Considera a produção científica brasileira da Ciência da Informação (CI), de pesquisadores institucionalmente reconhecidos da área, para realçar movimentos de transformação e influências intelectuais sobre o quadro teórico por eles construído. Questiona os conceitos de pós-modernidade e pós-modernismo no contexto destas produções, analisando criticamente a produção científica periódica, indexada na Base de Dados Referenciais de Artigos de Periódicos em Ciência da Informação (Brapci), dos Bolsistas de Produtividade em Pesquisa (PQ), do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), desde o (...) ano de 1990 até 2022, para descrever o fenômeno do pós-modernismo e da pós-modernidade, tanto como processo de transformação e estímulo à produção sobre as contradições encontradas nessa cultura, quanto para o reconhecimento de teorias, conceitos, posicionamentos políticos e ideológicos. Adota a distinção apresentada por Terry Eagleton, entre pós-modernismo e pós-modernidade, para reconhecer os significados dos termos enfocados e seus correlatos, e em quais contextos são analisados no corpus da pesquisa. Seleciona os textos com potencial de contribuição para uma síntese histórico-evolutiva. Conclui, destacando duas posições mais evidentes. A predominante associa à condição da CI como ciência pós-moderna, à arquivística pós-moderna, ao paradigma pós-custodial, à sociedade pós-moderna e a considerações genéricas sobre o saber e a informação como mercadorias básicas da pós-modernidade. A posição mais crítica fundamenta-se em autores como Terry Eagleton, ao denunciar as ilusões do pós-modernismo e David Harvey, cujos principais argumentos relacionam a ascensão de formas culturais pós-modernas e a emergência de modos flexíveis de acumulação ao ciclo de compressão do tempo-espaço na organização do capitalismo. (shrink)

Ao reconhecer a influência do filósofo alemão Jürgen Habermas na área de Ciência da Informação, esta pesquisa questiona especificamente como ela se verifica e se caracteriza na produção científica dos pesquisadores Bolsistas de Produtividade do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). Com o objetivo de destacar as influências do pensador sobre estes pesquisadores em artigos indexados na Base de Dados Referencial de Artigos de Periódicos em Ciência da Informação (Brapci), o estudo realiza o mapeamento da produção dos autores (...) mais proeminentes e mais receptivos entre os citantes de Habermas, para caracterizá-la, destacando: as influências das reflexões do filósofo sobre eles; os principais veículos fontes; os temas de maior destaque; as instituições e a distribuição desses elementos nos 69 artigos do período entre 1987 e 2019. Com esse propósito, realiza procedimentos métricos e utiliza a análise de conteúdo, a partir da leitura dos textos completos dos artigos indexados, organizados e representados em seus elementos relacionais, destacando a intensidade de variáveis como a concentração de frequências, obras citadas, periódicos, instituições e temas. Inicialmente, identifica os bolsistas PQ vinculados à área de CI, caracterizando-os conforme suas especificidades, seleciona da base Brapci os artigos citantes de Habermas, organiza o corpus referente aos artigos de periódicos dos pesquisadores, relaciona-os com os temas e questões habermasianos em seus textos, contextualizando-os conforme uma estrutura representativa multidimensional. Destaca, assim, as principais influências de Habermas sobre os pesquisadores e para analisar numa visão diacrônica as correlações entre os pesquisadores e o autor seminal que os fundamenta, constrói ilustrações representativas dessa evolução. Aponta as condições favoráveis à crítica ao processo de produção do conhecimento, cuja consequência é o desenvolvimento de possibilidades oferecidas ao investigador no seu cotidiano universitário, tendo como instrumentos a Base dos pesquisadores do CNPq da área de CI e a Brapci. Como resultados, destaca as obras Técnica e Ciência como Ideologia (TCI), Teoria do Agir Comunicativo (TAC), Mudança estrutural da esfera pública (MEEP), Conhecimento e Interesse (CeI) e Consciência moral e agir comunicativo (CMAC) como as citadas pela maior diversidade de pesquisadores, relacionando-as com as questões discutidas no corpus analisado. As configurações temáticas mais expressivas ocorrem sobre termos relacionados à teoria da ação comunicativa, como a de maior repercussão na construção do conhecimento da área, e a influência do autor, na produção dos citantes, concentra-se em temas como a esfera pública informacional e a importância do acesso à informação na construção da cidadania, o desempenho das instituições na gestão da informação e seu papel como mediadoras das informações públicas, ativas na transparência das ações do Estado e na consolidação da democracia. Conclui, sugerindo as principais questões a partir dos resultados iniciais, como a dinâmica que envolve uma esfera pública, baseada na sociedade civil e na formação da opinião e da vontade nos complexos parlamentares, bem como na prática de decisão de ambientes institucionais, como forma de exercício habermasiano de política deliberativa. (shrink)

