Humanitarian organisations often work alongside those responsible for serious wrongdoing. In these circumstances, accusations of moral complicity are sometimes levelled at decision makers. These accusations can carry a strong if unfocused moral charge and are frequently the source of significant moral unease. In this paper, we explore the meaning and usefulness of complicity and its relation to moral accountability. We also examine the impact of concerns about complicity on the motivation of humanitarian staff and the risk that complicity may lead (...) to a retreat into moral narcissism. Moral narcissism is the possibility that where humanitarian actors inadvertently become implicated in wrongdoing, they may focus more on their image as self-consciously good actors than on the interests of potential beneficiaries. Moral narcissism can be triggered where accusations of complicity are made and can slew decision making. We look at three interventions by Médecins Sans Frontières that gave rise to questions of complicity. We question its decision-guiding usefulness. Drawing on recent thought, we suggest that complicity can helpfully draw attention to the presence of moral conflict and to the way International Non-Governmental Organisations can be drawn into unintentional wrongdoing. We acknowledge the moral challenge that complicity presents to humanitarian staff but argue that complicity does not help INGOs make tough decisions in morally compromising situations as to whether they should continue with an intervention or pull out. (shrink)

RESUMEN Las tensiones y los vínculos posibles entre razón y violencia son un problema mayor para la filosofía. La obra de Eric Weil se consagra precisamente al análisis de las figuras históricas de dicha tensión, y su obra mayor, Logique de la Philosophie, desarrolla lo fundamental de dicho propósito. Se analiza la manera como Weil, desde la categoría de la acción -última categoría concreta de la filosofía-, en vínculo con las categorías precedentes (absoluto, obra, finito) y con las categorías formales (...) (sentido y sabiduría), enfrenta este desafío siempre nuevo para la filosofía. ABSTRACT The tensions and potential links between reason and violence are a significant philosophical problem. Eric Weil's systematic work, as well as his numerous articles and lectures, is dedicated to the analysis of the historical figures of such tensions. His major work, Logique de la Philosophie, develops that objective. The article analyzes how Weil faces this always new challenge for philosophy, on the basis of the category of action -the last concrete category of his philosophy-, together with the preceding categories (absolute, unmediated particular, finite) and the formal categories (meaning and wisdom). RESUMO As tensões e os vínculos possíveis entre razão e violência são um problema maior para a filosofia. A obra de Eric Weil se consagra precisamente à análise das figuras históricas dessa tensão, e sua obra maior, Logique de la Philosophie, desenvolve o fundamental desse propósito. Analisa-se a maneira como Weil, a partir da categoria da ação -última categoria concreta da filosofia-, em vínculo com as categorias precedentes (absoluto, obra, finito) e com as categorias formais (sentido e sabedoria), enfrenta esse desafio sempre novo para a filosofia. (shrink)

Ian Rumfitt (2000) developed a bilateralist account of logic in which the meaning of the connectives is given by conditions on asserted and rejected sentences. An additional set of inference rules, the coordination principles, determines the interaction of assertion and rejection. Fernando Ferreira (2008) found this account defective, as Rumfitt must state the coordination principles for arbitrary complex sentences. Rumfitt (2008) has a reply, but we argue that the problem runs deeper than he acknowledges and is in fact related to (...) the challenge of establishing proof-theoretic harmony. We motivate a distinctively bilateral criterion for harmony and show how the bilateralist can meet it. This also resolves Ferreira's complaint. (shrink)

Recommender Systems (RecSys) have been around since the early days of the Internet, helping users navigate the vast ocean of information and the increasingly available options that have been available for us ever since. The range of tasks for which one could use a RecSys is expanding as the technical capabilities grow, with the disruption of Machine Learning representing a tipping point in this domain, as in many others. However, the increase of the technical capabilities of AI-powered RecSys did not (...) come with a thorough consideration of their ethical implications and, despite being a well-established technical domain, the potential impacts of RecSys on their users are still under-assessed. This paper aims at filling this gap in regards to one of the main impacts of RecSys: personal autonomy. We first describe how technology can affect human values and a suitable methodology to identify these effects and mitigate potential harms: Value Sensitive Design (VSD). We use VSD to carry out a conceptual investigation of personal autonomy in the context of a generic RecSys and draw on a nuanced account of procedural autonomy to focus on two components: competence and authenticity. We provide the results of our inquiry as a value hierarchy and apply it to the design of a speculative RecSys as an example. (shrink)

Heidegger practica un abordaje de la noción de discurso que, por la magnitud de su obra y por el carácter más o menos marginal que esta noción tiene en ese conjunto, no ha merecido todavía un tratamiento sistemático. En esta comunicación intentamos recoger algunos elementos relevantes de esa tematización y enfatizamos la relación que ella manifiesta con su temprana concepción de la significación. Concluimos que la tematización del discurso que Heidegger desarrolla se adelanta en décadas a lo que es hoy (...) la teoría contemporánea del discurso. (shrink)

