This paper investigates the effect of female representation on the board of directors on corporate response to stakeholders’ demands for increased public reporting about climate change-related risks. We rely on the Carbon Disclosure Project as a sustainability initiative supported by institutional investors. Greenhouse gas emissions measurement and its disclosure to investors can be thought of as a first step toward addressing climate change issues and reducing the firm’s carbon footprint. Based on a sample of publicly listed Canadian firms over the (...) period 2008–2014, we find that the likelihood of voluntary climate change disclosure increases with women percentage on boards. We also find evidence that supports critical mass theory with regard to board gender diversity. These findings reinforce initiatives being undertaken around the world to promote gender diversity in corporate governance while demonstrating board effectiveness in stakeholder management. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Banks provide a valuable but inherently unstable combination of deposit‐taking and lending functions that were successfully held together for several decades after the New Deal by tough banking rules. The weakening of the rules after the 1970s promoted the displacement of traditional relationship‐based banking with securitized, arms‐length alternatives that encouraged banks to undertake activities about which bankers lacked deep relationship‐based knowledge of the risks. Ironically, this risky behavior, encouraged by loosened regulation, was reinforced by progressively tightened securities regulation, which (...) promoted stock‐market liquidity but also deprived large banks (and other publicly traded companies) of oversight by investors with “insiders’” knowledge. Both the underregulation of banking and the overregulation of securities were underpinned by economic theories that favored blind diversification in liquid, anonymous markets, and that ignored the value of relationship‐based knowledge and case‐by‐case due diligence. (shrink)

The epoch of Augustine is marked by several crises that settled in the Roman society. These crises did not escape from the sharp look of Saint Augustine. He showed how the political action of his contemporaries was something excessively ineffective to answer the wishes of a fair society, integrated by several people and races. This society, that had conquered in history, with mistakes and cleverness, power and glory, booth in the field of science and technology, for itself, the ways that (...) make sure to its citizens a prosper life, gradually succumbed. Thus, this article aims to exposes to the reader some aspects experienced by this society and make note that when policy is practiced by men who possess as premises the power and his own advantages, there is no richness or organization that will sustain such state or nation. (shrink)

Recently, the second author, Briseid, and Safarik introduced nonstandard Dialectica, a functional interpretation capable of eliminating instances of familiar principles of nonstandard arithmetic—including overspill, underspill, and generalizations to higher types—from proofs. We show that the properties of this interpretation are mirrored by first-order logic in a constructive sheaf model of nonstandard arithmetic due to Moerdijk, later developed by Palmgren, and draw some new connections between nonstandard principles and principles that are rejected by strict constructivism. Furthermore, we introduce a variant of (...) the Diller–Nahm interpretation with two different kinds of quantifiers, similar to Hernest’s light Dialectica interpretation, and show that one can obtain nonstandard Dialectica by weakening the computational content of the existential quantifiers—a process called herbrandization. We also define a constructive sheaf model mirroring this new functional interpretation, and show that the process of herbrandization has a clear meaning in terms of these sheaf models. (shrink)

Si le tragique n'est pas le propre de la tragédie grecque mais bien celui de 'l'être au monde de l'homme', sa conceptualisation n'advient qu'avec Wilderlin lorsque celui-ci s'approprie la question 'Comment lit-on la tragédie?', non plus selon son acception poétique, mais en tant que forme philosophique. Et si l'on suit sa réflexion, à la question 'Qu'est-ce que le tragique?', on notera qu'il est une façon d'être au monde de manière spéculative. L'union des contraires, de la poésie et de la sagesse, (...) voilà ce qui a tant plu à Empédocle, Hölderlin et Nietzsche. Si Je est un autre, la pensée tragique représente l'individu conscient de lui-même dans sa totalité. Mais, un personnage tragique n'est-il pas destiné à exister dans l'Histoire? Pour ces trois poètes, il s'agissait de traduire le monde du symbole, de la parabole, ou de l'allégorie en une nouvelle langue. En relisant de cette manière le tragique du monde, se découvre un sens qu'Empédocle, Hölderlin ou Nietzsche illuminèrent de leur regard: la mort dans les esquisses d'une tragédie pour Hölderlin et Nietzsche, ou la chute du démon chez Empédocle, traduisent la relation des oppositions dans l'absolu de la disparition"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Contributed articles with reference to India.

