Darwin used artificial selection extensively and variedly in his theorizing. Darwin used ASN as an analogy to natural selection; he compared artificial to natural varieties, hereditary variation in nature to that in the breeding farm; and he also compared the overall effectiveness of the two processes. Most historians and philosophers of biology have argued that ASN worked as an analogical field in Darwin’s theorizing. I will argue rather that this provides a limited and somewhat muddled view of Darwinian science. I (...) say “limited” because I will show that Darwin also used ASN as a complex experimental field. And I say “muddled” because, if we concentrate on the analogical role exclusively, we conceive Darwinian science as rather disconnected from contemporary conceptions of “good science”.I will argue that ASN should be conceived as a multifaceted experiment. As a traditional experiment, ASN established the efficacy of Darwin’s preferred cause: natural selection. As a non-traditional experiment, ASN disclosed the nature of a crucial element in Darwin’s evolutionary mechanics: the nature of hereditary variation. Finally, I will argue that the experiment conception should help us make sense of Darwin’s comments regarding the “monstrous” nature of domestic breeds_traditionally considered to be problematic. (shrink)

This volume has 41 chapters written to honor the 100th birthday of Mario Bunge. It celebrates the work of this influential Argentine/Canadian physicist and philosopher. Contributions show the value of Bunge’s science-informed philosophy and his systematic approach to philosophical problems. The chapters explore the exceptionally wide spectrum of Bunge’s contributions to: metaphysics, methodology and philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of physics, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of social science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of technology, moral philosophy, social and (...) political philosophy, medical philosophy, and education. The contributors include scholars from 16 countries. Bunge combines ontological realism with epistemological fallibilism. He believes that science provides the best and most warranted knowledge of the natural and social world, and that such knowledge is the only sound basis for moral decision making and social and political reform. Bunge argues for the unity of knowledge. In his eyes, science and philosophy constitute a fruitful and necessary partnership. Readers will discover the wisdom of this approach and will gain insight into the utility of cross-disciplinary scholarship. This anthology will appeal to researchers, students, and teachers in philosophy of science, social science, and liberal education programmes. 1. Introduction Section I. An Academic Vocation Section II. Philosophy Section III. Physics and Philosophy of Physics Section IV. Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind Section V. Sociology and Social Theory Section VI. Ethics and Political Philosophy Section VII. Biology and Philosophy of Biology Section VIII. Mathematics Section IX. Education Section X. Varia Section XI. Bibliography. (shrink)

Does the concept of “subject” still have any logical-scientific consistency that could give it some relevance in the contemporary demands of rationality? Or is it rather a kind of fossil of metaphysical speculation that should be completely ruled out? Judging from the course of the history of philosophy, which for nearly 400 years has been devoted to the criticism of the subject’s conception directly deriving from the Cartesian cogito, it is amazing the stimulant power of this phantom that has so (...) productively haunted our thinking throughout the centuries.From a critical and deconstructive perspective of subjectivity and selfhood, neurosciences could be seen as the definitive blow to the “I,” conceived in Cartesian... (shrink)

Unfounded—conspiracy and health—beliefs about COVID-19 have accompanied the pandemic worldwide. Here, we examined cross-nationally the structure and correlates of these beliefs with an 8-item scale, using a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. We obtained a two-factor model of unfounded (conspiracy and health) beliefs with good internal structure (average CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04), but a high correlation between the two factors (average latent factor correlation = 0.57). This model was replicable across 50 countries (total N = 13,579), (...) as evidenced by metric invariance between countries (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMS = 0.07) as well as scalar invariance across genders (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03) and educational levels (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03). Also, lower levels of education, more fear of COVID-19, and more cynicism were weakly associated with stronger conspiracy and health beliefs. The study contributes to knowledge about the structure of unfounded beliefs, and reveals the potential relevance of affective (i.e., fear of COVID-19) and cognitive (i.e., cynicism) factors along with demographics, in endorsing such beliefs. In summary, we obtained cross-cultural evidence for the distinctiveness of unfounded conspiracy and health beliefs about COVID-19 in terms of their structure and correlates. (shrink)

From the most prominent thinkers in Latin American philosophy, literature, politics, and social science comes a challenge to conventional theories of globalization. The contributors to this volume imagine a discourse in which revolution requires no temporalized march of progress or takeovers of state power but instead aims at local control and the material conditions for human dignity.

