Currently, a central question in biology is how signals from the cell surface modulate intracellular processes. In recent years phosphoinositides have been shown to play a key role in signal transduction. Two phosphoinositide pathways have been characterized, to date. In the canonical phosphoinositide turnover pathway, activation of phosphatidylinositol‐specific phospholipase C results in the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphospate and the generation of two second messengers, inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate and diacylglycerol. The 3‐phosphoinositide pathway involves protein‐tyrosine kinase‐mediated recruitment and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, resulting (...) in the production of phosphatidylinositol 3,4‐bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5‐trisphosphate. The 3‐phosphoinositides are not substrates of any known phospholipase C, are not components of the canonical phosphoinositide turnover pathway, and may themselves act as intracellular mediators. The 3‐phosphoinositide pathway has been implicated in growth factor‐dependent mitogenesis, membrane ruffling and glucose uptake. Furthermore the homology of the yeast vps34 with the mammalian phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase has suggested a role for this pathway in vesicular trafficking.In this review the different mechanisms employed by protein‐tyrosine kinases to activate phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, and its involvement in the signaling cascade initiated by tyrosine phosphorylation, are examined. (shrink)

In this commentary, we criticize the argument that allowing euthanasia for people with disabilities is ableist. We analyze the distinction between facts and values in medical assistance in dying, the expressivist objection, and the problem of crypwashing.

Dos místicos relativamente contemporáneos: Etty Hillesum y Benjamín González Buelta; dos estilos, dos contextos y una coincidencia establecida desde sus experiencias espirituales, en profunda conexión con la realidad, en medio de la vida y sus desafíos. Hillesum no habla propiamente de la experiencia mística, sin embargo, su proceso personal existencial en el duro contexto de guerra que le tocó vivir, la condujo a descubrirse profundamente habitada. Su experiencia de Dios le hizo posible comprender y gestionar el dolor en medio de (...) la guerra, así como la necesidad de ‘hacerse bálsamo sobre las heridas’ de sus hermanos judíos. Etty es una mística de ojos abiertos. Benjamín González Buelta ha profundizado en la comprensión de la mística, describiéndola y analizándola desde la experiencia de Dios en el contexto latinoamericano. Su reflexión permite hoy leer a Etty Hillesum desde la perspectiva del místico de ojos abiertos. (shrink)

Las teorías que usamos para representar el mundo pueden ser extremadamente complejas. Abordan temas tales como electrones, campos cuánticos, estrellas de neutrones, materia oscura, redes neuronales, mercados económicos, la atmósfera y muchas otras entidades que suponemos existen en el universo. Al formular nuestras teorías, recurrimos a lenguajes exactos que nos permiten minimizar la vaguedad y expresarnos lo más precisa y cuantitativamente posible. Recurrimos a la matemática. Cuando formulamos nuestras teorías fácticas en lenguaje matemático, estas se refieren no solamente a objetos (...) que nosotros interpretamos como materiales, tales como partículas o personas, sino también a entidades más raras de un mundo abstracto: conjuntos, números, funciones, espacios algebraicos, variedades, topologías, y otras entidades similares. Estos objetos no son materiales en el sentido en que nosotros decimos que una manzana es material. Ellos no existen en el espacio-tiempo, no interactúan, no cambian o evolucionan. Sin embargo, allí están, profundamente arraigados en nuestras teorías más apreciadas acerca del mundo. (shrink)

There has been much debate recently on the question whether essence can explain modality. Here, I examine two routes to an essentialist account of modality. The first is Hale's argument for the necessity of essence, which I will argue is — notwithstanding recent attempted defences of it — invalid by its very structure. The second is the proposal that it is essential to essential truth that it is necessary. After offering three possible versions of the view, I will argue that (...) each fails to provide a metaphysical explanation of necessity in terms of essence. (shrink)

