Transhumanism is a challenging movement that invites us to rethink what defines humanity, including what we value and regret the most about our existence. Vulnerability is a key concept that require thorough philosophical scrutiny concerning transhumanist proposals. Vulnerability can refer to a universal condition of human life or, rather, to the specific exposure to certain harms due to particular situations. Even if we are all vulnerable in the first sense, there are also different sources and levels of vulnerability depending on (...) concrete social circumstances. Recently, Michael Hauskeller argued about a fundamental incompatibility between transhumanism and vulnerability. He understands vulnerability as an existential category, linked to woundability and mortality. This idea is akin to ontological vulnerability, but it does not notice some important features of social vulnerability. On the other side, transhumanism is a complex and non-homogeneous movement. Here we distinguish between a strong and a weak version of transhumanism. We will propose that the salience of vulnerability is only diminished in the radical one, while a moderate version can reconcile vulnerability with human enhancement. Thus, vulnerability, a concept that has recently gained much importance as an anthropological category in contemporary ethics, is not necessarily at odds with any transhumanist project. (shrink)

Does home-based family involvement influence academic performance? To answer this question, a case study research was carried out with 96 children from all six levels of primary education at a public school, and their families. Data regarding home-based family involvement were collected using a questionnaire. Academic achievement was measured from school marks. The results reveal that, apart from two of the factors considered, home–family involvement as a whole is not significantly related to academic achievement. These two factors are access to (...) informal education resources and parents’ employment. Family involvement related to the access of children to informal education resources is significantly related to a better academic achievement. Those students with both parents working perform best, and those with none working, worst. Although gender does not appear to significantly influence academic achievement and family involvement, the results show that girls attain better school performance and re... (shrink)

The scientific approach to these social conglomerates implies the assumption of a systemic and anti-essentialist posture that considers the complexity of the social weave. In this article the process of interpreting these agricultural communities from the phenomenological perspective is consid..

International migration in the contemporary era of globalization generates complex inequalities that require a non-statist approach to justice. This paper considers how the analysis of these inequalities may be fruitfully undertaken using Nancy Fraser’s framework of redistribution, recognition, and representation. The discussion uses empirical material from a case study of Ethiopian women who migrate as domestic workers to countries in the Middle East. The paper suggests potential directions for more transformative approaches to justice within the context of international migration.

Ce texte a déjà paru dans la Revue du MAUSS, 2011/2, n° 38, p. 339-348. Nous remercions Benjamin Fernandez et Alain Caillé de nous avoir autorisé à le reproduire ici. « Ce que nous vendons à Coca-cola, c'est du temps de cerveau disponible. » Patrick LELAY, ancien président de la chaîne privée française TF1 (2004). La pensée moderne, héritière des Lumières, avait accouché de la figure du sujet libre : une conscience de soi, substance stable et indivisible (Descartes), actrice du (...) langage et d'un (...) - 1. Comment penser le pouvoir dans le monde contemporain ? – Nouvel article. (shrink)

El Tratado de Amistad y Cooperación hispanoportugués implementa la reactivación económica de ambos países y los fondos europeos Next Generation EU impulsan las iniciativas tecnológicas de estos. Permitiendo la puesta en marcha de un proyecto que establecerá una red espacial compuesta por 16 satélites, que proporcionarán diversas y sustanciosas informaciones para prever emergencias, mejorar la calidad de vida, adaptar la transición ecológica, generar empleo de calidad, fomentar el crecimiento empresarial con capital público o privado y simultáneamente la obtención de datos (...) e informes requeridos por las agencias de inteligencia estatales, de la UE, o los miembros de la OTAN. (shrink)

Dentre os problemas tradicionais da Epistemologia, uma das controvérsiasmais persistentes é a questão da inserção versus isenção de valores naciência. Filiando-se a uma longa tradição crítica, o filósofo Hugh Laceydesenvolve um exame contundente acerca dos fundamentos da ciência emsua interação com a sociedade, questionando a noção tradicional deneutralidade científica. Pretendemos nesse trabalho estender a crítica deLacey às ciências sociais, e especificamente à Economia. Argumentamosque a ortodoxia da ciência econômica moderna , atravésda incorporação do paradigma mecanicista da física clássica, bem comode (...) todo instrumental analítico das estratégias materialistas, não representaum tipo de compreensão neutra dos fenômenos econômicos, mas sim umaparticularmente notável manifestação dos valores predominantes nessasociedade , da qual faz parte.Assim, procuramos mostrar que, também no âmbito social, a preeminênciados aspectos nomológicos e quantitativos da realidade na formulação dasteorias econômicas de tradição neoclássica espelha valores sociais altamenteestimados nas sociedades modernas.Among the traditional problems in Epistemology, one of the most persistentcontroversies is the question of value insertion versus value exemption inscience. The philosopher Hugh Lacey, in consonance with a long criticaltradition, advances a sharp examination of the foundations of science andits interaction with society, questioning the traditional notion of scientificneutrality. In this essay we intend to extend Lacey’s criticism to the socialsciences – specifically to Economics. We argue that modern economicsorthodoxy , by the adoption of the mechanicalparadigm of classical physics and all the analytical instruments of thematerialist strategies, does not represent a type of neutral understandingof the economic phenomena, but instead, a particularly considerablemanifestation of the predominant values of the society of which it is a part. So, we intend to showthat also in the social scope, the favoring of the nomological and quantitativeaspects of reality mirrors social values highly regarded in modern societies. (shrink)

In his introductory textbook, Philosophy of natural science, Hempel presents, as an illustration and a starting point for an analysis of the processes of inventing and testing scientific theories, an account of the researches of Semmelweis the Hungarian physician who, in the middle of the xixth century, discovered the cause of puerperal fever and an effective method of prevention. The account does not involve anything that is factually untrue, but it is quite succinct, leaving out many important aspects of the (...) case. Our thesis is that, although those omissions are justified in view of the aims of the account, they are also convenient to Hempel, because they help to propagate an image of science which goes much beyond the processes of invention and test. It is an image which reflects the positivist conception of science, and thus, whatever the intentions of the author, contributes to the dissemination and strengthening of that conception, but which, at least in this case, does not correspond to reality. To demonstrate the thesis, we give an account of the parts of Semmelweis's story omitted by Hempel, and we show how they do not fit in with the positivist image of science. Along the way, we distinguish three types of critique of positivist historiography: the Kuhnian, the post-modern, and the engagé. In the conclusion, we present some considerations concerning the medical research of today. -/- . (shrink)