A stultitia na contemporaneidade e a importância da leitura e da escrita em escolas e universidades Resumo: Este artigo é um ensaio teórico que parte de investigações da antiguidade greco-romana por Foucault, principalmente de seus estudos sobre Sêneca, para recuperar o conceito de stultitia e com ele pensarmos o nosso tempo. A partir do diagnóstico de um presente da superaceleração e do superdesempenho, em que se compete consigo mesmo e a atenção está dispersa, a passividade está em justamente não conseguirmos (...) parar para olhar para nós mesmos e para os demais. Para essa agitação contemporânea, afirmamos a importância de escolas e universidades, bem como da figura do mestre, que, por meio da leitura e da escrita, poderá convidar o outro a cuidar de si mesmo e dos demais. Palavras-chave: Stultitia; Educação; Cuidado de si; Leitura; Escrita. Stultitia in contemporaneity and the importance of reading and writing in schools and universities Abstract: This paper is a theoretical essay grounded on Foucault’s investigations of Greek-Roman Antiquity, particularly his studies on Seneca, in order to recover the concept of stultitia and use it to think about our times. From the diagnosis of a present of super-acceleration and super-performance, in which one competes with oneself and attention is dispersed, passivity is precisely in not being possible to stop and look at the others and ourselves. For this contemporary unrest, we point out the importance of schools and universities, as well as the figure of the master, who, by means of reading and writing, may invite the other to look after the others and oneself. Key-words: Stultitia; Education; Care of the self; Reading; Writing. La stultitia à l´époque contemporaine et l´importance de la lecture et de l´écriture dans les écoles et les universités Résumé: Cet article est un essai théorique qui part des investigations de l'antiquité gréco-romaine de Foucault, principalement de ses études sur Sêneca, pour récupérer le concept de stultitia pour penser à notre époque. Du diagnostic d'un présent de super accélération, de super performance, dans lequel on est en compétition avec soi-même, dans lequel l'attention est dispersée, la passivité est simplement de ne pas pouvoir s'arrêter pour se regarder et se regarder les autres. Pour cette agitation contemporaine, nous affirmons l'importance des écoles et des universités et la figure du maître qui, par la lecture et l'écriture, peut inviter l'autre à souci de lui-même et des autres. Mots-clés: Stultitia; Éducation; Souci de soi; Lecture; L'écriture. Data de registro: 21/07/2021 Data de aceite: 20/10/2021. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between information and abductive reasoning in the context of problem-solving, focusing on non-human animals. Two questions guide our investigation: What is the relation between information and abductive reasoning in the context of human and non-human animals? Do non-human animals perform discovery based on inferential processes such as abductive reasoning? In order to answer these questions, we discuss the semiotic concept of information in relation to the concept of abductive reasoning and, (...) more specifically, to the notion of manipulative abduction proposed by Magnani. Finally, we investigate a case study of corvids’ intelligence, namely, their capacity of causal cognition. (shrink)

This article aims to review the standard objections to dualism and to argue that will either fail to convince someone committed to dualism or are flawed on independent grounds. I begin by presenting the taxonomy of metaphysical positions on concrete particulars as they relate to the dispute between materialists and dualists, and in particular substance dualism is defined. In the first section, several kinds of substance dualism are distinguished and the relevant varieties of this kind of dualism are selected. The (...) remaining sections are analyses of the standard objections to substance dualism : It is uninformative, has troubles accounting for soul individuation, causal pairing and interaction, violates laws of physics, is made implausible by the development of neuroscience and it postulates entities beyond necessity. I conclude that none of these objections is successful. (shrink)

The Code for Global Ethics: Ten Humanist Principles By Dr Rodrigue Tremblay Prometheus Books -/- The world faces a crisis of civilization, which is in reality a moral crisis. The modern moral worldview that has evolved since the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment seems to be weathering. There is a recrudescence of the old moral formulas that encourage conflicts and wars. Humanity is in need of a new moral revival, free of sectarian references, in order to pursue its long march (...) for survival in a climate of progress and liberty. -/- The Code for Global Ethics proposes an imperative and more explicitly universal code of rights and obligations for all individuals, whether they be ordinary citizens or leaders of countries, of corporations, or religious organizations. It outlines the principles of rational humanism to be applied within the global context of a shrinking and a politically and economically interdependent world. Such a universal and global code of conduct is then compared to alternative moral codes—codes usually based on sectarian religious systems—with a demonstration of why such narrow or ethnically centered moral systems have failed humanity in the past. In our view, humanism is about idealism, compassion, and mutual tolerance, in a true spirit of humanity. It is a truly universal vision of humankind. http://www.amazon.com/The-Code-Global-Ethics-Principles/dp/1616141727/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_3 -/- . (shrink)

