The study, design and development of a low-cost digital braille printer is boarded with a transdisciplinary approach. The main challenge was focused on reducing significantly the high cost of this type of printers and their printing services. This context is aggravated with the low commercialization of these products in the country, a factor that makes the access of these tools -that are essential to much of the low and middle sectors of the Argentine social structure- even more difficult. An interdisciplinary (...) group of teachers, graduates and students of the careers of industrial design and informatics degree from the National University of La Plata, developed the design and prototype of a braille printer. The work was carried out according to the principles of Gandhian Engineering, based on the reuse of ink-jet printers. The project consists of the design, development and generation of a low-cost Braille printer, produced locally, which prioritizes the use of nationally manufactured components for assembly. To achieve this, an electronic and electromechanical system was designed and manufactured to adapt any Inkjet printer to the objectives of the project, enabling the recycling of obsolete printers. This means, it is proposed to resolve through the use of text printers, applying technical knowledge of computer science and industrial design, to adapt the technological components to the Braille lexicon printer. They also developed, on the one hand, software that controls the printer and allows its use in a simple and accessible way. On the other hand, the hardware and external components were adapted with 3D printing technology and thermoforming, producing a housing that contains the entire printer. Finally, a systematization of the assembly process of the printer prototype was carried out, making it possible to replicate it. Using methodologies of Gandhian Design, a prototype and two alternative proposals of carcasses were obtained. The main objective, which guided this work, was that blind people can access low-cost braille printers promoting by this a favorable impact on the cultural development of their daily lives. (shrink)

In this article I examine several criticisms of the concept of vulnerability. Rather than rejecting the concept, however, I argue that a sufficiently rich understanding of vulnerability is essential to bioethics. The challenges of international research in developing countries require an understanding of how new vulnerabilities arise from conditions of economic, social and political exclusion. A serious shortcoming of current conceptions of vulnerability in research ethics is the tendency to treat vulnerability as a label fixed on a particular subpopulation. My (...) paper examines the role of this “label” metaphor in current statements of research ethics. In contrast to this prevailing “label” metaphor, my own positive account of vulnerability develops a dynamic way of understanding the structure of the concept of vulnerability based on the idea of “layers of vulnerability.” I examine several cases involving women, as they are sometimes labeled as a vulnerable population and sometimes not. My analysis demonstrates the essential role of this revised concept of vulnerability in bioethics and research ethics. (shrink)

El siguiente trabajo parte del análisis de dos obras literarias que vieron su aparición en el Siglo XXI: Historia de los abuelos que no tuve, de Ivan Jablonka, y El gueto interior, de Santiago Amigorena, dos novelas que toman como eje temático y vertebrador de las narraciones la búsqueda e indagación del pasado reciente a través de dos historias de vida que guardan una profunda conexión con los hechos acontecidos durante el Holocausto. El objetivo es abordar y analizar la construcción (...) de la voz narrativa en cada una de las obras propuestas a partir de su articulación con la figura del silencio. En la obra de Jablonka, se observa, hay una identificación entre el narrador y sus abuelos paternos, mecanismo que se despliega al anular toda inconsistencia o vacío memorial; el silencio dejado por Mates e Idesa es el silencio de su nieto. Por su parte, en el relato de Amigorena, la voz del narrador toma distancia respecto a los acontecimientos al adoptar un punto de vista externo; a la vez que ficcionaliza la historia de su abuelo Vicente y la envuelve de un silencio absoluto e impotente, deja entrever que ese silencio desolador que atraviesa su historia familiar puede ser resignificado desde el presente. (shrink)

O presente artigo pretende discutir os limites e contradições presentes no cotidiano dos refugiados residentes no município do Rio de Janeiro, tendo em vista que esta cidade concentra forte presença de africanos e latino americanos vítimas de conflitos internos em seus Países. Para tanto, destaca as formas de adaptação e sobrevivência dessa população, registrando o papel da variável política na formulação e definição do movimento migratório contemporâneo. Desse modo, pretende-se discutir quais os lugares ocupados pelos povos deslocados nessa nova territorialidade (...) em que se privilegia o fim das limitações econômicas e que asseguram livre fluxo de capitais, em detrimento do próprio fluxo da vida humana. (shrink)

