The Valdez Principles have been formulated to guide and evaluate corporate conduct towards the environment. While at first glance the code appears to impose enormous new responsibilities on firms, a closer analysis indicates that existing regulations and business practices already require businesses to meet many of the environmental goals sought by its proponents. Likely corporate response to the code is examined against this background and with reference to the experience with other voluntary codes of conduct. It would appear that compliance (...) with the code will yield minimal benefits and non-compliance will impose minimum costs for the environmentally-responsible firm. (shrink)

This essay aims to examine how Thomas Mann reinterprets, in the novel “The Magic Mountain”, Nietzsche’s view of the world expressed in “The Birth of Tragedy”. The Olympic world becomes in the novel of Mann, a sanatorium where the death drive controls everything. Several interpretations for this ironic reading of the magic mountain symbol are offered, in particular the idea that death must not hypnotise us, a major theme of “Snow scene” of the novel.

O artigo investiga a noção de corporeidade apresentada por Merleau-Ponty em O olho e o espírito. Na crítica aos modelos filosóficos constituídos pela filosofia reflexivas e seu modo de compreensão do corpo, Merleau-Ponty evidencia, ao longo de O olho e o espírito, a reflexividade corporal a partir da noção de estesiologia e suas consequências filosóficas. Enfatiza, no contexto de sua nova ontologia, o enigma do corpo e o delírio da visão, a partir da duplicidade do sentir. Aproximando-se da arte e (...) do gesto do pintor, o filósofo compreende o corpo no quiasma sensível e senciente e a visão como interrogação das coisas sensíveis do mundo. (shrink)

Ortega y Gasset enriqueceu os seus estudos na Alemanha entre 1905 e 1908, nas cidades de Leipzig, Berlim e Marburgo, tendo sido aqui discípulo do neokantiano HermannCohen. Tomando essa circunstância como ponto de partida, propõe-se, neste artigo,levar a cabo uma indagação sobre as ideias estéticas de Ortega, contrastando com os fundamentos das fontes kantianas ou neokantianas da sua formação universitária alemã,traçar uma linha que permita demarcar claramente até onde Ortega segue Kant e onde,pelo contrário, o filósofo espanhol trilha o seu (...) solitário e original caminho. Tomam-se como baluartes desta análise os quatro momentos do juízo de gosto inerentes à terceira crítica kantiana e a questão da genialidade. (shrink)

This article analyzes the issue of organizational transparency through the lens of Thomas Aquinas’ ethics. It provides moral justification for current claims about corporate transparency and sheds light on the ethical values and virtues affecting information disclosure decisions. Transparency is conceptualized as an informational mechanism necessary for performing the virtues of truthfulness, justice, and prudence. This article extends the organizational transparency and corporate social responsibility literatures by providing an alternative moral justification grounded in virtue-based theory, which extends our understanding of (...) the information disclosure decisions made by management. (shrink)

Cultural diversity is an inescapable reality and a concern in many businesses where it can often raise ethical questions and dilemmas. This paper aims to offer suggestions to certain problems facing managers in dealing with cultural diversity through the inspiration of Thomas Aquinas. Although he may be perceived as a voice from the distant past, we can still find in his writings helpful and original ideas and criteria. He welcomes cultural differences as a part of the perfection of the universe. (...) His systemic approach leads one to place the problem in its proper context, and to reflect on it from the perspective of virtue ethics, with a central role for practical wisdom and giving primacy to neighborly love and natural moral law. Rather than a set of rigid standards with no consideration of diversity Aquinas focuses on the common human ground, which allows for the indispensable dialogue between different positions. When dealing with practical questions, the problem is one of finding the right balance between general principle and cultural specifics, tolerance, and dialogue, always guided by practical wisdom. In this way, Aquinas’ approach is neither rigid ethical universalism with no consideration for diversity nor moral relativism with no place for any transcultural and absolute morals. (shrink)

