This paper presents an approach to the belief system based on a computational framework in three levels: first, the logic level with the definition of binary local rules, second, the arithmetic level with the definition of recursive functions and finally the behavioural level with the definition of a recursive construction pattern. Social communication is achieved when different beliefs are expressed, modified, propagated and shared through social nets. This approach is useful to mimic the belief system because the defined functions provide (...) different ways to process the same incoming information as well as a means to propagate it. Our model also provides a means to cross different beliefs so, any incoming information can be processed many times by the same or different functions as it occurs is social nets. (shrink)

This paper presents an approach to the belief system based on a computational framework in three levels: first, the logic level with the definition of binary local rules, second, the arithmetic level with the definition of recursive functions and finally the behavioural level with the definition of a recursive construction pattern. Social communication is achieved when different beliefs are expressed, modified, propagated and shared through social nets. This approach is useful to mimic the belief system because the defined functions provide (...) different ways to process the same incoming information as well as a means to propagate it. Our model also provides a means to cross different beliefs so, any incoming information can be processed many times by the same or different functions as it occurs is social nets. (shrink)

The conceptual framework of this paper is the structural conception of theories as formulated by Sneed-Stegmüller. We present an informal set-theoretical axiomatization of M. F. Xavier Bichat’s theory of the constitution of the organism, which conceived the tissue as the ultimate constitutive element of the living beings, and a reformulation of our previous axiomatization of the cell theory. We propose a tentative relation of reduction between both theories which possibilitates the derivation of the axioms of the tissue theory from those (...) of the cell theory. The limits and problems of the axiomatization are discussed and brief reference is being made to some historical aspects of the reception of the cell theory. (shrink)

«(...) Curiosamente, ha sido Amor y Pedagogia uno de los textos menos estudiados y citados de Miguel de Unamuno. (...)La novela que hoy nos ocupa se elaboró justamente en un momento de la vida de su autor en que habían hecho crisis muchas de las ideas que sobre el progreso indefinido, y en realidad sobre el progresismo y aun sobre el progreso (...). Este es el tema central de sus meditaciones de esos años: la dicotomia entre una tendencia abiertamente (...) metafisica y una dirección radicalmente experimental. A esa ambivalencia mistico-positivista responden muchos de sus escritos de entonces. Y singularmente esta novela, a la que Unamuno lleva la experiencia de su crisis de 1897, la que se refleja en el Diario íntimo, que no es otra cosa que su lucha entre la ciencia positiva y la creencia religiosa, entre la pedagogia humanista y liberadora y la fe del carbonero, que terminan en él con el triunfo precario del espiritualismo, su cristalización como ideología.(...)». (shrink)

Este artículo cuestiona la composición endógena de los personajes protagónicos de los largometrajes Días de Santiago (2004) y Hombre Araña (2002). Ellos presentarán dos estereotipos distintos de vivencias y coincidirán con el cuestionamiento consuetudinario de sus propias identidades. Esa percepción permitirá precisar en el objetivo de este trabajo, que consiste en fundamentar las transgresiones psicológicas de los involucrados, pese a su configuración definida y reconocible para el espectador. Para lograrlo, se recurrirá al análisis sociológico que propone Iuri Lotman desde la (...) semiótica cultural, que será complementado con la confrontación con los filmes Un perro andaluz (1929), Tiempos modernos (1936), Ahí está el detalle (1940), Gregorio (1984) y La espalda del mundo (2000). Luego, se empleará la semiótica tensiva de Jacques Fontanille para elaborar esquemas afines al desenvolvimiento del superhéroe, así como también se diferenciarán los regímenes de sentido que se asemejan a la lógica de la trama. (shrink)

Digital COVID certificates are a novel public health policy to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. These immunity certificates aim to incentivize vaccination and to deny international travel or access to essential spaces to those who are unable to prove that they are not infectious. In this article, we start by describing immunity certificates and highlighting their differences from vaccination certificates. Then, we focus on the ethical, legal, and social issues involved in their use, namely autonomy and consent, data protection, equity, and (...) international mobility from a global fairness perspective. The main conclusion of our analysis is that digital COVID certificates are only acceptable if they meet certain conditions: that they should not process personal data beyond what is strictly necessary for the aimed goals, that equal access to them should be guaranteed, and that they should not restrict people’s autonomy to access places where contagion is unlikely. We conclude that, if such conditions are guaranteed, digital COVID certificates could contribute to mitigating some of the most severe socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic. (shrink)