“Vulnerability” is a key concept for research ethics and public health ethics. This term can be discussed from either a conceptual or a practical perspective. I previously proposed the metaphor of layers to understand how this concept functions from the conceptual perspective in human research. In this paper I will clarify how my analysis includes other definitions of vulnerability. Then, I will take the practical‐ethical perspective, rejecting the usefulness of taxonomies to analyze vulnerabilities. My proposal specifies two steps and provides (...) a procedural guide to help rank layers. I introduce the notion of cascade vulnerability and outline the dispositional nature of layers of vulnerability to underscore the importance of identifying their stimulus condition. In addition, I identify three kinds of obligations and some strategies to implement them. This strategy outlines the normative force of harmful layers of vulnerability. It offers concrete guidance. It contributes substantial content to the practical sphere but it does not simplify or idealize research subjects, research context or public health challenges. (shrink)

The poverty of stimulus argument is one of the most controversial arguments in the study of language acquisition. Here we follow previous approaches challenging the assumption of impoverished primary linguistic data, focusing on the specific problem of auxiliary (AUX) fronting in complex polar interrogatives. We develop a series of corpus analyses of child-directed speech showing that there is indirect statistical information useful for correct auxiliary fronting in polar interrogatives and that such information is sufficient for distinguishing between grammatical and ungrammatical (...) generalizations, even in the absence of direct evidence. We further show that there are simple learning devices, such as neural networks, capable of exploiting such statistical cues, producing a bias toward correct AUX questions when compared to their ungrammatical counterparts. The results suggest that the basic assumptions of the poverty of stimulus argument may need to be reappraised. (shrink)

Dentro de la academia los estudios sobre el juego suelen ser marginados o subestimados como cuestiones secundarias al pensamiento, o como espacios de discusión dirigidos solamente al ocio contemplativo. Sin embargo, en oposición a este tipo de inferencias nos dedicaremos enteramente a reivindicar el papel del juego como fenómeno existencial fundamental en la pregunta por el ser y su relación con el mundo. En el presente trabajo propondremos un cruce lúdico y metafísico entre dos reconocidos pensadores: Carlos Astrada, filósofo argentino, (...) y Eugen Fink, filósofo alemán. Ambos autores comparten la herencia heideggeriana que pondrán en discusión y que servirá como hilo conductor del diálogo teórico sobre el carácter ontológico del juego. (shrink)

Se trata de la reseña bibliográfica del libro de Emmanuel Biset et. al., Sujeto, una categoría en disputa.

This article addresses the dilemma facing an editor when he or she has to decide whether or not to publish a manuscript that describes unethical research. I will explore three options the editor may follow: a) publish the unethical research; b) publish it with an explicit condemnation of the methods used; c) reject the article on moral grounds. I will consider the importance of deterring unethical research, why the deterrence argument has been overlooked and the relevance it has in developing (...) countries which seem to be more exposed to morally tainted experiments. I will suggest a combined policy. For cases in which the ethical problems are serious — where basic human rights are not respected, where consent has been given without complete or proper information or voluntary participation by subjects, or where deceit has been practised — I would support the strong policy of rejecting the article on moral grounds. For dubious cases, where the risk assessment can be doubted or where there are suspicions of ethical problems, I argue for a policy under which the article is published along with a serious discussion of the ethical problems suspected, allowing a rebuttal by the authors. In this way, while maintaining a strong deterrent policy, we recognize that sometimes it is not so clear if a research project was unethical, and only in such cases (where the ethical problems are dubious), the article may be published with an editorial. (shrink)

