Journal of Philosophy of Education, EarlyView.

Este artículo incide en la significatividad de los fines de la educación y la importancia vital de los deseos. Frente a las pretensiones de una tecnología a merced del mercado de las promesas transhumanistas, se retoma la pedagogía del cascabel de Ortega y la importancia de cultivar deseos ascendentes, que no tienen su fundamento en la técnica sino en la vida humana. El artículo concluye con una defensa del compromiso ético-cívico de una genuina educación humanista radicada en el sentimiento moral (...) de la compasión. (shrink)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitative and qualitative synthesis of the diverse academic proposals and initiatives for preventing and eliminating hate speech on the internet. Design/methodology/approach The foundation for this study is a systematic review of papers devoted to the analysis of hate speech. It has been conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol and applied to an initial corpus of 436 academic texts. Having implemented the suitability, screening and (...) inclusion criteria, this corpus was refined to a sample of 74 articles. Findings The main subject categories studied in this corpus of academic research are legal issues and social media. In the majority of the articles, the use of hate speech via social media is associated with five typologies: religion, cyber racism, political slurs, misogyny and attacks on the LGTBI community. The absence of ethical reflection is one of the major shortcomings of IT-focused research and analysis devoted to online hate speech. Practical implications To date various systematic reviews have been presented, and they focus on detecting or describing hate speech. These have used either the search appraisal synthesis analysis framework or the Cochrane network. The PRISMA protocol was applied for this study, and both Scopus and texts in German were included. To date no major, rigorous systematic review has been undertaken of proposals to combat hate speech. Originality/value The link between hate speech and poverty has not been studied in depth within the academic sphere. Tolerance and ethical compassion are not granted the attention they merit when it comes to analysing the phenomenon of hate speech. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es poner de manifiesto la relevancia del legado filosófico de Karl-Otto Apel a la luz del diálogo con la ética de Charles Taylor. Nos detenemos en los últimos libros publicados de Charles Taylor y ensayamos una interpretación crítica de sus tesis a partir de la pragmática trascendental de Apel. Hundiendo sus raíces en la matriz hermenéutica y crítica, la ética del discurso de Karl-Otto Apel sigue ofreciendo una dialéctica fecunda entre realidad e idealidad que resulta (...) insoslayable para afrontar con garantías el futuro de la humanidad. The aim of this paper is to highlight the relevance of the philosophical legacy of Karl-Otto Apel in light of the dialogue with the philosophy of Charles Taylor. The paper is focused on the last published books of Charles Taylor and a critical interpretation of some of his main ideas from the Apel’s transcendental pragmatics is addressed. Plunging its roots in the hermeneutic and critical matrix, Karl-Otto Apel's ethic of discourse continues to offer a fruitful dialectic between reality and ideality that is unavoidable to face the future of humanity with guarantees. (shrink)

El objetivo es analizar la hermenéutica filosófica de Hans-Georg Gadamer con vistas a considerar la posibilidad de llevar a cabo una lectura intercultural a partir de sus planteamientos. Se cuestiona la lectura intercultural que de la hermenéutica de Gadamer lleva a cabo Ram Adhar Mall. Con Gadamer, pero más allá de él, se detectan las posibilidades y limitaciones de su concepto humanista de cultura (Bildung) y se ensaya un modo de autosuperación hermenéutica de la cultura en la interculturalidad.

