Este artículo apunta a describir los significados que un grupo de universitarios ha construido sobre la experiencia de enseñar español a migrantes haitianos. La metodología corresponde a un estudio de caso cualitativo. El caso es un proyecto de responsabilidad social universitaria gestionado por académicos de la Universidad de Santiago de Chile, quienes forman, orientan y acompañan a un grupo de universitarios en su labor como monitores. La muestra estuvo conformada por 9 estudiantes, con un año de experiencia en el proyecto, (...) distribuidos en dos grupos de conversación. El análisis fue de carácter inductivo. Los resultados indican que los monitores experimentaron un proceso de ajuste de expectativas en torno a la enseñanza de una lengua, las situaciones emergentes, el grado de autonomía, la interacción didáctica, los aprendices y sus propias habilidades como docentes, entre otros. Se concluye que el modelo de intervención basado en el aprender haciendo y el aprendizaje cooperativo es válido para la formación de especialistas en enseñanza de ELE, aunque se requiere repensar el proceso de acompañamiento en aula por parte de los académicos encargados del proyecto. (shrink)

A book dedicated to the thought of St. Bonaventure that consists of nine chapters. The first is a broad introduction to his work and thought and the rest analyzes various aspects of his philosophy.

Actualmente siguen siendo minoritarias las investigaciones educativas que han estudiado la capacidad de la gamificación para fomentar las competencias propias de cada disciplina. Con el objetivo de evaluar el potencial de la gamificación para desarrollar las competencias del pensamiento histórico, este trabajo presenta el diseño, la implementación y el análisis de los resultados de una actividad gamificada destinada a la asignatura “Geografía e Historia” de 1º de la ESO. Los resultados obtenidos en esta investigación de diseño semi-experimental apuntan a que (...) la gamificación puede favorecer el desarrollo de algunas heurísticas propias del trabajo con fuentes, como su contextualización y su análisis, si bien es menos evidente el potencial de esta estrategia para ayudar a comprender sesgos y perspectivas en el proceso de atribución de la autoría de las fuentes. (shrink)

El desarrollo de un arquitecto viaja siempre entre dos mundos, lo virtual (la imagen, la técnica) y lo real (la práctica, la construcción). Partiendo de esta dicotomía, existe un elemento común a ambas cosmovisiones: el alfabeto visual necesario en la formación del arquitecto.El artículo sintetiza la investigación llevada a cabo en el marco de la asignatura de “Proyectos I” del Grado de Arquitectura, en el Departamento de Proyectos Arquitectónicos. Los objetivos planteados en ella han pretendido responder a las preguntas de (...) cuál es el “alfabeto de un arquitecto” y cuáles las herramientas necesarias para entender el “lenguaje del arquitecto”. (shrink)

La finalidad del artículo es establecer las características de la condición femenina subyacente en el significado de ser mujer en el discurso de un grupo de universitarias que participaron en el movimiento estudiantil feminista chileno del año 2018. Dicha caracterización se realiza desde el análisis feminista del discurso basado en el pensamiento de la diferencia sexual y utiliza el concepto de ideologema propuesto por Kerbrat-Orecchioni (1983). La metodología corresponde a un estudio cualitativo orientado a explicitar el significado de ser mujer (...) expresado en su discurso por 14 estudiantes, a las cuales se les aplicó una entrevista semi-estructurada. Los resultados indican que la condición femenina se expresa en los ideologemas del ideario de la igualdad de las mujeres con los hombres y en aquellos representativos de la política de la identidad (Sartori, 1996). Se concluye que la teoría de género a la que las jóvenes universitarias tienen acceso para decir su libertad, contradictoriamente, la niega, pues desplaza la diferencia sexual femenina, libre de estereotipos de género, por la condición femenina que, desde un discurso aparentemente progresista, puede ser abolida igualándose las mujeres a los hombres o multiplicando las identidades de género. (shrink)