Este número de acceso abierto tiene como objetivo resaltar los puntos de vista de los países latinoamericanos sobre la justicia en un contexto de pandemia y contribuir al diálogo entre estos y con la comunidad científica global. Explora los desafíos globales de la pandemia de COVID-19, las diferencias relevantes entre las medidas de salud pública y su impacto en los países de ingresos altos versus los países de ingresos bajos o medios, y cómo la injusticia global se profundizó debido a (...) la pandemia de COVID-19. También llama la atención sobre las experiencias, los resultados y las respuestas del norte global a la pandemia con respecto a poblaciones vulnerables y trayectorias de exposición que se reproducen en América Latina. (shrink)

This open-access issue aims to highlight views about justice in a pandemic context from Latin American countries and to contribute to the dialogue between them as well as with the global scientific community. It explores the global challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, relevant differences between public health measures and their impact on high-income countries versus low- or middle-income countries, and how global injustice deepened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also draws attention to experiences, outcomes, and responses to the pandemic (...) from the global north regarding vulnerable populations and exposure paths that are also present in Latin America. (shrink)

En tiempos mas optimistas podia pensarse que el presente era la culminacion de la historia. Con mas modestia, hoy pensamos que el presente es solo una y no muy afortunada de las posibilidades de la historia. La hipotesis que calladamente organiza el libro de Mauricio Tenorio es mas arriesgada y menos lugubre: que la historia es una de las posibilidades del presente, uno de los modos en que puede constituirse el presente y resultar inteligible. Dicho de otro modo, lo (...) que hay que preguntar, lo que pregunta Tenorio, es si puede tener historia este presente: si es posible entenderlo o imaginario mediante la idea de historia, la idea de cultura, la idea de 'America Latina'. Este libro ofrece una manera de comenzar a estudiar la historia, y no porque trate de sus metodos o de nuestros probables antepasados remotos, sino porque obliga a pensar de nuevo lo que sabemos, lo que creiamos saber. Es una generosa invitacion a la lectura, un volumen hecho de correspondencias inesperadas, conjeturas; un libro vertiginoso, inquisitivo y aventurado, que consigue con toda naturalidad la forma turbulenta de las mejores novelas del siglo XIX. (shrink)

Interpersonalist theories of testimony have the theoretical virtue of giving room to the characteristic interpersonal features of testimonial exchange among persons. Nonetheless, it has been argued that they are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to accounting for the way in which testimonial beliefs may be epistemically justified. In this paper, we defend the epistemological credentials of interpersonalism, emphasizing that it is inseparable from the acceptance of non-evidential epistemic reasons to believe, which demands proper conceptual elaborations on the notions (...) of epistemic reasons and of epistemic justification. We offer a proper reading of epistemic reason, and we defend non-purism on justification as the adequate way to conceive the epistemic proposal of interpersonalism on testimony, realizing that only this combination is capable of apprehending certain cases in which there seems to be no way to rule out the idea that the assurance offered by the testifier offers an epistemic reason to believe that it is not evidential. (shrink)

Proponemos una teoría estética basada en un enhebrado cronotópico del discurso creativo que replantea las lógicas de constitución del sujeto. Tomamos como hilo conductor la película La voz de la luna (La voce della Luna, 1990) de Federico Fellini, cuyo surrealismo, lejos de suponer una construcción al azar de un relato, revela una sofisticada narrativa desde lo circunstancial (y no desde el sujeto o el objeto). Es aquí donde confluimos con las tesis más radicales de Antonin Artaud y su proyecto (...) político basado en el teatro de la crueldad y la reificación del fragmento-órgano. Concluimos con un alegato por una narración vital, que trascienda la obra, disipe la posición del sujeto en la misma (lo que Jacques Derrida denomina Forcener le subjectile) para que el sentido de la humanidad, en lo ínfimo y fragmentado, trasparezca. (shrink)

The specialist literature has investigated extensively the link between Benjamin and German Romanticism and, less frequently, his relation to Kant. However, these contributions tend to take up these links separately, and therefore do not analyse in detail the process which begins with the theoretical sketches on Kant and concludes with the writing of the doctoral thesis on the Frühromantik. This paper argues that there is a marked continuity between the objectives which led Benjamin to plan, in the first place, his (...) doctoral investigation on Kant and those which were finally realized. I try to demonstrate that such continuity consists in a displacement of the problem of the justification of knowledge, from the field of the criticism of knowledge in general to a particular sphere: that of art criticism. In this shift the purpose of linking the justification of knowledge with a messianic philosophy of time and history is also preserved. (shrink)

