Este artículo propone considerar a la alimentación en general y a los ultraprocesados y bebidas azucaradas en lo particular, como un tema que atañe a la bioética global. La primera sección explica la relación entre el consumo de los alimentos ultraprocesados y la salud, la segunda, relaciona a las llamadas enfermedades no transmisibles y la salud mental con la alimentación y la tercera sección, argumenta el papel que debe jugar la bioética, en especial la global, en materia de alimentación.

This book provides an up-to-date revision of materialism’s central tenets, its main varieties, and the place of materialistic philosophy vis a vis scientific knowledge. Materialism has been the subject of extensive and rich controversies since Robert Boyle introduced the term for the first time in the 17th century. But what is materialism and what can it offer today? The term is usually defined as the worldview according to which everything real is material. Nevertheless, there is no philosophical consensus about whether (...) the meaning of matter can be enlarged beyond the physical. As a consequence, materialism is often defined in stark exclusive and reductionist terms: whatever exists is either physical or ontologically reducible to it. This conception, if consistent, mutilates reality, excluding the ontological significance of political, economic, sociocultural, anthropological and psychological realities. Starting from a new history of materialism, the present book focuses on the central ontological and epistemological debates aroused by today’s leading materialist approaches, including some little known to an anglophone readership. The key concepts of matter, system, emergence, space and time, life, mind, and software are checked over and updated. Controversial issues such as the nature of mathematics and the place of reductionism are also discussed from different materialist approaches. As a result, materialism emerges as a powerful, indispensable scientifically-supported worldview with a surprising wealth of nuances and possibilities. (shrink)

Macroscopic irreversible processes emerge from fundamental physical laws of reversible character. The source of the local irreversibility seems to be not in the laws themselves but in the initial and boundary conditions of the equations that represent the laws. In this work we propose that the screening of currents by black hole event horizons determines, locally, a preferred direction for the flux of electromagnetic energy. We study the growth of black hole event horizons due to the cosmological expansion and accretion (...) of cosmic microwave background radiation, for different cosmological models. We propose generalized McVittie co-moving metrics and integrate the rate of accretion of cosmic microwave background radiation onto a supermassive black hole over cosmic time. We find that for flat, open, and closed Friedmann cosmological models, the ratio of the total area of the black hole event horizons with respect to the area of a radial co-moving space-like hypersurface always increases. Since accretion of cosmic radiation sets an absolute lower limit to the total matter accreted by black holes, this implies that the causal past and future are not mirror symmetric for any spacetime event. The asymmetry causes a net Poynting flux in the global future direction; the latter is in turn related to the ever increasing thermodynamic entropy. Thus, we expose a connection between four different “time arrows”: cosmological, electromagnetic, gravitational, and thermodynamic. (shrink)

Presentism is, roughly, the metaphysical doctrine that maintains that whatever exists, exists in the present. The compatibility of presentism with the theories of special and general relativity was much debated in recent years. It has been argued that at least some versions of presentism are consistent with time-orientable models of general relativity. In this paper we confront the thesis of presentism with relativistic physics, in the strong gravitational limit where black holes are formed. We conclude that the presentist position is (...) at odds with the existence of black holes and other compact objects in the universe. A revision of the thesis is necessary, if it is intended to be consistent with the current scientific view of the universe. (shrink)

The main thesis of this paper is that for Socrates political virtue is accomplished exclusively in the sphere of pure language or gesture. The argument consists of three parts. First, following on from the lectures entitled What is Called Thinking?, I examine Heidegger’s interpretation of the figure of Socrates in relation to the themes of language and gesture. Following on from this analysis, I remark that Heidegger overlooks important aspects of Socrates’ understanding of the relation between political virtue and speech. (...) Subsequently, based on the analysis of a central passage from Plato's Apology, I argue that virtue requires the public communicability of speech, and that it imposes itself over language and gestures as a principle of action that precedes and exceeds conceptual knowledge. Finally, I conclude by stating that political power is restricted to the medium of language, to what language itself does or says. (shrink)