The Coronavirus Covid 19 pandemic has produced terrible effects in the world economy and is shaking social and political stability around the world. The world of sport has obviously been severely affected by the pandemic, as authorities progressively canceled all level of competitions, including the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. In Spain, the initial government-lockdown closed the Sports High-performance Centers, and many other sports facilities. In order to support athlete's health and performance at crises like these, an online questionnaire named (...) RECOVID-19, was designed to assess how athletes were living their lives during such periods of home confinement. The main purpose of the questionnaire was to assess the impact of prolongued confinement on athlete's psychological, emotional, and behavioral performance. One thousand, two hundred forty-eight athletes participated in the survey. They had the fllowing characteristics:, who compete at National and International level. Results showed that during the confinement period, those athletes who lacked motivation reported a higher level of stressful thoughts, more behavioral problems, and greater emotional upheaval. However, those athletes who accepted confinement measures as necessary, and were in favor of respecting the rules of social isolation, fostered positive emotional states such as feelings of friendship. In addition, the availability of some sport equipment together with the ability to continue some training, were protective factors against emotional stress, lack of motivation and behavioral problems; and they were associated with greater respect for, and adherence to, confinement rules. Gender differences, tested by multigroup analysis, revealed that coping activities were more often associated to negative emotional states among women, whereas the ongoing availability of training information and future conditions were equally protective factors for both genders. This study also showed that receiving coaching, support and completing frequent training routines seem to be valuable tools to prevent or reduce some of the harmful effects of isolation on athlete's emotional well-being. The conclusions derived from this research would possibly help sport authorities to design supporting policies and plans to support athletes and trainers in future disruptive health crises. (shrink)

IntroductionRheumatologists are the primary healthcare professionals responsible for patients with rheumatic diseases and should acquire medical ethical competencies, such as the informed consent process. The objective clinical structured examination is a valuable tool for assessing clinical competencies. We report the performance of 90 rheumatologist trainees participating in a station designed to evaluate the ICP during the 2018 and 2019 national accreditations.MethodsThe station was validated and represented a medical encounter in which the rheumatologist informed a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus with (...) clinically active nephritis about renal biopsy. A trained patient–actor and an evaluator were instructed to assess ICP skills in obtaining formal informed consent, delivering bad news and overall communication with patients. The evaluator used a tailored checklist and form.ResultsCandidate performance varied with ICP content and was superior for potential benefit information but significantly reduced for potential complications and biopsy description. Only 17.8% of the candidates mentioned the legal perspective of ICP. Death was omitted by the majority of the candidates ; after the patient–actor challenged candidates, only 57.1% of them gave a clear and positive answer. Evaluators frequently rated candidate communications skills as superior, but ≥1 negative aspect was identified in 69% of the candidates.ConclusionsEthical competencies are mandatory for professional rheumatologists. It seems necessary to include an ethics competency framework in the curriculum throughout the rheumatology residency. (shrink)

The origins of teacher training programs in Chile have not been addressed in depth apart from Vivanco’s studies. Even though these studies explore the development of these programs in Chile from a chronological perspective, there are no qualitative studies that consider senior academics’ narrations. This qualitative study reconstructs the trajectory of teacher training programs in Chile from a series of interviews with 25 academics in charge of these programs. Results were analyzed in three different periods: 1960-1973, 1973-1990, and 1990 to (...) 2019. Results, discussed in a political and academic context, reveal that these teacher training programs have evolved in a sociopolitical context, generating a series of tensions that substantially impact these training programs. The study finishes with the statement of a series of questions aimed at reflecting upon the state of the art in Chile’s training programs. (shrink)

La obra de Lévinas propone asumir la ética como Filosofía Primera. Allí convergen dos fuentes de inspiración filosófica, el pensamiento judío y la fenomenología, y la experiencia histórica de persecución, violencia y desconocimiento del otro que exigió a Lévinas criticar el totalitarismo ontológico griego con el propósito de hacer justicia a la Alteridad y dar primacía así a la Responsabilidad para con el Otro sobre la Libertad autónoma del Yo. Luego, el autor retorna la crítica de Lévinas a la fenomenología (...) de la conciencia y a la ontología hermenéutica de Heidegger, con la que Occidente lleva a término su limitada opción por el conocimiento y la manifestación del Ser. Rubio y Lévinas, en tercer lugar, señalan hacia una hermenéutica encarnada de nuestras relaciones con el Otro, a una reivindicación de la antropología filosófica que recupere el Sentido desde el Otro. Finalmente, el autor se refiere al terna de la muerte en Lévinas, y subraya, en relación con la desaparición del maestro Rubio que, nuestro adiós a él, significa el 'ante Dios' de todas nuestras relaciones no tematizables con el Otro y antes que todo. (shrink)