A tenor de las investigaciones en el campo de la neuroética y más en concreto en la teoría del proceso dual del juicio moral en autores como Joshua Greene, nos planteamos la cuestión de si la neurociencia conduce necesariamente a una «naturalización del deontologismo». De este modo en nuestra comunicación ponemos en cuestión un modo de hacer neurociencia que pretenda reducir el deontologismo a un tipo de respuesta exclusivamente emocional. Frente a este modelo planteamos otra forma de hacer «neuroética» donde (...) se consideren las estructuras psicofísicas de la moralidad sin incurrir en el reduccionismo miope naturalista. Se trata, por lo tanto, de descubrir la neurociencia de la ética, esto es, la naturaleza de la moralidad sin que eso implique reducir la moralidad a la naturaleza. Así entendida la neurociencia puede contribuir al trabajo interdisciplinar de comprender la vasta naturaleza humana en toda su amplitud. (shrink)

En este trabajo adoptamos una postura crítica, en primer lugar, ante un planteamiento que desde la investigación empírica pretende explicar los fines propios de la educación. Frente a éste proponemos la metodología hermenéutico-crítica para desentrañar cuáles son los fines últimos de la educación. Descubrimos que desde la metodología hermenéutico-crítica es posible enfocar adecuadamente el fin de la educación así como aportar una justificación ética solvente. Profundizando en la dimensión crítica de la hermenéutica, pero sin desvincularla de su quicio experiencial, reparamos (...) en que no basta con interpretar los valores establecidos por la sociedad, sino que es necesario ahondar en el radical ético que justifica la educación como auténtico desarrollo humano de las capacidades morales. Esta experiencia primordial de la educación que hunde sus raíces en el radical humano es una experiencia genuinamente ética. A este respecto, destacamos once claves del enfoque éticohermenéutico y sus ventajas para la determinación del enclave de la educación. (shrink)

Resumen El objetivo de este artículo es repensar el tipo de epistemología más adecuada para entender otras culturas. Para ello se acude al enfoque de Charles Taylor. En primer lugar, se analiza la epistemología moderna mediacional y se destacan las deficiencias que comporta para dar razón del vínculo de las personas y las sociedades con el mundo. En segundo lugar, se pone de manifiesto la deficiencia que implica este modelo epistemológico para dar cuenta del entendimiento mutuo entre las personas. Más (...) en concreto, se incide en la deficiencia en términos atomistas y monologistas que dicha imagen representacional comporta a la luz del argumento holístico del trasfondo. Por último, ahondando en el argumento holístico del trasfondo se propone un modelo alternativo de epistemología basada en la concepción del agente encarnado en la cultura. Un modelo que conjuga realidad y pluralidad y se propone superar tanto el realismo clásico como el relativismo. Abstract The aim of this article is to rethink the most appropriate type of epistemology to understand other cultures. For this, the approach of Charles Taylor is used. In the first place, we discuss modern mediational epistemology and the deficiencies it entails to account for the link between people and societies with the world. Secondly, the deficiency that this epistemological model implies to account for the mutual understanding between people. More specifically, it focuses on the deficiency in atomistic and monologistic terms that representational image entails considering the holistic argument of background. Finally, delving into the holistic argument of the background, an alternative model of epistemology based on the conception of the agent embodied in culture is proposed. A model that combines reality and plurality and aims to overcome both classical realism and relativism. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar las posibilidades de una racionalidad intercultural y plantear si acaso es posible seguir defendiendo una razón crítica a pesar de que no existan criterios o procedimientos preestablecidos. Retomando el debate en torno a la inconmensurabilidad de las formas de vida y basándonos en los planteamientos de Charles Taylor esbozamos un tipo de racionalidad intercultural capaz de articular argumentos por transiciones entre posiciones inconmensurables. Frente a las «nociones delimitadoras» de Peter Winch, por un lado, (...) y el holismo conceptual de John McDowell, por otro, abogamos por un contacto epistémico con el mundo en un nivel preconceptual, es decir, por debajo o previo al conceptual, el «momento de realidad». Lo más significativo de este modelo de razón intercultural es que su actividad crítico-reflexiva hunde sus raíces en capacidades epistémicas más primitivas que impulsan y alimentan el razonamiento más allá del relativismo. (shrink)