It is a remarkable fact that all processes occurring in the observable universe are irre- versible, whereas the equations through which the fundamental laws of physics are formu- lated are invariant under time reversal. The emergence of irreversibility from the funda- mental laws has been a topic of consideration by physicists, astronomers and philosophers since Boltzmann's formulation of his famous \H" theorem. In this paper we shall discuss some aspects of this problem and its connection with the dynamics of space-time, (...) within the framework of modern cosmology. We conclude that the existence of cosmological horizons allows a coupling of the global state of the universe with the local events deter- mined through electromagnetic processes. (shrink)

We present a formal analysis of the Cosmological Argument in its two main forms: that due to Aquinas, and the revised version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument more recently advocated by William Lane Craig. We formulate these two arguments in such a way that each conclusion follows in first-order logic from the corresponding assumptions. Our analysis shows that the conclusion which follows for Aquinas is considerably weaker than what his aims demand. With formalizations that are logically valid in hand, we (...) reinterpret the natural language versions of the premises and conclusions in terms of concepts of causality consistent with (and used in) recent work in cosmology done by physicists. In brief: the Kalam argument commits the fallacy of equivocation in a way that seems beyond repair; two of the premises adopted by Aquinas seem dubious when the terms ‘cause’ and ‘causality’ are interpreted in the context of contemporary empirical science. Thus, while there are no problems with whether the conclusions follow logically from their assumptions, the Kalam argument is not viable, and the Aquinas argument does not imply a caused origination of the universe. The assumptions of the latter are at best less than obvious relative to recent work in the sciences. We conclude with mention of a new argument that makes some positive modifications to an alternative variation on Aquinas by Le Poidevin, which nonetheless seems rather weak. (shrink)

Macroscopic irreversible processes emerge from fundamental physical laws of reversible character. The source of the local irreversibility seems to be not in the laws themselves but in the initial and boundary conditions of the equations that represent the laws. In this work we propose that the screening of currents by black hole event horizons determines, locally, a preferred direction for the flux of electromagnetic energy. We study the growth of black hole event horizons due to the cosmological expansion and accretion (...) of cosmic microwave background radiation, for different cosmological models. We propose generalized McVittie co-moving metrics and integrate the rate of accretion of cosmic microwave background radiation onto a supermassive black hole over cosmic time. We find that for flat, open, and closed Friedmann cosmological models, the ratio of the total area of the black hole event horizons with respect to the area of a radial co-moving space-like hypersurface always increases. Since accretion of cosmic radiation sets an absolute lower limit to the total matter accreted by black holes, this implies that the causal past and future are not mirror symmetric for any spacetime event. The asymmetry causes a net Poynting flux in the global future direction; the latter is in turn related to the ever increasing thermodynamic entropy. Thus, we expose a connection between four different “time arrows”: cosmological, electromagnetic, gravitational, and thermodynamic. (shrink)

The thesis of this paper is that truth in politics is intersubjectively constituted within a set of relationships irreducible to the oppositions of truth and falsehood or veracity and lying. First, I examine the link between factual truth and politics, and argue that this sort of truth pervades our experience and tends to become background knowledge. Second, I propose a reading of Plato’s Apology according to which the truth in politics is grounded on an intersubjective normative and epistemological horizon, which (...) is vicariously communicated as gesture. Third, in relation to Plato’s Republic and Gorgias, I inquire about the semantic connections between fiction and lie and assert that the expression of the truth in politics requires a poetic endeavor, which blurs the lines separating veracity and lying. Finally, based on Agamben’s interpretation of Plato’s Hippias Minor, I conclude that the institution of the truth in politics requires diverse expressive and interpretive capacities. (shrink)

