Metabolomics, including lipidomics, is emerging as a quantitative biology approach for the assessment of energy flow through metabolism and information flow through metabolic signaling; thus, providing novel insights into metabolism and its regulation, in health, healthy ageing and disease. In this forward‐looking review we provide an overview on the origins of metabolomics, on its role in this postgenomic era of biochemistry and its application to investigate metabolite role and (bio)activity, from model systems to human population studies. We present the challenges (...) inherent to this analytical science, and approaches and modes of analysis that are used to resolve, characterize and measure the infinite chemical diversity contained in the metabolome (including lipidome) of complex biological matrices. In the current outbreak of metabolic diseases such as cardiometabolic disorders, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, metabolomics appears to be ideally situated for the investigation of disease pathophysiology from a metabolite perspective. (shrink)

Therapy for metaphysics -- Concepts, rules, and the spirit of recognition -- Meaning and meanings -- Reference and presence -- Truth and correspondence -- Emancipating theology.

La actividad teórica y la actividad práctica han sido tradicionalmente entendidas como complementarias en el sentido que mediante la actividad teórica el sujeto se apropiaría idealmente de los objetos del mundo externo, mientras que mediante la actividad práctica realizaría sus propias metas subjetivas en el mundo. Sin embargo, dicho modelo plantea un conjunto de graves problemas exegéticos y conceptuales sobre la estructura y significado de la entera filosofía del espíritu de Hegel. En este artículo buscaremos esclarecer qué es a ojos (...) de Hegel lo propiamente específico de la actividad teórica y de la actividad práctica, para, sobre esa base, ofrecer un modelo exegético que logre dar satisfactoriamente cuenta de la particular periodización general que Hegel propone sobre las diferentes formas de actividad del espíritu humano. (shrink)

This paper is an attempt to clarify, from a Thomistic point of view, the nature and method of metaphysics. I argue that metaphysics' object is created being, not God, even if God enters metaphysics as efficient cause of metaphysic's object. Also, that metaphysics is a science, insofar as a particular kind of coherent reasoning process, going from the many to understand a certain oneness, and then from that oneness to reinterpret the many. Moreover, that, in this particular process of reasoning, (...) doctrinal topics must follow a certain order. Thus, in particular, I argue that the distinction between essence and act of being in every creature cannot be argued before arguing the existence of God. I touch upon the notion of separation in metaphysics and I compare Aquinas' notion of resolution with Fabro's notion. (shrink)

The article examines the conquest of the New World in the focus of interaction of different types of thinking in the clash and conflict of two civilizations, which develop in different ways and which are at different levels of social and economic development. The result of this clash was the destruction of the material, spiritual and intellectual traditions of indigenous cultures that existed on the American continent. The conquest of America is one of the most revealing examples of the clash (...) of civilizations, analyzing which, with particular clarity, one can observe contradictions between different types of world perception. The answer to questions about what kind of knowledge Nahua-speaking people possessed, what role knowledge played in their society, who was the creator, carrier and translator of knowledge about the world, reveals one of the main reasons that led to a rapid and irretrievable destruction of culture of “metaphors and numbers.” The author reveals the role of Catholic monks in preserving the spiritual, scientific and philosophical heritage of the Mexican culture, thanks to which we have the opportunity to touch the thought of the Nahua people, existing not in the form of traditional texts but in the form of an oral tradition, which accompanied visual images of graphic semantic writing. It shows how important the system of education and upbringing in the society of pre-Columbian Mexico was, how it solved the tasks of preparing young people for the performance of social functions. The destruction, as a result of the con- quest, of the system that regulated the daily life of each person and determined the ultimate destiny of the people in the shortest possible time led to the death of the entire civilization. (shrink)

RESUMEN Se aborda el pensamiento de E.M. Cioran desde la perspectiva de un sinsabor vital denominado sentimiento de muerte. El término, aunque aparece solo en su primer escrito, es transversal a toda su obra, puesto que para el autor los seres humanos nos intuimos como posesos de la muerte en cada momento de nuestra existencia. Esto cambia el tono normal de la vida, al poner frente a la persona una realidad carente de sentido y dominada por circunstancias radicales y limitantes (...) como el dolor y la agonía, que culmina en una atmósfera gobernada por la intuición trágica de la vida. ABSTRACT The article addresses the thought of E.M. Cioran from the perspective of that vital uneasiness known as the sentiment of death. Although the term appears only in his first book, the idea cuts across his entire work given that, for Cioran, human beings intuit themselves as possessed by death at every moment of their lives. When persons are faced with a meaningless reality, dominated by radical and limiting circumstances such as pain and agony, the whole tenor of life changes until it becomes a tragic intuition of life. (shrink)

Explores the complexity of truth and the ways that people take advantage of this complexity to use and abuse neutral truths to suit their own agendas in politics, business, the media, and everyday life. -- Provided by publisher.

