The present essay analyzes an eighteenth-century phase of the querelle des monstres and highlights two main points. 1) As the cases of Lémery and Winslow demonstrate, in the period when preformation was the dominant view, the dispute over the origin of monsters carried into the very field of preformation the contrast which had originally opposed it to the now defeated model of epigenesis, namely the alternative between mechanical genesis and pre-existence of the monstrous form itself. 2) One of the most (...) important episodes in the shift of teratology from a primarily theological or metaphysical issue to a purely natural one was due to Albrecht von Haller. Haller shifted the dispute from anatomy to embryology; and it is on an embryological base and not on metaphysics that he built his own demonstration of the original nature of the monster. He was furthermore the only scientist of authority who dealt with teratology from an epigenetic standpoint. His numerous changes of view in the field of embryology did in fact never affect his early adherence to the thesis of original monstrosity. (shrink)

A growing body of research has suggested that high levels of family functioning—often measured as positive parent–child communication and low levels of parental stress—are associated with stronger cognitive development, higher levels of school engagement, and more successful peer relations as youth age. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous disruption to various aspects of daily life, especially for parents of young children, ages 3–5, who face isolation, disconnection, and unprecedented changes to how they engage and socialize. Fortunately, both youth and parent (...) brains are plastic and receptive to change. Resilience research shows that factors such as engaging in acts of kindness, developing trusting relationships, and responding compassionately to the feelings of others can help lay new neural pathways and improve quality of life. Yet, little research has investigated the effects of brain healthy parental practices of kindness with pre-school aged children. The current study examines whether an interactive, parent–child kindness curriculum can serve as a potentiator for brain health as measured by resilience and child empathy levels. During a peak of the pandemic, mother participants between the ages of 26–46 completed questionnaires on parental resilience levels and parent-reported child empathic pro-social behaviors before and after engaging in a 4 weeks online, self-paced, kindness curriculum. Half of the group received additional brain health education explaining the principles of neuroplasticity, empathy, perspective taking, and resiliency. Mothers in both groups showed increased resilience and reported higher levels of empathic behavior in their child after completing the curriculum. There was no significant difference between groups. Comparison of mean resilience levels during COVID-19 to pre-pandemic general means indicated that mothers are reporting significantly lower levels of resilience as well as decreased empathetic behaviors in their children. These results support the notion that kindness is a powerful brain health booster that can increase resilience and empathy. This research study was timely and relevant for parents in light of the myriad of stresses brought about by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There are broader public health implications for equipping individuals with tools to take a proactive and preventative approach to their brain health. (shrink)

Examining the ethics of the church as an institution necessarily asks what can serve as criteria or ultimate aims for the functioning of institutions responsible for nourishing and supporting Christian witness in society. For liberation theology and ethics, orthopraxis—righteousness in the practices both within and outside the church for the sake of becoming the church of the poor—becomes such criteria. Becoming a church of liberation, the church of the poor, allows us to evaluate the church as an institution or polis (...) with a particular common good that ought to be shaped for and put at the service of prophetic Christian witness. Recent crises and challenges in the life of the Christian churches in the United States help ground this proposal in the author’s specific context. (shrink)

Ante ciertos modelos causales del agente libre inspirados en Tomás de Aquino, resulta interesante atender al modelo causal presentado por Tomás mismo, especialmente en un texto a partir del cual se puede rastrear la exposición de la acción libre como el efecto de los cuatro sentidos causales aristotélicos. Se trata de la cuestión sobre los actos imperados (ST I–II, q. 17); en cuyos primeros cuatro artículos –y en sus textos paralelos– determina que la voluntad es causa agente; la razón práctica, (...) causa ordenadora; y el imperium de ambas (razón y voluntad) se relaciona con el acto imperado como lo formal con lo material. (shrink)

