The contribution of Jesuits to the different fields of knowledge, including philosophy, is historically well known. In fact, since the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in the 16th century, Jesuits from different generations and cultures have taken part in the philosophical debates of their time and their different contexts. Since the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in 1540, the Jesuits, individually and as a body, have engaged in a fruitful dialogue between the Christian tradition and different dimensions of (...) human culture. During almost five centuries, numerous Jesuits taught philosophy in academic institutions all over the world. Some of them have their names recorded in the history of philosophy. Of course, the majority of them is not anymore remembered, despite their valuable contribution to the development of the Jesuit intellectual tradition up to our times. In fact, as an heir of the Roman College, the first academic institution founded by the Society of Jesus, in 1551, the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, is a witness to this tradition, which has been kept alive thanks to the discrete work of both Jesuits and lay intellectuals. Known as the University of the Nations, this institution corroborates not only the capacity of the Jesuit tradition to put faith in dialogue with reason, but also the option to take the concrete reality of each human culture and its historical context as its point of departure. The Jesuits’ willingness to engage in dialogue with different intellectual perspectives is underpinned by one of the most defining traits of the Jesuit charism, namely, the conviction that God can be found and served in all things. Accordingly, Jesuits have adopted, from the beginning, an amenable stance towards the world with its different cultures and intellectual trends. As such, Jesuits have, since the beginning, inhabited the frontiers of human thought. According to the contemporary philosopher Paul Gilbert, SJ, within the institutions under the leadership of the Society of Jesus, it was always possible to maintain an equilibrium between two principles: “intellectual unity” and “openness to the world.” Without detriment to the Jesuit identity, the companions of Ignatius have been willing to dwell in the various dimensions of human reality, in their multiplicity and plurality. Either in the renewal of Aristotle’s and Aquinas’ metaphysics, or in the dialogue with modern philosophers such as Descartes, Kant, or Hegel, and even in the inculturation in non-European contexts, the Jesuits have been able to preserve the Christian tradition through an original development of human culture in all its richness and diversity. With respect to the last century, it has to be acknowledged that a significant number of Jesuits made significant contributions, with recognized competence, to philosophy. Certainly, the 20th century was particularly complex in many respects. It would be enough to recall that this period, which brought with it unprecedented social, scientific, and technological developments, was also the stage for the two World Wars. With the emergence or consolidation of philosophical currents such as Marxism, Phenomenology, Existentialism, Structuralism, and Post-Modernism, the past century was, without any doubt, fascinating from the intellectual point of view. Jesuits such as Karl Rahner, Frederick Copleston, Bernard Lonergan, William Norris Clarke, John F. Kavanaugh, Teilhard de Chardin, Gaston Fessard, Jean Daniélou, Henri de Lubac, Michel de Certeau, Xavier Tilliette, Paul Valadier, Paweł Siwek, Ignacio Ellacuría, Francisco Taborda, Henrique de Lima Vaz and, in the Portuguese context, Diamantino Martins or Júlio Fragata, among many others, were able to engage different philosophical currents, problems and controversies of their times. Faithful to their long tradition of being present in the frontiers of thought, those Jesuits have engaged in a fruitful dialogue with these intellectual trends, offering relevant contributions to different ongoing debates. Within this context, the present volume recalls and discusses the philosophical contribution of some of the most prominent Jesuit protagonists of the intellectual interchange that took place in the 20th century. This volume also intends to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, which happens just before the inauguration of the Ignatian Year. Decreed by Father Arturo Sosa, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, this celebratory Year will start on May 20, 2021, precisely 500 years after Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, was wounded at the battle of Pamplona. We are happy that this volume could bring together outstanding specialists in the thought of some of the most prominent Jesuits philosophers of the last century, namely Paul Valadier, Paul Gilbert, Józef Bremer, Jacek Poznański, Alexander Maar, Patrick H. Byrne, M. Ross Romero, Carlos Alvarez, Hélio Pereira Lima, José Gama, Domingos Terra, Gabriel Flynn, Marie-Gabrielle Lemaire, José Sols Lucia, Lorena Zuchel Lovera, Pedro Pablo Achondo Moya, Enzo Solari, Massimo Borghesi, Mendo Castro Henriques, João Barbosa, and Dominique Lambert. In addition, in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Júlio Fragata’s birth, Maria Teresa Fragata presents a memory of his life and thought. We hope that this volume may be useful to all those interested in the Jesuit philosophical tradition. Hopefully, it will stimulate scholars to pursue a fruitful and creative dialogue with contemporary philosophy, in the footsteps of the Jesuit philosophers featured here. We would like to thank all the authors and all those who, in different ways, made this volume possible. (shrink)

