Original scholarly essays by leading philosophers, which bring to life Machiavelli’s lengthiest and most challenging work.

In identifying that the 'essential tension' is the balance between conservative and innovative approaches in the development of knowledge - tried-and tested or new directions - Kuhn pointed out that these two attitudes are both appropriate. This study adds to this picture the social and psychological dynamics that underpin any such balancing.

In this article, I focus on Johann Nikolaus Tetens’s linguistic theory to make three arguments: (a) this linguistic theory endorses a phonological (contra phonetic) approach to the acoustic sphere of language; (b) the phonological approach is based on the idea that sounds can turn into phonemes (of a properly human language) only when a minimally rational reflection on them is made; and (c) the phonological approach allows us to understand the phoneme as a differential unity, as being composed of structure (...) and function, and as giving a theoretical basis for language learning. (shrink)

La filosofía práctica no está hecha para predicar en el vacío, sino para guiar nuestra conducta privada y pública. Como una vía de acercar esa reflexión a la gente, Aurelio Arteta nos propone reunir estos tópicos tan familiares a fin de escudriñar sus flacos fundamentos y efectos perversos. Ellos delatan las creencias dominantes, los grandes prejuicios colectivos. Tantos tontos tópicos recoge desde las excusas más socorridas de la irresponsabilidad y la pereza hasta la retórica ordinaria sobre la violencia o (...) la democracia. Son estos comodines del lenguaje ordinario los que nos aportan la seguridad de que no estamos solos. Tal es la función primera de los tópicos: acomodarnos al grupo, vestirnos a la moda verbal del momento, volvernos normales. A base de amontonar esos lugares comunes, construimos nuestra comunicación más impersonal y automática. Decir lo que se dice nos permite opinar sin la molestia de pensar lo que decimos y, de paso, alcanzar la ilusoria certeza de entender y ser entendidos. Y en ésas estamos. (shrink)

Se critica el nuevo artículo de Ulises Moulines, «Crispaciones hispánicas », publicado en este mismo número como réplica al mío, «Un nacionalista en apuros», éste en respuesta a su inicial «Manifiesto nacionalista». En la primera parte, ilustro con detalle los múltiples modos como mi adversario incumple los requisitos morales mínimos que deben regir un debate teórico. Se enumera así su recurso al victimismo, sus argucias para tergiversar mis tesis explícitas y, en fin, su evasión sistemática de casi todas mis objeciones. (...) La segunda parte pretende probar la inconsistencia del silogismo que condensa las proposiciones centrales de Moulines. La premisa ontológica, más que la existencia de las naciones, demuestra la de los nacionalismos empeñados en construirlas y dotarlas de soberanía; la premisa axiológica, o «principio del valor intrínseco de la pluralidad del ser», resulta estética y éticamente indefendible; su conclusión práctica, en pro del nacionalismo, será por fuerza inconsecuente además de temeraria. En la tercera parte, frente a las propuestas moulineanas sobre la España actual, sugiero un par de reflexiones: de un lado, acerca del significado del carácter «multinacional» de nuestro país y por qué es preferible denominarlo «España» y no «Estado español»; del otro, y tras rechazar la alternativa «o resignación o secesión», muestro la falta en Moulines de razones que legitimen las consultas de autodeterminación, amén del sinsentido y probables efectos desastrosos de su ejercicio en la España de nuestros días. (shrink)

: While putting forward the proposal of a “philosophy of technology in the nominative case,” grounded on the concept of Neoenvironmentality, this paper intends to argue that the best definition of our current age is not “Anthropocene.” Rather, it is “Technocene,” since technology represents here and now the real “subject of history” and of nature, i.e. the environment where man has to live.This proposal culminates in a new definition of man’s humanity and of technology. Switching from natura hominis to conditio (...) humana, the peculiarity of man can be defined on the basis of an anthropic perimeter, the core of which consists of man’s worldhood: man is that being that has a world, while animal has a mere environment. Both man’s worldhood and animal’s environmentality are derived from a pathic premise, namely the fundamental moods that refer them to their respective findingness.From this anthropological premise, technology emerges as the oikos of contemporary humanity. Technology becomes the current form of the world – and so gives birth to a Technocene – insofar as it introduces in any human context its ratio operandi and so assimilates man to an animal condition, i.e. an environmental one. Technocene corresponds on the one side to the emergence of technology as environment and on the other to the feralization of man. The spirit of Technocene turns out to be the complete redefinition of the anthropic perimeter.While providing a non-ideological characterization of the current age, this paper proposes the strategy of an ‘anthropological conservatism,’ that is to say a pathic desertion understood as a possible condition for the beginning of an authentic Anthropocene, i.e. the age of an-at-last-entirely-human-man. (shrink)

