Este artículo muestra el probable origen de las concepciones del desarrollo linear ascendente, cuyos representantes más conocidos en la era moderna fueron Hegel y Marx. En contraposición al concepto circular de la evolución histórica, que fue el predominante en muchas culturas, las doctrinas del des..

El texto muestra la complejidad de la discusión en torno al sentido y la dirección de la historia, en especial, la dificultad mayor de una dotación de sentido en favor del desarrollo histórico en el mundo actual. El ensayo reconstruye brevemente la posición pesimista de la Escuela de Frankfurt sobre..

Culture’s main task is to offer mankind a context of stability (human beings have been a specially precarious species), which allows it to display a notable civilizing capacity. During thousands of years the core of culture has been religion. But human norms and structures do not have the consis..

resumenEl ensayo trata de resaltar diversos aspectos promisorios y progresistas contenidos en el llamado orden premoderno y en la época anterior a la Primera Guerra mundial. Entre estos factores se hallaban la configuración de una estructura familiar sólida, la existencia de individualidades fuertes con concepciones firmes sobre la ética cotidiana y una cultura todavía alejada del relativismo axiológico a ultranza. Esta era del liberalismo clásico se diferenciaba del actual “capitalismo volátil”, caracterizado por su narcisismo autorreferencial y sus tendencias tecnocráticas. A (...) lo positivo del mundo de ayer contribuyó una aristocracia con algunos rasgos premodernos, que reconocía los límites que nos imponen el entorno natural y las carencias humanas.Palabras clave:alta cultura, aristocracia, límites, modernidad, tradicionalidadThe essay tries to detect some promising and progressive aspects which were embodied in the so-called premodern order and in the time previous to the First World War. Among those factors we can mention a solid familiar structure, the existence of strong individualities with firm conceptions about the daily sphere of ethics and a high culture, which was still very distant from the actual and extreme relativism of values. That time of classical liberalism was very different in comparison with the actual “volatile capitalism”, which is characterized by selfrefering narcissism and technocratic tendencies. A contribution to the positive aspects of the world of yesterday was done by an aristocracy, which acknowledged the limits fixed upon us by the natural environment and the human failures.Key words:high culture, aristocracy, limits, modernity, traditionality. (shrink)

ResumenBasado en elementos de la filosofía clásica, el common sense británico y la Escuela de Frankfurt, el autor postula un sentido común guiado críticamente, que serviría para evaluar las tendencias históricas y los modelos de modernización en el Tercer Mundo. Evitando extremos, este teorema rechazaría tanto las pretensiones de verdad de muchos enfoques racionalistas como el relativismo epistemológico y ético. La existencia de leyes y etapas obligatorias de la historia es uno de esos extremos; otro es la opción teórica que (...) afirma que los modelos culturales son incomparables e inconmensurables entre sí. La existencia de un solo paradigma normativo-positivo de desarrollo es insostenible, pero igualmente la posición que decreta la diversidad e incomparabilidad totales de los regímenes civilizatorios. Es conveniente adoptar una línea intermedia entre universalismo y particularismo y alcanzar una síntesis fructífera de ambos.Palabras claveEscuela de Frankfurt, Habermas, Kant, particularismo, sentido común, universalismoAbstractBased on elements of classical philosophy, the British common sense and the Frankfurt School, the author proposes a critically guided common sense, which could be used to evaluate historical tendencies and specially the modernization efforts in the Third World. Avoiding extremes, this theorem rejects the pretensions of truth of rationalist theories and also the epistemic and ethic relativism. The existence of obligatory laws and periods of historical development is one of these extremes; the other one is the position which states that cultural models are incomparable and immeasurable. It is reasonable, for instance, to take a middle way between universalism and particularism and also to reach a fruitful synthesis between both currents.KeywordsCommon sense, Frankfurt School, Habermas, Kant, particularism, universalism. (shrink)

RESUMENUn intento por comprender la realidad sociopolítica podría consistir en situarse entre posiciones que marcan polos opuestos en el espectro de las ideas. Desde la filosofía griega se conocen las bondades y desventajas de colocarse en puntos intermedios que se hallan entre actitudes extremas en lo concerniente a asuntos morales y sociales. Una de las respuestas plausibles es una forma de eclecticismo, que tendría la función de una síntesis fructífera. Este teorema del sentido común guiado críticamente se asienta en concepciones (...) filosóficas clásicas, incluyendo la Escuela de Frankfurt. El ensayo pone como ejemplo principal el tratamiento de las utopías políticas.PLABARAS CLAVEARISTÓTELES, HABERMAS, HEGEL, SENTIDO COMÚN, TEORÍA CRÍTICA, UTOPÍAABSTRACTAn effort to understand the social-political reality could consist in taking a position between opposite poles in the spectrum of ideas. The advantages and disadvantages of placing oneself midway between extreme attitudes concerning moral and social problems have been aknowledged since Greek philosophy. A plausible answer is a form of eclecticism, which could have the function of a fertile synthesis. This theorem of a critically guided common sense is based on classic philosophic conceptions, including the Frankfurt School. This essay sets the analysis of political utopias as a main example.KEY WORDSARISTOTLE, COMMON SENSE, CRITICAL THEORY, UTOPY. (shrink)

The fundamental tenet of contemporary sociobiology, namely the assumption of a single process of evolution involving the selection of genes, is critically examined. An alternative multiple-level, multiple-process model of evolution is presented which posits that the primary process that operates via selection upon the genes cannot account for certain kinds of biological phenomena, especially complex, learned, social behaviours. The primary process has evolved subsidiary evolutionary levels and processes that act to bridge the gap between genes and these complex behaviours. The (...) subsidiary levels are development, individual animal learning, and socioculture itself. It is argued that individual learning is pivotal to the derivation and biological analysis of culture. The differences between cultural and noncultural societies are stressed. It is concluded that such a multiple-level model of evolution can form the basis for reconciling opposing sides in the sociobiology debate. (shrink)

Many of the commentaries cohere around two major points of criticism. The first is that we have omitted discussion of the mechanisms that are assumed to operate at levels 2, 3, and 4.Campbell, Cloak, Dewsbury, Eckberg, Mundinger, Pulliam, Richerson & Boyd, Slobodkin, Simon, Williams, andWahlstenall make comments that bear on this point. The second point is that we have omitted discussion of the fact that "organisms change the environment by their activities" and thereby modify the selection pressures that act on (...) them. Apart from Lewontin, this point has been raised in different forms byBarkow, Chase, Hull, Perzigian, Ruyle, and less directly bySlobodkin. Stemming from these two basic omissions there is a third general criticism. Numerous commentators have pointed out that we have failed to discuss sufficiently either the extent or nature of the constraints that may or may not be operating on supraordinate evolutionary processes as a function of their nested relationships to subordinate evolutionary processes within our scheme. We start by acknowledging these three basic omissions. We agree that they exist and that they are serious. (shrink)

Training for members of research ethics committees varies from state to state in Europe. To follow this up, the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice organised a workshop in March 2007 to explore these issues and look for solutions. This article summarises the discussion, providing ways forward to develop REC training.