Bertrand Russell dedicó parte de su obra a la discusión sobre el problema de la referencia y la descripción . Russell, junto Whitehead, elaboró un tratado de lógica matemática, titulado Principia Mathematica en el que retomó el proyecto de Frege tratando de demostrar que la matemática es una rama de la lógica. Russell no sólo tiene este propósito logicista, sino que también quiere concebir un lenguaje lógicamente perfecto , esto es, un lenguaje claro y preciso, en el que se elimina (...) toda ambigüedad y vaguedad. En una palabra el lenguaje de la ciencia. En este escrito desarrollaremos dicho propósito y veremos si tal lenguaje lógicamente perfecto es “aceptable” y conveniente en todos los contextos. (shrink)

Este texto quiere mostrar la lectura hecha por Borges del Quijote de la Mancha, como una de las más sencillas y desinteresadas maneras de leer, de encontrarse con la obra española desde tres puntos básicos: los libros, el sueño y lo imposible. Veremos, a través de sus poemas, cuentos fantásticos, conferencias y narraciones, su particular manera de leer el Quijote y la cercanía especial que tiene con este personaje de ficción.

We report five experiments showing that the activation of the end-terms of a syllogism is determined by their position in the composite model of the premises. We show that it is not determined by the position of the terms in the rule being applied (Ford, 1994), by the syntactic role of the terms in the premises (Polk & Newell, 1995; Wetherick & Gilhooly, 1990), by the type of conclusion (Chater & Oaksford, 1999), or by the terms from the source premise (...) (Stenning & Yule, 1997). In our first experiment we found that after reading a categorical premise, the most active term is the last term in the premise. In Experiments 2, 3, and 4 we demonstrated that this pattern of activity is due to the position of the concepts in the model of the premises, regardless of the delay after reading the premises (150 or 2000 msec) or the quantity of the quantifiers (universal or existential). The fifth experiment showed that the pattern switches around after participants evaluate a conclusion. We propose that the last element in the model maintains a higher level of activity during the comprehension process because it is generally used to attach the incoming information. After this process, the first term becomes more active because it is the concept to which the whole representation is referred. These results are predicted by the mental model theory (Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991), but not by the verbal reasoning theory (Polk & Newell, 1995), the graphical methods theory (Yule & Stenning, 1992), the attachment-heuristic theory (Chater & Oaksford, 1999), or the mental rules theory (Ford, 1994). (shrink)

RESUMEN Este artículo reconstruye la genealogia arendtiana de las formas extremas de la violencia, tomando como hilo conductor los procesos de desingularización con un doble propósito: por un lado, analizar las (dis)continuidades históricas de dicha genealogia que trasciende la dimensión fisico-instrumental de la violencia y entra conexión con la (des)configuración de la identidad personal; por otro lado, reivindicar la vigencia de la obra de Hannah Arendt para explorar los ecos presentes de esa violencia, sin perder de vista su especificad actual. (...) ABSTRACT This paper reconstructs the Arendtian genealogy of the extreme forms of violence, taking desingularization processes as its guiding thread, with a twofold goal: on the one hand, to analyze the historical (dis)continuities of that genealogy, that goes beyond the physical-instrumental dimension of violence and comes into connection with the (de)configuration of personal identity; on the other hand, to claim the validity of Arendt's work to explore the echoes of that violence, without losing sight of its current specificity. (shrink)

Entre enero y febrero de 1970, el norteamericano Saul Kripke impartió tres importantes conferencias en la Universidad de Princeton que posteriormente se publicaron bajo el titulo de El nombrar y la necesidad. En dichas conferencias el autor, además de hacer una fuerte crítica a las teorías descripcioncitas, abordó temas de primer orden, como son el de los nombres, la referencia, la rigidez, la modalidad y la necesidad. A partir, de sus tres conferencias, y del artículo “Identidad y necesidad” publicado un (...) año después (1971), abordaremos aquí cuatro puntos, a saber: 1) La necesidad e identidad en las teorías de la referencia directa, 2) Designadores rígidos y mundos posibles, 3) Bautizo inicial, 4) el nombrar y la necesidad. (shrink)

En Mi visión de la filosofía, Friedrich Waismann afirma que un verdadero problema filosófico radica, no en darle solución, sino en encontrarle sentido, de modo que la tarea de la filosofía está en suministrar comprensión. Esto no sería posible si quien se hace una pregunta no da un giro en su manera de pensar para ver las cosas de modo distinto. Con esto en mente, para ayudarle a quien pregunta a dar este giro es necesario orientarlo con el fin de (...) que cruce la brecha de la demostración: hay que darle una discusión, no una prueba; es decir, no debe hostigársele pidiéndole que dé una respuesta, sino que debe pedírsele que considere pacientemente su pregunta. La intención no es, pues, resolver un problema, sino cambiar la actitud de quien pregunta, de lo cual se espera que se disuelvan los falsos problemas y, con base en enunciados claros y bien construidos, la filosofía pueda avanzar en sus argumentos de alguna forma. (shrink)

