Se ofrecen los materiales de una experiencia de empatía histórica para 4º de ESO, en la que los estudiantes deben construir una explicación para la aparente posición favorable al abosolutismo de gran parte del pueblo español con el regreso de Fernando VII en 1814. A partir de fuentes primarias, tanto textos como imágenes, los estudiantes van explorando diferentes aspectos de las circunstancias, ideas e intereses que convergen en aquellos acontecimientos y que constituirán la materia prima de su razonamiento histórico.

Explorar y debatir múltiples perspectivas sobre los acontecimientos del pasado es una orientación curricular tan aceptada entre los investigadores, como poco frecuente en nuestras aulas de historia. Como en entregas anteriores de esta serie de artículos, se analiza aquí esta orientación curricular a la luz de las investigaciones y experiencias publicadas, tratando de esclarecer en qué consiste, sus claves, sus prácticas más habituales y por qué resulta valiosa para los estudiantes. La multiperspectividad está en la misma esencia de la historia (...) como disciplina. Se opone a la memoria, caracterizada por relatos cerrados que imponen una única versión del pasado. En esta tensión entre disciplina y memoria, la práctica de la enseñanza de la historia ha apostado habitualmente por la segunda. Pero aprender a analizar, valorar y debatir las distintas versiones del mundo del pasado tiene mucho más valor curricular. Multiperspetividad no sólo significa comprender la verdadera naturaleza polémica, abierta y crítica de la historia, sino que es la misma base de la ciudadanía democrática. (shrink)

Dar valor al estudio de la historia constituye el problema fundamental del diseño curricular. Partiendo de esta premisa, se proponen una serie de artículos en los que se plantean hipótesis curriculares alternativas para las asignaturas de historia en Secundaria y Bachillerato, frente al enfoque tradicional enciclopédico. Cada alternativa está centrada en un valor concreto, un logro valioso que configura y da sentido a una determinada orientación curricular. En esta primera entrega se propone un currículo orientado al desarrollo de la conciencia (...) histórica, a través del estudio de los grandes procesos de transformación (técnica, económica, social, política, cultural, geopolítica…) a lo largo del tiempo. El estudiante aprende en este currículo a ver la historicidad del presente, como instantánea fugaz de un mundo en transformación constante, a valorar sus características como el resultado de esos procesos de transformación, y a analizar la complejidad de los procesos de cambio y continuidad que van conformando la realidad de cada momento histórico, incluido su presente. (shrink)

Partiendo de una revisión del debate académico sobre la empatía o toma de perspectiva histórica, se ofrece una propuesta de currículo de historia para Secundaria centrado en esta dimensión del pensamiento histórico. Este segundo artículo de la serie “El valor de la historia” indaga cómo podría ser un currículo en el que los estudiantes se enfrenten al reto de explicar por qué los seres humanos actuaron como lo hicieron en determinadas circunstancias y en el que exploren lo que creían, pensaban (...) o sentían para hacer lo que hicieron. Se analizan algunas de las claves fundamentales que deberían tenerse en cuenta en el diseño y se argumenta el valor de dar esta orientación curricular a la asignatura partiendo de la importancia de desarrollar el sentido de alteridad y de expandir su comprensión de lo que significa ser humano. (shrink)

