Abstract(1) There is enough contradictory evidence regarding the role of base rates in category learning to confirm the nonexistence of biases in such learning. (2) It is not always possible to activate statistical reasoning through frequentist representation. (3) It is necessary to use the concept of systematic processing in reconsidering the published work on biases.

Recent trends towards an e-Science offer us the opportunity to think about the specific epistemological changes created by computational empowerment in scientific practices. In fact, we can say that a computational epistemology exists that requires our attention. By ‘computational epistemology’ I mean the computational processes implied or required to achieve human knowledge. In that category we can include AI, supercomputers, expert systems, distributed computation, imaging technologies, virtual instruments, middleware, robotics, grids or databases. Although several authors talk about the extended mind (...) and computational extensions of the human body, most of these proposals don’t analyze the deep epistemological implications of computer empowerment in scientific practices. At the same time, we must identify the principal concept for e-Science: Information. Why should we think about a new epistemology for e-Science? Because several processes exist around scientific information that require a good epistemological model to be understood. (shrink)

Observations of animals engaging in apparently moral behavior have led academics and the public alike to ask whether morality is shared between humans and other animals. Some philosophers explicitly argue that morality is unique to humans, because moral agency requires capacities that are only demonstrated in our species. Other philosophers argue that some animals can participate in morality because they possess these capacities in a rudimentary form. Scientists have also joined the discussion, and their views are just as varied as (...) the philosophers’. Some research programs examine whether animals countenance specific human norms, such as fairness. Other research programs investigate the cognitive and affective capacities thought to be necessary for morality. There are two sets of concerns that can be raised by these debates. They sometimes suffer from there being no agreed upon theory of morality and no clear account of whether there is a demarcation between moral and social behavior; that is, they lack a proper philosophical foundation. They also sometimes suffer from there being disagreement about the psychological capacities evident in animals. Of these two sets of concerns—the nature of the moral and the scope of psychological capacities—we aim to take on only the second. In this chapter we defend the claim that animals have three sets of capacities that, on some views, are taken as necessary and foundational for moral judgment and action. These are capacities of care, capacities of autonomy, and normative capacities. Care, we argue, is widely found among social animals. Autonomy and normativity are more recent topics of empirical investigation, so while there is less evidence of these capacities at this point in our developing scientific knowledge, the current data is strongly suggestive. (shrink)

Resumen Los textos televisivos interpretan y analizan la realidad circundante e influyen en la visión que la audiencia tiene del mundo. Es más, los programas cómicos basados en la burla y el sarcasmo hacia grupos étnicos minoritarios refuerzan estereotipos negativos y promueven la discriminación cultural. En este artículo se estudia el humor étnico en La paisana Jacinta. Esta serie peruana ha sido acusada de racista por diversas personas y grupos, entre ellos, la excongresista indígena Hilaria Supa, LUNDU y CHIRAPAQ. Primero, (...) se analizan las estrategias pragmático-lingüísticas empleadas en la construcción del humor étnico en una selección de diálogos y monólogos de Jacinta, el personaje principal de la serie. Para ello, se utiliza la Teoría General del Humor Verbal. Asimismo, dado que todo texto es multimodal, se tiene también en cuenta cómo imágenes, gestos, y elementos musicales y prosódicos en la serie contribuyen en la producción de la comicidad. Finalmente, a partir de estos resultados, se examina el contenido cómico del programa desde una perspectiva crítica para determinar si este es discriminatorio. (shrink)

Modern management reporting on its company''s performance is influenced by individuals ethical considerations. Stakeholders philosophies have continued to change over the last 75 years affecting reporting systems for companies reporting information internally and externally. These fundamental changes in philosophy have affected how information is conveyed. We are not claiming that only one philosophical viewpoint dominates companies reporting practices, but there does appear to be a changing trend of philosophies building on one another. We use resource dependence theory in relationship to (...) a decision-making model to explain changing stakeholders positions over time. This paper argues that six dominant philosophical theories have influenced the way individuals and organizations report financial and other information. Further, these philosophies then are depicted in a model that helps us to understand what influences companies to present themselves to the outside world. A vignette is used to depict changing philosophical views for several companies management report over 75 years. (shrink)

