The author analyses the sense of virtue at the very heart of Kantian ethical formalism. First, he verifies the difficulty of placing Kantian ethics in one of the three models developed in the history of Western ethics – prescriptive, intentional and virtue ethics –, insofar as Kant places in the centre of moral analysis the notion of “imperative” (a precept), whose function is to show the purity of the “intention” as the only moral value, which deploys in a doctrine of (...) virtue. Then, he studies the “character” as the metaphysical foundation of Kantian ethics throughout the changes that the account of the relationships between the intelligible and the sensible character from the Critique of Pure Reason to Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason suffers in order to show that the doctrine of virtue finds its place in the context of ethic formalism, precisely in the frame of the Kantian conception of moral revolution as an incessant task and progress. In this way, virtue, as a quality of the character, is defined as a moral force of the human will in the compliance of duty. (shrink)

El artículo compara el modo como Aristóteles explica que un cuerpo llegue a vivir o que una mente llegue a entender, con el esquema explicativo que emplea Wittgenstein para dar cuenta de problemas como éstos: ¿qué hace posible que el signo adquiera significado, o que una acción sea el seguimiento de una regla? El interés se centra en la lógica de la explicación, y el propósito no es establecer relaciones de influencia, sino explorar analogías formales, con el objetivo de arrojar (...) luz sobre algunos conceptos centrales del pensamiento maduro de Wittgenstein. (shrink)

We advance two objections to the selfish gene theory formulated by Richard Dawkins, which states that natural selection operates on genetic replicators. These objections target three of the essential features of the theory. The first feature is the exclusivity that the theory ascribes to genetic replicators as objects of natural selection. We call it “the exclusivity clause”. The second and third features correspond to two criteria that genetic replicators must satisfy for Dawkins’ theory to hold. We call them “the stability (...) criterion” and “the fidelity criterion”. The first objection we advance is that, given the findings of transgenerational epigenetics, genetic replicators do not appear to satisfy the exclusivity clause and some of them do not seem to meet the stability criterion. The second objection is that the existence of the molecular phenomena known as alternative splicing and trans-splicing seems to entail that many genetic replicators do not satisfy neither the stability criterion nor the fidelity criterion. (shrink)

Este ensayo se ocupa del tratamiento dado por René Descartes al descubrimiento de la circulación de la sangre hecho por William Harvey y sus diferencias respecto al papel del corazón en este proceso. Tomando distancia de la interpretación tradicional de la controversia, se concluye que, si bien Harvey fue un declarado aristotélico y Descartes un filósofo de estirpe materialista, los postulados de este último exhiben varios prejuicios escolásticos y una fuerte carga teórica en las observaciones. Por el contrario, la propuesta (...) de Harvey, aunque inspirada en el Estagirita, termina librando a la fisiología de consideraciones propias del pensamiento de Aristóteles. (shrink)

Nos ocupamos de la controversia científica sobre la plausibilidad del seleccionismo génico. En primer lugar, mostramos que esta controversia parece estar estancada en su conjunto y particularmente sobre la cuestión central: si los genes son el objeto de la selección natural. En segundo lugar, sostenemos que el estancamiento sobre esta cuestión se explica en buena medida porque las partes en disputa están posicionadas sobre modos distintos de comprender la genética. Finalmente, argumentamos que la controversia podría avanzar si se enfrentara un (...) asunto muy problemático que, a pesar de su relevancia, ha sido relegado a un segundo plano: cómo definir “gen” en términos moleculares. (shrink)

A partir de una reflexión sobre los cambios introducidos en la filosofía del s. XX por la corriente estructuralista, la autora pretende poner de relieve los retos a los que se enfrenta la filosofía del nuevo siglo, en especial en lo que afecta al borrado de la gran línea de demarcación entre “ciencias” y “letras” y a la posible, a la vez que deseable inserción de la filosofía en el campo de saberes gobernados por la idea de complejidad y de (...) indeterminación. (shrink)

Aunque admito sin reservas -nos dice Spinoza en su TTP- que todas las cosas son determinadas por leyes universales de la naturaleza a existir y a obrar de una forma fija y determinada, afirmo, no obstante, que [...], para el uso de la vida,...