Este trabajo se propone dos objetivos, uno descriptivo y otro propositivo. El descriptivo consiste en el análisis de la crítica que realiza E. Cioran, a lo largo de su obra, a la concepción humanista del ser humano Nuestro filósofo pone en cuestión la arrogancia del hombre que se coloca en el lugar fundamental y de supremacía en el ámbito de la vida, lugar que le sirve de justificación para conquistar, apropiarse y aniquilar a la naturaleza y al resto de los (...) vivientes. Por otro lado, en términos propositivos, me interesa plantear la cuestión de la animalidad(el animal que es el ser humano, y los animales no humanos) porque permite poner en cuestión esa concepción humanista, y pensar nuevos modos de ser-con lo viviente. En este sentido, sostengo a lo largo del trabajo que la filosofía de Cioran permite pensar una noción de lo humano atravesada por la animalidad, noción cioraneana que desarma("descompone") la arrogancia de los humanismos. Para ello me serviré de la problemática de la muerte como inmanente a la vida y de la crítica de Cioran a la noción de propiedad. (shrink)

Functions and objectives serve as an incentive for children living in Brazil to question their role as a child in society.

Our aim is to put into consideration the topics of “semantics”, “types”, “lifeworld” and “intersubjectivity” following the social theories of Alfred Schutz and Niklas Luhmann. First of all, and inversely to Luhmann’s perspective which receives the schutzian theory comparing equal types and semantics, we will show that types are inherent to subjectivity. Secondly, and consequently, we state that the social systems theory in the analysis of the “lifeworld”, does not pay attention to the past character of its constitution. Last, but (...) not least, we will point out that all these aspects are framed in a critique of the phenomenological notion of intersubjectivity, which from the luhmannian point of view, ignores the autonomy of consciousness, as well as the emergent character of the social. (shrink)

The last years of the 20th Century have been somewhat contradictory with respect to values like loyalty, trust or truthfulness. On the one hand, (often implicitly, but sometimes very explicitly), self-interest narrowly defined seems to be the dominant force in the business world, both in theory and in practice. On the other hand, alliances, networks and other forms of cooperation have shown that self-interest has to be at least "enlightened".The academic literature has reflected both points of view, but frequently in (...) an ambiguous way, since the concepts of loyalty and trust are somewhat elusive and equivocal. This paper attempts to analyze the concept of loyalty in depth, examining the different conceptions about the word that can be found in the literature. We begin by going to the management classics (specifically, Follett, Barnard and Simon), and we then turn to the anthropological approach of Pérez López (1993), with its built-in ethical analysis, and show how trust and loyalty are crucial to the development of organizations. We end by suggesting in what ways loyalty and trust can be created and fostered in organizations. (shrink)

In this paper, we review the conventional analyses of management control systems, to conclude, first, that the illusion of control can mislead managers into believing that everything can be controlled and monitored, and, second, that no incentive system based only on extrinsic rewards can motivate individuals properly. Then, we investigate the philosophical foundations of the basic assumptions that, implicitly or explicitly, are made about the nature of the acting person. Based on personalist phenomenology, we show how the development of technical (...) and moral values is crucial to the long-run survival of organizations. We end by offering some guidelines as to what control systems should be like in order to be compatible with the nature of human persons. (shrink)