RESUMENEn este artículo expongo la concepción de persona y sociedad en la filosofía de Charles Taylor. Para ello comienzo planteando la pregunta acerca de si es adecuado referirse a Taylor como “comunitarista” o, por el contrario, desde la hermenéutica es más preciso concebir una dimensión “dialógica” del sí mismo. De este modo llegamos a la expresión “individualismo holista” como propuesta a concebir la relación entre persona y sociedad. ya por último incidimos en el reconocimiento de bienes sociales irreductibles como una (...) de las principales ventajas que comporta el enfoque hermenéutico desde el individualismo holista.PALABRAS CLAVE HERMENéUTICA, INDIVIDUALISMO HOLISTA, BIENES SOCIALES IRREDUCTIBLES, CHARLES TAYLORABSTRACTIn this article I discuss the concept of self and society in Charles Taylor’s philosophy. To start with, I raise the question whether it is appropriate to refer to Taylor as “communitarian” or, according to hermeneutics, it is more accurate to refer to a “dialogical” dimension of the self instead. This discussion leads us to the term “holistic individualism” as a proposal to understand the relationship between person and society. Finally, I consider the irreducibility of social goods as one of the major benefits that entails the hermeneutical approach from the holistic individualism.KEYWORDSHERMENEUTICS, HOLISTIC INDIVIDUALISM, IRREDUCIBLE SOCIAL GOODS, CHARLES TAYLOR. (shrink)

RESUMENEn este artículo expongo la concepción de persona y sociedad en la filosofía de Charles Taylor. Para ello comienzo planteando la pregunta acerca de si es adecuado referirse a Taylor como “comunitarista” o, por el contrario, desde la hermenéutica es más preciso concebir una dimensión “dialógica” del sí mismo. De este modo llegamos a la expresión “individualismo holista” como propuesta a concebir la relación entre persona y sociedad. ya por último incidimos en el reconocimiento de bienes sociales irreductibles como una (...) de las principales ventajas que comporta el enfoque hermenéutico desde el individualismo holista.PALABRAS CLAVE HERMENéUTICA, INDIVIDUALISMO HOLISTA, BIENES SOCIALES IRREDUCTIBLES, CHARLES TAYLORABSTRACTIn this article I discuss the concept of self and society in Charles Taylor’s philosophy. To start with, I raise the question whether it is appropriate to refer to Taylor as “communitarian” or, according to hermeneutics, it is more accurate to refer to a “dialogical” dimension of the self instead. This discussion leads us to the term “holistic individualism” as a proposal to understand the relationship between person and society. Finally, I consider the irreducibility of social goods as one of the major benefits that entails the hermeneutical approach from the holistic individualism.KEYWORDSHERMENEUTICS, HOLISTIC INDIVIDUALISM, IRREDUCIBLE SOCIAL GOODS, CHARLES TAYLOR. (shrink)

En este ensayo voy a explorar el legado de Aristóteles, Hegel y Nietzsche en Taylor en relación con su enfoque moderno. Creo que rastrear las huellas de los planteamientos de aquellos filósofos ayuda a entender mejor el enfoque de Taylor y la apropiación moderna que hace de ellos. Una pregunta surge de la búsqueda tras las fuentes filosóficas del enfoque de Taylor: ¿Aristóteles, Hegel o Nietzsche? ¿O quizá ninguno? ¿O tal vez todos un poco? Vamos a ver en qué medida (...) dichos filósofos han sido influyentes en el enfoque moderno de Taylor. (shrink)

Resumen:El objetivo del artículo es destacar las limitaciones del cientificismo a la hora de dar cuenta de la vivencia humana en toda su significación y correlativamente afirmar la necesidad de concebir al ser humano desde una perspectiva comprensiva, vía apropiada para un encuentro intercultural fecundo. Para ello se acude al enfoque de Charles Taylor. En primer lugar, se recala en la diferencia sustantiva entre las “ciencias naturales” y las “ciencias sociales”. En segundo lugar, se incide en la importancia de una (...) metodología hermenéutica en las ciencias sociales, a fin de superar el doble riesgo de etnocentrismo y de la tesis relativista de la incorregibilidad cultural. Por último, se presenta el dialogo intercultural como vía adecuada hacia una autocrítica de las culturas y una comprensión ampliada entre los seres humanos.Palabras clave: ciencias sociales; cosmovisión; hermenéutica; etnocentrismo; interculturalidad. (shrink)

