Research has found that children possess a broad bias in favor of teleological - or purpose-based - explanations of natural phenomena. The current two experiments explored whether adults implicitly possess a similar bias. In Study 1, undergraduates judged a series of statements as "good" or "bad" explanations for why different phenomena occur. Judgments occurred in one of three conditions: fast speeded, moderately speeded, or unspeeded. Participants in speeded conditions judged significantly more scientifically unwarranted teleological explanations as correct, but were not (...) more error-prone on control items. Study 2 extended these findings by examining the relationship between different aspects of adults’ "promiscuous teleology" and other variables such as scientific knowledge, religious beliefs, and inhibitory control. Implications of these findings for scientific literacy are discussed. (shrink)

Two decades of critique have sensitized historians and philosophers of science to the inadequacies of conventional dichotomies between theory and practice, thereby prompting the search for new ways of writing about science that are less beholden than the old ways to the epistemological mores of theoretical physics, and more faithful to the actual practices not only of physics but of all the natural sciences. The need for alternative descriptions seems particularly urgent if one is to understand the place of theory (...) in contemporary molecular biology, a science where, until now, no division between theory and experiment has obtained, and where distinctions between representing and intervening, and more generally, between basic and applied science, are daily becoming more blurred.Indeed, the very division between theory and experiment threatens to slight the extensive and sophisticated theoretical analyses on which experimental work in contemporary molecular biology so often depends. My aim in this paper is to find a way of talking about theoretical practices in biology that is directly rooted in the mix of conceptual and material work that biologists do. As an example of such theoretical practices, I choose for the focus of my analysis the development of a model for gene regulation out of the experimental work of Eric Davidson and his colleagues at Cal Tech. (shrink)

Lloyd Jones’s *The Book of Fame*, a novel about the stunningly successful 1905 British tour of the New Zealand rugby team, represents both skilled group action and the difficulty of capturing it in words. The novel’s form is as fluid and deceptive, as adaptable and integrated, as the sweetly shaped play of the team that became known during this tour for the first time as the All Blacks. It treats sport on its own terms as a rich world, a set (...) of bodily skills, and an honest profession in itself. A reading of *The Book of Fame* can contribute to the interdisciplinary study of literature and cognition, exemplifying two-way ‘exchange values’. On the one hand, we gain insights into the nature of skilful group agency, of distinct forms and at distinct timescales, by focussing on the precise forms taken by the All Blacks’ creation of space. Here, we treat The Book of Fame as a brilliant evocation of features of collective thought, movement, and emotion that both everyday and scientific inquiry can easily miss. On the other hand, we also read back into the novel a subtle, fascinated interrogation of the mechanisms by which small groups form, evolve, and act. In this more ambitious mode of analysis, we use independently motivated theoretical concerns to help us see real features of the literary work that might otherwise remain invisible. We focus on the relationship between skilful performance and collective action. These topics fall outside the ambit of much current work by literary theorists using cognitive research, who tend to focus on theory of mind and modularity, metaphor and blending, emotion and empathy, consciousness and concepts, representation and so on. But skilled performance and collective action comprise surprisingly lively research fields across the sciences, from neuropsychology to philosophy of mind and cognitive anthropology. These areas of inquiry may provide even more productive avenues for future work in the interfield of literary and cultural theory and the cognitive sciences. (shrink)

Early in his career Thomas Hunt Morgan was interested in embryology and dedicated his research to studying organisms that could regenerate. Widely regarded as a regeneration expert, Morgan was invited to deliver a series of lectures on the topic that he developed into a book, Regeneration. In addition to presenting experimental work that he had conducted and supervised, Morgan also synthesized and critiqued a great deal of work by his peers and predecessors. This essay probes into the history of regeneration (...) studies by looking in depth at Regeneration and evaluating Morgan’s contribution. Although famous for his work with fruit fly genetics, studying Regeneration illuminates Morgan’s earlier scientific approach which emphasized the importance of studying a diversity of organisms. Surveying a broad range of regenerative phenomena allowed Morgan to institute a standard scientific terminology that continues to inform regeneration studies today. Most importantly, Morgan argued that regeneration was a fundamental aspect of the growth process and therefore should be accounted for within developmental theory. Establishing important similarities between regeneration and development allowed Morgan to make the case that regeneration could act as a model of development. The nature of the relationship between embryogenesis and regeneration remains an active area of research. (shrink)

