It is sometimes claimed that we perceive people’s mental states in their expressive features. This paper clarifies the claim by contrasting two possible readings, depending on whether expression is conceived relationally or non-relationally. A crucial difference between both readings is that only a non-relational conception of expression ensures direct access to other minds. The paper offers an argument for a non-relational conception of expression, and therefore for the view that we directly perceive people’s mental states in their expressive features.

According to Ramsey (Representation reconsidered, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2007 ), only classical cognitive science, with the related notions of input–output and structural representations, meets the job description challenge (the challenge to show that a certain structure or process serves a representational role at the subpersonal level). By contrast, connectionism and other nonclassical models, insofar as they exploit receptor and tacit notions of representation, are not genuinely representational. As a result, Ramsey submits, cognitive science is taking a U-turn from (...) representationalism back to behaviourism, thus presupposing that (1) the emergence of cognitivism capitalized on the concept of representation, and that (2) the materialization of nonclassical cognitive science involves a return to some form of pre-cognitivist behaviourism. We argue against both (1) and (2), by questioning Ramsey’s divide between classical and representational, versus nonclassical and nonrepresentational, cognitive models. For, firstly, connectionist and other nonclassical accounts have the resources to exploit the notion of a structural isomorphism, like classical accounts (the beefing-up strategy); and, secondly, insofar as input–output and structural representations refer to a cognitive agent, classical explanations fail to meet the job description challenge (the deflationary strategy). Both strategies work independently of each other: if the deflationary strategy succeeds, contra (1), cognitivism has failed to capitalize on the relevant concept of representation; if the beefing-up strategy is sound, contra (2), the return to a pre-cognitivist era cancels out. (shrink)

Convocada por diferentes estudiosos de los Padres de la Iglesia y del cristianismo antiguo en Latinoamérica, a saber, los profesores Ana Cristina Villa Betancourt, Andrés Mauricio Quevedo Rodríguez y Estiven Valencia Marín, de Colombia; Alejandro Nicola y Francisco Basttita-Harriet, de Argentina; Bruno Gripp, de Brasil; Pamela Chávez Aguilar, de Chile; y Jesús Ma. Aguiñaga Fernández, de México.

The introduction of the notion of family resemblance represented a major shift in Wittgenstein’s thoughts on the meaning of words, moving away from a belief that words were well defined, to a view that words denoted less well defined categories of meaning. This paper presents the use of the notion of family resemblance in the area of machine learning as an example of the benefits that can accrue from adopting the kind of paradigm shift taken by Wittgenstein. The paper presents (...) a model capable of learning exemplars using the principle of family resemblance and adopting Bayesian networks for a representation of exemplars. An empirical evaluation is presented on three data sets and shows promising results that suggest that previous assumptions about the way we categories need reopening. (shrink)

This paper defends a Wittgenstein-inspired conception of the nature of mind and self-knowledge. Thus, it is claimed that the mind is to be conceived as expressive behaviour; and that knowledge of one’s own mind is not to be thought of as a matter of first-person access, i.e. a special sort of access available to oneself alone, but rather as a matter of ordinary access, similar to other people’s. It is also argued that this conception does not undermine the distinctness of (...) the first-person perspective, including the asymmetry with the third-person perspective, which should be construed semantically, rather than epistemically. As a result, an alternative to contemporary conceptions of mind and self-knowledge is provided. (shrink)

Volume 33, Issue 8, November 2020, Page 1185-1203.

Judith Butler es una filósofa que se apoya en elementos deconstructivistas y se encuadra en el clima de la diferencia para escapar a la dinámica de las políticas y economías de signo neoliberal y esencialista. La concepción butleriana de la subjetividad, de fuerte impronta contextualista, es una asunción de la democracia en términos radicales y plurales y, por ello, su filosofía política y ética propone un feminismo de tintes postmodernos cuyo enclave es una figura de la subjetividad aperturista. La política (...) de los nuevos movimientos sociales, más allá de los límites institucionales, así como el énfasis en las diferencias y en su reconocimiento, sirven para asumir al antagonismo como una posición deseable democráticamente. (shrink)

