This article explores the relation between the concept of symmetry and its formalisms. The standard view among philosophers and physicists is that symmetry is completely formalized by mathematical groups. For some mathematicians however, the groupoid is a competing and more general formalism. An analysis of symmetry that justifies this extension has not been adequately spelled out. After a brief explication of how groups, equivalence, and symmetries classes are related, we show that, while it’s true in some instances that groups are (...) too restrictive, there are other instances for which the standard extension to groupoids is too un restrictive. The connection between groups and equivalence classes, when generalized to groupoids, suggests a middle ground between the two. *Received July 2007. †To contact the authors, please write to: Alexandre Guay, UFR Sciences et Techniques, Université de Bourgogne, 9 Avenue Alain Savary, 21078 Dijon Cedex, France; e‐mail: alexandre[email protected] ; or to Brian Hepburn, Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, 1866 Main Mall E370, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z1; e‐mail: [email protected]. (shrink)

This thesis aims to critique the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth and its underlying moral justification in order to provide a stronger and improved version of both. In Chapter 1 I explore what sort of moral justification is necessary to establish the Universal Declaration on firm grounds and explore its relation to environmental ethics and rights discourse. I argue that a non-anthropocentric perspective is necessary to justify the Universal Declaration’s rights. In Chapter 2 I explore the underlying (...) justification of the Universal Declaration as discovered in the works of Cormac Cullinan and Father Thomas Berry. I argue that their ethical framework is indeterminate, has many ambiguities and uncertainties, and, among other problems, it does not provide a clear action-guiding framework. In Chapter 3 I develop an alternative justification for the Universal Declaration. I argue against many predominant moral theories, that in light of our best scientific and moral understanding we should expand the realm of moral concern to include all living beings, a moral theory I call Life’s Imperative. In Chapter 4 I illustrate that Life’s Imperative is a much stronger, more coherent justification for the Universal Declaration, one that coheres with both our best understanding of the natural world and our relation to it, and to an environmental ethic reflective of that relationship. Unfortunately many of the weaknesses in the current implicit justification of the Universal Declaration have also led to it enshrining rights that are themselves problematic. In order to address these issues, I revise its rights to accord with the stronger justification that I established in Chapter 3. The end result of doing so is a revised version of the Universal Declaration. (shrink)

A recent proposal to solve the halting problem with the quantum adiabatic algorithm is criticized and found wanting. Contrary to other physical hypercomputers, where one believes that a physical process “computes” a (recursive-theoretic) non-computable function simply because one believes the physical theory that presumably governs or describes such process, believing the theory (i.e., quantum mechanics) in the case of the quantum adiabatic “hypercomputer” is tantamount to acknowledging that the hypercomputer cannot perform its task.

In recent years, there has been a growing phenomenon of what we like to call technological love, that is, the search for love through the potential of technology, that has resulted in new ways to experience falling in love and sexuality. Many of the online platforms are based on the premise that love is the most important, with social networks and chats reaching their peak because of this, in such a way that they were extrapolated to TV shows or contests (...) like “Love on Top” or “Adam and Eve”. In contrast, news emerges that affirm that an absolute sexual revolution will take place in the coming decades, in which sexual partners may be exchanged for robots or neuronal stimulation programs for personal satisfaction. In this sense, this essay seeks first to reflect on the current situation in which personal relationships are found, and secondly, to deepen the hypothesis of another sexuality, concluding with a reflection on the most radical possibility that will be the annulment of sexuality as an experience of love, that is, becoming a mere robotization of sexuality. In view of this possibility, a sexual revolution will take shape as a phenomenon that cancels the intimacy that characterizes the human. (shrink)

Este texto quer examinar como Kant a partir da sua concepção de _cogito_ procura refutar o idealismo problemático de Descartes. Em primeiro lugar, quer verificar se Kant, ao entender a consciência de si como dependente da consciência de objeto, não estaria assumindo pressupostos metafísicos e epistemológicos diferentes dos assumidos por Descartes em sua concepção de _cogito_. Em segundo lugar, tenta formular o problema do alcance das noções de representação e reflexividade em cada um dos referidos filósofos. Para enfrentar essa problemática, (...) elege como metodologia de investigação a análise da Refutação do Idealismo da Analítica dos Princípios da _Crítica da Razão Pura_, bem como de alguns textos de Descartes que explicitam a sua concepção de _cogito_. (shrink)

