In case of special engineering projects of important relevance it is interesting to pay attention to several possible risks; some of them are in the field of morality or ethics. Due to the social importance of these risks, additional considerations or even additional warranties are justified.

A course in professional ethics for civil engineers was taught for the first time in Spain during the academic year 2007/08. In this paper a survey on the satisfaction and expectation of the course is presented. Surprisingly the students sought moral and ethical principles for their own ordinary lives as well as for their profession. Students were concerned about the law, but in their actions they were more concerned with their conscience, aware that it can be separate from the law.

En este artículo se analiza una recreación quijotesca en la novela de Graham Greene Monseñor Quijote. Para ello se utilizan dos términos procedentes del Derecho romano: los conceptos de autoridad y poder. En esta obra de Greene, la autoridad surge de los libros o de autores de libros, cuya lectura permite que la vida siga teniendo sentido. En Greene encontramos la estrategia de lectura conocida como las sortes virgilianae que permite a los personajes orientarse en las dificultades diarias. Sin embargo, (...) el poder está caracterizado por su condición iletrada, la ausencia de libros y su ignorancia. In this article a novel by Graham Greene entitled Monsignor Quixote is analysed, a book that involves a recreation of the novel by Cervantes. The author of this article employs two concepts from Roman law: authority and power in his analysis. In this work by Greene, authority arises from the books or the book writers, whose reading allows life to keep making sense. In Greene, a strategy of reading known as the sortes virgilianae is found and this allows the characters to get their bearings in the daily difficulties. However, power is described as illiterate, the absence of books and ignorance. (shrink)

This article presents an alternative understanding of corporations from the two problematic visions that see corporations as either the shareholders’ property or as nexuses of contracts. The alternative proposed here is based on the theories of pre-eighteenth-century philosophers, particularly Aristotle’s political philosophy, which Thomas Aquinas later refined. The article aims to advance a theory of corporate legal and moral responsibility for human rights based on the conception of corporations as imperfect communities whose purpose is to produce a good or service (...) through participatory work that allows individuals to self-develop while contributing to the community by satisfying consumers’ needs through collaborative work. The critical account of corporations presented here provides a sound foundation upon which to build a justification of corporate responsibility for human rights violations, providing a more accurate description of the reality of a corporation than most mainstream contemporary accounts do. (shrink)

The main aim of this article is to analyze the social circulation of discourses on non-hegemonic cultural practices, in particular, on what is called “trash TV”, and how they are connected to struggles over cultural and social hierarchies. To do so, it takes a specific event as starting point: the injunction that the CNMC filed against Mediaset to adjust the contents of Sálvame Diario to the requirements of what is known as the “child protection time slot”. This paper uses constructionist (...) framing to analyze how this event was discussed by different social actors. Our analysis shows that while the CNMC and the press painted the conflict as a legal issue, Sálvame and social media users focused their discussion on the social acceptability of celebrity gossip media and their viewers. (shrink)

Esta obra se abre con una introducción histórica, no heleno ni eurocéntrica, en la que se reinterpretan los sistemas éticos en la historia mundial, hasta situar la problemática en la Modernidad dentro del sistema-mundo como proceso de globalización que simultáneamente excluye a la mayoría de la humanidad. En la primera parte se aborda una crítica a las morales formales (Kant, Rawls, Apel, Habermas) desde un principio material o de contenido con pretensión de universalidad; el deber de producir, reproducir y desarrollar (...) la vida humana en comunidad. El principio de factibilidad ética, por su parte, permite que el cumplimiento del acto, institución o sistema de eticidad pueda tener la pretensión de bondad. En la segunda parte, desde la imposibilidad de que dicho acto, institución o sistema de eticidad «buenos» pueda tener pretensión de perfección acabada, se descubren los que «sufren» en su corporalidad vulnerable la imposibilidad de vivir, el hecho de ser excluidos. Se trata de las víctimas, al decir de Marx, Horkheimer, Benjamin, Nietzsche, Freud o Lévinas. Desde las víctimas comienza propiamente el discurso de la Ética de la Liberación, en su nivel negativo material (deben poder vivir), en el principio discursivo crítico (deben poder participar en la argumentación), todo lo cual culmina en el principio crítico negativo de la factibilidad: el principio-liberación que inspira las transformaciones con pretensión de justicia. (shrink)

