This paper presents the first edition, translation and analyse of al-Mns commentary of the Book X of Euclid one. For the first time, irrational numbers are defined and classified. The algebraisation of Elementsrizms Algebra, shows irrational numbers as solution to algebraic quadratic equations. The algebraic calculus makes here the first steps. On this occasion, negative numbers and their calculation rules appears. Simplifications imposed by the algebraic writings are sometimes in opposition with the conclusions of propositions conceived in a purely geometrical (...) framework, revealing a contradiction between geometrical and algebraic goals. It will be resolved by the independant way algebra will take with mathematicians belonging to the tradition of al-Karajal from the 11th-12th centuries on. (shrink)

Dixon et al. overlook the fact that contact predicts not only favorable out-group attitudes/evaluations, but also cognitions, affect, and behavior. The weight of evidence supporting the benefits of intergroup contact cautions against throwing the (contact) baby out with the bathwater. The goal to “ignite struggles” in pursuit of social equality, we argue, incautiously risks hurling us down the proverbial rabbit hole.

Objectives To characterize recruitment approaches to research on the brain and mind that involves Indigenous peoples. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of a Harding et al. (2021) scoping review. Reviewers screened studies (_n_ = 66) for sampling methods, recruitment and engagement, positionality statements, and details on ethics approvals. Synthesis We identified twenty-nine (29) English-language articles relevant to the analysis. Of these, 52% (_n_ = 15/29) reported a mix of sampling methods; 45% (_n_ = 13/29) contained statements or information about (...) author positionalities. While, overall, 24% (_n_ = 7/29) of the studies were missing information about ethics protocols, we observe an improvement over time in the reporting of approvals and use of community-engaged participant recruitment methods. Current brain research studies demonstrate ways of collaborating with Indigenous communities that meet existing ethics guidelines. To be wholly responsive to the needs of Indigenous peoples, however, researchers may need to exceed existing ethical benchmarks.. Positionality statements successfully detailed the relationships of the research teams with the communities with which they work, and contextualized recruitment methods. Conclusion Improved quality and meaningfulness of brain research with Indigenous peoples and trust in the research process and public health will be enhanced when remaining gaps in protecting and reporting of participant recruitment methods are closed. (shrink)

This study focuses on the managerial issue of should social enterprises become more marketing oriented. It adapts the Kohli et al. MARKOR marketing orientation scale to measure the adoption of marketing by SEs. The items capture Vincentian-based values to leverage business in service to the poor as a measure of a Vincentian marketing orientation. A VMO is an organisational wide value-driven philosophy of management that focuses a SE on meeting its objectives by adopting a more marketing orientated approach to serve (...) the needy and poor in a just and sustainable manner. SEs that exhibit a VMO seek to understand and respond to both the needs of their beneficiaries and stakeholders. They are constantly generating, disseminating, and responding to environmental, beneficiary, and stakeholder information and develop their business propositions to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs of the poor, while guided by a philosophy of leveraging business for social good. This study of SEs in Australia found that a VMO is strongly and positively correlated with social, economic, and environmental performance. These findings suggest that SEs may benefit by leveraging marketing capabilities to better serve their beneficiaries and stakeholders. (shrink)

Many kinds of multifunctional regulatory proteins have been identified that perform distinct biochemical functions in the nucleus, the cytoplasm, or both. Here we describe the recent discovery by Hall et al. (2004)1 of a new type of multifunctional protein: a metabolic enzyme that doubles as a transcription factor. This enzyme, Arg5,6, functions as a catalytic enzyme in ornithine biosynthesis and also binds and regulates the promoters of nuclear and mitochondrial genes. It may also regulate precursor mRNA metabolism. We discuss how (...) proteins that serve as both metabolic enzymes and transcription factors might have evolved. BioEssays 27:467–471, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

In order to find positive solutions for third-degree equations, which he did not know how to solve for roots, m proceeds by the intersections of conic sections. The representation of an algebraic equation by a geometrical curve is made possible by the choices of units of measure for lengths, surfaces, and volumes. These units allow a numerical quantity to be associated with a geometrical magnitude. Is there a trace of this unit in the mathematicians to whom al-Khayyām refers directly in (...) his Algebra? How does this unit enable the measurement of quantities and rational and irrational relations? We find answers to these questions in the commentaries to Books V and X of the Elements. (shrink)