Materialism has been the subject of extensive and rich controversies since Robert Boyle introduced the term for the first time in the 17th century. But what is materialism and what can it offer today? The term is usually defined as the worldview according to which everything real is material. Nevertheless, there is no philosophical consensus about whether the meaning of matter can be enlarged beyond the physical. As a consequence, materialism is often defined in stark exclusive and reductionist terms: whatever (...) exists is either physical or ontologically reducible to it. This conception, if consistent, mutilates reality, excluding the ontological significance of political, economic, sociocultural, anthropological and psychological realities. Starting from a new history of materialism, the present book focuses on the central ontological and epistemological debates aroused by today’s leading materialist approaches, including some little known to an anglophone readership. The key concepts of matter, system, emergence, space and time, life, mind, and software are checked over and updated. Controversial issues such as the nature of mathematics and the place of reductionism are also discussed from different materialist approaches. As a result, materialism emerges as a powerful, indispensable scientifically-supported worldview with a surprising wealth of nuances and possibilities. (shrink)

Transplantation continues to push the frontiers of medicine into domains that summon forth troublesome ethical questions. Looming on the frontier today is human facial transplantation. We develop criteria that, we maintain, must be satisfied in order to ethically undertake this as-yet-untried transplant procedure. We draw on the criteria advanced by Dr. Francis Moore in the late 1980s for introducing innovative procedures in transplant surgery. In addition to these we also insist that human face transplantation must meet all the ethical requirements (...) usually applied to health care research. We summarize the achievements of transplant surgery to date, focusing in particular on the safety and efficacy of immunosuppressive medications. We also emphasize the importance of risk/benefit assessments that take into account the physical, aesthetic, psychological, and social dimensions of facial disfiguration, reconstruction, and transplantation. Finally, we maintain that the time has come to move facial transplantation research into the clinical phase. (shrink)

A realistic axiomatic formulation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics for a single microsystem with spin is presented, from which the most important theorems of the theory can be deduced. In comparison with previous formulations, the formal aspect has been improved by the use of certain mathematical theories, such as the theory of equipped spaces, and group theory. The standard formalism is naturally obtained from the latter, starting from a central primitive concept: the Galilei group.

We present a deductive theory of space-time which is realistic, objective, and relational. It is realistic because it assumes the existence of physical things endowed with concrete properties. It is objective because it can be formulated without any reference to cognoscent subjects or sensorial fields. Finally, it is relational because it assumes that space-time is not a thing but a complex of relations among things. In this way, the original program of Leibniz is consummated, in the sense that space is (...) ultimately an order of coexistents, and time is an order of succesives. In this context, we show that the metric and topological properties of Minkowskian space-time are reduced to relational properties of concrete things. We also sketch how our theory can be extended to encompass a Riemannian space-time. (shrink)

We present an axiomatization of non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics for a system with an arbitrary number of components. The interpretation of our system of axioms is realistic and objective. The EPR paradox and its relation with realism is discussed in this framework. It is shown that there is no contradiction between realism and recent experimental results.

This paper explores the theme of torture in the Colombian Truth Commission’s Final Report, focusing on its characterization of torture as a way of annulling a person’s identity. Drawing on Jean Améry’s approach, I argue that torture destroys the victim’s world and explore the further implications of this assertion. I begin by highlighting how the history of torture distorts legal and medical practices, masquerading as a quest for truth while exercising a farce of power, disintegrating the victim’s lived body. By (...) delving into Merleau-Ponty’s notion of “flesh,” I also explain how torture erodes the carnal trust that connects us to the world and enables proper communication. Consequently, torture results in an utter negation of the self and the world. In conclusion, I suggest that torture as understood as the destitution of a person’s world, can serve as a paradigm for comprehending the experiences of violence faced by victims in Colombia. (shrink)