La historia de las teorías de la argumentación es, en términos generales, la historia de la evolución del uso de estructuras, procedimientos y recursos y, probablemente por eso mismo, subsisten en ella todavía algunos problemas no resueltos como la periodización, la conceptualización, los índices descriptores y si debemos hablar de varias teorías o de una sola construida con diversos aportes a lo largo de la tradición. En las páginas que siguen enunciamos estos problemas, proponemos una ampliación para uno de los (...) esquemas clásicos de periodización y nos centramos fundamentalmente en presentar algunos elementos relevantes que permitan trazar una imagen del primero de estos períodos, conocido como “fundacional”. The history of argument theories is, in general, the history of the evolution of the use of structures, procedures and resources. Probably due to that, some unresolved problems such as periodization, conceptualization, descriptor indices, and whether we should talk about one or several theories built upon different contributions along the tradition, still remain. In this paper, we state these problems, propose an extension to one of the classical periodization schemes, and focus primarily on presenting some relevant elements in order to draw a picture of the first of these periods known as “foundational”. (shrink)

Resumen: Heidegger practica un abordaje de la noción de discurso que, por la magnitud de su obra y por el carácter más o menos marginal que esta noción tiene en ese conjunto, no ha merecido todavía un tratamiento sistemático. En esta comunicación intentamos recoger algunos elementos relevantes de esa tematización y enfatizamos la relación que ella manifiesta con su temprana concepción de la significación. Concluimos que la tematización del discurso que Heidegger desarrolla se adelanta en décadas a lo que es (...) hoy la teoría contemporánea del discurso.: Heidegger makes an approach to the notion of discourse which, to de magnitude of his work and the more or less marginal character that this notion has in that group, has not yet deserved systematic treatment. In this communication we try to collect some relevant elements of this thematization and emphasize the relationship that it manifests with its early conception of meaning. We concluded that the discourse thematization that Heidegger develops is decades ahead of what contemporary discourse theory is today. (shrink)

In this article, we first review the development of clinical ethics in pediatrics in the United States. We report that, over the last 40 years, most children’s hospitals have ethics committees but that those committees are rarely consulted. We speculate that the reasons for the paucity of ethics consults might be because ethical dilemmas are aired in other venues. The role of the ethics consultant, then, might be to shape the institutional climate and create safe spaces for the discussion of (...) difficult and sometimes contentious issues. Finally, we report how pediatric clinical ethics has evolved differently in a number of other countries around the world. (shrink)

Among the many applications of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual assistants are one of the tools most likely to grow in the future. The development of these systems may play an increasingly important role in many facets of our lives. Therefore, given their potential importance and present and future weight, it is worthwhile to analyze what kind of challenges they entail. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of the ethical aspects of artificial virtual assistants. First, we provide a conceptual (...) clarification of the term ‘virtual assistant’, including different types of interfaces and recommender systems. Second, we address three ethical issues related to the deployment of these systems: their effects on human agency and autonomy and the subsequent cognitive dependence they would generate; the human obsolescence that may cause a generalized extension of the dependence problem; and the invasions of privacy that virtual assistants may cause. Finally, we outline the debates about the use of virtual assistants to improve human moral decisions and some areas in which these systems can be applied. (shrink)

Crónica del homenaje que Richard Rorty, Gianni Vattimo y Michael Theunissen le rindieron a Hans-Georg Gadamer, por sus 100 años, en Heidelberg.

El artículo se concentra en un aspecto del diálogo platónico Ión, a saber, aquel que señala a la inspiración del poeta como un estado de posesión. Este estado es descrito como un proceso irracional que descalifica al poeta en su pretensión de dominar tanto alguna técnica como de poseer algún saber. La descripción de este estado se encuentra en el primer discurso de Sócrates en el citado diálogo y la intención del artículo es mostrar cómo esta descripción platónica de la (...) inspiración poética responde más a una invención que a una descripción veraz del proceso poético, a pesar de que Platón diga lo contrario. --- “The Poet’s Inspiration and the Platonic Fiction”. The paper is concerned with one aspect of the Platonic dialogue Ion, namely that which considers the poet’s inspiration as a state of possession. This state is described as an irrational process that undermines the poet’s claims to be master of some technique as well as knowledge. The description of this state is placed in Socrates’ first discourse in the abovementioned dialogue, and the intention of the paper is to show how this Platonic description of poetic inspiration is due more to an invention than to a true description of the poetic process, despite Plato’s opposing claims. (shrink)

This article contrasts Saint Augustine’s role in the creation of the Church’s theological dogma to Loyola’s modern gesture of independence vis-à-vis the Church. It then traces Loyola’s method to the core that grounds Descartes’ philosophical works. This core, I claim, is derived from Descartes’ understanding and imitation of the Spiritual Exercises. The Exercises obviate the Church by making it redundant, unnecessary. From this disavowal and distancing, Loyola gives the exercitant the psychological tools to emerge from the Exercises with a strong, (...) new sense of self that with time will transform the institution from within. In Descartes’ case, the moral subject capable of responding to the question of what God wants (the product of the Exercises) is displaced by the epistemological certainty necessary to create a new “Method” to study and understand the world. (shrink)

