Patient-reported outcomes are frequently used for medical decision making, at the levels of both individual patient care and healthcare policy. Evidence increasingly shows that PROs may be influenced by patients’ response shifts and dispositions. We identify how response shifts and dispositions may influence medical decisions on both the levels of individual patient care and health policy. We provide examples of these influences and analyse the consequences from the perspectives of ethical principles and theories of just distribution. If influences of response (...) shift and disposition on PROs and consequently medical decision making are not considered, patients may not receive optimal treatment and health insurance packages may include treatments that are not the most effective or cost-effective. We call on healthcare practitioners, researchers, policy makers, health insurers, and other stakeholders to critically reflect on why and how such patient reports are used. (shrink)

Local gauge theories are in a complicated relationship with boundaries. Whereas fixing the gauge can often shave off unwanted redundancies, the coupling of different bounded regions requires the use of gauge-variant elements. Therefore, coupling is inimical to gauge-fixing, as usually understood. This resistance to gauge-fixing has led some to declare the coupling of subsystems to be the \textit{raison d'\^etre} of gauge \cite{RovelliGauge2013}. Indeed, while gauge-fixing is entirely unproblematic for a single region without boundary, it introduces arbitrary boundary conditions on the (...) gauge degrees of freedom themselves---these conditions lack a physical interpretation when they are not functionals of the original fields. Such arbitrary boundary choices creep into the calculation of charges through Noether's second theorem, muddling the assignment of physical charges to local gauge symmetries. The confusion brewn by gauge at boundaries is well-known, and must be contended with both conceptually and technically. It may seem natural to replace the arbitrary boundary choice with new degrees of freedom, for using such a device we resolve some of these confusions while leaving no gauge-dependence on the computation of Noether charges \cite{DonnellyFreidel}. But, concretely, such boundary degrees of freedom are rather arbitrary---they have no relation to the original field-content of the field theory. How should we conceive of them? Here I will explicate the problems mentioned above and illustrate a possible resolution: in a recent series of papers \cite{GomesRiello2016, GomesRiello2018, GomesHopfRiello} the notion of a connection-form was put forward and implemented in the field-space of gauge theories. Using this tool, a modified version of symplectic geometry---here called `horizontal'---is possible. Independently of boundary conditions, this formalism bestows to each region a physically salient, relational notion of charge: the horizontal Noether charge. Meanwhile, as required, the connection-form mediates an irenic composition of regions, one compatible with the attribution of horizontal Noether charges to each region. Thes aims of this paper are to highlight the boundary issues in the treatment of gauge, and to discuss how gauge theory may be conceptually clarified in light of a resolution to these issues. (shrink)

We review three broadly geometrodynamical---and in part, Machian or relational---projects, from the perspective of spacetime functionalism. We show how all three are examples of functionalist reduction of the type that was advocated by D. Lewis, and nowadays goes by the label `the Canberra Plan’. The projects are: the recovery of geometrodynamics by Hojman et al. ; the programme of Schuller and collaborators to deduce a metric from the physics of matter fields; the deduction of the ADM Hamiltonian by Gomes and (...) Shyam. We end by drawing a positive corollary about shape dynamics: namely, it has a good rationale for the Hamiltonian it postulates. (shrink)

BackgroundIn the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) cohort, participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, heart, and abdomen, that generated incidental findings (IFs). The approach to managing these unexpected results remain a complex issue. Our objectives were to describe the CAHHM policy for the management of IFs, to understand the impact of disclosing IFs to healthy research participants, and to reflect on the ethical obligations of researchers in future MRI studies.MethodsBetween 2013 and 2019, 8252 participants (...) (mean age 58 ± 9 years, 54% women) were recruited with a follow-up questionnaire administered to 909 participants (40% response rate) at 1-year. The CAHHM policy followed a restricted approach, whereby routine feedback on IFs was not provided. Only IFs of severe structural abnormalities were reported.ResultsSevere structural abnormalities occurred in 8.3% (95% confidence interval 7.7–8.9%) of participants, with the highest proportions found in the brain (4.2%) and abdomen (3.1%). The majority of participants (97%) informed of an IF reported no change in quality of life, with 3% of participants reporting that the knowledge of an IF negatively impacted their quality of life. Furthermore, 50% reported increased stress in learning about an IF, and in 95%, the discovery of an IF did not adversely impact his/her life insurance policy. Most participants (90%) would enrol in the study again and perceived the MRI scan to be beneficial, regardless of whether they were informed of IFs. While the implications of a restricted approach to IF management was perceived to be mostly positive, a degree of diagnostic misconception was present amongst participants, indicating the importance of a more thorough consent process to support participant autonomy.ConclusionThe management of IFs from research MRI scans remain a challenging issue, as participants may experience stress and a reduced quality of life when IFs are disclosed. The restricted approach to IF management in CAHHM demonstrated a fair fulfillment of the overarching ethical principles of respect for autonomy, concern for wellbeing, and justice. The approach outlined in the CAHHM policy may serve as a framework for future research studies.Clinical trial registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/nct02220582. (shrink)