Apresenta as características da produção científica brasileira representada na Web of Science (WOS) como exemplo ilustrativo resultante das relações entre elementos estruturais e conjunturais na dinâmica das políticas científicas adotadas pelo governo em relação à ciência brasileira. Subsidia metodologicamente o estudo relacional do campo científico no Brasil, optando pela utilização da análise de conjuntura em prol da compreensão da diversidade dos elementos empíricos representativos da produção científica brasileira indexada na WOS, entre os anos de 2017 e 2019. Analisa como as (...) exigências produtivistas das agências de fomento se intensificaram nas últimas décadas e se fazem presentes nas discussões em diferentes campos do saber, argumentando que as rígidas práticas empregadas no campo da Ciência justificam estudos sobre as correlações e interações em prol da compreensão e do respeito ao campo e às instituições nas quais se alicerça. Apresenta como resultados, a partir dos dados empíricos, a formação de cinco grandes clusters entre os quais se destaca a Universidade de São Paulo (USP) como nó central e polo de produção científica nacional. Reconhece que, embora a base de dados escolhida, represente a big science internacionalizada e centralizada na produção oriunda dos Estados Unidos e de países europeus, a representatividade brasileira é relevante, especialmente se consideradas as temáticas de interesse endêmico como as doenças tropicais e que são pesquisadas, predominantemente, pelo Brasil e por países abaixo da linha do equador. (shrink)

Parte do reconhecimento do filósofo alemão Jürgen Habermas, pertencente à segunda geração de Escola de Frankfurt, participante da tradição da teoria crítica e do pragmatismo, considerando sua importância não só nos estudos de informação, como em outros domínios. Tem como objetivo assinalar sua presença material via base de dados BRAPCI a fim de mapear em uma série de pesquisas, as influências das reflexões deste filósofo. Para este fim, nesta fase, utiliza a metodologia dos Estudos Métricos da Informação com análises dos (...) textos completos dos artigos indexados na Brapci. O resultado recupera os primeiros trabalhos indexados na BRAPCI produzidos no Brasil e fora dele; diagnostica a maior concentração de frequência em razão de um congresso (?) publicado na Revista “Comunicação & Informação” e na Revista Logeion; apresenta uma prevalência de pesquisadores no núcleo do IBICT/UFRJ e UNIRIO que mais foram influenciados por Habermas, estabelecendo uma reflexão sobre a rede de influências derivadas de orientações de Maria Nélida González de Gómez e identifica a obra mais citada “Mudança estrutural da esfera pública” a qual deverá ser o ponto de partida para a continuidade das reflexões sobre a presença do autor na literatura em CI no Brasil. Conclui apresentando uma série de questões desdobradas a partir desses resultados iniciais. (shrink)

Análise diacrônica das contribuições históricas expressas nos artigos científicos de pesquisadores bolsistas de produtividade em pesquisa do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, para o debate embasado em Raymond Williams no campo da Ciência da Informação, mais especificamente no interdomínio relacionado aos aspectos culturais. Apresenta a concepção adotada como fundamento do estudo, investigando a influência de Williams para as pesquisas sobre cultura na área. Identifica a produção científica dos agentes que constituem o grupo de pesquisadores de produtividade em Ciência (...) da Informação, e que referenciaram Williams. Seleciona os artigos desses autores para verificar os temas presentes nessa produção e os periódicos científicos nos quais são publicados. Analisa essas contribuições, relacionando-as entre si e com as concepções presentes na literatura pertinente. O estudo permitiu identificar uma pequena parcela das publicações pesquisadas como citante de obras de Williams, porém é possível constatar que mais da metade dos artigos que trazem o autor como referência tratam sobre cultura. A pesquisa também demonstra a inclinação de dois pesquisadores em citar as obras de Raymond Williams, considerando suas publicações correspondem quase a metade do corpus da pesquisa. Foi possível observar que a publicação dos artigos analisados se encontra dispersa entre os diversos periódicos da área. (shrink)

Analisa a influência do pensamento da “Escola de Frankfurt” na Ciência da Informação. Realiza estudo descritivo, de caráter epistemológico, subsidiado pela hermenêutica habermasiana. Apresenta interlocuções da “Teoria Crítica” de Frankfurt no campo das ciências sociais, notadamente, no contexto da Ciência da informação, por meio dos estudos e pesquisas publicados junto ao campo, na contemporaneidade. Dimensiona os pensadores frankfurtianos mais referenciados no campo da informação, com base no cenário contemporâneo do conhecimento no campo. Destaca as articulações dos constructos frankfurtianos às tendências (...) e tópicos teóricos, metodológicos e temáticos da Ciência da Informação, evidenciando aqueles mais expressivos, propulsores e representativos dessa articulação na contemporaneidade. Conclui destacando que os encaminhamentos frankfurtianos erguem-se sobremaneira fecundos como via para se conceber e perceber a informação e a Ciência da Informação em termos humanos, sociais e crítico-reflexivos, de modo a reafirmar seu pertencimento à condição de ciência social, muito além de projeções pragmatistas, tecnicistas e positivistas. (shrink)

Entrevista concedida por Antonio Negri a Homero Santiago e Mario Marino por ocasião do lançamento da segunda edição da tradução brasileira de A anomalia selvagem: poder e potência em Espinosa.