Este artículo propone una revisión crítica sobre los alcances del transhumanismo en la esfera de la Psicología. Para ello, se expondrán antecedentes y se definirá lo que se entiende por transhumanismo y el resultado de éste, denominado poshumanismo. A través de características humanas tan básicas y diversas como la cognición, el sufrimiento y la identidad, se discute sobre los inéditos cambios que la ejecución y logro de las propuestas transhumanistas significarían para la sociedad, el cómo la psicología podría prever y (...) anticipar un escenario así de radical, y la necesidad y urgencia de nuevas teorías éticas que ayuden a comprender los fenómenos en cuestión. (shrink)

Magnífico libro ha tenido a bien reeditar la editorial madrileña Encuentro, situándolo como el primer volumen de la colección Mínima Política. En él, además de realizar algunas correcciones y estructurar la obra de forma más manejable para el lector, se ha encargado del estudio preliminar el profesor Jerónimo Molina, como ya hiciera con otras obras del mismo autor, Teoría y sistema de las formas políticas e Introducción al Derecho político actual, hace unos pocos años. En esta introducción, se nos ofrece (...) un recorrido biográfico, intelectual y político por Francisco Javier Conde, sencillo, directo y profundo. Propio de quien tiene un riguroso conocimiento del autor y de su obra. Con su lectura conseguiremos enmarcar correctamente este libro en la trayectoria vital e intelectual de Conde, entre la actitud intelectual del realismo político, el fracaso en la vida de actividad política y el olvido arrastrado hasta casi nuestros días. Y digo casi, porque, según lo que hemos dicho, no son pocos los que honran a Conde y su trabajo intelectual, de gran mérito. No en vano señala el profesor Molina que este libro es un pequeño clásico contemporáneo. (shrink)

The comparative study of synchronic occurrences of a particular construction in interactional corpora from different languages can provide a complete understanding of the development of the construction as a response to some basic intimately associated set of interactional moves and cognitive demands. A comparative formal analysis of lists in Spanish and English conversations shows that in both languages the construction has developed a stylized intonation pattern based on the holding of tones by means of lengthening of nuclear syllables, a durable (...) syntactic organization based on parataxis and an almost identical inventory of lexicalized expressions to index the end of the list. A parallel analysis of lists in their interactional contexts shows that in both English and Spanish conversation the formal properties of lists emerge as adaptations to a recurrent set of communicative tasks. The first type of `framing' lists is used for its incremental structure in the negotiation of common background between interlocutors, whereas the second type of `demonstrative' lists is used for its rhetorical structure to provide evidence for a claim and is directed to obtaining agreement. (shrink)

This article explores the comparison between Derrida and Zhuangzi and their approaches to the question of metaphor and analogy, examining the deconstruction of essentialist and culturalist forms of philosophical comparativism. The author contends that the notion of ‘Western metaphysics’ relies on an implicit comparison between the West and its others, shaped not only by philosophical factors but also by historical, sociological and strategic considerations, as exemplified in Aristotle’s exclusion and subjection of metaphor. Derrida’s approach in ‘White Mythology’, with its ‘internal (...) reading’ and ‘quasi-transcendental’ perspective, challenges the unity and identity of the conventional representation of philosophy as a Western achievement. However, the article also advocates for an ‘external’ and ‘quasi-empiricist’ viewpoint that recognises the erratic character of comparisons, resisting the appropriation of philosophical differences into general categories such as ‘Western’ or ‘Chinese philosophy’. (shrink)

In this article, I argue that the main contribution of Hegel's philosophy of right to the contemporary political debate is that it opens a window on the idea that liberalism and individual freedom are incompatible. My main thesis is that the liberal conception of the State and law, structured from a nonrelational account of singularity, ends up denying the individual freedom that it claims to defend. I begin by reconstructing the Hegelian concept of freedom from its most general lines, showing (...) that being free consists in wanting to become someone and not so much in wanting to do something. After showing that the purpose of becoming someone can only be fulfilled in a social medium, I focus on Hegel's critique of the liberal state (as expounded in the section on “civil society”). I argue that civil society structurally impedes individuals from realizing their purpose of becoming someone: the economical interactions of civil society give rise to impersonal and inscrutable mechanisms, which take the social conditions of people's individuation beyond their control. Finally, I claim that (rational) individual freedom consists in being able to thematize and democratically control the very social conditions of individuation through the State and law. (shrink)

In contrast to individualistic explanations of social injustice that appeal to implicit attitudes, structural explanations are unintuitive: they appeal to entities that lack clear ontological status, and the explanatory mechanism is similarly unclear. This makes structural explanations unappealing. The present work proposes a structural explanation of one type of injustice that happens in conversations, discursive injustice. This proposal meets two goals. First, it satisfactorily accounts for the specific features of this particular kind of injustice; and second, it articulates a structural (...) explanation that overcomes their unattractiveness. The main idea is that discursive injustice is not the result of biased interlocutors, but of problematic discursive norms. (shrink)