Contemporary biological research has suggested that some host–microbiome multispecies systems (referred to as “holobionts”) can in certain circumstances evolve as unique biological individual, thus being a unit of selection in evolution. If this is so, then it is arguably the case that some biological adaptations have evolved at the level of the multispecies system, what we call hologenomic adaptations. However, no research has yet been devoted to investigating their nature, or how these adaptations can be distinguished from adaptations at the (...) species-level (genomic adaptations). In this paper, we cover this gap by investigating the nature of hologenomic adaptations. By drawing on the case of the evolution of sanguivory diet in vampire bats, we argue that a trait constitutes a hologenomic adaptation when its evolution can only be explained if the holobiont is considered the biological individual that manifests this adaptation, while the bacterial taxa that bear the trait are only opportunistic beneficiaries of it. We then use the philosophical notions of emergence and inter-identity to explain the nature of this form of individuality and argue why it is special of holobionts. Overall, our paper illustrates how the use of philosophical concepts can illuminate scientific discussions, in the trend of what has recently been called metaphysics of biology. (shrink)

Bourrat and Griffiths :33, 2018) have recently argued that most of the evidence presented by holobiont defenders to support the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals is not to the point and is not even adequate to discriminate multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages that would not be considered evolutionary individuals by most holobiont defenders. They further argue that an adequate criterion to distinguish the two categories is fitness alignment, presenting the notion of fitness boundedness as a criterion that (...) allows divorcing true multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages and provides an adequate criterion to single out genuine evolutionary multispecies assemblages. A consequence of their criterion is that holobionts, as conventionally defined by hologenome defenders, are not evolutionary individuals except in very rare cases, and for very specific host-symbiont associations. This paper is a critical response to Bourrat and Griffiths’ arguments and a defence of the arguments presented by holobiont defenders. Drawing upon the case of the hologenomic basis of the evolution of sanguivory in vampire bats, I argue that Bourrat and Griffiths overlook some aspects of the biological nature of the microbiome that justifies the thesis that holobionts are evolutionarily different to other multispecies assemblages. I argue that the hologenome theory of evolution should not define the hologenome as a collection of genomes, but as the sum of the host genome plus some traits of the microbiome which together constitute an evolutionary individual, a conception I refer to as the stability of traits conception of the hologenome. Based on that conception I argue that the evidence presented by holobiont defenders is to the point, and supports the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals. In this sense, the paper offers an account of the holobiont that aims to foster a dialogue between hologenome advocates and hologenome critics. (shrink)

The hologenome concept of evolution is a hypothesis about the evolution of animals and plants. It asserts that the evolution of animals and plants was partially triggered by their interactions with their symbiotic microbiomes. In that vein, the hologenome concept posits that the holobiont (animal host + symbionts of the microbiome) is a unit of selection. -/- The hologenome concept has been severely criticized on the basis that selection on holobionts would only be possible if there were a tight transgenerational (...) host-genotype-to-symbiont-genotype connection. As our current evidence suggests that this is not the case for most of the symbiont species that compose the microbiome of animals and plants, the opportunity for holobiont selection is very low in relation to the opportunity for selection on each of the species that compose the host microbiome. Therefore, holobiont selection will always be disrupted ‘from below’, by selection on each of the species that compose the microbiome. -/- This thesis constitutes a conceptual effort to defend philosophically the hologenome concept. I argue that the criticism according to which holobiont selection requires tight transgenerational host-genotype-to-symbiont-genotype connection is grounded on a metaphysical view of the world according to which the biological hierarchy needs to be nested, such that each new level of selection includes every entity from below. Applied to hologenomes, it entails that the hologenome is a collection of genomes, and selection of hologenomes is assumed to entail cospeciation of the host with the species that constitute its microbiome. -/- Against that interpretation, I propose the ‘stability of traits’ account, according to which hologenome evolution is the result of the action of natural selection in a non-nested hierarchical world. In that vein, hologenome evolution does not entail cospeciation, and thus it does not require tight transgenerational host-genotype-to-symbiont-genotype connection. By embracing a multilevel selection perspective, I argue that hologenome evolution results from the simultaneous action of natural selection on each of the lineages that compose the microbiome, and on the assemblage composed by the host genome plus the functional traits of its microbiome. Hologenome selection occurs when the evolution of the traits of the microbiome result from their effects on the fitness of the host, and it can take the form of multilevel selection 1, or multilevel selection 2. In both cases, hologenome selection entails the evolution of microbiome traits, as well as evolution of the host genome, rather than cospeciation of lineages. (shrink)