Police officers are vital to maintaining security and the continuity of national functions. Thus, Police officers are more exposed to different kinds of psychological concerns. However, a female in this kind of profession, based on various studies, experienced higher levels of stress because of other factors. Further, the primary goal of this study is to investigate the psychological well-being, lived experiences, challenges, and coping mechanisms of female police officers. Employing the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the findings of this study were: (1) (...) Female police officers had conceptualized themselves as brave, flexible, and adaptive. And they cope with stress with positive thinking that results in healthy psychological well-being. (2) Female police officers showed dedication and engagement to serve the people. They even used their resources for the public and sacrificed most of their time in the office. (3) Female police officers' primary motivation to continue their careers is their families, and serving the public brings joy to them. (4) However, female police officers experience disrespect while working in the field, and they always have fear in their life as police officers. Moreover, they need more time to spend with their families. Furthermore, it is highly suggested to provide opportunities for enhancing quality time with their family, specifically with their children. (shrink)

We investigate the emergence of iconicity, specifically a bouba-kiki effect in miniature artificial languages under different functional constraints: when the languages are reproduced and when they are used communicatively. We ran transmission chains of participant dyads who played an interactive communicative game and individual participants who played a matched learning game. An analysis of the languages over six generations in an iterated learning experiment revealed that in the Communication condition, but not in the Reproduction condition, words for spiky shapes tend (...) to be rated by naive judges as more spiky than the words for round shapes. This suggests that iconicity may not only be the outcome of innovations introduced by individuals, but, crucially, the result of interlocutor negotiation of new communicative conventions. We interpret our results as an illustration of cultural evolution by random mutation and selection. (shrink)

From the most prominent thinkers in Latin American philosophy, literature, politics, and social science comes a challenge to conventional theories of globalization. The contributors to this volume imagine a discourse in which revolution requires no temporalized march of progress or takeovers of state power but instead aims at local control and the material conditions for human dignity.

Luke Ong, Carlos Areces, Santiago Figueira and Ruy de Queiroz The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, Volume 19, Issue 3, Page 425-426, September 2013.

Many philosophers have found in Hume’s skeptical doubts concerning the operations of the understanding the materials for an argument that generalizes from induction to other domains, like our beliefs in the external world, other minds, and the past. This chapter offers a novel reconstruction of that argument and identifies the principles that are responsible for its capacity to generalize beyond induction. Next, it presents a classical reading of Hume’s skeptical solution and shows that Crispin Wright’s entitlement theory is close in (...) spirit to it. After that, it develops two objections to entitlement theory: it relies on the truth of deeply contingent propositions that are not a priori rational, and it does not manage to redefine the concept of epistemic rationality while offering an effective anti-skeptical response. The chapter concludes with a constructive suggestion: some passages that support a non-classical reading of Hume’s positive views on induction offer the materials to reject the steps of the skeptical argument that cause trouble for entitlement theory. (shrink)

This paper presents an overview of my work in philosophy from my first book on Friedrich Schiller and the political sublime to my most recent project on listening to traumatic forms of violence. Starting with a reflection on the autobiographical character of philosophy, I propose to take up the question of an aesthetic dimension of philosophical critique, where aesthetics is understood as an always already embodied perspective on the world, on truth, and on philosophical activity, as well as an always (...) already political realm, where the distribution of sense pre-determines our approach and articulation of experience. Departing from aesthetics understood and deployed as critique, the paper moves on to ask about the specific frameworks of sense or grammars that determine in advance the conditions of audibility in the realms of memory-building and history-making—particularly in those contexts where historical, political, and institutional forms of violence produce silencing and erasure. Putting in dialogue the latter with decolonial studies, I (re)interpret “traumatic violence” as a colonizing form of violence, understanding that one of its central aspects is that it is not only an assault on life but on the conditions of production of sense that make life legible as such. In this context, my project on grammars of listening seeks to carefully unpack these complex intersections while also explaining why I believe that a radical form of listening is an essential subversive/imaginative strategy against traumatic/colonial violence. (shrink)

The emergency of aesthetics -- Measurable contemplations -- Indifferent beauty -- Emergency through art -- Social paradoxes -- Urban discharges -- Environmental calls -- Historical accounts -- Emergency aesthetics -- Anarchic interpretations -- Existential interventions.