Na digressão da Carta Sétima (341c-d – 344d-e) Platão faz uma descrição do caminho filosófico e do limite dos discursos, sejam escritos ou falados, para se alcançar e comunicar o conhecimento dos seres e da virtude. A digressão critica a produção, por parte de Dionísio, jovem tirano de Siracusa, de um tratado sobre a filosofia platônica, visando suas ‘doutrinas’, como se já soubesse tudo sobre os princípios supremos da realidade. Nesse artigo pretendo ler a digressão acerca do conhecimento filosófico e (...) sua transmissão, não como um desvio do curso da Carta, mas como parte central para entender sua mensagem a filosofia platônica em geral– evidenciando através do texto suas múltiplas e importantes ligações com os diálogos. Palavras-chave: Escrita; Metafísica; Platão; Carta Sétima; Digressão. The digression on knowledge in the platonic Seventh Letter Abstract: In the digression of the Seventh Letter (341c-d–344d-e) Plato describes the philosophical path and the limits of discourses, whether written or spoken, to reach and communicate the knowledge of beings and virtue. The digression criticizes the production, by Dionysius, a young tyrant of Syracuse, of a treatise on Platonic philosophy, aiming at its 'doctrines', as if he already knew everything about the supreme principles of reality. In this article I intend to read the digression about philosophical knowledge and its transmission, not as a deviation from the course of the letter, but as a central part to understand the message of the letter and of Platonic philosophy in general – evidencing through the text its multiple and important connections with the dialogues. Keywords: Writing, Metaphysics, Plato, Seventh Letter, digression. La digression sobre el saber en la Séptima Carta platonica. Resumen: En la digresión de la Carta Séptima (341c-d – 344d-e) Platón describe el camino filosófico y los límites de los discursos, sean escritos o hablados, para alcanzar y comunicar el conocimiento de los seres y de la virtud. La digresión critica la producción, por parte de Dionisio, un joven tirano de Siracusa, de un tratado sobre la filosofía platónica, apuntando a sus 'doctrinas', como si ya supiera todo acerca de los principios supremos de la realidad. En este artículo pretendo leer la digresión sobre el conocimiento filosófico y su transmisión, no como una desviación del curso de la Carta, sino como parte central para comprender el mensaje de la carta y de la filosofía platónica en general – evidenciando a través del texto sus múltiples e importantes conexiones con los diálogos. (shrink)

Ce texte cherch e à comprendre les rapports entre la philosophie et la poésie dans la pensée de Maria Zambrano. De ce fait, il exploitera le concept de raison poétique comme une façon d'essayer une expression de la réalité qui soit à la fois écoute et parole, ou bien ouverture et réponse. Pour María Zambrano la poésie sait comment y réussir et, à son avis, la philosophie le pourra aussi réaliser, si elle renonce à un discours autarcique et tout à (...) fait éthique. Ainsi elle l'a essayé en choisissant la penumbra tocada de alegría. (shrink)

O conceito moderno de ‘estilo’ – dο qual deriva o de ‘estilística’, disciplina que foi testemunha da querela entre a Linguística e os estudos literários no século XX – herdou da Retórica antiga o seu conteúdo e foi largamente usado como tradução direta do conceito latino ‘elocutio’, e como tradução de conceitos gregos, como ἑρμηνεία, λέξις e φράσις. Há ainda outros conceitos que parecem intimamente ligados ao de estilo, como os de ‘ornatum’ e ‘decorum’. Compreendendo que as referências clássicas do (...) conceito de ‘estilo’ se mostram essenciais para a escrita da história deste conceito moderno, este artigo buscará apresentar um catálogo de conceitos antigos que encontraram no ‘estilo’ a sua tradição tradutória, além de tentar construir uma breve história de cada um desses percursos tradutórios. (shrink)

For the epic journey of autumn migration, long-distance migratory birds use innate and learned information and follow strict schedules imposed by genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, the details of which remain largely unknown. In addition, bird migration requires integrated action of different multisensory systems for learning and memory, and the hippocampus appears to be the integration center for this task. In previous studies we found that contrasting long-distance migratory flights differentially affected the morphological complexity of two types of hippocampus astrocytes. Recently, (...) a significant association was found between the latitude of the reproductive site and the size of the ADCYAP1 allele in long distance migratory birds. We tested for correlations between astrocyte morphological complexity, migratory distances, and size of the ADCYAP1 allele in three long-distance migrant species of shorebird and one non-migrant. Significant differences among species were found in the number and morphological complexity of the astrocytes, as well as in the size of the microsatellites of the ADCYAP1 gene. We found significant associations between the size of the ADCYAP1 microsatellites, the migratory distances, and the degree of morphological complexity of the astrocytes. We suggest that associations between astrocyte number and morphological complexity, ADCYAP1 microsatellite size, and migratory behavior may be part of the adaptive response to the migratory process of shorebirds. (shrink)