Proyectada en 1908 y colocada en 1914, la vidriera de Nuestra Señora del Pilar fue una de las primeras vidrieras artísticas fabricadas por La Veneciana. Pese a ocupar el mayor ventanal de la catedral-basílica de Zaragoza permanece ignorada por las guías turísticas e Internet. Este trabajo arroja luz sobre dicho vitral, su diseñador y el arte sobre cristal. Analizamos su composición pilarista en el contexto de la historia civil, religiosa y legendaria de Zaragoza. Concluiremos con el profundo significado simbólico de (...) esta vidriera que consagra a la Virgen del Pilar como el honor del pueblo zaragozano, aragonés y español así como un elemento del espíritu de la reconciliación hispano-francesa de 1908. Palabras clave: vidriera artística, El Pilar, Zaragoza, La Veneciana, Guyonnet, relaciones hispano-francesas.Projected in 1908 and placed in 1914, the stained-glass window of Nuestra Señora del Pilar was one of the first artistic stained-glass windows manufactured by La Veneciana. Despite occupying the largest window of the cathedral-basilica of Zaragoza remains ignored by tourist guides and the Internet. This work sheds light on this stained-glass window, your designer and art on glass. Next, we will analyze its ‘pilarista’ composition, a synthesis of the civil, religious and legendary history of Zaragoza. We will conclude with the deep symbolic meaning of this stained-glass window, which consecrates the Virgen del Pilar as the honor of the people of Zaragoza, Aragon and Spain. Eventually, this article constitutes an invitation to consider this work as an element of the spirit of Spanish-French reconciliation of 1908. Key words: stained-glass, El Pilar, Zaragoza, La Veneciana, Guyonnet, Spanish-French relations. (shrink)

While punishment is a longstanding object of philosophical scrutiny, other controversial aspects of the justice system, such as policing, have flown under the radar. In this paper, we consider possible reasons why philosophers interested in crime and punishment have neglected policing. We make the case for a broader account of the political morality of the justice system, with a particular emphasis on policing. We sketch the outlines of an egalitarian version of such a theory, highlighting parallels between policing and the (...) welfare state. Finally, we turn to recent calls for police abolition. Evaluating such radical claims requires, we argue, going beyond the traditional confines of the philosophy of punishment and considering a more holistic and interdisciplinary theory of criminal justice. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to provide a complete Natural Kind Semantics for an Essentialist Theory of Kinds. The theory is formulated in two-sorted first order monadic modal logic with identity. The natural kind semantics is based on Rudolf Willes Theory of Concept Lattices. The semantics is then used to explain several consequences of the theory, including results about the specificity (species–genus) relations between kinds, the definitions of kinds in terms of genera and specific differences and the existence of (...) negative kinds. First, I show under which conditions the Hierarchy principle, which has been subjected to counterexamples in the literature, holds. I also show that a different principle about the species–genus relations between kinds, namely Kant’s Law, follows from the essentialist theory. Second, I introduce two new operations for kinds and show that they can be used to provide traditional definitions of kinds in terms of genera and specific differences. Finally, I show that these operations of specific difference induce, for each kind, a uniquely specified contrary kind and a uniquely specified subcontrary kind, which can be used as semantic values for non-classical predicate negations of kind terms. (shrink)

El antes y un después del comienzo de la guerra de Ucrania muestra los cambios en la opinión de los ciudadanos ante la seguridad y la defensa. No es igual en todos los países de la UE. Habrá que ver si la percepción del riesgo y la forma de hacerle frente se mantiene conforme se alarga la guerra y las consecuencias colaterales. En los gobiernos de la UE existe una cacofonía estratégica semejante a la de los ciudadanos cuando aceptan de (...) manera desigual los costes para garantizar la seguridad colectiva. Una percepción y respuesta desigual como desigual es la realidad de la UE. Las _europas _de la UE dificultan que se realice de manera cómoda los esfuerzos creadores equiparables a los peligros que la amenazan. Esfuerzos tanto en el poder blando, como en el duro. Los líderes estratégicos en la UE al margen de la retórica deben reconocer las amenazas, tomar decisiones políticas y llevar a cabo el esfuerzo continuado para reducirlas. Los ciudadanos del común aportan en número suficiente y por ahora el apoyo en ese sentido. Que en la UE no se desaproveche tanto esfuerzo del pueblo de Ucrania. (shrink)

