The goal of this paper is to assess biological naturalism in light of the adaptationist debate. Searle is famous for explicity pursuing a biological foundation for his theory of consciousness. However, evolutionary biology receives little attention in his work, which results in crucial theoretical confusions over adaptationism. In this paper, we will propose two theses concerning Searle's approach to consciousness in the context of the adaptationist debate. First, Searle's attack on adaptationism only applies to its naive version, failing to touch (...) any of the more sophisticated versions of adaptationism, especially the empirical one. Second, despite his attack, in the end Searle embraces empirical adaptationism about consciousness. Howsoever, Searle's empirical foundation for his thesis that the evolutionary advantage of consciousness lies in a greater power of discrimination faces a serious problem of generalization regarding non-human animals. (shrink)

This essay aims to expose the metaphysical underpinnings of enactivism. While enactivism relies heavily on rejecting the traditional mind-body problem by excluding the familiar thought experiments that favor phenomenal dualism, the crucial point that is overlooked is instead the brain-body problem, specifically the crucial interaction between the brain and the bodily limbs in their embodied activities of perception and cognition. If enactivism is correct, differences in sensory experience necessarily entail differences in embodied activity—this is the metaphysical core of enactivism, which (...) we think is entirely wrong. We will argue that a physical or biological body ("Körper") is configured or shaped into a perceptually living body ("Leib") by brain patterns and not by embodied activity or by the so-called sensorimotor contingencies. Undoubtedly, embodied actions influence sensory perception. However, since variations in embodied actions do not necessarily lead to variations in sensory experience, they are not metaphysically constitutive of these experiences (supervenience claim). (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)

Parsa-Parsi et al systematically discuss and elucidate contentious and non-controversial ethical issues that emerged during the ICoME (International Code of Medical Ethics) revision process and the consensus they achieved. The ethical issues discussed include the physician’s duty to act in the best interests of patients and to ensure they are protected from the unjustifiable risk of harm, respect for patient autonomy and the duties of physicians during emergencies, among others. This paper examines paragraph 26, which requires doctors to provide only (...) medically justified remote treatment, ensure patients offer informed consent and adequately protect their confidentiality.1 At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries in Europe and America implemented remote-by-default healthcare policies. At that time, the policy aimed to ensure that patients enjoyed continued access to care while protecting healthcare professionals’ health and well-being. After the COVID-19 pandemic, this policy remained in place. Regardless of the nature of their ailment, patients have consistently preferred in-person care out of concern that their health issues might not be accurately diagnosed and that they may not receive quality care …. (shrink)

Despite the importance of human blood to clinical practice and research, hematology and blood transfusion data remain scattered throughout a range of disparate sources. This lack of systematization concerning the use and definition of terms poses problems for physicians and biomedical professionals. We are introducing here the Blood Ontology, an ongoing initiative designed to serve as a controlled vocabulary for use in organizing information about blood. The paper describes the scope of the Blood Ontology, its stage of development and some (...) of its anticipated uses. (shrink)

Although it is commonly believed that the concept of brain death was developed to benefit organ transplants, it evolved independently. Transplantation owed its development to advances in surgery and immunosuppressive treatment; BD owed its origin to the development of intensive care. The first autotransplant was achieved in the early 1900s, when studies of increased intracranial pressure causing respiratory arrest with preserved heartbeat were reported. Between 1902 and 1950, the BD concept was supported by the discovery of EEG, Crile’s definition of (...) death, the use of EEG to demonstrate abolition of brain potentials after ischaemia, and Crafoord’s statement that death was due to cessation of blood flow. Transplantation saw the first xenotransplant in humans and the first unsuccessful kidney transplant from a cadaver. In the 1950s, circulatory arrest in coma was identified by angiography, and the death of the nervous system and coma dépassé were described. Murray performed the first successful kidney transplant. In the 1960s, the BD concept and organ transplants were instantly linked when the first kidney transplant using a brain-dead donor was performed; Schwab proposed to use EEG in BD; the Harvard Committee report and the Sydney Declaration appeared; the first successful kidney, lung and pancreas transplants using cadaveric donors were achieved; Barnard performed the first human heart transplant. This historical review demonstrates that the BD concept and organ transplantation arose separately and advanced in parallel, and only began to progress together in the late 1960s. Therefore, the BD concept did not evolve to benefit transplantation. (shrink)