This article discusses Journey of the Universe as a project that consists of a film, book, conversation series, online classes, and a website. It describes how the creators worked to integrate science and humanities, not privilege or elevate science. It refutes arguments made in Lisa Sideris's Consecrating Science: Wonder, Knowledge, and the Natural World that suggest that Journey overlooks religion and distorts wonder. The article observes that Journey does not dismiss religion but includes it in explicit ways. It does not (...) dictate wonder; it evokes wonder. In short, Journey is a living or functional cosmology with implications for mutually enhancing human–Earth relations. (shrink)

This commentary responds to Samuel Director's article “Dementia and Concurrent Consent to Sexual Relations,” in the May‐June 2023 issue of the Hastings Center Report. In the article, Director sets out a set of conditions for sexual consent after one partner in a committed, long‐term relationship develops dementia. While we share Director's view that dementia patients should not be categorically cut off from sexual intimacy, we caution against the use of his approach as a rigid test for allowing sexual activity. Director's (...) analysis does not address the full range of plausibly permissible sexual relationships, which is unfortunate, as intimacy has consistently been linked to physical and psychological well‐being. Moreover, because decisions about sex often carry moral and emotional overtones, we propose that a dementia patient's prior values should sometimes be considered by caregivers in a measured way. (shrink)

In der 1994 gegründeten Reihe Hegel-Forschungen werden Monographien, Editionen und Sammelbände publiziert, die Hegels philosophisches Werk und das seiner Schüler analysieren. Dabei wird zugleich die Aktualität der Hegelschen Gedankenwelt diskutiert, wobei auch Bezüge zu anderen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen Beachtung finden.

Norms have been widely enacted in human and agent societies to regulate individuals’ actions. However, although legislators may have ethics in mind when establishing norms, moral values are only sometimes explicitly considered. This paper advances the state of the art by providing a method for selecting the norms to enact within a society that best aligns with the moral values of such a society. Our approach to aligning norms and values is grounded in the ethics literature. Specifically, from the literature’s (...) study of the relations between norms, actions, and values, we formally define how actions and values relate through the so-called value judgment function and how norms and values relate through the so-called norm promotion function. We show that both functions provide the means to compute value alignment for a set of norms. Moreover, we detail how to cast our decision-making problem as an optimisation problem: finding the norms that maximise value alignment. We also show how to solve our problem using off-the-shelf optimisation tools. Finally, we illustrate our approach with a specific case study on the European Value Study. (shrink)

The manner in which the phenomenological method has been applied to the data of ethics by Max Scheler, and his resulting criticisms of the formalism of classical theories of an absolute good and the subjectivity and relativity of the opposing “content theories,” have been discussed in a previous article. It is the purpose of the present paper to present Scheler’s claim to have resolved this dilemma in ethics by laying bare a structure of value too often obscured by the series (...) of falsifications and confusions that he has exposed. (shrink)

The principles of the Earth Charter and the cosmological story of Journey of the Universe provide a unique synergy for rethinking a sustainable future. The Great Story inspires the Great Work of the transformation of the political, social, and economic orders. Such a synergy can contribute to the broadened understanding of sustainability as including economic, ecological, social, and spiritual well-being. This integrated understanding may be a basis for creating biodemocracies, which will involve long-term policies, programs, and practices for a planetary (...) future that is not only ethically sustainable, but also sustaining for human energies. (shrink)