Ortega y Gasset enriqueceu os seus estudos na Alemanha entre 1905 e 1908, nas cidades de Leipzig, Berlim e Marburgo, tendo sido aqui discípulo do neokantiano HermannCohen. Tomando essa circunstância como ponto de partida, propõe-se, neste artigo,levar a cabo uma indagação sobre as ideias estéticas de Ortega, contrastando com os fundamentos das fontes kantianas ou neokantianas da sua formação universitária alemã,traçar uma linha que permita demarcar claramente até onde Ortega segue Kant e onde,pelo contrário, o filósofo espanhol trilha o seu (...) solitário e original caminho. Tomam-se como baluartes desta análise os quatro momentos do juízo de gosto inerentes à terceira crítica kantiana e a questão da genialidade. (shrink)

Classificado pelo pensamento político contemporâneo como novidade singular na história da humanidade e considerado como exemplo emblemático da erosão do político, o fenômeno totalitário provocou polêmicas em relação aos termos utilizados no processo da sua compreensão. Por exemplo, quando se afirmou que o seu objetivo supremo era “transformar a natureza humana”, essa expressão causou ruído desconfortável aos ouvidos daqueles que, sintonizados à tradição metafísica, sempre definiram a natureza humana como uma essência imutável. Este artigo discute e aponta o significado e (...) o alcance dessa expressão no pensamento político contemporâneo, desmistificando-a da sua origem metafísica. (shrink)

Quando o tema em questão é o pensamento político contemporâneo, os estudos de Arendt são indispensáveis. Ela se tornou uma referência nesse assunto, desde a publicação da sua obra Origens do totalitarismo. Neste artigo, no entanto, o objetivo não é discutir ou analisar o conceito de política dessa autora e nem relacioná-lo necessariamente a uma determinada teoria ou forma de governo, mas sim apresentar de modo introdutório e elementar, alguns aspectos das suas considerações e dos seus posicionamentos sobre o sentimento (...) de compaixão na política como entendida por ela, especialmente como aparecem em sua obra Da revolução. (shrink)

A proposta deste artigo é refletir sobre os termos “ente e essência” como aparecem no texto de Tomás de Aquino e explicar o sentido da afirmação “o ente e a essência são o que é concebido primeiro pelo intelecto”.

This article analyzes the issue of organizational transparency through the lens of Thomas Aquinas’ ethics. It provides moral justification for current claims about corporate transparency and sheds light on the ethical values and virtues affecting information disclosure decisions. Transparency is conceptualized as an informational mechanism necessary for performing the virtues of truthfulness, justice, and prudence. This article extends the organizational transparency and corporate social responsibility literatures by providing an alternative moral justification grounded in virtue-based theory, which extends our understanding of (...) the information disclosure decisions made by management. (shrink)

em Origens do totalitarismo , publicada em 1951, Arendt pensa o grande mal do século XX: o fenômeno totalitário como destruição da pluralidade humana, negação da semelhança dos homens e da sua pertença a uma mesma humanidade. Esse mal, para ela, reduz-se a dois regimes: o nazismo de Hitler e o comunismo de Stalin. A proposta deste artigo é analisar as características comuns entre esses dois regimes como descritas por Arendt.

A partir da obra Origens do totalitarismo de Arendt, este estudo apresenta a ideia totalitária do “tudo é possível” e a sua colocação em prática no século XX, em nome de um projeto político de dominação total que considerou o homem como um ser supérfluo com o qual se poderia fazer qualquer coisa, inclusive transformá-lo em um indivíduo capaz de obedecer cegamente os princípios ideológicos do governo totalitário encarnados na pessoa do “chefe”. Mas, por outro lado também, este estudo apresenta (...) o posicionamento de Arendt que inverte a ideia totalitária do “tudo é possível” para pensar uma nova política que seja o inverso radical do totalitarismo, uma política na qual todos possam manifestar a sua liberdade através de ação e do discurso na presença de seus pares; para isso, a nossa autora aposta na capacidade humana de “começar algo novo” com seus próprios recursos. (shrink)

Para Arendt, a autoridade desapareceu do mundo moderno. Para entendermos esse posicionamento radical é necessário compreendermos o sentido atribuído pela pensadora ao termo autoridade. Este é o objetivo fundamental deste artigo.