On 5 August 1968, publication of the Harvard Committee’s report on the subject of “irreversible coma” established a standard for diagnosing death on neurological grounds. On the same day, the 22nd World Medical Assembly met in Sydney, Australia, and announced the Declaration of Sydney, a pronouncement on death, which is less often quoted because it was overshadowed by the impact of the Harvard Report. To put those events into present-day perspective, the authors reviewed all papers published on this subject and (...) the World Medical Association web page and documents, and corresponded with Dr A G Romualdez, the son of Dr A Z Romualdez. There was vast neurological expertise among some of the Harvard Committee members, leading to a comprehensible and practical clinical description of the brain death syndrome and the way to diagnose it. This landmark account had a global medical and social impact on the issue of human death, which simultaneously lessened reception of the Declaration of Sydney. Nonetheless, the Declaration of Sydney faced the main conceptual and philosophical issues on human death in a bold and forthright manner. This statement differentiated the meaning of death at the cellular and tissue levels from the death of the person. This was a pioneering view on the discussion of human death, published as early as in 1968, that should be recognised by current and future generations. (shrink)

O objetivo da pesquisa é apresentar embates e discutir perspectivas sobre a atualidade do conceito de indústria cultural para analisar o uso do smartphone e seus derivados e sua relação com a compreensão leitora e a construção de sentido. A questão que norteia a pesquisa é: Após o término da educação básica e diante do uso constante da linguagem imagética presente nos conteúdos acessados pelos smartphones e seus derivados, é possível o sujeito fazer uma leitura, de forma crítica e dialética (...) de, por exemplo, uma charge? Em que medida, isso poderia ocorrer? A hipótese da pesquisa é que, ao realizar a leitura no aparato, a palavra perde relevância comparada à imagem que é percebida, visualizada, mais do que pensada/entendida e o seu conceito se reduz a uma função icônica. Por isso, o campo semântico se limita a associações automáticas e, dessa forma, operacionalizam-se as leituras. A pesquisa empírica realizada foi desenvolvida com a participação de estudantes com idades entre 17 e 19 anos, ou seja, que já concluíram a educação básica e ingressaram em uma universidade. O instrumento de pesquisa aplicado foi uma questão escrita a partir de uma charge com um assunto vinculado ao dia a dia dos participantes e, uma entrevista previamente formulada. (shrink)

Resumo No Manifesto surrealista, de 1924, Breton explicita o produto da atividade surrealista como uma “luz de imagem”, gerado pela aproximação involuntária de duas realidades distantes. Essa estrutura dupla da imagem surrealista tem um caráter disruptivo, que rompe com a nossa percepção da realidade cotidiana. Com isso, abre-se a possibilidade de um espaço para a crítica social e histórica, bem como para uma intervenção estético-política justamente em uma sociedade na qual as formas tradicionais de crítica parecem estar neutralizadas. Essa experiência (...) surrealista e esse espaço aberto por ela Walter Benjamin caracteriza respectivamente com a fórmula “iluminação profana” e “espaço de imagem”. Ambos apresentam uma grande semelhança com alguns pontos e consequências, em seus conceitos, tanto de “imagem do pensamento”, como de “imagem dialética”, sobretudo na medida em que esses conceitos também são formulados em meio à crise cultural da sociedade europeia, nos 1920, e buscam uma saída revolucionária para a mesma. Trata-se de investigar aqui, por meio de uma análise comparativa dessas concepções de imagem, até onde vai a influência e a relevância do surrealismo para o pensamento figurativo-dialético de Benjamin e para sua compreensão da história.In the Surrealistic manifest from 1924, Andre Breton explains the product of surrealistic action as a “light of image” resulting from an arbitrary approach of two distant realities. This double structure of surrealistic image has a disrupting character that breaks our common perception of reality. Thus can open a space for social and historical criticism as well as for an aesthetical-political intervention in a society where traditional forms of criticism seem to be neutralized. Walter Benjamin defines this surrealistic experience and its opened space respectively with the expressions “profane illumination” and “image space”. Both have similarities with Benjamin’s ideas of “thought image” and “dialectical image”, especially because they were elaborated amidst the cultural european crisis in the 1920ies looking to find a revolutionary way out of it. Through a comparative analysis of these notions of image, this paper proposes to investigate the influence and the relevance of surrealism for Benjamin’s dialectical-figural way of thinking and his comprehension of history. (shrink)

I INTRODUCTION: RESPECT, EQUALITY AND THE AUTONOMY OF MORALITY We often invoke a notion of respect to express our sense of human equality. ...