Os sentidos da paixão foram originalmente um curso livre que o Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas da Fundação Nacional de Arte (Funarte) promoveu no Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasília e Curitiba e que atraiu cerca de setecentas a mil pessoas em cada cidade. Prova da fertilidade do curso é este livro apaixonado. Nele, alguns dos mais brilhantes intelectuais brasileiros discutem desde o amor em Platão até a paixão em Pasolini, passando por Freud, Walter Benjamin e Clarice Lispector, o que (...) só comprova a riqueza de um tema que até então não havia sido objeto de um debate como este.ÍndiceApresentaçãoPor que tanta paixão? Adauto NovaesOS SENTIDOS DA PAIXÃOO conceito de paixão - Gérard LebrunSobre o medo - Marilena ChauiPlatão: as várias faces do amor - José Américo Motta PessanhaO CANTO DAS PAIXÕESA glória - Renato Janine RibeiroA inveja - Renato MezanA melancolia de Ulisses - Olgária MatosPaixão da igualdade, paixão da liberdade: a amizade em Montaigne - Sérgio CardosoA paixão dionisíaca em Tristão e Isolda - José Miguel WisnikO lenço e o caos - Jorge ColiPasolini: paixão e ideologia - Michel LahudA paixão de Clarice Lispector - Benedito NunesPoesia: a paixão da linguagem - Paulo LeminskiÉdipo e a paixão - Hélio PellegrinoO Dom de Édipo - Luiz Renato MartinsLou Andreas-Salomé: a paixão viva - Luzilá Gonçalves FerreiraA PAIXÃO REVOLUCIONÁRIAA alegoria da liberdade - Jorge ColiA paixão revolucionária e a paixão amorosa em Stendhal - Renato Janine RibeiroA PAIXÃO SILENCIOSARazão e paixão - Sérgio Paulo RouanetA psicanálise e o domínio das paixões - Maria Rita KehlBenjamin: política e paixão - Katia Muricy. (shrink)

O que somos? Como nos tornamos o que somos? Quais relações de saber-poder atravessam nossas subjetividades? Quais dispositivos e tecnologías foram/são mobilizados em torno das urgências histórico-contemporâneas? Quais outros somos são possíveis diante das estratégias de governamentalidade disciplinares e biopolíticas que marcam a contemporaneidade? O pensamento de Michel Foucault e seu modo crítico de indagação histórica e filosófica possibilitam que interpelemos os processos que nos fizeram e nos fazem ser quem somos, seus mecanismos de assujeitamento e posibilidades de resistências, nos (...) levando a problematizar os processos de subjetivação como efeitos e indicios de relações de poder-saber historicamente constituídas [...]. (shrink)

Este artigo apresenta a pertinência do olhar dissidente de Jan Patočka para a atualidade. A partir de sua obra fundamental, tecemos considerações em torno à sua perspectiva fenomenológico-existencial. O intuito é destacar seu engajamento filosófico existencial, a pertinência de suas críticas ao totalitarismo e sua preocupação com o avanço de uma tecnocracia que ameaça a existência humana. Argumenta-se que a postura filosófica do filósofo de Praga torna-se paradigmática para a conjuntura atual e para a práxis filosófica autêntica.

