The concept of »power of judgment« develops both before Kant and in Kant in conjunction with that of »taste«. Throughout this history it is understood as bearing on objects with a direct connection to the humanity of human beings: truth, value, and beauty. More precisely, the focus is the relation between the One and the Many with respect to these objects. The understanding of this power vacillates historically between these two extremes, so that it is sometimes placed in the neighborhood (...) of the faculty of taste and sometimes in that of the understanding as the faculty of strict objectivity or universality. In the Kant of the third Critique this power comes to be conceived as an independent faculty whose function is to mediate between universality and particularity, i.e., between objectivity and subjectivity. (shrink)

This is above all a documentary book, written in monumental proportions. Not only the "history," but also the "theories" and the "political significance" of the Frankfurt School are discussed here in a narrative style and in constant reference to the biographical and, more generally, the social, political, and ideological-intellectual contexts. The author's sources are not only theoretical publications but also interviews with members of the Institute for Social Research, archive material, and published and unpublished correspondence. The work thus touches upon (...) such disparate topics as the Weimar Republic, the German Jewish emigres, the Third Reich, the student movement of the 1960's, the "positivist dispute", as well as "Western marxism" and psychoanalysis, to name some of the most important themes. In this sense, Wiggershaus's work expands the scope and deepens the contents of Martin Jay's The Dialectical Imagination. A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research, 1923-1950. Among other things, Wiggershaus follows the history of the "school" up to Adorno's death in 1969, and thus includes Habermas in his historiographical narrative; in other words, he relates the career of both the Old and the New Generations of the Frankfurt School. (shrink)

Despite the increase in the research field of ethics in artificial intelligence, most efforts have focused on the debate about principles and guidelines for responsible AI, but not enough attention has been given to the “how” of applied ethics. This paper aims to advance the research exploring the gap between practice and principles in AI ethics by identifying how companies are applying those guidelines and principles in practice. Through a qualitative methodology based on 22 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups, (...) the goal of the current study is to understand how companies approach ethical issues related to AI systems. A structured analysis of the transcripts brought out many actual practices and findings, which are presented around the following main research topics: ethics and principles, privacy, explainability, and fairness. The interviewees also raised issues of accountability and governance. Finally, some recommendations are suggested such as developing specific sector regulations, fostering a data-driven organisational culture, considering the algorithm’s complete life cycle, developing and using a specific code of ethics, and providing specific training on ethical issues. Despite some obvious limitations, such as the type and number of companies interviewed, this work identifies real examples and direct priorities to advance the research exploring the gap between practice and principles in AI ethics, with a specific focus on Spanish companies. (shrink)

AI systems are bringing an augmentation of human capabilities to shape the world. They may also drag a replacement of human conscience in large chunks of life. AI systems can be designed to leave moral control in human hands, to obstruct or diminish that moral control, or even to prevent it, replacing human morality with pre-packaged or developed ‘solutions’ by the ‘intelligent’ machine itself. Artificial Intelligent systems (AIS) are increasingly being used in multiple applications and receiving more attention from the (...) public and private organisations. The purpose of this article is to offer a mapping of the technological architectures that support AIS, under the specific focus of the moral agency. Through a literature research and reflection process, the following areas are covered: a brief introduction and review of the literature on the topic of moral agency; an analysis using the BDI logic model (Bratman 1987); an elemental review of artificial ‘reasoning’ architectures in AIS; the influence of the data input and the data quality; AI systems’ positioning in decision support and decision making scenarios; and finally, some conclusions are offered about regarding the potential loss of moral control by humans due to AIS. This article contributes to the field of Ethics and Artificial Intelligence by providing a discussion for developers and researchers to understand how and under what circumstances the ‘human subject’ may, totally or partially, lose moral control and ownership over AI technologies. The topic is relevant because AIS often are not single machines but complex networks of machines that feed information and decisions into each other and to human operators. The detailed traceability of input-process-output at each node of the network is essential for it to remain within the field of moral agency. Moral agency is then at the basis of our system of legal responsibility, and social approval is unlikely to be obtained for entrusting important functions to complex systems under which no moral agency can be identified. (shrink)