In the Philosophical Investigations §242, Wittgenstein asserts paradoxically that objectivity is not lost even though communication requires the interplay of agreement in definitions and agreement in judgments. Although Wittgenstein does not claim that objectivity is only determined by this interplay, the objective status of logic initially appears to have disappeared. Wittgenstein here foresees the criticism launched by Kripke that objectivity has been replaced by inter-subjectivity. However, he retorts that the only aspect of objectivity that has vanished is the illusion of (...) any access to an absolute truth independent of language-use. In a transcendental rotation reminiscent of Kant, Wittgenstein maintains that when the notion of a direct trajectory between human consciousness and truth is relinquished, objectivity of any kind relies on rules that language-use generates in the play of a language-game. Wittgenstein grounds objectivity in judgment, and thereby subjects logic to the possibility of communication. (shrink)

BackgroundSocial cognition and competence are a key part of daily interactions and essential for satisfying relationships and well-being. Pediatric neurological and psychological conditions can affect social cognition and require assessment and remediation of social skills. To adequately approximate the complex and dynamic nature of real-world social interactions, innovative tools are needed. The aim of this study was to document the performance of adolescents on two versions of a serious video game presenting realistic, everyday, socio-moral conflicts, and to explore whether their (...) performance is associated with empathy or sense of presence, factors known to influence social cognition.MethodsParticipants first completed a pre-test measure of socio-moral reasoning based on three dilemmas from a previously validated computer task. Then, they either played an evaluative version or an adaptive version of a video game presenting nine social situations in which they made socio-moral decisions and provided justifications. In the evaluative version, participants’ audio justifications were recorded verbatim and coded manually to obtain a socio-moral reasoning maturity score. In the adaptive version, tailored feedback and social reinforcements were provided based on participant responses. An automatic coding algorithm developed using artificial intelligence was used to determine socio-moral maturity level in real-time and to provide a basis for the feedback and reinforcements in the game. All participants then completed a three-dilemma post-test assessment.ResultsThose who played the adaptive version showed improved SMR across the pre-test, in-game and post-test moral maturity scores, F = 9.81, pHF < 0.001, ϵ2 = 0.21, but those who played the Evaluative version did not. Socio-moral reasoning scores from both versions combined did not correlate with empathy or sense of presence during the game, though results neared significance. The study findings support preliminary validation of the game as a promising method for assessing and remediating social skills during adolescence. (shrink)

Este trabajo tiene como propósito reflexionar sobre el liderazgo educativo intercultural y abordar la resolución de conflictos en la escuela desde la perspectiva de la normativa wayuu como alternativa. Se aborda lo relativo a la resolución de los conflictos en la escuela desde modelos alternativos, específicamente, la normativa wayuu. Con el fin, de que este liderazgo docente fomente la valoración de la diferencia, respeto y diálogo de saberes como mecanismo para fomentar la identidad cultural. El trabajo se realizó en el (...) departamento de la Guajira, Colombia, en nuestra estancia allí para el dictado de cursos, talleres y seminarios sobre educación intercultural a maestros de distintas zonas del departamento entre el 2017-2022. La investigación se formaliza desde el paradigma cualitativo, fundamentada en el método etnográfico. Los datos recopilados para hacer la reflexión pertinente en este trabajo, son producto de las actividades realizadas y de nuestras vivencias con los maestros wayuu. Como conclusión tenemos que los docentes wayuu deben contribuir con la preservación de las normas de resolución de conflictos wayuu en el contexto educativo, entendiendo que una convivencia sana implica también tener que recurrir a normas incluyentes. Con esto se propiciará un liderazgo desde la matriz cultural étnica. (shrink)

Simone de Beauvoir offers an important contribution to discourse on universal human rights. Her descriptive ontology of persons as free, interdependent, and situated in a world that offers resistance brings the discussion of human rights to a new level that also converges with some African perspectives. I claim that Beauvoir is able to defend universal human rights and, moreover, justify moral action against human rights abuses by showing the existential priority of ontological freedom.