Understanding attitudes towards the environment is important because they often determine behaviour that either increases or decreases environmental quality. In this article we investigate the environmental worldview of the young people from Kosovo. The New Revised Environmental Paradigm Scale or New Ecological Paradigm Scale, known as NEP Scale (Dunlap et al., 2000) was used. The study involved 330 young people age 18-20. 150 young people are from secondary schools, and other (180) are from some different faculties at the State University (...) in Mitrovica. The mean score for the full NEP scale in this study was 3.48, which indicates a low endorsement of the NEP among the sample of Kosovo young people. The averages of the sub-dimensions varied between 3.08 (“Limits to growth”) and 3.73 (“Eco-crisis”). Like as others non-industrialized societies, young people from Kosovo tend to believe in the profound connection between humanity and nature, or there are no clear differences between pro-NEP and pro-DSP views. This study confirms the thesis that environmental worldviews differ across cultures. The mean value of the NEP Scale can be feasibly associated with various variables concerning general environmental attitudes. In order to discover the factors that create a pro-ecological orientation of young people in this country, additional researches are needed. (shrink)

pereḳ 1. ʻOśeh fele -- pereḳ 2. Ḥidud be-divre Torah -- pereḳ 3. Ḥidud be-mile de-ʻalma -- pereḳ 4. Ḳetsat shut śikhliyot ṿe-ʻimahem shene derushim le-midrash Talmud Torah.

The RNA-binding protein, UPF1, is best known for its central role in the nonsense-mediated RNA decay pathway. Feng et al. now report a new function for UPF1—it is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that specifically promotes the decay of a key pro-muscle transcription factor: MYOD. UPF1 achieves this through its RING-like domain, which confers ubiquitin E3 ligase activity. Feng et al. provide evidence that the ability of UPF1 to destabilize MYOD represses myogenesis. In the future, it will be important to define (...) other protein substrates of UPF1-driven ubiquitination and to determine whether this biochemical activity is responsible for some of UPF1's previously defined biological functions, including in development and stress responses. The exciting findings presented by Feng et al. open up the possibility that protein turnover and RNA turnover are coupled processes. The RNA-binding protein, UPF1, is best known for its central role in the nonsense-mediated RNA decay pathway. Here we discuss a new role for UPF1—it is directly involved in protein decay. This hidden talent raises the possibility that protein turnover and RNA turnover are coupled processes. (shrink)

The RNA-binding protein, UPF1, is best known for its central role in the nonsense-mediated RNA decay pathway. Feng et al. now report a new function for UPF1—it is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that specifically promotes the decay of a key pro-muscle transcription factor: MYOD. UPF1 achieves this through its RING-like domain, which confers ubiquitin E3 ligase activity. Feng et al. provide evidence that the ability of UPF1 to destabilize MYOD represses myogenesis. In the future, it will be important to define (...) other protein substrates of UPF1-driven ubiquitination and to determine whether this biochemical activity is responsible for some of UPF1's previously defined biological functions, including in development and stress responses. The exciting findings presented by Feng et al. open up the possibility that protein turnover and RNA turnover are coupled processes. The RNA-binding protein, UPF1, is best known for its central role in the nonsense-mediated RNA decay pathway. Here we discuss a new role for UPF1—it is directly involved in protein decay. This hidden talent raises the possibility that protein turnover and RNA turnover are coupled processes. (shrink)

This paper by Miles Little and colleagues identified the state they described as “liminal” within the trajectory of cancer survivorship. Since that time the concept of liminality has provided a powerful model to explore some of the difficulties experienced by people with severe and chronic illness. In this commentary I consider the expanding application of liminality not just to a widening range of medical conditions but to the consequences of therapeutic interventions as well and how this expansion has enriched and (...) challenged its use as a conceptual tool. (shrink)

ʻInyene Orah ḥayim : ʻavodat H., tefilah, berakhot, Shabat, Rosh ha-shanah, Yom ha-kipurim, ḳiyum mitsṿot, teshuvah, ḥinukh -- ʻInyene Yoreh deʻah : Torah, tsedaḳah, ʻinyanim shonim, midot, biṭaḥon, yom huledet -- Heʻarot ʻal Talmud Yerushalmi -- Hosafot le-Sefer Derekh ʻavodato, Shaʻar ha-biṭaḥon -- Ḳunṭres Tsidḳat Ḥanah : ḥidushim ṿe-liḳuṭim ʻal hilkhot ḥag he-Pesaḥ ṿe-Hagadah shel Pesaḥ (Mahadurah 3) -- Ḳunṭres Tsemaḥ Yiśraʼel : ʻal ʻinyene minhagim (Mahadurah 2) -- Ḳunt̥res Ḥesed ṿe-emunah : heʻarot ṿe-ḥidushim ʻal Sefer ḥasidim (Mahadurah 2) -- (...) Ḳunṭres Mile di-hespeda : ʻal zeḳeni ha-r. he-ḥ. Rabi Shelomoh Ḥayim Haizler zatsal. (shrink)

Graphical AbstractThis commentary discusses the novelty of the preclinical opioid choice model published in Heinsbroek et al., Nat Commun, 2021, and the potential influence of altitude on the reported findings. The studies were performed in the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado, where a unique subpopulation of heroin-choosing rats were noted.

Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) gilt - neben Max Weber - als einer der beiden Gründerväter der modernen Soziologie. Er hat durch seine materialen Arbeiten nicht nur so zentrale soziologische Teildisziplinen wie die Religions-, Wissens-, Familien- und Rechtssoziologie begründet, sondern insbesondere durch sein theoretisches Werk der Soziologie als eigenständiger Wissenschaft den Weg geebnet. Hierzu trug er nicht zuletzt auch durch die Begründung einer soziologischen Zeitschrift und Formierung einer eigenen Denkschule bei. Trotz seines internationalen Renommees blieb sein Werk in der deutschen Theoriediskussion stets (...) eigentümlich vernachlässigt. Der erste Einführungsband über das Werk Durkheims in deutscher Sprache beschreibt die zeitgeschichtlichen und biografischen Hintergründe seines Lebens und erläutert die Ausgangsprobleme, die die Soziologie in den Augen ihres Begründers lösen sollte. Die Quintessenz seines soziologischen Werks wird in der Begründung einer rationalen Moral resümiert. Nach der Ausleuchtung der konkreten Gestalt, die Durkheim dem soziologischen Denken übertrug, widmet sich Daniel Šuber eingängig der wissenssoziologischen Relevanz des Durkheim'schen Werks. Gilt er gemeinhin nicht als deren Begründer, wird hier gezeigt, wie tief sein Denkansatz von der wissenssoziologischen Grundidee der ”Seinsbedingtheit allen Denkens“ (Mannheim) von Beginn an geprägt war. Die rekonstruierten Fallbeispiele werden dem religionssoziologischen Spätwerk, aber auch seinen früheren Arbeiten zur Familien-, Erziehungs- und Moralsoziologie entnommen. Abschließend wird die über ethnologische Autoren (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, C. Lévi-Strauss, M. Douglas) vermittelte Wirkungsgeschichte des Durkheim'schen Werks in der Nachkriegssoziologie skizziert. (shrink)

Émile Durkheim zählt zu den Klassikern der Soziologie. Der Band greift erstmals unbekannte Rezeptionslinien Durkheims auf und zeigt ihn so in all seiner Komplexität und Aktualität: als Vorreiter einer transdisziplinären Sozialwissenschaft, als scharfsinnigen Theoretiker, als Denker des Materiellen und des Symbolischen. Neben ihm kommen auch seine Kollegen, Erben und zeitgenössischen Kritiker in den Blick. Dabei wird deutlich, dass Durkheims Werk nicht nur die Soziologie prägte, sondern auch der Ethnologie und der Philosophie grundlegende Impulse gab. Mit Beiträgen von Stéphane Baciocchi, Stefan (...) Beck, Tanja Bogusz, Heike Delitz, Emmanuel Désveaux, Jean-Louis Fabiani, Joachim Fischer, Marcel Fournier, Bruno Karsenti, Frédéric Keck, Wiebke Keim, Steven Lukes, Stephan Moebius, Lothar Peter, Devyani Prabhat, Anne W. Rawls, Thomas Scheffer, Michael Schillmeier, Robert Seyfert, Susan Stedman Jones und Jean Terrier. (shrink)

In the paper “An archeology of corruption in medicine”, Miles Little, Wendy Lipworth, and Ian Kerridge present an account of corruption and describe its prevalent forms in medicine. In presenting an individual-focused account of corruption found within “social entities”, Little et al. argue that these entities are corruptible by nature and that certain individuals are prone to take advantage of the corruptibility of social entities to pursue their own ends. The authors state that this is not preventable, so the way (...) to remedy corruption is via management and, where necessary, punishment. This commentary will briefly lay out the key features and functions of corruption as presented by Little et al., before providing a critical discussion that will focus on whether corruptibility is a necessary feature of social entities. I will propose that it is not a necessary feature, though it may frequently arise where individualistic values are unchecked. Corruption can be prevented within social entities by enhancing structures that direct toward virtue and which promote and reward cooperation instead of competition. (shrink)

Este artículo explora el modo en que durante la Antigüedad tardía fueron representados paisajes idealizados en descripciones literarias bajo la forma de ekphrasis tomando como punto de partida un pasaje del Fedro de Platón. Puede ser percibido cómo estas representaciones fuera de las ciudades (especialmente desiertos), se convierten en espacios privilegiados para la apropiación de la subjetividad y además una oportunidad para crear una nueva manera de considerar el conocimiento y la ética, a través de la figura social de los (...) anacoretas y los padres del desierto, en consonancia con una matriz cosmológica particular. Este fenómeno es presentado como una intersección entre la tradición platónica y nuevas transformaciones en la sociedad tardoantigua. De la valoración del conocimiento generado adentro de las murallas de la ciudad en la Atenas de Platón, a la experiencia extramuros en paisajes abiertos, donde explorar la propia interioridad es el principal objetivo de miles de subjetividades que habitaban las afueras de varias ciudades posclásicas. (shrink)