The article discusses the problems of philosophical geography, philosophical multipolarity, georationality. The debates on these issues are becoming interdisciplinary. Specialists in Eastern philosophies and cross-cultural communications as well as epistemologists, scientific methodologists, cognitive scholars, synergists became participants of the discussion held at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The problem of Eurocentrism in academic philosophy has become the main topic of discussion. The opponents of the “regional” multipolarity argued that the Western European tradition of rationality was (...) an example of the rationality per se. The proponents, who relied heavily on the ad professionem arguments, advocated multipolarity and demonstrated the irreducibility of the world-pictures, languages and ontologies of philosophical systems. A point of view was expressed that Eurocentrism had an ideological background. The disputants noted that there was need to redefine or clarify such fundamental concepts as logic, rationality, scientific rationality, universalism, processuality. The redefinition of the concept of rationality is for the studies of various types of rationality outside European cultures. Methodologists of science drew attention that the cognitive problems of intercultural communications turned out to be similar to the problems faced by theory of complexity. The analysis of philosophical, logical and other cases in various “zones of exchange” reveals a plurality of directions in the global and local socio-cultural spaces. The panelists raised the question of the role of philosophy in the global world and its responsibility in uniting nations. The authors of the article draw attention to many functions that the Western European conceptual system performs in the formation of philosophical language, mentality and communication. The dynamics of philosophical discussions, the dialogue of the West and the East lead to the clarification of philosophical positions, the emergence of new concepts and meanings as well as the formation of discourses of the future. (shrink)

The article is devoted to Miguel Servet (Michael Servetus, Spain – Miguel Serveto, also known as Miguel Servet, Miguel Serveto, Revés, or Michel de Villeneuve) – the XVI century Spanish thinker who was recognized as a heretic and burnt at the stake in Geneva in 1553.The author discusses the specifics of Servet’s philosophical system, the scientific background of his system, and his key ideas that have become a matter for auto-da-fė. The author argues that Servet’s concept was aimed to reconstruct (...) the “pure” Christian dogma, although he was not a professional theologist. The author claims that Servet used the deep knowledge in geography, astronomy, medicine, linguistics to create his complex system which was aimed to rescue the mankind from total destruction (Apocalypse). The author claims that Servet’s system could be considered as an example of interdisciplinary approach in the pre-disciplinary epoch. Moreover, Servet’s approach to the problem of personal salvation and the transformation of the humane nature is based on empirical scientific data. Hence, it is appropriate to consider his philosophical system as a mixture of theology, natural science and humanities. (shrink)

In this volume, we have chosen to highlight the importance of education to human rights by reprinting two articles written by Paulo Freire in 1970 for the _Harvard Educational Review_. These articles contain many of Freire's original ideas on human rights and education—issues that are central to his work. Freire was a pioneer in promoting the universal right to education and literacy as part of a commitment to people's struggle against oppression. As Jerome Bruner recognized after Freire's death in May (...) 1997, Freire left as a legacy his commitment to basic human rights: "He was a brave man as well as a far-sighted one. He made us aware of our mindless cruelties, and now the challenge to all of us is to do something about those cruelties.". (shrink)

The ultimate source of explanation in biology is the principle of natural selection. Natural selection means differential reproduction of genes and gene combinations. It is a mechanistic process which accounts for the existence in living organisms of end-directed structures and processes. It is argued that teleological explanations in biology are not only acceptable but indeed indispensable. There are at least three categories of biological phenomena where teleological explanations are appropriate.

The analysis of social networks has remained a crucial and yet understudied aspect of the efforts to measure Triple Helix linkages. The Triple Helix model aims to explain, among other aspects of knowledge-based societies, “the current research system in its social context” (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff 2000:109). This paper develops a novel approach to study the research system from the perspective of the individual, through the analysis of the relationships among researchers, and between them and other social actors. We develop a (...) new set of techniques and show how they can be applied to the study of a specific case (a group of academics within a university department). We analyse their informal social networks and show how a relationship exists between the characteristics of an individual’s network of social links and his or her research output. (shrink)

Tras la lectura de esta obra, reconocemos que su autora, Stephanie Graf, mantiene una signatura o estilo constante en cada parte, capítulo y subtítulo, pues le interesa plantear una trama, un tablero para dialogar con el trabajo de Walter Benjamin y de Theodor W. Adorno, ante uno de los desafíos más urgentes de nuestro tiempo: ¿Cómo entender la supervivencia de la teología en un mundo secular? En específico, ¿de qué forma el escándalo del mal, sobre todo del mal excesivo en (...) Auschwitz, nos remite inevitablemente a la metafísica, a la creación, la revelación, la redención, aun cuando estos pensadores judíos se ubican en el campo del materialismo histórico y la sola responsabilidad humana? De ahí el llamado a la inversión. (shrink)