In this article, we discuss, from a complex systems perspective, possible implications of the rising dependency between autonomous human social/individual action, ubiquitous computing, and artificial intelligent systems. Investigation is made of ethical and political issues related to the application of ubiquitous computing resources to autonomous decision-making processes and to the enhancement of human cognition and action. We claim that without the feedback of fellow humans, which teaches us the consequences of our actions in real everyday life, the indiscriminate use of (...) ubiquitous computing in decision-making processes seems to be beyond the reach of any clear ethical control. We argue that the complex systems perspective may help us to foresee possible long-term consequences of our choices, in areas where human autonomous action can be directly affected by informational technologies. (shrink)

Una de las tareas de la filosofía consiste, según Merleau-Ponty, en aprender de nuevo a ver el mundo. En este artículo se pretende mostrar el laberinto de dificultades en el que se penetra cuando se pregunta qué es ver, qué se ve y quién o qué es el vidente. Este y lo visible brotan de una misma visibilidad carnal que los entreteje: la motricidad y la reversibilidad serán claves para acercarse a esa relación, así como para ofrecer una nueva visión (...) de la imagen que conlleva una reciprocidad entre lo real y lo imaginario. (shrink)

This article analyzes Toole’s novel from a causal perspective, focusing on the cause-effect dynamics that make the plot advance, from the initial event at D.H. Holmes until the outcome in the Night of Joy. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies has been applied to identify a series of 47 causal events that summarize all actions with an impact on plot development. Our research shows that the causal study of the novel is a useful approach that can reinforce or modify (...) qualitative assessments of previous studies. The relevance of “Night of Joy” plot within the whole narrative and its key role in the rest of the subplots are verified in numerical terms. Besides, we have expanded and quantified the causal chains operating in the novel; and we have made sure, as well, that every subplot is essential in order to reach the final outcome (with the only exception of Dr. Talc’s story). Finally, we have formulated an alternative outline of secondary plots than the ones supported by preceding research by using numeric metrics, demonstrating that “Paradise Vendors” and “Dorian Greene”, previously considered secondary storylines, exert a high impact on Confederacy’s finale, and are, perhaps, not so secondary plots after all. (shrink)

El artículo presenta una reflexión sobre la manera en que en los últimos veinte años la promoción de un determinado tipo de solidaridad en Chile ha contribuido a la conformación de una gubernamentalidad liberal avanzada, necesaria para la instalación de un programa neoliberal. La reflexión se enmarca en los aportes teóricos de Michel Foucault y tiene por objeto empírico piezas de publicidad de promoción de la solidaridad emitidas en Chile entre los años 2009 y 2010, que han sido analizadas en (...) el contexto del proyecto Fondecyt 1090534. Se presentan tres tipos de resultados: (a) se describen los sectores sociales que se construyen como agentes de la solidaridad, (b) se reflexiona sobre las prácticas solidarias más promovidas y (c) se indaga en la forma en que se interpela a los sujetos a ser solidarios. (shrink)

The following dilemma is discussed: On the one hand, the growing impact of Technology of communication and information (ICT) in everyday habits seems to influence the dynamics of public opinion by reinforcing irrational beliefs and creating the impression that the autonomy of people’s opinion and decisions is just a myth. On the other hand, people seem to act most of the time, under the normal circumstances of daily life, in a rational way, as if their habitual actions result from relatively (...) autonomous decisions. A way out of this dilemma is suggested with the hypothesis that people can be rational most of the time, but nevertheless have their opinions influenced by insufficient, distorted information, or by previously acquired emotional dispositions. This hypothesis, in turn, is going to be scrutinized by considering, from a philosophical-interdisciplinary perspective, the role of rational choices in the dynamics of autonomous opinion. With illustrations of diagrams, we claim that the qualitative Complex Systems paradigm might help us to understand the possible role of emotional dispositions in the dynamics of autonomous opinion formation. (shrink)