En este artículo continuamos el debate con Graham Harman en torno a la filosofía de Ortega, la fenomenología de Husserl y la re-lación entre fenomenología y realismo especulativo. Tras exponer los antecedentes y los temas centrales del debate en un apartado introductorio, dividimos nuestro trabajo en tres grandes apartados. En el primero se exponen algunos conceptos fundamentales de la fenomenología, sobre todo el sentido del idealismo trascendental; la peculiaridad fenomenológica del concepto de inmanencia, y en consecuencia los conceptos de reducción (...) y epojé. En el siguiente apartado se clarifica la vinculación de Ortega y Gasset con el movimiento fenomenológico, que se da hasta mitades de 1929 sin ninguna reticencia, y expo-niendo la crítica orteguiana a partir de ese momento, pero relativizándola. En el apartado último y tercero, al hilo de la discusión crítica de la interpretación que Harman mantiene de am-bas cuestiones, ampliamos el debate a la relación entre fenomenología y realismo especulativo, respondiendo a las objeciones que nos plantea el filósofo norteamericano en su escrito anterior.In this essay we continue the debate with Graham Harman around Ortega's philosophy, Husserl's phenomenology, and the relationship between phenomenology and speculative realism. After presenting the background and the central themes of the debate in an introductory section, we divide our paper into three main sections. In the first one, some fundamental concepts of phenomenology are exposed, especially the meaning of transcendental idealism; the phenomenological peculiarity of the concept of immanence, and consequently the concepts of reduction and epoché. In the following section, the link between Ortega y Gasset and the phenomenological movement is clarified, which runs until the middle of 1929 without any reluctance, then the Ortega criticism is exposed from that moment, but relativizing it. In the last and third section, following the critical discussion of Harman's interpretation of both questions, we extend the debate to the relationship between phenomenology and speculative realism, responding to the objections raised by the American philosopher in his previous writing. (shrink)

There is a growing interest in improving the teaching–learning process at all levels of education, including higher education. In recent years, university institutions have been taking action to renew and modernize the way in which they teach and learn, making the process more dynamic and closer to the current social reality. Competencies such as the ability to work in a team have become essential for the successful implementation of innovative methodologies in which student participation is particularly relevant. Student acceptance is (...) key to the success of any teaching methodology; however, the influence of group work skills on satisfaction with innovative methodologies such as project-based learning has not yet been tested among university students. Thus, the objective of this study is to explore the association between group work competencies and satisfaction with PBL. A total sample of 359 students from two Spanish universities participated in the research. Our results reveal that there is a significant and positive relationship between competencies related to group work and satisfaction with PBL. In addition, a multiple regression analysis shows that the competencies “Conception of group work,” “Usefulness of group work,” “Planning of group work by teachers,” and “Group norms” increase satisfaction with the use of the PBL methodology. This work expands our knowledge about the role in increasing students’ satisfaction that is played by the ability of college students to work as a team. These findings could also guide teachers interested in new teaching methodologies. (shrink)

En el contexto del homenaje filosófico que rendimos a Lester Embree, este trabajo intenta ofrecer un análisis genético del Análisis reflexivo del filósofo norteamericano, tomando como hilo conductor el debate público y privado entre Lester Embree y Javier San Martín, e intentando profundizar en los problemas que nos plantean. Para ello me remitiré, en un segundo momento, a dos ensayos de Ludwig Landgrebe publicados en Faktizität und Individuation. Finalmente, como cierre de este escrito, añado un breve “Epílogo para orteguianos. (...) Lester Embree in memoriam”.As a part of the philosophical tribute we render to Lester Embree, this essay aims at presenting a genetic analysis of the Reflective Analysis of the American philosopher, by focusing on the public and private debate between Lester Embree and Javier San Martín, and trying to deepen the problems that they pose to us. For this I will refer, in a second part, to two essays of Ludwig Landgrebe published in Faktizität und Individuation. Finally, as conclusion of this paper, I add a brief "Epilogue for Orteguian. Lester Embree in memoriam". (shrink)

Reseña conjunta de los tres libros sobre religión publicados por Javier Sádaba en 2016.