Background: This study investigated the factors affecting the acceptability in France of abortions. Method: 80 study participants from Toulouse and 124 from Metz judged the acceptability of abortion in 64 vignettes composed of five factors: 1) the adolescent's age (15 or 17.5 years), 2) the adolescent's plans to continue schooling or not, 3) the fetus' age (1, 2, 3, or 4 months), 4) the adolescent's parents' agreement or not, and 5) the agreement or not of baby's father. Results: Three clusters (...) were noted: 1) abortion is never acceptable (8% of participants), 2) abortion is always acceptable (23%), and 3) acceptability of abortion depends on the circumstances (63%). In the majority cluster (3), all five factors had significant effects, but the fetus's age accounted for most of the variance (78%). Conclusion: Most subjects in this study judged, in accordance with French law, that the acceptability of induced abortion in minors depends on the circumstances and, in particular, on the fetus' age. (shrink)

Este artículo está motivado por el problema de la responsabilidad colectiva frente a las acciones cometidas por nuestros antepasados y por la pregunta acerca de la legitimidad de las demandas de perdón. Acudiendo al universo conceptual heredado de Hannah Arendt, en este texto se aboga por el ejercicio de la capacidad de juicio como detonante tanto de la demanda de perdón como de la responsabilidad colectiva. El perdón se presenta así no solo como una categoría moral sino fundamentalmente política, imprescindible (...) para reconciliarse con lo acontecido y mirar al futuro con esperanza. (shrink)

Nel tradurre Processo e realtà è importante considerare che l'opus magnum di Whitehead ha una natura metafisica, cosmologica e sistematica. Il sitema di Whitehead è aperto; le sue categorie sono interrelate e non vanno considerate separate dall'intero del sistema metafisico. Le generalità metafisiche sono difficili da esprimere e il nostro linguaggio è fortemente limitato. Ciononostante, il traduttore di Processo e realtà deve saper cogliere le parole esatte e rigorose al fine di rendere quella vera e propria "rivoluzione linguistica" introdotta da (...) Whitehead nel suo testo. La traduzione italiana bilingue di Processo e realtà condotta da Maria Regina Brioschi ha in questo senso raggiunto un risultato eccezionale. (shrink)

In his main work, The Science of Legislation , the Neapolitan Gaetano Filangieri proposed a set of extensive political and cultural reforms. These reforms were necessary to free eighteenth-century societies from the remnants of feudal institutions that obstructed international peace and economic growth. Filangieri's ideas were shaped by the international political climate between the seven Years’ War and the eve of the French Revolution. Reinterpreting Montesquieu and Genovesi through the influences of French radical and Enlightenment thought , as well as (...) the economics of Hume, Verri and the Physiocrats, he concluded that European modernity was inherently contradictory.From this perspective Filangieri set out to force a clean break between the technical horizons of mercantilism and enlightened absolutism and a society based on civil rights, a fair distribution of wealth and resources, and free trade. Proper ‘scientific’ knowledge of the rules and principles of legislation would allow governments to balance out the natural and cultural factors that characterise individual states, and to identify the appropriate model for social and economic development. If all states acted on their proper interest, international free trade and peaceful competition between states would emerge and the potential for general economic growth be materialised. Thus, the natural equilibrium and ‘universal consensus’ among nations could be restored. (shrink)

La distribución ha sido un tema de reflexión de la economía desde el comienzo de esta disciplina; sin embargo, las tendencias recientes de la filosofía política originadas por la obra de Rawls y su teoría de la justicia presentan una visión alternativa de la justicia distributiva en una sociedad regida por la justicia antes que por la eficiencia. Tal alternativa redunda en una concepción diferente del papel del Estado y, en general, de la política económica.

Este trabajo es una crítica a la presentación que Rawls hace de Stuart Mill. Demuestra cómo el juicio de Rawls, que considera a Mill un utilitarista sin más, es inadecuado por tomar a los utilitaristas en bloque sin analizar finamente las categorías que emplean. Mill coincide también en algunas tesis con los contractualistas, lo que hace inocua la contraposición utilitarismo-contractualismo en este caso.

