Despite countless anecdotes and the historical significance of insight as a problem solving mechanism, its nature has long remained elusive. The conscious experience of insight is notoriously difficult to trace in non-verbal animals. Although studying insight has presented a significant challenge even to neurobiology and psychology, human neuroimaging studies have cleared the theoretical landscape, as they have begun to reveal the underlying mechanisms. The study of insight in non-human animals has, in contrast, remained limited to innovative adjustments to experimental designs (...) within the classical approach of judging cognitive processes in animals, based on task performance. This leaves no apparent possibility of ending debates from different interpretations emerging from conflicting schools of thought. We believe that comparative cognition has thus much to gain by embracing advances from neuroscience and human cognitive psychology. We will review literature on insight and discuss the consequences of these findings to comparative cognition. (shrink)

In his paper "A Confutation of Convergent Realism", Larry Laudan offered one of the most powerful criticisms of scientific realism. I defend here that although Laudan's criticism is right, this does not refute the realist position. The thesis that Laudan confutes is a much stronger thesis than realist needs to maintain. As I will exemplify with Salmon's statistical-relevance model, a less strict notion of explanation would allow us to claim that (approximate) truth is the best explanation for such success, even (...) if it is accepted that there can be cases of unsuccessful (approximately) true theories and cases of successful false theories. (shrink)

transcripción de la ponencia del prof. Dr. Antonio Diéguez Lucena pronunciada el 17 de abril de 2009 en el I Simposio Jóvenes Filósofos de Málaga celebrado en el Ayto. de Alhaurín de la Torre. En este trabajo el prof. Dr. Antonio Diéguez plantea algunas cuestiones para un diálogo sobre la crisis partiendo del libro de Gregory Clark, A Farewell to Alms, y del caso finlandés.

Populism has become one of the most worrying political phenomena, and given its complexity, one of the most controversial and debated today in social sciences. This article deconstructs and compares the discourses of the Spanish parties that are generally classified as populist —the left-leaning Podemos, the right-wing Vox and the Basque and Catalan secessionist parties EH Bildu, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and Junts per Catalunya— according to five dimensions of populism: i) antagonism, ii) morality, iii) idealised construction of society, iv) (...) exaltation of popular sovereignty, and v) personalist leadership. This article shows that, despite significant ideological and programmatic differences, all these parties share many discursive features and a similar way of articulating their communications, interpreting social and political dynamics, as well as instrumentalizing crises to build new political identities. (shrink)

This work aims to highlight the continuous game and the paradoxical relationship established between memory and forgetfulness based on the contributions of Friedrich Nietzsche and Henri Bergson. We will follow the hypothesis that the origin of memory and consciousness in Nietzsche is very close to that made by Bergson in Matter and Memory. I will try to expose how memory in Bergson arises in the interval between action and reaction, at the moment when man hesitates, organizes and selects the new (...) movement. The same hesitation movement occurs in Nietzsche, when man abandons the "animalistic" realm of the instant and begins to calculate and plan his actions. In the meantime, when man acquires the capacity to remember and distances himself from the instinctive animals, forgetfulness becomes vitally important, according to Nietzsche, since an excess of memory can resent and sadden the body. In Bergson, on the other hand, the brain mechanism - an organ of attention to life - also occupies a prominent place, from the moment it temporarily removes the totality of memories, and allows only some of them to become conscious. To this end, we will observe that what is behind this infinite game between memory and forgetfulness is the maintenance of a healthy body that does not get lost in excesses - of remembering too much or forgetting everything. A body that knows how to remember, but also how to forget in order to live. (shrink)

BackgroundMoral distress (MD) is the psychological damage caused when people are forced to witness or carry out actions which go against their fundamental moral values. The main objective was to evaluate the prevalence and predictive factors associated with MD among health professionals during the pandemic and to determine its causes.MethodsA regional, observational and cross-sectional study in a sample of 566 professionals from the Public Health Service of Andalusia (68.7% female; 66.9% physicians) who completed the MMD-HP-SPA scale to determine the level (...) of MD (0-432 points). Five dimensions were used: i) Health care; ii) Therapeutic obstinacy-futility, iii) Interpersonal relations of the Healthcare Team, iv) External pressure; v) Covering up of medical malpractice.ResultsThe mean level of MD was 127.3 (SD=66.7; 95% CI 121.8-132.8), being higher in female (135 vs. 110.3; p<0.01), in nursing professionals (137.8 vs. 122; p<0.01) and in the community setting (136.2 vs. 118.3; p<0.001), with these variables showing statistical significance in the multiple linear regression model (p<0.001; r2=0.052). With similar results, the multiple logistic regression model showed being female was a higher risk factor (OR=2.27; 95% CI 1.5-3.4; p<0.001). 70% of the sources of MD belonged to the dimension "Health Care" and the cause "Having to attend to more patients than I can safely attend to" obtained the highest average value (Mean=9.8; SD=4.9).ConclusionsFemale, nursing professionals, and those from the community setting presented a higher risk of MD. The healthcare model needs to implement an ethical approach to public health issues to alleviate MD among its professionals. (shrink)

CONFLITOLOGIA: ASPECTOS TEÓRICOS PARA O ESTUDO DA LITIGÂNCIA.