SummaryIntense, sustained nursing lengthens inter-birth intervals and is causally linked with low natural fertility. However, in traditional settings, the effects of such nursing on fertility are difficult to disentangle from those of nutrition. Results from an prospective, direct observational study of reproductive function in well-nourished Amele women who nurse intensively and persistently but who also have high fertility are here presented. Endocrine measures show that ovarian activity resumes by median 11·0 months postpartum. Median duration of postpartum amenorrhoea is 11·3 months, (...) time to next conception is 19·0 months, and the inter-birth interval is 28·0 months. Average life time fertility is 6·8. High fertility in Amele women is due both to refractoriness of reproductive function to suckling stimuli, and to maintenance of equivalent age-specific fertility rates across the reproductive life span. (shrink)

We give a presentation of Post algebras of ordern+1 (n1) asn+1 bounded Wajsberg algebras with an additional constant, and we show that a Wajsberg algebra admits a P-algebra reduct if and only if it isn+1 bounded.

A menudo, el destello de los beneficios que reporta la inteligencia artificial en numerosos espacios, eclipsa los impactos medioambientales de esta tecnología. En este sentido, en un contexto marcado por la superación de los límites planetarios, es conveniente iniciar una senda reflexiva que aspire a plantear una inteligencia artificial sostenible. El compromiso con la responsabilidad y el cultivo del cuidado modelan un marco ético para la realización de la sostenibilidad como un ideal moral indispensable para el presente y el futuro (...) de los intelectos sintéticos. El reconocimiento y la estimación de la vulnerabilidad de la biosfera constituyen dos piezas claves para comprender los efectos de una agencia moral mediada por la tecnología. (shrink)

En la actualidad el número de estudiantes con diversidad funcional que ha ingresado al sistema educativo colombiano es amplio, así pues, el punto neurálgico de esta revolución educativa es transformar paradigmas desde una perspectiva práctica. Aunado a esto, el docente juega un papel fundamental en la inclusión. Esta investigación se orientó a identificar los retos y realidades del docente en contextos escolares colombianos. En este sentido, se planteó partir de una metodología de corte cuantitativo con un diseño no experimental de (...) alcance descriptivo. Destacando que, una escuela para todos no es una utopía, es un espacio de los educandos y para los educandos donde convergen libremente una gama de particularidades y habilidades propias de una escuela humana e igualitaria. (shrink)

La teología del sacerdocio de Joseph Ratzinger se condensa en un concepto: “misión”. Los clásicos principios de origen, institución, contenido de la misión o sucesión apostólica quedan articulados desde la “misión”. El presente artículo es una aproximación a esta categoría en la teología del teólogo alemán. El presupuesto es la comprensión del sacerdocio que Ratzinger tiene. Tras el mismo, sigue un estudio más específico sobre la comprensión del término “misión”. Este se descubre como un eje que articula dos puntos: origen (...) del ministerio y destinatarios del mismo. El estudio concluye con algunas implicaciones sobre la teología del sacerdocio y sobre su configuración concreta en el momento presente. (shrink)

The Philippine educational system and its core curriculum is oriented toward the formation of the modern, autonomous, rational subject, particularly one that will fit into the contemporary global market and production system. Through this system, Filipinos are deepening the colonization of their rationalities and subjectivities by imposing a system that shapes a subject who exists to serve the global market by being a fit worker, consumer, entrepreneur, and producer of knowledge. However useful this educational system may be, it does not (...) consider the ‘Filipino’ subjectivity’s need for formation as a loob who is a kapwa. The Filipino subjectivity which is grounded on the experience of a loob filled with liwanag opening to the world, needs an education in its own capacity for knowing and realizing its well-being. The conception of the subject in relation to the world calls for a different kind of education, particularly in the development of indigenous skills in humanistic research. This paper will argue that as a Filipino student is subjected to the imposition of the dominant Western educational system, they should also equally be given an education in their own rationality rooted in their own native subjectivity. A people must have the opportunity to be trained in their own rationality rooted in their own subjectivity in order to evaluate its value for human flourishing. (shrink)