Why are we still intrigued by Nietzsche? This chapter argues that sustained interest stems from Nietzsche’s challenge to what we might call the ‘staticism’ inherent in our ordinary experience. Staticism can be defined, roughly speaking, as the view that the world is a collection of enduring, re-identifiable objects that change only very gradually and according to determinate laws. The chapter discusses Nietzsche’s rejection of remnants of staticism in Hegel and Schopenhauer (1). It outlines why Nietzsche deems belief in any variant (...) of the staticist picture as problematic (2); and examines his adualistic-dialetheic stance towards, for example, first-person and third-person descriptions in the philosophy of mind (3). The chapter closes with a discussion of the contributions of "Nietzsche on Time and History". (shrink)

In the last 30 years, the key issue in developmental Theory of Mind has been if and when children are capable of representing false beliefs. Moving away from this research question, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of attentional processes in false-belief tasks. We focused on the design of the test phase and investigated two factors that may be critical for 3-year-old children’s success: the form of the wh-question and the salience of the target object. The (...) results of two experiments confirmed that 3-year olds are able to explicitly choose the correct answer in a false-belief task provided that they are allowed to focus on the protagonist throughout the task. The salience of the target object, however, was a critical factor in the design of the test phase, as increasing it had a negative effect on children’s performance. These results suggest that the experimental record of the last 30 years may be skewed since standard false-belief tasks do not control for the relative salience of the wrong response, potentially hindering the performance of children under 4. We conclude that a careful investigation of performance factors in false-belief tasks has the potential to reveal deep insights into the development of Theory of Mind skills, even if not directly focused on children’s representation of beliefs. (shrink)

The paper gives an overview of primate research and the economic-ethical 'lessons' we can derive from it. In particular, it examines the complex, multi-faceted and partially conflicting nature of (non-) human primates. Our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos, apparently walk on two legs: a selfish and a groupish leg. Given evolutionary continuity and gradualism between monkeys, apes and humans, human primates seem to be bipolar apes as well. They, too, tend to display a dual structure: there seems to (...) be a pro-social and a self-interested side to our species and a bipolar tension seems to exist between competition and cooperation respectively between self-interest and the common good. We are apparently at the same time Homines oeconomici and Homines culturali. Our inner ape tries to combine self-interested and common good motives. Based on de Waal's Russian doll model, the essay investigates the evolutionary origins of morality and 'eusociality'. With the help of selected case studies stemming from behavioural sciences/economics, the paper illustrates examples of empathy, altruism, reciprocal fairness, pro-social and other-regarding preferences, inequity aversion and altruistic punishment in (non-)human primates. Beside this selfless and groupish side, the paper also reflects on the self-interest and egoistic nature of (non-)human primates and the behavioural and cognitive differences between monkeys, apes and humans. (shrink)

El 10 de octubre de 2016 se celebró, en la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad Complutense, un encuentro titulado Ramón enseñó en público su Arte - Raimundus Artem suam publice legit. Coloquio 700 aniversario de Ramon Llull, auspiciado por el Departamento de Filosofía y Sociedad, y organizado por José Luis Villacañas y José Higuera Rubio. En el marco de esa jornada, José Luis Villacañas sugirió la posibilidad de publicar los resultados de este encuentro en una entrega especial de (...) la revista ASHF, y encargó a los editores del monográfico un estudio bibliográfico de la obra de Llull y de la historia del lulismo. Debido al gran número de compromisos asumidos durante el aniversario luliano algunos de los participantes de aquella reunión postergaron su contribución. Por lo tanto, ofrecemos en este número especial los resultados del coloquio, enriquecidos con otras aportaciones que surgieron en el contexto del aniversario luliano celebrado en Santa fe de Bogotá durante la exposición bibliográfica que la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia dedicó a la figura de Llull y a las ediciones que conserva de su obra recogidas por las bibliotecas coloniales neogranadinas. La convergencia de estos trabajos y de sus autores ha tomado algún tiempo, percance agravado por las contingencias ocurridas el año anterior. Sin embargo, esperamos que este volumen permita al lector aproximarse tanto a la obra luliana como a su variada y prolongada recepción. (shrink)