Multidimensional practical demand has made Islamology one of the most "trendy" branches of Oriental studies and has created a host of serious difficulties and problems associated with an adequate scientific response to the "Islamic challenge". Excessive politicization of the study of such a phenomenon as Islamic fundamentalism, radicalism in the world, undoubtedly, undermines the true scientific knowledge, preventing the specialists from understanding this complex phenomenon.

BackgroundPreprint usage is growing rapidly in the life sciences; however, questions remain on the relative quality of preprints when compared to published articles. An objective dimension of quality that is readily measurable is completeness of reporting, as transparency can improve the reader’s ability to independently interpret data and reproduce findings.MethodsIn this observational study, we initially compared independent samples of articles published in bioRxiv and in PubMed-indexed journals in 2016 using a quality of reporting questionnaire. After that, we performed paired comparisons (...) between preprints from bioRxiv to their own peer-reviewed versions in journals.ResultsPeer-reviewed articles had, on average, higher quality of reporting than preprints, although the difference was small, with absolute differences of 5.0% [95% CI 1.4, 8.6] and 4.7% [95% CI 2.4, 7.0] of reported items in the independent samples and paired sample comparison, respectively. There were larger differences favoring peer-reviewed articles in subjective ratings of how clearly titles and abstracts presented the main findings and how easy it was to locate relevant reporting information. Changes in reporting from preprints to peer-reviewed versions did not correlate with the impact factor of the publication venue or with the time lag from bioRxiv to journal publication.ConclusionsOur results suggest that, on average, publication in a peer-reviewed journal is associated with improvement in quality of reporting. They also show that quality of reporting in preprints in the life sciences is within a similar range as that of peer-reviewed articles, albeit slightly lower on average, supporting the idea that preprints should be considered valid scientific contributions. (shrink)

This article seeks to explore the theoretical contributions of Axel Honneth, particularly in his works, The Struggle for Recognition and Reification, aiming at diving deep into the debate on the contemporary ideological expressions and their incidence in the process of subjective constitution in teenage years. This particular interest springs from the need to interweave the concepts of reification, forgetfulness and recognition within a fruitful theoretical field in order to interpret a project work called Hip-Hop: cultures and identities, developed with teenagers (...) in a public school in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. From our point of view, the concepts of reification and forgetfulness are fundamental to identify how the conservative ideological expressions are present in the imaginary of adolescents in the contemporary world. Although rereading the concepts of reification and forgetfulness, as proposed by the author, is regarded as essential for understanding the ideological expressions that are based on and guided by consumption. However, even though we acknowledge Honneth's efforts toward moving forward with the concept of reification, it is crucial to emphasize the mediation concept Lukács explored in his work, History and Class Consciousness, so as to elucidate how the forgetfulness of the primary recognition relations is processed. (shrink)

Le SMSI a affiché et promu une démarche de multipartenariat entre gouvernements, monde économique et société civile. Nous avons étudié la liste de diffusion électronique de l'un des caucus, « Civil Society - Internet Governance », au long d'une période clé de l'initiative onusienne. En analysant les modalités des échanges, nous nous sommes demandé quels types de tactiques et de stratégies émergent de ce dispositif, et dans quelle mesure il participe du débat public. Enfin, nous nous sommes interrogés sur les (...) limites du rôle effectif de la « société civile » dans un contexte international particulier.WSIS posted and promoted a multi-stakeholder approach between governments, civil society and business world. We studied the electronic mailing list of one of the caucus, "Civil Society - Internet Governance" during a key period of the UN initiative. By analyzing the terms of trade, we asked what kind of tactics and strategies emerge from this device, and how it participates in the public debate. Finally, we asked about the limits of the actual role of "civil society" in a particular international context. (shrink)