Aristotle's Ethics develops a complex theory of the qualities which make for a good human being and for several decades there has been intense discussion about whether Aristotle's theory of voluntariness, outlined in the Ethics, actually delineates what modern thinkers would recognize as a theory of moral responsibility. Javier Echeñique presents a novel account of Aristotle's discussion of voluntariness in the Ethics, arguing - against the interpretation by Arthur Adkins and that inspired by Peter Strawson - that he developed (...) an original and compelling theory of moral responsibility and that this theory has contributed in important ways to our understanding of coercion, ignorance and violence. His study will be valuable for a wide range of readers interested in Aristotle and in ancient ethics more broadly. (shrink)

The units or levels of selection debate concerns the question of what kind of biological systems are stable enough that part of their evolution is a result of the process of natural selection acting at their level. Traditionally, the debate has concerned at least two different, though related, questions: the question of the level at which interaction with the environment occurs, and the question of the level at which reproduction occurs. In recent years, biologists and philosophers have discussed a new (...) aspect of this debate, namely the possibility that certain multi-species consortia formed by a host and its microbiome may act as a unit of selection. This thesis, however, has not been without criticism, as it is doubtful that such consortia could meet the conditions required to achieve the degree of stability that would allow them to experience natural selection. The purpose of this paper is to systematically examine such criticisms and to defend the thesis that the holobiont/hologenome can act as a genuine level of selection both in the form of an interactor and in the form of a reproducer. To do so, it will be argued that the microbiome should be characterized in functional rather than taxonomic terms. (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)

In this paper we analyze some of the major difficulties of informed consent. We consider insufficient to base IC on the principle of autonomy. We must not forget that the patient may be in a situation of extreme vulnerability and the good doctor should assume a degree of commitment and responsibility with his/her decisions. Our aim is to introduce the ethics of responsibility of Levinas in practice and theory of IC in order to generate a beneficent medical practice in which (...) the supervision and overseeing of the patient do not undermine his/her autonomy. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to provide a complete Natural Kind Semantics for an Essentialist Theory of Kinds. The theory is formulated in two-sorted first order monadic modal logic with identity. The natural kind semantics is based on Rudolf Willes Theory of Concept Lattices. The semantics is then used to explain several consequences of the theory, including results about the specificity (species–genus) relations between kinds, the definitions of kinds in terms of genera and specific differences and the existence of (...) negative kinds. First, I show under which conditions the Hierarchy principle, which has been subjected to counterexamples in the literature, holds. I also show that a different principle about the species–genus relations between kinds, namely Kant’s Law, follows from the essentialist theory. Second, I introduce two new operations for kinds and show that they can be used to provide traditional definitions of kinds in terms of genera and specific differences. Finally, I show that these operations of specific difference induce, for each kind, a uniquely specified contrary kind and a uniquely specified subcontrary kind, which can be used as semantic values for non-classical predicate negations of kind terms. (shrink)