: This article presents a definition of action that links empirical facts with normative reasons to form an explanation of rational agency with predictive capabilities. This idea is developed along the lines of pragmatism which holds that a set of beliefs is a matter of linguistic evaluation from a particular community. This notion is related to the idea of facts as empirical information that is cognitively apprehended. Such information is regarded as an input which is later contrasted to expected behavioral (...) responses from the agent. The deviation of such observed behavior with respect to the expected one represents an evaluative output that is understood as the definition of reasonably expected behavior. Action is, thus, understood as the outcome of such an evaluative process. (shrink)

Bertrand Russell dedicó parte de su obra a la discusión sobre el problema de la referencia y la descripción . Russell, junto Whitehead, elaboró un tratado de lógica matemática, titulado Principia Mathematica en el que retomó el proyecto de Frege tratando de demostrar que la matemática es una rama de la lógica. Russell no sólo tiene este propósito logicista, sino que también quiere concebir un lenguaje lógicamente perfecto , esto es, un lenguaje preciso, en el que se elimina toda ambigüedad (...) y vaguedad. En una palabra, el lenguaje de la ciencia en el que a todo nombre, por ejemplo, le “corresponde” un objeto. El Wittgenstein de las Investigaciones filosóficas se enfrentará a tal proyecto y a la concepción de un lenguaje cartográfico de la realidad. El autor, propone por el contrario, la reivindicación de un lenguaje sencillo, austero, cotidiano y plural, lejos de toda “estructura oculta”, finalmente, un lenguaje que no trasgreda las prácticas comunes y de paso a un lenguaje filosófico menos “enredado” y “dogmatico”. Pretendemos resaltar cómo la crítica a la búsqueda de un lenguaje perfecto permite que al lenguaje y a la filosofía misma, se les conciba de un modo más abierto, cotidiano y plural, en palabras del mismo Wittgenstein, una filosofía descansada “que ya no se fustigue más con preguntas que la ponen a ella misma en cuestión”. (shrink)

Algunos nombres usados en nuestro lenguaje no se aplican efectivamente a nada ni nadie si son tomados de forma literal, pues carecen de referente. En términos searleanos, su significatividad no depende que puedan dar cuenta o no de ejemplares en el mundo; su significatividad se "mide" en el uso de ellos en tal o cual discurso, en medio de explicaciones o caracterizaciones forjadas por reglas, pues hablar un lenguaje es tomar parte activa en una conducta compleja gobernada por reglas. Este (...) artículo sustenta cómo en la filosofía de Searle la significatividad de los discursos, entre ellos los de la ciencia o los de la ficción, se logra en la emisión de actos ilocucionarios que hacen posible la invención de mundos cargados de significados, aun cuando estos carezcan de referencia directa. Some names in our language are not indeed applied to anything or nobody if they are taken literally, because they lack their referent. According to Searle, names´ significance does not depend on how they can give account or not of world samples; their significance "is measured" in the use of them in this or that speech, amid explanations or characterizations forged by rules, because to speak a language it is to take active part in a complex rule-governed behavior. This article supports how in the philosophy of Searle meaningfulness of speeches, including those of science or fiction, is achieved in the issuance of illocutionary acts that make possible the invention of worlds full of meanings, even when they lack direct referent. (shrink)

El martes 26 de abril de 2016 en la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Medellín, en el curso “De la analítica a los acto de habla” del Doctorado en Filosofía, tuvimos la oportunidad de compartir y hacer una conversatorio con el filósofo mexicano Dr. Alejandro Tomasini Bassols, investigador del Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas y profesor de filosofía en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la UNAM. El profesor Tomasini es uno de los investigadores más reconocidos en la obra del Filósofo (...) austriaco Ludwig Wittgenstein, además de haber desarrollado una importante obra alrededor de la tradición analítica y de algunos problemas actuales como la discusión sobre la pena capital. También el profesor Tomasini en su visita a Colombia, inicialmente participó en Medellín con una conferencia titulada “Derecho y objetividad”, en la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana y luego en la Feria del Libro de Bogotá –FILBO- realizó la presentación y conferencia del libro Hacer mundos: el nombrar y la significatividad. Previo a su viaje a Bogotá, interactuó con el curso doctoral en filosofía y de este encuentro académico presentamos el siguiente diálogo. (shrink)

Mainly because of the work of Gottlob Frege, philosophy of language seems to have inherited the pair sense /reference as the main aspects of the problem of meaning. Therefore, in a normal situation, a sign has, first of all, a sense which directs towards a reference or referent. As a result, sense is what one acquires when understanding an expression and a referent is the aspect of the real world to which the former directs. Motivated by the crucial problem of (...) the relation between signs and objects, the aim of the following paper is to make use of the idea of analogy in the context of the semantic problem of reference. (shrink)

Discurso de posesión como Decano de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras.