The article addresses how societal inequalities shape market arrangements. While business scholars developed important work about the interplay of organizations and societal economic inequalities, less has been said about the embeddedness of markets in unequal social structures. We argue that this issue may be addressed by cross-fertilizing the sociological approach of Bourdieu and the Strategic Action Fields perspective. To demonstrate our view, we assessed the extreme case of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling markets in Brazil, conducting a qualitative study based on (...) the precepts of abductive analysis and using data from different secondary sources, interviews, and participant observation. We verified the existence of correspondences between the power of strategic action fields and the positions the individuals controlling them occupy in what Bourdieu calls the social space and show how these differences enable inter field connections that tend to reproduce social hierarchies. (shrink)

"The essays in this book make it elegantly clear that there is a vigorous and rigorous Latin American philosophy... and that others dismiss it at their peril." —Mario Sáenz The ten essays in this lively anthology move beyond a purely historical consideration of Latin American philosophy to cover recent developments in political and social philosophy as well as innovations in the reception of key philosophical figures from the European Continental tradition. Topics such as indigenous philosophy, multiculturalism, the philosophy of (...) race, democracy, postmodernity, the role of women, and the position of Latin America and Latin Americans in a global age are explored by notable philosophers from the region. An introduction by Eduardo Mendieta examines recent trends and points to the social, political, economic, and cultural conditions that have inspired the discipline. Latin American Philosophy brings English-speaking readers up to date with recent scholarship and points to promising new directions. (shrink)

A Moisés ben Maimón, nuestro Maimónides, le gustaba auto llamarse "Moisés el Español" o "Moisés el Cordobés". En una ocasión, ya largamente asentado en el viejo Cairo, escribía: "Entre nosotros, en al-Ándalus". Esta referencia, constante y repetida, a su tierra, al lugar que lo vio nacer, significa algo más que amor al terruño, a la patria chica...Las obras de Maimónides han generado y siguen generando innumerables ediciones, reediciones, traducciones y estudios que podrían llenar bibliotecas enteras. Por esto es encomiable el (...) formidable trabajo que ha realizado Mario Eduardo Cohen, quien, con admirable ahínco, con pasión y entrega, ha leído, analizado y estudiado innumerables obras, estudios, artículos, también los escritos del propio Maimónides, desgranando de manera antológica y muy pedagógica lo más preciso de su pensamiento y de su aportación a la cultura humana y al conocimiento del legado rabínico judaico. De seguro que el lector tras la lectura de esta obra divulgativa va a tomar conciencia de la grandeza de aquel hebreo cordobés, cuya obra es como un pedernal que despide la chispa creativa en quien con fuerza la golpea en la lectura y el estudio. Ahí radica el secreto de la actualidad permanente y viva de su obra y el noble afán de Mario Eduardo Cohen de hacer de las grandes obras de Maimónides una referencia viva de nuestro tiempo.EDITORIAL UNIVERSIDAD MAIMÓNIDES - ARGENTINA Este libro contiene el desarrollo de los siguientes temas, entre otros: -Época de guerras y profundos cambios-Documentos de la Guenizá de El Cairo-De Córdoba a Fostat-El Príncipe de los Médicos-Consejos para la Vida-Aportes para el Judaísmo-Guía de perplejos-Maimónides. Un canto a la solidaridad y a la humildadCon este libro usted podrá conocer mas sobre este gran pensador.¡Descargue ya este libro y comience a aprender sobre Maimónides!maimónides, maimonides, mario eduardo cohen, sefardi, sefardí, judaísmo, pedagogía. (shrink)

Esteban Lythgoe 55 Regímenes no democráticos y democracias menos republicanas Mario Serrafero 65 Precios e Instituciones Políticas en Buenos Aires (1850-1900) Eduardo Martín Cuesta 79.