Ortega trasladó sus ideas pedagógicas a su quehacer como profesor universitario. Muchos de sus discípulos y colaboradores han dejado constancia de ello, como aquí se refiere. Fue para ellos, sobre todo ejemplo, ejemplo de vida, de orientación vital, de sinceridad intelectual en su quehacer filosófico. En este artículo no analizamos la filosofía de Ortega, lo que hemos hecho en otros textos, sino el impacto que causó la «persona» Ortega en sus colaboradores y discípulos. Aunque es algo estudiando, nunca se ha (...) presentado de esta forma sintética que muestra la envergadura del impacto que Ortega produjo en el mundo intelectual de la Edad de Plata de la cultura española. (shrink)

Este estudio es una aproximación al tema del trabajo desde el pensamiento sociológico de Zygmunt Bauman. Uno de los textos más conocidos de Bauman al respecto es Trabajo, consumismo y nuevos pobres; sin embargo, este es un tema que el sociólogo trata en otras obras. Aquí se pretende dar una visión en la que se tienen en cuenta la globalidad de sus escritos. Además, se dan unas claves que permiten comprender el enfoque que Bauman tiene del trabajo: se hace una (...) breve explicación de su perspectiva sociológica y de la importancia de la modernidad en su pensamiento. Por último, se expone cómo el trabajo cambia de sentido e importancia en la modernidad sólida y en la líquida. (shrink)

What is the so-called “question of ontology?” Is the question of ontology genuinely a question about “categories” (Lowe 2006), “structure” (Sider 2011), “existence” (Thomasson 2015), or rather “reality” (Fine 2009)? In this article, I defend the neo-Sellarsian approach to the question of ontology, a novel, naturalistic approach according to which the foundational question of ontology is about “understanding the manifest and the scientific images of the world, and their multiple relationships.” First, I argue for the thesis of Impure Eliminativism, a (...) form of constructive pluralism about the question of ontology by which the substantivity of questions of ontology which are not the neo-Sellarsian one is to be built upon certain relations with the neo-Sellarsian question of ontology. Second, I argue for the categorial plasticity of the two images and their relations in connection with the hypothesis of Weak Epistemic Factualism. Third, and lastly, I argue for a person-based ontology framed in terms of the crucial notions of “fact” and “understanding” in response to the eliminativist categorizations of the two images and their relationships proposed by substantialism and structuralism. (shrink)

The paper defends an interactive theory of the distinctiveness of criminal law. It argues that criminal law’s distinctive behavior can be connected to the interaction between five traits: it is an institutional practice administered by a large and special bureaucracy, playing a substantial role in authorizing the use of coercive police force, leading to a harsh sanctioning regime linked, at least in part, with core wrongs and notions of personal responsibility. Although none of these features is exclusive to criminal law, (...) their interaction leads to modes of behavior that set it apart from other institutions. The paper argues that putting attention on the effects of this interaction provides us with powerful tools to both understand and asses the value and problems of criminal law. (shrink)

Symbiosis plays a fundamental role in contemporary biology, as well as in recent thinking in philosophy of biology. The discovery of the importance and universality of symbiotic associations has brought new light to old debates in the field, including issues about the concept of biological individuality. An important aspect of these debates has been the formulation of the hologenome concept of evolution, the notion that holobionts are units of natural selection in evolution. This review examines the philosophical assumptions that underlie (...) recent proposal of the hologenome concept of evolution, and traces those debates back in time to their historical origins, to the moment when the connection between the topics of symbiosis and biological individuality first caught the attention of biologists. The review is divided in two parts. The first part explores the historical origins of the connection between the notion of symbiosis and the concept of biological individuality, and emphasizes the role of A. de Bary, R. Pound, A. Schneider and C. Merezhkowsky in framing the debate. The second part examines the hologenome concept of evolution and explores four parallelisms between contemporary debates and the debates presented in the first part of the essay, arguing that the different debates raised by the hologenome concept were already present in the literature. I suggest that the novelty of the hologenome concept of evolution lies in the wider appreciation of the importance of symbiosis for maintaining life on Earth as we know it. Finally, I conclude by suggesting the importance of exploring the connections among contemporary biology, philosophy of biology and history of biology in order to gain a better understanding of contemporary biology. (shrink)

