Puede argumentarse que el hecho de que las democracias liberales occidentales no hayan sido ni sean en general lo suficientemente inclusivas es lo que permite desvelar en ellas una cierto componente de violencia. Sus más recientes justificaciones filosóficas, entre las que destaca la de Richard Rorty, contribuyen a fomentar esta argumentación en la medida que se declaran, con todas las cautelas ciertamente, etnocéntricas. Nos parece que el hecho de que sea factible cuestionar esta justificación ¿a la que denominamos, en la (...) línea de otros autores, ética postliberal- abre la posibilidad de una perspectiva crítica de la propia democracia liberal actual, no sólo sobre la base de razonamientos filosóficos, sino también con el concurso de consideraciones históricas. Iniciamos esta exposición con la propuesta de que ética postliberal y barbarie no tienen por qué ser consideradas antitéticas, sino que, por el contrario, pueden resultar coincidentes en algún sentido específico (sección segunda). A continuación, y con el objetivo de mostrar de qué sentido se trata, se abordan algunos textos de Rorty con la consecuencia final de que, al exhibir una vinculación más clara con el corpus del liberalismo clásico de lo que ellos mismos pretenden sugerir, pueden ser criticados por el tratamiento que hacen del pluralismo en un sentido análogo al de las críticas ya recibidas por el liberalismo clásico (sección tercera). Esta conclusión queda corroborada cuando se cotejan las tesis de Rorty con las críticas de Bikhu Parekh al monismo moral del liberalismo (sección cuarta). El abrazo del etnocentrismo, característico de la ética liberal y de la postliberal, constituye una determinación ideológica de las políticas de no inclusión llevadas a cabo por las democracias liberales occidentales en contradicción directa con los valores que declaran defender, y ello resulta particularmente visible en el caso de las relaciones de éstas con el Islam (sección quinta). Por último, en nuestras conclusiones, ponemos de manifiesto que el encaje contextualista al que la ética postliberal quiere someter a la democracia liberal no resulta suficiente para una defensa adecuada de la misma sobre todo si, además, tenemos en cuenta la praxis histórica real de Occidente en ámbitos no occidentales (sección sexta). (shrink)

Siguiendo la definición de Osvaldo Pessoa Jr., un “escenario contrafáctico” sería “una situación posible que no se realizó, como una posibilidad futura en algún instante del pasado”. Este concepto no es nuevo. De hecho, tiene una presencia significativa en campos como la filosofía analítica, la economía, las ciencias experimentales o la psicología. La pretensión de este texto es presentar, mediante el rigor teórico, conceptual, y el método inductivo, una reflexión no derivada de investigación. Esta reflexión es la importancia de la (...) relación entre los escenarios contrafácticos y el mundo del arte desde una perspectiva institucional. La observación inicial en la que se sustenta este texto es que, en una época en la que cualquier cosa puede ser arte y, sin embargo, no todo lo es, las razones por las que algo pudo ser arte, pero no lo fue, cobran una gran importancia para comprender la base de su valor económico y cultural y ahondar en nuestras categorías lingüísticas del presente; en este caso, la de arte. (shrink)

Forty years after the end of the Second Vatican Council, contrasting opinions dispute the range of its reception and its real effects as the Catholic Church struggles in a changing world of secularization and pluralism. The present paper tries to throw new light on the historical significance of that event, mobilizing different methods and applying some new ‘hermeneutical lenses’. Four topics will serve for this task: the ‘neo‐Enlightened’ mood that affected a fair amount of its reception; the evolutive process of (...) variations and selections associated with it; the forms of ‘rationalization’ and ‘expansion’, which the Council promoted; and the theological challenge of discerning the ‘signs of the time’. In conclusion, the historical judgment on the Council should keep in mind the complexity of the entire process of modernization it assumed. (shrink)

Podríamos definir el autoconcepto como el proceso a través del cual se va adquiriendo una imagen que acaba condicionando nuestra conducta. Las prostitutas inmigrantes viven en una situación de especial vulnerabilidad, este aspecto puede inferir en la configuración de su autoconcepto dificultando su bienestar social.//////////We could define self concept as the process through which we acquire our self image that ends up conditioning our conduct. Immigrant prostitutes live in a situation of special vulnerability, this aspect can interfere in the process (...) of building their self concept, making their social well-being difficult. (shrink)

During the last third of the 19th century, the ‘new’ French psychology developed within ‘the hypnotic context’ opened up by Charcot. In spite of their claims to the scientific nature of their hypnotic experiments, Charcot and his followers were unable to avoid the miracles that had accompanied mesmerism, the forerunner of hypnosis. The hysterics hypnotized in the Salpêtrière Hospital were expected to have supernormal faculties and these experiments opened the door to psychical research. In 1885 the first French psychology society (...) was founded. The research carried out by this society may seem surprising: its members – Charles Richet in particular – were interested in strange phenomena, like magnetic lucidity, ‘mental suggestion’, thought-reading, etc. Very quickly, psychologists applied themselves to finding rational explanations for these supposedly miraculous gifts. Generally, they ascribed them to unconscious or subconscious perceptual mechanisms. Finally, after a few years, studies of psychical phenomena were excluded from the field of psychology. However, during the 4th International Congress of Psychology, which took place in Paris in 1900, the foundation of an institute devoted to the study of psychical phenomena was announced, but Pierre Janet and Georges Dumas founded within it the Société Française de Psychologie, from which psychical research was excluded. As for Charles Richet, disappointed by the psychologists, he devoted himself to the development of a new ‘science’ which he called ‘Métapsychique’. Several hypotheses have been put forward to account for this early research undertaken by the French psychologists, pertaining as much to parapsychology as to scientific psychology. (shrink)

A simple complete axiomatic system is presented for the many-valued propositional logic based on the conjunction interpreted as product, the coresponding implication (Goguen's implication) and the corresponding negation (Gödel's negation). Algebraic proof methods are used. The meaning for fuzzy logic (in the narrow sense) is shortly discussed.

Theology and other human sciences present concerns against artificial intelligence (AI) that are often limited to ethical issues, as they appear as the most pressing problems and challenges derived from these new technologies. However, by reviewing the published literature, the article shows that theologians have ventured into broader areas, with a specific focus on the anthropological consequences of current technological advances. New developments and achievements in AI invite further exploration from a theological perspective, and they offer some opportunities and useful (...) applications for theologians. The article moves from the ethical territory toward the more neutral but highly engaging dialogue between science, technology, and religion, their interactions and mutual enrichment. Within this transdisciplinary area, new insights are gained about the role a more committed theology can play in issues like designing the best approaches between religious faith and intelligent systems to achieve a sustainable and equitable future. (shrink)

This paper proposes an hermeneutic interpretation of the fragmentary discourse of one of the authors of reference of the critical theory. The analysis develops from the theory of the incomplete translation of Benjamin. The Benjamin style of writing and its thesis in constant review process can be understood as precursors of the deconstruction. Our hypothesis is that this special Benjamin position is not developed by chance, but it is the result of a specific way of understanding the construction of the (...) critical theory. (shrink)

2Un grup d'experts, majoritàriament membres de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans, coordinat per Pere Lluís Font, es proposa en aquest llibre fer un balanç del que ha estat la contribució catalana en el camp de la filosofia i de les divers.