Trata-se, neste artigo, de investigar as noções de filosofia, pedagogia e espírito à luz dos debates decoloniais. Neste sentido, a partir de um diálogo que procuro estabelecer com Enrique Dussel, Catherine Walsh e M. Jacqui Alexander, desenvolvo três hipóteses. Em primeiro lugar, apresento certa noção de pedagogia como constitutiva da própria filosofia (portanto, a ideia de pedagogia para além de mero instrumento, meio ou termo acessório à filosofia). Em segundo lugar, argumento que essa dita pedagógica-filosófica precisará ser entendida como a (...) epistemologia indispensável para a abordagem, conhecimento e tratamento da realidade, no seguinte sentido: mediante o aprender e o ensinar alternadamente (como práxis, atitude e método filosófico por excelência), tornar possível que a realidade apareça. E esse é mais um dos pontos em relação aos quais os três autores estão de acordo, assim como em relação ao terceiro e mais importante movimento da presente investigação. Pois será, então, do reconhecimento do fracasso da ontologia universalista (moderna e colonial), mais precisamente, do encontro com uma realidade indeterminada e aberta, que se poderá a fundo compreender o sentido da atitude pedagógica (da epistemologia pedagógica) que descerra toda a realidade possível. Tal realidade_ _sempre Outra_ _– que não se pode localizar em qualquer lugar ou tempo, na mesma medida em que se faz presente em todos os lugares e momentos – é o que se poderá caracterizar como espírito. E é o que fará do espírito, por conseguinte, agência de resistência e perturbação a todo esforço epistemológico/filosófico, tanto quanto (e por isso mesmo) da atitude pedagógica-filosófica instância de revelação de um mundo prenhe de sentidos possíveis. (shrink)

Trata-se, neste trabalho, de refletir acerca da recuperação do republicanismo de Nicolau Maquiavel para o debate democrático contemporâneo. Com esse intento, entre as muitas atualizações possíveis do pensamento do secretário florentino para os dias atuais, destaco duas matrizes conceituais, justamente aquelas mais concernidas com as noções de liberdade e ação política popular. Seguindo as sugestões de Helton Adverse, procuro então aprofundar e esclarecer a sua proposta de uma matriz “institucional” e uma matriz “conflitiva” quando da interpretação e recuperação das ideias (...) de Maquiavel. (shrink)

A proposta, neste artigo, é de investigar a leitura que John Pocock faz do republicanismo de Nicolau Maquiavel. Neste sentido, dois são os argumentos principais deste trabalho. Em primeiro lugar, trata-se de evidenciar que se, de um lado, Maquiavel recupera o ideal aristotélico do humano como animal político, de outro lado, tal se passaria de modo a transformá-lo numa versão enfraquecida, à medida em que radicalmente impactada pela natureza contingente das coisas humanas. É o que, em segundo lugar, abriria caminho (...) não apenas a uma ética fundada na política (antes do que na filosofia contemplativa, conforme pretendia Aristóteles), senão também a um republicanismo de acento plebeísta. (shrink)

Segundo uma célebre tese defendida por Philip Pettit, um agente é livre conquanto cada uma de suas ações seja não somente acessível, mas também não-dominada, no sentido de que ninguém tenha o poder de bloquear o acesso a tais ações. Através de contraexemplos, esse artigo procura demonstrar que a vontade de eliminar a dominação pode diminuir antes que reforçar a liberdade individual.