In the last few years, biologists and computer scientists have claimed that the introduction of data science techniques in molecular biology has changed the characteristics and the aims of typical outputs (i.e. models) of such a discipline. In this paper we will critically examine this claim. First, we identify the received view on models and their aims in molecular biology. Models in molecular biology are mechanistic and explanatory. Next, we identify the scope and aims of data science (machine learning in (...) particular). These lie mainly in the creation of predictive models which performances increase as data set increases. Next, we will identify a tradeoff between predictive and explanatory performances by comparing the features of mechanistic and predictive models. Finally, we show how this a priori analysis of machine learning and mechanistic research applies to actual biological practice. This will be done by analyzing the publications of a consortium—The Cancer Genome Atlas—which stands at the forefront in integrating data science and molecular biology. The result will be that biologists have to deal with the tradeoff between explaining and predicting that we have identified, and hence the explanatory force of the ‘new’ biology is substantially diminished if compared to the ‘old’ biology. However, this aspect also emphasizes the existence of other research goals which make predictive force independent from explanation. (shrink)

In the last few years, biologists and computer scientists have claimed that the introduction of data science techniques in molecular biology has changed the characteristics and the aims of typical outputs (i.e. models) of such a discipline. In this paper we will critically examine this claim. First, we identify the received view on models and their aims in molecular biology. Models in molecular biology are mechanistic and explanatory. Next, we identify the scope and aims of data science (machine learning in (...) particular). These lie mainly in the creation of predictive models which performances increase as data set increases. Next, we will identify a tradeoff between predictive and explanatory performances by comparing the features of mechanistic and predictive models. Finally, we show how this a priori analysis of machine learning and mechanistic research applies to actual biological practice. This will be done by analyzing the publications of a consortium—The Cancer Genome Atlas—which stands at the forefront in integrating data science and molecular biology. The result will be that biologists have to deal with the tradeoff between explaining and predicting that we have identified, and hence the explanatory force of the ‘new’ biology is substantially diminished if compared to the ‘old’ biology. However, this aspect also emphasizes the existence of other research goals which make predictive force independent from explanation. (shrink)

In standard Relevance Theory, hyperbole and metaphor are categorized together as loose uses of language, on a continuum with approximations, category extensions and other cases of loosening/broadening of meaning. Specifically, it is claimed that there are no interesting differences between hyperbolic and metaphorical uses. In recent work, we have set out to provide a more fine-grained articulation of the similarities and differences between hyperbolic and metaphorical uses and their relation to literal uses. We have defended the view that hyperbolic use (...) involves a shift of magnitude along a dimension which is intrinsic to the encoded meaning of the hyperbole vehicle, while metaphor involves a multi-dimensional qualitative shift away from the encoded meaning of the metaphor vehicle. In this article, we present three experiments designed to test the predictions of this analysis, using a variety of tasks (paraph. (shrink)

Deep learning is a kind of machine learning which happens in a certain type of artificial neural networks called deep networks. Artificial deep networks, which exhibit many similarities with biological ones, have consistently shown human-like performance in many intelligent tasks. This poses the question whether this performance is caused by such similarities. After reviewing the structure and learning processes of artificial and biological neural networks, we outline two important reasons for the success of deep learning, namely the extraction of successively (...) higher level features and the multiple layer structure, which are closely related to each other. Then some indications about the framing of this heated debate are given. After that, an assessment of the value of artificial deep networks as models of the human brain is given from the similarity perspective of model representation. Finally, a new version of computational functionalism is proposed which addresses the specificity of deep neural computation better than classic, program based computational functionalism. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to theorize how materials can play an active, constitutive, and causally effective role in the production and sustenance of cultural forms and meanings. It does so through an empirical exploration of the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA). The article describes the museum as an “objectification machine” that endeavors to transform and to stabilize artworks as meaningful “objects” that can be exhibited, classified, and circulated. The article explains how the extent to which (...) the museum succeeds in this process of stabilization ultimately depends on the material properties of artworks and, more specially, on whether these behave as “docile” or “unruly” objects. Drawing on different empirical examples, the article explores how docile and unruly objects shape organizational dynamics within the museum and, through them, the wider processes of institutional and cultural reproduction. The article uses this empirical example to highlight the importance of developing a new “material sensibility” that restores heuristic dignity to the material within cultural sociology. (shrink)