BackgroundDepression is a prevalent condition that has a significant impact on psychosocial functioning and quality of life. The onset and persistence of depression have been linked to a variety of biological and psychosocial variables. Many of these variables are associated with specific lifestyle characteristics, such as physical activity, diet, and sleep patterns. Some psychosocial determinants have an impact on people’ health-related behavior change. These include personal factors such as sense of coherence, patient activation, health literacy, self-efficacy, and procrastination. This study (...) aims to analyze the association between the severity of depression, lifestyle patterns, and personal factors related to health behavior. It also aims to analyze whether personal factors moderate the relationship between lifestyles and depression.MethodsThis study is a secondary data analysis of baseline data collected at the start of a randomized controlled trial. A sample of 226 patients with subclinical, mild, or moderate depression from primary healthcare centers in two sites in Spain was used, and descriptive, bivariate, multivariate, and moderation analyses were performed. Depression was the primary outcome, measured by Beck II Self-Applied Depression Inventory. Lifestyle variables such as physical exercise, adherence to Mediterranean diet and sleep quality, social support, and personal factors such as self-efficacy, patient activation in their own health, sense of coherence, health literacy, and procrastination were considered secondary outcomes.ResultsLow sense of coherence, poor sleep quality, low patient activation, and sedentarism are predictors of having more depressive symptoms. Moderation analyses were not significant.DiscussionLifestyle and personal factors are related to depressive symptomatology. Our findings reveal that sense of coherence, patient’s activation level, sedentarism, and sleep quality are associated with depression. Further research is needed regarding adherence to Mediterranean diet, minutes walking per week and the interrelationship between lifestyles, personal factors, and depression. (shrink)

Background: Adolescence is a period with physical, psychological, biological, intellectual, and social changes in which there is usually little perception of risk. COVID-19 has generated constant situations of change and uncertainty worldwide. During the pandemic, the acquisition of preventive behaviors has been relevant. Various studies carried out with adults associate risk perception and the implementation of preventive behaviors with knowledge about the COVID-19 and with age, but there are not many studies with adolescents. Therefore, the objective is to validate, in (...) Spanish, the questionnaire of the knowledge, attitudes, risk perceptions, and practices of adolescents toward the pandemic, and analyze it according to sociodemographic characteristics.Method: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study, which included adolescents between the ages of 12–18. First, a translation and a back-translation of the questionnaire were performed. The questionnaire was presented in several high schools chosen by convenience sampling and following a non-probabilistic snowball sampling. Reliability and validity analyses were then carried out and the relationships between the different sociodemographic variables were analyzed.Results: The reliability of the questionnaire is acceptable. Knowledge was higher in women, and in those with a higher level of education; and were lower in those who lived in smaller towns, as well as in those who had a member of their family receiving financial aid. In terms of attitudes and risk perceptions, younger adolescents had higher scores, and those who had a member of their family receiving financial aid, lower.Conclusion: The questionnaire is a reliable tool in the Spanish adolescent population. Knowledge was influenced by gender, place of residence, level of education, and financial aid. Attitudes and risk perceptions were influenced by age and financial aid. For practices, no predictors were found. In general, adolescents scored lower on knowledge about COVID-19, but they scored higher on COVID-19 safety practices. (shrink)

There is much evidence, both in humans and rodents, that while navigating males tend to use geometric information whereas females rely more on landmarks. The present work attempts to alter the geometry bias in female rats. In Experiment 1 three groups of female rats were trained in a triangular-shaped pool to find a hidden platform, whose location was defined in terms of two sources of information, a landmark outside the pool and a particular corner of the pool. On a subsequent (...) test trial with the triangular pool and no landmark, females with prior experience with two other pool shapes–with a kite-shaped pool and with a rectangular-shaped pool, were significantly more accurate than control rats without such prior experience. Rats with a short previous experience–with the rectangular-shaped pool only did not differ from Group NPE. These results suggest that the previous experience with different shaped-pools could counteract the geometry bias in female rats. Then, Experiment 2A directly compared the performance of LPE males and females of Experiment 1, although conducting several test trials. The differences between males and females disappeared in the three tests. Moreover, in a final test trial both males and females could identify the correct corner in an incomplete pool by its local, instead of global, properties. Finally, Experiment 2B compared the performance of NPE rats, males and females, of Experiment 1. On the test trial with the triangular pool and no landmark, males were significantly more accurate than females. The results are explained in the framework of selective attention. (shrink)