The complicated colonial history of the Philippines impacts notions of gender in the Islands. Specifically, institutions with strong foreign roots, such as universities, maintain and challenge gender relations. The Philippines sees multiple gender issues in universities despite government-mandated gender mainstreaming policies for education (CMO-1), yet the influence of colonial values remains overlooked. This article contributes to philosophising Philippine education by providing the history of the country’s universities and their role in shaping gender relations. A threefold model of gender structures, relations (...) of power, production and cathexis (emotional attachment), frames historical literature during the Philippines’ Spanish and American colonial periods and contextualises the country’s gender order. The interplay of religion and higher education during the Philippines’ Spanish colonial period reveals why sexuality remains policed by education institutions. The gendering of courses during the American Colonial period details the feminisation of certain disciplines and occupations. Harmful manhood practices adopted during this period continue to affect men in university systems through Philippine fraternities. Lastly, private education perpetuates and maintains power among the elite. The evolution of the Philippine university provides points for analysis for gender issues. These become building blocks to the discourse surrounding the Filipino philosophy of education, by understanding facets of Filipino identity construction, and proposing avenues to explore when decolonising the university. (shrink)

According to expressivism about avowals, the meaning of typical self-ascriptions of mental states is a matter of expressing an attitude, rather than describing a state of affairs. Traditionally, expressivism has been glossed as the view that, qua expressions, avowals are not truth-evaluable. Contemporary neoexpressivists like Finkelstein and Bar-On have argued that avowals are expressions, and truth-evaluable besides . In contrast, this paper provides a defence of the view that avowals are, qua expressions, truth-evaluable. This defence is based on an argument (...) from disagreement, to the effect that an adequate explanation of the existence of disagreement involving both cases of avowals and cases of nonlinguistic expression (like winces) supports a view according to which genuine (sincere, truthful) expression is what truth amounts to in avowals. (shrink)

Genetic studies in the social sciences could be augmented through the additional consideration of functional (transcriptome, methylome, metabolome) and/or multimodal genetic data when attempting to understand the genetics of social phenomena. Understanding the biological pathways linking genetics and the environment will allow scientists to better evaluate the functional importance of polygenic scores.

This paper claims that we have direct and complete perceptual access to other people’s emotions in their bodily and behavioural expression. The claim is understood, not by analogy with the perception of three-dimensional objects or physical processes, but as a form of Gestalt perception. In addition, talk of direct perceptual access to others’ emotions is shown not to entail a behaviourist view of mind; and talk of complete perceptual access is shown to include both the phenomenological character and the dispositional (...) nature of emotions. (shrink)

The objective of this article is to analyse cultural influences when French companies cooperate with Mexican companies (subsidiaries of the French, established in Mexico) in the field of automotive manufacturing. An OEM supplier and a final assembly plant were selected to perform the study. Interviews with the workers, supervisors and managers have been performed. Case studies were collected in order to analyse the problems and to illustrate technical as well as cultural solutions. The analysis showed that important differences and coincidences (...) in the manufacturing solutions could be explained from the cultural (French and Mexican) standpoint. The conclusions integrate some recommendations for French and Mexican companies that are in actual cooperation or that are planning to globalise in the corresponding countries. (shrink)

These are some of the topics discussed in this book, both theoretically and with reference to concrete cases.

Epistemology had to come to terms with “the social” on two different occasions. The first was represented by the dispute about the epistemological status of the “social” sciences, and in this case the already well established epistemology of the natural sciences seemed to have the right to dictate the conditions for a discipline to be a science. But the social sciences could successfully vindicate the legitimacy of their specific criteria for scientificity. More recently, the impact of social factors on the (...) construction of our knowledge (including scientific knowledge) has reversed, in a certain sense, the old position and promoted social inquiry to the role of a criterion for evaluating the purport of cognitive (including scientific) statements. But this has undermined the traditional characteristics of objectivity and rigor that seem constitutive of science. Moreover, in order to establish the real extent to which social conditionings have an impact on scientific knowledge one must credit sociology with a sound ground of reliability, and this is not possible without a preliminary “epistemological” assessment. These are some of the topics discussed in this book, both theoretically and with reference to concrete cases. (shrink)

In this paper we propose to consider cynegetics as a configuration of constitutive practices of the hegemonic masculinity, in connection with the cisheteropatriarchal history of hunting in the West. To this end, following Federici, we will mention some of the effects that the witch hunt had on the construction of a new Western hegemonic masculinity. Then, following Mies, we will articulate the origins of the hunting of women with the milestone of the discovery of paternity. Finally, starting from a history (...) of hunting proposed by Chamayou, we will propose to nominate both hunting and discovery under the category of the cynegetics. Thus, cynegetics does not define a hetero-cis male behavior, but rather an ontoformative practice of the hegemonic masculine, given its historical transversality and its articulation with the cisheteropatriarchal system. (shrink)