RESUMEN La Estrategia socioeducativa para la familia en el uso de la tecnología sanitaria del lente de contacto, proyecto de investigación del cual derivan los resultados que se exponen en el presente texto; se instituye a partir de un nuevo algoritmo de trabajo por el optometrista, atendiendo a que con la terapéutica encaminada a contrarrestar las complicaciones que ocasiona el uso indebido de la tecnología se ha intentado minimizar las anomalías de enfermedades oculares. Su objetivo general se dirige a un (...) estudio social sobre la innovación, desde la perspectiva de las relaciones ciencia, tecnología y sociedad. El proyecto tiene carácter de innovación tecnológica de tipo Investigación aplicada. Sus resultados validan, desde un enfoque interdisciplinario, las influencias que cada contexto sociocultural ejerce sobre el desarrollo de la ciencia y la tecnología y los impactos sociales. ABSTRACT La The socio-educative strategy for the family in the use of the sanitary technology of the contact lens, research project from which derive the results that are exhibited in the present text; it is instituted from a new work algorithm by the optometrist, attending to that with the therapeutics directed to resist the complications that the undue use of the technology causes, it has tried to minimize the anomalies of ocular illnesses. Its general objectiv goes to a social study on the innovation, from the perspective of the relations science, technology and society. The project has character of technological innovation of type Applied Investigation. Its results validate, from an interdisciplinary approach, the influences that every sociocultural context exercises on the development of the science and the technology and the social impacts. (shrink)

Informed consent forms have been useful in clinical practice and they constitute a part of the shared decision making in the informed consent process. They provide information to patients about clinical procedures and techniques. They also act as a remainder of the information discussed after the medical interview. Sometimes these documents are not readable to everybody. Belgian law specifies that all information that patients receive has to be proportionate verbally, but written information is also handled. The present research analyzes the (...) readability of the Flemish informed consent forms located in the webs of all General Hospitals using a simple random sample of 75 informed consent forms. By using the Douma tool, which bases its analysis in the length of words and sentences, the readability mean of the sample was 46, level “Difficult”. The 59% of them had a difficult level. The 11% were normal. It is a fact, then, that the 59% of the informed consent forms evaluated in this study are not suitable for everybody in Flanders, especially those people with low literacy. There were some researches made in other countries that agreed with these results. Written clinical information was poorly written so the informed consent forms were not working helping patients to recall information nor helping patients to become a part in the shared decision making about their health. The use of readability formulas represented a simple way to discriminate those informed consent forms that had normal readability scores from those that should be adapted. (shrink)

El problema que ocupa las reflexiones del siguiente texto es sobre la dificultad de la descripción del sustantivo cuir. Apoyándose en distintos textos, el presente ensayo postula el entendimiento de lo cuir como verbo, es decir encuiramiento. En este segundo sentido, lo cuir viene a ser proceso no terminado, crítica placentera que abre un espacio de futuridad en medio de una cultura condenada a repetir reactivamente el pasado. A partir de una selección de obras de la literatura latinoamericana se muestran (...) diferentes ejemplos de trama cuir que dislocan el ordenamiento heteronormado, desacralizan lo establecido, develan lo inacabado y abren de este modo posibilidades de cambio en el lenguaje. (shrink)

The studies show a positive and direct relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation of the students. However, there is a lack of studies that analyze the psychological processes that affect these relationships. For this reason, the purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of academic integration on the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation of Chilean university students. The participants were a total of 580 students from a university in northern Chile, (...) 359 women and 221 men. The mediation analysis was performed by structural equations modeling, using the maximum likelihood method and the bootstrapping procedure with 10,000 iterations. The results indicated that academic integration partially mediated the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation of the students. Therefore, the basic psychological needs satisfaction had an indirect effect on the intrinsic motivation of the students through academic integration. It is concluded that the academic integration constitutes a psychological process that promotes the development of intrinsic motivation for learning. The practical implications are discussed along with the limitations of the study and recommendations for future research. (shrink)

La adaptación a la vida universitaria representa un gran desafío para los jóvenes. Dadas las nuevas dificultades que se añaden a este reto como consecuencia del COVID-19, el objetivo de este estudio es analizar la producción científica sobre esta cuestión de las últimas tres décadas (1991-2021). Para ello, se ha combinado el estudio bibliométrico con técnicas de análisis de redes sociales a través de los softwares Rstudio y Vosviewer. Se han analizado 291 artículos procedentes de la base de datos Scopus. (...) Los resultados permiten obtener una visión holística de este campo y de su evolución a lo largo del tiempo. (shrink)