Despite the central presence of materialism in the history of philosophy, there is no universal consensus on the meaning of the word “matter” nor of the doctrine of philosophical materialism. Dictionaries of philosophy often identify this philosophy with its most reductionist and even eliminative versions, in line with Robert Boyle’s seventeenth century coinage of the term. But when we take the concept back in time to Greek philosophers and forward onto our own times, we recognize more inclusive forms of materialism (...) as well as complex interplays with non-materialist thought about the place of matter in reality, including Christian philosophy and German idealism. We define philosophical materialism in its most general way both positively (the identification of reality with matter understood as changeability and plurality) and negatively (the negation of disembodied living beings and hypostatized ideas). This inclusive approach to philosophical materialism offers a new light to illuminate a critical history of the concept of matter and materialism from Ancient Greece to the present that is also attentive to scientific developments. By following the most important connections and discontinuities among theoretical frameworks on the idea of matter, we present a general thread that offers a rich and plural, but highly cohesive, field of investigation. Finally, we propose building on rich non-reductionist materialist philosophies, such as Mario Bunge’s systemic materialism and Gustavo Bueno’s discontinuous materialism, to elaborate powerful theoretical alternatives to both physicalism and spiritualism. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Argentina Mexico The Southern Cone The Northern Part of South America and Central America Conclusion References Further Reading.

Schönberg ha sido uno de los compositores más decisivos del pasado siglo. Su propuesta musical, su intento de buscar nuevos lenguajes para expresarla, su diagnóstico de la muerte de la música tonal, puede ser equiparado con la constatación nietzscheana de la ¿muerte de Dios¿, con la pérdida de todos los axiomas últimos e inamovibles que suministran valor al mundo y sentido a la existencia. Ambos desarrollaron una visión trágico-musical del mundo, que no pesimista; ambos se acercaron a la realidad desde (...) la afirmación y la inocencia propias del artista, experimentando sus aspectos más disonantes con desconocida alegría y serenidad. (shrink)

Main Response Topics ? Introduction ? Open display and public evaluation ? Publicity versus patient privacy ? Facial tissue donation ? Validity of Louisville Instrument for Risk Acceptance ? Patients' understanding of risk ? Face versus hand transplantation ? Rejection rates/risks ? Patient compliance ? Exit strategy ? Functional recovery ? Societietal implications ? Psychological implications ? Conclusion: Uncertainty likely to persist.

El presente trabajo trata de demostrar, en primer lugar, que el enfoque “gnoseológico” de la pregunta por la ciencia defendido por Gustavo Bueno corresponde en rigor únicamente al materialismo gnoseológico, la teoría propuesta por Bueno, mientras que el adecuacionismo, el teoreticismo y el descripcionismo serían teorías de la ciencia que genuinamente adoptarían el enfoque “epistemológico”. En segundo lugar, se sostiene que los enfoques epistemológico y gnoseológico se generan en la alternativa planteada por el dualismo cartesiano alma/cuerpo, pues mientras el (...) primero concibe al sujeto que hace las ciencias como una mera mente que opera con proposiciones o conceptos “sobre las cosas”, el segundo lo entiende como un cuerpomecánico que construye las ciencias operando “con las cosas mismas”. Puesto que en Descartes es el alma la instancia que conoce, la opción por el cuerpo del materialismo gnoseológico explica su posición al margen de la cuestión del conocimiento. Por último, se examinan algunos problemas que esta noción cartesiana del sujeto conlleva para la concepción de las “ciencias humanas y etológicas” del materialismo gnoseológico.This work tries to demonstrate, in first place, that the “gnoseological” approachto the question for the science defended by Gustavo Bueno in fact only fits in thegnoseological materialism, the theory proposed by Bueno, while adequationism, theoreticism and descriptionsm would be theories of the science that genuinely would adopt the “epistemological” approach. In second place, we sustain that the epistemological and gnoseological approaches are generated in the soul/body alternative outlined by Cartesian dualism, because while the first one conceives the subject that makes the sciences as a mere mind that operates with propositions or concepts “about the things”, the second one understands it as a mechanical body that builds the sciences operating “with the things themselves”. Since in Descartes the soul is the instance that knows, the option for the body of the gnoseologicalmaterialism explains its positioning regardless of the question ofknowledge. Lastly, we examine some problems that this Cartesian notion of subject implicates for the gnoseological materialism’s conception of “human and ethological sciences”. (shrink)