In many countries consumers have shown an increasing interest to the way in which food products are being produced. This study investigates Chinese consumers’ attitudes towards different pig production systems by means of a conjoint analysis. While there has been a range of studies on Western consumers’ attitudes to various forms of food production, little is known about the level of Chinese consumers’ attitudes. A cross-sectional survey was carried out with 472 participants in 6 Chinese cities. Results indicate that Chinese (...) consumers prefer industrial pig production systems, where traditional pig breeds are raised, over large-scale and small family farms. Farms with maximum attention to food safety, which furthermore can provide lean meat with consistent quality, are also preferred. Imported pig breeds and tasty but variable meat were rejected. A 3-cluster solution found that consumers from cluster 1 focus almost exclusively on the food safety aspect (food safety focused). Consumers from cluster 2 (indifferent) show weak overall attitudes to pig production systems in general. Cluster 3 (industrial production oriented) stands out by being very positive about industrial, large-size farms and consistent quality. From a Chinese consumer’s perspective, the industrial approach seems to represent values such as achievement and evolution, as well as quality and safety, since pig production is moving away from low-cost, low-quality, and low-safety family-scale systems. A complex set of rural and environmental development, quality aspects, and food safety measures are challenges that must be met by the stakeholders of pig production systems in China. (shrink)

La física durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX experimentó una silenciosa pero profunda revisión de sus fundamentos. A pesar de su importancia para los desarrollos posteriores de la física, los estudios históricos y filosóficos sobre dicho periodo son escasos comparados con aquellos de principios del siglo XX. Este trabajo reconstruye algunos aspectos de la física de este periodo usando dos herramientas conceptuales: espacios controversiales de Oscar Nudler y estilo de razonamiento científico de Ian Hacking. El objetivo es mostrar los (...) elementos que produjeron el desbloqueo conceptual de la controversia sobre el determinismo durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX. (shrink)

A vanguarda surrealista, em suas manifestações literárias e artísticas dos anos 1920, explorava as imagens de caráter disruptivo como uma forma de transformar a arte e a vida cotidiana. Influenciado pelos surrealistas, Walter Benjamin, em seu livro Rua de mão única, publicado em 1928, elaborou um diagnóstico crítico de seu presente histórico e apontou o caminho para uma possível transformação do mesmo, explorando uma forma filosófico-literária que denominou imagem de pensamento. Pressupondo a fundamental influência do surrealismo nesta e em toda (...) a obra posterior de Benjamin, o presente artigo, não obstante, tem como objetivo apresentar brevemente algumas diferenças importantes entre estas posturas, a saber: que as imagens de pensamento benjaminianas abordam de modo mais radical o vínculo das experiências disruptivas subjetivas com uma dimensão coletiva, histórica e social. A diferenciação destes dois casos de revalorização filosófica da imagem traz elementos importantes para se pensar o papel da imagem na educação e em que medida a própria imagem pode abrir espaço a uma crítica da sociedade do espetáculo e das mídias de massa em que vivemos. (shrink)

Everyone, even when asserting unchallengeable authority from God or Science, thinks in language, in words and phrases, in expressions of moral, social and political impact, fighting words and words with and over which we fight. However, debates among the educated can be irrelevant elsewhere, ineffective against the highly motivated whose dogma instructs and guides them, their voting and their arming. The degeneration of “democracy” to “tyranny” such as Plato’s Republic postulated threatens in some lands “of the free,” while in others (...) it seems inexorably in progress. Today “democracy,” republic,” “liberty/freedom,” “justice,” “law and order” are adduced by their actual enemies to complement “nationalism,” “patriotism,” and frightening “empire.” Extremists on both sides decry “Tyranny!” each in fact seeking authoritarian power. All of which have instructive ancient precedents: in the History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides offers horrific accounts of ancient nation-states “long ago and far away,” more or less democratic, that abandoned common sense, moral sense, and with them regard for value words and truth itself. In the early 2020s CE many persons and governments have done little better during the still lingering pandemic. A second horror is prompted by Thucydides’ report of civil war on Corcyra, telling how faction spawned riots, coups d’état, and outright civil war. The twenty-first-century media are uniquely potent, yet mechanics of seduction are timeless. Likewise techniques for winning true believers and votes, as illustrated by passages in Mein Kampf on the language of propaganda, its production and reception. Our hope is therefore Education for a New Era to help students to discover pitfalls of media(ted) “information,” to achieve independent critical thinking at levels of basic language use and foundations of argument. Besides recognizing mis- and disinformation as harmful, they must learn themselves to judge thoughtless use, cynical abuse, or, worse yet, brazen disdain of vocabulary indicating moral/ethical value. Scientists have key roles in this drama; humanists larger ones yet. (shrink)