This paper introduces the logic of evidence and truth \ as an extension of the Belnap–Dunn four-valued logic \. \ is a slightly modified version of the logic \, presented in Carnielli and Rodrigues. While \ is equipped only with a classicality operator \, \ is equipped with a non-classicality operator \ as well, dual to \. Both \ and \ are logics of formal inconsistency and undeterminedness in which the operator \ recovers classical logic for propositions in its (...) scope. Evidence is a notion weaker than truth in the sense that there may be evidence for a proposition \ even if \ is not true. As well as \, \ is able to express preservation of evidence and preservation of truth. The primary aim of this paper is to propose a probabilistic semantics for \ where statements \\) and \\) express, respectively, the amount of evidence available for \ and the degree to which the evidence for \ is expected to behave classically—or non-classically for \ \). A probabilistic scenario is paracomplete when \ + P 1\), and in both cases, \ < 1\). If \ = 1\), or \ = 0\), classical probability is recovered for \. The proposition \, a theorem of \, partitions what we call the information space, and thus allows us to obtain some new versions of known results of standard probability theory. (shrink)

Ethics has powerful teeth, but these are barely being used in the ethics of AI today – it is no wonder the ethics of AI is then blamed for having no teeth. This article argues that ‘ethics’ in the current AI ethics field is largely ineffective, trapped in an ‘ethical principles’ approach and as such particularly prone to manipulation, especially by industry actors. Using ethics as a substitute for law risks its abuse and misuse. This significantly limits what ethics can (...) achieve and is a great loss to the AI field and its impacts on individuals and society. This article discusses these risks and then highlights the teeth of ethics and the essential value they can – and should – bring to AI ethics now. (shrink)

Igwebuike is a traditional knowledge system undergirded by the metaphysical assumption that the world is a totality of interconnected and interrelated entities.1–4 African scholars in West Africa often invoke igwebuike to make sense of African ethical, social and political perspectives that are grounded in the theory of Afro-communitarianism. Afro-communitarianism is primarily a socioethical theory that is concerned with the articulation of the moral relationship between the individual and the community. The term igwebuike is derived from the Igbo root words igwe (...) (number), bu (is) and ike (strength). Thus, the term igwebuike translates as ‘number is strength’.3 4 As an ethical theory, igwebuike espouses the ontological relatedness of the variety of entities in the world and the moral relatedness of all humans by virtue of their common possession of life, with the accompanying human capacity for feeling and thinking. Resultantly, it prescribes solidarity, companionship and identification with others as virtues that promote human flourishing. The reverence for life and humanness explicitly forbids actions that diminish this superlative and irreplaceable quality.5 This concept can be helpful in offering a conceptual framework for making healthcare more …. (shrink)

Peirce calls philosophy “cenoscopy”, that is, a view of the general. By that, he means that its aim is to provide a general view of the positive facts of human life and experience. Thus, cenoscopy begins its inquiries scrutinizing everything; experience shows us that is universal and pervasive, general and evident. The method of cenoscopic inquiry, as its very name says, rests upon the careful observation of all manifestations of usual and common experience, limiting itself to what can be inferred (...) from it: our common-sense experiences constitute the positum of philosophical inquiry. So, the biggest difficulty in philosophical inquiry is to cope with the certainties of common-sense, which are extremely vague and general, such certainties as expressed in propositions such as “fire burns”. Such experiences inform our world view, before any scientific world view, and as such it does not occur to us we can doubt them – they acquire the indubitable status of instinctive beliefs. In fact, common-sense beliefs are the very ground of our rational certainties, thus constituting the inevitable hic et nunc from where to start any philosophical and scientific inquiry. This paper aims at presenting Peirce’s main tenets of common-sense in relation to his conception of philosophy. (shrink)