This work tries to demonstrate, in first place, that the “gnoseological” approach to the question for the science defended by Gustavo Bueno in fact only fits in the gnoseological materialism, the theory proposed by Bueno, while adequationism, theoreticism and descriptionsm would be theories of the science that genuinely would adopt the “epistemological” approach. In second place, we sustain that the epistemological and gnoseological approaches are generated in the soul/body alternative outlined by Cartesian dualism, because while the first one conceives (...) the subject that makes the sciences as a mere mind that operates with propositions or concepts “about the things”, the second one understands it as a (soulless) mechanical body that builds the sciences operating “with the things themselves”. Since in Descartes the soul is the instance that knows, the option for the body of the gnoseological materialism explains its (self) positioning regardless of the question of knowledge. Lastly, we examine some problems that this Cartesian notion of subject implicates for the gnoseological materialism’s conception of “human and ethological sciences”. (shrink)

Se explora las posibles divergencias y convergencias entre los filósofos Gustavo Bueno y Marc Richir a través de la obra de Ricardo Sánchez Ortiz de Urbina.

Hasta el día de hoy, y ya agotada la primera edición del libro que comentamos, ninguno de sus lectores, ni críticos, ya sea públicamente o en privado, que sepamos, ha destacado como se merece, la dedicatoria del mismo a Gustavo Bueno. Y sin embargo, el texto que comentamos se define no sólo como «teoría de los niveles fenomenológicos», la cual se «inscribe, más bien, en las coordenadas de una fenomenología renovada, no estándar» (prólogo, pag.14), sino también como «materialismo fenomenológico», (...) pero un materialismo que se enraíza en el «materialismo filosófico», el sistema filosófico construido por Gustavo Bueno y sus discípulos, el primero de los cuales fue Ricardo Sánchez Ortiz de Urbina, y que ateniéndonos a la dedicatoria que destacamos al iniciar este comentario, parece seguir siéndolo. (shrink)

El autor pasa revista a la concepción de la historia como disciplina que exhibe el filósofo Fernando Miguel Pérez Herranz. El motivo de este concienzudo análisis es la publicación en marcha del magno proyecto Más allá de imperios y naciones (4 vols.) iniciado en 2023 y que ya cuenta con dos tomos en el mercado: Rutas, fronteras y complejidad y Singularidad imperial: del Mediterráneo al Atlántico. Esta concepción del estatuto gnoseológico de la historia tiene en Lindos y tornadizos (2016) (...) y en Ambiguus proetus (2019) dos momentos esenciales que dibujan el paso Herranz a su perspectiva (la morfología filosófica) en el debate entre Gustavo Bueno y Ricardo Sánchez Ortiz de Urbina a cuenta del sujeto trascendental. En tal contexto cobran relevancia las hipercategorías formuladas por Pérez Herranz y cuyo estatuto resulta problemático. (shrink)

v. 1. Del sistema de la libertad en Fichte al primado de la teología en Schelling -- v. 2. La hegemonía del pensamiento de Hegel.

Este trabajo ha sido seleccionado de entre los participantes en la VI Olimpiada de Filosofía que organiza FICUM en la modalidad de secundaria y bachillerato, para promocionar la filosofía entre los jóvenes.

The essay analyzes some issues in the philosophical works of Merleau-Ponty and Esposito, in particular focusing on the relationship between temporality, institution and phenomenology.