How do we reevaluate the role of individuals whose contributions have not been erased—they are still visible—but whose labor has been demoted in the historical narrative because of their gender, class, or ethnicity? This brief essay is about more than simply bringing in overlooked actors; instead, it ponders why the act of mislabeling a person’s labor merits further deliberation. Mislabeled archival evidence, such as the erroneous description accompanying a photograph that this essay discusses, might uphold problematic assumptions in the history (...) of science about who can perform certain labors. Such mistakes, careless or otherwise, produce enduring historiographic harm because such errors make it harder to construct other versions of the past. (shrink)

El objetivo de este libro es ofrecer una introducción al pensamiento del historiador y teórico de la historia Reinhart Koselleck. Para ello, reconstruye, sistematiza e interpreta sus tesis nucleares sobre la historia de los conceptos políticos. Ésta es puesta en valor por el autor como más que una mera metodología historiográfica; en concreto, como una de las mejores maneras de desarrollar una teoría crítica del presente y una acción política.

Se analiza desde un punto de vista filosófico-político y pragmático-discursivo las características ideológicas del discurso de Rafael Correa durante las elecciones presidenciales de 2006. Correa acometió una interpretación laclausiana del tiempo histórico, traduciendo que la crisis de representación del país podía originar un estallido o momento populista. En base a ello, el discurso populista que llevó a Correa al poder en 2007, se construyó sobre el uso de dos marcos argumentativos básicos: 1) ubicar a los partidos políticos tradicionales (“la partidocracia”) (...) como antagónicos a la patria y 2) proponer una reforma constitucional mediante una Asamblea Constituyente. Se concluye con una valoración crítica sobre los límites entre movilización popular y su institucionalismo. (shrink)

Simone de Beauvoir offers an important contribution to discourse on universal human rights. Her descriptive ontology of persons as free, interdependent, and situated in a world that offers resistance brings the discussion of human rights to a new level that also converges with some African perspectives. I claim that Beauvoir is able to defend universal human rights and, moreover, justify moral action against human rights abuses by showing the existential priority of ontological freedom.

Introduction -- Socratic inspirations -- The importance of Descartes -- The human condition -- Relations with others and authentic existence -- Being for and against others -- The weight of Immanuel Kant -- Sartre's lasting legacy.

El artículo intenta mostrar cómo la mística del Maestro Eckhart es la sumersión en la nada silente de Dios como plenitud vacía y vacío pleno, en el desierto de la abundancia divina del no ser del ser de Dios, gracias al cumplimiento de la voluntad divina como ascenso que la cumple sin cumplirla. Para ello, analiza la vida, la obra y el pensamiento del Maestro con base en sus textos El libro del consuelo divino, El fruto de la nada, Vida (...) eterna y conocimiento divino, Ecos de la Edad Media. Termina con un epílogo en el que se analiza el grano de mostaza en donde se aclara lo del desierto abundante de la nada silente de Dios como el de muchos nombres sin nombre. (shrink)

This article aims at a philosophical reflection on depression, from a melancholic standpoint; in order to do this, it explores the etymological, paremiological, historical and conceptual references of such term, having as a result a thesis: Before melancholy, an affirmation of life is likely from Spinoza’s conatus and Seneca’s tranquillity of mind.

Con base en El nombre de la Rosa de Umberto Eco se intenta mostrar la relación poder, saber y lenguaje desde la figura del laberinto tipo rizoma, sin centro ni periferia, siempre estructurable, nunca estructurado. Para hacerlo se plantean dos paradigmas hermenéuticos para descifrar los textos como laberinto. El primero se simboliza en Jorge de Burgos: todo texto es monosemántico y unidimensional, lo que políticamente lleva a fanatismos jacobinos y dogmáticos. El segundo se materializa en Guillermo de Baskerville: los textos (...) son polisemánticos y su semiosis es ilimitada, de modo que no hay textos definitivamente escritos, leídos e interpretados. Hay que habitar el mundo desde la duda como gozosa búsqueda ad infinitum, lo que se traduce políticamente en una lucha contra todo tipo de jacobismos. La conclusión es, desde este último paradigma, que la hermenéutica mora los textos desde Babel, no desde Pentecostés. Es el contraste entre la seriedad hermenéutica de Burgos y la sonrisa hermenéutica de Baskerville. (shrink)