O século XX não foi apenas uma época de grandes conquistas da humanidade; foi, também, o século de novidade assustadora no campo da política: o surgimento dos regimes totalitários. Assim, este texto, a partir da análise da obra Origens do totalitarismo , apresenta o modo como Arendt procedeu na compreensão e caracterização desse fenômeno denominado por ela de inédito e sem precedentes na história da humanidade.

L’un des philosophes les plus importants de l’histoire, Friedrich Nietzsche, est presque ignoré par les physiciens. L’auteur qui a déclaré la mort de Dieu au xixe siècle était enthousiasmé par la science, principalement durant la deuxième partie de son œuvre. À l’aide de la notion physique de force, Nietzsche a créé son concept de volonté de puissance. En pensant à la conservation de l’énergie, le philosophe allemand a eu une certaine inspiration pour créer son concept de l’éternel retour. Dans cet (...) article, on souligne certaines influences de la physique sur Nietzsche et on discute de l’actualité de sa position épistémologique—le perspectivisme. À partir du concept de volonté de puissance, je propose que le perspectivisme conduise à l’interprétation où la physique et la science en général sont considérées comme un jeu. (shrink)

In spite of successful tests, the standard cosmological model, the $$\varLambda$$ CDM model, possesses the most problematic concept: the initial singularity, also known as the big bang. In this paper—by adopting the Kantian difference between to think of an object and to cognize an object—it is proposed a degree of scientificity using fuzzy sets. Thus, the notion of initial singularity will not be conceived of as a scientific issue because it does not belong to the fuzzy set of what is (...) known. Indeed, the problematic concept of singularity is some sort of what Kant called the noumenon, but science, on the other hand, is constructed in the phenomenon. By applying the fuzzy degree of scientificity in cosmological models, one concludes that cosmologies with a contraction phase before the current expansion phase are potentially more scientific than the standard model. At the end of this article, it is shown that Kant’s first antinomy of pure reason indicates a limit to our cosmological models. (shrink)

L’un des philosophes les plus importants de l’histoire, Friedrich Nietzsche, est presque ignoré par les physiciens. L’auteur qui a déclaré la mort de Dieu au xixe siècle était enthousiasmé par la science, principalement durant la deuxième partie de son œuvre. À l’aide de la notion physique de force, Nietzsche a créé son concept de volonté de puissance. En pensant à la conservation de l’énergie, le philosophe allemand a eu une certaine inspiration pour créer son concept de l’éternel retour. Dans cet (...) article, on souligne certaines influences de la physique sur Nietzsche et on discute de l’actualité de sa position épistémologique—le perspectivisme. À partir du concept de volonté de puissance, je propose que le perspectivisme conduise à l’interprétation où la physique et la science en général sont considérées comme un jeu. (shrink)

It is shown that a notion of natural place is possible within modern physics. For Aristotle, the elements—the primary components of the world—follow to their natural places in the absence of forces. On the other hand, in general relativity, the so-called Carter–Penrose diagrams offer a notion of end for objects along the geodesics. Then, the notion of natural place in Aristotelian physics has an analog in the notion of conformal infinities in general relativity.

The present study aimed at describing the research activities executed by researchers on organizational and work psychology in the state of Santa Catarina. The considered aspects were the psychological phenomena investigated by researchers, the types of procedures and instruments employed with great..

Nietzsche colocou-se como um antípoda a Platão. Mas em questões cosmológicas, o eterno retorno nietzschiano tem também alguns pontos em comum à cosmologia platônica descrita no Timeu. A finitude espacial, a ciclicidade cósmica e a ética cosmológica dizem respeito às semelhanças, já a infinitude temporal, a teleologia e a necessidade afastam os filósofos. Então, neste trabalho, aponto proximidades e afastamentos entre os dois filósofos em questões cosmológicas, além de sugerir alguma atualidade de suas concepções em relação à nossa ciência. Como (...) veremos, a relação entre ética e cosmologia ainda se mostra atual. (shrink)

O objetivo desta publicação é incentivar a produção filosófica de excelência por parte de pesquisadores notadamente influenciados pela filosofia de Wittgenstein e cujos temas possam suscitar um debate aprofundado. Além de desafiar o empreendimento filosófico contemporâneo, os temas aqui apresentados abordam questões que muitas vezes estão além daquelas consideradas por Wittgenstein em seu tempo. O leitor encontrará neste volume questões relacionadas ao ceticismo semântico e epistêmico, ao relativismo ético, às leituras literárias de Wittgenstein, ao problema das outras mentes e percepção (...) de aspectos, a intersubjetividade e o caráter contrassensual do Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, e, também, relacionadas ao Paradoxo de Moore. (shrink)