In _Basic Concepts_, Heidegger claims that "Being is the most worn-out" and yet also that Being "remains constantly available." Santiago Zabala radicalizes the consequences of these little known but significant affirmations. Revisiting the work of Jacques Derrida, Reiner Schürmann, Jean-Luc Nancy, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ernst Tugendhat, and Gianni Vattimo, he finds these remains of Being within which ontological thought can still operate. Being is an event, Zabala argues, a kind of generosity and gift that generates astonishment in those who experience (...) it. This sense of wonder has fueled questions of meaning for centuries-from Plato to the present day. Postmetaphysical accounts of Being, as exemplified by the thinkers of Zabala's analysis, as well as by Nietzsche, Dewey, and others he encounters, don't abandon Being. Rather, they reject rigid, determined modes of essentialist thought in favor of more fluid, malleable, and adaptable conceptions, redefining the pursuit and meaning of philosophy itself. (shrink)

Respuesta al comentario de Gustavo Caponi. “Ginnobili, Santiago. ‘El estatus fenomenológico de la teoría de la selección natural’”, Ideas y Valores LXII/152 (2013): 319-322.

Though coming from different and distinct intellectual traditions, Richard Rorty and Gianni Vattimo are united in their criticism of the metaphysical tradition. The challenges they put forward extend beyond philosophy and entail a reconsideration of the foundations of belief in God and the religious life. They urge that the rejection of metaphysical truth does not necessitate the death of religion; instead it opens new ways of imagining what it is to be religious -- ways that emphasize charity, solidarity, and irony. (...) This unique collaboration, which includes a dialogue between the two philosophers, is notable not only for its fusion of pragmatism and hermeneutics but also for its recognition of the limits of both traditional religious belief and modern secularism. In "Anticlericalism and Atheism" Rorty discusses Vattimo's work _Belief_ and argues that the end of metaphysics paves the way for an anti-essentialist religion. Rorty's conception of religion, determined by private motives, is designed to produce the gospel's promise that henceforth God will not consider humanity as a servant but as a friend. In "The Age of Interpretation," Vattimo, who is both a devout Catholic and a frequent critic of the church, explores the surprising congruence between Christianity and hermeneutics in light of the dissolution of metaphysical truth. As in hermeneutics, interpretation is central to Christianity, which introduced the world to the principle of interiority, dissolving the experience of objective reality into "listening to and interpreting messages." The lively dialogue that concludes this volume, moderated and edited by Santiago Zabala, analyzes the future of religion together with the political, social, and historical aspects that characterize our contemporary postmodern, postmetaphysical, and post-Christian world. (shrink)

Though coming from different and distinct intellectual traditions, Richard Rorty and Gianni Vattimo are united in their criticism of the metaphysical tradition. The challenges they put forward extend beyond philosophy and entail a reconsideration of the foundations of belief in God and the religious life. They urge that the rejection of metaphysical truth does not necessitate the death of religion; instead it opens new ways of imagining what it is to be religious -- ways that emphasize charity, solidarity, and irony. (...) This unique collaboration, which includes a dialogue between the two philosophers, is notable not only for its fusion of pragmatism and hermeneutics but also for its recognition of the limits of both traditional religious belief and modern secularism. In "Anticlericalism and Atheism" Rorty discusses Vattimo's work _Belief_ and argues that the end of metaphysics paves the way for an anti-essentialist religion. Rorty's conception of religion, determined by private motives, is designed to produce the gospel's promise that henceforth God will not consider humanity as a servant but as a friend. In "The Age of Interpretation," Vattimo, who is both a devout Catholic and a frequent critic of the church, explores the surprising congruence between Christianity and hermeneutics in light of the dissolution of metaphysical truth. As in hermeneutics, interpretation is central to Christianity, which introduced the world to the principle of interiority, dissolving the experience of objective reality into "listening to and interpreting messages." The lively dialogue that concludes this volume, moderated and edited by Santiago Zabala, analyzes the future of religion together with the political, social, and historical aspects that characterize our contemporary postmodern, postmetaphysical, and post-Christian world. (shrink)

First collected in Italy in 1985, _Art's Claim to Truth_ is considered by many philosophers to be one of Gianni Vattimo's most important works. Newly revised for English readers, the book begins with a challenge to Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Hegel, who viewed art as a metaphysical aspect of reality rather than a futuristic anticipation of it. Following Martin Heidegger's interpretation of the history of philosophy, Vattimo outlines the existential ontological conditions of aesthetics, paying particular attention to the works of (...) Kandinsky, which reaffirm the ontological implications of art. Vattimo then builds on Hans-Georg Gadamer's theory of aesthetics and provides an alternative to a rationalistic-positivistic criticism of art. This is the heart of Vattimo's argument, and with it he demonstrates how hermeneutical philosophy reaffirms art's ontological status and makes clear the importance of hermeneutics for aesthetic studies. In the book's final section, Vattimo articulates the consequences of reclaiming the ontological status of aesthetics without its metaphysical implications, holding Aristotle's concept of beauty responsible for the dissolution of metaphysics itself. In its direct engagement with the works of Gadamer, Heidegger, and Luigi Pareyson, _Art's Claim to Truth_ offers a better understanding of the work of Vattimo and a deeper knowledge of ontology, hermeneutics, and the philosophical examination of truth. (shrink)