While putting forward the proposal of a “philosophy of technology in the nominative case,” grounded on the concept of Neoenvironmentality, this paper intends to argue that the best definition of our current age is not “Anthropocene.” Rather, it is “Technocene,” since technology represents here and now the real “subject of history” and of (a de-natured) nature, i.e. the (neo)environment where man has to live.This proposal culminates in a new definition of man’s humanity and of technology. Switching from natura hominis to (...) conditio humana, the peculiarity of man can be defined on the basis of an anthropic perimeter, the core of which consists of man’s worldhood: man is that being that has a world (Welt), while animal has a mere environment (Umwelt). Both man’s worldhood and animal’s environmentality are derived from a pathic premise, namely the fundamental moods (Grundstimmungen) that refer them to their respective findingness (Befindlichkeit).From this anthropological premise, technology emerges as the oikos of contemporary humanity. Technology becomes the current form of the world – and so gives birth to a Technocene – insofar as it introduces in any human context its ratio operandi and so assimilates man to an animal condition, i.e. an environmental one. Technocene corresponds on the one side to the emergence of technology as (Neo)environment and on the other to the feralization of man. The spirit of Technocene turns out to be the complete redefinition of the anthropic perimeter.While providing a non-ideological characterization of the current age, this paper proposes the strategy of an ‘anthropological conservatism,’ that is to say a pathic desertion understood as a possible (pre)condition for the beginning of an authentic Anthropocene, i.e. the age of an-at-last-entirely-human-man. (shrink)

Quale rapporto c'è tra una noticina di appena 30 righe e un'opera filosofica di quasi 500 pagine? A questa domanda, appassionante per chi s'interessa alla genesi delle opere del pensiero, Simone D'Agostino risponde esaminando il rapporto tra il capolavoro blondeliano del 1893, L'Action, e quella che si suole chiamare la "Première notule" del 5 novembre 1882. Il presente lavoro non è uno studio genetico del pensiero blondeliano, bensì una sua interpretazione sistematica da due punti focali e rispecchiantisi l'uno nell'altro. (...) Sotto questo aspetto, la ricerca di D'Agostino può definirsi unica nel suo genere. (shrink)

The current paper synthesizes theory and data from the field of life history (LH) evolution to advance a new developmental theory of variation in human LH strategies. The theory posits that clusters of correlated LH traits (e.g., timing of puberty, age at sexual debut and first birth, parental investment strategies) lie on a slow-to-fast continuum; that harshness (externally caused levels of morbidity-mortality) and unpredictability (spatial-temporal variation in harshness) are the most fundamental environmental influences on the evolution and development of LH (...) strategies; and that these influences depend on population densities and related levels of intraspecific competition and resource scarcity, on age schedules of mortality, on the sensitivity of morbidity-mortality to the organism’s resource-allocation decisions, and on the extent to which environmental fluctuations affect individuals versus populations over short versus long timescales. These interrelated factors operate at evolutionary and developmental levels and should be distinguished because they exert distinctive effects on LH traits and are hierarchically operative in terms of primacy of influence. Although converging lines of evidence support core assumptions of the theory, many questions remain unanswered. This review demonstrates the value of applying a multilevel evolutionary-developmental approach to the analysis of a central feature of human phenotypic variation: LH strategy. (shrink)

This books offers an annotated edition of Nifo’s De intellectu (1503), including an extensive analytical summary of the contents, as well as a chronology of Nifo’s life and works, and a full index of the chapters of this work.

Whether and how music is involved in evoking emotions is a matter of considerable debate. In the target article, Juslin & Vll (J&V) argue that music induces a wide range of both basic and complex emotions that are shared with other stimuli. If such a link exists, it would provide a common basis for considering the interactions among music, emotion, timing, and time perception.