Are properties universal or particular? According to Universalism, properties are universals because there is a certain fundamental tie that makes properties capable of being shareable by more than one thing. On the opposing side, Particularism is the view that properties are particulars due to the existence of a fundamental tie that makes properties incapable of being shared. My aim in this paper is to critically examine the connections between the notions of the fundamental tie and universality and particularity. I argue, (...) first, that universality and particularity can characterize a property if and only if there is a universalist or a particularist fundamental tie, and, second, that it is unclear that these should be the fundamental ties that connect ordinary and scientific properties to their respective bearers. Then I develop an alternative approach to properties and the fundamental tie, which is neutralist because it dispenses with universality and particularity as features of properties, and naturalist because it naturalizes the possession of properties by replacing metaphysical fundamental ties with a scientific one, in particular, a physical process. I show how this approach improves our understanding of properties and instantiation. (shrink)

The German word Destruktion was used by Heidegger in the sense that philosophy should destroy some ontological concepts and the everyday meanings of certain words. Tradition allows the transmission of knowledge and sensations of continuity and connection with the past, but it must be critically evaluated so that it does not perpetuate certain prejudices. According to Heidegger, tradition transmits, but it also conceals. Tradition induces self-evidence and prevents us from accessing the origin of concepts. It makes us believe that we (...) do not need to return to that origin. Making tradition transparent dissolves the concealments it has provoked. Here I will apply this idea to the mental and the physical by suggesting that the mind-body problem has inherited occultations that are born in Descartes himself. As a result, what could be a new philosophical framework for the research in consciousness emerges: That as an individual cognitive being I cannot avoid splitting reality into what I am and what I am not, extending then the individual duality to a collective error transmitted culturally. (shrink)

Holobionts are symbiotic assemblages composed by a host plus its microbiome. The status of holobionts as individuals has recently been a subject of continuous controversy, which has given rise to two main positions: on the one hand, holobiont advocates argue that holobionts are biological individuals; on the other, holobiont detractors argue that they are just mere chimeras or ecological communities, but not individuals. Both parties in the dispute develop their arguments from the framework of the philosophy of biology, in terms (...) of what it takes for a “conglomerate” to be considered an interesting individual from a biological point of view. However, the debates about holobiont individuality have important ontological implications that have remained vaguely explored from a metaphysical framework. The purpose of this paper is to cover that gap by presenting a metaphysical approach to holobionts individuality. Drawing upon a conception of natural selection that puts the focus on the transgenerational recurrence of the traits and that supports the thesis that holobionts are units of selection, we argue that holobionts bear emergent traits and exert downward powers over the entities that compose them. In this vein, we argue, a reasonable argument can be made for conceiving holobionts as emergent biological individuals. (shrink)

Is structure a fundamental and indispensable part of the world? Is the question of ontology a question about structure? Structure is a central notion in contemporary metaphysics [Sider 2011. Writing the Book of the World. Oxford: Clarendon Press]. Realism about structure claims that the question of ontology is about the fundamental and indispensable structure of the world. In this paper, I present a criticism of the metaphysics of realism about structure based on a version of Russell’s famous regress argument against (...) nominalism [Russell 1911. “On the Relation of Universals and Particular.” In Logic & Knowledge. Reprint, London: George Allen & Unwin]. First, I argue that the three general tests for the fundamentality of structure proposed by realism about structure rely on a particular empirical test for structure, namely, the so-called ‘similarity test for structure.’ Second, I argue that the similarity test is not well-founded because it leads to a vicious regress. Third, I argue that the regress affects the whole metaphysics of realism about structure, and that no structural notion can be said to be fundamental in connection with any of the other tests. Lastly, I argue that the question of ontology as a question about structure is not substantive. (shrink)