Contemporary philosophers—analytic as well as continental—tend to feel uneasy about Ernst Tugendhat, who, though he positions himself in the analytic field, poses questions in the Heideggerian style. Tugendhat was one of Martin Heidegger's last pupils and his least obedient, pursuing a new and controversial critical technique. Tugendhat took Heidegger's destruction of Being as presence and developed it in analytic philosophy, more specifically in semantics. Only formal semantics, according to Tugendhat, could answer the questions left open by Heidegger. Yet in doing (...) this, Tugendhat discovered the latent "hermeneutic nature of analytic philosophy"—its post-metaphysical dimension—in which "there are no facts, but only true propositions." What Tugendhat seeks to answer is this: What is the meaning of thought following the linguistic turn? Because of the rift between analytic and continental philosophers, very few studies have been written on Tugendhat, and he has been omitted altogether from several histories of philosophy. Now that these two schools have begun to reconcile, Tugendhat has become an example of a philosopher who, in the words of Richard Rorty, "built bridges between continents and between centuries." Tugendhat is known more for his philosophical turn than for his phenomenological studies or for his position within analytic philosophy, and this creates some confusion regarding his philosophical propensities. Is Tugendhat analytic or continental? Is he a follower of Wittgenstein or Heidegger? Does he belong in the culture of analysis or in that of tradition? Santiago Zabala presents Tugendhat as an example of merged horizons, promoting a philosophical historiography that is concerned more with dialogue and less with classification. In doing so, he places us squarely within a dialogic culture of the future and proves that any such labels impoverish philosophical research. (shrink)

In this paper, we argue for an instrumental form of existence, inspired by Hilbert’s method of ideal elements. As a case study, we consider the existence of contradictory objects in models of non-classical set theories. Based on this discussion, we argue for a very liberal notion of existence in mathematics.

Theories of emotional justification investigate the conditions under which emotions are epistemically justified or unjustified. I make three contributions to this research program. First, I show that we can generalize some familiar epistemological concepts and distinctions to emotional experiences. Second, I use these concepts and distinctions to display the limits of the ‘simple view’ of emotional justification. On this approach, the justification of emotions stems only from the contents of the mental states they are based on, also known as their (...) cognitive bases. The simple view faces the ‘gap problem’: If cognitive bases and emotions (re)present their objects and properties in different ways, then cognitive bases are not sufficient to justify emotions. Third, I offer a novel solution to the gap problem based on emotional dispositions. This solution (1) draws a line between the justification of basic and non-basic emotions, (2) preserves a broadly cognitivist view of emotions, (3) avoids a form of value skepticism that threatens inferentialist views of emotional justification, and (4) sheds new light on the structure of our epistemic access to evaluative properties. (shrink)

This paper introduces a body of research on Organizational Behavior and Industrial/organizational Psychology that expands the range of empirical evidence relevant to the ongoing character-situation debate. This body of research, mostly neglected by moral philosophers, provides important insights to move the debate forward. First, the OB/io scholarship provides empirical evidence to show that social environments like organizations have significant power to shape the character traits of their members. This scholarship also describes some of the mechanisms through which this process of (...) reshaping character takes place. Second, the character-situation debate has narrowly focused on situational influences that affect behavior episodically and haphazardly. The OB/io research, however, highlights the importance of distinguishing such situational influences from influences that, like organizational influences, shape our character traits because they are continuous and coordinated. Third, the OB/io literature suggests that most individuals display character traits that, while local to the organization, can be consistent across situations. This puts pressure on the accounts of character proposed by traditional virtue ethics and situationism and provides empirical support to interactionist models based on cognitive-affective processing system theories of personality. Finally, the OB/io literature raises important challenges to the possibility of achieving virtue, provides valuable and untapped resources to cultivate character, and suggests new avenues of normative and empirical research. (shrink)

In his latest book, _Ethics for Capitalists_, Joseph Heath draws on his many years of thinking about business ethics to propose, as the book’s subtitle indicates, “a systematic approach to business ethics, competition, and market failure.” He develops his argument carefully, draws on a wealth of interdisciplinary work, uses valuable and insightful examples, contrasts his views with important alternatives, and provides responses to compelling objections. In this review article, we argue that his book revises and sharpens many of Heath’s earlier (...) ideas, addressing important criticisms raised against them. We highlight that the book also offers a broad macro-level framework for market design, an explanation of how current corporate governance structures fit such a framework, and concrete responses to micro-level questions about what businesses and individuals ought to do. By doing all of this, his book shifts the scope of the “market failures approach” (MFA) from what used to be a narrow focus on the obligations of professional managers to an encompassing “ethics for capitalists” that ought to guide any economic actor within a capitalistic system. Despite the many merits of his book, we conclude by discussing some concerns we have about its scope and methodology. (shrink)