Este artículo se construye en el marco del proyecto de investigación Democracia, igualdad y desacuerdo: conceptos teóricos-metodológicos de Jacques Rancière para pensar la educación en el mundo contemporáneo. El objetivo del proyecto fue la exploración de conceptos como democracia, igualdad y desacuerdo para pensar los sujetos y las realidades educativas desde las lógicas políticas contemporáneas. Como desdoblamiento de la investigación, este artículo explora algunas premisas de Jacques Rancière que permiten pensar las potencialidades políticas de la infancia a partir del reconocimiento (...) de la palabra y del tiempo infantil como formas de experiencia comunitaria. La perspectiva metodológica asume una escritura que elimina las distancias entre los discursos de los filósofos y las voces de las niñas y los niños para afirmar la potencia que tienen sus palabras al momento de pensar un problema filosófico. En este ejercicio de escritura y lectura no jerárquicas se puede apreciar que las palabras de la infancia no son el reflejo, la expresión ni el símbolo de una realidad teórica más elevada, sino que funcionan como condición de posibilidad para que el pensamiento no se detenga. Precisamente, no se busca escribir sobre la infancia, sino con la infancia. No se intenta hallar la verdad de la infancia, sino aprovechar la potencia de sus voces para acorralar al sentido común. De tal forma, se establece la relación entre conflicto político, estatuto de la palabra, infancia e igualdad, lo cual indica la capacidad de la infancia para renovar el sentido de los conceptos sobre los que se fundamenta la sociedad. Por último, se expone que la infancia es una forma de subjetividad que experimenta la temporalidad a partir de la afirmación de intensidades signadas por la curiosidad y la creatividad. Por esto, se constituye como una forma de experiencia política que es capaz de inventar temporalidades múltiples que subvierten el orden de la dominación. (shrink)

Este artículo interpreta los vínculos entre espacio y memoria en la novela El sistema del tacto(2018) de Alejandra Costamagna a partir de la configuración de una geografía afectiva del Cono Sur, un imaginario de provincia argentina y un archivo familiar de la migración. La emergencia de un imaginario territorial que incluye el cruce transadino, el recorrido por la pampa y la ciudad provinciana de Campana proyecta distintas formas de vida social transformadas en el tiempo. Estos imaginarios se elaboran tanto desde (...) una figura de infancia que despliega una percepción particular del paisaje natural como desde una subjetividad que en el presente narrativa retorna para constatar la caducidad de las formas de vivir y habitar del siglo XX. La novela integra aspectos espaciales, materiales y lingüísticos en la conformación de distintas experiencias, imágenes y percepciones del entorno. (shrink)

This paper suggests an argument in favour of the relevance of Wittgenstein’s proposal on language for the analysis of political discourse. Wittgenstein’s perspective, as interpreted here, offers a relevant political argument: the possibility of applying the descriptive-normative paradigm that char..

In accepting the constituent character of the languageand, with this, the mediation that it supposes for our relationship with theworld, is outlined a problem: How to reconcile the decisive and contingentcharacter of this sense constitution transmitted with and by the language, bythe differents natu..

En este artículo se argumenta que el poder de juzgar es una capacidad fundamental para pensar la política. La relevancia de tal capacidad radica en que la estructura y función de los juicios reflexionantes, tal como son leídos por hannah Arendt a partir de la Crítica del Juicio kantiana, nos permiten explicar el difícil equilibrio entre los juicios compartidos en las comunidades y la posibilidad de la crítica.

This article offers a review of the chapter dedicated by Strawson to the concept of a person in Individuals. Characteristics given to the concept of person by Strawson are criticized by Bernard Williams. What I set out to show is that this criticism can be answered by reviewing: a) how Strawson understands that the concept of a person is primitive, b) what are the implications of affirming the primitiveness of such concept, and, mainly c) what this philosopher understands by referring.

En este artículo se defiende la siguiente tesis: Wittgenstein “exorciza” los argumentos escépticos mostrando una concepción alternativa del lenguaje y del conocimiento que ha dado en caracterizarse como naturalismo y quietismo. Y se ofrece un deslinde entre los planteamientos quietistas y naturalistas wittgensteinianos y el naturalismo propio del empirismo mínimo de McDowell. A diferencia de este último, la propuesta wittgensteiniana nos ofrece la posibilidad de rechazar el reto escéptico.