O trabalho pretende, a partir da publicação das “Confissões da Carne”, analisar o impasse que diz respeito a sua não publicação em vida por Foucault, em especial em função da entrada do sujeito como terceiro componente do triângulo arqueológico-genealógico, impondo uma reviravolta decisiva em sua pesquisa. A força aletúrgica do sujeito implica uma definitiva dessoberanização do dispositivo de poder. Por um lado, se a forma moderna prevê a sua transferência de um poder sobre si próprio aos outros, o complexo de (...) estratégias governamentais, que «orientam» a direção da consciência, não implica a abdicação da liberdade por parte da pessoa a qual foi dirigida; por outro, uma segunda operação surge da diferenciação específica entre o modelo antigo e o modelo cristão, quer dizer, se o antigo modelo de direção funciona com vistas à autonomização do sujeito, aquele exame de consciência cristão estabelece como eixo a dependência e desenvolve uma racionalidade pastoral. Assim Foucault chega a uma estética da existência que é puro exercício de liberdade e perfeita atitude, que se oferece aos outros como prova do seu próprio valor. É com isso que o volume quarto da história da sexualidade é confrontado. O que muda drasticamente na experiência cristã da carne é a relação do sujeito com a verdade. A confissão, mais do que expiação dos pecados, neste quadro intervém como atestado e como testemunho de si próprio. Em conclusão, para Foucault, conotado pela imperfeição que o domina, o sujeito cristão liga-se a uma interminável direção de consciência cujo preço é uma perda de identidade indefinida. Assim, a partir deste recorte, o problema que passa a enfrentar é como encontrar uma forma de fundamentar a hermenêutica de si, não no sacrifício, mas numa “emergência positiva”, teórica e prática, de si, expondo tanto o momento transicional das “Confissões da Carne” quanto a própria razão pela qual renuncia à sua publicação. (shrink)

For humans, Artificial Intelligence operates more like a Rorschach test, as it is expected that intelligent machines will reflect humans' cognitive and physical behaviours. The concept of intelligence, however, is often confused with consciousness, and it is believed that the progress of intelligent machines will eventually result in them becoming conscious in the future. Nevertheless, what is overlooked is how the exploration of Artificial Intelligence also pertains to the development of human consciousness. An excellent example of this can be seen (...) in the film Being John Malkovich (1999). In the film, different characters have their perceptions altered as a result of hacking into the mind of John Malkovich, which produces sensations that may have remained hidden to their consciousness due to their dis-abilities. This article engages with the research question: Can the symbiotic relationship between humans and machines trigger an artificial consciousness for humans? An artificially created consciousness is the premise that a machine can generate knowledge about an individual that is not already present in the person. For the same purpose, the article takes the cinematic text Being John Malkovich by Spike Jonze for exploring concepts such as human/robot rights, virtual sex, virtual rape, and bodily disability, which are essential topics in the midst of increasing human- Artificial Intelligence interaction. The purpose of this article is to contribute towards the creation of a better understanding of Artificial Intelligence, particularly from the perspective of film studies and philosophy, by highlighting the potential of Artificial Intelligence as a vessel for exploring human consciousness. (shrink)