Preterm discharge effects: Relationship between the maternal experience and newborn's psychobiological regulation The purpose of this study is to investigate how the past experiences of mothers and their potentially traumatic events during pregnancy may have influenced the processes of psychobiological self-regulation and cognitive development in a child born preterm. Eighty children who had a gestational age of < 32 weeks were examined at the 9th month of the corrected age. The mothers and children were divided in two groups: multipara mothers (...) and their children and the primipara mothers and their children. These children were examined on the basis of sleep disorders, nutritional problems and mental development. Perinatal data from clinical observations and data from standardized developmental tests were used to describe the differences. The children of primipara mothers who had unexpected preterm delivery presented major incidences of sleep disorders while the children of primipara mothers, who programmed preterm delivery, presented a major incidences of nutrition problems. The predictability of preterm delivery has a major influence on the capacity of newborns for self-regulation in the case of primipara mothers. (shrink)

El artículo pretende ofrecer una réplica detallada del «Manifiesto nacionalista» de Ulises Moulines . Entre las muchas debilidades de aquella defensa del nacionalismo étnico destaca la incomprensión del sentido de unos cuantos conflictos intranacionales. Pues, lejos de ser síntoma de la existencia de una nación sojuzgada , podrían ser más bien señal de lo contrario: de que en esa población no hay conciencia nacional suficiente para demandar la soberanía política y de que es el nacionalismo el interesado inductor del conflicto. (...) Si la mini-teoría de etnias y naciones de Moulines se limita a reafirmar la radical indefinición de tales conceptos, tampoco su principio del Valor intrínseco de la pluralidad del Ser aporta prueba alguna de un presunto derecho de las naciones a su independencia. Igual que se pasa por alto la más que dudosa compatibilidad entre nacionalismo étnico y democracia, se presupone que un Estado multinacional “las más de las veces” no puede funcionar. En suma, vuelta al viejo principio de las nacionalidades. (shrink)

This book supports the idea that the ancient conception of philosophy as a way of life does not disappear in early modernity, but is transformed into a search for how to cure, guide, and free the human mind.

Dentro del indudable atractivo que provoca hoy día el estudio del siglo XVI, queremos ofrecer la visión de un trabajo local, realizado bajo la óptica de una familia de maestros de obra moriscos: la familia Orejón. Pretendemos dar a conocer la protección de la nobleza a sus criados moriscos que encuentran gran número de obstáculos para realizar su trabajo diario por parte de los cristianos. En el presente trabajo, dejando al margen las cuestiones artísticas, damos una aproximación sobre la formación (...) de una red de parentesco y su actuación en la ciudad determinada: Guadalajara, sede principal de asentamiento de la familia Mendoza. (shrink)

Decision-making assisted by algorithms developed by machine learning is increasingly determining our lives. Unfortunately, full opacity about the process is the norm. Would transparency contribute to restoring accountability for such systems as is often maintained? Several objections to full transparency are examined: the loss of privacy when datasets become public, the perverse effects of disclosure of the very algorithms themselves, the potential loss of companies’ competitive edge, and the limited gains in answerability to be expected since sophisticated algorithms usually are (...) inherently opaque. It is concluded that, at least presently, full transparency for oversight bodies alone is the only feasible option; extending it to the public at large is normally not advisable. Moreover, it is argued that algorithmic decisions preferably should become more understandable; to that effect, the models of machine learning to be employed should either be interpreted ex post or be interpretable by design ex ante. (shrink)

Embora o Teeteto nos coloque num cenário interpretativo completamente à parte da teoria das Formas, não nos é permitido admitir seu total esquecimento. Conceitos como ‘racionalidade’ contraposto à percepção sensível, e a ‘imprescindibilidade do logos’ enquanto discurso que perfaz o conhecimento verdadeiro, são extremamente caros ao Teeteto. Desconsiderar a pertinência e a similaridade do significado destes conceitos desde a maturidade até à velhice, colocar-nos-ia em situação de grande dificuldade explicativa acerca do conhecimento. Assim, é importante destacar que optamos por uma (...) perspectiva intermediária, que por um lado reconhece a ausência de uma argumentação calcada na clássica teoria das Ideias, mas que compreende a obra platônica sob a tutela de uma interpretação sistemática e holística, segundo a qual Platão não abandona os pressupostos metafísicos das Formas inteligíveis. Longe de uma ruptura com o que foi dito anteriormente na maturidade, o Teeteto serve como complementação teórica acerca da ontologia e da epistemologia, embora no Teeteto não haja uma menção direta às noções presentes nos diálogos anteriores e boa parte do tema se apresente por meio de estilo de escrita e vocabulário inusitados. Por fim, mas não menos importante, será feita uma breve análise de alguns trechos dos momentos finais do Sofista com o objetivo de compreender em que medida o aspecto epistemológico, proposto por Platão no Teeteto, pode ser lido à luz de questões relacionadas ao Ser e ao Não-ser, já que a pergunta pelo ‘o que é conhecimento’ nos remete também a uma discussão ontológica. (shrink)