Psychophysical studies of change blindness indicate that, at any instant, human observers are aware of detail in few parts of the visual field. Such results suggest, to some theorists, that human vision reconstructs only a few portions of the visual scene and that, to bridge the resulting representational gaps, it often lets physical objects serve as their own short-term memory. We propose that human vision reconstructs no portion of the visual scene, and that it never lets physical objects serve as (...) their own short-term memory. (shrink)

In this study the authors follow with extreme clarity what could be understood as the political ideology and the philosophy of language of Richard Rorty, from the perspective of the understanding assumed by this North American philosopher as to public democratic practices. His philosophy is es..

1. Overconfidence is usually understood as being more confident than reality justifies (Harvey, 1997; Moore & Healy, 2008; Pompian, 2006), which leads individuals to overestimate their performance...

Rare neuromuscular diseases are a group of pathologies characterized by a progressive loss of muscular strength, atrophy, fatigue, and other muscle-related symptoms, which affect quality of life levels. The low prevalence, high geographical dispersion and disability of these individuals involve difficulties in accessing health and social care services. Teleassistance is presented as a useful tool to perform psychosocial interventions in these situations. The main aim of this research is to assess the effects of a teleassistance psychosocial program on the QoL (...) levels of people with RNMDs who have different levels of disability. A sample of 73 participants was divided into an experimental group, which participated in the intervention, and a control wait list group. QoL was evaluated through the SIP and the SF-36, and disability through the WHO-DAS II. The participants with a moderate to severe level of disability were those who most benefited from the intervention. The results also revealed that the psychosocial teleassistance program was suitable to improve physical and psychosocial aspects of people suffering from a rare neuromuscular disease with a moderate level of disability, but just psychosocial aspects in those with a severe level of disability. (shrink)

Time and communication are important aspects of the medical consultation. Physician behavior in real-life pediatric consultations in relation to ethical practice, such as informed consent (provision of information, understanding), respect for integrity and patient autonomy (decision-making), has not been subjected to thorough empirical investigation. Such investigations are important tools in developing sound ethical praxis.

Appels au meurtre et à la haine, apologie de la pédophilie, propos racistes ou sexistes, quelles sont les limites de la liberté d'expression en littérature ? Le style et la fiction autorisent-ils toutes les transgressions ?

Today, people are better informed about environmental degradation than ever before. However, this does not imply that people are more engaged toward ecological issues nor are they more committed to achieve greater ecological justice. In this respect, environmental education is paradigmatic: the current generation of young people is, by far and without any doubt, the most knowledgeable and aware of environmental problems thanks, among other things, to the presence since the end of the 20th century of environmental education in primary (...) and secondary school. However, levels of commitment to ecological issues that are significantly higher than before are not observed, except when it comes to individual pro-environmental behavior. How to link environmental awareness with a collective, political, ecosocial and ecocitizen commitment? In order to advance avenues for reflection on this issue, firstly this article presents the elements that characterize the current ecosocial crisis. Secondly, it addresses the ecosocial crisis as a crisis of knowledge that ultimately points to the challenge of transforming the visions of the world. Thirdly, it considers the ecosocial crisis as an opportunity that opens up the possibility of creating new worlds on the planet. Fourthly, the ecosocial crisis is presented as a crisis of contemporary education. Fifthly, it summarizes the two risks to consider in the practice of ecosocial education: the risk of dogmatism and the risk of blaming individuals for global problems. Finally, some clues are proposed that point to the Philosophy for children program as a program that can support the educational practice needed by the current educational and ecosocial crisis, as well as limits recognized risks of ecosocial education. (shrink)

Contrary to the view maintained by many philosophers that science employs the deductive testing of hypotheses, observational natural sciences such as paleoanthropology and the earth sciences apply a scientific methodology consisting in the proposal of hypotheses which are best fitted to the available empirical data, i.e. which best explain the data. Observational natural sciences are predominantly empirical. They are grounded in observation, and they do not implement any Popperian deductive testing of hypotheses. Theoretical natural sciences such as mathematical physics also (...) apply inference to the best explanation for the introduction of significant concepts and hypotheses. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that in contemporary science, the use of abductive reasoning continues to be as effective as ever. (shrink)