This paper investigates epistemological and ethical implications of the growingavailability of direct-to-consumer genetic testing for the science and society. Direct-toconsumer genetic testing is characterized as the genetic testing sold directly to consumerswithout any assistance from professionals. By offering empowerment and control, companiesconvince consumers to sequence their genome by granting the company access to theirgenetic data in exchange to results that are not always accurate. To which extent doconsumers properly understand the results of their genetic testing? Are consumers aware ofthe possible (...) implications for disclosing genetic information to private companies? I addressthese questions in two steps: firstly, I discuss epistemological implications of thedevelopment of Genomics, understood as a data-intensive science, by delving into thetheoretical commitments of the concept of gene and the notion of circular causality.Secondly, I reflect upon the privacy risks of taking direct-to-consumer genetic testing in adata-rich world. Finally, I draw some conclusions on the possible consequences of direct-toconsumer genetic testing by suggesting key-concepts that may help to clarify the limits andscope of genetic testing. (shrink)

Na Co nd i ç ã o Huma na, publ i c a do e m1958, Hannah Arendt estabeleceu umadistinção importante entre a “condiçãohumana” e a “nat ur eza humana”. Apar t i r des t e anal i s e f enomenol ógi co,Arendt tentou circunscrever os limitesda “natureza humana”, e responder aosteóricos positivistas que consideravampossível conhecer o quid da naturezabiológica humana. Para Arendt, a açãohumana, a diferença dos eventos ocorrena natureza, consiste numa característicamui t o es peci f (...) i ca a l i ber dade. Comoresultado dele; uma correta compreensãodo fenômeno da condição humana, nãopode ser esgotada por apelar só à dimensãobiológica, devido a que, a ação humananão pode ser exatamente explicada pelasforças que atuam no exterior, o analisedo naturismo é insuficiente. E não podeesgot ar o pr obl ema do f enômeno daliberdade humana.Por sua parte, porém Hans Jonas, nãodes envol veu ampl ament e es t e t ema,inclui em O Principio de Responsabilidade,nos capí t ul os ci nco e sei s, uma duracritica ao projeto marxista que apela aoconceito desenvolvido por Arendt, de homolaborens, o qual é uma das manifestaçõesda “condição humana”.In The Human Condi ti on, published in1958, Hannah Arendt makes an importantdistinction between the “human condition”and t he “human nat ure”. Out of t hi sphenomenological analysis, Arendt triedto circumscribe the limits of the “humannat ur e” and t o r es pond t o pos i t i vi s ttheoreticians who considered possible toknow the essence of the biological humannature. For Arendt, human action, unlikethe events that occur in nature, consists ofa characteristic very specific of freedom.As a result, a correct understanding ofthe phenomenon of human condi ti onis not possible through the biologicaldimension, since human action cannot beproperly explained by the forces that actin the external world. This shows that thenaturalistic analysis is insufficient andcannot deal properly with the phenomenonof human freedom.On the other hand, though Hans Jonas didnot treat completely this problem in his ThePrinciple of Responsibility, he offers a hardcriticism of the Marxist project inspiredin Arendt’s notions, targeting the notion of homo laborens,as one of the manifestations of the “humancondition”. (shrink)

Philosophy Compass, Volume 17, Issue 8, August 2022.

