Many biblical scholars have underlined the importance of Numbers 13-14, especially because these chapters are a reflection on Israel's greatest sin and rebellion against God in the desert. God's reaction to that sin is clear: of all the men who have put me to the test ten times already and have failed to heed my voice, not one shall see the land which I promised on oath to their fathers. It seems that the verbs 'see' and 'hear', both sentient verbs, (...) are important in both the statement of God and that of the Spies. This article focuses on this particular point and in the conclusions which can be drawn from it. It also considers the frustrating intercession of Moses before God on behalf of his people, on account of the threat to Israel about the promised land. (shrink)

The reorganization of taxation within the territory under the Crown of Aragon, which was undertaken alfter the War of Succession, was performed at a period of economic difficulties and coincided with radical political change. It was therefore not unopposed. The study of the Peñiscola Revolt in 1715 is important for three main reasons: the opposition to taxation which fuelled it; the demands for a retum to the municipal organization of the period of the "fuero"; and the fact that it arose (...) in one of the Valencian towns which had proved most loyal to Philip V during the War of Succession. (shrink)

This paper raises an open critical discussion on some key notions in Michael Ruse’s philosophy. These include the conceptual elements of scientific explanation, the difference between epistemic and cultural values, the epistemological status of science and religion in explaining nature, the compatibility or incompatibility between Darwinian thought and Christian thought, and especially between evolutionary theory and creationism, the key importance of admitting or not admitting supernatural causality when qualifying an explanation as scientific, the role played by the divinity in the (...) argumentation about the compatibility or incompatibility between science and religion, the convenience of not understanding the Abrahamic god from an ontological perspective but from a psychological one, etc. It ends by proposing certain conclusions that could perhaps contribute to contrast and enrich his philosophy. (shrink)

Technical and tactical actions are decisive in terms of badminton player competitive performance. The main objective of this research was to design, validate, and estimate the reliability of an observational instrument for the analysis of the tactical and technical actions in individual badminton. The process was carried out in four different steps: first, there was a review of the scientific literature and a preliminary list of variables was made; second, a qualitative and quantitative assessment was completed by 10 badminton expert (...) judges; in the third step, the content validity was estimated using Aiken’s V coefficient; finally, intra-observer reliability and interobserver reliability were tested by two observers specialized in badminton using the Cohen’s Kappa coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient. Strokes were used as the unit of measure by our observational instrument; every time badminton players hit the shuttlecock, 22 variables are observed. The minimum Aiken’s value was 0.58, and reliability was 0.63. In spite of these values, none of the variables had to be removed, but there were modifications in terms of drafting in some of them. The main findings confirmed the validity and the usefulness of this instrument. (shrink)

Esta obra está organizada en tres partes, en las que se indaga la plausibilidad del discurso de la Bioética y Teológica. En la primera de ellas, se estudia el vínculo que existe entre esta disciplina científica, el mensaje evangélico y la tradición cristiana, punto de partida y origen de todo este entramado bioético que aspira a sal-vaguardar valores humanos fundamentales. En la segunda, se trata de la relación que debe regir entre esta rama de la Teología y el polifacético mundo (...) científico (biomedicina, bioderecho, etc.). Por su parte, en la tercera, se analiza el estatuto epistemológico que configura a la Bioética Teológica, es decir, sus señas de identi-dad; asimismo, en esta sección, se indaga igualmente acerca del papel que, por derecho propio, corresponde en la vida pública a esta disciplina científica. (shrink)

Desde el comienzo de la crisis ambiental, una constelación de ecosofías, teorías, ideologías, discursos y narrativas han irrumpido en el emergente y complejo terreno de la filosofía ambiental y la ecología política. En este campo no unificable de fuerzas, el análisis sociológico ha intentado trazar mapas y proponer tipologías para ordenar las diferentes perspectivas de la ciencia, del pensamiento ecológico y de la ética ambiental que orienten la investigación académica o laacción política. A partir de esta voluntad de establecer y (...) resolver las diferencias y estrategias de pensamiento, ha surgido una diversidad de ambientalismos; las líneas se trazan desde norte a sur, de ricos a pobres, de masculino a femenino, de naturalismo a culturalismo. Los ambientalismos se diferencian en sus fuentes, apegos, y derivaciones de las teorías de base y en sus aproximaciones desde distintas disciplinas. Por lo tanto, el prefijo "eco" o el adjetivo "ambiental" se adhieren a las disciplinas tradicionales. El pensamiento ambiental latinoamericano tiene sus fuentes en el pensamiento filosófico crítico; difiere de otros sistemas de pensamiento por un concepto epistemológico radical de medio ambiente, y adquiere su identidad a partir de la herencia cultural de sus pueblos y de los potenciales ecológicos de sus territorios. (shrink)