The concept of ideology is central to the understanding of the many political, economic, social, and cultural processes that have occurred in the last two centuries. And yet, what is the nature of the different ideologies remains a vague, open, and much disputed question. Many political, sociological, and ideological studies have been devoted to ideology. Very little, on the other hand, has been done from the philosophical field. And this despite the fact that there are undoubtedly many philosophical questions related (...) to ideology and its role in modern industrialized societies. Just a few examples of ideology-related philosophical questions suffice to prove the point: What objects do ideologies deal with? Are the ideologies testable? Are there true ideologies? Do they evolve? How are ideologies related to societies? Is the existence of ideologies inevitable in modern societies? What is the relation of ideology to science? Is science just another kind of ideology? Are we, as human beings, innately predisposed to believe in ideologies? Or, instead, ideologies proliferate through indoctrination and propaganda? Are ideologies necessarily harmful?...and much more. In this article I try to answer some of these questions from a philosophical point of view, taking a materialist approach. I begin by characterizing ideology as a complex, multi-layered concept. Then, I briefly discuss the material systems on which ideological movements operate, that is, societies and concrete human groups. I identify at least 11 different elements that seem to be present in most ideologies, and I compare these characteristics with those of contemporary science and technology. Although some superficial similarities can be identified, there are deep differences that make ideology completely different from science. The similarities, however, are stronger with technology. Ideologies continually evolve with technological advances, social changes, and even with mere fashion. The current fragmentation of ideologies caused by the widespread use of new technologies and social networks has given rise to new phenomena of ideological propagation which, in my opinion, are very dangerous, particularly for open societies. I discuss these processes, within the context of the nature vs nurture debate, along with the question of whether we can get rid of ideologies. (shrink)

Traditionally the study of chemical elements has been limited to well-known concepts like the periodic properties and chemical families. However, current information shows a new and rich language that allows us to observe relations in the elements that are not limited to their positions in the table. These relations are evident when reactions are represented through networks, as in the case of similar reactivity of organic compounds sharing functional groups. For the past two decades, it has been argued that network (...) reactions may be considered the core of chemistry. This network, which constitutes the basic set of chemical knowledge, provides the basis for classification and delivers routes to obtain new and known substances. In order to provide an example, we constructed and analyzed a network of chemical elements from the formation of stoichiometric binary compounds, providing to the chemistry, a formal structure of extracting the chemical knowledge. Thus, we explored all possible presence of relationships among elements. Concepts like degree centrality and centralization, the relationships among metals, semimetal and nonmetal classes, blocks, and chemical families were analyzed. We observed that the network structure had a small core set of elements of high reactivity and also a peripheral set of elements of low reactivity. The classes, blocks and families show the following increasing order of reactivity: nonmetals > semimetals > metals; p > s > d > f; and families: boron, carbon, pnictogens, chalcogens, halogens, lanthanoids > other families. This example shows, from the network perspective, that the elements and their classifications exhibit properties such as the reactivity, order, and similarity. (shrink)

This brief review of Mario Bunge’s research on physics begins with an analysis of his masterpiece Foundations of Physics, and then it discusses his other contributions to the philosophy of physics. Following that is a summary of his more recent reactions to scientific discoveries in physics and a discussion of his position about non-locality in quantum mechanics, as well as his changing opinions on the nature of spacetime. The paper ends with a brief assessment of Bunge’s legacy concerning the foundations (...) of physics. (shrink)

Background: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing [EMDR] is an innovative, evidence-based and effective psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]. As with other psychotherapies, the effectiveness of EMDR contrasts with a limited knowledge of its underlying mechanism of action. In its relatively short life as a therapeutic option, EMDR has not been without controversy, in particular regarding the role of the bilateral stimulation as an active component of the therapy. The high prevalence of EMDR in clinical practice and the dramatic increase (...) in EMDR research in recent years, with more than 26 randomized controlled trials published to date, highlight the need for a better understanding of its mechanism of action. Methods: We conducted a thorough systematic search of studies published until October 2017, using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Knowledge and Scopus databases that examined the mechanism of action of EMDR or provided conclusions within the framework of current theoretical models of EMDR functioning. Results: Seventy-five studies were selected for review and classified into three overarching models; (i) psychological models (ii) psychophysiological models and (iii) neurobiological models. The evidence available from each study was analysed and discussed. Results demonstrated a reasonable empirical support for the working memory hypothesis and for the physiological changes associated with successful EMDR therapy. Recently, more sophisticated structural and functional neuroimaging studies using high resolution structural and temporal techniques are starting to provide preliminary evidence into the neuronal correlates before, during and after EMDR therapy. Discussion: Despite the increasing number of studies that published in recent years, the research into the mechanisms underlying EDMR therapy are still in its infancy. Studies in well-defined clinical and non-clinical populations, larger sample sizes and tighter methodological control are further needed in order to establish firm conclusions. (shrink)

