The standard Kratzerian analysis of modal auxiliaries, such as ‘may’ and ‘can’, takes them to be univocal and context-sensitive. Our first aim is to argue for an alternative view, on which such expressions are polysemous. Our second aim is to thereby shed light on the distinction between semantic context-sensitivity and polysemy. To achieve these aims, we examine the mechanisms of polysemy and context-sensitivity and provide criteria with which they can be held apart. We apply the criteria to modal auxiliaries and (...) show that the default hypothesis should be that they are polysemous, and not merely context-sensitive. We then respond to arguments against modal ambiguity. Finally, we show why modal polysemy has significant philosophical implications. (shrink)

Emanuel Copilaș ABSTRACT: The present article aims to offer a synoptic picture of communist Romania’s relations with Third World countries during the Ceaușescu regime. Within these relations, economic and geopolitical motivations coexisted along with ideological ones, thus making the topic one of the most interesting and relevant key for understanding RSR’s complex and cunning international...

The current prevailing view is that participation in biomedical research is above and beyond the call of duty. While some commentators have offered reasons against this, we propose a novel public goods argument for an obligation to participate in biomedical research. Biomedical knowledge is a public good, available to any individual even if that individual does not contribute to it. Participation in research is a critical way to support an important public good. Consequently, all have a duty to participate. The (...) current social norm is that individuals participate only if they have a good reason to do so. The public goods argument implies that individuals should participate unless they have a good reason not to. Such a shift would be of great aid to the progress of biomedical research, eventually making society significantly healthier and longer lived. (shrink)

Alfred Schutz is, without a doubt, one of the phenomenologists that contributed the most to the reflection on how to apply insights from phenomenological philosophy to the, empirical and theoretical, human and social sciences. However, his work tends to be neglected by many of the current advocates of phenomenology within these disciplines. In the present paper, I intend to remedy this situation. In order to do so, I will systematically revisit his mundane and social-scientifically oriented account of phenomenology, which, as (...) I shall show, emerges from a theoretical confrontation with the Husserlian distinction between transcendental phenomenology and phenomenological psychology. (shrink)

Volume 19, Issue 9, September 2019, Page 1-4.

We argue that the ethical case for instituting vaccine benefit programs is justified by 2 widely recognized values: (1) reducing overall harm from COVID-19 and (2) protecting disadvantaged individuals. We then explain why they do not coerce, exploit, wrongfully distort decision-making, corrupt vaccination's moral significance, wrong those who have already been vaccinated, or destroy willingness to become vaccinated. However, their cost impacts and their effects on public perception of vaccines should be evaluated.

Modern generative AI systems have shown the capacity to produce remarkably fluent language, prompting debates both about their semantic understanding and, less prominently, about whether they can perform speech acts. This paper addresses the latter question, focusing on assertion. We argue that to be capable of assertion, an entity must meet two requirements: it must produce outputs with descriptive functions, and it must be capable of being sanctioned by agents with which it interacts. The second requirement arises from the nature (...) of assertion as a norm-governed social practice. Pre-trained large language models that have not been subject to fine-tuning fail to meet the first requirement. Language models that have been fine-tuned for ‘groundedness’ or ‘correctness’ may meet the first requirement, but fail the second. We also consider the significance of the point that AI systems can be used to generate proxy assertions on behalf of human agents. (shrink)

Where should we meet? This may seem like a trivial decision, mostly focused on convenience. However, location can represent integral values, attitudes, and priorities. Especially when the meeting i...

This article examines a fundamental question of justice in global health. Is it ethically preferable to provide a larger number of people with cheaper treatments that are less effective (or more toxic), or to restrict treatments to a smaller group to provide a more expensive but more effective or less toxic alternative? We argue that choosing to provide less effective or more toxic interventions to a larger number of people is favored by the principles of utility, equality, and priority for (...) those worst-off. Advocates are mistaken to demand that medical care provided in low-income and middle-income countries should be the same as in high-income countries. (shrink)

We’re grateful for the thoughtful and incisive commentaries on our article, “Ethical Responsibilities for Companies that Process Personal Data” (McCoy et al. 2023). In the article, we propose the E...