Ao ser lançado em 1978, A brasilidade modernista - sua dimensão filosófica ganhou notoriedade pelo ineditismo da abordagem do movimento modernista. Esta nova edição, amplamente revista pelo autor, mantém a organização e as teses do livro, mas a forma da exposição foi simplificada e aperfeiçoada. Por isso mesmo, fica realçada a ruptura de Eduardo Jardim com as teses inocentes que, ainda nos anos setenta, viam a Semana de 1922 como o ato fundador do Brasil moderno. O propósito de abordar (...) filosoficamente o modernismo permanece e possibilita lançar luz sobre uma ampla gama de temas relativos ao nosso principal movimento de renovação cultural. Um deles é o da sua inserção em um debate de ideias que remonta às últimas décadas do século XIX. Graça Aranha aparece como a figura mediadora dessa inserção. A periodização do modernismo em duas fases - o primeiro tempo, de preocupações estéticas, e o segundo, tratando da brasilidade - ganhou visibilidade nesta nova edição. Na discussão da brasilidade foram considerados os pontos em comum entre as várias correntes do movimento, a partir de 1924. No entanto, duas posições aparecem contrastadas: a analítica, defendida por Mário de Andrade, e a intuitiva, que reúne Plínio Salgado e Oswald de Andrade. A vertente analítica propôs fazer o levantamento dos traços propriamente nacionais da cultura brasileira depositados nas manifestações de cultura popular. A intuitiva pretendeu apreender o caráter nacional de forma imediata, pelos sentimentos. (shrink)

Ao ser lançado em 1978, A brasilidade modernista - sua dimensão filosófica ganhou notoriedade pelo ineditismo da abordagem do movimento modernista. Esta nova edição, amplamente revista pelo autor, mantém a organização e as teses do livro, mas a forma da exposição foi simplificada e aperfeiçoada. Por isso mesmo, fica realçada a ruptura de Eduardo Jardim com as teses inocentes que, ainda nos anos setenta, viam a Semana de 1922 como o ato fundador do Brasil moderno. O propósito de abordar (...) filosoficamente o modernismo permanece e possibilita lançar luz sobre uma ampla gama de temas relativos ao nosso principal movimento de renovação cultural. Um deles é o da sua inserção em um debate de ideias que remonta às últimas décadas do século XIX. Graça Aranha aparece como a figura mediadora dessa inserção. A periodização do modernismo em duas fases - o primeiro tempo, de preocupações estéticas, e o segundo, tratando da brasilidade - ganhou visibilidade nesta nova edição. Na discussão da brasilidade foram considerados os pontos em comum entre as várias correntes do movimento, a partir de 1924. No entanto, duas posições aparecem contrastadas: a analítica, defendida por Mário de Andrade, e a intuitiva, que reúne Plínio Salgado e Oswald de Andrade. A vertente analítica propôs fazer o levantamento dos traços propriamente nacionais da cultura brasileira depositados nas manifestações de cultura popular. A intuitiva pretendeu apreender o caráter nacional de forma imediata, pelos sentimentos. (shrink)

La obra editada por Mario López, Carlos Eduardo Martínez y Óscar Useche constituye una aproximación al conocimiento de los procesos de construcción de paz desarrollados por distintas comunidades en el planeta y de los abordajes teóricos sobre el tema centrados en las nuevas formas de convivencia que surgen gracias a la fuerza de lo comunitario. Se trata de una compilación de dieciséis artículos elaborados por investigadores provenientes de enfoques diversos quienes presentan una reflexión so..

Tal como se señala en el prólogo, redactado por el colombiano Carlos Eduardo Martínez Hincapié, la obra que a continuación reseñamos se ha atrevido a hurgar en los últimos episodios de la humanidad, para presentarnos uno de aquellos fenómenos que aún no logran aparecer como categorías de análisis e interpretación al interior de las ciencias sociales. Es de este modo que, y dada la advertencia anterior, nos encontramos con la propuesta del filósofo e historiador español Mario López Martínez, (...) s.. (shrink)

It is generally argued that if the wave-function in the de Broglie–Bohm theory is a physical field, it must be a field in configuration space. Nevertheless, it is possible to interpret the wave-function as a multi-field in three-dimensional space. This approach hasn’t received the attention yet it really deserves. The aim of this paper is threefold: first, we show that the wave-function is naturally and straightforwardly construed as a multi-field; second, we show why this interpretation is superior to other interpretations (...) discussed in the literature; third, we clarify common misconceptions. (shrink)