The article deals with the theories of the American philosopher John Searle concerning his embracement of a form of emergentism of the mind and his ideas about consciousness, intentionality with ‘C’, and language as a critique of traditional standpoints closer to positivist theses. Bearing this in mind, the general purpose is to reveal how the philosophy of Searle aims to recover the active role of the agent and, in consequence, the semantic and pragmatic dimensions of language are vindicated, dimensions in (...) which consciousness and intentionality are key to the construction and dynamism of social reality. (shrink)

RESUMEN En el libro X de la Metafísica se trazan las líneas generales de una henología. La reconstrucción de la argumentación debe hacerse desde dos pilares fundamentales: (a) la guía de problemas o aporías que proporciona el libro iii y (b) el proyecto ontológico anunciado en el libro iv, donde se señala la relación entre ontología y henología. El rasgo fundamental de dicha henología sería su subordinación a la ontología. El artículo argumenta que para Aristóteles el rol de la henología (...) es ante todo destructivo, pues con dicha doctrina se pretende establecer -ante todo- la imposibilidad de considerar al "uno" (τὸ ἓν) como principio de los entes. ABSTRACT In the Metaphysics, especially in Book X, are drawn the general lines of a henology. For the proper understanding of this doctrine it is necessary to reconstruct its argumentation from two fundamental basis: (a) the guide of puzzles or aporias that book iii provides and (b) the ontological project announced in book IV where the relationship between ontology and henology is indicated. Once the explanations of Book X are framed a theory about unity (τὸ ἓν) can be systematically assembled, whose fundamental feature would be the following: henology as a science is a subordinate part of ontology. The role of henology is for Aristotle primarily destructive, that is, with this doctrine it is intended to establish the impossibility of considering the 'one' (τὸ ἓν) as a principle of the entities. (shrink)

Graphical AbstractThe recent explosion in the number of predatory journals has led to the appearance of questionable websites providing fake or spurious impact factors, which are analyzed and discussed here. We believe that academic associations, universities, and research funding bodies must take action to stop these questionable practices.

Despite mounting evidence that abusive supervision triggers interpersonal aggression, much remains unknown regarding the underlying causal mechanisms within this relationship. We explore the role of turnover intentions as a mediator in the relationship between abusive supervision and subsequent supervisor-rated interpersonal aggression. We use a sample of 324 supervisor–subordinate dyads from nine organizations and find support for this mediation effect. Furthermore, we find that power-distance orientation and perceived human resource support climate, as important boundary conditions, independently interact with abusive supervision to (...) weaken this positive impact on turnover intentions, thereby reducing interpersonal aggression. We also find via turnover intentions that abusive supervision intensifies interpersonal aggression among high power-distance-oriented individuals when the HR support climate is perceived to be low. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

Este libro identifica las tendencias generales de la pol tica internacional en la posguerra fr a, mira la regi n y algunas de las estrategias particulares de la pol tica exterior y econ mica de M xico. De esta forma contribuye a explicar la complejidad de los cambios y las continuidades en la pol tica internacional y en la mexicana.

ISSN:1909-9711 (En línea) Misión La Revista Acta Colombiana de Psicología publica hallazgos originales de las investigaciones en Psicología y de esta disciplina en diálogo con otras, con el propósito de divulgarlas a la comunidad universitaria y a todas las personas interesadas en conocer sus nuevos avances y aplicaciones a distintos campos y necesidades de la sociedad contemporánea.

ISSN:1909-9711 (En línea) Misión La Revista Acta Colombiana de Psicología publica hallazgos originales de las investigaciones en Psicología y de esta disciplina en diálogo con otras, con el propósito de divulgarlas a la comunidad universitaria y a todas las personas interesadas en conocer sus nuevos avances y aplicaciones a distintos campos y necesidades de la sociedad contemporánea.