Scholars who favor shareholder primacy usually claim either that managers should not fulfill corporate duties of beneficence or that, if they are required to fulfill them, they do so by going against their obligations to shareholders. Distinguishing between structurally different types of duties of beneficence and recognizing the full force of the normative demands imposed on managers reveal that this view needs to be qualified. Although it is correct to think that managers, when acting on behalf of shareholders, are not (...) required to fulfill wide duties of charity, they are nevertheless required to fulfill a variety of narrow duties of beneficence. What is more, the obligation to fulfill these duties arises precisely because they are acting on behalf of shareholders. As such, this article 1) refines our understanding of the duties of corporate beneficence and 2) helps to identify which duties of beneficence are imposed on managers when they are acting on behalf of shareholders. (shrink)

RESUMEN: El tema de este trabajo es la reconstrucción de la teoría de la selección natural darwiniana. Me propongo esbozar la ley fundamental de esta teoría de manera informal a partir de sus aplicaciones en El origen de las especies de Darwin y presentar sus conceptos fundamentales. Presentaré la red teórica de leyes especiales que surgen de la especialización de esta ley fundamental. Supondré el estructuralismo como marco metateórico. Señalaré también algunas consecuencias que mi propuesta tiene sobre ciertas discusiones metateóricas (...) en torno a la teoría y, finalmente, relacionaré mi reconstrucción con otras reconstrucciones disponibles.ABSTRACT: This paper is about the reconstruction of the Darwinian Theory of Natural Selection. My aim here is to outline the fundamental law of this theory in an informal way from its applications in The Origin of Species and to make explicit its fundamental concepts. I will introduce the theory-nets of special laws that arisefrom the specialization of the fundamental law. I will assume the metatheoretical structuralist frame. I will also point out many consequences that my proposal has about a few metatheoretical discussions around the theory and, finally, I will relate my propose to other reconstructions available. (shrink)

The essays in Weakening Philosophy, from leading figures such as Umberto Eco and Charles Taylor, introduce his ideas to a wider audience.

In this paper, I compare the Megarian thesis of Metaphysics IX 3 with other sources on the Megarians in order to clarify two questions: that of the unity and nature of the so-called Megarian school and that of Aristotle’s broader argument in IX 3. I first review the disputed issue of the status of the Megarian school and then examine two hypotheses regarding the identity behind Aristotle’s allusion in IX 3. Third, I explore the connection between Megarianism and Plato’s Euthydemus, (...) a task that helps us to contextualize Aristotle’s anti-Megarian polemic. Lastly, I build on the preceding argument in a re-examination of the Eleatic hypothesis with regard both to the Megarians as a whole and to the thesis that Aristotle transmits. (shrink)

This is a draft of my chapter on Negligence for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook in Moral Psychology. It discusses philosophical, psychological, and legal approaches to the attribution of culpability in cases of negligent wrongdoing.

. This unique series features the actual keyboard parts transcribed as played on the artists' original recordings, along with sound-alike CD backing tracks so you can master the keyboard part and then play-along like a pro! The audio CD is playable on any CD player, and also enhanced so PC and Mac users can adjust the recording to any tempo without changing pitch. Includes 8 Elvis blockbusters: All Shook Up * A Big Hunk O' Love * Blue Suede Shoes * (...) Can't Help Falling in Love * Don't Be Cruel * I Want You, I Need You, I Love You * Jailhouse Rock * Love Me. (shrink)

According to epistemological disjunctivism (ED), in paradigmatic cases of perceptual knowledge, a subject, S, has perceptual knowledge that p in virtue of being in possession of reasons for her belief that p which are both factive and reflectively accessible to S. It has been argued that ED is better placed than both knowledge internalism and knowledge externalism to undercut underdetermination-based skepticism. I identify several principles that must be true if ED is to be uniquely placed to attain this goal. After (...) that, I use those principles to formulate a diachronic skeptical argument. This argument yields the counterintuitive conclusion that understanding a global skeptical hypothesis is all it takes for a rational subject to lose all her perceptual knowledge of the world. Next, I show that a popular Austinian move must reject one or another of the principles that underlie ED. I close by delineating a novel strategy that can block the diachronic skeptical argument while preserving all the principles. The key idea is that perceptual knowledge is grounded in primitive, perceptual and recognitional abilities. This view sheds new light on some puzzling features of global skepticism that have been noted by Descartes and Hume, among others. (shrink)

Suele señalarse la fuerte influencia que la teología natural tuvo sobre Darwin en su conceptualización del fenómeno de la adaptación. La teoría de la selección natural explicaría el mismo fenómeno que los teólogos naturales querían explicar: la adaptación. Recientemente ha sido señalado, sin embargo, que la forma darwiniana de conceptualizar la adaptación es novedosa. Las adaptaciones de la teología natural presupondrían la idea de que los organismos existen para la realización y manutención del equilibrio natural establecido por el creador. El (...) punto de este trabajo discutir esta cuestión, asumiendo el marco del estructuralismo metateórico. The strong influence that natural theology had over Darwin’s conceptualization of the adaptation phenomenon is frequently noted. The natural selection theory would explain the same phenomenon that the natural theologist intended to explain: the adaptation. Recently has been claimed, on the contrary, that the Darwinian way of conceptualizing adaptation is new. The concept of adaptation from natural theology presupposes the idea that organisms exist for realization and support of the natural equilibrium stated by the creator. In this work I will discuss this point, assuming the metatheoretical structuralism frame. (shrink)

In this paper I tried to find a harm based solution to the non-identity problem. I explore the view upon which future persons are harmed if we prevent them from having what it is required by the Principle of Utility.