Una de las características predominantes en la obra de Nicos Poulantzas es su marcada subjetividad, la cual estuvo atravesada por el momento histórico en que transcurrió su vida, pues se trataba de una época en donde los procesos revolucionarios perdían vigencia y quedaban amargas, pero al mismo tiempo, importantísimas lecciones; donde a pesar de la constante inestabilidad, el capitalismo lograba restaurarse y transformarse a expensas del Estado. El presente escrito explora la vigencia teórica de la obra intelectual de Poulantzas, su (...) originalidad distinguida por pertenecer a un marxismo heterodoxo más preocupado por la cuestión del Estado; al mismo tiempo, se incluyen explícitamente elementos de análisis como la dependencia, el desarrollo y la gestión global neoliberal del capital en la actualidad. Esto a partir de la lectura de su obra desde y con una perspectiva latino-mericana que permita concluir con algunos elementos teóricos para la construcción y actualización de una teoría del Estado que tenga en cuenta las particularidades de esta parte del mundo. (shrink)

We consider an ethical dilemma in global health: is it ethically acceptable to provide some patients cheaper treatments that are less effective or more toxic than the treatments other patients receive? We argue that it is ethical to consider local resource constraints when deciding what interventions to provide. The provision of cheaper, less effective health care is frequently the most effective way of promoting health and realizing the ethical values of utility, equality, and priority to the worst off.

Certifications of immunity are sometimes called “immunity passports” but are better conceptualized as immunity-based licenses. Such policies raise important questions about fairness, stigma, and counterproductive incentives but could also further individual freedom and improve public health. Immunity licenses should not be evaluated against a baseline of normalcy, ie, uninfected free movement. Rather, they should be compared to the alternatives of enforcing strict public health restrictions for many months or permitting activities that could spread infection, both of which exacerbate inequalities and (...) impose serious burdens. This Viewpoint presents a framework for analyzing the ethics of immunity licenses. (shrink)

The problem of poverty is global in scope and has devastating consequences for many essential aspects of life: health, education, political participation, autonomy, and psychological well-being. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Poverty presents the current state of philosophical research on poverty in its breadth and depth. It features 39 chapters divided into five thematic sections: Concepts, theories and philosophical aspects of poverty research Poverty in the history of Western philosophy and philosophical traditions Poverty in non-Western philosophical thought Key ethical (...) concepts and poverty Social and political issues The handbook not only addresses questions concerning individual, collective, or institutional responsibility towards people in extreme poverty and the moral wrong of poverty, but it also tackles emerging applied issues that are connected to poverty such as gender, race, education, migration, and climate change. Additionally, it features perspectives on poverty from the history of Western philosophy, as well as non-Western views that explore issues unique to the Global South. Finally, the first section of essays provides an overview of the most important aspects of social science poverty research, which serves as an excellent resource for philosophers and philosophy students unfamiliar with how poverty is empirically researched in practice. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Poverty is an essential resource for students and researchers in philosophy, political science, sociology, development studies, and public policy who are working on poverty. (shrink)

El problema del principio de razón suficiente puede hallar sus primerosindicios en Spinoza; no obstante, es hasta que Leibniz trata de definirlocuando toma cierto rango y cierta importancia filosófica. El problema essi todo tiene una razón (o causa) y si todo tiene una causa, ¿por qué? Ysi no todo tiene una causa, ¿qué razones tenemos para pensar en ello?