Na obra Politische Theologie, Carl Schmitt proclama duas teses centrais no seu pensamento político: 1) Soberano é quem decide sobre o estado de excepção e 2) Todos os conceitos políticos significativos são conceitos teológicos secularizados. Apesar de não estarem relacionadas imediatamente, tem de haver uma conexão entre as duas teses. É o estabelecimento desta conexão que constitui o propósito deste artigo. Na primeira tese, Schmitt defende, contra o normativismo, que o direito não pode ser considerado autonomamente, mas deve sempre remeter (...) para um poder político juridicamente ilimitado. O autor do artigo defende que a segunda tese apresenta a justificação racional do poder político ilimitado: este é considerado por Schmitt como a mediação política e institucional da teologia, a qual, sem a mediação política, resultará em fanatismo, irracionalidade, ódio e guerra total /// In the work Politische Theologie, Carl Schmitt proclaims two main theses of his political thought: 1) Souverän ist, wer über den Ausnahmezustand entscheidet and 2) Alle prägnanten Begriffe der modernen Staatslehre sind säkularisierte theologische Begriffe. Although the two theses are not immediately related, a connection must be established between them. To settle such a connection is the aim of the present article. In the first of his thesis, Schmitt sustains against normativism that Law cannot be considered only by itself, but must always refer to a juridically unlimited political power. The author of the article argues that the second thesis presents the rational justification of unlimited political power: this political power is considered by Schmitt as the political and institutional mediation of theology, which, without political mediation, will end in fanaticism, irrationality, hatred and total war. (shrink)

El artículo revisa la diversificación de formas de religiosidad, y se plantea analizar el fenómeno de lo sagrado en el contexto de las prácticas sociales, buscando comprenderlo en sus manifestaciones espaciales y como configurador de relaciones sociales en el proceso de construcción territorial. Afirma que la estructuración de la vida colectiva ha tenido desde un inicio una tentativa integradora con la totalidad cósmica a través del espíritu religioso, siendo esto lo que ha otorgado sentido al mundo, lo que sigue manifestándose (...) en las territorialidades de lo sagrado de este tiempo presente. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

Este trabalho apresenta e situa o pensamento do filósofo alemão Jürgen Habermas no discurso pós-metafísico em uma sociedade secularizada. Esta reflexão articula-se em dois momentos. Em um primeiro momento, trata-se de apresentar o discurso da Modernidade, evidenciando os principais aspectos da crítica à razão instrumental de Horkheimer e Adorno, a importância do conceito hegeliano de Modernidade, e Nietzsche como o ponto de inflexão para o discurso pós-metafísico. Em um segundo momento, apresenta-se, mais exatamente, o discurso pós-metafísico em uma sociedade secularizada. (...) À luz desse esboço, seguindo o procedimento metodológico de investigação baseado no método de abordagem analítico, pretende-se, a partir do pensamento de Habermas, apresentar, por um lado, um discurso filosófico ciente das dificuldades, e, também, de sua falibilidade, mas, por outro lado, da sua relevância na busca da construção do discurso filosófico com sentido a partir do consenso válido intersubjetivamente. Palavras-chave: Habermas. Modernidade. Sociedade. Pós-metafísico. Secularização. (shrink)

Pensamos que apesar de Kant inaugurar sua filosofia crítica tratando das condições de possibilidade formais para resolução de problemas (filosofia crítica), ele avança na década de 1790 em direção a estabelecer a antropologia como finalidade da sua filosofia. Considerando isso, o objetivo deste escrito é mostrar que a recepção da filosofia kantiana nos séculos XIX e XX foi logicista e formalista, ressaltando bem mais sua base transcendental que pragmática (em sentido kantiano). Desse modo, o retorno a Kant, promovido pelo Neokantismo, (...) contribuiu para o esquecimento e não tematização da centralidade da sua antropologia, pois se voltou às condições de possibilidade para a consolidação das ciências na segunda metade do século XIX e legou ao kantismo do século XX modelos interpretativos de viés logicista a analítico, deixando de lado qualquer reflexão profunda sobre a parte empírica de sua filosofia, posto considerá-la impura. Também pontuaremos que a própria ciência etnográfica desconsidera qualquer herança de Kant em sua constituição. No final, provaremos estatisticamente, por meio da análise do centenário histórico da revista Kant Studien que houve um baixíssimo volume de textos sobre temas pragmáticos. A antropologia de Kant foi esquecida pela fortuna crítica, quando deveria ter sido posta como central. (shrink)

BREVE RELATO DE UMA OUTRA EXPERIÊNCIA EDUCACIONAL: O ENSINO JURÍDICO NOS ESTADOS UNIDOS.

