Modern ethical perspectives toward the environment often emphasize the connection of humans to a broader biotic community. The full intimacy of this connectedness, however, is only now being revealed as scientific findings in developmental biology and genetics provide new insights into the importance of environmental interaction for the development of organisms. These insights are reshaping our understanding of how organism-environment interaction contributes to both consistency and variation in organism development, and leading to a new perspective whereby an “organism” is not (...) solely viewed as the adaptive product of evolutionary selection to an external environment over generations, but as continuously being constructed through systems of interactions that link an organism’s characteristics developmentally to the physical and social influences it experiences during life. This newfound emphasis on “interaction” leads to an interdependency whereby any change to an “environment” impacts the interacting “organism,” and an alteration to the “organism” eventually affects its “environment.” The causal reciprocity embedded within this organism-environment interdependency holds implications for our moral obligations to environments, given their compulsory role in shaping all organisms including ourselves. (shrink)

La tecnología biomédica, especialmente la genética, podrá ser previsiblemente aplicable para intervenciones que no tendrán carácter terapéutico, sino de “mejora” de las capacidades o aptitudes de los seres humanos. Ante estas prácticas, que según algunos resucitan la idea de eugenesia, distintos autores han negado que sean aplicables sin más las prevenciones desarrolladas frente a la eugenesia histórica. Además, reivindican una eugenesia liberal que librada de las decisiones estatales y conf iada a las decisiones individuales pasaría a estar justif icada o (...) incluso a ser moralmente obligatoria en la medida que supusiese un benef icio para los descendientes. En este artículo se def iende que aunque las acusaciones que se le hacían a la eugenesia histórica no son, en efecto, aplicables, eso no signif ica que se trate de unas prácticas y de una teoría exenta de problemas. Particularmente se examina en qué consistiría una “mejora” y se sostiene que determinadas intervenciones, aun constituyendo mejoras en un determinado contexto, no por ello han de reputarse necesariamente como aceptables, como es el caso de las mejoras discriminatorias. Por último, como muchas mejoras lo son únicamente en términos posicionales, se cuestiona si no están más cerca del darwinismo social que de la propia eugenesia. (shrink)

The wide use of the word “cloning” in public discussion could lead to a confusion in the judgement of different situations. The variety of legal regulation of cloning in Europe shows examples of these confusions. But there are some other reasons that make difficult a complete legal regulation of scientific research on cloning.

Aún no hay consenso sobre el sentido de la filosofía en la obra de Jorge Luis Borges. Los ejemplos de la crítica que doy a continuación van desde aquellos que se oponen a ver en el corpus borgesiano ideas filosóficas serias (Sábalo, Massuh) hasta quienes hablan de Borges como un verdadero filósofo de América Latina (Moulines). En el medio, hay interpretaciones moderadas y muy sugestivas. Estas últimas son las más: algunas destejen los hilos filosóficos en la obra de Borges (Ñuño, (...) Dapía), otras filosofan con Borges (Champeau, Sierra Mejía) y las últimas sitúan esa obra en la historia de la filosofía de Occidente (Rest, Mateos). (shrink)

Baruch Spinoza uses the notion of vita to explore the range of creatures existing in time. This book studies the diversity of the figures embodied by life in the work of the author of the Ethics.

To answer the question whether I am dreaming or awake, and whether there exists an outer correlate of my representations while awake, I consider the meaning of dreaming and wakefulness in Calderón and Descartes. Then I consider the nature, origin, limits, and function that each author gives to doubting. Before concluding, I reconstruct Calderón’s and Descartes’ arguments through which the dramaturge and the philosopher somehow recover that which they previously considered realistic certainty.