Erick J. Ramirez, Miles Elliott and Per‑Erik Milam (2021) have recently claimed that using Virtual Reality (VR) as an educational nudge to promote empathy is unethical. These authors argue that the influence exerted on the participant through virtual simulation is based on the deception of making them believe that they are someone else when this is impossible. This makes the use of VR for empathy enhancement a manipulative strategy in itself. In this article, we show that Ramirez et al.’s ethical (...) rejection of empathy enhancement through VR is based on confusion. First, we show that this misunderstanding stems from the conception of empathy-enhancing simulations solely as failed attempts at “being someone else,” along with ignoring the crucial difference between the psychological perspective-taking processes of imagine-other and imagine-self. Then, having overcome that misconception, we argue that the ethical misgivings about the use of VR to promote empathy should disappear and that these projects have greater potential for behavioural change than purely sympathy-focused interventions. (shrink)

ḥeleḳ 1. Mile de-agadeta ṿe-divre maḥshavah u-musar ʻal seder moʻade ha-shanah -- ḥeleḳ 2. Mile deʼagadeta ṿe-divre maḥshavah u-musar she-neʼemru be-rubam li-fene ḥaverim maḳshivim.

This monograph consists of five parts: (1) introductory material including a conference overview; (2) papers presented at an international symposium on the topic of ethical issues in disability and rehabilitation as a section of the Annual Conference of the Society for Disability Studies; (3) responses to the symposium, prepared by four of the participants; (4) selected additional papers which offer views from perspectives or cultures not represented at the Denver conference; and (5) an annotated international bibliography. Representatives from 10 countries (...) discussed ethical issues and decision making in disability and rehabilitation. Conference papers include: "Genetic Engineering--The New Eugenics? Evolving Medical Attitudes towards the Quality of Life" (Hugh Gallagher);"Description of the Decision-Making Project" (Daryl Evans); "Treatment and Nontreatment Decisions with Respect to Extremely Premature, Very Low Birthweight Infants (500-750g)" (Ernle Young); "Allocation of Resources and Distributive Justice" (John Mather); "Quality Assurance as an Aid to Ethical Decision Making in Disability Management: Lessons from Recent Ethical Issues Involving Disadvantaged Groups in New Zealand" (Peter Gow); "Disability and Ethical Issues: A Point of View from the Netherlands" (Yolan Koster-Dreese); "Who Shall Live or How Shall They Live? Consumer and Professional Perspectives on Treatment/Non-Treatment Decisions" (Joseph Kaufert and Patricia Kaufert); and "Debates across Social Movements on Reproductive Technologies, Genetic Engineering, and Eugenics" (Theresia Degener). Conference commentaries include: "The Meeting of Disability and Bioethics: A Beginning Rapprochement" (Adrienne Asch); "A Plea for More Dialogue: Commentary on Ethics Conference" (Robert Slater); "Healing Our Wounds" (Martha Lentz Walker); "Theories and Values: Ethics and Contrasting Perspectives on Disability" (Harlan Hahn); and "Current Example of Ethical Dilemma" (Susan Lacetti). Selected additional papers include: "High-tech Medicine Is Basic Care" (Frederick Abrams); "Prevention of Disabilities as a Medical Question" (G. Schioler); "The Ethics of Disability Prevention: A Parent's Point of View" (Mrs. J. Baker); "A Reference Matrix for Issues of Life and Personhood" (Mike Miles); "Nazi Scientists and Ethics of Today" (Isabel Wilkerson); "Ethical and Policy Issues in Rehabilitation Medicine (Hastings Center Report)" (Arthur Caplan et al.); and "Differing Approaches to Prevention of Disability and Treatment of Impaired Infants Creates Controversies Worldwide" (Barbara Duncan). (JDD). (shrink)

In the paper “An archeology of corruption in medicine”, Miles Little, Wendy Lipworth, and Ian Kerridge present an account of corruption and describe its prevalent forms in medicine. In presenting an individual-focused account of corruption found within “social entities”, Little et al. argue that these entities are corruptible by nature and that certain individuals are prone to take advantage of the corruptibility of social entities to pursue their own ends. The authors state that this is not preventable, so the way (...) to remedy corruption is via management and, where necessary, punishment. This commentary will briefly lay out the key features and functions of corruption as presented by Little et al., before providing a critical discussion that will focus on whether corruptibility is a necessary feature of social entities. I will propose that it is not a necessary feature, though it may frequently arise where individualistic values are unchecked. Corruption can be prevented within social entities by enhancing structures that direct toward virtue and which promote and reward cooperation instead of competition. (shrink)

In this article we argue for the importance of studying interdisciplinary collaborations by focusing on the role that good choice and design of model-building frameworks and strategies can play overcoming the inherent difficulties of collaborative research. We provide an empirical study of particular collaborations between economists and ecologists in resource economics. We discuss various features of how models are put together for interdisciplinary collaboration in these cases and show how the use of a coupled-model framework in this case to coordinate (...) and combine background models from ecology and economics provided particular collaborative affordances and clear collaborative gain. (shrink)