O trabalho apresenta uma perspectiva de investigação das estruturas do Lebenswelt, emparticular de suas dimensões temporal e linguística. Faz isto a partir das características dessemundo destacadas por E. Husserl em sua obra A crise das ciências europeias e a fenomenologiatranscendental e das relações essenciais estabelecidas por Paul Ricoeur entre a experiênciahumana do tempo e as narrativas em sua obra Temps et Récit. Enfatiza-se a interpretação dasnarrativas de ficção como via de acesso privilegiada à compreensão dessas relações e de seusmodos de (...) participação na estruturação de um mundo, considerando-se a elucidação danatureza e lugar das narrativas históricas e de ficção na existência dos homens levada a cabopor Ricoeur em sua hermenêutica. (shrink)

Resumen:La reflexión sobre el significado de la noción de trabajo tiene desarrollo en la teología brasileña del siglo XX. Para entender el concepto, hacemos una revisión de la literatura académica del período, pensada en paralelo con los hechos históricos relacionados al trabajo y dentro de las distintas comprensiones metodológicas del quehacer teológico de la región. Esta revisión es esencial para alcanzar un status quaestionis de la comprensión de la noción de trabajo en la teología brasileña, pues esta comprensión amplia no (...) estaba hecha. A la vez, el status quaestionis se presenta como necesario para entender cuál es la aportación de la teología brasileña en este tema, es decir, es base para futuros estudios y aporta elementos para la elaboración de un concepto de trabajo basado en la reflexión teológica brasileña. Quizá la principal aportación sea la comprensión de la unidad de las dimensiones subjetiva y objetiva del trabajo.Palabras clave: Trabajo; teología de la liberación; siglo XX; moral social; Brasil. (shrink)

O presente artigo pretende sublinhar, na forma de breves apontamentos gerais, os contornos mais amplos da crítica de Honneth a alguns aspectos do pensamento habermasiano. Tal crítica é norteada especialmente por uma investigação dos critérios morais e normativos das lutas sociais que Honneth recupera, por meio de uma apropriação crítica do pensamento do jovem Hegel. O ponto central defendido por Honneth é que as possibilidades da experiência interativo-comunicativa não podem ser resumidas ou tomadas exclusivamente na interação linguística, nem mesmo esta (...) última pode ser perseguida em seu aspecto ideal, sem a pressuposição dos contextos conflituosos nos quais ela sempre está inserida. (shrink)

O objetivo deste texto é mobilizar a noção de sofrimento social como uma das dimensões estruturantes do fenômeno da pobreza. Para realizar esse trajeto, são apresentados, inicialmente, os contornos mais decisivos do sofrimento social que podem ser mobilizados para realizar o objetivo proposto. Em seguida, apresenta-se uma noção de pobreza construída a partir da crítica à tendência de aproximação, frequente nas poverty theories, entre pobreza e mínimo. Finalmente, no terceiro momento, diferentes níveis de pobreza são articulados às diferentes formas de (...) sofrimento social, com especial atenção para experiências de humilhação. (shrink)

This paper shows that the Freudian “timelessness” of psychical process is not to be understood as a bare consequence of his distinction between conscious and unconscious psychical process. It shows that Freud have a positive and phenomenological characterization of that timelessness, obtained and affirmed beyond and against that distinction, and that the challenge that Freud, with this timelessness, throws to a “Kantian” philosophy is not completely senseless, but can be well worked-out in a somewhat Bergsonian lines.