Kerridge et al recently published a paper in the journal about organ transplantation and the diagnosis of death.1 Although I appreciate the authors’ efforts to present their arguments about such a controversial issue, I found some inconsistencies in this article that I would like to discussWhen Kerridge and his collaborators discussed the origins of the concept of brain death , they emphasised that after the report of the medical consultants on the diagnosis of death to the US President’s Commission was (...) published in 1981,2 clinicians equated the concept of BD with brainstem death. In fact, the brainstem criterion was first proposed by Mohandas and Chou in Minnesota, in 1971.3 The Minnesota criteria inspired the UK code, which was mainly adopted in UK commonwealth countries.4 This view was afterwards powerfully defended by Christopher Pallis.5 After the US President’s Commission report,2 a lot of countries, and most US states, accepted the whole brain, and not the brainstem, criterion.6Regarding the “dead donor rule”, with the advent of transplant surgery, interest in definitions and diagnosis of death based on brain formulations really acquired a new urgency. None the less, it is important to point out that the concept of BD as death of the individual, did not appear to benefit organ transplantation, but was a consequence of the development of intensive care. As Pallis emphasised, if organ transplant techniques had never been developed, intensive care procedures would have provided the possibility of supplying life support to those cases with destroyed brains and preserved heart function, and physicians would need to face the clinical syndrome called BD.5 When French neurophysiologists and neurologists described the death of the nervous system and coma dépassé, organ transplant techniques were only in the very early stages of development. …. (shrink)

Vir a ser cidadão: Educação, Política e Psicologia do Desenvolvimento Resumo: Considerando a tese honnethiana de que, hodiernamente, há um desenlace entre Educação e Política, e afirmando um forte nexo entre essas áreas no pensamento de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, neste trabalho, apresentamos alguns aspectos de como, para este, é possível que o ser humano, como membro da espécie, venha a ser cidadão. Em seguida, contando com a crítica de Nussbaum sobre como muitas propostas educacionais não explicitam uma psicologia do desenvolvimento, aventamos (...) uma vinculação entre Educação, Política e ideias psicológicas em Rousseau. Adiante, trazemos elementos da pesquisa psicogenética de Jean Piaget, propondo que esse tipo de pesquisa permite um fortalecimento do nexo entre as áreas da Educação, Política e, agora, Psicologia do Desenvolvimento, contribuindo para a discussão ainda atual acerca do vir a ser cidadão. Palavras-chave: Cidadão; Desenvolvimento; Formação; Rousseau; Piaget. Becoming a citizen: Education, Politics and Developmental Psychology Abstract: Considering the Honnethian thesis that there is today a disconnexion between Education and Politics, and asserting a strong link between these fields in the thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in this work we present some aspects of how, for him, it is possible for a human, as a member of the species, to become a citizen. Then, relying on Nussbaum's critique of the fact that many educational proposals do not make developmental psychology explicit, we suggest a link between Education, Politics and psychological ideas in Rousseau. Ahead, we bring elements of Jean Piaget's psychogenetic research, proposing that this type of research allows a strengthening of the nexus between the fields of Education, Politics and, now, Developmental Psychology, contributing to the still current discussion about becoming a citizen. Keywords: Citizen; Development; Formation; Rousseau; Piaget. Devenir citoyen: Éducation, Politique et Psychologie du développement Résumé: Considérant la thèse honnéthienne selon laquelle, aujourd'hui, il y a une déconnexion entre éducation et politique, et affirmant un lien fort entre ces domaines dans la pensée de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, nous présentons dans cette étude certains aspects de la façon dont, pour lui, il est possible pour l’être humain, en tant que membre de l'espèce, devenir citoyen. Puis, en nous appuyant sur la critique de Nussbaum sur le nombre de propositions éducatives qui ne rendrent pas explicite une psychologie du développement, nous avons suggéré un lien entre l'éducation, la politique et les idées psychologiques chez Rousseau. En avant, nous apportons des éléments de la recherche psychogénétique de Jean Piaget, en proposant que ce type de recherche permette un renforcement du lien entre les domaines de l'éducation, de la politique et, maintenant, de la psychologie du développement, contribuant à la discussion encore actuelle sur le devenir citoyen. Mots-clés: Citoyen ; Développement ; Formation ; Rousseau ; Piaget. Data de registro: 25/02/2021 Data de aceite: 19/01/2022. (shrink)

Este artículo propone que las actitudes proposicionales doxásticas, o creencias, funcionan en una estructura de dos niveles, uno básico o fundacional, concebido a partir del lenguaje, y otro epistémico o no fundacional, creado a partir del proceso confiabilista. Lo anterior representa sólo un modelo del funcionamiento de la mente en relación con los procesos que originan conocimientos, sin suponer que existan físicamente tales niveles. Lo que sí existiría, puesto que observamos que sus resultados se adecúan al modelo expuesto, son, por (...) un lado, procesos que generan conocimientos y cuyo comportamiento puede describirse mediante conceptos de carácter probabilístico, y por el otro, procesos cuya viabilidad depende del uso adecuado del lenguaje. (shrink)