In this paper I state that throughout Walter Benjamin’s writings a constant element can be found: the aim to ground knowledge on demand of redemption of the object. I show that in the four realms where the Benjaminian theory of knowledge is developed –philosophy, art criticism, translation and historical knowledge–, the principal categories of his conception stress this demand by a peculiar use of the suffix “barkeit”, present in the concepts of “solutionabiliy” of the philosophical task, the “criticizability” of the (...) artwork, the “translatability” of language and the “now of cognizability” of the past. (shrink)

This essay examines the construction of a symbolic figure who has worked to support the reordering of power relationships. It is the invention of a foreign enemy, Islamic radicalism from which United States has served its objectives of establishing a new hegemony. Since the terrorist threat, has extended a speech level that adulterated and showed us a world divided into two opposite poles: a virtuous and civilized axis that is forced to attack to defend itself, and a barbaric and evil (...) axis that threatens global security. But this process is fraudulent, that has been able to violate international law, has a political, historical and economic issues should be unmasked. (shrink)

El artículo analiza algunas problemáticas centrales de la literatura caribeña, en particular de expresión francófona y anglófona, relacionadas, por un lado, con la falta de desarrollo y el funcionamiento colonial de sus sistemas literarios, y, por el otro, con el problema social, económico y político de la emigración en las Antillas. Como propongo, es la misma condición migrante de la literatura caribeña, en tanto sistema atravesado por el desplazamiento masivo de sus productores, la que en gran parte determina sus motivaciones (...) e intereses, enfocados a la identidad regional (y a la cultura regionalista) de modo recurrente. El artículo indaga, entre otros lugares-comunes (Glissant) del discurso literario caribeño, su estética geográficamente marcada que es enunciada aun desde un locus migrante (distante) con fines descolonizadores, los cuales se vinculan con la tradición anticolonialista, masculina y de sesgo militante del siglo pasado. Luego de una revisión de este legado a partir de dos aproximaciones críticas (Tinsley, Condé), se lee una serie de textos donde se observa la persistencia de la geoestética antillana, como A Small Place de Jamaica Kincaid, los cuales se apropian creativamente del discurso turístico desde una perspectiva geopolítica de resistencia a las dominaciones aún coloniales. (shrink)

The essay reviews various volumes produced in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds by the Iberconceptos research group. It is both a summary and a critique of history of concepts applied to the histories of Iberia and Ibero-America.

In this article, the authors focus on Argentina's activity in the developing field of regenerative medicine, specifically stem cell research. They take as a starting point a recent article by Shawn Harmon (published in this journal) who argues that attempts to regulate the practice in Argentina are morally incoherent. The authors try to show first, that there is no such ‘attempt to legislate’ on stem cell research in Argentina and this is due to a number of reasons that they explain. (...) Second, by examining the role played by different values, conflicting legal and moral views, and the influence of various actors, they attempt to show that the legislative silence regarding stem cell research may not necessarily be a manifestation of a legal/moral disconnection but rather a survival strategy for navigating the long and heated battle on the moral status of the embryo and the kind of treatment it deserves. (shrink)