La influencia de la Teoría de la Justicia de John Rawls en el debate sobre la equidad en salud ha sido enorme. Y ello a pesar de que el tratamiento que Rawls hace de esa cuestión es escaso. Esa influencia se ha manifestado tanto en autores poco próximos a sus tesis como especialmente en quienes han intentado extender su teoría para incluir la equidad en salud. Más recientemente, el surgimiento del marco de los Determinantes Sociales de la Salud ha reactualizado (...) la vigencia de su teoría y alentado nuevos debates. (shrink)

Tanto le debo a Lelio Fernández... La enumeración incompleta de esa deuda me lleva a mis años de filosofía en Cali, Colombia, de 1985 a 1989. En sus clases, gracias al placer por la lectura en detalle, Lelio contagiaba con la emoción de querer entender; lograba conectarnos con la historia de la cultura sin desplegar ninguna ayuda “audio-visual”; transmitía su deseo de estar siempre saboreando las obras de Baruch Spinoza (1632‒1677) y de Jorge Luis Borges (1899‒1986); se limitaba a sentarse (...) detrás de un escritorio en los salones de clase, hablando bajo y con precisión y con emoción contenida; era necesario llegar casi dos horas antes a ese salón de clase en la Universidad del Valle para no estar obligado a medio-escuchar sus pensamientos en el corredor; me ayudó en la traducción de los apartes en latín, y aún no publicados en castellano, que Umberto Eco (1932‒2016) incluyó en El nombre de la rosa; y tradujo al castellano, con Jean-Paul Margot, el Breve tratado de la reforma del entendimiento también de Spinoza. (shrink)

Por una parte, la carta que Kant escribe a Marcus Herz el 2l de febrero de 1772 es famosa, pues ella es quizá el único documento de valor que informa sobre una década previa al criticismo durante la cual Kant dejo de publicar. Ésta es la década que va desde 1770, fecha de la De Mundi Sensibilis atque Intelligibilis Forma et Principiis: Dissertatio, y la primera edición de la Crítica de la razón pura (1781). La carta de algún modo es (...) un vistazo al “taller del pensador”, donde Kant narraría las preocupaciones filosóficas de su pensamiento. Por otra parte, la carta es ambigua todavía, porque la crítica aún no se pone de acuerdo sobre su sentido. Mis páginas defienden que esta carta es un ejemplo del carácter híbrido del pensamiento de Kant en ese período, un pensamiento que, sin mayor influencia del escepticismo, aún se debate entre anticipaciones críticas y meras repeticiones dogmáticas. (shrink)

There are some recurring symbols in the literature of Jorge Luis Borges, and once those symbols are understood, authors are admitted into the labyrinthine terrain of Borges’s mind and writing. The symbols are the labyrinth, the book, the mirror, the tiger, the courage of irony, words that are music, and the friend. The first four symbols are tools that the author uses to confuse the reader (the labyrinth), a curiosity that can never be satisfied (the book), the awareness of multiple (...) selves (the mirror), and the anticipation of death (the tiger). The other three symbols provide a certain palliative for the melancholic pessimism inspired by the first four symbols. The courage of irony and words that are music give room for a certain individual joy inside the Borgesian universe. Finally, for those who long to escape from isolation, the friend depicts a possible metaphysical opening to intimacy with other human beings. (shrink)

If few authors have paid much attention to the feminine concerns in new reproductive technologies, actually it is mainly some feminist authors, who, to a great extent, have allowed these concerns to enter into public debate. On the other hand, the preoccupation about women's interests and points of view is a feature in common of all feminist approaches, independently of their other philosophical concepts. Nevertheless, another feature of feminist discourses is their plurality and heterogeneity. So, we have not find back (...) answers to the questions we have analysed in this paper, because there is not only one answer. This is not an inconvenience but an incentive to continue the democratic debate within the framework of plurality and tolerance. We must incorporate to this debate the, often forgotten, women's own interests, and a critical view of the underlying assumptions and biases. These two points of view are common to the majority of feminist approaches, and should be seriously considered as worthy to be incorporated to our discourses when debating the issues linked to the new reproductive technologies. (shrink)