Child mortality (the mortality of children less than five years old) declined considerably in the developing world in the 1990s, but infant mortality declined less. The reductions in neonatal mortality were not impressive and, as a consequence, there is an increasing percentage of infant deaths in the neonatal period. Any further reduction in child mortality, therefore, requires an understanding of the determinants of neonatal mortality. 209,628 birth and 2581 neonatal death records for the 1998 birth cohort from the city of (...) São Paulo, Brazil, were probabilistically matched. Data were from SINASC and SIM, Information Systems on Live Births and Deaths of Brazil. Logistic regression was used to find the association between neonatal mortality and the following risk factors: birth weight, gestational age, Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes, delivery mode, plurality, sex, maternal education, maternal age, number of prior losses, prenatal care, race, parity and community development. Infants of older mothers were less likely to die in the neonatal period. Caesarean delivery was not found to be associated with neonatal mortality. Low birth weight, pre-term birth and low Apgar scores were associated with neonatal death. Having a mother who lives in the highest developed community decreased the odds of neonatal death, suggesting that factors not measured in this study are behind such association. This result may also indicate that other factors over and above biological and more proximate factors could affect neonatal death. (shrink)

This essay analyzes the relation between nothingness and the work of art, where negation appears as a fundamental element of art. Starting at a discussion of the concept of nothingness in existential phenomenology, it points to the limitations of Heidegger's notion of nullity and negation, which spring from the denial of the dimension of consciousness to his Dasein. Although Sartre recovers that dimension in his portrayal of the pour-soi, now the idea of nothingness is not taken to its ultimate consequence, (...) where art would appear as a product of consciousness that is entrenched in nothingness. Only through an enlarged notion of consciousness, one that allows the perception of negative experience as intrinsically related to poiesis, will the work of art appear ontologically grounded in a form of Being that searches for its own contradiction. Such an enlarged notion of consciousness appears in the thought of Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitarō, where concepts such as "the place of nothingness" and "pure experience" can serve as ground to an analysis of the relation between nothingness and the work of art. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Rhetoric of Philosophical Politics in Plato's Seventh LetterV. Bradley LewisThe name Syracuse has come to stand as an emblem of the problematic relationship between philosophy and politics. While the sources1 differ on specifics, we can be confident that Plato visited there at least three times between 387 and 362 B.C. On his first trip, during the reign of Dionysius I, he became acquainted with Dion, the tyrant's brother-in-law. (...) When the elder Dionysius died, Dion, a devotee of philosophy, apparently contrived for the old man's son, namesake, and successor to invite Plato back, believing that the young tyrant could be philosophically educated and convinced to lay down tyranny in favor of a new regime based on the rule of law. The plan was defeated, however, by a combination of Dionysius's dissolute life and opposition by Dion's enemies at court. Dion was exiled, and Plato returned to the Academy. Dion implored Plato to return to Syracuse on the basis of reports of Dionysius II's renewed resolution to take up philosophy and by the tyrant himself (who seems to have made some thinly veiled threats against the still-exiled Dion). Plato's second visit to Dionysius was no more successful than the first, however, and he considered himself fortunate to have escaped with his life. After a meeting at which Plato recounted the events of his final trip, Dion marshaled an expeditionary force, which included volunteers from the Academy, and set out to expel Dionysius II by violence. The effort succeeded, but the new regime was itself riven by faction, and Dion was assassinated in 353.2The principal legacy of this ill-starred episode is contained in the letters that have come down to us under the name of Plato, particularly those numbered seven and eight. Scholarly discussion of Plato's Seventh Letter has usually focused on three questions: the doctrinal content of the letter and its relationship to the doctrinal content of the dialogues; the character of the letter as an apologia for Plato's Syracusan activities; and the general authenticity of the letter. While the second of these questions focuses correctly [End Page 23] on the rhetorical character of the letter, it ignores the most obvious aspect, namely, the letter's explicit addressees: the friends and comrades of Dion, and their request for political advice. If we take this rhetorical element with sufficient seriousness, we will see that the content of the letter is fully consistent with the teachings of the political dialogues, a point that tells in favor of the authenticity of the letter. Specifically, a focus on the rhetorical character of the letter reveals that its content is determined mostly by what emerges as an effort by Plato to influence his correspondents by moderating their understandable desire for vengeance and thus to forestall further bloodshed and disorder in Syracuse. What is most important about the letter, then, is not so much its account of Plato's actions in Syracuse, but its unveiling of his intentions with respect to Dion's followers. It is not the philosophical-political blueprint, sketched vaguely in the Seventh Letter, that is most important,3 but the concrete effort to mitigate the passions of his correspondents. Read in this light, the letter becomes even more important, since it contradicts the popular image of Plato as a proponent of dangerous political utopianism and portrays a more subtle relationship between philosophy and politics.1. Dion's intentions, Plato's apologyTo the extent that the rhetoric of the letter has been treated, commentators have usually focused on Plato's (or whoever the author) defense of his own actions in Sicily.4 While there is certainly warrant for this approach, the most important fact about the letter concerns its intended audience, the "relatives and comrades of Dion."5 As Plato explains in the opening of the letter, these are the men who have sought not only his advice, but his cooperation in completing the political project halted by Dion's death at the hands of several of his other purported "allies."The most striking feature of the rhetorical structure is that, while the letter... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Rhetoric of Philosophical Politics in Plato's Seventh LetterV. Bradley LewisThe name Syracuse has come to stand as an emblem of the problematic relationship between philosophy and politics. While the sources1 differ on specifics, we can be confident that Plato visited there at least three times between 387 and 362 B.C. On his first trip, during the reign of Dionysius I, he became acquainted with Dion, the tyrant's brother-in-law. (...) When the elder Dionysius died, Dion, a devotee of philosophy, apparently contrived for the old man's son, namesake, and successor to invite Plato back, believing that the young tyrant could be philosophically educated and convinced to lay down tyranny in favor of a new regime based on the rule of law. The plan was defeated, however, by a combination of Dionysius's dissolute life and opposition by Dion's enemies at court. Dion was exiled, and Plato returned to the Academy. Dion implored Plato to return to Syracuse on the basis of reports of Dionysius II's renewed resolution to take up philosophy and by the tyrant himself (who seems to have made some thinly veiled threats against the still-exiled Dion). Plato's second visit to Dionysius was no more successful than the first, however, and he considered himself fortunate to have escaped with his life. After a meeting at which Plato recounted the events of his final trip, Dion marshaled an expeditionary force, which included volunteers from the Academy, and set out to expel Dionysius II by violence. The effort succeeded, but the new regime was itself riven by faction, and Dion was assassinated in 353.2The principal legacy of this ill-starred episode is contained in the letters that have come down to us under the name of Plato, particularly those numbered seven and eight. Scholarly discussion of Plato's Seventh Letter has usually focused on three questions: the doctrinal content of the letter and its relationship to the doctrinal content of the dialogues; the character of the letter as an apologia for Plato's Syracusan activities; and the general authenticity of the letter. While the second of these questions focuses correctly [End Page 23] on the rhetorical character of the letter, it ignores the most obvious aspect, namely, the letter's explicit addressees: the friends and comrades of Dion, and their request for political advice. If we take this rhetorical element with sufficient seriousness, we will see that the content of the letter is fully consistent with the teachings of the political dialogues, a point that tells in favor of the authenticity of the letter. Specifically, a focus on the rhetorical character of the letter reveals that its content is determined mostly by what emerges as an effort by Plato to influence his correspondents by moderating their understandable desire for vengeance and thus to forestall further bloodshed and disorder in Syracuse. What is most important about the letter, then, is not so much its account of Plato's actions in Syracuse, but its unveiling of his intentions with respect to Dion's followers. It is not the philosophical-political blueprint, sketched vaguely in the Seventh Letter, that is most important,3 but the concrete effort to mitigate the passions of his correspondents. Read in this light, the letter becomes even more important, since it contradicts the popular image of Plato as a proponent of dangerous political utopianism and portrays a more subtle relationship between philosophy and politics.1. Dion's intentions, Plato's apologyTo the extent that the rhetoric of the letter has been treated, commentators have usually focused on Plato's (or whoever the author) defense of his own actions in Sicily.4 While there is certainly warrant for this approach, the most important fact about the letter concerns its intended audience, the "relatives and comrades of Dion."5 As Plato explains in the opening of the letter, these are the men who have sought not only his advice, but his cooperation in completing the political project halted by Dion's death at the hands of several of his other purported "allies."The most striking feature of the rhetorical structure is that, while the letter... (shrink)

O presente artigo desenvolve um diálogo entre a teoria de gênero e a literatura feminina. Para tanto, utiliza-se a _Tetralogia napolitana_, obra da autora italiana Elena Ferrante, como objeto de análise. Busca-se fazer uma relação entre a vida privada das personagens e seus dilemas com casamento, família, maternidade, trabalho e de teorias a respeito da divisão sexual do trabalho, da dominação masculina e do cuidado. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa de tipo exploratório, levando como base de análise o material bibliográfico (...) e documental referentes ao problema em questão. Verifica-se como a divisão sexual do trabalho, a dominação masculina e a ética do cuidado estabeleceram condições desfavoráveis para as personagens ao longo de suas vidas. Concluindo que o campo literário é um cenário importante para estudos relacionados às temáticas de gênero e feminismo, seja por sua demonstração detalhada do cotidiano feminino, seja pela escrita feminina. (shrink)