This paper aims to analyse how the discourse of CEO letters and other factors influence community involvement and Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in the mining industry. The analysis is based on qualitative information disclosed in sustainability reports and CEO letters from 32 mining firms. Content analysis was undertaken to obtain data for the study, and then a regression analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to test the hypotheses defined in the study. The results indicate that the CEO (...) discourse influences how a firm expresses the importance of gaining its SLO, the philanthropic activities in which companies become involved and the destinations of the investments in the communities in which they operate. The results also show changes in the discourse between 2011 and 2015, which are, in part, explained by the difficult situation experienced by the sector during this period. The paper contributes to the Corporate Social Responsibility literature by integrating different theories from this field into the SLO framework. The analysis carried out and the results obtained are useful for both CEOs and Sustainability Managers, especially in managing their relationships with the communities where they operate or intend to operate. (shrink)

This paper aims to analyse how the discourse of CEO letters and other factors influence community involvement and Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in the mining industry. The analysis is based on qualitative information disclosed in sustainability reports and CEO letters from 32 mining firms. Content analysis was undertaken to obtain data for the study, and then a regression analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to test the hypotheses defined in the study. The results indicate that the CEO (...) discourse influences how a firm expresses the importance of gaining its SLO, the philanthropic activities in which companies become involved and the destinations of the investments in the communities in which they operate. The results also show changes in the discourse between 2011 and 2015, which are, in part, explained by the difficult situation experienced by the sector during this period. The paper contributes to the Corporate Social Responsibility literature by integrating different theories from this field into the SLO framework. The analysis carried out and the results obtained are useful for both CEOs and Sustainability Managers, especially in managing their relationships with the communities where they operate or intend to operate. (shrink)

In their recent article, Brown et al analyse several ethical aspects around immunity passports and put forward some recommendations for implementing them. Although they offer a comprehensive perspective, they overlook two essential aspects. First, while the authors consider the possibility that immunological passports may appear to discriminate against those who do not possess them, the opposite viewpoint of immune people is underdeveloped. We argue that if a person has been tested positive for and recovered from COVID-19, becoming immune to it, (...) she cannot be considered a hazard to public health and, therefore, the curtailment of her fundamental rights is not legitimate. Second, they omit that vaccine distribution will create similar problems related to immunity-based licenses. Vaccine certificates will de facto generate a sort of immunity passport. In the next phases of the pandemic, different immunity statuses will be at stake, because the need to identify who can spread COVID-19 is unavoidable. If a person does not pose a threat to public health because she cannot spread the infection, then her right to freedom of movement should be respected, regardless of how she acquired that immunity. (shrink)

Should we use human germline genome modification only when serious diseases are involved? This belief is the underlying factor in the article written by Kleiderman, Ravitsky and Knoppers to which I now respond. In my opinion, the answer to this question should be negative. In this paper, I attempt to show that there are no good reasons to think that this technology should be limited to serious diseases once it is sufficiently proven to be safe and efficient. In fact, opting (...) otherwise would negatively harm human beings’ right to the highest standard of health that unmodified embryos could promote. Therefore, the issue should not be so much to define adequately what a serious disease is, but rather to elucidate whether this concept should play any role beyond the context of preimplantation genetic testing. This paper argues that we should not accept the similarity between technologies such as PGT and HGGM because they face different challenges and offer totally different possibilities. Therefore, we are in urgent need to build a completely new ethical architecture that covers the application of germline editing in human embryos. As a part of that process, a much deeper debate on the necessity of distinguishing different disease types is required. (shrink)

Should we be allowed to refuse any involvement of artificial intelligence technology in diagnosis and treatment planning? This is the relevant question posed by Ploug and Holm in a recent article in Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. In this article, I adhere to their conclusions, but not necessarily to the rationale that supports them. First, I argue that the idea that we should recognize this right on the basis of a rational interest defence is not plausible, unless we are willing (...) to judge each patient’s ideology or religion. Instead, I consider that the right must be recognized by virtue of values such as social pluralism or individual autonomy. Second, I point out that the scope of such a right should be limited at least under three circumstances: if it is against a physician’s obligation to not cause unnecessary harm to a patient or to not provide futile treatment, in cases where the costs of implementing this right are too high, or if recognizing the right would deprive other patients of their own rights to adequate health care. (shrink)

Volume 19, Issue 7, July 2019, Page 49-50.