El día 30 de Diciembre de 2004 se desataba un incendio provocado por una bengala en un recital que el grupo de rock Callejeros llevaba a cabo en el local La República de Cromañón, ubicado en el barrio porteño de Once frente a la plaza Miserere; en este hecho morían trágicamente 194 personas. Después de la tragedia, se encuentra hoy un espacio en homenaje a esas víctimas, donde sus familiares y amigos tienen la oportunidad de expresar sus sentimientos más profundos. (...) ¿Es Cromañón un símbolo de religiosidad popular? ¿Qué particularidades presenta y cuales son sus ritos más característicos? ¿Qué elementos dan origen a esta expresión? El objetivo de esta investigación es precisar si estamos frente a un fenómeno de religiosidad popular, bajo qué contextos opera, cuáles son sus ritos más comunes y como se han originado. Para analizar la religiosidad popular, se toman cinco elementos presentes en estos fenómenos: la sacralización de los muertos, la idea de conflicto social, el sincretismo, las fechas conmemorativas, y la promesa como relación entre el devoto y el santo. Mediante entrevistas en profundidad y otras técnicas cualitativas pudimos establecer una relación entre esas categorías teóricas y los hechos empíricos.On December 30, 2004 there was surfaced an untied fire provoked by a flare in a recital that Callejeros group of rock This was leading to end in the place Cromañón's Republic, located in the neighborhood of once opposite to the Miserere Square; in this fact tragically 194 persons were dying. After the tragedy, one finds today a space in honoring to these victims, where their parents and friends have the opportunity to express their most deeper feelings. Is Cromañón a symbol of popular religiousness? What does points present and which are its more typical rites? What elements have given origin to this expression? This investigation is aimed to clarify if we are before a phenomenon of popular religiousness, under which contexts it operates and which are its own more common rites and since they have originated. To analyze the popular religiousness, five present elements take in these phenomena: the sacralization of murders, the idea of social conflict, the syncretism, the commemorative dates, and the promise as relation among the devout one and the saint. By means of interviews in depth and other qualitative methods we could establish a relation among these theoretical categories and the empirical facts. (shrink)

This article aims to explore two different but interrelated problems. The first objective, the more abstract one, is to discuss the plausibility of fusionism as a theoretical project of bridging the philosophical gap between libertarianism and free-market conservatism. Our thesis is that while fusionism could succeed, as a strategic alliance, in promoting specific policies, the differences between libertarianism and conservatism are irreconcilable at the level of fundamental intellectual assumptions. More precisely, starting from Hayek’s objections to conservatism, we argue that the (...) crucial divide is that between two conceptions about the prerequisites for social order. The second objective is to show how the differences between the policy prescriptions endorsed by conservatives and libertarians within the Tea Party (mainly with regard to religion-related issues) are illustrative for the theoretical point defended in the first sections. (shrink)

This paper develops an account of accuracy and truth in pictorial assertion. It argues that there are two ways in which pictorial assertions can be indirect: with respect to their content and with respect to their target. This twofold indirectness explains how accurate, unedited pictures can be used to make false pictorial assertions. It captures the fishiness of true pictorial assertions involving target-indirectness, such as true pictorial assertions involving outdated pictures. And it raises the question whether target-indirectness may also arise (...) in linguistic assertion. (shrink)

In this book, a Burmese manuscript from the mid-nineteenth century is the catalyst for a study of the multifaceted Buddhist cosmos. The manuscript not only lays out the complex array of realms in the Buddhist universe but also ventures into a number of esoteric and little-understood aspects of the Therav da cosmological system and its inhabitants. By presenting translations and narration of much of the manuscript's text and sharing his careful analysis of its vivid illustrations, the author uncovers fascinating details (...) of the Therav da Buddhist cosmos. Detailed color and black-and-white illustrations, including a complete reduced-scale reproduction of the manuscript, help clarify and explain the complex, segmented Buddhist cosmology. (shrink)

Intellectual property is one of the highly divisive issues in contemporary philosophical and political debates. The main objective of this paper is to explore some sources of tension between the formal rules of intellectual property (particularly copyright and patents) and the emerging informal norms of file sharing and open access in online environments. We look into the file sharing phenomena not only to illustrate the deepening gap between the two sets of norms, but to cast some doubt on the current (...) regime of intellectual property as an adequate frame for the new type of interactions in online environments. Revisiting the classic Arrow–Demsetz debate about intellectual property and the epistemological issues involved in assessing institutions, we suggest that seeking out new institutional arrangements aligned with the norms-in-use seems to be a more promising strategy in the new technological setting than attempting to reinforce the current legal framework. Moreover, such a strategy is less prone to committing the so-called ‘Nirvana fallacies’. As a secondary task, we try to cast some doubt on the two most common moral justifications of intellectual property as being able to ground the full extent of the current intellectual property regime. (shrink)