There are many theories about organizations that are mutually inconsistent with each other, which explain phenomena to very similar extents. Most of them ignore the ethical dimension completely. In this paper I put forth the basic principles for a theory of decision-making in organizations, which integrates ethics in the core of the theory. It is based on the work of Juan Antonio Pérez López [1991, Teoría de la Acción humana en las organizaciones (Ediciones Rialp, Madrid), 1993, Fundamentos de la Dirección (...) de Empresas (Ediciones Rialp, Madrid)] and is essentially a humanistic view of the interrelationships between people and its implications for organizational decision-making. I will first show that in any relationship between two people, the learning of the two is crucial for such a relationship to last; and then I will expand on the different aspects of that learning. This analysis will then be applied to the organizational context as a basis for organizational decision-making, Second, it applies the previous analysis to the organizational context as a basis for organizational decision making, showing how any decision in an organization needs to be analyzed on the basis of three criteria (short-run effectiveness, development of distinctive competence, and unity and identification with the organization) and how ethics is included in the last two. (shrink)

El análisis pretende acercarse a las cuestiones que se derivan del reconocimiento de la educación como un componente clave de la reconversión productiva de las ciudades. La construcción local de prioridades educativas constituye, a nuestro juicio, unos de los territorios en los que hemos de problematizar los modos en que es tematizada la reconversión de la ciudad de rango medio en el discurso social de Olavarría, Argentina. Para ello se procura dar cuenta de aquellos factores estructurales que contribuyen a la (...) emergencia de nuevos actores, nuevos discursos y nuevos significados al tiempo que abrevan en el pasado, lo redefinen y resignifican. (shrink)

I offer a theory of art that is based on science. I maintain that, as any other human activity, art can be studied with the tools of science. This does not mean that art is scientific, but aesthetics, the theory of art, can be formulated in accord with our scientific knowledge. I present elucidations of the concepts of aesthetic experience, art, work of art, artistic movement, and I discuss the ontological status of artworks from the point of view of scientific (...) philosophy. (shrink)

Este artículo se pregunta qué se conmemorará realmente en el 40° aniversario de la guerra de Malvinas (1982-2022), contrastando las modalidades de recordación pública que tendrán lugar en 2022 y las lecturas que ha aportado la academia sobre lo sucedido en aquel entonces. La reflexión elabora comparativamente estos significados y describe qué hemos hecho los investigadores argentinos en ciencias sociales con el conflicto armado anglo-argentino por las Malvinas e Islas del Atlántico Sur, examina los fundamentos que subyacen a esos significados (...) y sostiene la tesis de que los académicos universitarios hemos ignorado el carácter bélico de la iniciativa de la tercera junta de la última dictadura militar, el autodenominado Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976-1983). Así, este artículo muestra que los protagonistas directos de la guerra y sus analistas postulan sentidos alternativos que se reelaboran como una paradoja de difícil comprensión: una causa popular originada en una cuestión de soberanía territorial pendiente fue acometida, con éxito y respaldo popular, por una ya antipopular y sangrienta dictadura militar. (shrink)

Transformar el modo de vida individual es necesario para abordar la crisis ecosocial, y resulta perentorio que las políticas comprometidas con su resolución promocionen una capacidad individual de acción ecosocial. Sin embargo, parece que cierta brecha motivacional está obstaculizando la transformación del modo de vida individual. A fin de dar respuesta a esta brecha, ensayamos una mixtura del enfoque de las capacidades con las teorías de Hartmut Rosa. Argumentamos que la resonancia natural funge de factor personal de conversión necesario, si (...) bien no suficiente, para la capacidad de acción ecosocial; y que una política que promocione la resonancia natural se adecuaría también a los requisitos impuestos al desarrollo humano tanto por el enfoque de las capacidades como por la sostenibilidad. (shrink)