O ficcionalismo, geralmente classificado como um tipo de nominalismo, apresenta como perspectiva precípua a tese de que os entes matemáticos são ficções. Para o ficcionalista, o discurso matemático é desprovido de conteúdo. Hartry Field, que é o principal defensor dessa concepção ontológica da matemática, contesta, em Science Without Numbers, a utilização de entes matemáticos na redação de teorias da física, alegando que a defesa mais plausível do realismo ontológico matemático é o argumento da indispensabilidade de Quine-Putnam. O ficcionalismo defendido por (...) Field nos permite, de acordo com Shapiro, classificá-lo no grupo filosofia-primeiro, ou seja, entre os filósofos que defendem que a filosofia deve ser responsável por legislar a respeito da prática matemática. Dessa forma, podemos considerar Field um revisionista epistemológico. Como se sabe, a dependência da ciência moderna em relação ao discurso matemático coloca a tese ficcionalista em xeque. Ainda assim, se partirmos dos pressupostos filosóficos da vertente formalista da filosofia da matemática, que concebe a matemática como constituída de um conjunto de regras sem significado que podem ser manipuladas de maneira puramente sintática, poderemos traçar importantes analogias entre matemática e ficção, tal como também entre metamatemática e metaficção. Para um formalista simpático à tese ficcionalista, o estatuto ontológico da matemática é semelhante ao das regras de um jogo de xadrez. (shrink)

Se busca rastrear la imagen que Platón tiene de Heráclito y articularla con la estructura argumentativa del Cratilo, para comprender las necesidades textuales a las que responde la doctrina del flujo perpetuo, es decir, la discusión sobre la corrección (ὀρθότης) del nombre. Gracias a la inclusión del testimonio heraclíteo, resulta posible rastrear la presunta consolidación de la tesis sobre los nombres primarios y los secundarios como el eje de la separación entre dos planos de realidad (uno estable y uno móvil) (...) y de la teoría de las Ideas -es decir, como la base de la epistemología platónica presente en los diálogos de madurez-. The article seeks to trace the image Plato has of Heraclitus and connect it with the argumentative structure of the Cratylus in order to understand the textual needs that give rise to the doctrine of perpetual flux, that is, the discussion regarding the correctness (ὀρθότης) of names. The inclusion of Heraclitus's testimony makes it possible to trace the alleged consolidation of the thesis regarding primary and secondary names as the axis of separation between two levels of reality (one stable, the other, changing) and the theory of Ideas -that is, as the basis of Plato's epistemology as set forth in the late dialogues-. (shrink)

O presente estudo parte da compreensão de que a sexualidade é uma dimensão de grande importância na constituição educacional da personalidade e na emancipação humana, e visa levantar possibilidades de compreendê-la a partir do pensamento ontológico de György Lukács. Para tal, apresenta e articula os conceitos de ontologia, ser social e trabalho, discute o lugar da subjetividade no ser social, e propõe uma reflexão sobre a sexualidade como dimensão que, mesmo originária de uma pré-disposição biológica, se reveste de sentido social (...) e se faz central no processo de constituição da sociedade. This study is based on the understanding that sexuality is a very important dimension in the educational constitution of personality and in human emancipation, and intends to raise possibilities of comprehending it from the point of view of György Lukács´ onthological thinking. It therefore introduces and articulates the concepts of ontology, social being and work, discusses the room for subjectivity in the social being, and proposes a reflection about sexuality as a socially meaningful dimension, which is central for the constitution of society, even though originating from a biological predisposition. (shrink)

