Menéndez y Pelayo. -- Juan Maragall. -- Juan Luis Vives. -- San Juan de la Cruz. -- Ricardo León.

Conventional quantitative methods for the measurement of organizational legitimacy consider mainly three sources that make judgments about organizations visible: news media, accreditation bodies, and surveys. Over the last decade, however, social media have enabled ordinary citizens to bypass the gatekeeping function of these institutional evaluators and autonomously make individual judgments public. This inclusion of voices beyond functional and formally organized stakeholder groups potentially pluralizes the ongoing discussions about organizations. The individual judgments in blogs, tweets, and Facebook posts give indication about (...) the broader fit between an organization’s perceived behavior and heterogeneous social norms and therefore constitute an indicator of organizational legitimacy that can be accessed and measured. We propose the use of social media data and sentiment analysis to study the affect-based responses to organizational actions by citizens. We critically discuss and compare the method with existing quantitative methods for legitimacy measurement and apply them to a recent case in the banking industry. We discuss the value of the method for studying the process of legitimacy construction as the expression and negotiation of normative judgments about organizations by various evaluators. (shrink)

This article studies the underinvestigated but fascinating issue of the sociological determinants of accounting misbehavior while focusing on an allegedly illicit accounting practice (i.e., restatement) in family- vs. nonfamily-controlled corporations. Under the framework of institutional anomie theory, we examined whether sociological structures (i.e., legal forces and cultural values) influence accounting errors inducing restatements. By applying a multivariate regression analysis to a sample of restating firms listed in 23 countries during the 2006 to 2014 period, we found that legal forces and (...) cultural values significantly moderate the severity of accounting errors. The results of this study suggest that investors, managers, and policymakers should more fully consider the sociological structures of societies when debating the feasibility of corporate misbehaviors, as combining firm-level and country-level analyses could help to predict a firm’s accounting misbehaviors, such as more severe accounting errors. (shrink)

Para Eugenio d’Ors, la vida humana no se define por su relación con la muerte, sino como principio creador de formas que se afirma a sí mismo. En cambio, la muerte sí se define como lo radicalmente opuesto a la vida, un principio de negación y destrucción, de fatalidad y resistencia. De este modo se establece entre ambos principios una relación dialéctica, una tensión de antagonistas que hace que la vida sea una permanente lucha contra la muerte. Por ello (...) el planteamiento de d’Ors acerca de la muerte adquiere un fuerte sentido ético y beligerante, afirmando la necesidad de vivir en actitud alerta y combativa. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es dar noticia de la recepción del pragmatismo en la obra y el pensamiento de Eugenio d’Ors, reuniendo algunos resultados de nuestros trabajos preceden- tes. Dedicamos una primera parte a describir el encuentro de Eugenio d’Ors con el pragmatismo. En segundo lugar describimos su conexión con William James a quien llegó a conocer en París. En tercer lugar, damos cuenta de en qué consiste la denominada “superación del pragmatismo” por parte de Eugenio (...) d’Ors y, por último, señalamos las afinidades más relevantes de su pensamiento con algunas de las intuiciones más originales del pragmatismo de Charles S. Peirce. (shrink)

Para intentar comprender la visión que Eugenio d'Ors tiene de España a principios de los años 30 del pasado siglo, es necesario entender su biografía. Cuando Eugenio d’Ors deja Barcelona en julio de 1921 solo le faltaban tres meses para cumplir los cuarenta años. A los cuarenta —escribió su hijo Álvaro— lo más normal es que los hombres no cambien ya su caudal de ideas. La originalidad de la época catalana sobre el resto de la producción de d'Ors (...) no significa, sin embargo, un menosprecio de los años posteriores. Fue en gran medida su producción no catalana y su constante actividad y participación en muchos otros proyectos españoles y europeos, lo que hizo que su “gloria catalana” no quedara diluida y que su figura tenga hoy un lugar destacado en las letras españolas. Por todo ello, la exposición está organizada en las tres secciones siguiente: 1) Su biografía catalana; 2) la primera etapa de su biografía castellana, y 3) Su visión de España en los años 30. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es dar noticia de la recepción del pragmatismo en la obra y el pensamiento de Eugenio d’Ors, reuniendo algunos resultados de nuestros trabajos preceden- tes2. Dedicamos una primera parte a describir el encuentro de Eugenio d’Ors con el pragmatismo. En segundo lugar describimos su conexión con William James a quien llegó a conocer en París. En tercer lugar, damos cuenta de en qué consiste la denominada “superación del pragmatismo” por parte de Eugenio (...) d’Ors y, por último, señalamos las afinidades más relevantes de su pensamiento con algunas de las intuiciones más originales del pragmatismo de Charles S. Peirce. (shrink)