Ce travail cherche, d’une part, à légitimer théoriquement l ’articulation entre Philosophie et Littérature, moyennant la compréhension du sens du rapport philosophie-non philosophie chez Paul Ricoeur; d'autre part, il cherche à montrer la fécondité de ce rapport, dans un mode de transmission de la Philosophie qui ait en considération la nature épistémologique de cette discipline et qui, donc, configure cette transmission comme le développement d’un dialogue entre libertés. En ce qui concerne la légitimation théorique, elle mettra au centre de la (...) reflexion la signification du thème du langage chez Ricoeur, et aussi la portée philosophique de ses essais, de développer un dialogue de tous les champs théoriques, qui se disent dans le langage, y compris la littérature. Le but sera de montrer que la liaison philosophie-littérature peut-être apportera-t-elle une richesse à la réflexion philosophique elle-même, et aussi à sa transmission. (shrink)

Este texto procura encontrar um princípio hermenêutico que dê acesso a uma leitura de unidade da obra de Ricoeur. Nesse contexto, experimenta a tese de que a filosofia ricoeuriana se deixa interpretar como um caso no interior do pensamento crítico de herança kantiana, como uma filosofia dos limites da razão, não no sentido originário, de investigação sobre as condições de possibilidade do conhecimento objectivo, mas por poder ser lida como uma pesquisa sistematica para encontrar as condições em que é possível (...) ao pensar, à discursividade, dizer, num saber constituído, a existência. Assim, tratar-se-á do significado "crítico" de Le volontaire et l'involontaire que, sendo a primeira obra do projecto da Filosofia da Vontade. lhe determina as condição de possibilidade, ao propor os princípios teóricos fundantes da constituição de um discurso unitário sobre o humano enquanto expressão de uma existência histórica e livre. /// Ce texte veut trouver un principe herméneutique qui donne accès à une lecture unitaire de l'oeuvre de Ricoeur. C'est dans ce contexte que l'on avance la thèse selon laquelle la philosophie ricoeurienne doit être interprétée comme un cas à l'intérieur de la pensée critique d'héritage kantien, comme une philosophie des limites de la raison, non pas dans le sens d'investigation des conditions de possibilité de la connaissance objective, mais parce que cette philosophie peut être lue comme une recherche systématique en vue de trouver les conditions dans lesquelles le penser, le discours, peut, en un savoir constitué, dire l'existence. On s'occupera donc du sens "critique" de Le volontaire et l'involontaire qui, comme première oeuvre du projet de la Philosophie de la l'olonté, assigne à celle-ci ses conditions de possibilité en proposant les principes théoriques qui fondent la constitution d'un discours unitaire à propos de l'humain en tant qu'expression d'une existence historique et libre. /// This text seeks to find a hermeneutical principle which permits a reading of Ricoeur's work as a whole. In this context, it is proposed that Ricoeur's philosophy may be interpreted with the Kantian tradition of the critical thought as a philosophy of limits for reason; this is not to be taken in the original sense of the conditions of possibility for objective knowledge but rather as sistematic investigation to discover the conditions which make possible thought and discourse concerning existence. It is thus that the "criticism" of Le volontaire et l'involontaire, the first work of his Philosophy of the Will. can be seen as determining these conditions of possibility by proposing fundamental theoretical principles of the constitution of unitary discourse is relation to the human experience, understood as historical and free existence. (shrink)

Em "Do útil e do honesto" Montaigne indaga se, na defesa do Estado, haveria limites éticos para a ação do príncipe. O príncipe deve pautar-se pelo útil ou pelo honesto? Argumenta que o "devoir publique" é o limite da dedicação do súdito a um príncipe, o qual deve preservar a liberdade de julgamento. Ir além dos limites da consciência no serviço público é arriscar a confiança dos outros na veracidade de suas próprias palavras. Não há razão superior à razão de (...) consciência. Enquanto para Maquiavel o conceito de utilidade é fundamental, para Montaigne o útil não é o honesto. Ainda que a utilidade pública, mesmo que por uma "razão mais geral", obrigue à desonestidade, a moralidade deve vigorar no espaço público. A honestidade, no interior do espaço público, é uma força instituinte da sociedade política. Todavia, a pretensão à verdade e o cuidado com a "paix publique" são definitivamente distintos. Montaigne afirma a incompatibilidade entre a moral e a política, mas almeja um príncipe que não ignore o honesto. In "Of the useful and of the honest" Montaigne questions if, in the defense of the State, there shoud be any ethical limits to the action of the prince. Must the prince be guided by the useful or the honest? He argues that the "devoir publique" is the limit subjects have to respect in their dedication to the prince, preserving their freedom of judgment. In public affairs, going beyond the limits of conscience is risking the trust of others in the truth of one's words. There is no reason higher than consciousness. While, according to Machiavelli, the concept of utility is fundamental, Montaigne distingishes the useful from the honest. Even if the public utility (hence a "more general reason") may impose dishonesty, morality should prevail in the public space. Within the public space honesty is essential to institute the political society. However, to be truthful and to care about the "paix publique" are definitely different. Montaigne assumes the incompatibility between morality and politics, but not a prince who ignores the difference between the useful and the honest. (shrink)

