En Faulkner llama la atención la repetición de personajes, la recurrencia a escenarios parecidos, la persistencia en memorias colectivas y la profundidad en conflictos cotidianos. Faulkner no se sale del sur, del ambiente de los vencidos, de sus imágenes más cercanas.

Pensamientos desde Berlín, pensamientos sobre Berlín; lo que el autor ve, siente, percibe y lo que capta en relación con todo su amplio bagaje de lecturas. Ver, entender, leer, del ojo a la pluma, del recuerdo a la pluma, magia o realidad de un encuentro.

Gatos extraños los de los techos de las casas de Istanbul. Siempre con el pelo aplanado y duro, con hambre. A esos gatos los veo a diario delante de mi ventana mirándose entre ellos mientras mastico mi comida en la mesa de la cocina. Lo hago lentamente y mirándolos de reojo, sospechando de sus movimientos cortos, de sus colas levantadas. Seguro planean asaltarme o esperan a que me levante de la mesa para venirse hasta la vidriera y tratar de abrir (...) la ventana con sus patas. Sueñan con invadir mi cocina y hartarse hasta reventar. Pero no podrán hacerlo; mantengo la ventana muy bien cerrada con candados ingleses, imposibles de abrir. (shrink)

Patrick Modiano es un escritor que nació en Francia, pero que por nacionalismo y tradición no es francés. Es ciudadano pero no nacional,una de esas perversidades que se inventa el hombre para segregarse. Pero esto no le hace mal, pues está en un medio que trata de entender a partir de un pasado cercano que no vivió y de un presente en el que no siempre fue bienvenido debido a su condición de persona con orígenes extranjeros: su padre era judío (...) italiano y su madre belga de habla flamenca. (shrink)

This volume has 41 chapters written to honor the 100th birthday of Mario Bunge. It celebrates the work of this influential Argentine/Canadian physicist and philosopher. Contributions show the value of Bunge’s science-informed philosophy and his systematic approach to philosophical problems. The chapters explore the exceptionally wide spectrum of Bunge’s contributions to: metaphysics, methodology and philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of physics, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of social science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of technology, moral philosophy, social and political (...) philosophy, medical philosophy, and education. The contributors include scholars from 16 countries. Bunge combines ontological realism with epistemological fallibilism. He believes that science provides the best and most warranted knowledge of the natural and social world, and that such knowledge is the only sound basis for moral decision making and social and political reform. Bunge argues for the unity of knowledge. In his eyes, science and philosophy constitute a fruitful and necessary partnership. Readers will discover the wisdom of this approach and will gain insight into the utility of cross-disciplinary scholarship. This anthology will appeal to researchers, students, and teachers in philosophy of science, social science, and liberal education programmes. 1. Introduction Section I. An Academic Vocation Section II. Philosophy Section III. Physics and Philosophy of Physics Section IV. Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind Section V. Sociology and Social Theory Section VI. Ethics and Political Philosophy Section VII. Biology and Philosophy of Biology Section VIII. Mathematics Section IX. Education Section X. Varia Section XI. Bibliography. (shrink)

In this paper, we analyze the astronomical tables for 1340 by Immanuel ben Jacob Bonfils who flourished 1340–1365, based on four Hebrew manuscripts. We discuss the relation of these tables principally with those of al-Battānī, Abraham Bar Ḥiyya, and Levi ben Gerson, as well as with Bonfils’s better known tables, called Six Wings. An unusual feature of this set of tables is that there are two kinds of mean motion tables, one arranged for Julian years from 1340 to 1380, months, (...) days, hours, and minutes of an hour, and the other arranged in the Hebrew calendar for the times of conjunctions and oppositions of the Sun and the Moon only, with subtables for 19-year cycles, single years in a 19-year cycle, and months. The latter arrangement is found in Bonfils’s Six Wings for solar and lunar motions only, whereas in his Tables for 1340, this arrangement applies to all planets. Notably absent are tables for the trigonometric functions, etc., that are generally found in such sets of astronomical tables. (shrink)

Neste estudo, com base nos principais escritos políticos de D. Frei Álvaro Pais O. Min. (c. 1270- c.1350) analisamos sua concepção a respeito da origem ou causa eficiente do poder espiritual e, igualmente, seu pensamento no tocante à finalidade ou causa final do referido poder. Quanto ao primeiro tópico, o Bispo de Silves quer principalmente refutar algumas das teses de Marsílio de Pádua contidas na 2ª Parte do seu Defensor da Paz, completamente opostas à teologia do sacerdócio católico e seus (...) graus hierárquicos e à do Primado Petrino. Para tanto, quase literalmente, haure-se, entre outras fontes, particularmente no De regimine christiano (1301) de Tiago de Viterbo OSA. Com respeito à finalidade do poder sacerdotal, de um lado, Álvaro sustenta a doutrina tradicional da Igreja a seu respeito e, de outro, em conseqüência, como partidário da hierocracia, defende a tese de que na, Societas Christiana, os detentores do poder espiritual, particularmente o Sumo Pontífice, ocupam uma posição mais eminente em relação aos governantes seculares. (shrink)