El presente artículo se propone reconstruir sistemáticamente la —conocida pero poco estudiada a fondo— recepción schutziana de la fenomenología de Husserl. Con este objetivo, se procede en cuatro pasos. En primer lugar (1), se bosquejan los lineamientos fundamentales del acercamiento inusual de Schutz al pensamiento husserliano; en segundo término (2), se examina la lectura schutziana del proyecto fenomenológico-trascendental; luego (3), se expone la distinción husserliana entre psicología fenomenológica y fenomenología trascendental; y, finalmente (4), se explicitan las razones que impulsan a (...) Schutz a optar por la primera en detrimento de la última. La conclusión fundamental del análisis realizado es que existen dos tipos de motivos que mueven al pensador vienés a tomar posición por la psicología fenomenológica, a saber: (a) motivos programáticos y (b) filosóficos. (shrink)

La reconstrucción realizada en el presente artículo parte de la hipótesis de que pueden diferenciarse dos tipos de objeciones schützianas al texto canónico de Husserl, a saber: inmanentes y fundamentales. Las primeras remarcan las dificultades subyacentes en los pasos tomados por Husserl para resolver el problema de la intersubjetividad trascendental, mientras que las segundas cuestionan la pertinencia filosófica del problema mismo.

Resumen En este artículo me propongo revisitar de manera sucinta y sistemática los li-neamientos centrales de la teoría de la subjetividad de Sigmund Freud, persiguiendo el objetivo de mostrar la vigencia filosófica y teórico-social de la misma. Para ello, procedo en tres pasos: en primer lugar expongo el modo en que el autor construye su concepción del "sujeto del Inconsciente" a través de un enfrentamiento con la noción de "sujeto cartesiano". Luego, examino la tensión entre natura y nurtura que puede (...) rastrearse en su tratamiento del problema de la "pulsión" [ Trieb]. Y, finalmente, reseño su descripción de la estructura tripartita del aparato psíquico, poniendo especial énfasis en su noción de la subjetividad escindida y en el análisis del origen intersubjetivo del "Superyó" [Über-Ich].In this paper, I intend to systematically revisit the main lines of Sigmund Freud's theory of subjectivity, with the aim of showing its current relevance within the fields of philosophy and social theory. In order to do so, I will proceed in three steps. First, I will scrutinize the way Freud elaborates his account of the "subject of unconsciousness" arguing against the conception of the "Cartesian subject". Then, I will examine the tension between nature and nurture, which can be found in his treatment of the problem of "drives" [Triebe]. Finally, I will sketch out his description of the three-fold structure of the psychical apparatus, putting special emphasis on his conception of the "split subjectivity" and on his analysis of the intersubjective origin of the Superego [Über-Ich]. (shrink)

En el presente estudio procuraremos determinar los dos ejes de la ética unamuniana, que, al estar vinculados con el dualismo antropológico “yo-íntimo” y “yo-público”, podríamos condensar en los conceptos de “bondad” y “obra”. Unamuno, en cuanto heredero del romanticismo y del existencialismo, consideró que lo fundamental, en términos axiológicos, era que los individuos aprendiesen a “ser buenos” y no a “hacer [meramente] el bien”, ya que solo a través de la pureza del sentir, es decir, de la “bondad ética”, el (...) “sujeto moral” podría constituirse como una “persona” a través de sus “obras”. En este aspecto, la relación de la ética unamuniana con los “oficios” es decisiva, ya que cada “individuo” a través de su “profesión” está llamado a formar su “persona”. (shrink)

El hecho de que Unamuno sea un escritor autobiográfico nos permite determinar su concepción de rector, no solo sobre la base de lo que nos dice acerca de dicho cargo, sino también a partir de su experiencia, lo que es particularmente sugestivo, ya que la idea sui generis que tenía de dicho cargo se encarna en la realidad social que lo rodea.Por ejemplo, un texto que permitiría acceder a la experiencia de Unamuno como rector esel discurso que pronunció en el (...) “Paraninfo de la Universidadde Salamanca el 1 de octubre de 1931, al inaugurar, en calidad de rector, el curso académico de 1931-1932” (cf. Unamuno 1971d 395). (shrink)