Cet ouvrage d'histoire des idées et de philosophie des sciences rassemble plusieurs études dont le point commun est d'analyser les conséquences majeures de la découverte scientifique de l'infini. Ainsi, Alexandre Koyré montre comment la révolution galiléenne ou la découverte du calcul infinitésimal par Leibniz et Newton ont profondément modifié la conscience qu'a l'homme de lui-même et de sa place dans l'univers.

Natural modalities are often analysed from an abstract point of view where they are associated with putative laws of nature. However, the way possibilities are represented in physics is more complex. Lagrangian mechanics, for instance, involves two different layers of modalities: kinematical and dynamical possibilities. This paper examines the status of these two layers, both in the classical and quantum case. The quantum case is particularly problematic: we identify four possible interpretive options. The upshot is that a close inspection of (...) the way possibilities are represented in physics could lead to new ways of thinking about natural modalities. (shrink)

The singularity arising from the violation of the Lipschitz condition in the simple Newtonian system proposed recently by Norton (2003) is so fragile as to be completely and irreparably destroyed by slightly relaxing certain (infinite) idealizations pertaining to elastic phenomena in this model. I demonstrate that this is also true for several other Lipschitz-indeterministic systems, which, unlike Norton's example, have no surface curvature singularities. As a result, indeterminism in these systems should rather be viewed as an artefact of certain infinite (...) idealizations essential for these models, depriving them of much of their intended metaphysical import. (shrink)

(2013). Does consciousness entail subjectivity? The puzzle of thought insertion. Philosophical Psychology: Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 291-314. doi: 10.1080/09515089.2011.625117.

Depersonalization is a pathological condition consisting in a deep modification of the way things appear to a subject, leading him to feel estranged from his body, his actions, his thoughts, his mind and even from himself. In this article, I argue that the study of depersonalization raises three challenges for recent theories of the sense of bodily ownership. These challenges—which I call the centrality challenge, the dissociation challenge and the grounding challenge— thwart most of these theories and suggest that the (...) sense of bodily ownership hinges on a phenomenal mark of mineness that can not be accounted for in terms of our sensory, interoceptive, agentive, cognitive or affective dispositions and that is psychologically primitive. In short: that mineness is first. (shrink)

One objection to enhancement technologies is that they might lead us to live inauthentic lives. Memory modification technologies (MMTs) raise this worry in a particularly acute manner. In this paper I describe four scenarios where the use of MMTs might be said to lead to an inauthentic life. I then undertake to justify that judgment. I review the main existing accounts of authenticity, and present my own version of what I call a “true self” account (intended as a complement, rather (...) than a substitute, to existing accounts). I briefly describe current and prospective MMTs, distinguishing between memory enhancement and memory editing . Moving then to an assessment of the initial scenarios in the light of the accounts previously described, I argue that memory enhancement does not, by its very nature, raise serious concerns about authenticity. The main threat to authenticity posed by MMTs comes, I suggest, from memory editing. Rejecting as inadequate the worries about identity raised by the President’s Council on Bioethics in Beyond Therapy , I argue instead that memory editing can cause us to live an inauthentic life in two main ways: first, by threatening its truthfulness, and secondly, by interfering with our disposition to respond in certain ways to some past events, when we have reasons to respond in such ways. This consideration allows us to justify the charge of inauthenticity in cases where existing accounts fail. It also gives us a significant moral reason not to use MMTs in ways that would lead to such an outcome. (shrink)

More and more companies are developing corporate social responsibility -related programs which imply strategic and organizational changes. This article focuses on a public utility organization, the Groupe La Poste, in which CSR issues and practices are linked to its specific mission as a public service, thus defining and explicitly structuring its CSR programs. We explore the following research questions: Why did the Groupe La Poste formulate explicitly its CSR program? What is the content of this program and how it is (...) perceived by managers? To provide answers to these questions, we have developed a conceptual framework based on a literature review linking CSR to strategic and organizational change and we apply it to the Groupe La Poste. The analysis shows a progressive convergence between strategic and CSR trajectories and sheds light into how an organization can progressively integrate CSR as a central part of its strategic plan. It confirms the role of central dimensions that support the integration of CSR programs within the organization. CSR-related mission and vision aim at orienting the organization toward sustainability and responsibility. CSR-related principles and policies transpose vision and mission into commitments and guide the implementation and adoption of responsible behavior while CSR-related shared values underlie the whole program. (shrink)