La enseñanza de las confrontaciones producidas a lo largo del siglo XX, y en especial durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial sigue siendo un tema controvertido en la didáctica de las Ciencias Sociales. Tomando como referencia el currículo de cuarto de la ESO, y en especial el bloque décimo de la materia de Geografía e Historia, esta comunicación selecciona una serie de materiales didácticos cartográficos de indudable utilidad en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la relación entre el pasado, el presente y (...) la proyección al futuro a través de estas dos disciplinas referentes. Además del estándar de aprendizaje referido al Holocausto, esta propuesta didáctica –fundamentada en los proyectos europeos Youthmetre y EuropeanValuesStudy- procura dar cumplimiento a la comprensión de las causas por las que una Europa en guerra durante el siglo XX ha podido llegar a una unión económica y política en el siglo XXI. (shrink)

El artículo trata acerca de la contribución del pensamiento último de Julio De Zan a la filosofía de la democracia y el cosmopolitismo. Las perspectivas abordadas se refieren al rol de la sociedad civil, a la legitimación del poder político y al cosmopolitismo democrático. Todas ellas son interpretadas en torno a la concepción de la sociedad civil contemporánea como el espacio público de construcción del poder democrático. Se destaca la defensa de De Zan de un orden político global no centrado (...) en el Estado tradicional y sustentado en el progreso hacia una comunidad ética de tipo kantiano, como así también su vigorosa invocación de la soberanía como idea desustancializada. (shrink)

Últimamente se han desarrollado nuevos y estimulantes enfoques teóricos sobre los movimientos sociales. Este artículo se basa en las teorías que investigan el papel de los movimientos sociales como creadores de marcos de interpretación, de nuevos «marcos de injusticia» desde los que reinterpretar la realidad y subvertir los códigos culturales dominantes. Estas teorías se aplican a la reconstrucción del actual proceso de deslegitimación de la violencia contra las mujeres. Es posible objetivar tres momentos clave en la redefinición de un hecho (...) tan arraigado y casi universal como la violencia contra las mujeres. Partimos de la interpretación patriarcal de la violencia contra las mujeres para después reconstruir los tres pasos seguidos en la construcción de un nuevo marco interpretativo, el de la denominada violencia de género. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Spanish mobile phone industry to determine how mobile phone companies and certain institutions can improve protection for children who use mobile phones. We carried out a multivariate statistical analysis using anonymous primary data from mobile phone companies, and institutions and associations that protect children, to compare these stakeholders’ opinions and to put forward solutions. We proved that, even though some European countries have made an effort to provide safer ICT services, all (...) stakeholders still need to cooperate and agree on solutions to the commercial problems associated with children using mobile phones. This can be done by signing codes of conduct. We found that even though some companies implement measures to protect children from accessing harmful content via their mobile phones, they do so for reasons of legal and not social responsibility. (shrink)

The seat belt analogy argument is aimed at furthering the success of coercive vaccination efforts on the basis that the latter is similar to compulsory use of seat belts. However, this article demonstrated that this argument does not work so well in practice due to several reasons. The possibility of saving resources in health care does not usually apply in our societies, and the paternalist mentality that contributed to the implementation of seat belt–wearing obligation was predominant 30 years ago, but (...) it does not apply at this moment. Furthermore, the risk/benefit analysis is totally different in both scenarios. In the case of seat belts, there is no way to discriminate between the users. In the case of vaccines, individuals present with unique circumstances that may differ substantially from those of another and might be foreseen a priori. This means that an analysis must be performed individually before vaccination is imposed. Finally, one must keep in mind that seat belts are often the only way in which we can protect third parties against a tragic hit by the occupant of another vehicle and are very efficient tools for this purpose. Vaccines, in contrast, do not always create sterilising immunity and are definitely not the only way by which we can avoid spreading a virus; immunity certificates, isolation, or even confinement may also serve as viable methods to achieve this purpose. (shrink)