Turing’s much debated test has turned 70 and is still fairly controversial. His 1950 paper is seen as a complex and multilayered text, and key questions about it remain largely unanswered. Why did Turing select learning from experience as the best approach to achieve machine intelligence? Why did he spend several years working with chess playing as a task to illustrate and test for machine intelligence only to trade it out for conversational question-answering in 1950? Why did Turing refer to (...) gender imitation in a test for machine intelligence? In this article, I shall address these questions by unveiling social, historical and epistemological roots of the so-called Turing test. I will draw attention to a historical fact that has been only scarcely observed in the secondary literature thus far, namely that Turing’s 1950 test emerged out of a controversy over the cognitive capabilities of digital computers, most notably out of debates with physicist and computer pioneer Douglas Hartree, chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi, and neurosurgeon Geoffrey Jefferson. Seen in its historical context, Turing’s 1950 paper can be understood as essentially a reply to a series of challenges posed to him by these thinkers arguing against his view that machines can think. Turing did propose gender learning and imitation as one of his various imitation tests for machine intelligence, and I argue here that this was done in response to Jefferson's suggestion that gendered behavior is causally related to the physiology of sex hormones. (shrink)

Review & Reply. Review of Gonçalves, R.T. (tr.) Lucrécio. Sobre a Natureza das Coisas(2021).

Ortega y Gasset’s first book Meditaciones del Quijote, is here one more analyzed the relevant of his theory of the novel for his philosophy. After noting its similitudes with the well known study of G. Lukacs 2. Theory of the Novel, it is suggested that Ortega viewed the novel as a mean to study the real structure of human life, as a result, he viewed the “Quixote” as a truly adequate door through which to enter into the philosophy of human (...) life or existence, the understanding of Spanish idiosyncratic mentality, and the pecualirities of the novel as compared with other literary genres. (shrink)

The Turing test has been studied and run as a controlled experiment and found to be underspecified and poorly designed. On the other hand, it has been defended and still attracts interest as a test for true artificial intelligence (AI). Scientists and philosophers regret the test’s current status, acknowledging that the situation is at odds with the intellectual standards of Turing’s works. This article refers to this as the Turing Test Dilemma, following the observation that the test has been under (...) discussion for over seventy years and still is widely seen as either too bad or too good to be a valuable experiment for AI. An argument that solves the dilemma is presented, which relies on reconstructing the Turing test as a thought experiment in the modern scientific tradition. It is argued that Turing’s exposition of the imitation game satisfies Mach’s characterization of the basic method of thought experiments and that Turing’s uses of his test satisfy Popper’s conception of the critical and heuristic uses of thought experiments and Kuhn’s association of thought experiments to conceptual change. It is emphasized how Turing methodically varied the imitation game design to address specific challenges posed to him by other thinkers and how his test illustrates a property of the phenomenon of intelligence and suggests a hypothesis on machine learning. This reconstruction of the Turing test provides a rapprochement to the conflicting views on its value in the literature. (shrink)

In this article it is defended that the notion known as “The mark of the cognitive” is better characterized as a process that performs the function of generating intelligent behavior, in a flexible and adaptive way, capable of adapting to circumstances, given it is a context sensitive process. For that, some relevant definitions of cognition are examined. In the end, it is pointed out that the definition of the mark of cognition as a context-sensitive process takes into account several factors (...) that were added as constitutive parts of cognitive phenomena over the years, especially the 4E Cognition, which cannot be satisfactorily accommodated alongside the preceding notions of cognition. Accordingly, this essay shouldn’t be mistaken merely as an exercise in intellectual history, but as a brief and accessible attempt to advance the debate. (shrink)

Introduction Context: In Portugal assisted death was approved in February 2020 by the Parliament, although the law is not yet in force. Objectives To find out what doctors think about those practices. Methods A link to a questionnaire was sent by email three times, at intervals of one week, to the doctors registered in the Northern Section of the Portuguese Medical Association, before the Parliamentary approval. Results The questionnaire was returned by 1148 physicians. A minority of doctors would practice a (...) form of assisted death under the present law or if it was legalized, but a higher percentage think that euthanasia should be legalized, and more would like to have that option if they themselves were in a terminal phase of a disease. Religion has a strong influence on the attitudes of doctors, so too does their contact with patients in a terminal phase, as doctors who deal with more patients with far advanced diseases are more likely to be unfavorable to assisted death. On the other hand, younger doctors are more in favor of these practices. Conclusion The small percentage of questionnaires sent back is a weakness in this study and casts doubts on the generalizability of the conclusions. However, this is, so far, the best approximation to the opinions of Portuguese doctors on assisted death. (shrink)