This article analyses the phenomenon of ‘micro-domination’, in which a series of dominated choices are individually inconsequential for a person’s freedom but collectively consequential. Where the choices concerned are objectively inconsequential, micro- domination poses a problem for ‘objective threshold’ accounts of domination which either prioritise particularly bad forms of domination or exclude powers that do not risk causing serious harm to their victims. Where the choices concerned are subjectively inconsequential to the victim, micro-domination poses a problem for the common republican (...) strategy of creating arenas of contestation for victims of domination, which rely on victims objecting strongly enough to a dominating relationship to sound the alarm. This kind of invigilation may systematically fail victims of micro-domination. Throughout the article, I suggest some ways of better accounting for and responding to cases of micro-domination. (shrink)

When people understand a counterfactual such as “if the flowers had been roses, the trees would have been orange trees,” they think about the conjecture, “there were roses and orange trees,” and they also think about its opposite, the presupposed facts. We test whether people think about the opposite by representing alternates, for example, “poppies and apple trees,” or whether models can contain symbols, for example, “no roses and no orange trees.” We report the discovery of an inference‐to‐alternates effect—a tendency (...) to make an affirmative inference that refers to an alternate even from a negative minor premise, for example, “there were no orange trees, therefore there were poppies.” Nine experiments show the inference‐to‐alternates effect occurs in a binary context, but not a multiple context, and for direct and indirect reference; it can be induced and reduced by prior experience with similar inferences, and it also occurs for indicative conditionals. The results have implications for theories of counterfactual conditionals, and of negation. (shrink)

Wittgenstein's examination of Private Language Argument and Solipsism in the Philosophical Investigations implies no critics to his earlier theory maintained in the Tractatus. On the contrary, both are inspired by the same idea, namely, the impossibility of finding a thinking subject merely on the ground of thought itself.

This article analyses the phenomenon of ‘micro-domination’, in which a series of dominated choices are individually inconsequential for a person’s freedom but collectively consequential. Where the choices concerned are objectively inconsequential, micro-domination poses a problem for ‘objective threshold’ accounts of domination which either prioritise particularly bad forms of domination or exclude powers that do not risk causing serious harm to their victims. Where the choices concerned are subjectively inconsequential to the victim, micro-domination poses a problem for the common republican strategy (...) of creating arenas of contestation for victims of domination, which rely on victims objecting strongly enough to a dominating relationship to sound the alarm. This kind of invigilation may systematically fail victims of micro-domination. Throughout the article, I suggest some ways of better accounting for and responding to cases of micro-domination. (shrink)

We examine two competing effects of beliefs on conditional inferences. The suppression effect occurs for conditionals, for example, “if she watered the plants they bloomed,” when beliefs about additional background conditions, for example, “if the sun shone they bloomed” decrease the frequency of inferences such as modus tollens (from “the plants did not bloom” to “therefore she did not water them”). In contrast, the counterfactual elevation effect occurs for counterfactual conditionals, for example, “if she had watered the plants they would (...) have bloomed,” when beliefs about the known or presupposed facts, “she did not water the plants and they did not bloom” increase the frequency of inferences such as modus tollens. We report six experiments that show that beliefs about additional conditions take precedence over beliefs about presupposed facts for counterfactuals. The modus tollens inference is suppressed for counterfactuals that contain additional conditions (Experiments 1a and 1b). The denial of the antecedent inference (from “she did not water the plants” to “therefore they did not bloom”) is suppressed for counterfactuals that contain alternatives (Experiments 2a and 2b). We report a new “switched‐suppression” effect for conditionals with negated components, for example, “if she had not watered the plants they would not have bloomed”: modus tollens is suppressed by alternatives and denial of the antecedent by additional conditions, rather than vice versa (Experiments 3a and 3b). We discuss the implications of the results for alternative theories of conditional reasoning. (shrink)

The present article aims to utilize some insights from behavioral and happiness economics to discuss the consequences that the introduction of an unconditional basic income to cope with technological unemployment may hold for well-being. The impact of 21st-century technological progress on employment has only just begun to make itself felt and it will take time to realize its full extent. However, the main innovation is already common knowledge: robots are finding their way into the production process. According to several recent (...) contributions, the phenomenon is radically different from past technological revolutions and could generate high levels of unemployment, calling for innovative redistributive public policies. The present article, building on Keynes’ short essay and referring to some of the principles and models of behavioral and happiness economics, focuses on the best-known of these policies, namely provision of an unconditional basic income. A series of factors – loss aversion and hedonic adaptation, the impossibility of escalating to higher-grade consumption behaviors, social interaction in the form of active and passive envy, loss of self-esteem and social stigma – are all likely to have a negative impact on well-being if an unconditional basic income that remains unchanging over time is implemented. A policy mix combining a rising basic income with other measures is therefore proposed. (shrink)