In a time marked by the development of innovative treatments in healthcare and the need for health professionals to deal with resulting ethical dilemmas in clinical practice, this study was developed to determine the influence of the bioethics teaching on the moral competence of medical and nursing students. The authors conduct a longitudinal study using the Moral Competence Test extended version before and after attending the ethics curricular unit, in three nursing schools and three medical schools of Portugal. In this (...) questionnaire the participant is confronted with three ethical dilemmas and asked to evaluate arguments for and against the attitude of the main character. For both nursing and medical students, C-score was lower after the attendance of the ethics curricular units, with a statistically significant decrease in the total score for nursing students and a decrease not statistically significant for medical students. A multivariate analysis did not find any association between this decrease and gender, course, or age. The phenomenon of moral segmentation was observed, with better performance in the worker and judge dilemma, than in the doctor dilemma. These results highlight the need to reflect on the curricular strategies that can be implemented for health professionals to better develop moral competence and decision-making, allowing for the provision of humanized health care. (shrink)

Several countries maintain universal health coverage, which implies responsibility to organize delivery formats of healthcare services and products for citizens. In Brazil, the health system has a principle of universal access for more than 30 years, but many deficiencies remain and the country observes a day practice for those seeking judicial decisions to determine provision of healthcare.

No debate teológico acerca da legitimidade salvífica das religiões, as posições entre os teólogos cristãos se distinguem em torno de três linhas básicas: o exclusivismo, o inclusivismo e o pluralismo. Face a essas posições teológicas que situam a controvertida questão da identidade cristã ante o fato do pluralismo religioso, este artigo resgata uma abordagem teológico-antropológica de corte existencial que afirma o Deus de Jesus Cristo como um Absoluto relacional, conferindo ao cristianismo a autocompreensão histórica de uma identidade construída na alteridade. (...) Convicção e abertura, anúncio e diálogo, tes-temunho e aprendizagem configuram, por conseguinte, o novo e fraterno itinerário dos cristãos e de todos aqueles que, na fé, entregam-se ao Mistério Santo e se decidem por um mundo mais humano e pleno de vida, justiça e paz. (shrink)

EUVÉ, François. Science, foi, sagesse . Faut-il parler de convergence? João Batista Libanio MUTSCHLER, Hans-Dieter. Physik und religion . Perspektiven und Grenzen eines Dialogs. João Batista Libanio RIEGER, Joerg. Remember the poor . The callenge to theology in the twenty-first century. João Batista Libanio RIBEIRO, Fernando. Os Incas . As plantas do poder e um tribunal espanhol. João Batista Libanio SOUZA, Alberto de Mello e (Org.). Dimensões da avaliação educacional . Suzana dos Santos Gomes BOFF, Leonardo. Virtudes para um (...) outro mundo possível . v. I: Hospitalidade: direito e dever de todos. BOFF, Leonardo. Virtudes para um outro mundo possível . v. II: Convivência, respeito & tolerância . Paulo Agostinho Nogueira Baptista LIBANIO, João Batista. Qual o futuro do Cristianismo? Paulo Agostinho Nogueira Baptista. (shrink)

A questão da esfera pública se relaciona com dois aspectos fundamentais. Em primeiro lugar, o debate a respeito da modernidade como tal; e, em segundo, a efervescência do ponto de vista moral delineado desde uma perspectiva laica, isto é, alheio a qualquer religião institucionalizada. Desde o início, a preocupação central de Habermas foi, e continua sendo, o papel do sujeito coautor participativo no âmbito da esfera pública. O foco da teoria do agir comunicativo é o sujeito coautor emancipado capaz de (...) assumir, através do agir comunicativo, a responsabilidade frente aos desafios de uma sociedade com profundos sinais de transformação. O significado de esfera pública não se isola do agir comunicativo. Por isso, não há como rechaçar o fenômeno humano ligado às crenças ou à fé, nem propalar uma moral delineada desde a dogmática religiosa. Então, como entender a razão laica diante dos conteúdos semânticos que a realidade cotidiana apresenta? O que significa justiça no contexto secular e, ao mesmo tempo, plural e multi- étnica e religiosa? Quais os reflexos que esse ponto de vista moral acarreta para a educação? (shrink)

Background:In their daily practice, Brazilian nurses have been met with complaints from co-workers and patients, as well as bioethical dilemmas intrinsic to the profession, particularly in the cont...