Ortega y Gasset’s first book Meditaciones del Quijote is here once more analyzed, stressing the relevance of its theory of the novel for its philosophy. After noting its similitudes with the wellknown study of G. Lukacs’ Theory of the Novel, it is suggested that Ortega viewed the novel as a means to study the real structure of human life, and, as a result, he viewed the “Quixote” as a truly adequate door through which to enter into the philosophy of human (...) life or existence, the understanding of Spanish idiosyncratic mentality, and the peculiarities of the novel as compared with other literary genres. (shrink)

Los adelantos técnicos que se desarrollan a una velocidad prodigiosa y que tienden a modificar las costumbres y las relaciones humanas en las sociedades occidentales llevan a plantear una frase : adónde va la ciencia. Pero esta locucion puede tener una connotación interrogativa ¿adónde va la ciencia? o exclamativa ¡adónde va la ciencia! En efecto, el contenido semántico de esta aparentemente simple frase está cargado de múltiples significaciones relacionadas con diversos procesos psicosociológicos que se acentúan al referirse al transhumanismo. Para (...) dar una respuesta a la conformación de sus múltiples significados y con el objeto de precisar si el transhumanismo es una filosofía científica o una ideología tecnológica vamos a proceder a un análisis ideosemántico. (shrink)

Resumo: Eu mostro neste artigo que Schopenhauer e Bergson, mesmo abordando o problema da ação livre a partir de pontos de vista filosóficos opostos, concordam em caracterizar as ações humanas de um modo que não é nem determinista, nem compatível com a tese do liberum arbitrium. Schopenhauer, embora equivocadamente tente demonstrar a necessidade de tais ações, é obrigado a reconhecê-las como grundlos e imprevisíveis, enquanto Bergson, embora pretenda mostrá-las como sendo livres, ao final admite que elas não são objeto de (...) uma escolha através da razão. Essa coincidência inesperada entre ambos os filósofos, a respeito do problema da liberdade da ação humana, será explorada neste texto.: I show in this paper that Schopenhauer and Bergson, although approaching the problem of free action from opposed philosophical standpoints, agree in characterizing human actions in a way which is neither determinist nor compatible with the liberum arbitrium thesis. Schopenhauer, although mistakenly trying to demonstrate the necessity of such actions, is obliged to recognize then as grundlos and unpredictable. Bergson, although intending to show such actions as free, in the end admits that they are not a matter of a reasonable choice. It is this unexpected agreement between both philosophers on the problem of the freedom of human action that will be explored in this paper. (shrink)

Background Doctors often deal with end-of-life issues other than assisted death, such as incompetent patients and treatment withdrawal, including food and fluids. Methods A link to a questionnaire was sent by email three times, at one-week intervals, to the doctors registered in the Northern Section of the Portuguese Medical Association. Results The questionnaire was returned by 1148 (9%) physicians. This study shows that only a minority of Portuguese doctors were willing to administer drugs in lethal doses to cognitively incompetent patients (...) at the request of a family member or other close person, and even less would do it on their initiative. Most doctors favored the withdrawal of life support measures in advanced and progressive diseases at the patient’s request. Still, much fewer doctors agreed with the suspension of supportive life measures at the request of a family member, another close person, or by their own unilateral decision. However, fewer agreed with that action concerning the rest of the food and fluids. Portuguese doctors favor the administration of drugs for suffering control, even foreseeing they could shorten life. Conclusion Most doctors in this study respect patients’ autonomy but disagree with measures decided by others that have an impact on patients’ survival. They also agree with the administration of drugs for suffering control, even considering the possibility of shortening life. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo é demonstrar, a partir do pensamento de Marx, como o lucro comercial e a renda fundiária – dois componentes do mais-valor que, juntamente com o salário, correspondem aos rendimentos da fórmula trinitária – pressupõem a exploração do trabalho ou o intercâmbio desigual que mantém o processo de acumulação capitalista. As remunerações do comerciante e do proprietário fundiário, muito embora apareçam na superfície da economia moderna dissociadas do seu fundamento real, como se fossem autônomas e sem qualquer (...) nexo com a espoliação que garante a autovalorização do capital, representam apenas quotas do trabalho excedente obtido na esfera da produção. (shrink)