The main goals of this study were, to test the motivational determinants of athletes perceived effort in football considering the four-stage motivational sequence at the contextual level proposed by Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: task-involving, basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation and perceived effort. The multi-group analysis across different age-groups (U15, U17, U19, U21 years) and mediation role of basic psychological needs and self-determined motivation on the task-involving climate and the perceived effort were also analysed. Two independent samples of (...) male football athletes (N= 403, N= 403), aged 13-20 were enrolled in this study. The results demonstrated that structural model provided a good fit to data for all samples under analysis, and was invariant across U17, U19, and U21. However, it was not invariant across U15 and U17, U19 and U21. Additionally, in the results from the mediation analysis, there were significant indirect effects in all samples, supporting theoretical by self-determination theory assumptions, reinforcing the importance of basic psychological needs satisfaction and behavioral regulation in the relation in analysis. The results allow concluding that when coaches promote a task-involving climate, the basic psychological needs satisfaction of athletes improves. This climate will facilitate the regulation of their behaviors towards more autonomous forms of motivation, with positive results in the perceived effort of the athletes. (shrink)

Zones of social abandonment are emerging everywhere in Brazil’s big cities—places like Vita, where the unwanted, the mentally ill, the sick, and the homeless are left to die. This haunting, unforgettable story centers on a young woman named Catarina, increasingly paralyzed and said to be mad, living out her time at Vita. Anthropologist João Biehl leads a detective-like journey to know Catarina; to unravel the cryptic, poetic words that are part of the “dictionary” she is compiling; and to trace the (...) complex network of family, medicine, state, and economy in which her abandonment and pathology took form. An instant classic, _Vita_ has been widely acclaimed for its bold fieldwork, theoretical innovation, and literary force. Reflecting on how Catarina’s life story continues, this updated edition offers the reader a powerful new afterword and gripping new photographs following Biehl and Eskerod’s return to Vita. Anthropology at its finest, _Vita_ is essential reading for anyone who is grappling with how to understand the conditions of life, thought, and ethics in the contemporary world. (shrink)

Zones of social abandonment are emerging everywhere in Brazil’s big cities—places like Vita, where the unwanted, the mentally ill, the sick, and the homeless are left to die. This haunting, unforgettable story centers on a young woman named Catarina, increasingly paralyzed and said to be mad, living out her time at Vita. Anthropologist João Biehl leads a detective-like journey to know Catarina; to unravel the cryptic, poetic words that are part of the “dictionary” she is compiling; and to trace the (...) complex network of family, medicine, state, and economy in which her abandonment and pathology took form. As Biehl painstakingly relates Catarina’s words to a vanished world and elucidates her condition, we learn of subjectivities unmade and remade under economic pressures, pharmaceuticals as moral technologies, a public common sense that lets the unsound and unproductive die, and anthropology’s unique power to work through these juxtaposed fields. _Vita’s_ methodological innovations, bold fieldwork, and rigorous social theory make it an essential reading for anyone who is grappling with how to understand the conditions of life, thought and ethics in the contemporary world. (shrink)

Music can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance positive mood, and facilitate social bonding. However, little is known about the role of music and related personal or cultural variables in maintaining wellbeing during times of stress and social isolation as imposed by the COVID-19 crisis. In an online questionnaire, administered in 11 countries, participants rated the relevance of wellbeing goals during the pandemic, and the effectiveness of different activities in obtaining these goals. Music was found to be the most effective activity (...) for three out of five wellbeing goals: enjoyment, venting negative emotions, and self-connection. For diversion, music was equally good as entertainment, while it was second best to create a sense of togetherness, after socialization. This result was evident across different countries and gender, with minor effects of age on specific goals, and a clear effect of the importance of music in people's lives. Cultural effects were generally small and surfaced mainly in the use of music to obtain a sense of togetherness. Interestingly, culture moderated the use of negatively valenced and nostalgic music for those higher in distress. (shrink)