La aparición de un tal “Sócrates” en la "Declaratio" de Ramon Llull sugiere una posible síntesis luliana de la recepción medieval de este personaje de la filosofía antigua, reflejada en el comportamiento de este personaje durante el diálogo que muestra esta obra. Sócrates conocido por los medievales como el fundador de la filosofía y la ética fue descrito tanto en obras filosóficas e históricas, como en una larga tradición de sentencias, hechos y anécdotas que provienen de distintas tradiciones como la (...) árabe y vernácula. Además, existen imágenes de un Sócrates dedicado al arte medieval de la trascripción de textos o en un ejercicio dialéctico. Estos ejemplos se verán reflejados en la obra luliana y mostrarán el interés de Llull por la filosofía antigua y un ideal de filósofo “cristianizado” por los medievales. (shrink)

From 1912, Alejandro Korn and José Ingenieros began to publish articles that then would be part of their historical works, respectively, Influencias filosóficas en la evolución nacional and La evolución de las ideas argentinas. Therefore, they started to generate some discussion in reference to sections that they knew of each other's work. Being the first major works from a developing philosophical field about the history of Argentine thought, their authors sought to create cultural traditions to affirm their own academic, cultural (...) and political positions. Thus, they based their positions about their academic situation through their interventions in the debate on the evaluation of the various features of the intellectual past of the country and national identity during the academic professionalization of historical studies, and actively participated in discussions on the function of culture and philosophy in a national project. Yet, besides, in order to address their history of ideas, the two most important teachers of the philosophical sphere around 1918 tested very different methodological approaches that worked under different conceptions of philosophical and historical practice and two different ways of thinking the reception and circulation of ideas from Europe. (shrink)

Although expected utility theory has proven a fruitful and elegant theory in the finite realm, attempts to generalize it to infinite values have resulted in many paradoxes. In this paper, we argue that the use of John Conway's surreal numbers shall provide a firm mathematical foundation for transfinite decision theory. To that end, we prove a surreal representation theorem and show that our surreal decision theory respects dominance reasoning even in the case of infinite values. We then bring our theory (...) to bear on one of the more venerable decision problems in the literature: Pascal's Wager. Analyzing the wager showcases our theory's virtues and advantages. To that end, we analyze two objections against the wager: Mixed Strategies and Many Gods. After formulating the two objections in the framework of surreal utilities and probabilities, our theory correctly predicts that (1) the pure Pascalian strategy beats all mixed strategies, and (2) what one should do in a Pascalian decision problem depends on what one's credence function is like. Our analysis therefore suggests that although Pascal's Wager is mathematically coherent, it does not deliver what it purports to, a rationally compelling argument that people should lead a religious life regardless of how confident they are in theism and its alternatives. (shrink)

Presupposition, vagueness, and oddness can lead to some sentences failing to have a clear truth value. The homogeneity property of plural predication with definite descriptions may also create truth-value gaps: The books are written in Dutch is true if all relevant books are in Dutch, false if none of them are, and neither true nor false if, say, half of the books are written in Dutch. We study the projection property of homogeneity by deploying methods of general interest to identify (...) truth-value gaps. Method A consists in collecting both truth judgments and, independently, falsity judgments. The second method, employed in experiment series B and C, is based on one-shot ternary judgments: completely true vs. completely false vs. neither. After a calibration of these methods, we use them to demonstrate that homogeneity projects out of negation, the scope of universal sentences and the scope of non-monotonic quantifiers such as exactly two, to some extent. We assess our results in light of different theoretical approaches to homogeneity—approaches based on presuppositions, scalar implicatures, and something like supervaluations, respectively. We identify free parameters in these theories and assess various variants of them based on our results. Our experimental paradigms may be of broader significance insofar as they can be applied to other phenomena which result in the failure of a sentence to have a definite truth value. (shrink)

Summary The portrayal of Pontius Pilate as a single-handed prefect is one of the many incongruous and implausible elements found in the Gospel accounts of Jesus of Nazareth’s passion. Moreover, a striking imbalance in these accounts emerges: whilst Romans appear only at the last phase of the story, earlier the only people plotting against Jesus are Jews. There is every indication that some key information has been dropped. The present paper, after taking into account the traces of anti-Roman aspects in (...) Jesus’ career, surveys what is known about the consilia of Roman provincial governors and the sources of information available to them, and, for the first time, applies this knowledge to a critical reconstruction of the story underlying the Gospels, thereby providing a missing link to understand it. (shrink)