El artículo busca dilucidar algunas características del epistolario en tanto que fuente historiográfica y encontrar claves de comparación con la autobiografía. Con importantes aspectos en común, sus propósitos, sus sesgos y la posición subjetiva de sus autores evidencian importantes diferencias. A partir de esta problemática, se analizará la correspondencia sostenida por Max Weber desde el servicio militar durante la Gran Guerra. En un período en el que no tiene intervención pública alguna, el análisis se centra en la evolución de su (...) perspectiva sobre el papel de Alemania y sobre su actividad específica en los lazaretos. Cada uno de estos aspectos se relaciona respectivamente con dos piedras angulares de la obra weberiana: el problema nacional y el proceso de burocratización. (shrink)

This seminal, multidisciplinary book shows how mathematics can be used to study the first principles of DNA. Most importantly, it enriches the so-called "Chargaff's grammar of biology" by providing the conceptual theoretical framework necessary to generalize Chargaff's rules. Starting with a simple example of DNA mathematical modeling where human nucleotide frequencies are associated to the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio through an optimization problem, its breakthrough is showing that the reverse, complement and reverse-complement operators defined over oligonucleotides induce a (...) natural set partition of DNA words of fixed-size. These equivalence classes, when organized into a matrix form, reveal hidden patterns within the DNA sequence of every living organism. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students both in mathematics and in life sciences, it is also a valuable resource for researchers interested in studying invariant genomic properties. (shrink)

I want to combine two hitherto largely independent research projects, scientific understanding and mechanistic explanations. Understanding is not only achieved by answering why-questions, that is, by providing scientific explanations, but also by answering what-questions, that is, by providing what I call scientific descriptions. Based on this distinction, I develop three forms of understanding: understanding-what, understanding-why, and understanding-how. I argue that understanding-how is a particularly deep form of understanding, because it is based on mechanistic explanations, which answer why something happens in (...) virtue of what it is made of. I apply the three forms of understanding to two case studies: first, to the historical development of thermodynamics and, second, to the differences between the Clausius and the Boltzmann entropy in explaining thermodynamic processes. (shrink)

The ontological models framework distinguishes ψ-ontic from ψ-epistemic wave- functions. It is, in general, quite straightforward to categorize the wave-function of a certain quantum theory. Nevertheless, there has been a debate about the ontological status of the wave-function in the statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics: is it ψ-epistemic and incomplete or ψ-ontic and complete? I will argue that the wave- function in this interpretation is best regarded as ψ-ontic and incomplete.

What does it take to understand a phenomenon ideally, or to the highest conceivable extent? In this paper, we answer this question by arguing for five necessary conditions for ideal understanding: (i) representational accuracy, (ii) intelligibility, (iii) truth, (iv) reasonable endorsement, and (v) fitting. Even if one disagrees that there is some form of ideal understanding, these five conditions can be regarded as sufficient conditions for a particularly deep level of understanding. We then argue that grasping, novel predictions, and transparency (...) are not reasonable conditions for ideal understanding. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Drinking Rules! Byron and BaudelaireJoshua Wilner (bio)This essay 1 takes up two nineteenth-century texts on the theme of intoxication in which the poetic word can no longer, if it ever could, stably figure itself as the metaphoric other of the drug, that is, as a legitimate means of imaginative transport, and in which the writer’s enthrallment by the transporting substance of words shows us its addictive and, one (...) might say, prosaic face.The first of these pieces is a pair of stanzas from Canto II of Byron’s Don Juan, the other, Baudelaire’s brief prose poem “Enivrez-vous,” pieces that Jean Pommier [341] and, following Pommier, Robert Kopp [314–15] have suggested may be connected, though neither reader enters into much more detail than to note that both bits of writing, in Kopp’s words, “chant[e] l’ivresse.” Now the praise of drunkenness is of course a poetic commonplace, and the mere fact of its appearance in these two bits of text argues about as intimate a bond of kinship as that involved in pointing out that you and I are both Noah’s children. But there are, I would argue, compelling reasons for looking at these pieces in relation to one another and to which I believe Pommier was responding.That Byron mattered to Baudelaire is attested to by a number of references scattered throughout the latter’s work and letters, references which, while faulting Byron for garrulousness, praise him for having the thing that makes poets: “une diabolique personnalité” [OC 2: 232]. Perhaps the most interesting of these references occurs in a well-known letter that Baudelaire wrote to his mother in July 1857, shortly after Les fleurs du mal had been published and while the storm of controversy that was to culminate in the prosecution and expurgation of the collection for obscenity was rapidly gathering:On me refuse tout, l’esprit d’invention et même la connaissance de la langue française. Je me moque de tous ces imbéciles, et je sais que ce volume, avec ses qualités et ses défauts, fera son chemin dans la mémoire du public lettré, à côté des meilleurs poésies de V. Hugo, de Th. Gautier et même de Byron.[CP 1: 411][They deny me everything, the spirit of invention and even knowledge of the French language. I could care less about all these imbeciles, and I know that this volume, with its qualities and its faults, will make its way in the memory of the [End Page 34] lettered public, along with the best poetry of V. Hugo, of Th. Gautier, and even of Byron.]The pride of place Baudelaire reserves for Byron in this list was somewhat dated even in its time 2 and odd in other ways, especially given the more qualified expressions of admiration we meet elsewhere in his writings. But it becomes more understandable if one considers that for Baudelaire’s mother, who was of Byron’s generation and had early ties to England 3 (in fact, she apparently taught Charles English during his childhood [E. Crépet 30], making it, strangely enough, part of his “mother tongue”), Byron’s would have been the emblematic case of a writer for whom a reputation for depravity was overtaken by poetic honor, perhaps at the cost of his death in a noble cause.Apart from this evidence of a felt affinity, there are specific formal grounds for associating the two pieces. Since they are fairly brief, allow me first of all to cite them both. Here are the stanzas from Canto II of Don Juan: 179 Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; The best of life is but intoxication: Glory, the grape, love, gold, in these are sunk The hopes of all men, and of every nation; Without their sap, how branchless were the trunk Of life’s strange tree, so fruitful on occasion! But to return, - Get very drunk; and when You wake with head-ache, you shall see what then. 180 Ring for your valet - bid him quickly bring Some hock and soda-water, then you’ll know A pleasure worthy Xerxes the... (shrink)