Monte Johnson examines one of the most controversial aspects of Aristiotle's natural philosophy: his teleology. Is teleology about causation or explanation? Does it exclude or obviate mechanism, determinism, or materialism? Is it focused on the good of individual organisms, or is god or man the ultimate end of all processes and entities? Is teleology restricted to living things, or does it apply to the cosmos as a whole? Does it identify objectively existent causes in the world, or is it merely (...) a heuristic for our understanding of other causal processes? Johnson argues that Aristotle's aporetic approach drives a middle course between these traditional oppositions, and avoids the dilemma, frequently urged against teleology, between backwards causation and anthropomorphism. Although these issues have been debated with extraordinary depth by Aristotle scholars, and touched upon by many in the wider philosophical and scientific community as well, there has been no comprehensive historical treatment of the issue. Aristotle is commonly considered the inventor of teleology, although the precise term originated in the eighteenth century. But if teleology means the use of ends and goals in natural science, then Aristotle was rather a critical innovator of teleological explanation. Teleological notions were widespread among his predecessors, but Aristotle rejected their conception of extrinsic causes such as mind or god as the primary causes for natural things. Aristotle's radical alternative was to assert nature itself as an internal principle of change and an end, and his teleological explanations focus on the intrinsic ends of natural substances - those ends that benefit the natural thing itself. Aristotle's use of ends was subsequently conflated with incompatible 'teleological' notions, including proofs for the existence of a providential or designer god, vitalism and animism, opposition to mechanism and non-teleological causation, and anthropocentrism. Johnson addresses these misconceptions through an elaboration of Aristotle's methodological statements, as well as an examination of the explanations actually offered in the scientific works. Reviewed in: Notre Dame Philosophical Review 2006.06.15; Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2006.08.37; Il-Sole – 24 Ore 6 Aug. 2006; Philosophy in Review 26 (2006): 360-2; Rhizai 3 (2006): 171-8; Journal of the History of Philosophy 45 (2007): 323-4; Ancient Philosophy 27 (2007): 191-200; Phronesis 52 (2007): 248-9; Isis 98 (2007): 375; Aestimatio 4 (2007) 146-152; The British Journal for the History of Science 41 (2008): 129-130. The European Legacy 14 (2009); La Cultura 47 (2009): 174-175; Sean M. Row, Teleology in Political Contexts: an assessment of Monte Ransome Johnson’s “Aristotle on Teleology”. (A thesis presented to the faculty of the college of arts and sciences of Ohio University, 2009.). (shrink)

The potential reducibility of chemical entities to their physical bases is a matter of dispute between ontological reductionists on one hand, and emergentists on the other. However, relevant debates typically revolve around the reducibility of so-called ‘higher-level’ chemical entities, such as molecules. Perhaps surprisingly, even committed proponents of emergence for these higher-level chemical entities appear to accept that the ‘lowest-level’ chemical entities – atomic species – are reducible to their physical bases. In particular, the microstructural view of chemical elements, actively (...) developed and defended by emergentists, appears to hold that the explanatory power of nuclear charge justifies being reductionist about atomic species. My first task in this paper is to establish that nuclear charge cannot ultimately provide explanations sufficient to justify a reductionist approach to atomic species, unless we abandon the persuasive intuition that the presence of an element in a substance ought to explain the properties of that substance. The ‘missing piece’ for explaining the properties of substances by way of their elemental constituents is the electronegativity values of participant atoms. But electronegativity is a strikingly disunified concept that appears distinctly unamenable to analysis by way of fundamental physical principles. Through evaluating the uncertain physical identity of electronegativity, as well as its widespread and indispensable epistemic utility in chemical practice, I argue that electronegativity provides compelling grounds to seriously consider emergence for atomic species. (shrink)

Leonidas Montes presents a new reading of Adam Smith's legacy. The classical influences, the meaning of some key concepts, and what other authors were saying at the time, are fundamental to understand what Smith really said. Starting with the famous Das Adam Smith Problem, Montes investigates the causes and the context of the Problem, and proposes the importance of the moral triad of the supposed impartial spectator, propriety and self-command for understanding Smith's broad concept of sympathy. Smith's virtues (...) are fundamental to his moral thought, and the nature of the meaning of self-command and propriety have important philosophical implications, reflecting the relevance of moral autonomy in Smith's thought. The concluding chapter gives an example of the mistake of simply looking at a problem through the eyes of today. It questions the popular version of Smith as a forerunner or founder of general economic equilibrium theory by investigating the real nature of Smith's Newtonianism. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Peter Hägel's Billionaires in World Politics undoubtedly fills a gap in the literature of international relations and global governance. My comment seeks to highlight that Hägel's (2020. Billionaires in World Politics. 1st ed. Oxford Scholarship Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press) work allows us to advance our understanding of how these private actors can be understood as legitimate authorities and how they can contribute to the legitimacy of the international order. I divide my commentary into three points: the first concerns (...) the approach to billionaires from their individual agency (the individual approach), the second relates to the separation between the state and the global levels (the division approach), and the third presents questions on political legitimacy that arise from his case studies (the legitimacy question). (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to explore the peculiar case of infectious logics, a group of systems obtained generalizing the semantic behavior characteristic of the -fragment of the logics of nonsense, such as the ones due to Bochvar and Halldén, among others. Here, we extend these logics with classical negations, and we furthermore show that some of these extended systems can be properly regarded as logics of formal inconsistency and logics of formal undeterminedness.