Problems in moral philosophy and philosophy of religion can take on new forms in light of contemporary physical theories. Here we discuss how the problem of evil is transformed by the Everettian "Many-Worlds" theory of quantum mechanics. We first present an Everettian version of the problem and contrast it to the problem in single-universe physical theories such as Newtonian mechanics and Bohmian mechanics. We argue that, pace Turner (2016) and Zimmerman (2017), the Everettian problem of evil is no more extreme (...) than the Bohmian one. The existence and multiplicity of (morally) terrible branches in the Everettian multiverse in contrast to the mere possibility of them in the Bohmian universe does not entail there is "more evil" in the former than in the latter. Low probability in the Bohmian case and low branch weight in the Everettian case should modulate how we respond to them in exactly the same way. We suggest that the same applies to the divine decision of creating an Everettian multiverse. For an empirically adequate Everettian quantum mechanics that justifies the Born rule, there is no special problem of evil. In order for there to be a special Everettian problem of evil, the Everettian interpretation must already have been exposed to decisive refutation. In the process, we hope to show how attention to the details of physical and metaphysical theories can and should impact the way we think about problems in moral philosophy and philosophy of religion. (shrink)

This paper discusses the logical space of alternative conceptual engineering projects, with a specific focus on (1) the processes, (2) the targets and goals, and (3) the methods of such projects. We present an overview of how these three aspects interact in the contemporary literature and discuss those alternative projects that have yet to be explored based on our suggested typology. We show how choices about each element in a conceptual engineering project constrain the possibilities for the others, thereby giving (...) rise to distinct groupings of possible projects under the banner of conceptual engineering. We conclude with a critical reflection on the potential ethical issues that arise as a result of effectively putting conceptual engineering into practice. (shrink)

Este ensayo está dirigido a comprender, someramente, la relación del hegelianismo y Kierkegaard a través del contexto intelectual de Dinamarca en la primera mitad del siglo XIX. Para esta aproximación es necesario, en primer lugar, constatar bajo qué formas irrumpe el hegelianismo alemán en los círculos intelectuales de Copenhague; luego, sondear la relación existente entre este hegelianismo y las figuras que dan forma y contenido al hegelianismo danés; para, por último, entender qué tipo de relación mantuvo Søren Kierkegaard con el (...) hegelianismo. (shrink)

Ames, Roger. Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2011. 332 pp.

Self-determination theory considers motivation as a multidimensional phenomenon, with different levels of intensity, purposes, intentions, wills and autonomies. It distinguishes between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation. In this paper, we are going to focus on extrinsic motivation, which is related to those tasks that the subject performs without having a purpose in themselves, and which is composed of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. The aim of this research is to analyse the relationship between them and emotional intelligence (...) in 165 students with university degrees related to Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. The main findings of this work lie mainly in the demonstration of the fact that emotional intelligence is a predictor of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. (shrink)

One of the best known arguments against the connectionist approach to artificial intelligence and cognitive science is that neural networks are black boxes, i.e., there is no understandable account of their operation. This difficulty has impeded efforts to explain how categories arise from raw sensory data. Moreover, it has complicated investigation about the role of symbols and language in cognition. This state of things has been radically changed by recent experimental findings in artificial deep learning research. Two kinds of artificial (...) deep learning networks, namely the convolutional neural network and the generative adversarial network have been found to possess the capability to build internal states that are interpreted by humans as complex visual categories, without any specific hints or any grammatical processing. This emergent ability suggests that those categories do not depend on human knowledge or the syntactic structure of language, while they do rely on their visual context. This supports a mild form of empiricism, while it does not assume that computational functionalism is true. Some consequences are extracted regarding the debate about amodal and grounded representations in the human brain. Furthermore, new avenues for research on cognitive science are open. (shrink)