When conflicts regarding industrial operations erupt between countries, relationships between corporations and stakeholders may be affected. We combine insights from stakeholder theory and studies on government and corporate social responsibility to investigate how intergovernmental politics shapes stakeholder engagement. Relying on attribution theory and a qualitative analysis of the Finnish Metsä-Botnia (hereafter Botnia) company during the intergovernmental conflict between Uruguay and Argentina, we explore the mediating role of political attributions—defined as the stakeholder network actors’ inferences regarding governmental motives—in the process by (...) which intergovernmental politics shapes stakeholder engagement. We induce three types of political attributions: instrumentalizing, which points to the undeclared instrumental motives of governments; radicalizing, which refers to the beliefs that governments immoderately intensify confrontation; and acting in bad faith, which relates to the perceptions that governments act in inconsistent and/or morally inappropriate ways. Our results show how these attributions combine in specific configurations to explain how intergovernmental politics shapes stakeholder engagement throughout the conflict. Our study theorizes the role of governments as stakeholders in stakeholder engagement and expands organizational studies of attribution to the stakeholder and global levels. (shrink)

This paper examines folk theories of algorithmic recommendations on Spotify in order to make visible the cultural specificities of data assemblages in the global South. The study was conducted in Costa Rica and draws on triangulated data from 30 interviews, 4 focus groups with 22 users, and the study of “rich pictures” made by individuals to graphically represent their understanding of algorithmic recommendations. We found two main folk theories: one that personifies Spotify and another one that envisions it as a (...) system full of resources. Whereas the first theory emphasizes local conceptions of social relations to make sense of algorithms, the second one stresses the role of algorithms in providing a global experience of music and technology. We analyze why people espouse either one of these theories and how these theories provide users with resources to enact different modalities of power and resistance in relation to recommendation algorithms. We argue that folk theories thus offer a productive way to broaden understanding of what agency means in relation to algorithms. (shrink)

It has been argued that some animals are moral subjects, that is, beings who are capable of behaving on the basis of moral motivations. In this paper, we do not challenge this claim. Instead, we presuppose its plausibility in order to explore what ethical consequences follow from it. Using the capabilities approach, we argue that beings who are moral subjects are entitled to enjoy positive opportunities for the flourishing of their moral capabilities, and that the thwarting of these capabilities entails (...) a harm that cannot be fully explained in terms of hedonistic welfare. We explore the implications of this idea for the assessment of current practices involving animals. (shrink)

Despite the strength of arguments for veganism in the animal rights literature, alongside environmental and other anthropocentric concerns posed by industrialised animal agriculture, veganism remains only a minority standpoint. In this paper, I explore the moral motivational problem of veganism from the perspectives of moral psychology and political false consciousness. I argue that a novel interpretation of the post-Marxist notion of political false consciousness may help to make sense of the widespread refusal to shift towards veganism. Specifically, the notion of (...) false consciousness fills some explanatory gaps left by the moral psychological notion of akrasia, often understood to refer to a weakness of will. Central to my approach is the idea that animal exploitation is largely systemic and the assumption that moral motivation is inseparable from moral thinking. In this light, the primary obstacle to the adoption of veganism arises not so much from a failure to put genuine beliefs into action, but rather in a shared, distorted way of thinking about animals. Thus, common unreflective objections to veganism may be said to be manifestations of false consciousness. (shrink)

En este escrito, 1) hago una presentación del tipo de análisis conceptual quehace Wittgenstein en algunas obras posteriores al Tractaus; me refiero,específicamente, a una cierta manera de proceder que consiste en ladescripción de los diferentes usos de un concepto, y que tiene como finarrojar luz sobre las condiciones de funcionamiento de nuestro lenguaje para,así, llegar a la solución de un determinado problema filosófico. 2) Examinoalgunos pasajes de las Investigaciones en los que que Wittgenstein analizaconceptos psicológicos y señalo lo que considero (...) son algunas fallas de lasinterpretaciones naturalistas, externalistas y mentalistas de esos pasajes. 3)Presento una interpretación de la perspectiva de Wittgenstein en torno alproblema de la existencia y naturaleza de los estados y procesos psicológicos,que tiene en cuenta, tanto el tipo de análisis que Wittgenstein hace, comoalgunas afirmaciones suyas extraídas de las Investigaciones y de LosCuadernos Azul y Marrón. (shrink)