O presente estudo constitui um ensaio crítico de reflexão sobre a questão dos limites da linguagem em Wittgenstein. A perspectiva deste estudo observa, numa primeira parte, o próprio procedimento do método wittgen-steiniano e segue um modelo de discurso plural, a partir de várias perspectivas que, não só permitem desconstruir a aparente unidade da razão, como indagar interiormente do próprio limite da análise wittgensteiniana. Retomando a caracterização da linguagem e do pensamento nos seus traços fundamentais, desde o "Tractatus" até às "Investigações (...) Filosóficas", chama-se a atenção para os pontos de dificuldade, da indefinição e da cons-trutividade do modelo de Wittgenstein. A plena lição do "autómaton" da linguagem face a uma possível diferenciação dos signos e aprofundamento lógico, constitui uma parte desta reflexão que se complementa pela referência aos horizontes de resíduo do não-linguístico, ou até do indizível, numa dupla maneira de estabelecer os limites da linguagem. Enfim, e a título conclusivo, apontam-se, não apenas os contornos do que se entende como uma moral retórica da linguagem em Wittgenstein, mas para perspectivas originais de um reaprofundamento em termos etioló-gicos de diferenciação de escala da lógica e da linguagem, e de recuperação de uma intencionalidade psico-lógico-linguística superando aquela indiferen-ciação do dizer no automático da fala estatuída na "ordinary language". /// La présente étude constitue un essai critique qui réfléchie sur la question des limites du langage dans la philosophie de Wittgenstein. Dans une première partie la perspective de cette réflexion analise les procédés que Wittgenstein lui-même utilise dans sa méthode, et pour cela se sert d'un modèle de discours pluriel, lequel permet non seulement la déconstruction de l'apparente unité de la raison, mais aussi faire une enquête au dedans des limites de l'analyse wittgensteinienne. Reprenant la caractérisation du langage et de la pensée dans ses traits principaux, dès le "Tractatus" jusqu'aux "Investigations Philosophiques", on remarque les points de difficulté, d'indéfînition et de constructivité du modèle de Wittgenstein. La leçon de l'"autômaton" du langage face à une possible diférenciation des signes et l'approfondissement logique, constitue une partie de cette réflexion, qui se complémente par la référence aux horizons résiduels du non-linguistique, ou de l'indicible même, dans une double manière d'établir les limites du langage. Finalement, et comme une conclusion, on remarque, non seulement les contours de ce qu'on considère une morale réthorique du langage chez Witt- genstein, mais aussi pour les perspectives originelles qui permettent reprendre profondément, en termes étiologiques les différences d'échelles logique et linguistique, et récuperer une intentionalité psycho-logico-linguistique. Ainsi on réussit à supérer cette indifférenciation du dire dans l'authomatique de la parole qui s'etablie dans l'"ordinary language". /// The present study is a critical essay on the question of language's limits in Wittgenstein's thought. First of all, the view of this study observes how Wittgensteinian method proceeds. This investigation adopts a pluralistic model of speach, from several points of view, which not only allow to desconstruct the pseudo-unity of reason, but also, make possible to investigate about the inner limits of Wittgenstein's analysis. The Author remarks the difficulties of the non-definition and the construed vity of the Wittgensteinian model of thought, remembering the characteristic relationship language and thought, from Tractatus, to Philosophical Investigations. In order to a possible differenciation of signs and deeper logical analysis, the "automaton" of languages gives us a lesson which is another important part of this reflexion. This point is completed by the reference on the residual boundaries of non-linguistic, or even, non sayable, in a double way of establishing the limits of language. At last, and as a conclusion, the author points out, not only the outlines of the so called "rethoric moral" of language in Wittgenstein philosophy, but also to original views. These views allow a new deeper understanding, in ethiological terms. Different logical and linguistical scales are pointed as a mean, to recover a psycho-logico-linguistic intentionality, overcoming the indifferenciation of authomatic speech as established in "ordinary language". (shrink)