"El pensador vagabundo. Estudios sobre Walter Benjamin", de varios autores, más que un libro es un homenaje a la obra de este gran pensador nominado como uno de los más valiosos e influyentes escritores de la humanidad. Walter Benjamin dejó por escrito miles de páginas que trataban de todo lo posible, hablando desde su infancia hasta el cambio que produjo la fotografía en el mundo artístico. Estos textos tienen el propósito de acercar al lector a este magnífico mundo del pensamiento (...) de Walter Benjamin. Los autores van entrelazando las ideas de este filósofo con sus seguidores más lucidos del ámbito de las humanidades, y así construyen un collage de la obra de Walter Benjamin, que por un lado nos acerca a su comprensión de los conceptos básicos, como por ejemplo, el de la historia y, en cambio, por otro establecen semejanzas entre sus escritos y el arte de Andy Warhol o Roberto Bolaño. (shrink)

No todas las imágenes se ven. Algunas pasan tiempo escondidas, aunque acechen. Otras se camuflan o se exponen desafiantes. A veces son visibles pero apenas se perciben. Al ser producto de miradas furtivas, casi siempre son precarias y desatienden cualquier exigencia de nitidez o encuadre. Se muestran en secreto y en instantes de peligro. Es entonces cuando mutan al impactar con los cuerpos que las sienten, a los que desbordan y con-mueven. Circulan en el tiempo y transmiten saberes y memorias (...) que, al desplegarse, modifican paradigmas y verdades hegemónicas. Infringen las leyes, siendo el reverso de censuras, amenazando, como imágenes siniestras, a la belleza y al orden social. Las imágenes que conforman los imaginarios clandestinos lo revuelven todo y son salvajes, indisciplinadas, polinizantes. Sin desvelarlas del todo, este libro propone un acercamiento a algunas de sus manifestaciones a través de nueve tramas entre distintos contextos y temporalidades. Desde una imagen de un anciano durante la Guerra Civil española hasta un antiguo centro de detención en Buenos Aires en el que hoy se practica tango militante; desde los vaivenes tras la muerte de Franco, que abrieron el tiempo del que salieron los huesos del pasado, hasta las decenas de miles de negativos de la revuelta uruguaya sepultados durante décadas en unas latas oxidadas; desde las imágenes en 16 mm tras la matanza del 3 de marzo de 1976 en Vitoria hasta las casas okupas en la Holanda de los 80, donde el celuloide salvó el tiempo y las distancias con las colectividades libertarias del valle del Cinca, en Aragón, pasando por una proyección de cine clandestino durante un invierno en una parroquia de Gijón. Imágenes que no. Aplastadas por la historia pero indelebles, y que son marcos que reactivan la mirada, que afectivizan nuestros sentidos en un mundo anestesiado, enfatizando la capacidad crítica y ética que tiene el ver más allá de lo visible. (shrink)

La vida entera de muchos ensayistas transcurre sin dar jamás con un tema. Este ensayo no sólo se topa con un tema, sino que incluso se da el lujo de aprovecharlo. El tema es la felicidad. Sin embargo, La herida de Spinoza es un libro de ?losofía, no de autoayuda. Parte de algunas conclusiones recientes de la neurología, en particular de las investigaciones de Antonio Damasio acerca de la impertinencia de la secular división entre mente y cuerpo. El propio Damasio (...) vincula sus investigaciones con las ideas que Spinoza expuso en su Ética. Para Damasio, la tranquila aceptación de la muerte, una de las señas de identidad de la ética de Spinoza –de hecho, la «herida» de Spinoza–, resulta «irritante». Ese comentario de Damasio parece inocuo, pero para Vicente Serrano no lo es, sino que apunta a una especie de «desajuste», a una extraña incomprensión de la diferencia última de la ética spinozista. A partir de ahí el autor no se propone criticar solamente esa y otras lecturas de Spinoza, sino que plantea además una amplia crítica a la modernidad, y también a la posmodernidad. La herida de Spinoza se convierte entonces en una revisión de la historia entera de la ?losofía en esa zona en que ética y metafísica (u ontología) se superponen. Aunque el proyecto parece apabullante, el autor se asegura de estar bien equipado. Por una parte suprime el aparato académico, lo que le permite ser más breve y directo, y por otra echa mano de una erudición notable y, sobre todo, de una capacidad absolutamente inusual de explicación. Si hubiera que buscar parangones a esa capacidad, no quedaría más remedio que acudir a Rüdiger Safranski. El autor, sin embargo, no hace biografías, ni siquiera historia de la ?losofía como tal, sino que intenta ?losofar de la mano de los más grandes pensadores de la historia. El ensayo se completa con la inclusión de una pieza maestra: los afectos. Los afectos serían la respuesta posible de la ?losofía al problema de la biopolítica. La progresión de la modernidad no sólo implica la desaparición de la naturaleza, sino la sustitución absoluta de los afectos por la voluntad (de voluntad). Si la vuelta a la naturaleza es imposible, e incluso indeseable –dado que la naturaleza no fue nunca más que una metáfora–, Serrano se inspira en Foucault para proponer una «vuelta» a los afectos como la pieza fundamental que cierra la reflexión sobre el poder. «Un ensayo en el sentido más ágil del término, obra a mitad de camino entre lo reflexivo y lo literario… Bien pensado y bien escrito, muchísimo más de lo que se ha vuelto habitual en nosotros» (Gabriel Albiac, Leer). «La cuestión de fondo teórica –a qué responde la religión y qué problemas de comprensión existencial atiende o atendía– es algo mucho más complejo y creo que más apasionante. Un buen tratamiento filosófico de la cuestión es el que ofrece Vicente Serrano en La herida de Spinoza, reciente ganador del Premio Anagrama de Ensayo… Serrano explora las consecuencias posmodernas del abandono de las religiones: un tema más sugestivo que la refutación de las iglesias...» (Fernando Savater, El País). «Iniciado como un arroyo para abrirse en un delta que abarca toda la modernidad filosófica, la obra de Serrano analiza, sin pedantería ni falsas oscuridades, las inflexiones que han tenido los conceptos de religión, deseo, naturaleza, esperanza, progreso, poder y felicidad» (Juan Malpartida, ABC). «Entre quienes lo lean sumará cientos de fascinados. Ojalá miles» (Félix Soria, La Voz de Galicia). «La vida entera de muchos ensayistas transcurre sin dar jamás con un tema. Este ensayo no sólo se topa con un tema, sino que incluso se da el lujo de aprovecharlo. El tema es la felicidad… Plantea una amplia crítica a la modernidad, y también a la posmodernidad. La herida de Spinoza se convierte entonces en una revisión de la historia entera de la filosofía en esa zona en que ética y metafísica (u ontología) se superponen» (Diario de León). (shrink)