Como a filosofia da diferença pode impregnar a formação de professores nesta contemporaneidade por intermédio de arranjos múltiplos, da disseminação de saberes diversos, dos encontros variados e das composições inéditas, a partir dos passeios urbanos? Eis a questão norteadora da escrita deste texto, iniciada na pesquisa-intervenção denominada Tramas e usos do passeio urbano: por uma estética professoral . Entendendo que os saberes estão sempre se transformando e se relacionando, objetivamos tecer tramas entre a filosofia da diferença, as ciências educativas e (...) a arte contemporânea a fim de realizar fissuras na maneira tradicional que está sendo trabalhado os procedimentos formativos. Justifica-se a importância do texto ao considerar as tantas indicações sobre como ser e fazer – enquanto uma demanda modulada por experts educacionais – acabando-se por perder a análise sobre as próprias condições de vida, ficando-se alheio ao poder de gerenciar a existência. O método cartográfico foi utilizado sugerindo uma investigação sobre o processo da produção dos dados. Trabalhar conceitos filosóficos, artísticos e educacionais, possibilitou o enfrentamento do pensamento caótico acionado em função da experimentação de dispositivos singulares. Podemos dizer que a intervenção proposta pulverizou a Educação, através das experimentações no passeio urbano, possibilitando que conexões na prática professoral tenham se formado e territórios docentes desconstituídos ou reforçados. O inédito prevaleceu à repetição do mesmo. Por isso, se aposta nesse modo educacional que age no indivíduo, que faz acontecer alguma coisa com os sujeitos envolvidos. Não há escapatória. É condição sobre a qual o pensamento é colocado a pensar, exigindo uma didática que põe alguma coisa a funcionar. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide, and in Africa, given the lack of resources, they are likely to be even more acute. The usefulness of Traditional African Healers in helping to mitigate the effects of pandemic has been neglected. We argue from an ethical perspective that these healers can and should have an important role in informing and guiding local communities in Africa on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Particularly, we argue not only (...) that much of the philosophy underlying Traditional African Medicine is adequate and compatible with preventive measures for COVID-19, but also that Traditional African Healers have some unique cultural capital for influencing and enforcing such preventive measures. The paper therefore suggests that not only given the cultural context of Africa where Traditional African Healers have a special role, but also because of the normative strength of the Afro-communitarian philosophy that informs it, there are good ethical reasons to endorse policies that involve Traditional Healers in the fight against COVID-19. We also maintain that concerns about Traditional African Healers objectionably violating patient confidentiality or being paternalistic are much weaker in the face of COVID-19. (shrink)

Delusion is one of the most intriguing psychopathological phenomena and its conceptualization remains the subject of genuine debate. Claims that it is ill-defined, however, are typically grounded on essentialist expectations that a given definition should capture the core of every instance acknowledged as delusion in the clinical setting.

Antero, contrariamente a Schelling, não aceita a identificação do Absoluto ideal com o Absoluto real. Segundo ele, o Absoluto e a Realidade constituem uma antinomia radical, dado que "a razão não tem de si mesma ... conhecimento total e infalível". O Absoluto de Antero é ideal, o ideal que atrai a força dinâmica em sua trajectória no sentido da auto-realização, reconhecendo-se como Absoluto, independente do mundo fenoménico, só quando tiver atingido a mais alta consciência-de-si. O pensamento filosófico de Antero, expresso (...) sumariamente nas Tendências Gerais da Filosofia teve grande proeminência na formação da corrente de pensamento que constituiu a filosofia portuguesa no século XX. /// Antero, autrement que Schelling, n'accepte pas l'identification de l'Absolu idéal avec l'Absolu réel. À son avis, l'Absolu et la Réalité constituent un'antinomie radicale parce que "la raison n'a pas de soi même la connaissance totale et infaillible". L'Absolu d'Antero est idéal, l'idéal qui attire la force dynamique en sa trajectoire, dans le sens d'auto-réalisation, en se reconnaissant comme Absolu, indépendant du monde phénoménique seulement après avoir la plus grande connaissance-de-soi. La pensée philosophique d'Antero, exprès, en abrégé, en Tendências Gérais da Filosofia a eu une énorme proéminence dans la formation de la pensée qui a constituée la Philosophie Portugaise au XX.e siècle. /// Unlike Schelling,Antero does not identify the ideal Absolute with the real Absolute. In his views, the relation between Reality and the Absolute is of a radical antinomy since "reason has of itself... no total and infalible knowledge". Antero's Absolute is ideal, the ideal that attracts the dynamic force in its trajectory towards sel-realization, and that recognizes itself as Absolute, that is, independent of the phenomenic world, only when it has achieved its highest self-awareness. Antero's philosophical views, briefly stated in the Tendêncies Gerais da Filosofia, had a strong influence upon the formation of the intelectual movement of the Portuguese philosophy in the twentieth century. (shrink)