Cet article compare deux livres majeurs : La Symbolique du mal, de Paul Ricœur et La Littérature et le mal, de Georges Bataille. L’articulation de ces deux penseurs que tout semble opposer répond à l’espoir de dégager une forme de compatibilité productive entre eux à travers leur intérêt commun pour le langage du mal. On insistera tout d’abord sur Ricœur : c’est en reconnaissant que le dire de l’expérience du mal passe d’abord nécessairement par un langage symbolique qu’il nous permet (...) de penser l’insistance de Bataille sur la place de la littérature quant au mal. On montrera ensuite que l’affirmation par Bataille d’une lucidité littéraire moderne du mal, tout en permettant de confirmer les thèses de Ricœur au sujet du caractère à la fois historique et langagier de l’expérience du mal, nous conduit aussi à en formuler la principale conséquence : que le langage du mal, marqué du sceau de la créativité poétique, ne peut sans doute pas être tenu pour achevé. On soulignera enfin l’intérêt de cette approche pour interpréter, avec la littérature, les nouvelles expériences du mal aujourd’hui. (shrink)

In Brazil, the CNPq provides grants, funds and fellowships to productive scientists to support their investigations. They are ranked and categorized into four hierarchical levels ranging from PQ 1A to PQ 1D. Few studies, however, report and analyse scientific productivity in different sub-fields of Biomedical Sciences, e.g., Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Biophysics and Physiology. In fact, systematic comparisons of productivity among the PQ 1 categories within the above sub-fields are lacking in the literature. Here, the scientific productivity of 323 investigators receiving PQ (...) 1 fellowships in these sub-fields of BS was investigated. The Scopus database was used to compile the total number of articles, citations, h-index values and authorship positions in the most cited papers by researchers granted CNPq fellowships. We found that researchers from Pharmacology had the best performance for all of the parameters analysed, followed by those in Biochemistry. There was great variability in scientific productivity within the PQ 1A level in all of the sub-fields of BS, but not within the other levels. Analysis of the most cited papers of PQ 1 researchers in Pharmacology revealed that the citations of researchers in the 1C and 1D levels were associated with publications with their senior supervisors, whereas those in the 1B level were less connected with their supervisors in comparison to those in 1A. Taken together, these findings suggest that the scientific performance of PQ 1A researchers in BS is not homogenous. In our opinion, parameters such as the most cited papers without the involvement of Ph.D. and/or post-doctoral supervisors should be used to make decisions regarding any given researcher’s fellowship award level. (shrink)

‘Social auditing’ is everywhere. An increasing number of companies – and also public and voluntary sector organisations – are trying to assess their social performance systematically. Shell, BP and General Motors are among them. How are they doing it? What impact do NGOs and civil society organisations have on this process? Do they have a privileged place in social audits? This article looks at these questions, and sets out a framework for understanding social audits and civil society. Examples are drawn (...) particularly from the recent Camelot social audit (‘Camelot and Social Responsibility’, Social Report 1999). Camelot plc is the operator of the UK national lottery. (shrink)

Not all symmetries are on a par. For instance, within Newtonian mechanics, we seem to have a good grasp on the empirical significance of boosts, by applying it to subsystems. This is exemplified by the thought experiment known as Galileo’s ship: the inertial state of motion of a ship is immaterial to how events unfold in the cabin, but is registered in the values of relational quantities such as the distance and velocity of the ship relative to the shore. But (...) the significance of gauge symmetries seems less clear. For example, can gauge transformations in Yang-Mills theory—taken as mere descriptive redundancy—exhibit a similar relational empirical significance as the boosts of Galileo’s ship? This question has been debated in the last fifteen years in philosophy of physics. I will argue that the answer is ‘yes’, but only for a finite subset of gauge transformations, and under special conditions. Under those conditions, we can mathematically identify empirical significance with a failure of supervenience: the state of the Universe is not uniquely determined by the intrinsic state of its isolated subsystems. Empirical significance is therefore encoded in those relations between subsystems that stand apart from their intrinsic states. (shrink)

Why is gauge symmetry so important in modern physics, given that one must eliminate it when interpreting what the theory represents? In this paper we discuss the sense in which gauge symmetry can be fruitfully applied to constrain the space of possible dynamical models in such a way that forces and charges are appropriately coupled. We review the most well-known application of this kind, known as the 'gauge argument' or 'gauge principle', discuss its difficulties, and then reconstruct the gauge argument (...) as a valid theorem in quantum theory. We then present what we take to be a better and more general gauge argument, based on Noether's second theorem in classical Lagrangian field theory, and argue that this provides a more appropriate framework for understanding how gauge symmetry helps to constrain the dynamics of physical theories. (shrink)