Trabajar por la construcción de la paz, promover una educación de calidad para todos, y conceder mayor atención a las necesidades especiales de los países en situaciones de conflicto y crisis, son tres de los diecisiete objetivos de la Agenda 2030 de la Unesco. Pero ¿Quién y cómo lo hará posible? Tenemos una tarea. Hoy, aquí, desde este escenario que promueve el libre pensamiento desde la filosofía teórica y práctica, estamos haciendo una parte de la tarea. Si no lo hacemos (...) nosotros o pensamos que no se puede hacer, alguien más lo hará. A través de la historia muchos han sido los pensadores, cuya inspiración ha trascendido en el tiempo, llamando nuestra atención, causando reflexión, y hasta molestia. El primero va dirigido a quienes somos conscientes de que la educación de calidad solo es posible en un entorno de paz, y, el segundo señala a quienes la paz les incomoda, el concepto de educación les es indiferente, pero el de turbulencia les suena más familiar. (shrink)

En el Gorgias, Platón distingue el modo de ser y actuar propio del filósofofrente al modo de ser y actuar propio del retórico. Para esto, usa comocriterio a la misma retórica a partir de la distinción retórica aduladora – retóricacientífica. Frente a esto, Aristóteles realiza una toma de posición quereformula las críticas platónicas referentes a la posibilidad de una technêretórica. El presente texto confrontara las condiciones que según el Gorgiasdebe cumplir la retórica para llegar a ser technê con las características (...) que,según Aristóteles, tiene la retórica a partir de su relación con la dialéctica. (shrink)

Este libro es un estudio sobre las teor as del desarrollo social y un an lisis de las estrategias, instituciones y pol ticas econ micas de los ltimos tiempos en varios pa ses.

El ser humano se ha debatido entre lo que ha creído, cree y seguirá creyendo; pero, particularmente sobre la existencia de Dios, lo hace a su conveniencia. Cuando observan la naturaleza o el universo pueden preguntarse si surgió de una explosión hace millones de años o es creación de Dios. Filósofos, científicos y personas del común siguen buscando respuestas a sus preguntas. Es “el hombre en busca de sentido como lo propone Víctor Frank, y agrega, que, … hay en él (...) [en el hombre] una espiritualidad inconsciente: la presencia ignorada de Dios”. Es el ser humano que ha decidido ignorar, poner en duda, o negar radicalmente, la existencia de Dios, más aún cuando el mal prevalece en el mundo. No se podría negar la existencia de algo, o de alguien, que no existe. “Nadie niega a Dios, sino aquel a quien no le conviene que Dios exista” (Agustín de Hipona). “Es un nuevo ateísmo enfrentando la fe y la razón” (Antonio Cruz). “La existencia de Dios es evidente en sí misma” (Tomas de Aquino). “Tiene que haber una causa inexorable de lo creado… y ese ser sería Dios” (Aristóteles). “Mi conciencia está ligada a la palabra de Dios” (Martin Lutero). “… desde la creación del mundo conocieron a Dios, pero no quisieron adorarlo como Dios ni darle gracias. En cambio, comenzaron a inventar ideas necias sobre Dios” (Romanos 1). “Yo Soy el que Soy” (Éxodo 3:14), así define Dios Su propia existencia, creíble y conveniente. (shrink)

Bourrat and Griffiths :33, 2018) have recently argued that most of the evidence presented by holobiont defenders to support the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals is not to the point and is not even adequate to discriminate multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages that would not be considered evolutionary individuals by most holobiont defenders. They further argue that an adequate criterion to distinguish the two categories is fitness alignment, presenting the notion of fitness boundedness as a criterion that (...) allows divorcing true multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages and provides an adequate criterion to single out genuine evolutionary multispecies assemblages. A consequence of their criterion is that holobionts, as conventionally defined by hologenome defenders, are not evolutionary individuals except in very rare cases, and for very specific host-symbiont associations. This paper is a critical response to Bourrat and Griffiths’ arguments and a defence of the arguments presented by holobiont defenders. Drawing upon the case of the hologenomic basis of the evolution of sanguivory in vampire bats, I argue that Bourrat and Griffiths overlook some aspects of the biological nature of the microbiome that justifies the thesis that holobionts are evolutionarily different to other multispecies assemblages. I argue that the hologenome theory of evolution should not define the hologenome as a collection of genomes, but as the sum of the host genome plus some traits of the microbiome which together constitute an evolutionary individual, a conception I refer to as the stability of traits conception of the hologenome. Based on that conception I argue that the evidence presented by holobiont defenders is to the point, and supports the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals. In this sense, the paper offers an account of the holobiont that aims to foster a dialogue between hologenome advocates and hologenome critics. (shrink)