How does intentional communication evolve? Comparative studies can shed light on the evolutionary history of this relevant feature of human language and its distribution before modern humans. The current animal literature on intentional signaling consists mostly of ape gestural studies with evidence of subjects persisting and elaborating with sometimes arbitrary signals toward a desired outcome. Although vocalizations can also have such imperative qualities, they are typically produced in a functionally fixed manner, as if evolved for a specific purpose. Yet, intentionality (...) can sometimes transpire even in functionally fixed calls, for example, if production is adapted to audience composition. In this study, we carried out field experiments to test whether free-ranging sooty mangabeys adjusted snake alarm call production to their audiences. We found a positive relation between alarm call production and naïve individuals arriving, suggesting that callers attempted to influence their behaviors relative to the snake. Subjects called more with smaller audiences, if they had not heard other calls before, and if socially important individuals were in the area. We concluded that sooty mangabeys alarm call production can be explained as an active attempt to refer to an external event, rather than a mere readout of an internal state. (shrink)

Universal basic income is increasingly proposed as a simple answer to the problem of domination at work—one policy whose knock-on effects will transform the balance of power between workers and employers. I argue against such ‘UBI-first’ approaches. Compared to UBI proposals for other purposes, a UBI sufficient or near-sufficient for minimising domination at work would be especially demanding in two ways. First, the level of the grant would be more demanding compared to UBIs suitable for other purposes, in order for (...) workers to be able to credibly threaten to leave their jobs. Secondly, the maintenance of the grant must also meet strict criteria. The demanding level of the grant must be effectively secured against reduction, allowing workers to plan on its long-term acceptability; and in order to avoid increased state domination it must assume the status of an entitlement rather than a gift that may be withdrawn, through stabilisation against political change or some other means. These difficulties render UBI-first approaches doubtful at best, and an unhelpful distraction from other, more fruitful strategies at worst. (shrink)

La meritocracia es sinónimo de conocimientos o prácticas, que se jerarquizan y estratifican de acuerdo a principios de excelencia y competencia, dirección y capacitación, para la toma de decisiones. Una sociedad o institución es meritocrática, en la medida que se orienta por valores de máxima ..

This article inquires whether or not religious beliefs are rational, that is to say, whether or not they can be rationally sustained. The point of the article is not to prove the existence of God, but rather simply to show whether or not religious language has real meaning. To do this, we shall examine the concept of belief in general. Then we shall look at religious beliefs in particular from two opposing points of view: on the one hand, from the (...) position of authors who claim that religious beliefs can in fact be sustained by rational evidence, and on the other hand, from the perspective of other authors who affirm that these beliefs cannot be rationally justified, because spiritual discourse refers to the ineffable, which deprives it of the means to verify or deny its propositions. (shrink)

En este artículo de reflexión se plantea que el concepto de ‘pensamiento crítico’ formulado por los pensadores del Movimiento de Pensamiento Crítico contiene un presupuesto que mina en gran medida su empresa: el movimiento asume que el pensador crítico desarrolla un autoconocimiento directo y transparente, lo que implicaría cuasi-infalibilidad. En la historia de la filosofía algunos pensadores han defendido esta posibilidad de un autoconocimiento directo e infalible, por ejemplo René Descartes y más recientemente Donald Davidson. Sin embargo, tal conocimiento parece (...) tener unos límites más o menos claros que no son tenidos en cuenta por los pensadores del MPC al formular su noción de pensamiento crítico, y debido a este presupuesto su proyecto filosófico e incluso pedagógico podría quedar sin fundamento. (shrink)

This chapter introduces and discusses the concepts that are in-depth articulated in the volume. International migration is presented here as a test bench where the normative limits of institutional order, its contradictions and internal tensions are examined. Migrations allows to call into question classical political categories and models. Pointing at walls and fences as tools that reproduce enormous inequalities within the globalized neo-liberal system, this chapter presents the conceptual tensions and contradictions between migration policies and global justice. We challenge the (...) conceptualization of justice as a relationship between citizens of the same country and the State and argue that, in our globalized world, nation-state cannot constitute the basic unit of the theories of justice. We argue that an integral approach that includes the complex and interconnected forms of structural inequalities and transcends the borders of national sovereign states is required. Avoiding the methodological nationalism and the exclusionary biases that inform current migration and border control policies, this chapter finally places attention on the most marginalized subjects of the migration chain: migrant women workers. We point out the importance of addressing transnational structural inequalities and bringing social reproduction to the center of global justice theories. (shrink)