BackgroundSome persons conceived with donor gametes react negatively when they found their birth via donor conception. They request access to information about and seek to communicate with the donor. However, some countries mandate donor anonymity. Other countries allow donor-conceived persons to access donor information, but they can only use this access if their parents have disclosed donor conception to them. We investigated a thorny issue of donor conception: whether donor conception should be shifted from an anonymous basis to a non-anonymous (...) basis.MethodsWe review the issues and concerns regarding donor conception. We then consider the impact of direct-to-consumer genetic testing on donor conception, as well as the influence of donor conception on offspring’s identity and the potential of different types of donors. To discuss the future policy of donor conception, the policies on the anonymity of gamete donors were investigated using publicly-available documents in 15 countries.ResultsThe aim of mandating donor anonymity is to protect the privacy of the donor and intended parents. However, the diffusion of direct-to-consumer genetic testing may make it impossible to maintain anonymity. Birth via donor conception shapes the offspring’s identity, and the donor may further influence the development of offspring’s identity through communications. It remains important to disclose donor conception to donor-conceived offspring and to provide them with donor information. However, that information might be insufficient for some donor-conceived persons. Here are benefits to having open-identity donors and known donors. Such donors can make an agreement with the parents regarding future communication with the offspring, although both sides should respect privacy. Subsequent counseling for all parties involved can result in better tripartite communication agreements.ConclusionsIn sum, ethical and practical issues that complicate donor anonymity are driving a shift to non-anonymous donor conception, in which all parties come to a communication agreement. To pave the way for such a donor conception system, transitional measures can be put into place. For countries that already adopted non-anonymous donor conception, ensuring the communication agreements is important to protect the rights of parents, donor, and offspring. (shrink)

The application of genetic editing techniques for the prevention or cure of disease is a highly promising tool for the future of humanity. However, its implementation contains a number of ethical and legal challenges that should not be underestimated. On this basis, some sectors have already asked for a veto on any intervention that modifies the human germ line, while supporting somatic line editing. In this paper, I will support that this suggestion makes no sense at all, because the somatic/germ (...) line disjunctive has no moral relevance and, therefore, it should not play any role in legal terms. I will provide a number of reasons to hold this assumption, such as the non‐sacred nature of the germ line, the difference between germ line and human genome modification, or the moral importance of the presence of a will to create modified descendants. While doing so, I will provide some examples of the different approaches to germ line editing adopted by different regulations so as to demonstrate that, contrary to what is sometimes stated, a general ban on this practice is not the rule, but the exception. Additionally, I will show how alternative options which currently exist, such as a selective ban based on criteria different to the germ line/somatic line distinction, match better with the need to conciliate research needs and legitimate ethical concerns. Finally, I will introduce some further suggestions to this same purpose. (shrink)

The notion of the human embryo is not immutable. Various scientific and technological breakthroughs in reproductive biology have compelled us to revisit the definition of the human embryo during the past 2 decades. Somatic cell nuclear transfer, oocyte haploidisation and, more recently, human stem cell-derived embryo models have challenged this scientific term, which has both ethical and legal repercussions. Here, we offer a legal perspective to identify a universally accepted definition of ‘embryo’ which could help to ease and unify the (...) regulation of such entities in different countries. (shrink)

The aim of the present paper is to reinforce some of the affirmations made by Vera Lucia Raposo in a recent paper published by the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry. According to her, germline gene editing does not violate human dignity at all. This article offers some complementary ideas supporting her statement. In particular, four main arguments are stressed. Firstly, not only is the idea of human dignity unclear, but the idea of the human genome suffers from a general lack of (...) concreteness, which has dramatic consequences for the debate. Secondly, it is highlighted that if we believe that the immutability of the human genome underpins human dignity, then it should be our duty to use the tools of genetic modification to reverse any accidental changes that occur in nature. Thirdly, it is showed that if the alteration of germline constitutes an attack on human dignity, then we should also refrain from performing medical practices such as chemotherapy, which cause precisely this effect. Finally, we argue that modification of germline is not contrary to human dignity but an excellent expression of our autonomy. (shrink)

El último, quizás, de los Antiguos y uno de los primeros entre los Modernos, Leibniz (1646-1716) concibió arriesgadamente el universo, y la ciencia que lo describe, como una explanada infinita, aquella ciudad simbólica, llena de calles y de plazas, desde las que se puede salir y a las que se puede acceder desde cualquier rincón, una ciudad bulliciosa, poliédrica, poblada de vibraciones, resonancias y ecos producidos por sujetos únicos, irrepetibles e inviolables. Para ello, formuló técnicamente la imposible noción de lo (...) infinito en términos finitos manejables, elaboró una potente ontología de las correspondencias entre sistemas, su ley de la continuidad, que hace operativamente idénticos los contrarios, y describió el inagotable e indiferenciado caudal de energía que conforma la secreta esencia de este mundo estallando o expresándose de las formas concretas más variadas, que a nuestra inteligencia es dado medir en los fenómenos que observamos. Analogías de analogías# in infinitum. (shrink)