RESUMEN: Objetivo. En este trabajo se plantea como objetivo examinar y comparar las diferentes concepciones de responsabilidad y relación con “el Otro” en dos diferentes autores representativos que han tratado de forma notable estos conceptos, profundizando en la subjetividad, libertad y la experiencia del mundo y de la propia existencia. Diseño. Se trata de un Estudio en forma de breve ensayo con un análisis crítico de la temática analizada. Originalidad /valor. Se trata de un análisis comparativo entre dos grandes filósofos (...) enmarcados en la fenomenología de la existencia en aspectos concretos de su pensamiento. Hallazgos. Los dos autores que analizaremos han conocido la fenomenología de Husserl y Heidegger, que fue para ellos un punto de partida con gran influencia en su pensamiento, no obstante, ambos autores tuvieron un posicionamiento y desarrollo propio y en parte divergente entre ellos en gran parte de su pensamiento, llegando a constituirse como auténticas referencias de su tiempo y que actualmente mantienen un gran interés e influencia en la filosofía contemporánea. Analizaré comparativamente dos grandes autores como son, Emmanuel Lévinas y Jean Paul Sartre. Conclusiones. En ellos veremos formas diferentes y hasta cierto punto complementarias de abordar la libertad, responsabilidad y la relación con el otro, en uno de forma más ontológica y en el otro con una visión desde la ética. (shrink)

In this work we argue that there is no strong demarcation between pure and applied mathematics. We show this first by stressing non-deductive components within pure mathematics, like axiomatization and theory-building in general. We also stress the “purer” components of applied mathematics, like the theory of the models that are concerned with practical purposes. We further show that some mathematical theories can be viewed through either a pure or applied lens. These different lenses are tied to different communities, which endorse (...) different evaluative standards for theories. We evaluate the distinction between pure and applied mathematics from a late Wittgensteinian perspective. We note that the classical exegesis of the later Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mathematics, due to Maddy, leads to a clear-cut but misguided demarcation. We then turn our attention to a more niche interpretation of Wittgenstein by Dawson, which captures aspects of the aforementioned distinction more accurately. Building on this newer, maverick interpretation of the later Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mathematics, and endorsing an extended notion of meaning as use which includes social, mundane uses, we elaborate a fuzzy, but more realistic, demarcation. This demarcation, relying on family resemblance, is based on how direct and intended technical applications are, the kind of evaluative standards featured, and the range of rhetorical purposes at stake. (shrink)

La tesis central del artículo está inspirada en Lessing, y gira en torno a la última relación que hay entre los conceptos de comedia, comunicación y democracia. Su espíritu opuesto lo representan los conceptos de tragedia, heroísmo solitario y aristocratismo, inspiradores hasta el presente de la política de Occidente. La fuerza de la comedia consiste en la desacralización del poder, gracias a su estrategia de salvación de lo presente, de autolimitación, y de reconocimiento recíproco. El motivo del artículo es una (...) referencia de Nietzsche a Platón y Maquiavelo. (shrink)

-- 2. La Gnoseología como filosofía de la ciencia (parte I, sección 2) ; Historia de la teoría de la ciencia (parte I, sección 3) -- 3. El Sistema de las doctrinas gnoseológicas ; Las cuatro familias básicas (parte II, sección 1) -- 4. El sistema de las doctrinas gnoseológicas ; Descripcionismo (parte II, sección 2) ; Teoreticismo (parte II, sección 3) -- 5. Adecuacionismo (parte II, sección 4) ; Circularismo (parte II, sección 5) ; Glosario.

This brief review of Mario Bunge’s research on physics begins with an analysis of his masterpiece Foundations of Physics, and then it discusses his other contributions to the philosophy of physics. Following that is a summary of his more recent reactions to scientific discoveries in physics and a discussion of his position about non-locality in quantum mechanics, as well as his changing opinions on the nature of spacetime. The paper ends with a brief assessment of Bunge’s legacy concerning the foundations (...) of physics. (shrink)

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.

Las teorías que usamos para representar el mundo pueden ser extremadamente complejas. Abordan temas tales como electrones, campos cuánticos, estrellas de neutrones, materia oscura, redes neuronales, mercados económicos, la atmósfera y muchas otras entidades que suponemos existen en el universo. Al formular nuestras teorías, recurrimos a lenguajes exactos que nos permiten minimizar la vaguedad y expresarnos lo más precisa y cuantitativamente posible. Recurrimos a la matemática. Cuando formulamos nuestras teorías fácticas en lenguaje matemático, estas se refieren no solamente a objetos (...) que nosotros interpretamos como materiales, tales como partículas o personas, sino también a entidades más raras de un mundo abstracto: conjuntos, números, funciones, espacios algebraicos, variedades, topologías, y otras entidades similares. Estos objetos no son materiales en el sentido en que nosotros decimos que una manzana es material. Ellos no existen en el espacio-tiempo, no interactúan, no cambian o evolucionan. Sin embargo, allí están, profundamente arraigados en nuestras teorías más apreciadas acerca del mundo. (shrink)