O presente artigo tem como objetivo discutir o sentido de estado de natureza e compreender a sua transformação em estado de civil e político. Nesse sentido, foram analisados e apresentados conceitos baseados nas obras de Thomas Hobbes, sobretudo em seu livro “O Leviatã”.

Qual o estatuto da noção de “minha natureza” nas “Meditações Metafísicas” de Descartes? Esta é a questão do presente artigo. Para respondê-la, o estudo se divide em duas partes. Num primeiro momento, mais enxuto, trata-se de investigar a referida noção tal como ela aparece, sobretudo, nas duas primeiras meditações, a saber: como a natureza do senso comum, a qual requer ser superada com vistas a dar lugar a uma noção de natureza propriamente filosófica, guiada pelo que se denomina nas “Meditações” (...) por “luz natural”. Num segundo momento do trabalho, mais alongado e seminal, notadamente através da análise da sexta meditação, trata-se de evidenciar que se a noção de “minha natureza” em nada auxilia na tarefa de uma teoria do conhecimento, para uma filosofia prática em específico será justamente a ela que o autor se verá obrigado a recorrer. O que comporta, contudo, algum custo para a metafísica cartesiana de maneira geral. Pois se a sua teoria do conhecimento está inteiramente baseada em elementos a priori, a sua filosofia prática, por sua vez, porquanto fundada numa mistura entre razão e sentimentos, precisará ser edificada quase que inteiramente num solo contingencial e experimental. (shrink)

This is a review of the book Metaética: algumas tendências. The book contains papers of three important philosophers in this subject, Peter Railton, Allan Gibbard and Stephen Darwall. Since this book has been published, the study of metaethics has been improved in Brazil. In this review we describe the main aspects of the book, focusing on Railton’s ideas.

UMA ANÁLISE CRÍTICA DA ESTRUTURA REGULATÓRIA DO SETOR NUCLEAR BRASILEIRO.

Robustness is a significant constraint in machine learning models. The performance of the algorithms must not deteriorate when training and testing with slightly different data. Deep neural network models achieve awe-inspiring results in a wide range of applications of computer vision. Still, in the presence of noise or region occlusion, some models exhibit inaccurate performance even with data handled in training. Besides, some experiments suggest deep learning models sometimes use incorrect parts of the input information to perform inference. Active image (...) augmentation is an augmentation method that uses interpretability methods to augment the training data and improve its robustness to face the described problems. Although ADA presented interesting results, its original version only used the vanilla backpropagation interpretability to train the U-Net model. In this work, we propose an extensive experimental analysis of the interpretability method’s impact on ADA. We use five interpretability methods: vanilla backpropagation, guided backpropagation, gradient-weighted class activation mapping, guided GradCam and InputXGradient. The results show that all methods achieve similar performance at the ending of training, but when combining ADA with GradCam, the U-Net model presented an impressive fast convergence. (shrink)

Mesmo diante do violento processo de desterritorialização vivido pelas inúmeras comunidades africanas no contexto da dominação colonial europeia, práticas e saberes ancestrais foram ressignificados e reelaborados de forma a impregnar o tecido social das culturas negras das Américas. Nesta perspectiva, este artigo insere-se em um conjunto de reflexões que visam exaltar a importância da preservação de memórias afrodiaspóricas no Brasil. Para tanto, particulariza-se um território negro no município de São Paulo, o bairro da Casa Verde na zona norte da cidade. (...) Com base na História oral e na pesquisa de campo, o objetivo central da presente pesquisa é sugerir possíveis traduções acerca da presença e permanência de ancestralidades negro-africanas na urbe paulistana a partir das narrativas compartilhadas e dos trabalhos de memória de Lucinda de Oliveira Marcelino. A colaboradora/narradora é filha de uma das fundadoras da Irmandade de São Benedito da Casa Verde, inaugurada em 1941. O acesso às memórias reconstruídas de Dona Lucinda permitem sinalizar a presença de práticas ancestrais marcadas por cosmovisões herdadas e protagonizadas por mulheres. Tais concepções constroem identidades afirmadas que singularizam as experiências negras na metrópole, expressando valores civilizacionais e extraocidentais comunitários fundamentais à humanidade. Palavras-chave: Casa Verde; Protagonismos femininos; Irmandades negras; Práticas ancestrais; Territórios afrodiaspóricos. (shrink)