Die politische Errichtung eines Cordon Sanitaire um populistische Parteien führt auf gesellschaftlicher Ebene zu einer Praxis, in der die Anliegen, Argumente und Ängste von Populisten und ihren Sympathisanten zu einem gewissen Grad tabuisiert werden. Da die Errichtung eines Cordon Sanitaire den epistemischen Zielen der Wissenschaft widerspricht, kommt es notwendig zu einem Spannungsverhältnis, wenn der Cordon Sanitaire auf die Hallen der Wissenschaft ausgedehnt wird. Dieser Beitrag setzt sich aus der Warte der Politischen Philosophie mit diesem Spannungsverhältnis auseinander. In nuce wird argumentiert, (...) dass die Universität gut beraten ist, das Primat der Wahrheitssuche in ihrem eigenen Geltungsbereich offensiv und selbstbewusst zu verteidigen. In der Wissenschaft darf nur das bessere Argument zählen. Weiter wird der Forderung inner-universitäre Gremien einzurichten, die zentral über die Einladung von heterodoxen Denkern/innen entscheiden, eine Absage erteilt, da solche Gremien den Sinn der Wissenschaftsfreiheit untergraben. (shrink)

Arthur Schopenhauer was one of the greatest writers and German philosophers of the nineteenth century. His work influenced figures as diverse as Wagner, Freud and Nietzsche. Best known as a pessimist, he was one of the few philosophers read and admired by Wittgenstein. In this comprehensive introduction, Julian Young covers all the main aspects of Schopenhauer's philosophy. Beginning with an overview of Schopenhauer's life and work, he introduces the central aspects of his metaphysics fundamental to understanding his work as a (...) whole: his philosophical idealism and debt to the philosophy of Kant; his attempt to answer the question of what the world is; his account of science; and in particular his idea that 'will' is the essence of all things. Julian Young then introduces and assesses Schopenhauer's aesthetics, which occupy a central place in his philosophy. He carefully examines Schopenhauer's theories of the sublime, artistic genius and music, before assessing his ethics of compassion, his arguments for pessimism and his account of 'salvation'. In the final chapter, he considers Schopenhauer's legacy and his influence on the thought of Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, making this an ideal starting point for those coming to Schopenhauer for the first time. (shrink)

This is a clear and lucid account of Nietzsche's philosophy of art, combining exegesis, interpretation and criticism in a judicious balance. Julian Young argues that Nietzsche's thought about art can only be understood in the context of his wider philosophy. In particular, he discusses the dramatic changes in Nietzschean aesthetics against the background of the celebrated themes of the death of God, eternal recurrence, and the idea of the Übermensch. Young then divides Nietzsche's career and his philosophy of art into (...) four distinct phases, but suggests that these phases describe a circle. An attempt at world-affirmation is made in the central phases, but Nietzsche is predominantly influenced at the beginning and end of his career by a Schopenhauerian pessimism. At the beginning and end art is important because it 'redeems' us from life. (shrink)

Este artículo refleja el estado de la cuestión de las correspondencias conceptuales, formales, lingüísticas y sociopolíticas del ensayo fílmico / audiovisual respecto a los cánones del ensayo literario. Resume los aportes teóricos esenciales en ambos campos. La exploración descifra cómo unos patrones de base permanecen idénticos por compartir una misma raíz en la experiencia reflexionada por el sujeto, pero su traslación al medio audiovisual, aun manteniendo una indudable convivencia de equivalencias, da cuenta de diferencias lingüísticas relativas a las propiedades de (...) un dispositivo complejo, también determinantes para la evidencia mayor o menor de unos rasgos dados. Aunque las nuevas tecnologías ponen en alza la manifestación de la subjetividad, faltan estudios orientados hacia la incidencia de estas sobre la construcción del texto ensayístico y sus efectos sociales. Como efecto de este vacío, las referencias canónicas para analizar las correspondencias entre ambas manifestaciones no parecen contemplar experiencias de cinematografías periféricas ni profundizar en prácticas experimentales que dieran respuesta a lo anterior. (shrink)

En este trabajo propongo como tema de reflexión el paradigma securitario en las democracias contemporáneas —con una particular y casi exclusiva referencia a Colombia—. Este paradigma postula la seguridad como valor principal y como principio fundamental del Estado, que soslaya los clásicos pilares del Estado Social y democrático de derecho. ¿En qué consiste ese paradigma? ¿Cuáles son sus bases fundamentales y, sobre todo, cuáles son sus repercusiones en la vida cotidiana de los ciudadanos? Este será el punto de partida para (...) abordar el problema de los gestos simbólicos del Estado reciente, en su afán por recobrar el monopolio de la fuerza física y derrotar la amenaza terrorista; pero también para ver cómo se puede llegar a transformar en un nuevo Leviatán que se vuelca contra el ciudadano, a quien le pide soportar —en defensa de la seguridad del Estado— el daño colateral producido en medio de un combate real o aparente. (shrink)

Hernández Betancur, Juan Pablo. “Racionalidad y acción no reflexiva. El debate Dreyfus-McDowell.” Crítica. Revista Hispanoamericana de Filosofía [Ciudad de México, UNAM], 47.140 (2015): 43-63.