Este artigo começa por proceder à caracterização do Estado soberano, perspectivando-o como forma concreta e historicamente situada de organização política e inserindo-o no contexto dos demais modelos que o precederam. De seguida, constata a profunda crise que sobre ele se abateu, manifesta na incapacidade que apresenta, seja para explicar os fenómenos políticos com que nos deparamos diariamente, seja para constituir matriz adequada para a compreensão e explicação do mundo em que vivemos. Por último, lembra os direitos do homem desenvolvidos na (...) sequência da II Guerra Mundial do último século, explorando, por um lado, o carácter profundamente inovador que assumem e, por outro, a revolução que vêm introduzindo no sistema estatal de organização política. Tudo isto em apoio do principal argumento que se apresenta: quebrando o monopólio sobre o direito e o poder político que a modernidade havia consignado aos Estados, os direitos do homem emergem como uma das exigências mais eloquentes de um modelo novo de organização social e política, capaz de corresponder às necessidades que se fazem sentir, de universalidade, de solidariedade e de integração, também em termos jurídicos e políticos. /// This article opens with a characterization of the sovereign State, understood as a material and historically situated form of political organization and inserted in the context of the models that preceded it. In a second moment, it witnesses the profound crisis that has befallen it, evident in its incapacity, either to explain the political phenomenon we face daily, or to constitute an adequate framework for the under-standing and the explanation of the world we live in. Finally, it looks at human rights, as developed after the Second World War of the last century, exploring, on the one hand, their profoundly innovative character and, on the other, the revolution they are introducing in the State system of political organization. All of this in support of the main argument presented: breaking the monopoly over the law and political power that modernity had attributed to the States, human rights emerge as an eloquent demand for a new model of political organization, capable of corresponding to the demands of universality, solidarity and juridical and political integration that are felt in the contemporary world. (shrink)

O conhecimento de si há que se referir, necessariamente, a um si para o conhecimento. Não obstante, em âmbito metafísico e ontológico, o si a ser conhecido deveria ser o mesmo que buscaria conhecer-se. Isto quer dizer que o ser que se deveria conhecer seria anterior ao seu próprio ser enquanto já constituído por este seu conhecimento, ou ainda, seria tal pelo encontro entre o próprio ser em si, bondoso e virtuoso ele mesmo, com aquele que ainda é para ser, (...) e sobre a promoção da sabedoria de si, pela qual essência e existência se encontrariam e se fundiriam na alma. Poderíamos dizer que estamos aqui diante da reelaboração do conhece-te a ti socrático em direção a uma ontologização da alma humana, sobretudo se vista sob a ótica da busca pela autossuficiência do eu espiritual, tão cara ao período helenístico e romano e notadamente a Sêneca. (shrink)

In September 2018, a controversial judicial sentence concerning sexual violence caused a public outcry in Portugal. The court decision invoked the alleged environment of mutual seduction, the use of much alcohol consumption, and the lack of serious injuries to justify the suspended penalty. Stemming from the idea that understandings of what journalism is and what it should be are profoundly ideological and that notions of what it means to be and to behave like a woman and as a man have (...) been developed based on shifting realities within generalised patriarchal structures, this article intends to critically analyse the news media coverage of the controversial judicial sentence on this rape case in Portugal exploring the implications objective-based journalism entails for gender equality. As such, it will identify the shortcomings of objectivity and its leeway when covering sexual violence exploring how objective-based journalism provides room to negotiate practices, norms, identities, and meanings concerning sexual violence, particularly rape and rape myths, and questioning whether a margin of maneuvre is enough to deconstruct patriarchal assumptions of feminity, masculinity and sexuality. (shrink)

A ética do discurso justifica o conteúdo de uma moralidade que salienta a simetria entre os sujeitos e a solidariedade entre todos. Para Habermas “a solidariedade é a outra face da justiça” (1999, p. 42), ou seja, são duas faces da mesma moeda. Esta é uma afirmação chave em relação ao conteúdo cognitivo do âmbito moral. A validade das normas pressupõe uma fundamentação normativa estruturada linguisticamente, de forma a vincular a justiça com a solidariedade. A ênfase está em uma razão (...) prática capaz de fundamentar princípios igualitários e universalistas da moral e do direito (2009, p. 63). A legitimação do estado de direito deve preservar sua neutralidade ideológica, alicerçada em uma moral racional, isto é, laica (ou secular). Com isso, as exigências normativas devem ser aceitas por todos em uma sociedade pluralista, formada por cidadãos de diferentes credos e, inclusive, por não crentes (HABERMAS, 2009, p. 69). (shrink)