In 2002, Luciano Floridi published a paper called What is the Philosophy of Information?, where he argues for a new paradigm in philosophical research. To what extent should his proposal be accepted? Is the Philosophy of Information actually a new paradigm, in the Kuhninan sense, in Philosophy? Or is it only a new branch of Epistemology? In our discussion we will argue in defense of Floridi’s proposal. We believe that Philosophy of Information has the types of features had by other (...) areas already acknowledge as authentic in Philosophy. By way of an analogical argument we will argue that since Philosophy of Information has its own topics, method and problems it would be counter-intuitive not to accept it as a new philosophical area. To strengthen our position we present and discuss main topics of Philosophy of Information. (shrink)

This paper discusses how to define logics as deductive limits of sequences of other logics. The case of da Costa's hierarchy of increasingly weaker paraconsistent calculi, known as $ \mathcal {C}$n, 1 $ \leq$ n $ \leq$ $ \omega$, is carefully studied. The calculus $ \mathcal {C}$$\scriptstyle \omega$, in particular, constitutes no more than a lower deductive bound to this hierarchy and differs considerably from its companions. A long standing problem in the literature (open for more than 35 years) is (...) to define the deductive limit to this hierarchy, that is, its greatest lower deductive bound. The calculus $ \mathcal {C}$min, stronger than $ \mathcal {C}$$\scriptstyle \omega$, is first presented as a step toward this limit. As an alternative to the bivaluation semantics of $ \mathcal {C}$min presented thereupon, possible-translations semantics are then introduced and suggested as the standard technique both to give this calculus a more reasonable semantics and to derive some interesting properties about it. Possible-translations semantics are then used to provide both a semantics and a decision procedure for $ \mathcal {C}$Lim, the real deductive limit of da Costa's hierarchy. Possible-translations semantics also make it possible to characterize a precise sense of duality: as an example, $ \mathcal {D}$min is proposed as the dual to $ \mathcal {C}$min. (shrink)

This article proposes to analyse some aspects of the appropriation of New School thinking in Brazil, particularly Deweyan pragmatism, in the 1950s and 1960s. The analysis is based on the assumption that the developmentalist ideology that punctuated the debate on the economic, political and social restructuring of the country in these two decades constituted fertile ground for the return and expansion of pragmatist thinking amongst Brazilian educators, articulating itself, sometimes in contradictory ways, with this ideology. The focus of the analysis (...) will be on the writings of the group of educators which circulated around the figure of Anísio Teixeira, at the time director of the National Institute for Pedagogic Studies, an organ linked to the Ministry of Education and Culture, which set itself the task of producing research that would support public policy in the field of education, as well as constituting itself as a center for teacher education and the stimulus and development of innovative experiences in the public school system. The appropriation of Deweyan pragmatism, in this context, had a triple perspective: pragmatism as scientific method, implying a specific conception of science, particularly the social sciences, with emphasis on the application of scientific knowledge in the solution of practical problems; as a way of democratic life; and as a synonym for experimentalism, in the sphere of schooling. (shrink)

This article sets out to move from questioning the autonomy of law from the external standpoint of sociology to problematizing it from the internal legal standpoint. The first step is an analysis of the Kelsenian theoretical model of the hierarchically structured self-production of law, taking into consideration the concept of reason for the validity of a norm and of a legal order, as well as the role of efficacy as a condition for validity. The second is a presentation of Luhmann’s (...) conception of autopoiesis of the legal system, and in particular the function of the Constitution in the operative closure of law. Based on this exposition, the discussion then focuses on the limits of both conceptions, but in reverse order: first questioning the possibility of transporting the concept of autopoiesis to the different conditions for reproduction of law in contemporary world society, and then raising objections to the adequacy of the concept of hierarchically structured self-production of law to the many different legal orders in today’s world. The conclusion drawn from these critical observations is the argument that the Luhmannian sociological theory of the operative self-reference of the legal system and the Kelsenian legal theory of the self-produced step-structure of law are applicable only to legal systems minimally grounded in the rule of law. (shrink)