This study aimed to outline the profile of retractions of scientific articles on COVID-19 published in journals indexed in the Scopus database between 2020 and 2021. To analyze the data, we used a bibliometric technique, with the Bibliometrix package in the R-Studio software, and descriptive statistics. Twenty-nine retractions were analyzed, and we found that the most common reasons for retraction were related to ethical issues and that 68.97% of authors have previously retracted articles. We concluded that there appears to have (...) been a change in the publication policies of journals, which resulted in an increase in scientific retractions related to COVID-19 during the study period. (shrink)

BackgroundThis pilot study aims to test the usability of the iACTwithPain platform, an online ACT-based intervention for people with chronic pain, to obtain information on which intervention and usability aspects need improvement and on expected retention rates.MethodsSeventy-three Portuguese women with chronic pain were invited to complete the first three sessions of the iACTwithPain intervention assess their quality, usefulness and the platform’s usability. Twenty-one accepted the invitation. Additionally, eight healthcare professionals working with chronic medical conditions assessed the platform and the intervention (...) from a practitioner’s point of view.ResultsThis study presented a considerable attrition rate (71.43%) among chronic pain participants, with six completers. There were no significant differences in demographic or clinical variables between dropouts and completers except for completed education (participants who dropped out presented less education than completers). Reasons for dropout were related to difficult personal events occurring during the time of the intervention, lack of time, or having forgotten. There seemed to be an overall satisfaction with both the intervention, its contents and form of presentation of information, and the platform, concerning its design, appearance, and usability. Real image videos were preferred over animations or audio by chronic pain participants. Healthcare professionals emphasized the appealing and dynamic aspects of the animation format.ConclusionThis study informs the ongoing improvement of the iACTwithPain platform and provides valuable information on aspects researchers should consider while developing online psychological interventions for chronic pain. Further implications are discussed. (shrink)

Background: Chronic Pain (CP) has serious medical and social consequences, and leads to economic burden that threatens the sustainability of healthcare services. Thus, optimized management of pain tools to support CP patients in adjusting to their condition and improving quality of life is timely. Although Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is considered an evidence-based psychological approach for CP, evidence for the efficacy of online-delivered ACT for CP is still scarce. At the same time, studies suggest that self-compassion mediates the change (...) in disability and psychopathological symptoms in ACT interventions for CP, although self-compassion is not a specific target in ACT. Thus, an explicit focus on self-compassion might increase the efficacy of ACT interventions for CP, although this hypothesis has not been tested. This study aims to develop an eHealth ACT and compassion-based self-management intervention for CP, the iACTwithPain, and to compare its efficacy in improving health outcomes to a similar ACT-only intervention and a waiting list group. Methods: The eHealth platform that will host the interventions will be developed using a flat design identity and will be interactive. The iACTwithPain intervention will comprise 8 weekly self-management sessions, and will be developed taking into consideration the psychological flexibility model applied to CP, with the addition of explicit compassion-based components. To analyse whether the iACTwithPain intervention will present superiority in improving CP’s impact and related health markers over the two other conditions, this study will follow a RCT design with three arms. CP patients will be recruited through direct contact with patient associations and healthcare services and a national press release in Portugal. Outcome measurement will be conducted at baseline, post-intervention and at 3- and 6-months follow-ups. The interventions’ acceptability will also be assessed. Discussion: The iACTwithPain intervention is expected to improve CP patients’ psychosocial functioning, quality of life, and empowerment, by promoting adaptive disease management and regulation of pain-related internal experiences. Results will contribute to a better understanding on the pertinence of adding compassion elements to ACT for CP and to reach an optimized intervention for CP. (shrink)