En esta revisión bibliográfica completa, se analizan instrumentos de evaluación pragmática comunicativa utilizados durante la práctica clínica con población hispanohablante, con el objeto de caracterizarlos, establecer y comparar las conductas comunicativas y lingüísticas evaluadas y discutir su utilidad en la pragmática clínica. Se identifican doce instrumentos. Predomina una concepción amplia de la pragmática que la entiende como perspectiva más que como nivel del lenguaje y que se apoya no solo en estudios pragmáticos en sentido estricto, sino también en el análisis (...) del discurso, el análisis conversacional y los estudios sobre comunicación no verbal. La mayor parte de los instrumentos analizados corresponde a pautas de cotejo centradas en la evaluación de la pragmática interactiva. La información sobre variables psicométricas es escasa. Se concluye que parece necesario desarrollar instrumentos formales con propiedades psicométricas establecidas que permitan determinar con precisión las habilidades pragmáticas alteradas, contribuyendo al diagnóstico y tratamiento de los pacientes. (shrink)

The dialogical principle, the organizational recursivity principle and the hologramatical principle, are the three principles can help us to think the complexity. The first one allows us to think how the duality can stay in the breast of the unit. The second lead us to the understanding of how the ..

Raimundo Lulio contempla el derecho, como toda otra realidad del mundo creado, desde una filosofía de fe, de fe cristiana, o sea, desde una forma de razonar en servicio de la teología, en cuanto que de ese razonamiento recaba los argumentos demostrativos de la fe cristiana. El derecho es una ciencia confusa, necesaria a los hombres por la ausencia de caridad. La actividad jurídica, que Raimundo Lulio demuestra conocer bien, le parece prolija y compleja en demasía: por ello, a través (...) de su "Arte", propone una metodología, un sistema simplificado y mecánico para aplicar el derecho y hacer justicia, fundamentado en principios teológicos y de derecho natural. Raimundo Lulio juega, en fin, a la utopía. (shrink)

SÍNTESE - El decreto de Graciano sefiala el momento decisivo de la juridización de la Iglesia. AI tiempo, surgen algunas voces de teólogos em contra de dicha juridización. Son teólogos que entienden que la vinculación dei cristiano a unos comportamientos determinados no puede dimanar de una normativa humana, sea civil o eclesiástica, sino sólo de la voluntad de Dios manifestada en el derecho natural y en la Biblia, según viene interpretada por los Padres de la Iglesia y por las determinaciones (...) de los concillos y de los papas. En este sentido se expresan concretamente dos teólogos hispanos de los siglos XII y XIII, Martino de León y Antonio de Lisboa. Posteriormente, segunda mitad dei siglo XIII y principios dei XN, Raimundo Lulio contacta com esa tendencia, ai elaborar una teoria en la que e! derecho queda reducido a filosofia moral. Ya em pleno siglo X:V, un autor hispano anónimo da testimonio de que algunos teólogos siguen manteniendo la tesis de una Iglesia governada por la sola teología, sin necesidad del derecho. Los autores mencionados no representan uma tradición hispana. Martino y Antonio conectan en su formación teológíca con una corriente espiritualista que procede de Francia, y Raimundo es autónomo en su teoria. (shrink)

Este artículo se propone como objetivo analizar detalladamente la definición mínima de democracia propuesta por Norberto Bobbio, sus elementos constitutivos, sus principales características así como sus límites conceptuales, sobre todo sus pretensiones de universalidad, univocidad y neutralidad, enfocándonos críticamente en estos tres últimos elementos en aras de tensionar la definición bobbiana de democracia. Se comenzará por analizar el rasgo procedimental de esta definición. A continuación se descompondrá detalladamente cada uno de los elementos que la caracterizan, haciendo énfasis en el supuesto (...) y prioridad de la libertad. Finalmente, se indicarán una serie de objeciones que obstaculizarían las pretensiones de universalidad, univocidad y neutralidad, tensionando con ello la intencionalidad teórica del filósofo italiano. Metodológicamente hablando, se tratará de un análisis descriptivo y sistemático, no prescriptivo ni tampoco axiológico. (shrink)

The author extensively reviews Berciano's last book on Heidegger. Berciano is the spanish best known Specialist on Heidegger's metaphysics and anthropology.