The relations between the Scottish School of Common Sense and the Catalan philosophy of Martí d'Eixalà and Llorens i Barba are well known. But the links between that Catalan tradition and the thought of Eugenio d'Ors (1881-1954) have not been studied. The study of the texts from d'Ors and of the cultural context of his philosophical development gives strong support to the suggestion that the germinal role that Scottish philosophy had during the XIX century in the so-called School of (...) Barcelona was taken over in the first decades of the XX century by a special blend of pragmatism and vitalism coming from Paris. (shrink)

Writer Eugenio d'Ors was born in Barcelona in 1881, but frequently alludes that his work owes a debt to pragmatism. He is one of the thinkers in Spain who consciously included connections with the American philosophical world. This chapter explores d'Ors thinking and explains a clear affinity between his thinking and the pragmatism of Charles S. Pierce.

Des influences égyptiennes dans la Descriptio orbis de Denys d’Alexandrie ? L’examen attentif des composantes laudatives et du contenu du proème de la Descriptio orbis de Denys le Périégète prouve que le poète originaire d’Alexandrie a été influencé dans son œuvre même par la religion égyptienne. En particulier, derrière l’éloge de l’Océan paraît se cacher un hymne à la louange du Nun primordial.Egyptian Influences in the Descriptio orbis by Dionysius of Alexandria? The thorough analysis of the laudatory components and contents (...) of the proem by Dionysius Periegetes’ Descriptio orbis shows that the Alexandrian poet was also influenced in his own poem by the Egyptian religion. In particular, behind the encomium of the Ocean, it looks as if the poet is hiding a hymn to the primeval Nun. (shrink)

The ageing society poses significant challenges to Europe’s economy and society. In coming to grips with these issues, we must be aware of their ethical dimensions. Values are the heart of the European Union, as Article 1a of the Lisbon Treaty makes clear: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity…”. The notion of Europe as a community of values has various important implications, including the development of inclusion policies. A special case of exclusion concerns the (...) gap between those people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without access to it, the “digital divide”, which in Europe is chiefly age-related. Policies to overcome the digital divide and, more generally speaking, e-inclusion policies addressing the ageing population raise some ethical problems. Among younger senior citizens, say those between 65 and 80 years old, the main issues are likely to be universal access to ICT and e-participation. Among the older senior citizens, say those more than 80 years old, the main issues are mental and physical deterioration and assistive technology. An approach geared towards the protection of human rights could match the different needs of senior citizens and provide concrete guidance to evaluate information technologies for them. (shrink)

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the connections between Eugenio d’Ors and Pragmatism. Specific attention is devoted to showing the reception of Pragmatism in the philosophy of d’Ors, and to explaining a constant theme in his works: the characterisation of his thought as a post–pragmatic intellectualism.