BackgroundOrgan transplantation represents the most effective and acceptable therapy for end-stage organ failure. However, its frequent practice often leads to a shortage of organs worldwide. To solve this dilemma, some countries, such as Portugal, have switched from an opt-in to an opt-out system, which has raised concerns about respect for individual autonomy. We aimed to evaluate whether young university students are aware of this opt-out system so that they can make informed, autonomous and conscious decisions, as well as to identify (...) the factors that determine a positive attitude toward post-mortem organ donation.MethodsAn observational, cross-sectional study was developed and a questionnaire was administered to first-year students from six faculties of the University of Porto.ResultsOf the 841 participants, 60% were unaware that Portugal had adopted an opt-out system. Among the informed individuals, their main sources of information included social media, internet, and family. Furthermore, only 48% of all participants agreed with the current opt-out system. Female sex (p = 0.049; OR 1.393), knowledge of the law (p < 0.001; OR 4.749) and family being the primary source of information (p < 0.001; OR 2.855) were independent factors associated with a positive attitude toward post-mortem organ donation law.ConclusionsThere is a significant lack of knowledge among young university students regarding the presumed post-mortem organ donation law and how it works. Female sex, having family as a primary source of information and being aware of the presumed post-mortem organ donation law are the strongest independent factors that determine a positive attitude toward the opt-out system. (shrink)

Therapeutic strategies capable of inducing and enhancing prosthesis embodiment are a key point for better adaptation to and acceptance of prosthetic limbs. In this study, we developed a training protocol using an EMG-based human-machine interface that was applied in the preprosthetic rehabilitation phase of people with amputation. This is a case series with the objective of evaluating the induction and enhancement of the embodiment of a virtual prosthesis. Six men and a woman with unilateral transfemoral traumatic amputation without previous use (...) of prostheses participated in the study. Participants performed a training protocol with the EMG-based HMI, composed of six sessions held twice a week, each lasting 30 mins. This system consisted of myoelectric control of the movements of a virtual prosthesis immersed in a 3D virtual environment. Additionally, vibrotactile stimuli were provided on the participant’s back corresponding to the movements performed. Embodiment was investigated from the following set of measurements: skin conductance response, crossmodal congruency effect, ability to control the virtual prosthesis, and reports before and after the training. The increase in the skin conductance response in conditions where the virtual prosthesis was threatened, recalibration of the peripersonal space perception identified by the crossmodal congruency effect, ability to control the virtual prosthesis, and participant reports consistently showed the induction and enhancement of virtual prosthesis embodiment. Therefore, this protocol using EMG-based HMI was shown to be a viable option to achieve and enhance the embodiment of a virtual prosthetic limb. (shrink)

Research involving transgender and gender diverse people (TGD) increased in the last years, mostly concerning healthcare associated to this population. Few studies dedicated their analysis to the impact of parental support on transgender people, even though this is an important aspect in creating a safe environment on which these individuals can build their identity. In addition, the link between family support, TGD identity and homelessness is not completely established. Thus, due to the specificities of the family context of TGD individuals, (...) the aim of this study is to investigate the association between family support and TGD in different moments of the process of gender affirmation. In addition, this study also aims to explore the relationship between a lack of social support and low self-esteem, home abandonment, and dwelling in the street. The survey was designed based on the TransPULSE project and was made available in electronic format. The sample was constituted of 423 TGD residents in two Brazilian states. A Structural Equation Model analysis suggested that the impact of gender affirmation status on homelessness was mediated by parental support, through self-esteem, and the need to move from home. The association between the status of the gender affirmation procedures, family support and self-esteem was significant and indicated that the further TGD individuals advanced in gender affirmation, the more self-esteem and family support they would have. The association between family support and self-esteem indicated that family support was associated with higher self-esteem. Low family support was associated with the willingness to move from home due to one’s TGD status and there was also a significant correlation between low self-esteem and the willingness to move from home due to one’s TGD status. Finally, homelessness was associated with the willingness to move with a large effect size. Limitations include the sample that was constituted by individuals with Internet access and who had more contact with TGD communities. The findings indicate directions for interventions involving TGD people and their families, considering the parental relationship as a critical variable to improve TGD quality of life in the process of gender affirmation. (shrink)