La Teoría de la Computación es un campo especialmente rico para la indagación filosófica. EI debate sobre el mecanicismo y la discusión en torno a los fundamentos de la matemática son tópicos que estan directamente asociados a la Teoria de la Computación desde su misma creación como disciplina independiente. La Tesis de Turing-Church constituye uno de los resultados mas característicos en este campo estando, además, lleno de consecuencias filosóficas. En este ensayo se ofrece una guía de referencia útil a (...) aquellos que desean prestar alguna atención a estos asuntos y carecen de la base técnica o histórica que se precisa. En primer lugar se ofrece un resurnen de los principales problemas relacionados con la Tesis de Turing-Church para ofrecer a continuación información sobre sus aspectos más controvertidos. Se proponen algunos problemas no resueltos y se analiza su relevancia filosófica.Computer Science is a field specially rich for philosophical inquiry. Mechanism and the discussion around foundations of mathematics are topics directly asociated to Computer Science for its very constitution as an independent discipline. Church-Turing Thesis is one of the most characteristic results in this field and is plenty of philosophical consequences. In this article I offer a referenee guide useful for those who are willing to pay some attention to these matters and ignore the technical and historical basis needed for this task. I resume the main topics related to Church-Turing Thesis and give some informationabout the most controversial aspects of this subject. Some open questions are settled for further investigation paying special attention to their philosophical importance. (shrink)

La Teoría de la Computación es un campo especialmente rico para la indagación filosófica. EI debate sobre el mecanicismo y la discusión en torno a los fundamentos de la matemática son tópicos que estan directamente asociados a la Teoria de la Computación desde su misma creación como disciplina independiente. La Tesis de Turing-Church constituye uno de los resultados mas característicos en este campo estando, además, lleno de consecuencias filosóficas. En este ensayo se ofrece una guía de referencia útil a (...) aquellos que desean prestar alguna atención a estos asuntos y carecen de la base técnica o histórica que se precisa. En primer lugar se ofrece un resurnen de los principales problemas relacionados con la Tesis de Turing-Church para ofrecer a continuación información sobre sus aspectos más controvertidos. Se proponen algunos problemas no resueltos y se analiza su relevancia filosófica.Computer Science is a field specially rich for philosophical inquiry. Mechanism and the discussion around foundations of mathematics are topics directly asociated to Computer Science for its very constitution as an independent discipline. Church-Turing Thesis is one of the most characteristic results in this field and is plenty of philosophical consequences. In this article I offer a referenee guide useful for those who are willing to pay some attention to these matters and ignore the technical and historical basis needed for this task. I resume the main topics related to Church-Turing Thesis and give some informationabout the most controversial aspects of this subject. Some open questions are settled for further investigation paying special attention to their philosophical importance. (shrink)

ENRIQUE BONETE: Neuroética práctica, Desclée de Brouwer, 2011, 192 pp.; JOSÉ MANUEL GIMÉNEZ AMAYA y SERGIO SÁNCHEZ-MIGALLÓN: De la Neurociencia a la Neuroética, Navarra, EUNSA 2010, 192 pp.; KATHINKA EVERS: Neuroética. Cuando la materia se despierta, Argentina- España, Katz, 2011, 208 pp.

Primera parte. Problemas teóricos en torno a la filosofia latinoamericana. A modo de introducción : la historia de las ideas en América Latina -- Breve trazo de un camino -- Crítica de la Crítica de la razón latinoamericana de Santiago Castro-Gómez -- Rafael Gutiérrez Girardot y José Luis Romero : historiografía e identidad latinamericana -- El colonialismo intelectual en América Latina y su crítica -- La historiografía como "carta de batalla" -- El rastacuerismo y nuestra cultura política -- La secularización (...) y la racionalización en hispanoamérica -- Filosofía y crisis -- Segunda parte. Filósofos y filosofías revisitados. El Ariel de José Enrique Rodó : su contexto, sus fuentes y sus críicas -- María Zambrano, José Gaos y la filosofía latinoamericana -- El problema de la recepción del pensamiento de Xavier Zubiri en Colombia -- Ernesto Sábato : crítica de la tecnolatría y religación de lo humano -- Guillermo Hoyos Vásquez...entre nosotros -- Pablo Guadarrama y la filosofía colombiana : un testimonio. (shrink)