This article aims to rethink the meaning of “nature” and the human in Plato, more specifically through some examples contained in the _Phaedrus_, a rare dialogue further away from the city. Phaedrus and Socrates leave Athens on a path outside the walls, past the Ilisus stream and the breeze of the woods, and end up sitting in the shadows of trees full of singing cicadas. What is the meaning of this scenario in the construction o the text? Is it possible (...) to learn from oak trees or insects? The philosophizing of this dialogue passes through the coolness of the shadows of the trees in the hot summer noon. This sensuous topography through the text reveals the writer Plato wary of the enveloping meaning of the living drama between Phaedrus and Socrates. The audience and participation of natural elements, trees and cicadas in the dialogue reveals an involvement of the discourse with the surrounding atmosphere, a special concern of Socrates in his palinode and in his final prayer to Pan. In this dialogue, more than distinct and removed from nature, we think the human being (and reason) immersed in it - in an attempt to integrate a mythological and dialogical search between river, rock, plants, animals, humans, gods and demigods. The image of an overly rationalist and humanist Plato finds in this text a perspective of an inspired writer, a hybrid poet and philosopher, with a mission to restore language and the city to animal and cosmic life. (shrink)

Since communication and expression are central aspects of music performance it is important to develop a systematic pedagogy of teaching children and teenagers expressiveness. Although research has been growing in this area a comprehensive literature review that unifies the different approaches to teaching young musicians expressiveness has been lacking. Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide an overview of literature related to teaching and learning of expressiveness from music psychology and music education research in order to build a (...) new theoretical framework for teaching and learning expressive music performance in instrumental music lessons with children and teenagers. The article will start with a brief discussion of interpretation and expression in music performance, before providing an overview of studies that investigated teaching and learning of performance expression in instrumental music education with adults and children. On the foundation of this research a theoretical framework for dialogic teaching and learning of expressive music performance will be proposed and the rationale explained. Dialogic teaching can be useful for scaffolding young musicians’ learning of expressivity as open questions can stimulate thinking about the interpretation and may serve to connect musical ideas to the embodied experience of the learner. A “toolkit” for teaching and learning of expressiveness will be presented for practical application in music lessons. In addition, a theoretical model will be proposed to further our understanding of teaching and learning of expressive music performance as a multifaceted and interactive process that is embedded in the context of tutors’ and learners’ experiences and environment. Finally, implications of this framework and suggestions for future research will be discussed. (shrink)

After a brief introduction to issues that plague the realization of a theory of quantum gravity, I suggest that the main one concerns defining superpositions of causal structures. This leads me to a distinction between time and space, to a further degree than that present in the canonical approach to general relativity. With this distinction, one can make sense of superpositions as interference between alternative paths in the relational configuration space of the entire Universe. But the full use of relationalism (...) brings us to a timeless picture of Nature, as it does in the canonical approach. After a discussion of Parmenides and the Eleatics' rejection of time, I show that there is middle ground between their view of absolute timelessness and a view of physics taking place in timeless configuration space. In this middle ground, even though change does not fundamentally exist, the illusion of change can be recovered in a way not permitted by Parmenides. It is recovered through a particular density distribution over configuration space which gives rise to 'records'. Incidentally, this distribution seems to have the potential to dissolve further aspects of the measurement problem that can still be argued to haunt the application of decoherence to Many-Worlds quantum mechanics. I end with a discussion indicating that the conflict between the conclusions of this paper and our view of the continuity of the self may still intuitively bother us. Nonetheless, those conclusions should be no more challenging to our intuition than Derek Parfit's thought experiments on the subject. (shrink)

In this short text, a distinguished philosopher turns his attention to one of the oldest and most fundamental philosophical problems of all: How it is that we are able to sort and classify different things as being of the same natural class? Professor Armstrong carefully sets out six major theories—ancient, modern, and contemporary—and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each. Recognizing that there are no final victories or defeats in metaphysics, Armstrong nonetheless defends a traditional account of universals as the (...) most satisfactory theory we have.This study is written for advanced students, but as Armstrong goes considerably beyond his earlier work on this topic, it will interest professional scholars as well. Carefully plotted and clearly written, Universals is both a paradigm of exposition and a case study on the value of careful analysis of fundamental issues in philosophy. (shrink)

In this important study D. M. Armstrong offers a comprehensive system of analytical metaphysics that synthesises but also develops his thinking over the last twenty years. Armstrong's analysis, which acknowledges the 'logical atomism' of Russell and Wittgenstein, makes facts the fundamental constituents of the world, examining properties, relations, numbers, classes, possibility and necessity, dispositions, causes and laws. All these, it is argued, find their place and can be understood inside a scheme of states of affairs. This is a comprehensive and (...) rigorously this-worldly account of the most general features of reality, argued from a distinctive philosophical perspective, and it will appeal to a wide readership in analytical philosophy. (shrink)

O artigo procura considerar a fecundidade da ideia de arte e da própria criação artística no interior da prática filosófica de Marilena Chaui a partir de quatro pontos: i - a defesa de uma estética que não seja meramente pautada pelo julgamento de gosto e pela experiência do belo, mas por relações ativas entre arte, vida, crítica e engajamento social; ii - um parêntese de uma história pessoal que entrelaça política, ensino e literatura; iii - uma análise da escrita não (...) apenas filosófica, mas literária da autora, em uma comparação à própria escrita de Espinosa; iv - a importância da voz e da criação no ensino de filosofia de Chaui. (shrink)