Este artículo tiene por objetivo analizar la relación y la recepción que cuatro filósofos de la generación de la democracia: Tomás Pollán, Javier Sádaba, Manuel Fraijó y Jesús Mosterín han mantenido y realizado respectivamente, con y sobre, el pensamiento español contemporáneo que les antecedió.

Este artículo es una respuesta a la crítica de Noé Expósito Ropero —que se basa en gran medida en la visión de Javier San Martín— a mi interpretación de la filosofía de José Ortega y Gasset. El resultado del argumento de Expósito Ropero es que Ortega es más fenomenólogo de lo que yo considero, que me equivoco al pen-sar que existen los “objetos reales” más allá de los objetos intencionales de Edmund Husserl, y que ningún objeto inanimado puede ser (...) tratado como un “yo”. Como réplica, respondo a cada una de estas acusaciones.This article is a response to Noé Expósito Ropero’s critique—which draws heavily on the views of Javier San Martín—of my interpretation of the philosophy of José Ortega y Gasset. The upshot of Expósito Ropero’s argument is that Ortega is more of a phenomenologist than I realize, that I am wrong to think there is any such thing as “real objects” beyond Edmund Husserl’s intentional objects, and that no inanimate object can be treated as an “I.” In response, I answer each of these charges. (shrink)

Context: The problems that are most in need of interdisciplinary collaboration are “wicked problems,” such as food crises, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development, with many relevant aspects, disagreement on what the problem is, and contradicting solutions. Such complex problems both require and challenge interdisciplinarity. Problem: The conventional methods of interdisciplinary research fall short in the case of wicked problems because they remain first-order science. Our aim is to present workable methods and research designs for doing second-order science in domains (...) where there are many different scientific knowledges on any complex problem. Method: We synthesize and elaborate a framework for second-order science in interdisciplinary research based on a number of earlier publications, experiences from large interdisciplinary research projects, and a perspectivist theory of science. Results: The second-order polyocular framework for interdisciplinary research is characterized by five principles. Second-order science of interdisciplinary research must: 1. draw on the observations of first-order perspectives, 2. address a shared dynamical object, 3. establish a shared problem, 4. rely on first-order perspectives to see themselves as perspectives, and 5. be based on other rules than first-order research. Implications: The perspectivist insights of second-order science provide a new way of understanding interdisciplinary research that leads to new polyocular methods and research designs. It also points to more reflexive ways of dealing with scientific expertise in democratic processes. The main challenge is that this is a paradigmatic shift, which demands that the involved disciplines, at least to some degree, subscribe to a perspectivist view. Constructivist content: Our perspectivist approach to science is based on the second-order cybernetics and systems theories of von Foerster, Maruyama, Maturana & Varela, and Luhmann, coupled with embodied theories of cognition and semiotics as a general theory of meaning from von Uexküll and Peirce. (shrink)