Classic conceptions of model simplicity for machine learning are mainly based on the analysis of the structure of the model. Bayesian, Frequentist, information theoretic and expressive power concepts are the best known of them, which are reviewed in this work, along with their underlying assumptions and weaknesses. These approaches were developed before the advent of the Big Data deluge, which has overturned the importance of structural simplicity. The computational simplicity concept is presented, and it is argued that it is more (...) encompassing and closer to actual machine learning practices than the classic ones. In order to process the huge datasets which are commonplace nowadays, the computational complexity of the learning algorithm is the decisive factor to assess the viability of a machine learning strategy, while the classic accounts of simplicity play a surrogate role. Some of the desirable features of computational simplicity derive from its reliance on the learning system concept, which integrates key aspects of machine learning that are ignored by the classic concepts. Moreover, computational simplicity is directly associated with energy efficiency. In particular, the question of whether the maximum possibly achievable predictive accuracy should be attained, no matter the economic cost of the associated energy consumption pattern, is considered. (shrink)

Conceptual engineering means to provide a method to assess and improve our concepts working as cognitive devices. But conceptual engineering still lacks an account of what concepts are (as cognitive devices) and of what engineering is (in the case of cognition). And without such prior understanding of its subject matter, or so it is claimed here, conceptual engineering is bound to remain useless, merely operating as a piecemeal approach, with no overall grip on its target domain. The purpose of this (...) programmatic paper is to overcome this knowledge gap by providing some guidelines for developing the theories of concepts and of cognition that will ground the systematic unified framework needed to effectively implement conceptual engineering as a widely applicable method for the cognitive optimization of our conceptual devices. (shrink)

Conceptual engineering is the method for assessing and improving our concepts. However, little has been written about how best to conceive of concepts for the purposes of conceptual engineering. In this paper, I aim to fill this foundational gap, proceeding in three main steps: First, I propose a methodological framework for evaluating the conduciveness of a given concept of concept for conceptual engineering. Then, I develop a typology that contrasts two competing concepts of concept that can be used in conceptual (...) engineering — namely, the philosophical and psychological ones. Finally, I evaluate these two concepts of concept using the proposed methodological framework and I show that, when it comes to making conceptual engineering an actionable method, the psychological concept of concept outclasses its philosophical counterpart on all counts. This provides a baseline from which the concept of concept can be further improved for the purposes of conceptual engineering. (shrink)

It is now the majority view amongst philosophers and theologians that any world could have been better. This places the choice of which world to create into an especially challenging class of decision problems: those that are discontinuous in the limit. I argue that combining some weak, plausible norms governing this type of problem with a creator who has the attributes of the god of classical theism results in a paradox: no world is possible. After exploring some ways out of (...) the paradox, I conclude that the classical theist should accept Marilyn Adams’s view that no norms apply to gods. (shrink)

Background: Patients at the end-of-life and their families experience a strong emotional impact. The wellbeing of the patient at the end-of-life and their family caregiver are related. Aim: to explore the elements related with the emotional wellbeing of patients with and without cognitive impairment at the end-of-life and that of their primary family caregivers. Design: Cross- sectional study. Participants: data was collected from 202 patients at the end of life with different diagnosis (COPD, cancer and frail elderly) as well as (...) from their respective 202 primary family caregivers. Results: Structural equation models indicated that the emotional state of the patients was best predicted by their functional independence and the burden of their family caregivers. At the same time, the emotional state of the primary family caregiver was predicted by their burden and not by the cognitive state or the functional independence of the patient. Nevertheless, the burden of the family caregiver, which is the only variable predicting both the emotional state of the patient and that of the caregiver, was directly related with the functional independence of the patient and indirectly with the patient’s cognitive state. Conclusions: The burden of the family caregiver stands out as a key factor in the reduction of the emotional distress of patients at the end-of-life –whether or not they present significant cognitive impairment- and that of their family caregivers. (shrink)

Este ensayo practica una hermenéutica a Totalidad e infinitoa partir de cinco epígrafes, abocados todos a explorar los múltiples sentidos de la propuesta levinasianaen torno al fundamentotrascendental de lo ético.El primer apartado busca analizar la relación entre lo que Lévinas designa como lafaz del sery el concepto de totalidad; en el epígrafe siguiente se explicita la diferencia existente, en el interior de la comprensión temporal de lo total, entre lohistóricoy loescatológico; en eltercerepígrafe se analizan los móviles que llevan a Lévinas (...) a sustituir lo metafísico por lo ético, revelando a este segundo saber como filosofíaprimera; y, finalmente, el cuarto y el quinto epígrafe quedan dedicados a entender dos conceptos que, entrelazados, condensan la matriz conceptual desde donde Lévinas acentúa la originalidad de su propuesta: el rostro del Otroy la idea de infinito. (shrink)