Adaptive optics are techniques used for processing the spatial resolution of astronomical images taken from large ground-based telescopes. In this work, computational results are presented for a modified curvature sensor, the tomographic pupil image wavefront sensor, which measures the turbulence of the atmosphere, expressed in terms of an expansion over Zernike polynomials. Convolutional neural networks are presented as an alternative to the TPI-WFS reconstruction. This technique is a machine learning model of the family of artificial neural networks, which are widely (...) known for its performance as modeling and prediction technique in complex systems. Results obtained from the reconstruction of the networks are compared with the TPI-WFS reconstruction by estimating errors and optical measurements. The reconstructed wavefronts from both techniques are compared for wavefronts of 153 Zernike modes. For this case, a detailed comparison and grid search to find the most suitable neural network is performed, searching between multi-layer perceptron, CNN and recurrent networks topologies. In general, the best network was a CNN trained for TPI-WFS reconstruction, achieving better performance than the reconstruction software from TPI-WFS in most of the turbulent profiles, but the most significant improvements were found for higher turbulent profiles that have the lowest r0 values. (shrink)

La utilización de la denominación “Escuela de Salamanca” en referencia a los aspectos económicos es confusa y problemática, porque no hay argumentos convincentes para sostener que fuera una auténtica escuela de pensamiento económico (tal como la definen Schumpeter y Stigler). Sin embargo, desde Larraz y Grice-Hutchinson, los historiadores del pensamiento económico han utilizado habitualmente dicha denominación por su poder como “marca comercial” para la divulgación, y también para hacer referencia de forma breve y sencilla a las notables aportaciones analíticas de (...) un conjunto de doctores escolásticos españoles. De hecho, las monografías de los historiadores se han concentrado sobre todo en analizar las contribuciones de estos escolásticos (teoría monetaria, derechos de propiedad, etc.), más que en discutir los criterios que podrían definirles como una escuela en asuntos económicos. (shrink)

There are numerous studies that, from different perspectives, have dealt with the debate held in the Spanish Empire during the 16th century on the slavery of the American Indians, starring –among others– by Francisco de Vitoria and his disciples from the School of Salamanca, and also –outside the academic sphere– by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. The purpose of this work is to study whether this debate made its mark in Spanish society. For this, it (...) is analyzed three theatrical pieces from the Golden Age signed by playwrights of the stature of Tirso de Molina, Lope de Vega and Pedro Calderón de Barca, who –given their enormous popularity– had the capacity to reach the wide audience that congregated in the corrals of comedies. Were these three writers influenced by the controversy over the Indians carried out, among other authors, by Vitoria, Las Casas and Sepúlveda? Did they fully grasp in their works the subtle debate that Vitoria, Las Casas and Sepúlveda maintained when they interpreted Aristotelian arguments on slavery and the consequences that derived from them in terms of the possibility of enslaving or not the Indians? (shrink)

O presente estudo, levado a efeito em 2012, teve por objetivo investigar as tendências da pesquisa educacional no que se refere aos chamados “distúrbios de aprendizagem”. Por meio da análise de 183 resumos de teses e dissertações que abordaram as dificuldades de aprendizagem, depositadas no banco de teses da CAPES entre 1987 e 2010 e, com base nas contribuições de Williams e Bourdieu, analisamos essas produções, das quais foram coletados os seguintes dados: Quem foram os autores institucionais? Quando se deram (...) as defesas? Como as investigações foram produzidas? Por fim, procuramos recolher dados que pudessem evidenciar se a tendência de imputar o baixo rendimento escolar a pretensos “distúrbios de aprendizagem” prevaleceu durante todo o período investigado ou se a perspectiva crítica, representada pelos estudos de Patto e Collares & Moysés, passou a influir sobre essa produção. Os resultados apontam que, apesar da disseminação da perspectiva contrária à prática de atribuir aos alunos as causas do seu baixo rendimento escolar, ainda prevalece a concepção tradicional, embora a produção com base na perspectiva crítica tenha crescido no período analisado. (shrink)