Dilthey's overall goal of a Critic of Historical Reason Will require a progression from an immediate kind of knowledge of life to the conceptual cognition of the human sciences, to a reflective knowledge that constitutes mature understanding. This paper intends to show, which are the difficulties and the limits of Dilthey's theoretical enterprise.O propósito sistemático-filosófico da crítica diltheiana da razão histórica traduz-se na busca de apoio do conhecimento objetivo para sua apreensão intuitiva da vida. O presente artigo busca mostrar não (...) só aspectos da trajetória teórica do autor, mas também suas dificuldades e limites. (shrink)

Situado no campo da discussão entre a filosofia da vida e a fenomenologia, ou mais especificamente entre a escola diltheiana e o círculo fenomenológico, o artigo investiga em que esfera Dilthey é, de fato, relativista, e, no caso afirmativo, até que ponto é possível extrair, de sua posição diante da história, consequências céticas.

My goal is to illustrate Descartes’ reliance on two quite different and competing interpretations of objective reality by explaining how each is used in defending his causal axioms. The initial criticism comes from Caterus (and is later taken up by Gassendi) who charges that Descartes makes it appear as if the thought in its objective aspect (the intentional entity) is really distinct from the thought qua modification of the mind (i.e., the thought in its formal aspect). This implies that the (...) object-of-the-thought is actually distinct from the thought-of-the-object in which case, (a) Descartes cannot account for the purported relation between the two, and (b) the intentional entity must exemplify properties which belong neither “immaterially” to mental substance nor concretely to physical substance. Descartes rejects Caterus’ assessment of his position: he has not introduced a fourth kind of real entity into the causal order distinct from the mind, its modifications, and the physical object thought of. However, in responding to Caterus, Descartes implicitly appeals to a Suarezian theory of intentionality in which reference to the ostensibly separate reality of the objective entity is reducible to the formal concept: the thought-of-the-object is not really distinct from the object-of-thought. Clearly, Descartes cannot explicitly use the Suarezian theory because it relies on a system of causal explanation (the doctrine of the species “flitting through the air”) which Descartes rejects on scientific grounds. I shall argue that Descartes is committed to a notion of the “form” of the mind, viz., a modification of mind, which should allow for a non-relational modeling of the thought qua modification of the mind and its intentional object, but that he cannot consistently attribute to mental acts enough structure to support his theory. (shrink)

O texto tem como objetivo desenvolver reflexão atualizada em relação à pedagogia das competências como tendência pós-moderna à luz da pedagogia histórico-crítica. É apresentado em três partes além da introdução e conclusão. Na primeira, pretende-se caracterizar a pedagogia histórico-crítica; segunda, algumas críticas à pedagogia das competências; terceira, revelar a relação entre a pedagogia das competências e a educação do estado de São Paulo; na conclusão, a necessidade urgente de resgatar a concepção de educação pautada na totalidade, superação da visão individualista, (...) defesa dos interesses planetários e universais, as questões éticas, ambientais, justiça social e valorização da vida. (shrink)

La photographie des deux gardiens du camp de Buchenwald, signée Lee Miller, tranche dans l’iconographie traditionnelle des camps de concentration. Photographie de combat, qui s’intéresse à l’ennemi, elle refuse la neutralité de la photographie documentaire et le style compassionnel qui privilégie les victimes depuis les années 1930. Mais cette photographie doit aussi se regarder comme un miroir. À travers la violence, la domination de l’ennemi et le voyeurisme qui sont au coeur de son dispositif, l’image dessine le portrait d’une femme (...) archétype de la beauté, qui choisit de faire la guerre en homme et en soldat, pour rompre avec son passé et une identité féminine traditionnelle qui l’enferme et la contraint. (shrink)