D. Álvaro Pelayo, nombrado obispo de Silves, hoy diócesis de Faro, Algarve, en el año 1334, entró en conflicto con el rey de Portugal, Alfonso IV (1325-57). Le escribió dos cartas en las que se puede observar que también tuvo que defender la autonomía jurisdiccional del poder espiritual, con vistas a la política centralizadora a la que el rey, siguiendo los pasos de su padre. D. Dinis (1279-1325), daba continuidad, con el propósito de restringir el espacio político del alto clero (...) lusitano. Unos pocos años después (1347), por la misma razón, el conflicto de las relaciones de poder entre las dos autoridades volvió a recrudecerse. Nuestro propósito aquí es doble: analizar los hechos históricos relacionados con los dos mencionados conflictos, por una parte, y los aspectos doctrinales contenidos en las dos referidas cartas, por otra, con vistas a mostrar la coherencia de pensamiento y actitud de D. Álvaro Pelayo. (shrink)

In astronomy Abraham Zacut is best known for the Latin version of his tables, the Almanach Perpetuum, first published in 1496, based on the original Hebrew version that he composed in 1478. These tables for Salamanca, Spain, were analyzed by the authors of this paper in 2000. We now present Zacut’s tables preserved in Latin and Hebrew manuscripts that have not been studied previously, with a concordance of his tables in different sources. Based on a hitherto unnoticed text in a (...) Latin manuscript, we argue that Zacut is the author of the Tabule verificate which, in our publication of 2000, we took to be anonymous. We also discuss in detail Zacut’s tables for epoch 1513 for Jerusalem that are arranged for the Hebrew calendar, rather than the Julian calendar that he used elsewhere. We then consider a number of fragmentary texts that were found in the Cairo Geniza, now scattered in various European and American libraries. The new evidence is consistent with our earlier finding that Zacut depended both on the medieval Hebrew tradition in astronomy and on the Parisian Alfonsine Tables. (shrink)

We present a mathematical approach to defeasible reasoning based on arguments. This approach integrates the notion of specificity introduced by Poole and the theory of warrant presented by Pollock. The main contribution of this paper is a precise, well-defined system which exhibits correct behavior when applied to the benchmark examples in the literature. It aims for usability rather than novelty. We prove that an order relation can be introduced among equivalence classes of arguments under the equi-specificity relation. We also prove (...) a theorem that ensures the termination of the process of finding the justified facts. Two more lemmas define a reduced search space for checking specificity. In order to implement the theoretical ideas, the language is restricted to Horn clauses for the evidential context. The language used to represent defeasible rules has been restricted in a similar way. The authors intend this work to unify the various existing approaches to argument-based defeasible reasoning. (shrink)

Durante las cuatro últimas décadas, Javier Muguerza ha contribuido como nadie a la modernización del pensamiento español, dando a conocer y comentando lo mejor que se publicaba en otras lenguas, particularmente a lo tocante a la filosofía analítica, a la teoría crítica y a las corrientes morales y políticas anglosajonas y alemanas, además de tener muy en cuenta todo lo que se escribía en español y prestar una especial atención al espíritu del pensamiento práctico kantiano. La deuda que con él (...) tiene contraída la filosofía en castellano es muy difícil de calcular. En el libro Disenso e incertidumbre. Un homenaje a Javier Muguerza, un grupo de importantes filósofos analiza su obra en profundidad ofreciendo al lector la oportunidad única de conocerla desde múltiples puntos de vista. (shrink)

Mathematical chemistry is often thought to be a 20th-century subdiscipline of chemistry, but in this paper we discuss several early chemical ideas and some landmarks of chemistry as instances of the mathematical way of thinking; many of them before 1900. By the mathematical way of thinking, we follow Weyl's description of it in terms of functional thinking, i.e. setting up variables, symbolizing them, and seeking for functions relating them. The cases we discuss are Plato's triangles, Geoffroy's affinity table, Lavoisier's classification (...) of substances and their relationships, Mendeleev's periodic table, Cayley's enumeration of alkanes, Sylvester's association of algebra and chemistry, and Wiener's relationship between molecular structure and boiling points. These examples show that mathematical chemistry has much more than a century of history. (shrink)