o amor e 0 6dio, dois sentimentos fundamentais do ser humano, estao ligados as fases evolutivas do desenvolvimento sexual infantil, as quais, por sua vez, sao sobredeterminadas pelas relacees intersubjetivas que a crianc;:a experimenta. Tentando precisar 0 significado do amor como 0 sentimento de unidade entre dois seres diferentes, no qual 0 amado assume uma importancia vital para 0 amante, somos levados a definir 0 6dio como 0 sentimento de oposicao entre diferentes seres que estao afetivamente ligados, onde 0 ser (...) odiado representa aquilo que deve ser eliminado, expulso, destruido. Se 0 amor liga-se a fase oral, ao 6dio compulsivo parace ligar-se em determinadas pessoas a uma certa consfituicao da fase anal, onde 0 comportamento transgressor surge como uma forma<;ao de compromisso entre a repeticao de uma viol!ncia sofrida e a tentativa de libertar-se dela. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: amor, 6dio, libido. (shrink)

Teoricamente, busca-se expor os pressupostos, quanto às concepções voltadas para o âmbito educacional, de Jacques Derrida. Investiga-se, em seus escritos, se há um liame que permite separar e definir o que faz parte do mundo natural em contrapartida ao mundo cultural e vice-versa, quando nos reportamos ao estudo do homem e de suas ações, porque esta dualidade natureza/cultura é fundamental para saber da possibilidade de modificação do ser humano, pressuposto este, absoluto para a educação. Conclui-se que Derrida, ao defender a (...) não existência da ontologia antropológica, com seus resultados, invalida os seus próprios pressupostos, os quais estão assentados em um sujeito enunciador. (shrink)

One of the objectives in the field of artificial intelligence for some decades has been the development of artificial agents capable of coexisting in harmony with people and other systems. The computing research community has made efforts to design artificial agents capable of doing tasks the way people do, tasks requiring cognitive mechanisms such as planning, decision-making, and learning. The application domains of such software agents are evident nowadays. Humans are experiencing the inclusion of artificial agents in their environment as (...) unmanned vehicles, intelligent houses, and humanoid robots capable of caring for people. In this context, research in the field of machine ethics has become more than a hot topic. Machine ethics focuses on developing ethical mechanisms for artificial agents to be capable of engaging in moral behavior. However, there are still crucial challenges in the development of truly Artificial Moral Agents. This paper aims to show the current status of Artificial Moral Agents by analyzing models proposed over the past two decades. As a result of this review, a taxonomy to classify Artificial Moral Agents according to the strategies and criteria used to deal with ethical problems is proposed. The presented review aims to illustrate (1) the complexity of designing and developing ethical mechanisms for this type of agent, and (2) that there is a long way to go (from a technological perspective) before this type of artificial agent can replace human judgment in difficult, surprising or ambiguous moral situations. (shrink)

Mostramos el valor de los estudios biográficos para comprender los modos de ser sujetos en comunidades de diversa tolerancia hacia las prácticas homoeróticas. El texto reflexiona sobre la constitución de comunidades imaginarias a partir de trabajos etnográficos en comunidades indígenas; la participación de medios de comunicación; las injerencias de ONG sobre la comunidad zapoteca, en especial en Juchitán, tierra de tolerancias sexual hacia los muxes. Los muxes cumplen diversas tares sociales y culturales, son hombres con prácticas homoeróticas con otros hombres (...) que ni ellos ni el grupo social considera homosexuales. Los zapotecas forman parte de los grupos originarios del sur de México, tienen fuerte presencia en el país en su conjunto, desarrollan prácticas de amplia participación de la mujer, tanto así que algunos científicos sociales la han denominado cultura matriarcal. En el presente documento se discuten seis asuntos sobre la región a partir de argumentos generados por un miembro de amplio reconocimiento en la región de Juchitán: 1) la valoración del rol de la mujer al considerar que es un grupo con prácticas matriarcales; 2) el mito del paraíso de la izquierda; 3) el mito del paraíso gay; 4) la idea de un tercer sexo; 5) la idea de aceptación generalizada de los muxes; 6) la generalización del travestismo. Finalmente, se plantean algunos efectos de la intervención de los científicos sociales, de los medios de difusión masiva y de las ONG sobre la profesionalización del pueblo para dar respuesta a la diversidad de intereses de los externos a la comunidad. (shrink)

