: The aim of the present study is to characterize female genital mutilation and its long-term complications in Fajikunda community, Gambia, between March and September 2012. Method: A descriptive prospective study was performed to 117 women that attended the health unit for reasons requiring gynecological examination and the variables age group, mutilation type, ethnic group and complications were studied. Results: Of the total, 98 women were 45 years old or less; the clitoridectomy was the most frequent practice; cronical pelvic and genital pains were the long-term complications that showed a major statistical association with relation to mutilation. Conclusions: The prevalence of female genital mutilation in Fajikunda is approximately the same as in Gambia, the type I is the most performed and generally within young women belonging to Mandinga ethnic group. (shrink)

Resumen La pretensión de que la violencia es un fenómeno apto para el abordaje objetivo es altamente cuestionable. En este artículo se indicarán algunos aspectos que subyacen en los enfoques más clásicos sobre tal tópico y se destacará el potencial violentogénico que encapsulan. El núcleo de las ideas expuestas apunta a plantear que la epistemología objetivista induce a una violencia simbólica enquistada en el principio del tercero excluido. En consecuencia, los esfuerzos por convertir a la violencia en un tema de (...) investigación objetiva terminan transformándose en una flagrante retroalimentación de la misma violencia que se proponen observar. Ahora bien, en contraste con esa anquilosada postura objetivista, se explorará un enfoque epistemológico de corte socio-construccionista que complejiza el abordaje de la violencia al enmarcarla dentro de una "investigación de segundo orden".The claim that violence is a phenomenon suitable for the objective approach is highly questionable. In this article, some aspects underlying the more classical approaches about such topic will be indicated, and their intrinsic violent potential will be emphasized. The core of the ideas that aims to raise the objectivist epistemology leads to a symbolic violence entrenched in the principle of the excluded middle. Consequently, efforts to make violence a topic of objective research end up becoming a flagrant feedback of the same violence they intend to observe. However, in contrast to the ossified objectivist position, a socio-constructionist epistemological approach will be explored. It focuses on violence as a complex reality, by framing it within a "Second-Order Research". (shrink)

Argumentación teórico-práctica sobre el desarrollo de la competencia literaria en el aula de ELE, unificando directrices para su implementación como un vértice esencial para la adquisición de la competencia comunicativa.

Nuestro artículo analiza el libro de Elizabeth Anscombe destacando su carácter político. Cuando decimos «político» nos referimos a que desde su publicación opera como un filtro de exclusión de otras lecturas del Tractatus. En especial entendemos este texto como una expulsión a priori de las lecturas que privilegian la influencia de Arthur Schopenhauer. Describiremos las estrategias implícitas y explícitas del texto para dificultar e imposibilitar la lectura del libro de Wittgenstein en clave ética, estética o mística. Señalaremos la distancia que, (...) de modo crítico, el libro de Anscombe construye a manera de canon de lectura. Consideraremos, también, hasta dónde llega la influencia del filósofo de Frankfurt sobre el joven Wittgenstein y la actualidad de una lectura schopenhauereana de la primera obra del pensador vienés. (shrink)

We review primitive cosmogonies legends from different cultures in which the water plays a fundamental role in the creation of the world. We analyze the main properties of the water appearing in these legends, the cult to water from ancient times until the end of the Middle Ages, and the relationship of water with magic.

Is there such a thing as a “best scientific methodology” in regulatory science? By examining cases from varying regulatory processes, we argue that there is no best scientific method for generating decision-relevant data. In addition, in regulatory science, the most suitable methodologies often differ from what is considered best practice in knowledge-oriented science. In data generation for regulatory purposes, we are faced with a wide spectrum of preferred methodologies as well as controversy as to methodological choice. What goes by the (...) most adequate scientific method can and will—justifiably and rationally—vary significantly according to context and use. In order to make this argument, we analyze four case studies, two from risk assessment and two from benefit assessment. Our analysis shows that it is the noncognitive objectives of a particular regulatory process that determine what counts as the most appropriate scientific method. We use the concept of bounded rationality to indicate that those methodological choices, despite being context-dependent, can be interpreted as rational. (shrink)

Si bien reconocemos el valor de las interpretaciones éticas del Tractatus Logicophilosophicus, creemos que muchas de estas sobredimensionan el lugar y el valor de la ética en la estructura del libro. Se analizan tales lecturas para exponer sus méritos y sus fallas, y abordar lo que llamamos "complem..

A indiscutível riqueza da obra de Clarice Lispector já deu lugar a inúmeras interpretações.Neste ensaio, pretendemos acompanhar a leitura que Benedito Nunes realiza, pensando a literatura da escritora brasileira atravessada por um “centro mimético”. O conceito de mimese, distinguindo-se das concepções clássicas pensadas por Platão e Aristóteles, apontará, na leitura de Nunes, para a dramaticidade vivenciada por meio da linguagem na sua tentativa de falar sobre o mundo e o “eu” que o descreve. Para fins de clareza, analisaremos, com essa (...) categoria de “centro mimético”, três obras da autora que consideramos paradigmáticas: A cidade sitiada, A paixão segundo G.H. e A hora da estrela. (shrink)

Resenha do livro do mesmo título de Daniel Feierstein.