Sobre la base de las Lecciones de Erlangen, se trata de analizar cuál es el procedimiento por el que se construye en la filosofía de Schelling el concepto de libertad. Libertad que, según el Freiheitsschrift, es la capacidad de elegir entre el bien y el mal, no es en el fondo más que el procedimiento por el que el fundamento de la ciencia y el principio de identidad quedan divididos. Esta división no es en cambio una fisura que marca la (...) independencia entre ambos términos, sino que, al contrario, fundamento e identidad guardan una relación de antecedente y de consecuente respectivamente, ocupan dos tareas, dos competencias distintas, y cuyo trabajo conjunto y final es precisamente fruto de la libertad. (shrink)

Ressenya / Reseña / Review Benz, Ernst 2016, Mística y Romanticismo. Las fuentes místicas del Romanticismo alemán, Madrid: Siruela. ISBN 978-84-16638-25-3, 180 páginas.

Nos valemos del concepto de experiencia para tratar de demostrar que la relación entre ésta y lo ideal es indisoluble en Aristóteles y en Schelling en el conjunto de su producción. No existe entre lo real y lo ideal, por tanto, un orden de prioridad en lo tocante a las partes de su sistema, sino que únicamente asumen un orden de anterioridad y posterioridad por lo que hace a una necesidad de tipo metodológico. Con este análisis, por tanto, queremos demostrar (...) que el orden de la experiencia y de lo ideal no es excluyente, sino que, al contario, están en un orden de dependencia gracias al cual tenemos como resultado una filosofía absoluta o la filosofía sin más, lo cual elimina cualquier unilateralismo que quiera conceder cualquier primacía ya bien a lo ideal o a lo real o la existencia en la filosofía de ambos autores. (shrink)

This paper aims to provide a theoretical framework for explaining the subjective character of pain experience in terms of what we will call ‘embodied predictive processing’. The predictive processing (PP) theory is a family of views that take perception, action, emotion and cognition to all work together in the service of prediction error minimisation. In this paper we propose an embodied perspective on the PP theory we call the ‘embodied predictive processing (EPP) theory. The EPP theory proposes to explain pain (...) in terms of processes distributed across the whole body. The prediction error minimising system that generates pain experience comprises the immune system, the endocrine system, and the autonomic system in continuous causal interaction with pathways spread across the whole neural axis. We will argue that these systems function in a coordinated and coherent manner as a single complex adaptive system to maintain homeostasis. This system, which we refer to as the neural-endocrine-immune (NEI) system, maintains homeostasis through the process of prediction error minimisation. We go on to propose a view of the NEI ensemble as a multiscale nesting of Markov blankets that integrates the smallest scale of the cell to the largest scale of the embodied person in pain. We set out to show how the EPP theory can make sense of how pain experience could be neurobiologically constituted. We take it to be a constraint on the adequacy of a scientific explanation of subjectivity of pain experience that it makes it intelligible how pain can simultaneously be a local sensing of the body, and, at the same time, a more global, all-encompassing attitude towards the environment. Our aim in what follows is to show how the EPP theory can meet this constraint. (shrink)

In this paper I consider, in connection with dementia, two views of the person. One view of the person is derived from Locke and Parfit. This tends to regard the person solely in terms of psychological states and his/her connections. The second view of the person is derived from a variety of thinkers. I have called it the situated-embodied-agent view of the person. This view, I suggest, more readily squares with the reality of clinical experience. It regards the person as (...) embedded in a history and culture. The human person is also an embodied agent. I contend that this view encourages a more appropriate approach towards the ethical issues that arise in dementia and towards people with dementia. (shrink)