En este trabajo, se propone una clasificación epistemológica teórica para el discurso astrológico a partir de evidencia empírica a fin de abordar el problema de cómo determinar específicamente qué es lo que lo hace ilegítimo. A partir de esta clasificación, se diseñó una intervención didáctica, enmarcada en el enfoque de Enseñanza de las Ciencias Naturales en Contexto (ECNC), con el objetivo de fomentar, en estudiantes de nivel secundario, la capacidad de distinguir enunciados cognoscitivamente ilegítimos -por infalsables o por falsos- respecto (...) de aquellos que pueden constituir genuino conocimiento científico. La secuencia didáctica se implementó con un grupo de 51 estudiantes de 14 a 17 años. Se evaluó su impacto por comparación entre un pretest y un postest. Los resultados mostraron que su capacidad de discernimiento entre enunciados falsables y no falsables se incrementó apreciablemente. (shrink)

Commentators believe that the COVID-19 pandemic reveals the inconveniences of capitalism and that the end of “neoliberalism” could be near. In this article we show that a capitalist ethics is capable to deal with the challenges of pandemics and comes with important advantages such as the prevention of overreactions. We apply both utilitarian and rights-based ethics to the case of epidemics in general and COVID-19 in particular. First a libertarian natural law ethics is used to assess the government interventions in (...) the Corona pandemic. We maintain that these interventions cannot be justified from a libertarian point of view despite of the possible objections that are discussed such as the “potential threat argument”. Moreover, the utilitarian argument in favor of government lockdowns is evaluated. The negative effects of lockdown on mental health, addictions, domestic violence, etc. have to be taken into account. The utilitarian argument in favor of lockdown is far from convincing, as economic calculation is not possible. (shrink)

This article studies the observations which John Stuart Mill collected about Spain in his writings. The aim is to analyze how one of the most important thinkers of the time valued some political Spanish events, certain aspects of socioeconomic reality, or determined features which he considered to constitute the Spanish «national character». Throughout his entire intellectual trajectory, Mill seems to have been aware of the complex and eventful life of Spanish politics. Moreover, Mill visited Spain in 1860 and captured the (...) image of a country in a process of economic transformation, similar to the image portrayed by historians today and far from the romantic stereotypes that were so common to travel books of the 19th century. (shrink)

Antropología filosófica es un manual en el que el autor pretende dar un paseo ameno y didáctico en torno a las dimensiones humanas desde un punto de vista antropológico y filosófico. El hombre como ser vivo y como animal racional, cultural, económico, social, sentimental y religioso.Contiene además un diccionario filosófico que ayudará al alumno a aclarar los términos que trata.

Literatura y filosofía son dos viajes hacia la verdadera dimensión del ser humano. Por eso -de Homero a Borges-, constatamos que todos los grandes de la literatura han abordado las grandes cuestiones sobre la condición humana. Sin ser filósofos, han entrando de lleno en el campo de la filosofía para iluminarla con la belleza de su estilo. En su compañía, este libro es un atractivo paseo por esos temas siempre vivos. Para lograr un texto asequible, hemos seleccionado los referentes más (...) universales: el hombre en Homero, la inteligencia en Robinson Crusoe, la verdad en El Quijote, el amor en El Principito, los sentimientos en Ana Frank, la amistad en Etty Hillesum, la familia en Delibes, la ciencia en Julio Verne, el comunismo en Orwell, el darwinismo en Jack London, el superhombre de Nietzsche en Crimen y castigo, el mal en El señor de las moscas, el bien en El Señor de los anillos, la muerte en Hamlet, Dios en Dostoievski. (shrink)