La revolución darwiniana, lejos de ser algo ya superado, como a veces se pretende, aún no ha concluido del todo. Y no ha concluido porque todavía nos falta una adecuada explicación darwinista de uno de los aspectos fundamentales de los seres vivos. Tenemos explicaciones darwinistas de cientos, quizás de miles de rasgos adaptativos, pero aún no contamos con una explicación bien establecida del origen y desarrollo evolutivo de las capacidades cognitivas en aquellos seres vivos que las poseen, y muy en (...) particular del origen y desarrollo evolutivo de la mente humana. Este libro analiza las principales hipótesis que han elaborado los científicos al respecto e intenta obtener algunas conclusiones filosóficas relevantes a partir ellas y de los datos sobre las que se sustentan. Antonio Diéguez es catedrático de Lógica y Filosofía de la Ciencia en la Universidad de Málaga. Sus líneas principales de investigación son la epistemología evolucionista y el realismo científico. Entre sus publicaciones destacan los siguientes libros: la teoría de las ciencias morales en John Stuart Mill (1988), Realismo científico (1998) y Filosofía de la Ciencia (2005), publicado este último por Biblioteca Nueva. (shrink)

Tal vez el rasgo que más tipifica los cambios operados en el capitalismo actual sea la mundialización de sus atributos fundamentales. El capital se desprende del rostro nacional que lo había identificado durante su etapa clásica. Así, no sólo la materia prima, los trabajadores, los dueños de las acciones, ni el proceso productivo mismo, quedan enmarcados en fronteras nacionales precisas. La competencia de productos, firmas y personas ya no se realiza entre vecinos, sino con la mediación a veces de miles (...) de kilómetros, sin que los competidores siquiera sospechen quiénes son sus oponentes. La lógica actitud darwinista que genera la competencia, en tanto mecanismo principal del sistema, ahora sí representa una verdadera lucha por la existencia de todos contra todos. El enfrentamiento entre individuo y especie, al que Marx en su época hacía referencia, es en este momento mucho más diáfano. El modelo económico en que se enmarca la mundialización posee los mismos fundamentos liberales del capitalismo clási-co. De hecho, es ese el modelo por excelencia del capitalismo, el que más plenamente expresa su esencia. Basado en la idea de que cada individuo debe convertirse en un agente productivo que atienda únicamente sus propios intereses y que, por consiguiente, deje de ser preocupación y ocupación de la sociedad, el liberalismo. (shrink)