1. Categories and the Scientific Turn of Metaphysics: The Notion of World-Fundamentality What are the fundamental inhabitants of the world? This question, as old as it is new, is about the fundamental structure of our world. Is our world a world of Aristotle's ordinary substances, Locke's physical substances, Husserl's wholes, Wittgenstein's facts, Sellars's processes, or Quine's sets? In order to distinguish the sort of metaphysical fundamentality at stake in this discussion from other possible types of fundamentality, I shall call it (...) from now on "world-fundamentality." In this article I want to make a proposal in the context of this metaphysical dispute. The proposal is the addition of a new criterion of world-fundamentality to the existing catalog of independence and simplicity, among some other prominent classical examples. I call this criterion "the materialist criterion of world-fundamentality" because it states that metaphysicians should not decide the question of whether our world is a world of facts rather than a world of sets or other categories without considering the explanatory power of such categories to account for the relation between "the manifest image" and "the scientific image," to use the words of Wilfrid Sellars. (shrink)

Given one conception of biological individuality (evolutionary, physiological, etc.), can a holobiont – that is the host + its symbiotic (mutualistic, commensalist and parasitic) microbiome – be simultaneously a biological individual and an ecological community? Herein, we support this possibility by arguing that the notion of biological individuality is part‐dependent. In our account, the individuality of a biological ensemble should not only be determined by the conception of biological individuality in use, but also by the biological characteristics of the part (...) of the ensemble under investigation. In the specific case of holobionts, evaluations of their individuality should be made either host‐relative or microbe‐relative. We support the claim that biological individuality is part‐dependent by drawing upon recent empirical evidence regarding the physiology of hosts and microbes, and the recent characterization of the ‘demibiont’. Our account shows that contemporary disagreements about the individuality of the holobiont derive from an incorrect understanding of the ontology of biological individuality. We show that collaboration between philosophers and biologists can be very fruitful in attempts to solve some contemporary biological debates. (shrink)

De Monarchia representa una de las obras de Dante que más influjo político ha ejercido. Probablemente movido a escribirla, hacia 1313. Con ella, Dante quiere contribuir a erradicar la anarquía imperante de su época, en Italia y, concretamente, en su ciudad florentina. Sueña con un orden social que establezca la paz universal. El tono de la obra, netamente gibelino, muestra a un Dante que ha evolucionado intelectualmente. Dante se muestra aquí como un intelectual a caballo entre la escolástica y el (...) florecimiento de un estilo nuevo. Hay en él toda una serie de giros, expresiones, alegorías, imágenes y simbolismos claramente medievales, pero también un conjunto de ideas que, contra corriente, contribuyeron a cambiar el modo de interpretar el mundo. Su De Monarchia ha de considerarse una obra innovadora porque, aunque el texto ciertamente recogió tradiciones legales, jurídicas, políticas y teológicas precedentes, su mayor mérito radicó en la elaboración de una densa, brillante y novedosa teoría, según la cual, el emperador no sólo debía su poder a la elección directa de Dios —con lo que su investidura no devenía un mero oficio de la Iglesia— sino que, además, la institución imperial resultaba superior a la pontificia. Por tanto, hay que plantearse si «De Monarqchia» es una obra que precederá algunas de las principales tesis que posteriormente defenderá la Reforma protestante en cuestiones políticas. (shrink)

Categories play a major role in contemporary metaphysics. They have not only been invoked in a number of philosophical theories but are themselves objects of epistemological and metaphysical scrutiny. In this article, we will discuss the following questions: How do we know when something belongs to a certain category? Is there a fundamental category of the world? Can we give a satisfactory account of the number of categories and the completeness of systems of categories? Are categories the genuine subjects of (...) ontology? (shrink)