Contemporary biological research has suggested that some host–microbiome multispecies systems (referred to as “holobionts”) can in certain circumstances evolve as unique biological individual, thus being a unit of selection in evolution. If this is so, then it is arguably the case that some biological adaptations have evolved at the level of the multispecies system, what we call hologenomic adaptations. However, no research has yet been devoted to investigating their nature, or how these adaptations can be distinguished from adaptations at the (...) species-level (genomic adaptations). In this paper, we cover this gap by investigating the nature of hologenomic adaptations. By drawing on the case of the evolution of sanguivory diet in vampire bats, we argue that a trait constitutes a hologenomic adaptation when its evolution can only be explained if the holobiont is considered the biological individual that manifests this adaptation, while the bacterial taxa that bear the trait are only opportunistic beneficiaries of it. We then use the philosophical notions of emergence and inter-identity to explain the nature of this form of individuality and argue why it is special of holobionts. Overall, our paper illustrates how the use of philosophical concepts can illuminate scientific discussions, in the trend of what has recently been called metaphysics of biology. (shrink)

Symbiosis plays a fundamental role in contemporary biology, as well as in recent thinking in philosophy of biology. The discovery of the importance and universality of symbiotic associations has brought new light to old debates in the field, including issues about the concept of biological individuality. An important aspect of these debates has been the formulation of the hologenome concept of evolution, the notion that holobionts are units of natural selection in evolution. This review examines the philosophical assumptions that underlie (...) recent proposal of the hologenome concept of evolution, and traces those debates back in time to their historical origins, to the moment when the connection between the topics of symbiosis and biological individuality first caught the attention of biologists. The review is divided in two parts. The first part explores the historical origins of the connection between the notion of symbiosis and the concept of biological individuality, and emphasizes the role of A. de Bary, R. Pound, A. Schneider and C. Merezhkowsky in framing the debate. The second part examines the hologenome concept of evolution and explores four parallelisms between contemporary debates and the debates presented in the first part of the essay, arguing that the different debates raised by the hologenome concept were already present in the literature. I suggest that the novelty of the hologenome concept of evolution lies in the wider appreciation of the importance of symbiosis for maintaining life on Earth as we know it. Finally, I conclude by suggesting the importance of exploring the connections among contemporary biology, philosophy of biology and history of biology in order to gain a better understanding of contemporary biology. (shrink)

Given one conception of biological individuality (evolutionary, physiological, etc.), can a holobiont – that is the host + its symbiotic (mutualistic, commensalist and parasitic) microbiome – be simultaneously a biological individual and an ecological community? Herein, we support this possibility by arguing that the notion of biological individuality is part‐dependent. In our account, the individuality of a biological ensemble should not only be determined by the conception of biological individuality in use, but also by the biological characteristics of the part (...) of the ensemble under investigation. In the specific case of holobionts, evaluations of their individuality should be made either host‐relative or microbe‐relative. We support the claim that biological individuality is part‐dependent by drawing upon recent empirical evidence regarding the physiology of hosts and microbes, and the recent characterization of the ‘demibiont’. Our account shows that contemporary disagreements about the individuality of the holobiont derive from an incorrect understanding of the ontology of biological individuality. We show that collaboration between philosophers and biologists can be very fruitful in attempts to solve some contemporary biological debates. (shrink)