Drawing on the natural-resource-based view, we propose that employee stakeholder integration is linked to environmental performance through firms’ proactive environmental strategies, and that this link is contingent on shared vision. We tested our model with a cross-country and multi-industry sample. In support of our theory, results revealed that firms’ proactive environmental strategies translated employee stakeholder integration into environmental performance. This relationship was pronounced for high levels of shared vision. Our findings demonstrate that shared vision represents a key condition for advancing (...) the corporate greening agenda through proactive environmental strategies. We discuss implications for the CSR and the environmental management literatures, with a particular focus on the NRBV and stakeholder integration debates. (shrink)

I present a notion of invariance under arbitrary surjective mappings for operators on a relational finite type hierarchy generalizing the so-called Tarski-Sher criterion for logicality and I characterize the invariant operators as definable in a fragment of the first-order language. These results are compared with those obtained by Feferman and it is argued that further clarification of the notion of invariance is needed if one wants to use it to characterize logicality.

Nowadays decision making is strongly supported by the high-confident point estimations produced by deep learning algorithms. In many activities, they are sufficient for the decision-making process. However, in some other cases, confidence intervals are required too for an appropriate decision-making process. In this work, a first attempt to generate point estimations with confidence intervals for the $^{222}$Rn radiation level time series at Canfranc Underground Laboratory is presented. To predict the low-radiation periods allows correctly scheduling the unshielded periods for maintenance operations (...) in the experiments hosted in this facility. This should minimize the deposition of radioactive dust on the exposed surfaces during these unshielded periods. An approach based on deep learning with stochastic regulation is evaluated in the forecasting of point estimations and confidence intervals of the $^{222}$Rn time series and compared with a second approach based on Gaussian processes. As a consequence of this work, an evaluation of the capacity of Gaussian process and deep learning with stochastic regularization for generating point estimations and their confidence intervals for this time series is stated. (shrink)

I present a notion of invariance under arbitrary surjective mappings for operators on a relational finite type hierarchy generalizing the so-called Tarski-Sher criterion for logicality and I characterize the invariant operators as definable in a fragment of the first-order language. These results are compared with those obtained by Feferman and it is argued that further clarification of the notion of invariance is needed if one wants to use it to characterize logicality.

Critics have alleged that Democritus’ ethical prescriptions (“gnomai”) are incompatible with his physics, since his atomism seems committed to necessity or chance (or an awkward combination of both) as a universal cause of everything, leaving no room for personal responsibility. I argue that Democritus’ critics, both ancient and contemporary, have misunderstood a fundamental concept of his causality: a cause called “spontaneity”, which Democritus evidently considered a necessary (not chance) cause, compatible with human freedom, of both atomic motion and human actions. (...) Some influential contemporary compatibilists have argued that freedom and responsibility are compatible with causal determinism, but not intentional constraint where some other agent is intentionally manipulating or coercing one’s actions. In line with this, Democritus holds that humans should not blame their actions on other agents like the gods, or agent-like external forces like fate or chance, but should assume ultimate intentional control over their own choices and actions. The famous remark of his associate Leucippus that “everything happens for a reason and out of necessity” is a fitting slogan of their atomistic philosophy, for Democritus pursued what can without anachronism be recognized as a causal theory of freedom. (shrink)

El emergente paradigma educativo del aprendizaje ubicuo está dando lugar a nuevos entornos virtuales de aprendizaje. El objetivo de este estudio es contribuir a esta transformación en los procesos de aprendizaje para avanzar en el dominio del inglés, con un diseño didáctico innovador inspirado en el concepto de ‘entorno personal de aprendizaje’, con el uso de vídeos de YouTube. Los resultados demuestran el potencial pedagógico de los PLE, su eficacia no sólo a nivel cognitivo sino también como experiencia emocional. Este (...) diseño también se ha mostrado de utilidad para promover la autonomía y la motivación intrínseca del estudiante. (shrink)

This text proposes an interpretation of the work of Franklin Leopoldo e Silva based on the reading of some of his numerous published articles and books, without neglecting the classes and guidance received from the stage of Scientific Initiation to Postdoctoral studies. Precisely, by highlighting the importance of three thinkers widely studied by Professor Franklin – Berkeley, Bergson and William James –, we suggest that at the heart of this philosophical experience there would be a constant: empiricism. Whether in the (...) classical or radical version, the line we draw in this multiplicity reveals an openness to concrete empiricism. (shrink)

Inclusive education guides democratic schools that advocate for justice and equity, especially for those students with different needs. In this manuscript, the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms model and peer mediation are reviewed as the most effective procedures for this purpose.