Este artículo aborda el aspecto poco estudiado de la ambigüedad moral y jurídica del verdugo —quien históricamente ha permitido al poder político la posibilidad de negación de la violencia moralmente repudiable—, a partir del análisis compa- rativo de tres casos míticos e históricos: 1) el suplicio del capitán Añasco a manos de la Gaitana durante la Conquista, 2) el martirio de Becket provocado por los caballeros de Enrique II de Inglaterra y 3) las masacres de liberales en la cordillera (...) occidental colombiana durante la Violencia. Se demuestra que la legitimidad de la violencia cruel se encuentra ligada a los conceptos de deber y sacrificio, pero requiere también una posibilidad de negación que preserve la moralidad de la au- toridad. Un demonio sin instrucciones que ejecuta autónomamente una voluntad colectiva de castigo aparece como mecanismo histórico necesario para modular la relación que el poder político mantiene con la crueldad funcional a sus fines. (shrink)

Desde el punto de vista temático, el libro abarca prácticamente todo lo que se incluye bajo el llamado problema de la filosofía latinoamericana: su posibilidad, especificidad, autenticidad, sus orígenes, rasgos esenciales, etc. En cuanto a autores, se exponen con mayor extensión los postpositivistas Korn y Vaz Ferreira y, entre los más actuales, José Gaos, Leopoldo Zea, Arturo A. Roig, Enrique Dussel, y Marquínez Argote. Se plantea la cuestión del método de la investigación histórico-filosófica. Se critican las posiciones de la (...) CEPAL. Por último, el libro dedica extensa atención a la filosofía de la liberación, sus orígenes y los problemas que actualmente se le plantean. Toda la temática está abordada en sintonía con el latinoamericanismo filosófico actual"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58. (shrink)

A menudo las fronteras académicas que nos definen y nos separan como investigadores, también delimitan nuestros trabajos hasta el punto de desconectarlos de manera acrítica de las realidades culturales que, por motivos múltiples y no siempre explícitos, nos proponemos estudiar, analizar, transformar, etc. Sabemos que las universidades, como el resto de instituciones sociales, han participado históricamente en el mantenimiento de las fronteras que construimos interesadamente los seres humanos al relacionarnos como tales, tanto a escala individual como colectiva: económicas, políticas, académicas, (...) familiares, personales, etc…. (shrink)

In this paper, we elucidate the moral psychology and what we might call the moral sociology of Mencius and of Hume, and we argue for three claims. First, we demonstrate that there are strong similarities between Mencius and Hume concerning some of the principal psychological sources of the virtue of humanity. Second, we show that there are strong similarities between the two concerning some of the principal social sources of the virtue of humanity. Third, we argue that there are related, (...) though weaker, similarities between Mencius and Hume concerning some of the principal cognitive sources of the virtue of humanity. We conclude by suggesting that the number and nature of these similarities demonstrate the need for future research on the conceptual connections between Confucian and Humean moral philosophy, especially on the psychological and social sources of benevolent moral development. (shrink)

In this paper I try to defend McDowell’s empiricism from a certain objection made by Davidson, Stroud and Glüer. The objection states that experiences cannot be reasons because they are—as McDowell conceives them—inert. I argue that, even though there is something correct in the objection, that is not sufficient for rejecting the epistemological character that McDowell attributes to experiences. My strategy consists basically in showing that experiences involve a constitutive attitude of acceptance of their contents.

The functional capabilities that consciousness seems to provide to biological systems can supply valuable principles in the design of more autonomous and robust technical systems. These functional concepts keep a notable similarity to those underlying the notion of operating system in software engineering, which allows us to specialize the computer metaphor for the mind into that of the operating system metaphor for consciousness. In this article, departing from these ideas and a model-based theoretical framework for cognition, we present an architectural (...) proposal for machine consciousness, called the Operative Mind. According to it, machine consciousness could be implemented as a set of services, in an operative system fashion, based on modeling of the own control architecture, that supervise the adequacy of the system architectural structure to the current objectives, triggering and managing adaptativity mechanisms. (shrink)

While constitutionalism is generally reduced to the idea of limited government, little has been said to its contribution to the juridification of the social sphere. The article shows the significance of constitutionalism for the institutionalization of modern civil societies. Modern civil societies, it is argued, can only flourish in a form of modern state that has undergone a process of internal differentiation in the direction of a separation of powers. Through the analysis of the process of self‐constitution of Argentine civil (...) society, I show how the erosion of the constitutional components of the state by populist democratizing movements resulted in the disintegration of civil society. (shrink)