Automatized scalable healthcare support solutions allow real-time 24/7 health monitoring of patients, prioritizing medical treatment according to health conditions, reducing medical appointments in clinics and hospitals, and enabling easy exchange of information among healthcare professionals. With recent health safety guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting the elderly has become imperative. However, state-of-the-art health wearable device platforms present limitations in hardware, parameter estimation algorithms, and software architecture. This paper proposes a complete framework for health systems composed of multi-sensor wearable health (...) devices, high-resolution parameter estimation, and real-time monitoring applications. The framework is appropriate for real-time monitoring of elderly patients' health without physical contact with healthcare professionals, maintaining safety standards. The hardware includes sensors for monitoring steps, pulse oximetry, heart rate, and temperature using low-power wireless communication. In terms of parameter estimation, the embedded circuit uses high-resolution signal processing algorithms that result in an improved measure of the HR. The proposed high-resolution signal processing-based approach outperforms state-of-the-art HR estimation measurements using the photoplethysmography sensor. (shrink)

ABSTRACTIn “Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam,” Bruno Latour wonders whether academia, particularly the humanities, can rethink its dedication to critique and cultivate an ethos that cares. I question whether Latour's commitment to enlightenment without modernity, particularly his allergy to transcendence, inhibits his ability to transform critique into care. For Latour, transcendence makes impossible the due process of his proposed collective and the corresponding practice of real world politics precisely because it dangles a truth beyond compromise. While Latour (...) regards notions of a transcendence in terms of a beyond as a precursor to terror, Levinas finds terror in the practice of philosophy without the disequilibrium transcendence can bring. Thus, I argue that Levinas offers Latour a way to uncross God that posits the beyond as something other than ineffectually and debilitatingly distant, as something that can inspire us to care. (shrink)

Este trabalho constitui um recorte de um projeto de Iniciação Científica do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sudeste de Minas Gerais, Campus Santos Dumont (IF Sudeste MG-Santos Dumont), realizado por alunos do curso de graduação em Licenciatura em Matemática. Por meio do levantamento bibliográfico, buscou-se responder à pergunta: quais os caminhos percorridos pelas pesquisas em educação matemática crítica no Brasil nos últimos 22 anos? Para tal, consideramos exclusivamente artigos, publicados em periódicos da área de Educação (...) Matemática de circulação nacional e internacional, complementando a busca com o acesso ao Portal de Periódicos CAPES. Com isso, realizamos a revisão sistemática da literatura, classificando os trabalhos em categorias temáticas que, além de organizá-los, serve de base para a síntese crítica dos trabalhos. Além disso, apontam como resultados não só as tendências em certos temas de pesquisa, mas também lacunas. (shrink)