Comparative thanatologists study the responses to the dead and the dying in nonhuman animals. Despite the wide variety of thanatological behaviours that have been documented in several different species, comparative thanatologists assume that the concept of death is very difficult to acquire and will be a rare cognitive feat once we move past the human species. In this paper, we argue that this assumption is based on two forms of anthropocentrism: an intellectual anthropocentrism, which leads to an over-intellectualisation of the (...) CoD, and an emotional anthropocentrism, which yields an excessive focus on grief as a reaction to death. Contrary to what these two forms of anthropocentrism suggest, we argue that the CoD requires relatively little cognitive complexity and that it can emerge independently from mourning behaviour. Moreover, if we turn towards the natural world, we can see that the minimal cognitive requirements for a CoD are in fact met by many nonhuman species and there are multiple learning pathways and opportunities for animals in the wild to develop a CoD. This allows us to conclude that the CoD will be relatively easy to acquire and, so, we can expect it to be fairly common in nature. (shrink)

Esse artigo tem como objetivo refletir, primeiramente, sobre algumas das principais “dificuldades” que o sobrevivente de um evento traumático enfrenta em sua tentativa de representar o passado através do testemunho. Num segundo momento, a literatura e o cinema com teor testemunhal surgem como valiosos documentos históricos na luta contra o esquecimento - a partir do momento que conseguem dar voz aos “sem-nome”, aos “esquecidos” pela história oficial e pelas grandes narrativas do século XX. Livros como É isto um homem? e (...) Os afogados e os sobreviventes de Primo Levi e filmes como Shoah de Claude Lanzmann se caracterizam como obras de resistência frente as formas tradicionais de transmissão da palavra. Daí a relevância ética e política dessas obras, cuja força testemunhal fazem da fala, da escrita e do gesto armas para combater o esquecimento, o descrédito e o descaso. Tanto o conceito de “testemunho”, como outros conceitos aqui trabalhados, são abordados à luz das discussões de teóricos como como Márcio Seligmann-Silva, Jeanne Marie Gagnebin, Walter Benjamin, Giorgio Agamben entre outros. (shrink)

In their target article, Mikhalevich & Powell (M&P) argue that we should extend moral protection to arthropods. In this commentary, we show that there are some unforeseen obstacles to applying the sort of individualistic welfare-based ethics that M&P have in mind to certain arthropods, namely, insects. These obstacles have to do with the fact that there are often many more individuals involved in our dealings with insects than our ethical theories anticipate, and also with the fact that, in some sense, (...) some insects count as more than an individual and, in another sense, they sometimes count as less than an individual. (shrink)

This article shows to what extent the new situation in our late-modern societies can see a further deepening of the social control typical of soft totalitarianism we experience in our globalised democracies, through the mechanisms already denounced by Arendt in her The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951): the promotion of rootlessness and superfluity. In particular, the paper focus on what Eliot (1927) called the hollow man or what philosophy and sociology have called the one-dimensional man, the absent subject or the saturated (...) self, which the technological, social, cultural and economic environment in which we live so favours. The article diagnoses the reasons and means by which the alienation of the subject occurs, but proposes narrative and testimony as ways of combating social control of a psychopolitical kind [1]. [1] Investigación financiada por el proyecto del Banco de Santander – CEU titulado “Control social, posmodernidad y comunidad política” (COSOPOC) con código B920PR02 // FUSPBC-PPC14/2018. (shrink)

Este artigo aborda de maneira preliminar a efetivação das políticas públicas educacionais no Assentamento Roça do Povo, no município de Itabuna-BA, analisando a legislação vigente, pontuando direitos conquistados pelas populações rurais e principalmente pelos campesinos por meio das suas lutas e reivindicações. Também foram analisadas as dificuldades, desafios, progressos, formação de professores e a importância da educação no campo para os campesinos. Desta forma, abordamos a importância de conhecer e estudar as leis que regulamentam a Educação do Campo, pois, a (...) prática educacional deve ser condizente com a realidade cotidiana, buscando valorizar a identidade e a cultura do campesinato. Além disso, este estudo visa ainda valorizar e defender a importância da educação no campo. Por fim, a presente pesquisa busca difundir as informações coletadas no Assentamento Roça do Povo, objetivando provocar inquietação na sociedade e aos órgãos públicos, para que possam olhar com maior atenção para a Educação do Campo e compreender a importância dela para os campesinos no Brasil, em especial na Bahia. (shrink)

Previous studies have explored the impact of magic tricks on different basic cognitive processes yet there is a need of examining effectiveness of a cognitive training program through magic tricks for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The present study examines the effectiveness and feasibility of the MAGNITIVE program, a manualized intervention for cognitive training through the learning of magic tricks. A total of 11 children with ADHD participated in separated groups of two different community settings, and were assessed at (...) pre-treatment, post-treatment, and a 3-month later follow-up in different tasks involving processing speed, sustained attention, selective attention, and mental flexibility. Using non parametric statistical analyses and Reliable Change Index, the results showed that these children receiving MAGNITIVE particularly improved their performance in sustained attention, shifting attention, and mental flexibility, changes were also observed in processing speed performance yet further research is needed in terms of selective attention and inhibition, given the great individual differences within this sample. Changes were maintained when the program was finished. In terms of viability, the study proved a good treatment integrity in different contexts, adherence to the curriculum, and high levels of engagement satisfaction. In this second clinical trial, MAGNITIVE program appears to be a feasible training program for children with ADHD, as an alternative for medication when possible. (shrink)