Resumo Nas secções que se seguem, primeiro explorarei várias questões conceptuais e de enquadramento teórico, como o que se entende por relativismo e como o relativismo acerca da verdade se distingue de outros tipos de relativismo, uma elucidação da ideia de verdade relativa e, finalmente, em que sentidos se pode dizer que uma dada tese é auto-refutante e como se classificam os vários argumentos designados para provar que o relativismo se refuta a si mesmo nesses tipos de auto-refutação. Nas últimas, (...) e mais importantes, duas ultimas secções; avaliarei primeiro duas tentativas, uma devido a Hales e outra de Ressler,1 de desenvolver lógicas relativistas a partir das quais se pode ajuizar se o relativista é culpado de um dos tipos identificados de auto-refutação; o sistema de Ressler análogo a lógicas modais não-normais é considerado promissor. Outras variedades de argumentos de auto-refutação: transcendentais, semânticos e pragmáticos, também são considerados e rejeitados. Palavras-chave : auto-refutação, lógica filosófica, relativismo, verdade -/- In the following sections, I will try to answer several conceptual questions and clarify the vocabulary pertaining to the theoretical framework in which I am going to work. Examples being: what is relativism? How is truth-relativism is to be distinguished from other kinds of relativism? What is relative truth? In which senses can a certain thesis be self-refuting? And, finally, among the classical arguments laid out in the literature for the conclusion that relativism refutes itself, how are they to be classified among the several senses of self-refutation found? In the last, and most important two sessions: First, I will evaluate two attempts, one by Steven Hales and other by Mark Ressler, to construct formal systems of relative logic in which it can be properly be ascertained whether global forms truth-relativism are self-refuting. The system developed by Mark Ressler, analogous to non-normal modal logics, is considered promising in this regard. Arguments purporting to show that relativism falls prey to other varieties of self-refutation are also considered and then rejected. -/- Keywords : philosophical logic, relativism, self-refutation, truth. (shrink)

A intenção deste texto é sugerir que uma abordagem retórica da operatividade da razão humana é mais capaz de dar conta do modo efectivo do seu exercicio nos vários dominios da sua aplicação. Tomando-se como pretexto a obra de Ch. Perelman, começa-se por acompanhar este autor na análise critica do percurso histórico da racionalidade ocidental e da forma como nele se foi estratificando a relação entre lógica e retórica, desde as referências platónica e aristotélica, passando pelo sonho cartesiano da mathesis (...) universalis, are á sua radicalizaçã o na leitura neopositivista da actividade cientifica. Tal confronto critico com a historia da razão conduz à defesa de que a actividade da razão é radical e originariamente de tipo retórico-argumentativo, sendo a operatividade lógico-formal a cristalizada manifestação de superffcie dessa retoricidade profunda. O texto termina com breves sugestões acerca da possibilidade de analisar nestes termos a própria actividade de produção cientifica. /// It is the thesis of this article that the operations of human reason may be appreciated from a rhetorical and argumentative point of view. Taking as pretext the work of Ch. Perelman, an historical analysis is attempted in order to render explicit the way in which human rationality, from Platonic and Aristotelic conceptions of rationality to the Cartesian dream of mathesis universalis and the radical approach manifested in neo-positivism, is conceived. It is found that a stratifying effect in the relation between logic and rhetoric has been the result. Our critical treatment of this state of affairs leads us to propose that rational activity has always been at bottom rhetorical and argumentative and that insistence on the privilege of logical and formal operativity constitutes a surface cristalization of the deep dynamic quality of rhetorical operations in language which is, moreover, extensive to scientific discourse. (shrink)

Bioethics, Volume 36, Issue 3, Page 243-251, March 2022.

In the care of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC), some ethical difficulties stem from the challenges of accurate diagnosis and the uncertainty of prognosis. Current neuroimaging research on these disorders could eventually improve the accuracy of diagnoses and prognoses and therefore change the context of end-of-life decision making. However, the perspective of healthcare professionals on these disorders remains poorly understood and may constitute an obstacle to the integration of research. We conducted a qualitative study involving healthcare professionals from an (...) acute care university medical center. A short questionnaire captured demographic data as well as the experience of participants with DOC patients. A semi-structured interview was used to explore attitudes toward ethical issues identified in a previous literature review. Qualitative content analysis of interviews was conducted with the NVivo software. Accurate diagnosis among DOC is often regarded as a challenge, but this was generally not the case for our participants because most reported high confidence in DOC diagnoses. However, participants reported struggling with prognosis, especially because of its essential role for end-of-life decision making and communication with families. Variability of opinion between healthcare professionals was reported and identified by some as a minor issue while others stressed how families struggle with different medical opinions. End-of-life decision making encompassed a large proportion of ethical challenges in these patients, and the removal of artificial nutrition and hydration created significant discomfort in a minority of participants. The concept of futility was subject to wide-ranging understandings with both favorable and unfavorable opinions. Our data suggest that to ensure the incorporation of new evidence-based advances, attention should be directed to the real-world practices and challenges of accurate diagnosis and prognosis. Given pervasive challenges in end-of-life care, we recommend improved training of healthcare professionals in the care of patients with DOC, particularly in end-of life care, understanding the context of decision making, and determining how to optimally integrate new neuroscience research on the care of patients with DOC. (shrink)