According to the cohabitation account, all the persons that result from a fission event cohabit the same body prior to fission. This article concerns a problem for this account. Suppose Manuel and Jimena are suffering from an equally painful migraine. Unlike Jimena, however, Manuel will undergo fission. Assuming you have a spare painkiller, whom should you give it to? Intuitively, you have no more reason to give it to one or the other. The problem is that the cohabitation account suggests (...) otherwise. According to the account, there are two persons cohabiting Manuel’s body, in which case you should arguably give them the pill, since doing so alleviates the pain of more beings. One response argues that the two persons cohabiting Manuel’s body share one pain. Thus, giving them the pill alleviates no more pain than giving it to Jimena, and therefore you have no more reason to do one or the other. The goal of this article is to show that this response fails. (shrink)

Este estudio es una aproximación al tema del trabajo desde el pensamiento sociológico de Zygmunt Bauman. Uno de los textos más conocidos de Bauman al respecto es Trabajo, consumismo y nuevos pobres; sin embargo, este es un tema que el sociólogo trata en otras obras. Aquí se pretende dar una visión en la que se tienen en cuenta la globalidad de sus escritos. Además, se dan unas claves que permiten comprender el enfoque que Bauman tiene del trabajo: se hace una (...) breve explicación de su perspectiva sociológica y de la importancia de la modernidad en su pensamiento. Por último, se expone cómo el trabajo cambia de sentido e importancia en la modernidad sólida y en la líquida. (shrink)

Lewis has objected to Armstrong's notion of a structural universal on the grounds that it violates the Principle of Uniqueness of Composition, which says that given some parts, there is only one whole that they compose. This paper reviews Armstrong's case for structural universals, and then attempts to reconcile structural universals with PUC by arguing for the existence of arrangement universals. The latter are not only a key to defending structural universals against Lewis' objection, but are in fact essential to (...) Armstrong's conception of structural universals in general. Three objections to my proposal are deflected, and two alternative proposals are shown to be inferior to it. (shrink)

El propósito de este artículo es desarrollar una relectura al mecanicismo moderno. Esto implica que una adecuada comprensión de este consiste, ante todo, en considerarlo como un proyecto antes que un sistema doctrinal consolidado. Para ello se toma como eje la filosofía de Leibniz, la cual, a diferencia del cartesianismo, identifica las inconsistencias que implica concebir el mecanicismo como un sistema filosófico completo, principalmente al pretender justificar mecánicamente el mundo natural, esto es, a partir de la figura, el tamaño y (...) el movimiento. Todo lo anterior no implica un rechazo completo del mecanicismo por parte de Leibniz, sino que permite concebirlo como un medio para desarrollar su filosofía, proponiendo una complementariedad entre la causa final y la causa eficiente. de este modo, el mecanicismo es reubicado como un problema metodológico para la ciencia natural antes que como un problema metafísico. This article aims to develop a second reading to the modern mechanicism. This implies that an appropriate understanding of mechanicism consists, above all, in considering it as a project, instead of a consolidated doctrinal system. To do so, we take Leibniz's philosophy as our building blocks, since unlike the Cartesianism, it does identify the inconsistencies implied when we conceive mechanicism as a complete philosophical system, mainly under the pretension to justify the natural world mechanically, that is, based on the figure, size and movement. It does not imply that Leibniz rejects entirely mechanicism, but allows us to understand it as a mean to develop his philosophy, proposing a complementary relationship between final cause and efficient cause. This way, mechanicism is re-posed as a methodological issue for the natural science instead of a metaphysical issue. (shrink)

The paper defends an interactive theory of the distinctiveness of criminal law. It argues that criminal law’s distinctive behavior can be connected to the interaction between five traits: it is an institutional practice administered by a large and special bureaucracy, playing a substantial role in authorizing the use of coercive police force, leading to a harsh sanctioning regime linked, at least in part, with core wrongs and notions of personal responsibility. Although none of these features is exclusive to criminal law, (...) their interaction leads to modes of behavior that set it apart from other institutions. The paper argues that putting attention on the effects of this interaction provides us with powerful tools to both understand and asses the value and problems of criminal law. (shrink)