Deductive inference is usually regarded as being “tautological” or “analytical”: the information conveyed by the conclusion is contained in the information conveyed by the premises. This idea, however, clashes with the undecidability of first-order logic and with the (likely) intractability of Boolean logic. In this article, we address the problem both from the semantic and the proof-theoretical point of view. We propose a hierarchy of propositional logics that are all tractable (i.e. decidable in polynomial time), although by means of growing (...) computational resources, and converge towards classical propositional logic. The underlying claim is that this hierarchy can be used to represent increasing levels of “depth” or “informativeness” of Boolean reasoning. Special attention is paid to the most basic logic in this hierarchy, the pure “intelim logic”, which satisfies all the requirements of a natural deduction system (allowing both introduction and elimination rules for each logical operator) while admitting of a feasible (quadratic) decision procedure. We argue that this logic is “analytic” in a particularly strict sense, in that it rules out any use of “virtual information”, which is chiefly responsible for the combinatorial explosion of standard classical systems. As a result, analyticity and tractability are reconciled and growing degrees of computational complexity are associated with the depth at which the use of virtual information is allowed. (shrink)

We present a psychometric test of life history theory as applied to human individual differences using MIDUS survey data (Brim et al. 2000). Twenty scales measuring cognitive and behavioral dimensions theoretically related to life history strategy were constructed using items from the MIDUS survey. These scales were used to construct a single common factor, the K-factor, which accounted for 70% of the reliable variance. The scales used included measures of personal, familial, and social function. A second common factor, Covitality, was (...) constructed from scales for physical and mental health. Finally, a single general factor, Personality, was constructed from scales for the “Big Five” factors of personality. The K-factor, covitality factor, and general personality factor correlated significantly with each other, supporting the prediction that high K predicts high somatic effort and also manifests in behavioral display. Thus, a single higher-order common factor, the Super-K factor, was constructed that consisted of the K-factor, covitality factor, and personality factor. (shrink)

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data were used to test predictions from life history theory. We hypothesized that (1) in young adulthood an emerging life history strategy would exist as a common factor underlying many life history traits (e.g., health, relationship stability, economic success), (2) both environmental harshness and unpredictability would account for unique variance in expression of adolescent and young adult life history strategies, and (3) adolescent life history traits would predict young adult life history strategy. These (...) predictions were supported. The current findings suggest that the environmental parameters of harshness and unpredictability have concurrent effects on life history development in adolescence, as well as longitudinal effects into young adulthood. In addition, life history traits appear to be stable across developmental time from adolescence into young adulthood. (shrink)

It has frequently been suggested that Rawls’s characteristic method of justification, a method crucially involving the notion of reflective equilibrium, is in some sense relativistic in its implications. No sustained development of this suggestion has been undertaken by those who advance it; likewise, no sustained attempt to refute this suggestion has been made by those who are otherwise sympathetic to Rawls’s account of justification. I here attempt to fill these gaps in the already extensive literature associated with the method of (...) reflective equilibrium. At below, I review claims that Rawls’s method has relativistic implications. I also attempt, for purposes of argument, to buttress these claims by citing remarks of Rawls which could be interpreted as relativistic in character. At below, I consider problems of political reasoning as these arise in societies which are ill- and well-ordered in Rawls’s sense. At below, I consider problems of political reasoning as these arise between the members of two or more well-ordered societies, each of which is regulated by a different conception of justice. I also there adapt Williams’s distinction between notional and real confrontations between incompatible systems of beliefs in order to distinguish two kinds of conflict with respect to fundamental political principles. Finally, I show how a notion of broad reflective equilibrium can be deployed in order to solve those problems of political adjudication which may arise between the members of societies which have distinct conceptions of justice. At this point it should be clear that Rawls’s method of justification is not, in intention at least, relativistic in its implications. (shrink)

En este trabajo se presenta una intervención psicológica con un jugador de fútbol profesional que muestra un nivel muy bajo de confianza y problemas para poder concentrarse durante las competiciones. Desde un enfoque cognitivo-conductual se implementó un programa de entrenamiento psicológico con una duración de cuatro meses. Se realizó una evaluación inicial y final para valorar la satisfacción y la eficacia del programa. La intervención estuvo formada por técnicas y estrategias como reestructuración cognitiva, establecimiento de objetivos, plan de competición, auto-registros (...) conductuales y técnicas de relajación y visualización. Al finalizar el programa el futbolista muestra un nivel mucho más alto de confianza y tiene recursos eficaces para poder concentrarse tanto en los partidos como en los entrenamientos. Se postula la adecuación del enfoque cognitivo-conductual a la intervención psicológica en el ámbito deportivo, enfatizando la importancia de incorporar estrategias psicológicas en el trabajo del entrenamiento deportivo. (shrink)