The aim of this text is to reply to criticisms of the logics of evidence and truth and the epistemic approach to paraconsistency advanced by Barrio [2018], and Lo Guercio and Szmuc [2018]. We also clarify the notion of evidence that underlies the intended interpretation of these logics and is a central point of Barrio’s and Lo Guercio & Szmuc’s criticisms.

Ce travail s’insère dans un projet intitulé « Le discours aux frontières du social », qui vise à analyser, dans des films documentaires, l’entrecroisement des différents matériaux en jeu dans ces productions. Pour comprendre comment se formule la critique sociale, j’ai choisi d’analyser deux documentaires ayant pour thème des conflits sociaux : Tereza (« Thérèse », qui met en scène la vie des détenus dans une prison de Campinas) et Boca de Lixo (« Décharge publique », qui présente la vie (...) de personnes qui habitent et travaillent dans les dépôts d’ordures). (shrink)

No ano de 1985, a pedido do então prefeito de Ivatuba, Adolfo Semprebom, o jornalista londrinense Antônio Padilha escreveu e organizou uma revista sobre a história denominada de oficial do município. No presente artigo, é apresentada uma análise sobre esta publicação buscando compreender a construção de alguns discursos sobre a memória coletiva de Ivatuba, sob a ótica do “pioneiro”, considerado agente fundamental e percussor da ocupação e expansão da cidade. Nesse sentido, tornou-se fundamental atentar para os “não-ditos” como, por exemplo, (...) a presença de indígenas, a rápida devastação da cobertura vegetal na região e suas implicações para o ambiente. (shrink)

This papers’ goal is to present a survey of the contemporary discussions regarding truthmakers. The emphasis will be on the characterization of the truthmaking relation and on the problems involved in universal propositions and negations.

Corporations perform actions that can inflict harm with different levels of intensity, from death to material loss, to both companies’ internal and external stakeholders. Research has analysed corporate harm using the notions of corporate social irresponsibility and corporate crime. Critical management studies have been subjecting management and organizational practices and knowledge to critical analysis, and corporate harm has been one of the main concerns of CMS. However, CMS has rarely been deployed to analyse CSIR and corporate crime. Thus, the aim (...) of this paper is to critically analyse the perspectives of CSIR and corporate crimes on corporate harm via CMS in general and postcolonial studies in particular. The paper contributes by arguing that research on CSIR and corporate crime could be perceived as producing research that does not challenge the essence of contemporary corporation profit-seeking activities that ultimately produces corporate harm. We argue that CSIR and corporate crime are ideologies that assist in disguising the contradiction between producing shareholder value and the social good that is at the heart of the modern corporation system and the current economic system. Furthermore, the postcolonial view of CSIR and corporate crime highlights how they are based on a Western-centric view of corporate harm that ignores the realities and perspectives of the Global South, especially in situations where corporate harm leads to death in the Global South. (shrink)

Carrying out research on brains is important for medical advances in various diseases. However, such research ought not be carried out on human brains because the benefits do not outweigh the potential risks. A possible alternative is the use of brain surrogates. Nevertheless, some scholars who uphold a threshold account of moral status suggest the possibility that, with technological advances in the near future, more advanced brain surrogates will have very similar features to humans. This may suffice for these having (...) the same moral status as humans, and as a result, the situation may have implications for brain research, indeed, leading to the implication that this ought also not to be carried out upon brain surrogates. In this article, we present a relational approach to moral status which upholds that brain surrogates do not have the same moral status as human beings. Hence, brain research ought not be rejected on the grounds of equality of moral status between humans and brain surrogates. (shrink)