We describe the rationale for an application ontology covering the domain of human body fluids that is designed to facilitate representation, reuse, sharing and integration of diagnostic, physiological, and biochemical data, We briefly review the Blood Ontology (BLO), Saliva Ontology (SALO) and Kidney and Urinary Pathway Ontology (KUPO) initiatives. We discuss the methods employed in each, and address the project of using them as starting point for a unified body fluids ontology resource. We conclude with a description of how the (...) body fluids ontology initiative may provide support to basic and translational science. (shrink)

Este trabalho tem por objetivo refletir sobre a relação entre a tese da mente estendida e do papel do corpo no uso das estratégias de aprendizagem. Nas discussões, tecemos algumas possíveis interseções entre a teoria das estratégias de aprendizagem com a tese da mente estendida de Andy Clark e David Chalmers e o papel do corpo. Em um primeiro momento, apresentamos a teoria das estratégias de aprendizagem. Em seguida, fizemos uma breve exposição da teoria da mente estendida. De modo subsequente, (...) refletimos sobre as possíveis aproximações entre o conceito de estratégias de aprendizagem e a tese da mente estendida e refletimos sobre o papel do corpo no uso de estratégias de aprendizagem. Por último, apresentamos as considerações finais como um esboço de possíveis contribuições da interseção entre as teorias e deixamos apontamentos para estudos futuros. (shrink)

Ancestralidade é leitura epistemológica e política da tradição negro-africana recriada no Brasil. Uma categoria analítica com densidade política e epistemológica que se faz no tempo e no espaço e dá origem ao encantamento. Este é uma experiência que transforma, a partir de si mesmo, numa relação com o coletivo, relação de práxis, pensar-fazer, não separando estética de ética e política de cultura. São conceitos que dão sustentação para que possamos dialogar com as filosofias africanas, produzindo uma filosofia africano-brasileira. Pensar-criar-filosofar-educar em (...) diálogo com todos os saberes, refletindo com base em nossas escrevivências, nosso pertencimento, articulando nosso estar-no-mundo subjetivo e coletivo. É relação complexa e criativa com nosso estar-no-mundo. Implicação com educação para a libertação. (shrink)

Este artigo observa o trabalho fotográfico de Carlos Pasquetti (1948) a partir de sua relação com o retrato e a ironia, a qual o percorre na extensão que vai da sua concepção à sua criação. A aproximação com o conceito do retrato se dá pela visão de Galienne e Pierre Francastel na difícil, se possível, tarefa de defini-lo. O conceito de ironia que emprego é a interpretação de Kierkegaard. Elementos não esgotáveis pela abrangência deste artigo, retrato e ironia foram e (...) são empreendidos no trabalho de Pasquetti, de quem recolho excertos de entrevistas concedidas, nas quais o artista apresenta um pouco da sua relação com esses elementos, os quais participam da construção de seu trabalho.Palavras-chave: Carlos Pasquetti. Ironia. Retrato. Arte contemporânea. (shrink)

In this article, some issues related to learning difficulties are addressed based on the question: how does the field of psychopedagogy conceive learning difficulties and what strategies does it propose to reduce them? With the study, we sought to understand how the field of psychopedagogy can contribute to reducing the learning difficulties of children who attend the initial years of basic education. To this end, a qualitative and descriptive study was carried out, with a bibliographic review. It was made a (...) bibliographic review on this field’s current knowledge on several electronic platforms. The focus was on the productions found in the CAPES Catalog of Theses and Dissertations and in the Journal of the Brazilian Psychopedagogy Association. Despite presenting relevant productions, it was not identified any text that answered the question raised, which made it necessary to expand the search for books in the area. Two works were then selected, which comprised the materiality of the research. From some selected excerpts, it was possible to understand and conceptualize what learning is and to identify the main difficulties faced by children in the early years. The most frequent ones are those related to reading and writing. Finally, we reflected on the feasibility of helping children in the learning process, through interventions aimed at children’s specific learning difficulties, providing them with better development both in school activities and beyond. (shrink)