The ageing society poses significant challenges to Europe’s economy and society. In coming to grips with these issues, we must be aware of their ethical dimensions. Values are the heart of the European Union, as Article 1a of the Lisbon Treaty makes clear: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity…”. The notion of Europe as a community of values has various important implications, including the development of inclusion policies. A special case of exclusion concerns the (...) gap between those people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without access to it, the “digital divide”, which in Europe is chiefly age-related. Policies to overcome the digital divide and, more generally speaking, e-inclusion policies addressing the ageing population raise some ethical problems. Among younger senior citizens, say those between 65 and 80 years old, the main issues are likely to be universal access to ICT and e-participation. Among the older senior citizens, say those more than 80 years old, the main issues are mental and physical deterioration and assistive technology. An approach geared towards the protection of human rights could match the different needs of senior citizens and provide concrete guidance to evaluate information technologies for them. (shrink)

Eugenio d'Ors develops a non-reductionistic idea of science which contrasts with both the positivist idea of science, as well as with the pragmatist attempt to recover the links between science and life. In addition to the purely rational elements present in science d'Ors also finds certain creative elements, both in the origin of science and in its architecture, which allow him to construct an accurate image of science as a complex human activity. According to this image, science arises from (...) practical needs but goes beyond them. It not only establishes laws but also searches for causes, using rational methods in addition to intuition and “irony”. While science constructs its objects and is based on intersubjectivity, it nevertheless reaches a true understanding of reality. (shrink)

La controversia que han mantenido Sokal y algunos críticos de la ciencia sobre la práctica y cultura científicas constituye uno de los episodios más atractivos de la epistemología y la sociología del conocimiento científico actual2. Alan Sokal es un profesor de Física en la Universidad de Nueva York que, con el fin de denunciar la falta de rigor intelectual y la abundancia de discursos vaporosos de ciertos estudios sociales y culturales de la ciencia, decidió preguntarse qué respuesta editorial obtendría si (...) enviaba a una revista de prestigio un artículo lleno de absurdos, pero que sonara bien, estuviese en sintonía con los presupuestos ideológicos de los editores y figurase repleto de referencias bibliográficas actualizadas. La respuesta la tuvo en la primavera de 1996 cuando Social Text, una de las revistas norteamericanas más prestigiosas de estudios culturales, publicó3, en el número monográfico dedicado a las "Guerras de la ciencia"4 su artículo, "Transgrediendo fronteras: Aproximación a una hermeneútica transformadora de la gravedad cuántica". (shrink)

Il saggio ha come oggetto di riflessione quella struttura portante della vita, dell'esperienza umana che č la speranza. Come l'angoscia e l'attesa, essa vive nel futuro e qui viene esplorata nel campo delle relazioni umane, d'aiuto, di cura, in psichiatria, con connotazioni tipiche che si aggiungono a quelle filosofiche e teologiche sull'argomento. Quando la speranza rinasce dalle secche del mal di vivere, quando il medico stesso si č confrontato con le debolezze proprie e attraverso l'empatia si č messo anche in (...) ascolto del silenzio del paziente, del dialogare in silenzio, allora la speranza č come un ponte che ci fa uscire dalla nostra solitudine e diventa speranza creatrice. (shrink)

Em 24 de agosto de 1572, Paris viveu um fato sangrento em sua história: “O Massacre da Noite de São Bartolomeu”, como ficou historicamente conhecido o evento, remete ao assassinato de milhares de huguenotes, a mando da casa real francesa, nas ruas da cidade. Mais um episódio dos conflitos religiosos que dividiram a França do século XVI, o banho de sangue protestante a mando da realeza católica seria, no século seguinte, louvado pelos teóricos seiscentistas da razão de Estado. Seguindo essa (...) linha, Gabriel Naudé, na obra Considérations politiques sur les coups-d'état, elogia o golpe que motivou o massacre, defendendo-o das acusações de tirania e o glorificando como ação legítima e necessária por parte dos governantes franceses. Examinar a apologia de Naudé ao referido massacre, e nela buscar a influência da obra de Nicolau Maquiavel exercida sobre o autor, é o escopo de nosso artigo. (shrink)

This article tries to show William James’s presence in the works of Eugenio d’Ors by offering key textual evidence. Both the agreement and disagreement between these two philosophers can help to understand the intellectual itinerary of the Spanish philosopher.

This essay offers a biographical presentation of the Spanish philosopher Eugenio d'Ors (1881-1954), paying special attention to his connection with Pragmatism. Against the mainstream philosophies of rationalism and idealism, d'Ors tried to develop a way of thinking in which it might be possible to live. This was his revolution of philosophy or, more precisely, his Keplerian reform of it.