Jonathan Schaffer has provided three putative counterexamples to the transitivity of grounding, and has argued that a contrastive treatment of grounding is able to provide a resolution to them, which in turn provides some motivation for accepting such a treatment. In this article, I argue that one of these cases can easily be turned into a putative counterexample to a principle which Schaffer calls differential transitivity. Since Schaffer's proposed resolution rests on this principle, this presents a dilemma for the contrastivist: (...) either he dismisses the third case, which weakens the motivation for accepting his treatment of grounding, or else he accepts it, in which case he is faced with a counterexample to a principle that his proposed resolution to the original cases depends on. In the remainder of the article, I argue that the prima facie most promising strategy the contrastivist could take, which is to place some restriction on which contrastive facts are admissible so as to rule out the purported counterexample to differential transitivity, faces some important difficulties. Although these difficulties are not insurmountable, they do pose a substantial challenge for the contrastivist. (shrink)

Kris McDaniel has recently defended a criterion for being an ontological pluralist that classifies the quantifier variantist as one. In this paper, I argue that this is a mistake. There is an important difference between the two views, which is sometimes obscured by a common view in the metaphysics of fundamentality. According to the simple analysis, a language is ideal—it allows for a maximally metaphysically perspicuous description of reality—just in case all its primitives are perfectly natural. I argue that this (...) analysis struggles to distinguish quantifier variance from ontological pluralism, and then I discuss various accounts that can do better. I then propose a criterion for being an ontological pluralist that does not misclassify the quantifier variantist. Finally, I discuss some additional advantages of my proposal. (shrink)

Philippe Huneman has recently questioned the widespread application of mechanistic models of scientific explanation based on the existence of structural explanations, i.e. explanations that account for the phenomenon to be explained in virtue of the mathematical properties of the system where the phenomenon obtains, rather than in terms of the mechanisms that causally produce the phenomenon. Structural explanations are very diverse, including cases like explanations in terms of bowtie structures, in terms of the topological properties of the system, or in (...) terms of equilibrium. The role of mathematics in bowtie structured systems and in topologically constrained systems has recently been examined in different papers. However, the specific role that mathematical properties play in equilibrium explanations requires further examination, as different authors defend different interpretations, some of them closer to the new-mechanistic approach than to the structural model advocated by Huneman. In this paper, we cover this gap by investigating the explanatory role that mathematics play in Blaser and Kirschner’s nested equilibrium model of the stability of persistent long-term human-microbe associations. We argue that their model is explanatory because: i) it provides a mathematical structure in the form of a set of differential equations that together satisfy an ESS; ii) that the nested nature of the ESSs makes the explanation of host-microbe persistent associations robust to any perturbation; iii) that this is so because the properties of the ESS directly mirror the properties of the biological system in a non-causal way. The combination of these three theses make equilibrium explanations look more similar to structural explanations than to causal-mechanistic explanation. (shrink)

The article is an approach to the possibilities of the evolution of consciousness. The research will be presented from the point of view of the Art and Mystic experiences and also compared with the biological point of view.The differences between the perception space and the representation space will be described, since it is considered that the later represents the location where the conscience processes take place. An example in the contemporary architecture on the representation space (the Jean Nouvel's Agbar Tower) (...) will be analysed. The contemporary artistic practices on living tissue manipulation will also be reviewed: artists inspired by the evolutionary laws are working nowadays with the manipulation of living tissues as artistic objects. This could be a controversial phenomenon that may drive the art-science to a materialistic position. It is for this reason that the work with consciousness could prove that the immaterial or energy is a real element that humans can manipulate as they do with living tissues. To know how to do it would be the research in art for this century and could change the direction in art-science, could change the direction of the global consciousness through a planetary culture. (shrink)