Rationale, aims and objectives Given the increasing prevalence of cataract and demand for cataract extraction surgery, patients must often wait to undergo this procedure. We validated a previously developed priority scoring system in terms of clinical variables, pre-intervention health status, appropriateness of surgery and gain in visual acuity (VA) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).Methods Explicit prioritization criteria for cataract extraction created by a variation of the Research and Development (RAND) and University of California Los Angeles appropriateness methodology were retrospectively (...) applied to a prospective cohort of 5257 patients on waiting lists to undergo cataract by phacoemulsification at 17 hospitals in Spain. Demographic data, clinical data and data related to surgical technique were collected by trained ophthalmologists. Patients were evaluated by their ophthalmologist before the intervention and 6 weeks afterward. They also completed, by mail, the Visual Function Index (VF-14) before the intervention and 3 months afterward.Results High-priority patients experienced greater improvement in VA and HRQoL than those classified as intermediate or low-priority (P < 0.0001), even after adjusting by VA and the VF-14 score at baseline. The time to intervention was the same for high-priority patients as it was for intermediate and low-priority patients.Conclusions The priority score we developed identified patients most likely to experience the greatest improvements from cataract extraction. Use of this tool could provide a fairer and more rational way to prioritize patients for cataract extraction. (shrink)

During the last ten years I have been working on the process of conversion to Protestantism of the indigenous people in Chimborazo province, Ecuador. Protestant evangelization in Ecuador started in the early twentieth century, but it is only in the last thirty years that the process of conversion of the indigenous people has become a large-scale one. During the first sixty years of evangelical activity North American missionaries from the Evangelical Missionary Union baptized only four natives in Chimborazo province. This (...) period was marked by strenuous resistance and rejection of the new religion. Accounts given by missionaries of the period describe the disasters and difficulties that the first evangelizing mission suffered. It was only the conviction that lost souls had to be saved that helped them overcome adversities and later achieve amazing results. (shrink)

It is generally assumed that humans are the only animals who can possess a concept of death. However, the ubiquity of death in nature and the evolutionary advantages that would come with an understanding of death provide two prima facie reasons for doubting this assumption. In this paper, my intention is not to defend that animals of this or that nonhuman species possess a concept of death, but rather to examine how we could go about empirically determining whether animals can (...) have a concept of death. In order to answer this question, I begin by sketching an account of concept possession that favours intensional classification rather than mere extensional discrimination. Further, I argue that the concept of death should be construed as neither binary nor universal. I then present a proposal for a set of minimal conditions that must be met to have a concept of death. I argue that having a minimal understanding of death entails first expecting a dead individual to be alive, and then grasping its non-functionality and irreversibility. Lastly, I lay out the sort of observational and experimental evidence that we should look for to determine whether animals have the capacity for a minimal comprehension of death. (shrink)

La inteligencia artificial (IA) no es sólo una moda, sino un conjunto de sistemastecnológicos que han adquirido en los últimos años un enorme desarrollo con aplicaciones a múltiples aspectos de la vida cotidiana de los ciudadanos, tanto por parte de particulares (empresas) como de los propios Estados.La Unión Europea ha apostado siempre por compatibilizar los avances tecnológicos con el respeto de los principios y valores de la democracia, el Estado de Derecho y los derechos y libertades fundamentales. Desde tales premisas, (...) actualmente se enfrenta a la búsqueda de un modelo regulatorio de la IA ante las carencias del Reglamento General de Protección de Datos (RGPD) en este ámbito.A través de la Propuesta de Reglamento (UE) sobre IA, se pretende adoptar una regulación marco del uso de la IA que suponga una “tercera vía” inspirada en los principios y valores de la Unión y se contraponga a las actuales fórmulas regulatorias “abstencionistas” (EE.UU) e “hiperreguladoras” (China), proporcionando un modelo que consiga el efecto imitador o “efecto Bruselas” de una IA “confiable” para los ciudadanos y las empresas a nivel mundial. (shrink)

This book shows that the debate over the compatibility of externalism and self-knowledge has led to the investigation of a variety of topics, including the a...