The recent tragic and widely publicised death of Jesse Gelsinger in a gene therapy trial has many important lessons for those engaged in the ethical review of research. One of the most important lessons is that ethics committees can give too much weight to ensuring informed consent and not enough attention to minimising the harm associated with participation in research. The first responsibility of ethics committees should be to ensure that the expected harm associated with participation is reasonable. Jesse was (...) an 18-year-old man with a mild form of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, a disorder of nitrogen metabolism. His form of the disease could be controlled by diet and drug treatment. On September 13 1999 a team of researchers lead by James Wilson at the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Human Gene Therapy (IHGT) injected 3.8 X 1013 adenovirus vector particles containing a gene to correct the genetic defect. He was the eighteenth and final patient in the trial. The virus particles were injected directly into the liver. He received the largest number of virus particles in a gene therapy trial.1 Four days later he was dead from what was probably an immune reaction to the virus vector. This was the first death directly attributed to gene therapy. It resulted in worldwide publicity, an independent investigation, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) suspending all trials at the IHGT, an FDA, and a senate subcommittee investigation. At a special public meeting at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in December 1999, James Wilson, also the director of the IHGT, said they still did not understand fully what had gone wrong.2 Even though a massive dose had been used, only 1% of transferred genes reached the target cells. (None of the patients in the trial showed significant gene expression. Art …. (shrink)

Stereotypes of social construction suggest that the existence of social constructs is accidental and that such constructs have arbitrary and subjective features. In this paper, I explore a conception of social construction according to which it consists in the collective imposition of function onto reality and show that, according to this conception, these stereotypes are incorrect. In particular, I argue that the collective imposition of function onto reality is typically non-accidental and that the products of such imposition frequently have non-arbitrary (...) and objective features. These conclusions are interesting in and of themselves since they debunk important aspects of our socially constructed conception of social construction. Yet, additionally, they have important implications for the viability of mathematical social constructivism since resistance to such constructivism is frequently grounded in the observation that mathematics is non-accidental, non-arbitrary, and objective. As a secondary focus, I explore these implications in this paper. (shrink)

Introduction -- The type/token theory introduced -- Motivating the type/token theory : repeatability -- Nominalist approaches to the ontology of music -- Musical anti-realism -- The type/token theory elaborated -- Types I : abstract, unstructured, unchanging -- Types introduced and nominalism repelled -- Types as abstracta -- Types as unstructured entities -- Types as fixed and unchanging -- Types II : platonism -- Introduction : eternal existence and timelessness -- Types and properties -- The eternal existence of properties reconsidered -- (...) Types and patterns -- Defending the type/token theory I -- Unstructuredness and analogical predication -- Musical works as fixed and unchanging -- Abstractness and audibility (again) -- Works and interpretations -- Conclusion and resumé -- Defending the type/token theory II : musical platonism -- Platonism it is : replies to Anderson and Levinson -- The existence conditions of works of music -- Composition as creative discovery -- The nature of the compositional process : replies to objections -- Composition and aesthetic appraisal : a reply to Levinson -- Composition and aesthetic appraisal : understanding, interpretation, and correctness -- Musical works as continuants : a theory rejected -- A theory introduced -- Explicating and motivating the continuant view -- The continuant view and repeatability -- Further objections to the continuant view -- Musical works as compositional actions : a critique -- Currie's action-type hypothesis -- Davies's performance theory -- Sonicism I : against instrumentalism -- Sonicism introduced -- Sonicism motivated : moderate empiricism -- Instrumentation : timbral sonicism introduced -- Scores -- Instrumentation, artistic properties, and aesthetic content -- Levinson's rejoinder -- Sonicism II : against contextualism -- Introduction : formulating contextualism -- Contextualist ontological proposals -- Levinson's doppelgänger thought-experiments -- Artistic, representational, and object-directed expressive properties -- Aesthetic and non-object-directed expressive properties -- Conclusion : the place of context. (shrink)

We characterize the sets of all Π2 and all equation image theorems of IΠ−1 in terms of restricted exponentiation, and use these characterizations to prove that both sets are not deductively equivalent. We also discuss how these results generalize to n > 0. As an application, we prove that a conservation theorem of Beklemishev stating that IΠ−n + 1 is conservative over IΣ−n with respect to equation image sentences cannot be extended to Πn + 2 sentences. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag (...) GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. (shrink)