In this paper, we develop a neo-Humean response to the problem of moral inclusion by bringing Humean moral philosophy into deep and serious dialogue with Latin American philosophy. Our argument for achieving this two-fold aim unfolds as follows. In section one, we elucidate Mia Sosa-Provencio’s conception of a mestiza ethics of care. We begin by highlighting its fundamental elements, especially its concern with what we refer to as the cultural embeddedness both of moral agents and of moral patients. We then (...) explain how this aspect of the mestiza ethic poses a distinctive challenge for Humean moral philosophy. In section two, we develop a neo-Humean response to this challenge. We begin by highlighting the strengths and limits of trying to develop a response by appealing to Hume’s conceptions of sympathy and humanity. We then present what we take to be the most plausible way for a neo-Humean conception of moral philosophy to offer a satisfactory reply to the challenge posed by the mestiza ethics of care, by appealing to two key concepts from outside the system of Hume’s moral philosophy: namely, sympathetic understanding and relational humility. (shrink)

Atención Temprana, entendiendo esta como los servicios que atienden a niños con discapacidad o riesgo de presentar dificultades en su desarrollo y sus familias, han ido evolucionando hacia prácticas recomendadas basadas en la evidencia científica. Estas prácticas están determinadas por la importancia de la familia y los entornos naturales como contextos de desarrollo. No obstante, la evidencia científica muestra que se requiere la construcción de un sistema para una adecuada implementación de estas prácticas.Este trabajo tiene como propósito la caracterización de (...) la investigación científica identificando los principales autores, artículos y temas y proponer futuras investigaciones para su desarrollo. (shrink)

Resumen Hemos querido en este ensayo presentar algunas conclusiones gruesas de la investigación que fuimos realizando desde la Cátedra de Pensamiento Latinoamericano de la Escuela de Filosofía de la UCV, desde que la fundamos (1990) hasta nuestra jubilación (2010). Nos parecen centrales las siguientes ideas para la elaboración de una filosofía de la historia de Venezuela: comprender que no hubo guerra de independencia sino de secesión pues fue una guerra civil, no confundir patria con república, pues esta es sólo una (...) etapa de la primera y de estas conclusiones pasamos a realizar una reflexión filosófico-histórica que incorpora de una nueva manera la relación presente/pasado/futuro en la conformación de nuestro sujeto sociohistórico. Palabras clave: Filosofía de la Historia de Venezuela; Etnias: Indígena, Criolla y Bicultural-Binacional. 1810-2010: Two-hundred years of what? Of building up a path with 32 stonesIn this paper we have aimed to present some general conclusions of the investigation we conducted from the Latin American Thinking courses at the School of Philosophy-UCV, ever since we established them formally (1990) until our retirement (2010). The following ideas seem central for us in order to elaborate a philosophy of Venezuela’s history: understanding that there was not an independence war but a secession one, for it was a civil war; not conflating homeland with republic, for the latter is just a step of the former. From these conclusions we undertake a philosophical-historical reflection that incorporates in a new fashion the present/past/future relation in the formation of our socio-historical subject. Keywords: Philosophy of Venezuela’s history; Indigenous, Creole and Bicultural- Binational Ethnic groups. (shrink)

Out of 288 Hong Kong cancer patients, 92.3% include themselves in decision-making, 71% prefer joint decision-making: with family, with doctor, with doctor plus family, with family minus doctor, and with doctor minus family. <5% want decision-making by “doctor-alone” and <1% desire decision-making by “family-alone”. Harmony, communication and responsibility are reasons for family participation. Most patients prefer “specialist” for information, followed by “family”, “friends”, and “GP”. Trust in doctors and prospects for controlling/curing disease are important factors in decision-making. Patients want to (...) participate and be listened to rather than make decisions. Doctors should not disclose information to family without patients’ permission, nor withhold information from patient [End Page 109] on family’s request. Only 25% of patients have discussed post-competent treatment with others and 7% have heard of Advance Directive ; 24% refuse to discuss it. After AD has been explained to them, 66% remain reluctant to sign one, preferring to leave oral instructions or appoint family as proxy decision-makers. The family’s decision-making role increases when patients become incompetent. The top reason for signing AD is to receive preferred post-competent treatments, and for not signing it, difficulty with making a prospective decision. The implications of these findings will be discussed. (shrink)