The Western world is experiencing a resurgence of interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, most of which are derived from plants or fungi with a history of Indigenous ceremonial use. Recent research has revealed that psychedelic compounds have the potential to address treatment‐resistant depression and anxiety, as well as post‐traumatic stress disorder and addictions. These findings have contributed to the decriminalization of psychedelics in some jurisdictions and their legalization in others. Despite psychedelics’ opaque legal status, numerous companies and individuals (...) are profiting from speculative investments with few, if any, benefits accruing to Indigenous Peoples. In this paper, we suggest that the aptly named “psychedelic renaissance,” like the European Renaissance, is made possible by colonial extractivism. We further suggest that Indigenous philosophical traditions offer alternative approaches to reorient the “psychedelic renaissance” towards a more equitable future for Indigenous Peoples, psychedelic medicines, and all our relations. (shrink)

“Hacia una nueva ética médica” es el título del capítulo 5 de Confesiones de un médico (Triacastela, Madrid, 2011), la versión española del libro del médico y filósofo norteamericano Alfred Tauber, cuidadosamente traducida por Antonio Casado da Rocha. En él, se abordan cuestiones relacionadas con la alteración identitaria que supone la enfermedad, la deshumanización de la medicina y sus causas y la necesidad de un cambio radical en el enfoque de la relación médico-paciente para combatirla. En una sociedad que prioriza (...) la autonomía individual, dice Tauber, conviene recordar que estar enfermo supone la pérdida de esa autonomía y autosuficiencia. Por tanto, los profesionales sanitarios, cuya relación con los usuarios es necesariamente asimétrica, no sólo han de aplicar los correspondientes procedimientos técnicos, sino que han de asumir la obligación moral de restaurar la salud de sus pacientes. .. (shrink)

¿Por qué recurren las mujeres migrantes a un método abortivo clandestino cuando existen cauces regulados y gratuitos para interrumpir el embarazo? A partir de un caso relatado en una noticia de prensa, el presente trabajo pretende ofrecer argumentos capaces de fundamentar una posible respuesta. Frente al modelo médico hegemónico, el uso del misoprostol extiende el debate no sólo a la identificación de las disfunciones del sistema sanitario español, sino a discursos relacionados con la identidad y a planteamientos autogestionarios de empoderamiento (...) para las mujeres. (shrink)

Educar implica, en gran medida, transgredir la flecha del tiempo y actuar a modo de contratiempo. Los profesores saben bien que, en numerosas ocasiones, para asegurar el éxito de su acción, deben a menudo "perder tiempo" dejándose paradójicamente llevar por él. El conocimiento del tiempo educativo nos introduce en el estudio de este peculiar contratiempo que, a diferencia del tiempo objetivo, predecible y cronométrico que sirve para racionalizar las actividades pedagógicas, permite a los educadores impedir que en educación el tiempo (...) pase, se consuma sin más, fluya o simplemente suceda. De ahí que la autora plantee las relaciones tiempo y educación desde una perspectiva más integradora, incorporando para ello los múltiples tiempos que confluyen en la realidad educativa junto aquéllos que confieren legitimidad al proyecto educativo. La escuela ha venido recreando un modelo no normativo tiempo -básicamente predictivo y probabilístico- y ha aplicado una racionalidad ahistórica que dificulta la emergencia del sujeto al que se dirige y el modelo de sociedad hacia la que se proyecta. En la actualidad se plantea la necesidad de educar desde una nueva perspectiva ética que integre el tiempo como categoría normativa de acción. Educar hoy para mañana exigirá, en este sentido, atender a dos lógicas temporales: impregnar de historicidad la dimensión de sentido de todo proyecto educativo y planificar las acciones pedagógicas de acuerdo con una nueva tecnología temporal que incorpore la incertidumbre, la complejidad, la interdependencia y la sostenibilidad temporal. (shrink)