In The Gift Relationship, Richard Titmuss argued that the practice of altruistic blood donation fosters social solidarity while markets in blood erode it. This paper considers the implications of this line of argument for the organ market debate. I defend Titmuss’ arguments against a number of criticisms and respond to claims that Titmuss’ work is not relevant to the context of live donor organ transplantation. I conclude that Titmuss’ arguments are more resilient than many advocates of organ markets suggest, and (...) more relevant to the debate than is commonly appreciated. (shrink)

Let T be a second-order arithmetical theory, Λ a well-order, λ < Λ and X ⊆ ℕ. We use $[\lambda |X]_T^{\rm{\Lambda }}\varphi$ as a formalization of “φ is provable from T and an oracle for the set X, using ω-rules of nesting depth at most λ”.For a set of formulas Γ, define predicative oracle reflection for T over Γ ) to be the schema that asserts that, if X ⊆ ℕ, Λ is a well-order and φ ∈ Γ, then$$\forall \,\lambda (...) < {\rm{\Lambda }}\,.$$In particular, define predicative oracle consistency ) as Pred–O–RFN{0=1}.Our main result is as follows. Let ATR0 be the second-order theory of Arithmetical Transfinite Recursion, ${\rm{RCA}}_0^{\rm{*}}$ be Weakened Recursive Comprehension and ACA be Arithmetical Comprehension with Full Induction. Then,$${\rm{ATR}}_0 \equiv {\rm{RCA}}_0^{\rm{*}} + {\rm{Pred - O - Cons\ }}\left \equiv {\rm{RCA}}_0^{\rm{*}} + \,{\rm{Pred - O - Cons\ }}\left \equiv {\rm{RCA}}_0^{\rm{*}} + \,{\rm{Pred - O - RFN}}\,_{{\bf{\Pi }}_2^1 } \left.$$We may even replace ${\rm{RCA}}_0^{\rm{*}}$ by the weaker ECA0, the second-order analogue of Elementary Arithmetic.Thus we characterize ATR0, a theory often considered to embody Predicative Reductionism, in terms of strong reflection and consistency principles. (shrink)

Philosophy of Economics: A Contemporary Introduction is the first systematic textbook in the philosophy of economics. It introduces the epistemological, metaphysical and ethical problems that arise in economics, and presents detailed discussions of the solutions that have been offered. Throughout, philosophical issues are illustrated by and analysed in the context of concrete cases drawn from contemporary economics, the history of economic ideas, and actual economic events. This demonstrates the relevance of philosophy of economics both for the science of economics and (...) for the economy. This text will provide an excellent introduction to the philosophy of economics for students and interested general readers alike. (shrink)

Criminal behaviour is but one behavioural tendency for which a genetic influence has been suggested. Whilst this research certainly raises difficult ethical questions and is subject to scientific criticism, one recent research project suggests that for some families, criminal tendency might be predicted by genetics. In this paper, supposing this research is valid, we consider whether intervening in the criminal tendency of future children is ethically justifiable. We argue that, if avoidance of harm is a paramount consideration, such an intervention (...) is acceptable when genetic selection is employed instead of genetic enhancement. Moreover, other moral problems in avoiding having children with a tendency to criminal behaviour, such as the prospect of social discrimination, can also be overcome. (shrink)

What is the correct concept behind measures of inflation? Does money cause business activity or is it the other way around? Shall we stimulate growth by raising aggregate demand or rather by lowering taxes and thereby providing incentives to produce? Policy-relevant questions such as these are of immediate and obvious importance to the welfare of societies. The standard approach in dealing with them is to build a model, based on economic theory, answer the question for the model world and then (...) apply the results to economic phenomena outside. Data come in, if at all, only in testing a limited number of the model's consequences. Despite some critical voices, economic methodology too has by and large subscribed to a "theory first" approach to applied economics. Error in Economics systematically develops an alternative to the theory-based orthodoxy. It places the methodical study of evidence at the centre of the scientific enterprise and thus provides a foundation for a methodology of evidence-based economics. But the book does not stop at the truism that claims should be based on the best available evidence. Rather, detailed studies in the areas of measurement, causal inference and policy analysis show what it means for a claim to be evidence-based in the context of a concrete case. The examples discussed concern topics as diverse as consumer price indices, radio spectrum auctions, the transmission mechanism, natural experiments on minimum wages and the evaluation of counterfactuals for policy. Error in Economics is essential reading for economic methodologists, philosophers of science and anyone interested in how claims about socio-economic matters are validated. (shrink)