Antero nos seus escritos foi-se afastando progressivamente da influência germânica ficando a depender cada vez mais da filosofia francesa, embora não de maneira estruturante. Podemos reduzir a três os traços fundamentais dessa dependência: o eclectísmo, de espírito superior, que se estrutura a partir do ponto de vista superior do espírito; o espiritualismo queacompemhaa evolução da natureza de sentido finalista projectando-se para uma dimensão metafísica; o realismo da consciência -humana - em que a natureza e o espírito convivem, o espírito e (...) a liberdade se harmonizam, a especulação e a prática se unem, a ciência e a filosofia se associam, a experiência e a razão se complementam, o materialismo e o idealismo se combinam, e tudo em prol de uma nova e autêntica visão do real. /// Antero, en ses écrits, n'a seulement souffert l'influence germanique mais aussi de plus en plus l'influence de la philosophie française, bien que non de façon structurante. On peut réduire à trois les traces fondamentaux de cette dépendendance: l'éclectisme, d'esprit supérieur, qui se structure selon le point de vue supérieure de l'esprit; le spiritualisine, qui accompagne l'évolution de la nature de sens final iste seprojectant dans une dimension métaphysique; le réalisme de la conscience - humaine - où la nature et l'esprit convivent, l'esprit et la liberté s'harmonisent, la spéculation et la pratique s'unissent, la science et la philosophie s'associent, l'expérience et la raison se complètent, le matérialisme et l'idéalisme se combinent, et tout ça en faveur d'une nouvelle et autentique vision du réel. /// In his writings, Antero has gradually freed himself from the German influence, and become more and more dependent on the French philosophy, although not in a structuring way. We may reduce to three the main aspects of this dependence: eclecticism, structured from the highest point of view of the spirit; spiritualism, which accompanies the evolution of nature, of a teleological kind, evolving towards a metaphysical dimension; realism of counsciousness - human - in which nature and spirit go toghether, spirit and freedom are in harmony with each other, speculation and praxis are united, science and philosophy are associeted, experience and reason complement each other, materialism and idealism are combined, all this leading to a new understanding of reality. (shrink)

In a review of Frege's Puzzle1, Graeme Forbes makes the claim that Salmon's account of belief might be seen, under certain conditions, as a mere notational variant of a neo-Fregean theory; and thus that such an account might be reduced to a neo-Fregean one simply by rewriting it in terms of Fregean terminology. With a view to supporting his claim, Forbes offers an outline of an account of belief which, according to him, would satisfy the following conditions: (i) it could (...) be directly obtained from Salmon's own analysis by means of a certain set of substitutions, which presumably would not affect the essential features of Salmon's view; (ii) it could naturally be described as Fregean, in the sense that it would preserve, (at least) the spirit of Frege's doctrines, especially his fundamental intuitions about belief. Of course, the upshot of Forbes's argument is that Salmon's theory would not, at bottom, constitute a genuine alternative to a Fregean semantics for belief ascriptions. In this paper I argue to the effect that Forbes's claim is not in general sound. It seems to me that the sort of indirect argument used by Forbes - that of trying to undermine Salmon's theory by showing that it is just a version of a neo-Fregean account - does not provide someone working within a Fregean framework with an adequate strategy to counter Salmon's neo-Russellian views. It would perhaps be better to concentrate a Fregean attack on certain apparently dubious and highly controversial theses and results which are constitutive of Salmon's view, e.g. the counterintuitive character of a substantial set of consequences which follow from his theory of belief, as well as the associated revisionist stand he is forced to take towards our current patterns of speaking about belief. (shrink)

In this paper, we intend to discuss how, according to Peirce’s semiotics, gestures can be conceptualized and described as diagrams. We are not concerned with answering when, why or how gestures emerged as semiotic motor activities. As a prerequisite for the very formulation of these problems, we are rather interested in discussing the theoretical conditions which should be fulflled for gestures to be characterized as iconic processes - and more specifcally as diagrammatic processes. The frst step is to summarize a (...) systematic analysis of the variety of iconic signs, elaborated by Peirce, followed by his typology of hypoicons in order to describe the hypoiconic class of diagrams. After that, we present some tentative answers to the question of how to describe gestures as diagrammatic signs. (shrink)