According to the cohabitation account, all the persons that result from a fission event cohabit the same body prior to fission. This article concerns a problem for this account. Suppose Manuel and Jimena are suffering from an equally painful migraine. Unlike Jimena, however, Manuel will undergo fission. Assuming you have a spare painkiller, whom should you give it to? Intuitively, you have no more reason to give it to one or the other. The problem is that the cohabitation account suggests (...) otherwise. According to the account, there are two persons cohabiting Manuel’s body, in which case you should arguably give them the pill, since doing so alleviates the pain of more beings. One response argues that the two persons cohabiting Manuel’s body share one pain. Thus, giving them the pill alleviates no more pain than giving it to Jimena, and therefore you have no more reason to do one or the other. The goal of this article is to show that this response fails. (shrink)

Lewis has objected to Armstrong's notion of a structural universal on the grounds that it violates the Principle of Uniqueness of Composition (PUC), which says that given some parts, there is only one whole that they compose. This paper reviews Armstrong's case for structural universals, and then attempts to reconcile structural universals with PUC by arguing for the existence of arrangement universals. The latter are not only a key to defending structural universals against Lewis' objection, but are in fact essential (...) to Armstrong's conception of structural universals in general. Three objections to my proposal are deflected, and two alternative proposals are shown to be inferior to it. (shrink)

The German word Destruktion was used by Heidegger in the sense that philosophy should destroy some ontological concepts and the everyday meanings of certain words. Tradition allows the transmission of knowledge and sensations of continuity and connection with the past, but it must be critically evaluated so that it does not perpetuate certain prejudices. According to Heidegger, tradition transmits, but it also conceals. Tradition induces self-evidence and prevents us from accessing the origin of concepts. It makes us believe that we (...) do not need to return to that origin. Making tradition transparent dissolves the concealments it has provoked. Here I will apply this idea to the mental and the physical by suggesting that the mind-body problem has inherited occultations that are born in Descartes himself. As a result, what could be a new philosophical framework for the research in consciousness emerges: That as an individual cognitive being I cannot avoid splitting reality into what I am and what I am not, extending then the individual duality to a collective error transmitted culturally. (shrink)

1. Categories and the Scientific Turn of Metaphysics: The Notion of World-Fundamentality What are the fundamental inhabitants of the world? This question, as old as it is new, is about the fundamental structure of our world. Is our world a world of Aristotle's ordinary substances, Locke's physical substances, Husserl's wholes, Wittgenstein's facts, Sellars's processes, or Quine's sets? In order to distinguish the sort of metaphysical fundamentality at stake in this discussion from other possible types of fundamentality, I shall call it (...) from now on "world-fundamentality." In this article I want to make a proposal in the context of this metaphysical dispute. The proposal is the addition of a new criterion of world-fundamentality to the existing catalog of independence and simplicity, among some other prominent classical examples. I call this criterion "the materialist criterion of world-fundamentality" because it states that metaphysicians should not decide the question of whether our world is a world of facts rather than a world of sets or other categories without considering the explanatory power of such categories to account for the relation between "the manifest image" and "the scientific image," to use the words of Wilfrid Sellars. (shrink)

Holobionts are symbiotic assemblages composed by a host plus its microbiome. The status of holobionts as individuals has recently been a subject of continuous controversy, which has given rise to two main positions: on the one hand, holobiont advocates argue that holobionts are biological individuals; on the other, holobiont detractors argue that they are just mere chimeras or ecological communities, but not individuals. Both parties in the dispute develop their arguments from the framework of the philosophy of biology, in terms (...) of what it takes for a “conglomerate” to be considered an interesting individual from a biological point of view. However, the debates about holobiont individuality have important ontological implications that have remained vaguely explored from a metaphysical framework. The purpose of this paper is to cover that gap by presenting a metaphysical approach to holobionts individuality. Drawing upon a conception of natural selection that puts the focus on the transgenerational recurrence of the traits and that supports the thesis that holobionts are units of selection, we argue that holobionts bear emergent traits and exert downward powers over the entities that compose them. In this vein, we argue, a reasonable argument can be made for conceiving holobionts as emergent biological individuals. (shrink)