This article further systematizes the existential body, contributing to the ethnographic model of embodied objectivity. It situates embodiment as the foundation of knowledge, demonstrating its underdevelopment in anthropological literature. The paper explores the philosophical relationship between being-in-the-world and Merleau-Ponty’s body-proper, emphasizing the central role of embodied pre-objective signification in representational ethnographic knowing. This aspect is often insufficiently addressed, particularly in light of certain ethnographic applications of the epoché. The paper concludes that, given the oscillatory apprehension of embodiment, the use of (...) terms like “systematizing” and “inter-objectivity” adequately enhances its portrayal as a pre-objective phenomenon rather than an objective one. (shrink)

Se propone una interpretación del filme La expropiación de Raúl Ruiz, realizado en 1971-1973. Se analizan los distintos dispositivos que hacen alusión al tema de la “muerte” en la cinta y, desde una perspectiva cinematográfica comparada, se proponen las principales intervenciones que Ruiz hace con esta película al género del “muerto viviente”. Se argumenta que la muerte se constituye en un aspecto que permite movilizar una serie de ideas respecto del proceso político chileno. Los muertos vivientes se constituyen en expresiones (...) acerca de la manera en que el peso de la tradición se establece como una esfera relevante que va incluso más allá de la voluntad de los actores sociales vivos. La representación no-realista de la muerte de Vidal ubica al filme, no como una obra contra el Gobierno, sino como una crítica desde el interior del proyecto de la Unidad Popular. (shrink)

Este artículo tiene como objetivo desarrollar el pensamiento crítico y actitudes cívicas sobre los derechos humanos en la infancia con el álbum ilustrado. Para ello, se explica la conjunción entre lenguaje textual y visual del álbum y su aprovechamiento para desarrollar la educación literaria, plástica y en valores. Se analizan cuatro títulos con los que realizar mediación educativa en Educación Infantil relacionada con los derechos humanos. Finalmente, se concluye que el álbum es una herramienta pedagógica idónea para fomentar la lectura (...) literaria, la alfabetización visual y la creación de una futura ciudadanía crítica, empática y consciente de los derechos humanos. (shrink)

Background Informed consent is a universally accepted precondition for scientific researches involving human participants. However, various factors influence the process of obtaining authentic informed consent, and researchers particularly working in resource-poor countries often face considerable difficulties in implementing the universally recommended procedures for obtaining informed consent. We have conducted this Rapid Ethical Assessment to accommodate the local cultural norms and to understand the relevant ethical issues in the Silti community before the conduct of a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Methods This REA (...) was conducted in two purposively selected Woredas/Districts and Worabe Town administration of Silti Zone. Data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Purposive and convenient sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Five in-depth interviews and 15 Focus Group Discussions were conducted in the Amharic language. The collected data was transcribed, translated, and analyzed using a thematic approach. Result Most of the community members never heard about research and therapeutic misconception was common. In the area, the permission of people working in the formal and informal community administration is essential before approaching individuals. The male head of the household should also be involved in the decision before individual household members participate in research. Furthermore, sensitizing the community using public and religious gatherings was suggested before individual recruitment. In the consent process, delivering selected information particularly the purpose and benefits of the research was emphasized and the tendency of preferring verbal consent was documented despite the willingness of the individuals to sign on the consent form. Local health workers were identified as appropriate personnel to communicate information and the procedures of the research were found to be acceptable. However, the value of small incentives was suggested to motivate potential participants. Finally, involving all concerned stakeholders and respecting the cultural norm of the community was emphasized. Conclusion Through REA, we understand the research awareness of the community, their expectation, and the cultural norms relevant to the ethical conduct of research. It enabled us to devise culturally sensitive and scientifically sound strategies to secure authentic informed consent. The process of conducting REA was found to be feasible, quick, and efficient. (shrink)

Inspired by Judith Butler’s critique of Zionism, this article explores one artistic practice that may be considered as developing a diasporic thinking that is specifically rooted in the experience...

Este trabajo analiza el lema de los nazaríes (wa-la galib illà Allah) o galiba. El estudio se centra en la divulgación de este mote fuera de las fronteras del Sultanato nazarí de Granada.