There are communities in which disadvantaged groups experience severe inequality. For instance, poor and indigent families face many difficulties accessing their social rights. Their condition is largely the consequence of the wrong choices of those in power, either historical or more recent choices. The lack of opportunities of these deprived citizens is due to state omissions. In such communities, it is not unusual for homeless members of these particular groups to occupy abandoned lands and build their shelters there. However, almost (...) everywhere, these actions constitute a crime. The typical response to this situation is prosecution and punishment. In this paper, I will defend the occupation of public places as a consequence of the failure of governments to solve the problem of housing, and I will argue that we must distinguish a social claim from a crime and avoid the use of criminal law in these “occupation cases”. I will also argue that our right—as a community—to blame and punish these “squatters” is eroded by the fact that we perpetrated their situation of injustice. (shrink)

Este trabajo se propone dos objetivos, uno descriptivo y otro propositivo. El descriptivo consiste en el análisis de la crítica que realiza E. Cioran, a lo largo de su obra, a la concepción humanista del ser humano Nuestro filósofo pone en cuestión la arrogancia del hombre que se coloca en el lugar fundamental y de supremacía en el ámbito de la vida, lugar que le sirve de justificación para conquistar, apropiarse y aniquilar a la naturaleza y al resto de los (...) vivientes. Por otro lado, en términos propositivos, me interesa plantear la cuestión de la animalidad(el animal que es el ser humano, y los animales no humanos) porque permite poner en cuestión esa concepción humanista, y pensar nuevos modos de ser-con lo viviente. En este sentido, sostengo a lo largo del trabajo que la filosofía de Cioran permite pensar una noción de lo humano atravesada por la animalidad, noción cioraneana que desarma("descompone") la arrogancia de los humanismos. Para ello me serviré de la problemática de la muerte como inmanente a la vida y de la crítica de Cioran a la noción de propiedad. (shrink)

The concept of ideology is central to the understanding of the many political, economic, social, and cultural processes that have occurred in the last two centuries. And yet, what is the nature of the different ideologies remains a vague, open, and much disputed question. Many political, sociological, and ideological studies have been devoted to ideology. Very little, on the other hand, has been done from the philosophical field. And this despite the fact that there are undoubtedly many philosophical questions related (...) to ideology and its role in modern industrialized societies. Just a few examples of ideology-related philosophical questions suffice to prove the point: What objects do ideologies deal with? Are the ideologies testable? Are there true ideologies? Do they evolve? How are ideologies related to societies? Is the existence of ideologies inevitable in modern societies? What is the relation of ideology to science? Is science just another kind of ideology? Are we, as human beings, innately predisposed to believe in ideologies? Or, instead, ideologies proliferate through indoctrination and propaganda? Are ideologies necessarily harmful?...and much more. In this article I try to answer some of these questions from a philosophical point of view, taking a materialist approach. I begin by characterizing ideology as a complex, multi-layered concept. Then, I briefly discuss the material systems on which ideological movements operate, that is, societies and concrete human groups. I identify at least 11 different elements that seem to be present in most ideologies, and I compare these characteristics with those of contemporary science and technology. Although some superficial similarities can be identified, there are deep differences that make ideology completely different from science. The similarities, however, are stronger with technology. Ideologies continually evolve with technological advances, social changes, and even with mere fashion. The current fragmentation of ideologies caused by the widespread use of new technologies and social networks has given rise to new phenomena of ideological propagation which, in my opinion, are very dangerous, particularly for open societies. I discuss these processes, within the context of the nature vs nurture debate, along with the question of whether we can get rid of ideologies. (shrink)