Barbour’s interpretation of Mach’s principle led him to postulate that gravity should be formulated as a dynamical theory of spatial conformal geometry, or in his terminology, “shapes.” Recently, it was shown that the dynamics of General Relativity can indeed be formulated as the dynamics of shapes. This new Shape Dynamics theory, unlike earlier proposals by Barbour and his collaborators, implements local spatial conformal invariance as a gauge symmetry that replaces refoliation invariance in General Relativity. It is the purpose of this (...) paper to answer frequent questions about (new) Shape Dynamics, such as its relation to Poincaré invariance, General Relativity, Constant Mean (extrinsic) Curvature gauge, earlier Shape Dynamics, and finally the conformal approach to the initial value problem of General Relativity. Some of these relations can be clarified by considering a simple model: free electrodynamics and its dual shift symmetric formulation. This model also serves as an example where symmetry trading is used for usual gauge theories. (shrink)

In an accompanying paper Gomes, we have put forward an interpretation of quantum mechanics based on a non-relativistic, Lagrangian 3+1 formalism of a closed Universe M, existing on timeless configuration space \ of some field over M. However, not much was said there about the role of locality, which was not assumed. This paper is an attempt to fill that gap. Locality in full can only emerge dynamically, and is not postulated. This new understanding of locality is based solely on (...) the properties of extremal paths in configuration space. I do not demand locality from the start, as it is usually done, but showed conditions under which certain systems exhibit it spontaneously. In this way we recover semi-classical local behavior when regions dynamically decouple from each other, a notion more appropriate for extension into quantum mechanics. The dynamics of a sub-region O within the closed manifold M is independent of its complement, \, if the projection of extremal curves on \ onto the space of extremal curves intrinsic to O is a surjective map. This roughly corresponds to \, where \ is a linear projection. This criterion for locality can be made approximate—an impossible feat had it been already postulated—and it can be applied for theories which do not have hyperbolic equations of motion, and/or no fixed causal structure. When two regions are mutually independent according to the criterion proposed here, the semi-classical path integral kernel factorizes, showing cluster decomposition which is the ultimate aim of a definition of locality. (shrink)

Through a theoretical examination of the preventive turn in criminal law and justice which has gained momentum in Anglo-American criminal justice systems since the late-twentieth century, The Preventive Turn in Criminal Law demonstrates how recent transformations in criminal law and justiceare intrinsically related to and embedded in the way liberal society and liberal law have been imagined, developed, and conditioned by its social, political, and historical context. Henrique Carvalho identifies a tension between the idea of punishment as an expression of (...) individual justice, andprevention as a manifestation of the need for security and the promotion of welfare. Tracing this tension back to an intrinsic ambivalence within the modern conception of individual liberty, which is both repressed and preserved by liberal conceptions of responsibility and punishment, Carvalhoproves that as long as this ambivalence remains unexamined, liberal law has the potential to both promote and undermine individual justice.Engaging with the dominant contemporary literature on criminal law, prevention, risk, security, and criminalisation, this volume deploys a theoretical perspective developed through a critical analysis of both classical and contemporary works of social and political theory. The book reveals that thepervasiveness of prevention in 21st century criminal justice systems represents not only the consequence of new and unprecedented features of contemporary politics and society, but also the manifestation of essential aspects of the liberal legal and political tradition. (shrink)

The article aims to reconstruct the seventeenth-century debate of the scientific nature of mathematics and the possibility of conceiving an idea of a positive infinite to address the philosophical implications of mathematics in Spinoza’s work, emphasizing the geometric ordering in his Ethics. We will approach the mathematical thinking of that philosopher from three perspectives: the pedagogical, the epistemological and the ontological. In the pedagogical sense, his synthetic geometry aims to inhabit the evidence as rhetorical and pedagogical expression of a perfect (...) and self-evident concatenation that leads the progress of the reader through philosophical propositions. In the epistemological sense, we have the aim of inhabiting the thing defined by a genetic definition that provides the very acting essence of a thing. That epistemological sense provides us the difference between a definition of a thing by its predicates or through its inner essence. And finally, in the ontological sense of inhabiting the infinite itself, because geometry can bring us the proper way to conceive the positive idea of the absolutely infinite in which we necessarily are and take part. (shrink)

In this paper, we propose Kripke-style models for the logics of evidence and truth LETJ and LETF. These logics extend, respectively, Nelson’s logic N4 and the logic of first-degree entailment with a classicality operator ∘ that recovers classical logic for formulas in its scope. According to the intended interpretation here proposed, these models represent a database that receives information as time passes, and such information can be positive, negative, non-reliable, or reliable, while a formula ∘A means that the information about (...) A, either positive or negative, is reliable. This proposal is in line with the interpretation of N4 and FDE as information-based logics, but adds to the four scenarios expressed by them two new scenarios: reliable information for the truth and for the falsity of a given proposition. (shrink)