In this paper I argue that the rationality of law and legal decision making would be enhanced by a systematic attempt to recognize and respond to the implications of empirical uncertainty for policy making and decision making. Admission of uncertainty about the accuracy of facts and the validity of assumptions relied on to make inferences of fact is commonly avoided in law because it raises the spectre of paralysis of the capacity to decide issues authoritatively. The roots of this short-sighted (...) view are found in primitive mechanical models of relationships in the empirical and social world – those of objective causality and determinism. Insofar as it is believed that if we had sufficient data a clear and unequivocal answer would be available to each question, admission of uncertainty is seen as a sign of insufficiency, incompetence, impotence, and is avoided whenever a decision that must be seen to be based on valid reasons, cannot be avoided. Avoidance of some decisions, duplicity in others, is the result. -/- Decision-making must be restructured to recognize the provisional and context-bound validity and relevance of the models we use to conceptualize and order our understanding of phenomena, and to utilize this awareness as an instrument in the production of legal policies and decisions that will be authoritative precisely because they are honestly accurate and socially responsible. The paper makes a start on such a re-structuring of the legal process by exploring the implications of the observation that if law is to be “just”: 1) legal policy must be based on accurate information and rationally related to social goals; and 2) decisions applying policy to individual fact situations must be based on assumptions that are both relevant and accurate. -/- Reasons for determinations of fact must be given, otherwise the presumption that the trier of fact is “reasonable” is an unconditional licence to use private modes of logic and theories of social and natural science. What is not disclosed cannot be challenged on grounds of invalidity or irrelevance. -/- Use of “objective validity” as a standard to evaluate conclusions made by the trier of fact in contentious cases would only serve to beg all important questions by concealing: 1) fundamental normative conflict, and 2) the limited nature and applicability of many validity claims. -/- Our use of the phrases “undue risk,” “public interest,” “reasonable,” and “necessary,” reflects the weight we choose to give conflicting social values and goals when we must make decisions in relative ignorance of all the consequences. “Objective criteria” are of limited utility in legal decision-making because their social meaning is derivative. Policy generation in the absence of any coherent conceptual-normative framework, use of vague terminology in legislation stating policy, and the absence of rational means to distinguish between individual cases to which decision-makers are required by law to apply policy, make it inevitable that many legal “decisions” made in the guise of determinations of objective fact, are charades, an arbitrary, capricious, intuitive, subjective (and thus private) use of public decision-making power. -/- Law must alter its aspirations and recognize that rational decision-making is a process that can occur only within parameters set by present knowledge and societal preference structures. Only by working with the constraints imposed by these parameters is it possible to achieve “just” decisions. Where no rational basis for differentiating cases exists, “individualized justice” must be avoided and public policy articulated in law applied uniformly to all cases in a class. The terms “reasonable” and “necessary,” used to describe policy and its consequences for specific cases, must be understood to represent provisional societal assessments, attempts to implement societal preference structures in the face of limited knowledge. Heightened awareness of the limited nature of our knowledge can only result in legal policies that have a more explicit normative basis. -/- The volume is is published with an introduction by Michael D. Bayles. It is available in hardback, paperback, and as an ebook. (shrink)

At the beginning of the 20th century Machiavelli is an author celebrated by Ortega y Gasset: the philosopher of Madrid despises the nineteenth century, epilogue of an era, as much as he admires the Renaissance. Twenty years later - in España invertebrada - Ortega reads the pages of Il Principe as the brilliant commentary “from an Italian to the deeds of two Spaniards”, Fernando el Católico and César Borja. D ‘Ors’s position is very different. Although in 1920, in favor of (...) Machiavelli, he opposed “vulgar beliefs”, certainly ends up among the most radical critics. According to d ‘Ors, Machiavelli reaffirms in modernity the paganism of the Emperor Julian and anticipates - against Dante and his theory of the empire - the fate of a fragmented Europe, in which ideas and nations fight, without any reference to a universal authority. (shrink)