Michael Marder: Could you summarize the main contributions of your new book, Hermeneutic Communism: From Heidegger to Marx, co-authored with Gianni Vattimo, to contemporary political philosophy?Santiago Zabala: Well, as the subtitle indicates, we do not demand a return to Marx, as so many philosophers do today, but rather the retrieval of his thought through Heidegger, or, better, through hermeneutics. The problem with contemporary political philosophy is bound to the prejudice people hold toward Heidegger's, Nietzsche's, and Gadamer's political sympathies and (...) choices. While one of them clearly made an error, the others were quite conservative and in…. (shrink)

First collected in Italy in 1985, _Art's Claim to Truth_ is considered by many philosophers to be one of Gianni Vattimo's most important works. Newly revised for English readers, the book begins with a challenge to Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Hegel, who viewed art as a metaphysical aspect of reality rather than a futuristic anticipation of it. Following Martin Heidegger's interpretation of the history of philosophy, Vattimo outlines the existential ontological conditions of aesthetics, paying particular attention to the works of (...) Kandinsky, which reaffirm the ontological implications of art. Vattimo then builds on Hans-Georg Gadamer's theory of aesthetics and provides an alternative to a rationalistic-positivistic criticism of art. This is the heart of Vattimo's argument, and with it he demonstrates how hermeneutical philosophy reaffirms art's ontological status and makes clear the importance of hermeneutics for aesthetic studies. In the book's final section, Vattimo articulates the consequences of reclaiming the ontological status of aesthetics without its metaphysical implications, holding Aristotle's concept of beauty responsible for the dissolution of metaphysics itself. In its direct engagement with the works of Gadamer, Heidegger, and Luigi Pareyson, _Art's Claim to Truth_ offers a better understanding of the work of Vattimo and a deeper knowledge of ontology, hermeneutics, and the philosophical examination of truth. (shrink)

A daring marriage of philosophical theory and practical politics, this collection is the first of Gianni Vattimo's many books to combine his intellectual pursuits with his public and political life. Vattimo is a paradoxical figure, at once a believing Christian and a vociferous critic of the Catholic Church, an outspoken liberal but not a former communist, and a recognized authority on Nietzsche and Heidegger as well as a prominent public intellectual and member of the European parliament. Building on his unique (...) position as a philosopher and politician, Vattimo takes on some of the most pressing questions of our time: Is it still possible, long after Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God, to talk of moral imperatives, individual rights, or political freedom? Are these values still relevant in today's world? Tackling these crucial issues, Gianni Vattimo argues that nihilism is not the absence of meaning but a recognition of a plurality of meanings; it is not the end of civilization but the beginning of new social paradigms. Commonly associated with the pessimistic belief that all of existence is meaningless, nihilism, as a philosophical principle, is far less sensational -- it is the ethical doctrine that there are no moral absolutes or infallible natural laws, that "truth" is inescapably subjective. Because the conditions for equality and liberty are not "naturally" given, society must actively create these ideals or it will inevitably fall prey to irrationality, prejudice, and oppression. Vattimo contends that the infighting, timidity, and confusion that have overtaken contemporary liberal thought and politics are the products a prolonged and indulgent mourning over the loss of the transcendental father figure -- any institution or power structure that defines truth, knowledge, and reality. Until humanity overcomes its need for external authority -- whether it be organized religion, the nation-state, or free-market capitalism -- emancipation will remain unattainable. Collecting fourteen of Vattimo's most influential essays on ethics, politics, and law, _Nihilism and Emancipation_ is a provocative reevaluation of meaning, values, and the idea of freedom in Western culture. (shrink)

A daring marriage of philosophical theory and practical politics, this collection is the first of Gianni Vattimo's many books to combine his intellectual pursuits with his public and political life. Vattimo is a paradoxical figure, at once a believing Christian and a vociferous critic of the Catholic Church, an outspoken liberal but not a former communist, and a recognized authority on Nietzsche and Heidegger as well as a prominent public intellectual and member of the European parliament. Building on his unique (...) position as a philosopher and politician, Vattimo takes on some of the most pressing questions of our time: Is it still possible, long after Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God, to talk of moral imperatives, individual rights, or political freedom? Are these values still relevant in today's world? Tackling these crucial issues, Gianni Vattimo argues that nihilism is not the absence of meaning but a recognition of a plurality of meanings; it is not the end of civilization but the beginning of new social paradigms. Commonly associated with the pessimistic belief that all of existence is meaningless, nihilism, as a philosophical principle, is far less sensational -- it is the ethical doctrine that there are no moral absolutes or infallible natural laws, that "truth" is inescapably subjective. Because the conditions for equality and liberty are not "naturally" given, society must actively create these ideals or it will inevitably fall prey to irrationality, prejudice, and oppression. Vattimo contends that the infighting, timidity, and confusion that have overtaken contemporary liberal thought and politics are the products a prolonged and indulgent mourning over the loss of the transcendental father figure -- any institution or power structure that defines truth, knowledge, and reality. Until humanity overcomes its need for external authority -- whether it be organized religion, the nation-state, or free-market capitalism -- emancipation will remain unattainable. Collecting fourteen of Vattimo's most influential essays on ethics, politics, and law, _Nihilism and Emancipation_ is a provocative reevaluation of meaning, values, and the idea of freedom in Western culture. (shrink)