Taking into account the debate about the continuity or discontinuity in Heb 1-12 and Heb 13, with the implication of whether the hortatory material in chapter 13 is consistent with chapters 1-12 or it is a list of miscellaneous exhortations instead, this article seeks to discern connections between the concept of marriage in 13:4 with the ideas stated in 12:28–13:6. This endeavor is informed by a reading of 12:28-13:6 made in three steps. First, 12:28-29 is read as a transition for (...) the hortatory material in chapter 13. Second, 13:1-6 is traced as a conceptual structure for the understanding of marriage in 13:4. Third, the article identifies connections of the exhortation about marriage in 13:4 with ideas developed in 12:28-29 and 13:1-6. (shrink)

Published in 1908, C.S. Peirce’s ‘A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God’ is one of his most difficult articles. Presenting a peculiar entanglement of scientific method and theology, it sketches a ‘humble’ argument for the reality—and not the existence—of God for Musers, that is, those who pursue the activity he calls ‘Musement’. In Musement, Peirce claims, we can achieve a kind of perception of the intertwinement of the three universes of experience: of feeling, of brute fact, and of reason. (...) He also somehow relates each universe to a distinct phase of inquiry, which is described by the use of induction, deduction, and abduction or retroduction. The way that he develops his claims allows him to outline God as an abductive vague hypothesis to explain how those three universes make up a single whole. The hypothesis being vague means that the principle of contradiction does not hold for it. In this presentation, we aim at throwing some light at these points, focusing on the concept of Musement and what is understood as the vagueness of the hypothesis. (shrink)

This study compares the Internet (corporate web pages) and annual reports as media of social responsibility disclosure (SRD) and analyses what influences disclosure. It examines SRD on the Internet by Portuguese listed companies in 2004 and compares the Internet and 2003 annual reports as disclosure media. The results are interpreted through the lens of a multi-theoretical framework. According to the framework adopted, companies disclose social responsibility information to present a socially responsible image so that they can legitimise their behaviours to (...) their stakeholder groups and influence the external perception of reputation. Results suggest that a theoretical framework combining legitimacy theory and a resource-based perspective provides an explanatory basis for SRD by Portuguese listed companies. (shrink)

Objective of the study: To analyze the costs and profits of sugarcane production regarding the cultural practices of sugarcane suppliers. Methodology/approach: This study positions itself in this gap by comparatively analyzing 6 types of cultural practices: unraveling, windrowing, application of correctives, herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers, with the option of two systems Fixed rate (TF) and Variable rate (TV). Originality/Relevance: Brazil is a world reference in sugarcane production, with the State of São Paulo being the largest Brazilian producer. However, for sugarcane (...) suppliers to maintain this activity there is a need to reduce production costs and increase profitability/ha. However, there is a theoretical-practical gap in the financial assessment (costs and profits) of different cultural practices inherent to sugarcane production. Main results: The results demonstrated that the costs of cultural practices represent more than 30% of the total sugarcane production costs. The TF system proved to be more cost-efficient in the following operations: correctives, herbicides and insecticides. In the application of fertilizers, the TV system, in broadcast mode, had the best result. Finally, the profit/ton was R$1.70, demonstrating a very low profit margin/ha given the risk of the activity. Theoretical/methodological contributions: The sample for this research comprised 55 sugarcane suppliers from the State of São Paulo, whose data were obtained through a survey. The comparative analysis was based on the difference in costs of cultural practices and the estimation of the level of certainty (profit/costs), analyzed through the cumulative frequency carried out through the Monte Carlo Simulation (SMC). (shrink)

Jiren (畸人), literally translated as irregular (Ji) person (ren), is a critical concept in the classical Daoist text the Zhuangzi (5th–3rd century BC.).1 The concept refers to individuals with atypical body shapes. Some of them lack body parts of the standard human body, like a leg or toes. Some others have an atypical anatomy, like having a chin stuck down their navel; and some of them are, by social standards of the time, considered to be extremely ugly.1 These individuals are (...) described as incredibly virtuous. The description of Jiren individuals as virtuous does not simply aim to show there may be hidden virtues that social conventions blur. The point is not to show that we should also care for those with atypical bodies who have a hidden virtue. Rather, the point is to show that all human beings have an unconditional intrinsic value and moral worth. So, Jiren prescribes that an atypical body shape does not reflect inferiority. The variation of body anatomies should be understood as how the world is, not a value hierarchy. The concept of Jiren encourages, therefore, to consider one’s own and others’ value beyond their physical appearance. What’s more, Jiren encourages individuals to resist social pressures to fit a standard and to search inward for who they really are and accept it. This ethical groundwork set by the Jiren aims at freeing people from existing physical and mental boundaries to their well-being and helping them rethink …. (shrink)