Resumen El sentimiento trágico de la vida fue una de las grandes aportaciones filosófico-religiosas de don Miguel de Unamuno. Si es cierto que, al lado de su concepción trágica de la existencia, se yuxtaponen conceptos tan fundamentales y decisivos como los de conatus essendi, lucha por la vida, fe y Dios, en el presente estudio nos ceñiremos a la relación polémica y angustiada que la pistis mantiene con la gnosis o, si se quiere, que la fe mantiene con la razón (...) en cuanto al destino último de las conciencias individuales. Con ello intentaremos poner de relieve los rasgos más característicos y simbólicos de la existencia humana así como la conceptualizó Unamuno en su época finisecular decimonónica, cuando el positivismo y la fenomenología impugnaban la metafísica como rama legítima del conocimiento.The Tragic Sense of Life was one of Miguel de Unamuno’s great philosophical-religious contributions. It is true that next to his tragic conception of existence we find juxtaposed concepts as fundamental and decisive as those of conatus essendi, life struggle, faith and God, but, while admitting these, in the present study we address only the polemical and anguished relation that pistis has with gnosis, or in other words, that faith has with reason, in relation to the ultimate fate of individual consciences. Thus we attempt to highlight the most characteristic and symbolic traits of human existence as conceptualized by Unamuno at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, when positivism and phenomenology seemed to challenge metaphysics as a legitimate branch of knowledge. (shrink)

El presente estudio intenta poner de relieve la posición filosófica de don Miguel frente a la “ciencia” y la “religión”. El insigne rector salmantino, al partir del hecho de que la “ciencia” no puede satisfacer las últimas inquietudes y aspiraciones vitales de la existencia humana, presentó la “religión” como único movimiento espiritual capaz de otorgar un sentido ultraterreno al hombre, irremediablemente abocado a la muerte terrenal. Su tesis podría ser condensada en la siguiente proposición: ninguna “sociedad perfecta”, sea entendida como (...) la de Bebel o la de Kropotkine, puede ser una medicina para la muerte. Precisamente, por ello, justificó la existencia y sentido de la “religión” como respuesta más anhelada al tremendo problema de la precariedad y de la finitud de la existencia humana. (shrink)

Resumen: Nos proponemos analizar el concepto de “fe” tal como surge en los textos de Unamuno a lo largo de su extenso quehacer intelectual. Con ello, intentaremos determinar las características esenciales de dicho concepto según las propuestas del insigne rector salmantino que, inspirado en las “primitivas comunidades cristianas”, miró de reojo la “fe racional” y “dogmática” de matriz escolástica. En nuestros análisis del concepto unamuniano de fe prestaremos especial atención a sus nociones de “virilidad” y “feminidad de la fe”, con (...) vistas a destacar el “pesimismo metafísico” en que cayó el último Unamuno, incapaz de creer en la trascendencia a partir de su propia concepción de la creencia religiosa, que empezó a definir en el año de 1900 con la publicación de su ensayo “La fe”.: Our proposal here is to analyse the concept of “faith” as it arises in Unamuno’s writings throughout his extensive intellectual work. In doing so, we shall attempt to determine the essential characteristics of that concept according to the proposals of the famous Rector of Salamanca, who, inspired by the “primitive Christian communities”, looked askance at the “rational” and “dogmatic” faith built in the mould of scholasticism. In our analyses of Unamuno’s conception of faith, we pay particular attention to the notions of “virility” and “femininity” of faith. Doing so we try to highlight the “metaphysical pessimism” into which he fell towards the end of his life, when he became incapable of believing in transcendence based on his own conception of religious belief, which he had begun to define in 1900 with the publication of his essay “Faith”. (shrink)

1. Starověk a středověk -- 2. Novověk.

1. Starověk a středověk -- 2. Novověk.

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was designed to increase health insurance coverage in the United States. Its most controversial feature is the requirement that US residents purchase health insurance. Opponents of the mandate argue that requiring people to contribute to the collective good is inconsistent with respect for individual liberty. Rather than appeal to the collective good, this Viewpoint argues for a duty to buy health insurance based on the moral duty individuals have to reduce certain burdens (...) they pose on others. When some people have a duty to rescue, others may have a duty to take rescue precautions, in this case, to purchase health insurance to cover acute and emergency care needs. Requiring that individuals meet this obligation is consistent with respect of individual liberty. (shrink)