Non-communicable diseases are no longer largely limited to high-income countries and the elderly. The burden of non-communicable diseases is rising across all country income categories, in part because these diseases have been relatively overlooked on the global health agenda. Historically, communicable diseases have been prioritized in many countries as they were perceived to constitute the greatest disease burden, especially among vulnerable and poor populations, and strategies for prevention and treatment, which had been successful in high-income settings, were considered feasible and (...) often affordable in low-income settings. This prioritization has reduced the communicable diseases burden globally but has left non-communicable diseases largely neglected. A new approach is urgently needed to tackle non-communicable diseases. Based on an analysis of potential features which may have underlain the different approaches to non-communicable diseases and communicable diseases until now, including acuity of disease, potential for control or cure, cost, infectiousness, blaming of individuals and logistical barriers, little ethical or rational justification can be found to support continued neglect of non-communicable diseases. Justice demands access to quality and affordable care for all. An equitable approach to non-communicable diseases is therefore strongly mandated on medical, ethical, economic, and public health grounds. Funding must not however be diverted away from communicable diseases, which continue to require attention—but concomitantly, funding for non-communicable diseases must be increased. International and multi-sectoral action is required to accelerate progress towards true universal health coverage and towards achievement of all of the sustainable development goals, such that prevention and access to care for non-communicable disease can become a global reality. (shrink)

The concept of vulnerability is widely used in bioethics, particularly in research ethics and public health ethics. The traditional approach construes vulnerability as inherent in individuals or the groups to which they belong and views vulnerability as requiring special protections. Florencia Luna and other bioethicists continue to challenge traditional ways of conceptualizing and applying the term. Luna began proposing a layered approach to this concept and recently extended this proposal to offer two new concepts to analyze the concept of (...) vulnerability, namely understanding external conditions that trigger vulnerability and layers of vulnerability with cascading effects. Luna's conception of vulnerability is useful, which we demonstrate by applying her layered view and the new analyses in multiple contexts. We begin by outlining Luna's view and we use vignettes from healthcare involving transgender patients, the care of patients in psychiatric contexts, and research involving prisoners to illustrate how each part of Luna's concept elucidates important moral issues. (shrink)

Fomentar la educación abierta inclusiva es responsabilidad de todos. Se presenta el diseño instruccional de un libro electrónico para el desarrollo de competencias de información y alfabetización digital. Está enfocado a personas con deficiencia visual. Se utiliza el modelo ADDIE y los principios de Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje. Se realizó una hoja de ruta para la definición de aspectos iniciales. Como trabajo futuro se contempla desarrollar el libro y compartirlo como recurso educativo abierto con licencia Creative Commons BY-SA para (...) fomentar su reutilización. Se sugiere medir el desarrollo de otras competencias a partir de su uso. (shrink)

Traditional accounts of vulnerability tend to label entire populations as vulnerable. This approach is of limited utility. Instead, this article utilizes a layered approach to vulnerability, identifying multiple vulnerabilities that older people experience. It focuses on distinguishing the different layers of vulnerability that may be experienced by the elderly in middle-income countries of Latin America. In doing so, I show how the layered approach to vulnerability functions, and demonstrate why it is more interesting and useful than the traditional approach. The (...) article achieves three things. First, it unwraps the different potential layers of vulnerability that develop in old age and the multidimensionality aspects of aging. Second, it reestablishes the usefulness of the concept of vulnerability and explains its functioning. Finally, it shows how different policies can be designed in order to address each vulnerability layer. The layered account promotes a multifaceted approach to public policy analyses and design. In this sense, the layered concept of vulnerability is an appealing concept to consider in public health ethics. (shrink)

The current manner of practicing chaplaincy in health care is one which prizes the multi-faith chaplain. When one asks multi-faith chaplain, “To whom are you beholden?” they will respond, “The patient.” This is evident in the way that chaplaincy is currently practiced and taught, which prizes the use of psychology over recourse to theology. Chaplaincy’s recourse to practices whose aims are directed toward the efficient rather than the eternal challenges its original telos. This paper looks at this question by blending (...) a Catholic and Engelhardtian approach to conclude that chaplains should recognize that they are beholden to God, rather than to patients’ autonomy. (shrink)

Fotografía y pasado reciente. Entrevista pública al fotógrafo EduardoLongoni.

En su sitio de Facebook, llamado “Fantasmas del Cordobazo”, Sebastián Cánepa, actualiza, por medio de la superposición de imágenes pasadas y presentes, la insurrección popular en las calles cordobesas. Aflora un tiempo superpuesto, condensado que se vuelve nítido con el contraste entre el color y las formas de las fotos actuales y el blanco y negro del año 69.