Philosophers now seem to agree that frequentism is an untenable strategy to explain the meaning of probabilities. Nevertheless, I want to revive frequentism, and I will do so by grounding probabilities on typicality in the same way as the thermodynamic arrow of time can be grounded on typicality within statistical mechanics. This account, which I will call typicality frequentism, will evade the major criticisms raised against previous forms of frequentism. In this theory, probabilities arise within a physical theory from statistical (...) behavior of almost all initial conditions. The main advantage of typicality frequentism is that it shows which kinds of probabilities (that also have empirical relevance) can be derived from physics. Although one cannot recover all probability talk in this account, this is rather a virtue than a vice, because it shows which types of probabilities can in fact arise from physics and which types need to be explained in different ways, thereby opening the path for a pluralistic account of probabilities. (shrink)

In 1997, I introduced the concept and the phrase “bio art”, originally in relation to my artwork “Time Capsule”. This work approached the problem of wet interfaces and human hosting of digital memory through the implantation of a microchip. The work consisted of a microchip implant, seven sepia-toned photographs, a live television broadcast, a webcast, interactive telerobotic webscanning of the implant, a remote database intervention, and additional display elements, including an X-ray of the implant. While “bio art” is applicable to (...) a large gamut of in vivo works that employ biological media, made by myself and others, in 1998, I started to employ the more focused term “transgenic art”. Republished in Ars Electronica ‘99—Life Science, ed. Gerfried Stocker and Christine Schopf, 289–296.) to describe a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to create unique living beings. Art that manipulates or creates life must be pursued with great care, with acknowledgment of the complex issues it raises and, above all, with a commitment to respect, nurture, and love the life created. I have been creating and exhibiting a series of transgenic artworks since 1999. I have also been creating bio art that is not transgenic. The implications of this ongoing body of work have particular esthetic and social ramifications, crossing several disciplines and providing material for further reflection and dialog. What follows is an overview of theses works, the issues they evoke, and the debates they have elicited. (shrink)

Visa-se neste artigo definir conceitos e divisões da filosofia elaborados no período chamado Renascimento. Analisa-se obras de Gregor Reisch, Benedetto Varchi e Francisco de Toledo, entre outros, para entender termos centrais como “filosofia”, “ciência” e “arte” e suas relações hierárquicas. Mostra-se que usos desses termos eram significativamente diversos de usos contemporâneos, e o uso de fontes da época visa simplificar e erradicar noções posteriores que não são necessárias para estudos históricos, de modo que se possa explicar questões que disciplinas contemporâneas (...) não explicam. Visa-se também fornecer instrumentos conceituais para pesquisas históricas. (shrink)