A novidade do Deus cristão apresentado por Jesus Cristo é a Trindade. Sem contradizer o monoteísmo judeu, a reflexão para formulação dogmática se estendeu por quatro séculos. Sucessivamente, a Trindade foi tema esquecido na Igreja por 1.600 anos. Sua importância está sendo redescoberta não somente na liturgia, mas, também, na vida e na reflexão eclesial. A unidade no amor dos Três distintos, Pai, Filho e Espírito Santo, estimula a espiritualidade e a vivência do cristão de hoje. Para tanto, é necessário (...) o auxílio das ciências humanas, que permitem a atualização da linguagem do dogma sem a perda do seu conteúdo fundamental. A reflexão do teólogo napolitano Bruno Forte dá uma grande contribuição para a teologia atual, respeitando a formulação dogmática e, ao mesmo tempo, buscando categorias e linguagens apropriadas para a compreensão do homem contemporâneo. A Trindade de Deus tem algo importante a dizer para o ser humano de hoje a respeito de si mesmo, pois que feito “à imagem e semelhança de Deus” (Gn 2, 26). Palavras-chave : Trindade. Pai. Filho. Espírito Santo. Amor.The Holy Trinity is the novelty of God presented by Jesus Christ. Without contradicting Jewish monotheism, the reflection for a dogmatic formulation lasted for four centuries. Subsequently, the issue of the trinity was forgotten in the Church for 1,600 years. The importance of this issue is currently being rediscovered not only in the liturgy but also in life and ecclesial reflection. The unity in love on the part of the three distinct persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, stimulates spirituality and experience of the Christians today. To do so, one needs the assistance of the humanities that allow the update of the dogma of language without losing its essential content. The reflection of the Neapolitan theologian Bruno Forte is of great value to the current theology because it respects the dogmatic formulation and also uses categories and languages appropriate to an understanding of contemporary man. The Trinity of God has something important to say about the man himself because man was created as God’s image. (Gn 2,26). Keywords : Trinity. Father. Son. Holy Spirit. Love. (shrink)

Resenha de: Blumenbach, J. F. Sobre o impulso de formação e a geração. Tradução, introdução e notas de Isabel Coelho Fragelli. Revisão técnica de Luciana Valéria Nogueira. Santo André: Editora UFABC, 2019.

Aiming at a better understanding of the extent to which Africa-focused research has helped develop context-bound, context-specific, and context-free knowledge, the authors present the findings from a literature review of journal articles with an African context. A systematic search resulted in 271 articles with African data and 139 Africa-focused articles published in 63 top business journals and related disciplines from 2010 onwards. The sample included all journals belonging to the University of Texas Dallas and Financial Times research rankings, as well (...) as the main international business, and business and society outlets. An in-depth analysis of the 139 Africa-focused articles shows an important imbalance in terms of publication patterns, topics covered, theoretical groundings, types of contributions, approaches to the African contexts, and empirics. Building on this exhaustive literature review, the authors provide specific suggestions regarding potential data sources and empirical strategies in African contexts, propose avenues for future research, and introduce four recent studies included in the special issue. (shrink)

The combination of increased availability of large amounts of fine-grained human behavioral data and advances in machine learning is presiding over a growing reliance on algorithms to address complex societal problems. Algorithmic decision-making processes might lead to more objective and thus potentially fairer decisions than those made by humans who may be influenced by greed, prejudice, fatigue, or hunger. However, algorithmic decision-making has been criticized for its potential to enhance discrimination, information and power asymmetry, and opacity. In this paper, we (...) provide an overview of available technical solutions to enhance fairness, accountability, and transparency in algorithmic decision-making. We also highlight the criticality and urgency to engage multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, and citizens to co-develop, deploy, and evaluate in the real-world algorithmic decision-making processes designed to maximize fairness and transparency. In doing so, we describe the Open Algortihms project as a step towards realizing the vision of a world where data and algorithms are used as lenses and levers in support of democracy and development. (shrink)

This paper argues that many of the conceptual controversies in evolutionary biology are due to the use of different operational definitions. Since the set of operations is not consistent, then there are many ways to understand, in practice, how concepts should be investigated. In this paper we introduce a formal analysis to study the scope of operationalism and we conclude that the controversial concepts are in fact umbrella variables, that is, a single term can be referring to different processes, phenomena (...) or entities linked by a large ontological commitment driving operationalism. If this is correct, then many of the controversies in evolutionary biology are due, in part, to the operationalization of the objects of study. (shrink)