In this article, we will make the case for an intercultural philosophy of religion with a special focus on interculturality between Chinese and African philosophies. We will provide an overview of the kind of intercultural philosophy that has already been undertaken between the East and the South and point out that a philosophy of religion has been left out. We will then make the case for a global philosophy of religion approach and why Chinese and African philosophies of religion should (...) engage in philosophical interchanges. We will then highlight some directions for carrying out such a philosophy and explain why the problem of evil may be better addressed from an intercultural perspective. (shrink)

In philosophy of science, the literature on abduction and the literature on styles of thinking have existed almost totally in parallel. Here, for the first time, we bring them together and explore their mutual relevance. What is the consequence of the existence of several styles of scientific thinking for abduction? Can abduction, as a general creative mode of inference, have distinct characteristic forms within each style? To investigate this, firstly, we present the concept of abduction; secondly we analyze what is (...) understood by styles of thinking; thirdly, we give some comments on abduction and styles of thinking by analyzing examples of scientific discovery or innovation within each style. We develop a case-based comparative investigation of creative aspects of abductive reasoning with examples drawn from different styles of scientific thinking and doing as understood by the Crombie/hacking tradition. We argue that abduction, as a general mode of reasoning, can have a variety of specific expressions enabled and constrained by the styles of scientific thinking. Finally, we draw some conclusions on the relationship between abduction and styles of thinking suggesting that scientific discovery is a dynamical goal-directed activity within the scientific community that benefits from distinct styles of thinking and doing research. (shrink)

Hegel foi o último filósofo a expor a Filosofia enquanto Sistema. Ele é da tradição platônica onde o Absoluto se desdobra internamenteenquanto Sistema. Hegel foi o iniciador, antes mesmo de Heidegger e Gadamer, da hermenêutica. Crítico de Kant, demonstrou que a vigência de dois mundos paralelos não passa de ilusão de uma razão demasiado apegada à sacralidade da coisa em si. Hegel demonstrou, muito antes de Heidegger, que ser e tempo possuem uma imbricação ontológica, que o horizonte do Dasein está (...) no percurso mesmo para o Ser, e que este se desdobra enquanto história, e que o “caminho que sobe e o que desce” é o mesmo. Pela Fenomenologia do Espírito demonstra o que percurso da consciência que sobe em direção ao Absoluto, trilhado com seriedade, dor, paciência e o trabalho do negativo (PhG, § 9) é, simultaneamente, Ontologia e Ciência. (shrink)

In Africa, homosexuality is routinely understood as a form of immoral behaviour. This has great implications for the physical and psychological well‐being of homosexuals in Africa. One of the reasons why homosexuals are sometimes understood to be behaving immorally is because it is believed that same‐sex relations are unnatural. I think that this conception of unnatural is grounded on the perverted faculty argument, although this is not often expressed in such terms. In this article, I will develop a concept of (...) natural grounded on the concept of Ukama. I will show that despite Ukama implying a functional conception of nature, just like in the perverted faculty argument, it does not imply that homosexuality is immoral. (shrink)

From the technical point of view, philosophically neutral, the duality between a paraconsistent and a paracomplete logic lies in the fact that explosion does not hold in the former and excluded middle does not hold in the latter. From the point of view of the motivations for rejecting explosion and excluded middle, this duality can be interpreted either ontologically or epistemically. An ontological interpretation of intuitionistic logic is Brouwer’s idealism; of paraconsistency is dialetheism. The epistemic interpretation of intuitionistic logic is (...) in terms of preservation of constructive proof; of paraconsistency is in terms of preservation of evidence. In this paper, we explain and defend the epistemic approach to paraconsistency. We argue that it is more plausible than dialetheism and allows a peaceful and fruitful coexistence with classical logic. (shrink)