Se presenta la entrevista a Mafalda Galdames, activista y militante de larga trayectoria en el movimiento de mujeres y feminista, como también del Partido Socialista en su juventud, cuya vida abarca desde los años previos a la Unidad Popular, como joven estudiante secundaria; pasando por el gobierno de Salvador Allende, en el cual tuvo un fuerte compromiso con los cambios sociales y políticos que este emprendió. La dictadura cívico militar chilena la llevó, como a otras miles de personas, al exilio (...) en México, donde se acercó al feminismo, a partir de cuál redefinió sus intereses y práctica política. En el contexto de los 50 años de la conmemoración del golpe de Estado chileno, y de auge de políticas negacionistas, la historia de vida de Mafalda permite reflexionar sobre temas como el compromiso político, la militancia, el feminismo, la resistencia y la derrota. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Buddhist-Christian Studies 20 (2000) 23-42 [Access article in PDF] Overcoming the Grip of Consumerism Stephanie KazaUniversity of VermontFor fifteen years the Worldwatch Institute of Washington, D. C. has been publishing a review of the declining condition of the global environment (Brown et al. 1998). For the most part, the picture is not good. Much of the deterioration can be traced directly to human activities--urban expansion equates to species loss, (...) industrial manufacturing to air pollution, factory farming to water pollution, chemical agriculture to poisoned soil. Accelerating these environmental impacts are rapidly rising population numbers, increasingly efficient technologies, and consumption rates beyond the planet's capacity. These three have been linked by the equation I=PAT, or environmental impact=population size multiplied by affluence (or degree of consumption) multiplied by technology. Reduce any one of these and the impact drops; increase one or all three, and the impact rises, in some cases dramatically.Much of the conversation among scientists and technologists has focused on the P (population) and T (technology) parts of the equation, with grave concerns that rising population numbers are swamping earth systems, yet often with buoyant optimism that technological breakthroughs will solve everything. These two perspectives dominated political discussion for much of the 1960s and 1970s (Ehrlich et al. 1977 and Lovins 1977, among others). But by the 1980s the facts were incontrovertible: high rates of consumption were driving environmental destruction just as fast if not faster than rising population. At the 1992 Rio Summit in Brazil, representatives of southern countries demanded that high-consuming northern countries examine their own contribution to the environmental crisis rather than placing blame elsewhere. It is our obligation in the North to respond to these serious requests.How much do people in northern industrialized countries consume? Here are some indicator figures: Americans consume their average body weight (120 pounds) every day in materials extracted and processed from farms, mines, range lands, and forests (Ryan and Durning 1997, 5). In the United States, the number of shopping malls (close to 35,000) eclipsed the number of high schools in 1987 (Dunning 1992, 130). Since 1950 the per capita consumption of energy, meat, and lumber has doubled, use of plastic has increased five times, use of aluminum seven times, and average airplane miles per person has soared 33-fold (Durning 1992, 29). As products have proliferated, we see the swelling ecological footprint behind each new thing: clear-cut forests replacing paper plantations in Thailand, toxic oil polluting native lands of Ecuador, women earning poverty wages assembling computer chips in [End Page 23] Malaysia--the stories are not as pretty as the products. Materials extraction, production, distribution, use, and waste disposal--all of these have ecological costs, many of which are life threatening.Why should Buddhists and Christians address consumption? For starters, it is a nonsectarian issue; responsibility cuts across denominations and religious belief systems. Collaboration of all kinds is needed to take apart this juggernaut of complex causes and conditions. I believe the Buddhist tradition has powerful analytical tools and spiritual practices which may be helpful in this undertaking. These may aid or inspire similar efforts explored through the Christian heritage. A survey of the landscape and the literature shows it is shockingly clear: the challenge here is enormous. It will require all the spiritual insight, dedication, and sheer stamina we can bring to it. This work cannot be done alone; we need each other's help to keep going through the many obstacles.To date, Buddhist initiatives in this conversation have been modest. Several popular books have brought Buddhist perspectives to bear on consumption issues, most notably E. F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful (1975) and Gary Snyder's The Practice of the Wild (1990). Both works popularize practices of simplicity and restraint, flavored by the exotic Western fascination with Eastern thought. Several Buddhist teachers in the U.S. have taken up particular sub-themes addressing over-consumption. Philip Kapleau has sounded an ethical call for vegetarianism based on the first precept, "no killing" (1982). Robert Aitken has taken a stand for reducing wants and needs to simplify... (shrink)

En una carta del 20 de julio de 1664 Spinoza le relata a su amigo Peter Balling un sueño con “cierto brasileño, negro y sarnoso”. Tal vez sea esa la única mención en la obra spinozista que refiere al Nuevo Mundo, donde Holanda poseía colonias. A partir de ese sueño, el presente trabajo inquiere sobre la coexistencia de las filosofías modernas de la libertad con la esclavitud real de miles de seres humanos en América, y en particular sobre el silencio (...) de Spinoza en relación con la trata de esclavos africanos en tierras americanas. (shrink)