Phylogeography, a relatively new subdicipline of evolutionary biology that attempts to unify the fields of phylogenetics and population biology in an explicit geographical context, has hosted in recent years a highly polarized debate related to the purported benefits and limitations that qualitative versus quantitative methods might contribute or impose on inferential processes in evolutionary biology. Here we present a friendly, non-technical introduction to the conflicting methods underlying the controversy, and exemplify it with a balanced selection of quotes from the primary (...) biological literature, to invite the philosophy of biology community to pay attention to the elements that have played a primary role in its presumed resolution. We also present the basic features of our own metascientific take on the debate, and point out—as a preliminary step in preparation for upcoming, more detailed treatments—the importance that appeals to authority in fields external to phylogeography per se have played in the current status of this highly visible evolutionary biology dispute. (shrink)

The truth-conditions of many utterances have components that do not correspond to any uttered morpheme. This happens because linguistic acts are always a supplement to whatever else is available to agents engaged in a conversation. Unarticulated constituents result from the informational trade-off between what is available in the situation of utterance and what needs to be linguistically articulated. Unarticulated constituents are constituents of propositions, that is, of classifying tools that are neutral with respect to the way in which what is (...) given in a situation interacts with the words uttered. (shrink)

À primeira vista, pode-se pensar que toda restrição à dúvida é contrária à progressão do conhecimento e antidemocrática. Este argumento é utilizado por diferentes sabores de negacionismo. No entanto, um exame do modo como funcionam dúvidas nos mostra que existem exigências epistêmicas para a legitimidade da dúvida que não são satisfeitas pelos negacionismos. Uma consequência deste argumento é que a normatividade epistêmica não é absorvida pela normatividade política. A especificidade da normatividade epistêmica, que explica porque a dúvida de negacionistas não (...) é legítima, desaparece em teorias construtivistas. Teses construtivistas resultam de uma confusão entre o fato de teorias serem construtos sociais e a tese que elas constroem os fatos sobre os quais portam a teoria ela mesma. A legitimidade da dúvida depende de processos sociais de filtragem epistêmica. Os filtros epistêmicos socialmente construídos refletem um fato profundo da evolução da cultura humana: a produção cumulativa, social e assimétrica do conhecimento. (shrink)

Graphical displays of simple moving geometrical figures have been repeatedly used to study the attribution of animacy in human observers. Yet little is known about the relevant movement characteristics responsible for this experience. The present study introduces a novel parametric research paradigm, which allows for the experimental control of specific motion parameters and a predictable influence on the attribution of animacy. Two experiments were conducted using 3D computer animations of one or two objects systematically introducing variations in the following aspects (...) of motion: directionality, discontinuity and responsiveness. Both experiments further varied temporal kinematics. Results showed that animacy experience increased with the time a moving object paused in the vicinity of a second object and with increasing complexity of interaction between the objects . The experience of animacy could be successfully modulated in a parametric fashion by the systematic variation of comparably simple differential movement characteristics. (shrink)

In this paper we present a new framework of idealization in biology. We characterize idealizations as a network of counterfactual conditionals that can exhibit different degrees of contingency. We use the idea of possible worlds to say that, in departing more or less from the actual world, idealizations can serve numerous epistemic, methodological or heuristic purposes within scientific research. We defend that, in part, it is this structure what helps explain why idealizations, despite being deformations of reality, are so successful (...) in scientific practice. (shrink)

We develop a new metaphor account where metaphors become surrogate variables for different but related phenomena. As we will argue, subrogation is the result of the interplay between the things inspired by the metaphor and the empirical dynamics that result from such inspiration. In particular, we focus on adaptive radiation, a major concept of evolutionary biology. Our study suggests that there is no distinct phenomenon, process, or pattern in nature than can be identified as adaptive radiation. What we have instead (...) is a grouping variable that has surrogated different evolutionary phenomena into one expansive label. We believe this analysis of metaphors helps better understand the value of metaphors for science not only as a provider of epistemic and cognitive virtues but most importantly, as a crucial research tool that can both help and divert scientific experimentation. (shrink)