We analyze the connections of Lavoisier system of nomenclature with Leibniz’s philosophy, pointing out to the resemblance between what we call Leibnizian and Lavoisian programs. We argue that Lavoisier’s contribution to chemistry is something more subtle, in so doing we show that the system of nomenclature leads to an algebraic system of chemical sets. We show how Döbereiner and Mendeleev were able to develop this algebraic system and to find new interesting properties for it. We pointed out the resemblances between (...) Leibniz program and Lavoisier legacy, particularly regarding the lingua philosophica for understanding and thinking Nature, in this particular case, chemistry. In the second part we discuss, from the linguistic viewpoint, how Lavoisian algebraic system may be taken further to build a language. We study the constituents of such a chemical language. Finally, we formalize some of the ideas here presented by using elements of network theory and discrete mathematics. (shrink)

Over the past decade or so, a new interdisciplinary field has emerged in the ground between, on the one hand, computer science – and artificial intelligence in particular – and, on the other, the area of philosophy concentrating on the language and structure of argument. There are now hundreds of researchers worldwide who would consider themselves a part of this nascent community. Various terms have been proposed for the area, including "Computational Dialectics," "Argumentation Technology," and "Argument-based Computing," but the term (...) that has stuck is simply Argument & Computation. It encompasses several specific strands of research, such as: . the use of theories of argument, and dialectic in particular, in the design and implementation of protocols for multi-agent action and communication; . the application of theories of argument and rhetoric in natural language processing and affective computing; . the use of argument-based structures for autonomous reasoning in artificial intelligence, and in particular, for defeasible reasoning; . computer-supported collaborative argumentation – the implementation of software tools for enabling online argument in domains such as education and e-government. These strands come together to form the core of a research field that covers parts of artificial intelligence (AI), philosophy, linguistics, and cognitive science, but, increasingly, is building an identity of its own. (shrink)

En los últimos años se ha visto aumentar significativamente los resultados de las ciencias neurocognitivas y el estudio de los diferentes mecanismos que actúan sobre la conciencia, sobre la identidad personal, sobre el comportamiento libre, sobre la conciencia de culpa o arrepentimiento. Este trabajo analiza la conducta normativa del hombre desde el punto de vista antropológico, derivado de los recientes avances biológicos, médicos, bioquímicos y psicológicos. Dicha perspectiva representa, sin lugar a dudas, un logro en el estudio inter, multi y (...) transdisciplinario del hombre y su conducta, en específico de aquella organizada por reglas. El artículo sugiere que responder a la pregunta sobre la relevancia de las propiedades básicas del cerebro, su actividad electroquímica, su plasticidad sináptica o el tipo de neurotransmisión, para el derecho no puede provenir sino de la filosofía. (shrink)

Adult learners demand teaching innovations that are ever more rapid and attractive. As a response to these demands and the challenges of skills training, this article presents a conceptual analysis that introduces competitive debate as an impact training model. The aim is to learn whether debate can be considered to fall within the frame of gamification, so that the full potential of debate as gamification can be exploited. There is a significant research gap regarding competitive debate as a game, with (...) the training mechanics for adult learners remaining practically unexplored. Through a conceptual analysis of game, game experience, and gamification, and their respective characteristics, we conclude that competitive debate is an ideal instrument for gamification. (shrink)

Undoubtedly, democracy is in constant danger. The Athenian creation -later taken by the Latin American countries in the political-administrative figure of the Republic- has demonstrated not to be the best government model, but, the less evil, as expressed by an English politician when he saw that his empire era was coming to an end. And one of those defenders was the critical acid of the Vienna Circle and contemporary philosopher Karl Popper, who lived on his own flesh the mistakes of (...) democracy and the horrors of totalitarianism. Popper, defender of democracy to the limit, who even within his writings we can appreciate the paradoxes he sees in this, will not hesitate when the system of government of the people, for the people and the people, fall into the temptation to choose the dictatorship. For this, the philosopher tells us, democracy must create mechanisms so that this does not happen and we do not have a popular election that takes a demagogue and criminal to power, as was Hitler’s Germany. The thinking of the critical philosopher of historicism is liberal. An English liberalism and not as we understand it and we live in several States of America, where people is economic liberal and conservative in the ideas. No, Popper is liberal. A true liberal. (shrink)

La teoría clásica de las ideas innatas conoció en las últimas décadas un resurgir de la mano de filosofía chomskyana del lenguaje y la mente al amparo de una coartada genética. Sin embargo, la clarificación del alcance del papel de los genes en el desarrollo y de la complejidad y pluralidad de los sistemas en que aquellos se integran ha ensombrecido, si no apagado definitivamente, la infuencia del planteamiento. En este trabajo se argumenta, además, que históricamente se produjo un efecto (...) semejante con el innatismo cartesiano, al ser interpretado como un modelo disposicional de lo innato y acomodado al modelo epigeneticista del desarrollo orgánico. El precio de la supervivencia de alguna forma de innatismo parece ser el de permanecer aislado de cualquier lectura naturalista o científica y reafirmarse como una postura metafísica, epítome de la cual sería el modelo monadológico de Leibniz. (shrink)