Spanish legislation on insurance and reinsurance mediation stipulates that intermediary can only receive commissions and fees for the management of their policies and prohibits any other form of remuneration. However, it is possible that financial intermediaries who manage larger risks wait until the end of the legal deadline to settle with insurance companies. This common practice in the insurance market hides additional remuneration in defiance of the law. It also means that the risk is not covered within the prescribed period (...) and would, involve a commercial payment to the client, and, on the other hand, affect sustainable claims management. (shrink)

En este artículo se presentará un recorrido por los aspectos cruciales que marcan la lectura del Leviatán ofrecida por Carl Schmitt, prestando especial atención a la muerte del Estado en el contexto de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En un primer momento, mostraremos la crítica velada que Schmitt vierte contra el nazismo como responsable de la muerte de la estatalidad moderna. Más adelante, pasaremos a analizar las condiciones históricas que explican el surgimiento de esta forma política, así como las consecuencias teológicas (...) de dicha aparición. Por último, ya en las conclusiones, trataremos de contribuir al estudio de la mirada que el jurista arroja para una época post-leviatánica. Este último punto puede servir como alternativa analítica para, en adelante, explorar las consecuencias de la muerte del Estado decretada por Schmitt, y no tanto sus causas. (shrink)

En el siglo XXI, y en especial durante la pandemia del Covid-19, eclosionó en Europa y América una oleada de ataques contra esculturas cuyo pasado revelaba colonialismo, racismo o explotación esclavista. Los ataques evidenciaban la persistencia de un patrimonio monumental que representaba símbolos de opresión y que cuestionaba la representación de los derechos humanos. Este estudio indaga sobre varios antecedentes históricos y casos actuales para analizar la naturaleza y motivos subyacentes a ese tipo de ataques vandálicos simbólicos.

Según Julián Marías, fue Ortega, en 1914, quien hizo el primer uso filosófico de la palabra griega _alétheia_ con el significado de descubrimiento o iluminación: se trata de una innovación significativa porque Ortega introdujo una acepción nueva, sirviéndose de esa palabra, para superar la idea, que le parecía inaceptable, de que la verdad tenga que ser adecuación. Después de Ortega, los demás filósofos, a partir de 1927 con Heidegger, no saben de dónde procede la interpretación etimológica que ellos dan como (...) obvia para sus reflexiones filosóficas sobre la verdad. En realidad no hay textos griegos claros que interpreten el concepto de _alétheia_ ni etimológica ni filosóficamente. Julián Marías descubrió la más antigua discusión etimológica en el lingüista y filósofo Teichmüller (1879), de la cual se sirvió Ortega en fecha tan temprana como 1914 para hacer la primera interpretación filosófica de esa palabra. A pesar de ello, se ha hecho general la creencia de que fue Heidegger el primero que trató sobre la verdad como _alétheia_ en contraposición a lo que denomina _concepto tradicional de la verdad._. (shrink)

"Large-format photo study and narratives record journeys along the 100th Meridian from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. Explores life and communities along the vertical line that denotes the nation's geographic center and the shift in annual rainfallto less than twenty inches per year"--Provided by publisher.

Faith-based organizations are a key player in major sectors of activity for maintaining the welfare state, including health, education, and social services. This paper uses a multivariate regression model in an attempt to identify the factors that affect the relationship between work engagement and flourishing. The paper also discusses the empirical research gap that has been identified in the literature about the moderated effect of human values on this relationship. This study is based on a sample of 142 nuns of (...) a congregation belonging to a religious organization with an international scope and a Catholic inspiration. The case of religious women who have chosen to live a life consistent with the charism of the congregation constitutes a paradigmatic and unique environment to investigate the potential alignment of personal values with professional activity. Two important conclusions are derived from this work. First, the more engaged nuns are in their work (social action to serve the poorest and most disadvantaged people), the more they flourish in their working environment and in their personal lives. Second, certain personal values reinforce the relationship between the professional role (work engagement) and the personal role (flourishing). (shrink)