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo con el objetivo de caracterizar la dieta cetogénica como una alternativa en el tratamiento de la epilepsia refractaria en niños para mejorar su calidad de vida, con la consiguiente disminución de su costo económico. La epilepsia catastrófica o refractaria es un problema social de salud que la padecen pacientes pediátricos, generalmente en los primeros días de vida, de difícil control y con múltiples crisis pese al empleo de fármacos antiepilépticos en dosis tóxica, e incluye diferentes (...) síndromes y enfermedades con características propias. Esta dieta ofrece una esperanza para aquellos pacientes que se resisten al tratamiento con medicamentos y su solución representa un valor social porque su beneficio supera el costo. A descriptive study with objective to characterize the ketogenic diet as alternative in the treatment of the refractory epilepsy in children for elevating their quality of life, with the consequent decreasing of its economic cost, was carried out. The catastrophic or refractory epilepsy is one health social problem that the pediatric patient suffers, generally in the first days of life, the hard control and with numerous crisis despite of the use of antiepileptic drugs in toxic doses, and include different syndromes and diseases with own characteristics. This diet offers one hope, and its solution represents a social value because the benefit overcomes the cost for those patients that resist the drug treatment. (shrink)

This book examines leadership strategies that allow administrators to be proactive, visionary, and flexible while increasing collaboration, open communication, and closely integrating theory and practice to ensure successful administration in higher education settings.

O presente artigo tem por objetivo caracterizar as duas fases do pensamento bachelardiano intituladas diurna e noturna e o modo como determinadas noções que permeiam essas duas etapas do pensamento do autor configuram uma comunicação recíproca entre si, fazendo com que haja uma troca assídua de valores entre ambas as vertentes. Deste modo, tentar-se-á demonstrar o quanto o fluxo de uma fase a outra de seu pensamento denota um sentido de completude ao invés de desconexão, negação ou mesmo oposição. Conceitos (...) como descontinuidade, imagem e tempo orientarão nosso esforço em evidenciar tal complementariedade e aproximação entre as duas fases de pensamento de Gaston Bachelard. (shrink)

Many philosophers endorse the Transparency Thesis, the claim that by introspection one cannot become aware of one's experience. Recently, some authors have suggested that the Transparency Thesis is challenged by introspective states reached under mindfulness. We label this the Mindfulness Opacity Hypothesis. The present paper develops the hypothesis in important new ways. First, we motivate the hypothesis by drawing on recent clinical psychology and cognitive science of mindfulness. Secondly, we develop the hypothesis by describing the implied shift in experiential perspective, (...) the scope of introspectable qualities, and the level of skill. Thirdly, we defend the hypothesis against various philosophical arguments. We conclude that the Mindfulness Opacity Hypothesis is empirically and theoretically well motivated and supported. (shrink)

: This essay analyzes the relation between nothingness and the work of art, where negation appears as a fundamental element of art. Starting at a discussion of the concept of nothingness in existential phenomenology, it points to the limitations of Heidegger’s notion of nullity and negation, which spring from the denial of the dimension of consciousness to his Dasein. Although Sartre recovers that dimension in his portrayal of the pour-soi, now the idea of nothingness is not taken to its ultimate (...) consequence, where art would appear as a product of consciousness that is entrenched in nothingness. Only through an enlarged notion of consciousness, one that allows the perception of negative experience as intrinsically related to poiesis, will the work of art appear ontologically grounded in a form of Being that searches for its own contradiction. Such an enlarged notion of consciousness appears in the thought of Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitarō , where concepts such as ‘‘the place of nothingness’’ and ‘‘pure experience’’ can serve as ground to an analysis of the relation between nothingness and the work of art. (shrink)

Cualquier propuesta de alternativa a la democracia representativa, sea para mejorarla, sea para sustituirla por otro tipo de forma política, debería de tomar en cuenta dos tipos de restricciones para que la alternativa en cuestión tenga mayores probabilidades de éxito. Al primer grupo de restricciones los llamaremos factores limitantes de la conducta humana, mientras que al segundo grupo los llamaremos funciones impropias de esa forma política, es decir, las funciones que no debería tener. Tanto los factores limitantes de la conducta (...) humana como las funciones impropias de una forma política son restricciones sobre lo que realmente, es decir, no utópicamente, podríamos hacer para mejorar a la democracia y en general a la gobernabilidad de las sociedades. Esas restricciones, que a continuación señalaré, constituyen los argumentos que me llevan a plantear la siguiente tesis: la democracia representativa puede y debe ser mejorada al reducir su alcance económico, político y social, pero continúa siendo una mejor opción de gobierno que cualquier alternativa, incluyendo la demarquía. (shrink)

Social robotics attempts to build robots able to interact with humans and other robots. Philosophical and scientific research in social cognition can provide social robotics research with models of social cognition to implement those models in mechanic agents. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, I present and defend a framework in social cognition known as mindshaping. According to it, human beings are biologically predisposed to learn and teach cultural and rational norms and complex cultural patterns of behavior that (...) enhance social cognition. Secondly, I will highlight how this framework can open new research perspectives in the area of social robotics. (shrink)