RESUMEN Nos adentramos en esos procesos de subjetivación en los que el músico de jazz experimenta en sí otras formas de corporalidad, que se dirimen entre sujeción a esquemas y ruptura de los corsés por una teatralidad en escena. Aparentemente, en la improvisación prima lo subversivo y la reificación del músico como autor libre; sin embargo, observamos empíricamente una corporalidad plural que trasciende el espacio de la escena y que facilita que todos los actores intervengan en el proceso de creación. (...) Hallamos una red de solidaridad que desplaza continuamente los puntos fijos por donde transita la música; así, cuando a un músico le falta el aire, su compañero le da el relevo. Si lo fundamental en la praxis de la música son las continuas alternativas que ofrece, concluimos con una reflexión ética sobre la naturaleza transitoria de la música y su temporalidad kairológica, en la que el músico, sintiendo la brevedad del instante de la nota que muere cuando nace, se reencuentra con lo insignificante de la que está hecha su condición humana. ABSTRACT We enter these processes of subjectivation in which the jazz musician experiences in himself other forms of corporeality, which are settled between subjection to schemes and breakup of the corsets by a theatricality on stage. Apparently, in improvisation what is subversive and the reification of the musician as a free author take priority; nevertheless, we empirically observe a plural corporeality that goes beyond the space of the scene and that facilitates that all the actors take part in the process of creation. We found a solidarity network that continuously displaces the fixed points where music circulates; thus, when a musician is short of breath, his partner takes over. If what is fundamental in the praxis of music is the continuous alternatives it offers, we conclude with an ethical reflection on the transitory nature of music and its kairological temporality, in which the musician, feeling the briefness of the instant of the note that dies when it is born, joins the insignificance of his human condition. (shrink)

Para la estética, la creatividad es la emergencia del instante que la vuelve irrepetible o un transitar pendular que la hace resurgir como reminiscencia cegada por un ocaso repetitivo. Haciendo coincidir proceso y teleología, Peirce aglutina estas dos dimensiones, sin atisbar realmente un atisbo de humanidad para disfrutar de lo ínfimo. De ahí que propongamos un momento oportuno que nos dirija hacia una temporalidad más humana.

RESUMEN Nos adentramos en esos procesos de subjetivación en los que el músico de jazz experimenta en sí otras formas de corporalidad, que se dirimen entre sujeción a esquemas y ruptura de los corsés por una teatralidad en escena. Aparentemente, en la improvisación prima lo subversivo y la reificación del músico como autor libre; sin embargo, observamos empíricamente una corporalidad plural que trasciende el espacio de la escena y que facilita que todos los actores intervengan en el proceso de creación. (...) Hallamos una red de solidaridad que desplaza continuamente los puntos fijos por donde transita la música; así, cuando a un músico le falta el aire, su compañero le da el relevo. Si lo fundamental en la praxis de la música son las continuas alternativas que ofrece, concluimos con una reflexión ética sobre la naturaleza transitoria de la música y su temporalidad kairológica, en la que el músico, sintiendo la brevedad del instante de la nota que muere cuando nace, se reencuentra con lo insignificante de la que está hecha su condición humana. ABSTRACT We enter these processes of subjectivation in which the jazz musician experiences in himself other forms of corporeality, which are settled between subjection to schemes and breakup of the corsets by a theatricality on stage. Apparently, in improvisation what is subversive and the reification of the musician as a free author take priority; nevertheless, we empirically observe a plural corporeality that goes beyond the space of the scene and that facilitates that all the actors take part in the process of creation. We found a solidarity network that continuously displaces the fixed points where music circulates; thus, when a musician is short of breath, his partner takes over. If what is fundamental in the praxis of music is the continuous alternatives it offers, we conclude with an ethical reflection on the transitory nature of music and its kairological temporality, in which the musician, feeling the briefness of the instant of the note that dies when it is born, joins the insignificance of his human condition. (shrink)