The aim of this paper is to show how modern genetics reached Spain through the Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE) during the decade of 1920s, the role played by key persons, and the level of development this discipline achieved from its different points of inception and under the conditions of financial scarcity and political turmoil that prevailed during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). In addition, the effect of the war on the continuity of the lines (...) of research already began is outlined, identifying the main area in which genetics first reappeared: agronomy. (shrink)

La presente investigación se ha centrado en describir los retos a los que se ha de enfrentar la comunidad educativa ante la presencia de alumnado con necesidades educativas especiales en los centros escolares. La metodología se ha centrado en la implementación de un cuestionario tomando como referencia cuatro elementos clave: familia, profesorado, alumnado y centro. El análisis posterior de los datos refleja que la comunidad educativa está a favor de promover un modelo de escuela inclusiva aunque falta un gran camino (...) por recorrer con respecto a la formación y la información sobre la inclusión en el aula. (shrink)

The suitability of the artificial grammar learning paradigm to capture relevant aspects of the acquisition of linguistic structures has been empirically tested in a number of EEG studies. Some have shown a syntax-related P600 component, but it has not been ruled out that the AGL P600 effect is a response to surface features rather than the underlying syntax structure. Therefore, in this study, we controlled for the surface characteristics of the test sequences and recorded the EEG before and after exposure (...) to a grammar. After exposure, a typical, centroparietal P600 effect was elicited by grammatical violations and not by unfamiliar subsequences, suggesting that the AGL P600 effect signals a response to structural irregularities. Moreover, preference and grammaticality classification showed a qualitatively similar ERP profile, strengthening the idea that the implicit structural mere-exposure paradigm in combination with preference classification is a suitable alternative to the traditional grammaticality classification test. (shrink)

Este trabajo muestra cómo una modificación en el sentido del término caracter adquirido llevó a rechazar la hipótesis de la herencia de esos caracteres. Se considerará el ejemplo del experimento llevado a cabo por Weismann que fue tomado como un caso paradigmático en los libros de textos y en la bibliografía especializada para refutar esa hipótesis. Ese diseño experimental fue aceptado por la comunidad como una refutación, a pesar de que los caracteres a los que hacía referencia no cumplían con (...) ninguna de las condiciones necesarias para poder ser considerado un carácter adquirido. Así, quedó establecida la premisa de que sólo las células germinales podían heredarse fundándose lo que se conoció como la barrera de Weismann. Este caso pretende poner en consideración cómo la enseñanza y reproducción de los términos científicos y de sus indicadores puede llevar a limitar el desarrollo de las teorías. Se concluye acerca de la necesidad de reflexionar sobre la manera en que se citan y enseñan las teorías científicas a fin de evitar barreras en el desarrollo de los campos disciplinares. (shrink)

El objetivo del presente trabajo es hacer una reseña de los conceptos fundamentales que elabora Slavoj Žižek en su libro “El sublime objeto de la ideología”. Tomaré algunas ideas centrales acerca del síntoma, la ideología y la fantasía, así como también haré algunos comentarios. Žižek nos advierte de no caer en las trampas actuales ilusorias de que vivimos en una época posideológica.

A presente pesquisa sobre uma abordagem de gênero propõe­se a analisar as trajetórias de Trabalhadores docentes, focalizando os fatores que impulsionam as mulheres a seguir a carreira na educação superior na Universidade Federal de Sergipe. O estudo de caso organizacional desenvolveu­se na Universidade Federal de Sergipe/Campus de Itabaiana­-SE, que integra 84 docentes (58 homens e 26 mulheres). Fontes utilizadas: revisão bibliográfica abordando conceitos orientadores da literatura; documentos da instituição e dados estatísticos sobre o perfil. As estatísticas de imediato descobrem a (...) permanência da segmentação e divisão sexual do trabalho. Verificamos que existem avanços pontuais, mas, no entanto, sem a ruptura de mecanismos que historicamente inviabilizaram a democratização dos espaços acadêmicos, em que as mulheres têm o papel de buscar uma maior efetivação em tais espaços. (shrink)