Os processos de integração regional em curso hoje na América Latina têm sido marcados por uma lógica territorial que tem concebido grandes áreas do espaço geográfico latino-americano como “vazios demográficos” ou “terras disponíveis”. Essa forma de conceber o espaço geográfico latino-americano remonta ao legado colonial que atravessa a formação sócio-espacial da região e a própria posição que o continente americano ocupou no processo de formação do sistema-mundo moderno-colonial, a partir de 1492. Este artigo tem por objetivo problematizar os processos de (...) integração física em curso atualmente no continente, especificamente a Iniciativa para Integração da Infra-estrutura Regional Sul-Americana (IIRSA), buscando evidenciar a reprodução da lógica da colonialidade do poder e do saber constituintes de seu modelo de desenvolvimento regional. (shrink)

O presente artigo trata da geografia da violência urbana na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Mostra como a ação do Estado está permeada por ignorâncias acerca das lógicas de experiências espaciais com que se organizam e operam as classes populares trabalhadoras do Rio de Janeiro. O objetivo é estimular uma discussão que impulsione as análises para além dos discursos estigmatizadores com relação à população favelada. A metodologia adotada assemelha-se às sinuosidades dos becos e vielas, visto que optamos em nos entranhar (...) empiricamente na concretude do espaço favelado e, também, nas re-leituras das narrativas marginalizadas, dos compositores que há décadas oferecem pistas para que possamos esboçar um mapeamento das lógicas de sociabilidades e das experiências de espaço dessa população. Assim, podemos afirmar – ainda que hipoteticamente – que os mecanismos convencionais de análises e os instrumentos metodológicos fundamentados no distanciamento dos seus “objetos” são insuficientes para uma mínima compreensão do que se passa nos cotidianos de opressão e resistências das classes populares. O máximo que se tem alcançado historicamente, tanto com as pesquisas quantitativas acerca do tema quanto com os apelos midiáticos, é a forte influência na construção de discursos universalistas que naturalizam a criminalização dos citadinos mais pobres e as suas lógicas de integração-sobrevivência nas cidades. (shrink)

El artículo versa sobre la relación entre epistemes, espacio y poder. Cuestiona la presunción de universalidad tal como es pensada por la tradición hegemónica europea -eurocentrismo- pero rechaza cualquier pretensión de universalidad unidireccional venga de donde venga. Propone la idea de múltiples universalidades posibles partiendo del supuesto de la incompletud de toda cultura. El artículo invita a la crítica de la colonialidad del saber y del poder que están imbricados mutuamente, y a la atención que debemos prestar al lugar de (...) enunciación de cada discurso, lugar al mismo tiempo social y geográfico. Parte del pensamiento subalterno y valoriza los espacios de conflicto como epistémicamente densos, aportando además que el debate acerca de los territorios quizás sea la mejor expresión de la naturalización de las relaciones sociales y de poder que el territorio comporta, significando, en verdad, cuán profundas son las transformaciones en curso en los días actuales. (shrink)

El artículo procura analizar el contexto en que surge el reciente debate acerca de agua identificando los principales protagonistas que vienen conformando ese campo que es, al mismo tiempo, teórico, técnico y político. Demuestra como los organismos multilaterales y sus intelectuales (con el discurso de la escasez) vienen impulsando políticas que buscan transferir el papel del Estado en beneficio de los agentes empresariales estimulando procesos de privatización de agua y de su mercantilización. El artículo presenta una serie de casos en (...) que este proceso de privatización aumenta los conflictos en torno del agua. (shrink)