This paper explores the role of metonymy in determining a syntactic argument alternation (“conductor-vehiclealternation”) which occurs in English and Portuguese:o piloto acelerou a Ferrari“the driver speeded up the Ferrari”/a Ferrari acelerou“the Ferrari speeded up/sped away”. Since the verbs in theconductor-vehiclealternation haveconductorandvehiclearguments (controller and controlled entities), a metonymic process can occur, allowing thevehicleexpression to provide access to theconductorparticipant. To explain how metonymy allows a verb with two participants to be integrated into a construction with a single argument, we assume that metonymy (...) gathers information about both entities involved; thevehicleexpression provides mental access to bothvehicleandconductor(“fusion”). We also discuss cognitive and pragmatic factors involving the choice of a construction over another. Constructions withvehicleexpressions as subject are used when thevehicleis salient or theconductoris unknown. This also explains whydirigir“drive” does not alternate in Portuguese, contrarily to prediction and differently from Englishdrive. We provide a comparative account of the behavior of this verb in both languages.Dirigir, differently fromdrive, conceptualizes semantic components incompatible with a situation in which the agent/conductoris not salient or is unknown. This research adds to the ongoing body of literature on the role of metonymy in grammar and is a contribution to the understanding of the metonymic process, as a fusion, and also to argument alternation processes and lexical-constructional integration. (shrink)

We retrieve Bakhtin's reflections on Forms of Time and the Chronotope in the Novel present in The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin in order to verify the variations of the 'Ancient Biography and Autobiography Chronotope' in contemporary autobiography novel. We thus analyze the chronotope in the autobiography novels A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway, and Chá das cinco com o vampire [Afternoon Tea with the Vampire], by the Brazilian writer Miguel Sanches Neto. Our reading of Bakhtin's notion (...) of chronotope in these narratives leads us to relate the form of public and private space configuration with different strategies of representation. (shrink)

Os pensadores antigos deixaram uma extensa e variada historiografia acerca do estudo sobre os animais, e a contemporaneidade a recobrou. Na tardia antiguidade, abundantes pesquisas a partir de Plutarco e, em menor número, desde Porfirio, ambos autores de tratados específicos sobre o tema, devem ser ressaltadas. A existência ou não de razão nos animais ou, de outro lado, a discussão e demonstração afirmativa desta, embora fundada em uma natureza e certa dinâmica psicofísica singular à humana, mas nunca quanto a sua (...) essencialidade mesma, cujo princípio é metafísico e uno, constituem alguns dos argumentos abordados. No entanto, em relação a este segundo aspecto, que toca a própria questão da Alma e, como seu corolário, a dinâmica uno-múltiplo nos seres fenomênicos, pouco se disse. Como acreditamos que o estudo sobre a alma seja essencial a nossa discussão, ela é o nosso foco neste estudo. (shrink)

O presente artigo explica o que é e como funciona o método de análise lógica de Russell no contexto do atomismo lógico, apontando os objetivos e preceitos que ele leva em conta quando se propõe a fazer análises proposicionais. Após explorar o desenvolvimento geral da análise em sua obra, examinamos dois exemplos de análise proposicional: o de proposições relacionais e o de proposições que contêm descrições. Nos dois casos, notamos que Russell busca romper com uma lógica restrita à forma sujeito-predicado, (...) que ele pensava ser a origem de uma gramática defectiva e, por isso, também de muitos dos problemas metafísicos tradicionais. Neste sentido, presumindo que pode haver uma ampla variedade de formas, Russell pensa que o objetivo da análise seria justamente identificar qual é a forma lógica e quais são os constituintes de uma proposição, o que serviria para desfazer mal-entendidos da linguagem e dissolver problemas metafísicos. Portanto, no presente artigo, detalhamos sob quais preceitos teóricos Russell realiza esse objetivo nos dois exemplos especificados. (shrink)