Este artículo busca delinear el papel activo que tuvo la Iglesia católica y sus directrices sobre la cinematografía, en la renovación del documental chileno en las décadas del 50 y el 60. En particular, el trabajo de asimilación y divulgación de este ideario, que realiza un grupo de sacerdotes jesuitas responsables de la redacción de revista Mensaje y su gravitación en la producción documental universitaria, impulsada por Rafael Sánchez en el Instituto Fílmico de la Universidad Católica de Chile, a partir (...) de 1955. El presente trabajo examina estas directrices, y sus eventuales efectos en dos ámbitos específicos de interés: la reflexión y divulgación de las posturas de la Iglesia católica sobre el cine en la revista Mensaje, y en el ámbito de la práctica cinematográfica, específicamente en la producción de documentales de Rafael Sánchez. (shrink)

This article discusses the potential role of religious care-work in the conceptualization and performance of citizenship across generations, using a comparative ethnographic study on the mothering practices of Indo-Mozambican and Cape Verdean migrant families conducted in Portugal, the United Kingdom and Angola. The analysis shows that migrant mothers not only used specific religious resources to encourage their offspring to become more fully engaged with citizenship, but also converted these resources into different kinds of material and social capital, which simultaneously empowered (...) the construction of their own and their children’s citizen identities and practices. The article highlights the contribution of religious care-work towards ensuring certain kinds of citizenship that foster pride of affiliation and belonging to a given group identity, while simultaneously promoting intergroup identifications to engage across ethnic and religious boundaries. This represents a stark contrast with official political discourse, which tends to view migrant mothering as simply based on intergenerational continuity. (shrink)

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo principal, analizar parte del discurso filosófico, así como también, el expresado en la música popular con respecto, a las mujeres e indirectamente a las diversidades sexuales.Filosofía y versos contenidos en las letras de canciones populares, se emparentan en la discriminación que se traduce en conductas implícitas reconocidas como micromachismos y en otras explícitas que vendrían siendo macroconsecuencias, como son todos los tipos de violencia, que tras una espiral culminan en femicidios. Tratar de comprender la (...) estructura discursiva que guardan estos actos, adquiere relevancia, por cuanto la población aludida, vive bajo permanente amenaza, durante siglos. (shrink)

It is tempting to assume that being a moral creature requires the capacity to attribute mental states to others, because a creature cannot be moral unless she is capable of comprehending how her actions can have an impact on the well-being of those around her. If this assumption were true, then mere behaviour readers could never qualify as moral, for they are incapable of conceptualising mental states and attributing them to others. In this paper, I argue against such an assumption (...) by discussing the specific case of empathy. I present a characterisation of empathy that would not require an ability to attribute mental states to others, but would nevertheless allow the creature who possessed it to qualify as a moral being. Provided certain conditions are met, a behaviour reader could be motivated to act by this form of empathy, and this means that behaviour readers could be moral. The case for animal morality, I shall argue, is therefore independent of the case for animal mindreading. (shrink)

Could animals behave morally if they can’t mindread? Does morality require mindreading capacities? Moral psychologists believe mindreading is contingently involved in moral judgements. Moral philosophers argue that moral behaviour necessarily requires the possession of mindreading capacities. In this paper, I argue that, while the former may be right, the latter are mistaken. Using the example of empathy, I show that animals with no mindreading capacities could behave on the basis of emotions that possess an identifiable moral content. Therefore, at least (...) one type of moral motivation does not require mindreading. This means that, a priori, non-mindreading animals can be moral. (shrink)

Comparative thanatologists study the responses to the dead and the dying in nonhuman animals. Despite the wide variety of thanatological behaviours that have been documented in several different species, comparative thanatologists assume that the concept of death is very difficult to acquire and will be a rare cognitive feat once we move past the human species. In this paper, we argue that this assumption is based on two forms of anthropocentrism: an intellectual anthropocentrism, which leads to an over-intellectualisation of the (...) CoD, and an emotional anthropocentrism, which yields an excessive focus on grief as a reaction to death. Contrary to what these two forms of anthropocentrism suggest, we argue that the CoD requires relatively little cognitive complexity and that it can emerge independently from mourning behaviour. Moreover, if we turn towards the natural world, we can see that the minimal cognitive requirements for a CoD are in fact met by many nonhuman species and there are multiple learning pathways and opportunities for animals in the wild to develop a CoD. This allows us to conclude that the CoD will be relatively easy to acquire and, so, we can expect it to be fairly common in nature. (shrink)