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-97) was a pan-Islamic thinker, political activist, and journalist, who sought to revive Islamic thought and liberate the Muslim world from Western influence. Many aspects of his life and his background remain unknown or controversial, including his birthplace, his religious affiliation, and the cause of his death. He was likely born in Asadabad, near present-day Hamadan, Iran. His better known history begins when he was 18, with a one-year stay in India that coincided with the Sepoy Mutiny (...) of 1857-59. In what would become a life of constant travel, he soon went to Mecca to perform Hajj, before returning to Afghanistan to join the service of the country's ruler, Dost Mohammad Khan (1793-1863). He later sided with Dost's son Mohammad Aʻzam, who ultimately lost in a power struggle with his British-supported brother Sher Ali. Al-Afghani's political activism eventually took him to Paris, London, Tehran, Saint Petersburg, and Constantinople. It was during his second stay in Egypt (1871-79) that he cemented his role as a reformer. He found in Cairo a class of young intellectuals who gathered around him, established newspapers, and used these papers to disseminate his ideas. Chief among al-Afghani's Egyptian disciples were scholar Muhammad ʻAbduh, journalist ʻAbd Allah al-Nadim, and nationalist politicians Mustafa Kamil and Saʻd Zaghlul. Al-Afghani's influence on both modernist and traditionalist Islamic thought continues to the present. An activist who sought to effect change through political journalism and public speaking, he did not write many books. This treatise, entitled al-Radd ʻalā al-dahrīyīn (Refutation of the materialists), was a rebuttal of the views of the pro-British Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who had argued that science is more important than religion in the rise of civilizations. First written in Persian following al-Afghani's exile from Egypt to India, it was translated into Arabic by his student Muhammad ʻAbduh, with the help of al-Afghani's assistant Arif Efendi. (shrink)

al-juzʼ 1. al-Manṭiq al-istiqrārī -- al-juzʼ 2. al-Mushkilāt al-maʻrifīyah -- al-juzʼ 3. al-Manṭiq al-riyāḍī.

Los juegos de mesa son un producto cultural emergente estrechamente vinculado a actividades de aprendizaje informal sobre disciplinas variadas como la biología, las matemáticas o los idiomas. De entre estas áreas de conocimiento destaca la Historia, ya que desde el inicio del juego de mesa moderno hace 50 años se han publicado miles de juegos inspirados en las más diversas eras y hechos históricos, desde la Prehistoria hasta la Guerra Fría. Existe un interés académico creciente para desarrollar métodos de Aprendizaje (...) Basado en Juegos para aprovechar el potencial del juego como herramienta didáctica, pero la mayor parte se centra en el uso de videojuegos en el aula, y son escasos los trabajos que analizen el juego de mesa histórico en tanto que actividad de aprendizaje informal. Este trabajo explora el contenido histórico recreado en miles de juegos de mesa entendidos como motores de aprendizaje informal, con el objetivo de conocer qué temas de la Historia aparecen en juegos de mesa comerciales y, por tanto, son susceptibles de aprendizaje por parte de los jugadores. Para ello se ha desarrollado un método computacional basado en el modelado de tópicos y la visualización de datos para la identificación automática de temas en juegos de mesa a partir de sus descripciones textuales. El análisis presentado aquí se centra en un estudio comparativo de tres períodos con una escala diferente: a) la época Medieval, b) el siglo XIX, y c) Segunda Guerra Mundial. Los resultados del trabajo muestran como las temáticas tratadas en los juegos dependen directamente de la época en la que éstos se enmarcan, así como la existencia de marcados sesgos hacia la sobrerepresentación de guerras y la historia de Europa. Estas contribuciones sugieren que los juegos de mesa pueden promover el aprendizaje informal crítico sobre hechos históricos y al mismo tiempo reforzar una percepción pública desigual de nuestro pasado. (shrink)

En la filosofía y la psicología moral existe una discusión actualmente de vital importancia, esto es la relación entre moral y emociones. Después de una larga tradición de pensamiento en donde los procesos de justificación moral se asociaron con el valor normativo de la razón, hoy en día asistimos a una nueva orientación que defiende la integración de aspectos cognitivos y emocionales dentro del análisis de la acción moral y los compromisos ciudadanos. En este contexto, Martha Nussbaum, con su teoría (...) cognitivo-evaluadora de las emociones, aporta una original reflexión ética centrada en lo que ha denominado el juicio eudaimonista ligado al florecimiento de la persona y la comprensión de una vida humana buena. Esta visión posibilita entender las emociones como advertidores de vulnerabilidad, sufrimiento y dignidad humana menoscabada, en momentos en que miles de hombres y mujeres se sumergen en lo infrahumano. In moral philosophy and psychology there is currently discussion of vital importance, this is the relationship between morality and emotions. After a long tradition of thought in which the processes of moral justification were associated with the normative value of reason, today we are witnessing a new orientation that defends the integration of cognitive and emotional aspects within the analysis of moral action and citizen commitments. In this context, Martha Nussbaum, with her cognitive appraisal theory of emotions, contributes an original ethical reflection focused on what has been called the eudaimonist judgment linked to the flowering of the person and understanding of a good human life. This vision makes it possible to understand the emotions as warners of vulnerability, suffering and human dignity undermined, at a time when thousands of men and women are immersed in the subhuman. (shrink)