El artículo busca explicar las razones de la conversión al discurso de la sustentabilidad, por parte del sector de los grandes productores de petróleo y el de los latifundios empresariales de monocultivos, que hegemonizan el agro negocio. Para ello, se analiza la forma como históricamente se ha constituido el bloque de poder hegemónico conformado como un complejo de poder técnico-científico-industrial-financiero-militar-mediático, del cual también participan los dueños de los agronegocios -el viejo bloque de poder modernizado. Se concluye que se avecina una (...) verdadera tragedia con la expropiación generalizada que advendrá de la expansión del monocultivo latifundista moderno-colonial de los agro negociantes que quieren someter la producción agrícola a la producción de combustibles de biomasa. Se señala la enorme importancia de comprender adecuadamente el carácter mundial del capitalismo y del papel del desarrollo de las fuerzas productivas que el capital impone al mundo y la necesidad de ejercer el derecho a la diferencia anclada en la defensa del territorio. (shrink)

This Work aims at reflecting on mystics, within the Western tradition, departing Lima Vaz’ thought, in order to try identifying the function that rested reserved to Mystic Experience, in the Modern Society, Society that, as It purposes Itself destroying the Sacred one up the World, has put aside Religion as a factor of legitimation regarding to public sphere. Its purpose is recovering some historical-philosophical aspects regarding to Christian Tradition in order to understanding better the level regarding to crisis of meaning (...) of this Society can be linked to the progressive lack concerning the originary relation of the Human Being with the Transcendence Itself since that this lacking subverted the constitutive nucleus of its own identity as an open. We may assume that this Reflection of ours will be turned on contributing for reflecting of the Christian Mystics et its contribution for the dialogue with the plurality of the actual ways of spiritualities, in front of crisis concerning the contemporaneity. (shrink)

The advance in Internet of Things technology has increased the opportunities for a healthcare system design, which is an urgent need owing to the growth in population among the older adults in many countries. This requires giving thought to the kind of innovative technological design methods that can find suitable solutions for home care. The application of Health Smart Homes by means of the technologies of the Internet of Things, can be used to support rehabilitation treatment and help the senior (...) citizens to understand the importance of taking measures to maintain a healthy standard of living that can meet their needs. The aim of this article is to develop and assess a design method for the following purposes: to determine and map out the physical and emotional state of the home care users, such as senior citizens; to implement a participatory design that includes the user within its social, psychological and therapeutic context; to explore the flexible method when applied to older users; to provide a way for the users to be “personalized” through a wide range of solutions that involve analyzing the behavioral patterns of different individuals in a standardized manner and to define a set of smart technologies for each problem and senior citizen. This article sets out a collaborative method called FlexPersonas, which is employed for the flexible mapping of users and to improve decision-making with the support of Internet of Things technologies. In this context, computing systems can identify the behavior of the user and issue warnings to the Carers about any abnormal event. Studies with an interdisciplinary team point out the potential and drawbacks of the method. (shrink)

Schizophrenia is usually described as a fragmentation of subjective experience and the impossibility to engage in meaningful cultural and intersubjective practices. Although the term schizophrenia is less than 100 years old, madness is generally believed to have accompanied mankind through its historical and cultural ontogeny. What does it mean to be “mad”? The failure to adopt social practices or to internalize cultural values of common sense? Despite the vast amount of literature and research, it seems that the study of schizophrenia (...) and of the psychoses is suffering from a generic disintegration. In this introduction, we offer an historical overview of the variety of theories and approaches to schizophrenia. We also provide an overview of how the authors in this volume attempt an integrative account where training, practice, theory and research are considered as parts of a larger whole. This is a varied and pluralistic volume, and it is up to the readers to make use of different chapters according to their own needs. (shrink)