Este libro analiza y reconstruye una de las teorías científicas que más discusiones han provocado en el ámbito de la biología, de la filosofía y de la sociedad: la teoría de la selección natural. Esta teoría, que ocupa un lugar central en la biología evolutiva, se encuentra en el centro de la revolución darwiniana, uno de los cambios más radicales ocurridos en la historia de la ciencia y, sin dudas, uno de los que más consecuencias han tenido sobre la ciencia (...) en general, sobre la filosofía y sobre el mismo modo en que nos percibimos en el mundo. -/- Si bien se trata de una teoría que parece sencilla de comprender, ha sido especialmente elusiva a los intentos de reconstrucción, no hay acuerdo con respecto a su estructura ni a cuáles son sus conceptos fundamentales. En este trabajo, asumiendo el marco conceptual brindado por el estructuralismo metateórico, se propone una reconstrucción que permite no solo dar cuenta adecuadamente del modo en que la teoría funciona en la práctica científica actual, sino que, además, permite explicitar la importancia filosófica antes aludida. -/- Frente a los desacuerdos marcados en la filosofía de la biología, pero también en textos y manuales de los biólogos evolutivos, respecto del modo de presentación adecuado y la naturaleza de la teoría, la estrategia reconstructiva consiste en discutir la teoría en su origen, tal como apareció en los textos de uno de sus codescubridores, Charles Darwin. La intención del libro es, entonces, no solo explicitar la estructura de la teoría, sino, además, su lugar en el pensamiento de Darwin, en la revolución darwiniana y en la biología evolutiva. (shrink)

Oncofertility is one of the 9 NIH Roadmap Initiatives, federal grants intended to explore previously intractable questions, and it describes a new field that exists in the liminal space between cancer treatment and its sequelae, IVF clinics and their yearning, and basic research in cell growth, biomaterials, and reproductive science and its tempting promises. Cancer diagnoses, which were once thought universally fatal, now often entail management of a chronic disease. Yet the therapies are rigorous, must start immediately, and in many (...) cases result in premature failure of the body's reproductive ability. In women, this loss is especially poignant; unlike the routine storage of sperm, which is done in men and boys facing similar treatment decisions, freezing oocytes in anticipation of fertility loss is not possible in most cases, and creating an embryo within days of diagnosis raises significant moral, social and medical challenges. Oncofertility is the study of how to harvest ovarian tissue in women facing cancer to preserve their gametes for future use with IVF, thus allowing the decisions about childbearing to be deferred and reproductive choices to be preserved. The research endeavor uses the capacity of the ovarian follicle to produce eggs in vitro . Developing the human follicle to ovulate successfully outside the body is scientifically difficult and ethically challenging. Infertility is linked to long-standing religious and moral traditions, and is intertwined with deeply contentious social narratives about women, families, illness and birth. Is the research morally permissible? Perhaps imperative if understood as a repair from iatrogenic harms? How are considerations of justice central to the work? How will vulnerable subjects be protected? What are the moral implications of the work for women, children and families? What are the implications for society if women could store ovarian tissue as a way of stopping the biological clock? What are the moral possibilities and challenges if eggs can be produced in large quantities from a stored ovarian tissue? (shrink)

The concept of fitness has generated a lot of discussion in philosophy of biology. There is, however, relative agreement about the need to distinguish at least two uses of the term: ecological fitness on the one hand, and population genetics fitness on the other. The goal of this paper is to give an explication of the concept of ecological fitness by providing a reconstruction of the theory of natural selection in which this concept was framed, that is, based on the (...) way the theory was put to use in Darwin’s main texts. I will contend that this reconstruction enables us to account for the current use of the theory of natural selection. The framework presupposed in the analysis will be that of metatheoretical structuralism. This framework will provide both a better understanding of the nature of ecological fitness and a more complete reconstruction of the theory. In particular, it will provide what I think is a better way of understanding how the concept of fitness is applied through heterogeneous cases. One of the major advantages of my way of thinking about natural selection theory is that it would not have the peculiar metatheoretical status that it has in other available views. I will argue that in order to achieve these goals it is necessary to make several concepts explicit, concepts that are frequently omitted in usual reconstructions. (shrink)