O presente artigo pretende fazer uma exposição de temas e duas personalidades da história do pensamento e das letras no Brasil. Benedito Nunes e Clarice Lispector. Razão e imaginação que se encontram na memória, personagem Macabéa, da novela a hora da estrela de Clarice Lispector. A vida da moça nordestina: desvalida, solteira, obtusa, enfermiça, desamparada, religiosa. É o centro onde os dois autores circulam e adentram como em uma atmosfera oceânica. O que trazem? O Mistério perene que é a vida (...) humana. (shrink)

Describing a Mundus Novus was a very singular task in the sixteenth century. It was an effort shaped by a permanent inherent tension between novelty and normality, between the immense variety of new facts and the demand of credibility. How did these inner strains affect the narrative style of the first descriptions of the natural world of ‘the Indies’? How were the first European observers of the nature of America able to simultaneously transmit the idea of immensity and regularity, and (...) that of novelty? How did they attempt to describe new worlds knowing that there was a lot – perhaps too much – to tell? This paper focuses not on the much-discussed epistemological issues related to those questions, but on their narrative and stylistic consequences. We argue that the first Europeans meeting the new realities of the Americas or India had to meet new challenges, and these translated into texts with specific characteristics. Thus, their first descriptions are essentially different from the texts about the natural world that were written before or after the ‘discovery’. We show that they adopted very specific discursive approaches, and were deeply influenced by the credibility strategies of the medical profession in which they had been trained. (shrink)

A FUNÇÃO SOCIAL DA POSSE COMO PARÂMETRO PARA TRATAMENTO DOS CONFLITOS FUNDIÁRIOS URBANOS.

A Era Tecnológica em que vivemos agrava os riscos de despersonalização do ser humano, sobretudo no campo da Medicina, subvertendo a ordem de a ciência servir à pessoa. Cuidados paliativos e direitos do paciente terminal apresenta análise pioneira da terminalidade da vida à luz do Direito Civil, com ênfase nos direitos da personalidade, da Bioética e da Filosofia de Emmanuel Lévinas. São alguns tópicos de destaque- - pessoa e personalidade; - direitos da personalidade; - futilidade terapêutica; - cuidados em saúde (...) para pacientes terminais; - qualidade de vida na enfermidade; - decisões em fim de vida; - ética à beira do leito do paciente; - direitos sobre o próprio estado de saúde; - diretivas antecipadas de vontade. Obra de sensibilidade ímpar, Cuidados paliativos e direitos do paciente terminal destina-se a estudantes e profissionais do Direito e da área da saúde, e a todos aqueles que se interessam por discussão tão delicada e necessária nos dias atuais. Para acessar as atualizações dos textos legais após a publicação da obra e outros documentos sobre o tema, acesse- manoleeducacao.com.br/cuidados-paliativos. (shrink)

Bergson e a sociologia.--Problemas de filosofía do direito.--Direito e evolucionismo.--Código de Hamurabi e codificac̦ões anteriores.--Ideais jurídicos.--Problemas da planificac̦ão através do direito.--Aspectos da sociologia juridíca de Gurvitch.--A problemática da sociologia política.

This chapter explores the debate between contemporary projectivists or expressivists, and the advocates of sensibility theory. Both positions are best viewed as forms of sentimentalism — the theory that evaluative concepts must be explicated by appeal to the sentiments. It argues that the sophisticated interpretation of such notions as “true” and “objective” that are offered by defenders of these competing views ultimately undermines the significance of their meta-ethical disputes over “cognitivism” and “realism” about value. Their fundamental disagreement lies in moral (...) psychology; it concerns how best to understand the emotions to which sentimentalist theories must appeal. (shrink)

The inherent difficulty in talking about quantum decoherence in the context of quantum cosmology is that decoherence requires subsystems, and cosmology is the study of the whole Universe. Consistent histories gave a possible answer to this conundrum, by phrasing decoherence as loss of interference between alternative histories of closed systems. When one can apply Boolean logic to a set of histories, it is deemed ‘consistent’. However, the vast majority of the sets of histories that are merely consistent are blatantly nonclassical (...) in other respects, and further constraints than just consistency need to be invoked. In this paper, I attempt to give an alternative answer to the issues faced by consistent histories, by exploring a timeless interpretation of quantum mechanics of closed systems. This is done solely in terms of path integrals in non-relativistic, timeless, configuration space. What prompts a fresh look at such foundational problems in this context is the advent of multiple gravitational models in which Lorentz symmetry is not fundamental, but only emergent. And what allows this approach to overcome previous barriers to a timeless, conditional probabilities interpretation of quantum mechanics is the new notion of records—made possible by an inherent asymmetry of configuration space. I outline and explore consequences of this approach for foundational issues of quantum mechanics, such as the natural emergence of the Born rule, conservation of probabilities, and the Sleeping Beauty paradox. (shrink)