Summary This paper discusses the emergence of new medical experimental specialties at the Medical School of Surgery (Escola Médico-Cirúrgica) and the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon University (Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa) between 1897 and 1946, as a result of the activities of Marck Athias's (1875?1946) histophysiology research school. In 1897, Marck Athias, a Portuguese physician who had graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, founded a research school in Lisbon along the lines of Michael Foster's physiology (...) research school in England and Franz Hofmeister's physiological chemistry school in Germany. His research programme was highly innovative in Portugal. Not only did it bring together many disciples and co-workers, but it branched out and created new medical specialties within Portuguese medical science. These new disciplinary areas grew out of the study of the histology of the nervous system but eventually expanded into normal and pathological histophysiology, physiological chemistry and experimental endocrinology. The esprit de corps that existed between research school members ensured the school's success and influence in various fields social and political as well as scientific. Athias's school was strongly influenced by positivist ideals and promoted a teaching and research style that sought inspiration in Humboldt's university model, thus helping to bring about a change in the dominant scientific ethos and to modernize scientific research in Portugal during the first half of the twentieth century. (shrink)

In this article we present a new kind of computing device that uses biochemical reactions networks as building blocks to implement logic gates. The architecture of a computing machine relies on these generic and composable building blocks, computation units, that can be used in multiple instances to perform complex boolean functions. Standard logical operations are implemented by biochemical networks, encapsulated and insulated within synthetic vesicles called protocells. These protocells are capable of exchanging energy and information with each other through transmembrane (...) electron transfer. In the paradigm of computation we propose, protoputing, a machine can solve only one problem and therefore has to be built specifically. Thus, the programming phase in the standard computing paradigm is represented in our approach by the set of assembly instructions that directs the wiring of the protocells that constitute the machine itself. To demonstrate the computing power of protocellular machines, we apply it to solve a NP-complete problem, known to be very demanding in computing power, the 3-SAT problem. We show how to program the assembly of a machine that can verify the satisfiability of a given boolean formula. Then we show how to use the massive parallelism of these machines to verify in less than 20 min all the valuations of the input variables and output a fluorescent signal when the formula is satisfiable or no signal at all otherwise. (shrink)

El artículo indaga en la reemergencia de ciertos principios que la Edad Media vinculó al pensamiento de Averroes en pensadores contemporáneos como Giorgio Agamben, Roberto Esposito, Emanuele Coccia y Jean Baptiste Brenet. La eternidad del mundo y la separación del itnelecto vuelven a aparecer como sustento de una filosofía capaz de poner en tela de juicio ideas fundamentales de la modernidad como la de sujeto o persona, sin por ello entramparse en el nihilismo.

This paper focuses on the interpretation of the Italian approximative adverb quasi 'almost' by primarily looking at cases in which it modifies temporal connectives, a domain which, to our knowledge, has been largely unexplored thus far. Consideration of this domain supports the need for a scalar account of the semantics of quasi (close in spirit to Hitzeman's semantic analysis of almost, in: Canakis et al. (eds) Papers from the 28th regional meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 1992). When paired with (...) suitable analyses of temporal connectives, such an account can provide a simple explanation of the patterns of implication that are observed when quasi modifies locational (e. g. quando 'when'), directional (e. g. fino 'until' and da 'since'), and event-sequencing temporal connectives (e. g. prima 'before' and dopo ' after'). A challenging empirical phenomenon that is observed is a contrast between the modification of fino and da by quasi, on the one hand, and the modification of prima and dopo by the same adverb, on the other. While quasi fino and quasi da behave symmetrically, a puzzling asymmetry is observed between quasi prima and quasi dopo. To explain the asymmetry, we propose an analysis of prima and dopo on which the former has the meaning of the temporal comparative più presto 'earlier', while the latter is seen as an atomic predicate denoting temporal succession between events (Del Prete, Nat Lang Semantics 16: 157-203, 2008). We show that the same pattern of implication observed for quasi prima is attested when quasi modifies overt comparatives, and propose a pragmatic analysis of this pattern that uniformly applies to both cases, thus providing new evidence for the claim that prima is underlyingly a comparative. A major point of this paper is a discussion of the notion of scale which is relevant for the semantics of quasi', in particular, we show that the notion of Horn (entailment-based) scale is not well-suited for handling modification of temporal connectives, and that a more general notion of scale is required in order to provide a uniform analysis of quasi as a cross-categorial modifier. (shrink)