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has forced changes in patient care in Mental Health Day Hospitals.ObjectivesTo study the interventions performed in MHDHs during the pandemic in comparison with those performed in other facilities and to analyze the new hospital admissions in both groups.MethodA retrospective multicenter cohort study comparing the interventions received by a group of 161 patients admitted in MHDHs during the lockdown period in Spain with the interventions of another group of 109 patients who were treated at other facilities during lockdown.ResultsMHDHs (...) reduced their face-to-face interventions during lockdown just as much as other facilities but implemented telematic intervention methods to a greater extent. Patients attached to MHDHs during lockdown were admitted significantly less and presented fewer urgent consultations in the following 6 months.ConclusionThe use of telepsychiatry made it feasible to adapt MHDHs to periods of lockdown, being useful to improve the continuity of care during the pandemic. In addition, it was possible to maintain a reduction in hospital admissions in patients treated at MHDHs. (shrink)

History shows that up to 1870’s, the thermodynamic cycles, particularly Carnot’s cycle, were the most important heuristic instruments as much to formulate the general laws of physics as well to deduce the experimental laws. From this moment on, this instrument falls into disuse with surprising rapidity. At the end of this decade emerges a new thermodynamic formulation, proposed by Gibbs, the thermodynamics of the potentials. This sudden transition from thermodynamic of cycles to potentials was triggered by the difficult to approach (...) the emergence of the phase transition phenomena with the diagrammatic method. The main objective of the article is, then, to analyze the consequences of the substitution, by Gibbs, of the diagrammatic by the geometric method, particularly, its heuristic potential related to the proposal of the formulation of the thermodynamic of potentials. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To analyse the attitudes of medical personnel towards terminally ill patients and their right to be fully informed. DESIGN: Self-administered questionnaire composed of 56 closed questions. SETTING: Three general hospitals and eleven health centres in Granada (Spain). The sample comprised 168 doctors and 207 nurses. RESULTS: A high percentage of medical personnel (24.1%) do not think that informing the terminally ill would help them face their illness with greater serenity. Eighty-four per cent think the patient's own home is the (...) best place to die: 8.9% of the subjects questioned state that the would not like to be informed of an incurable illness. CONCLUSION: In our opinion any information given should depend on the patient's personality, the stage of the illness and family circumstances. Our study confirms that a hospital is not the ideal environment for attending to the needs of the terminally ill and their families. (shrink)

In explaining the outcome of the 2016 EU referendum in the United Kingdom, can theories emphasizing the importance of economic factors be reconciled with the fact that many people appeared to vote against their economic self-interest? This article approaches this puzzle through case study research that draws on fieldwork and a process of reciprocal knowledge exchange with local communities in five local authorities in England and Wales. It argues that the Leave vote can be attributed partly to political discontent associated (...) with trajectories of relative economic decline and deindustrialization. Building on the growing literature about the role of narratives and discourses in navigating uncertainty, it contends that these localized economic experiences, interpreted through local-level narratives, paved the way for local-level discourses of resilience and nationwide optimistic messaging about the economic impacts of Brexit to resonate. Local and national-level discourses discounting the potential economic costs of leaving the European Union played a crucial role in giving precise, somewhat paradoxical, political content to the sense of discontent. The article contributes to the growing focus on place and community in understanding political behavior and invites further research on local discourses linking macro-level trajectories and micro-level voting decisions. (shrink)

La historiografia reciente ha traído un cambio de perspectivas acerca de la filosofia medieval y su compleja configuración. En el mismo horizonte donde sólo la teología regía como la única verdad y perspectiva acerca del hombre y el mundo, otras disciplinas claman por defender su relevancia en la construcción de la cosmología medieval. En este caso podremos estudiar cómo la medicina sostuvo una especial relación con la filosofia. en el proceso de su definición como reformulación "pagana" de la escatología medieval (...) y como un nuevo modelo antropológico. (shrink)

The present article inquires into the uses of Medea’s tragedy as a representation of political sedition in the XVII century, especially in Hobbes’ works who introduces the myth with few variations three times in his work. We are interested in the semantic shifts in the use of a tragedy that, for multiple reasons –to which we will later return– works as an epochal catalyzer of the political and moral dangers with which regicide is symbolically burdened. This constant role, identifiable in (...) the versions of Euripides, Seneca, and Corneille, combines differently -through history- the pairing of seduction and sedition that we try to reconstruct as a convergent element of the tragic vision of politics that runs through Hobbes work. Finally, we explore how classic tragedy is used by Bramhall in his debate with Hobbes, highlighting the connection between tragic and heretical readings of the philosopher. (shrink)