Sustainability assessments bring together different perspectives that pertain to sustainability in order to produce overall assessments and a wealth of approaches and tools have been developed in the past decades. But two major problematics remain. The problem of integration concerns the surplus of possibilities for integration; different tools produce different assessments. The problem of implementation concerns the barrier between assessment and transformation; assessments do not lead to the expected changes in practice. This paper aims to analyze issues of complementarity in (...) sustainability assessment and transformation as a key to better handling the problems of integration and implementation. Based on a generalization of Niels Bohr’s complementarity from quantum mechanics, we have identified two forms of complementarity in sustainability assessment, observer stance complementarity and value complementarity. Unlike many other problems of sustainability assessment, complementarity is of a fundamental character connected to the very conditions for observation. Therefore complementarity cannot be overcome methodologically; only handled better or worse. Science is essential to the societal goal of sustainability, but these issues of complementarity impede the constructive role of science in the transition to more sustainable structures and practices in food systems. The agencies of sustainability assessment and transformation need to be acutely aware of the importance of different perspectives and values and the complementarities that may be connected to these differences. An improved understanding of complementarity can help to better recognize and handle issues of complementarity. These deliberations have relevance not only for sustainability assessment, but more generally for transdisciplinary research on wicked problems. (shrink)

Derek Parfit influentially defends reductionism about persons, the view that a person’s existence just consists in the existence of a brain and body and the occurrence of a series of physical and mental events. Yet some critics, particularly Mark Johnston, have raised powerful objections to Parfit’s reductionism. In this paper, I defend reductionism against Johnston. In particular, I defend a radical form of reductionism that Buddhist philosophers developed. Buddhist reductionism can justify key features of Parfit’s position, such as the claims (...) that personal identity is not what matters and can also be indeterminate. Furthermore, Buddhist reductionism can avoid Johnston’s objections to Parfit’s reductionism. I conclude that reductionists have good reasons to favor Buddhist reductionism over Parfit’s version. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to defend a naturalistic approach to instantiation and the Principle of Instantiation. I argue that the instantiation of an ordinary property F consists of two coordinated relationships at the levels of the manifest and scientific images, namely, constituency and entailment. Also, I offer an account of the Principle of Instantiation related to this conception of instantiation based on the notion of scientific prediction.

Context: Society is faced with “wicked” problems of environmental sustainability, which are inherently multiperspectival, and there is a need for explicitly constructivist and perspectivist theories to address them. Problem: However, different constructivist theories construe the environment in different ways. The aim of this paper is to clarify the conceptions of environment in constructivist approaches, and thereby to assist the sciences of complex systems and complex environmental problems. Method: We describe the terms used for “the environment” in von Uexküll, Maturana & (...) Varela, and Luhmann, and analyse how their conceptions of environment are connected to differences of perspective and observation. Results: We show the need to distinguish between inside and outside perspectives on the environment, and identify two very different and complementary logics of observation, the logic of distinction and the logic of representation, in the three constructivist theories. Implications: Luhmann’s theory of social systems can be a helpful perspective on the wicked environmental problems of society if we consider carefully the theory’s own blind spots: that it confines itself to systems of communication, and that it is based fully on the conception of observation as indication by means of distinction. (shrink)

Modern societies depend on a growing production of scientific knowledge, which is based on the functional differentiation of science into still more specialised scientific disciplines and subdisciplines. This is the basis for the paradox of scientific expertise: The growth of science leads to a fragmentation of scientific expertise. To resolve this paradox, the present paper investigates three hypotheses: 1) All scientific knowledge is perspectival. 2) The perspectival structure of science leads to specific forms of knowledge asymmetries. 3) Such perspectival knowledge (...) asymmetries must be handled through second order perspectives. We substantiate these hypotheses on the basis of a perspectivist philosophy of science grounded in Peircean semiotics and autopoietic systems theory. Perspectival knowledge asymmetries are an unavoidable and necessary part of the growth of scientific knowledge, and more awareness of this fact can help avoid blind and futile struggles between scientific perspectives, and direct efforts toward more appropriate ways of handling these fundamental knowledge asymmetries. Concretely, we show how different kinds of scientific knowledge, expertise, disagreement and learning can be correlated to the perspectival structure of science, and propose how polyocular communication based on observations of the observations made by specialised perspectives can be used to handle such perspectival knowledge asymmetries. This can help overcome the observed problems in carrying out cross-disciplinary research and in the collective use of different kinds of scientific expertise, and thereby make society better able to solve complex, real-world problems. (shrink)