The increasing application of artificial intelligence (AI) to healthcare raises both hope and ethical concerns. Some advanced machine learning methods provide accurate clinical predictions at the expense of a significant lack of explainability. Alex John London has defended that accuracy is a more important value than explainability in AI medicine. In this article, we locate the trade-off between accurate performance and explainable algorithms in the context of distributive justice. We acknowledge that accuracy is cardinal from outcome-oriented justice because it helps (...) to maximize patients’ benefits and optimizes limited resources. However, we claim that the opaqueness of the algorithmic black box and its absence of explainability threatens core commitments of procedural fairness such as accountability, avoidance of bias, and transparency. To illustrate this, we discuss liver transplantation as a case of critical medical resources in which the lack of explainability in AI-based allocation algorithms is procedurally unfair. Finally, we provide a number of ethical recommendations for when considering the use of unexplainable algorithms in the distribution of health-related resources. (shrink)

Se examina el problema de la circularidad argumental en la fundamentación del conocimiento desde la teoría de la argumentación. Los argumentos dirigidos a probar que sabemos son sospechosos de dos falacias: petición de principio y apelación a la ignorancia. Se examinan las definiciones clásicas de ambas falacias y se dictamina que bajo tales definiciones los argumentos fundamentadores serían falaces. A continuación se proporcionan nuevas definiciones de ambas falacias, más acordes con el trabajo reciente en teoría de la argumentación y se (...) sostiene que, bajo estas definiciones, no todos los argumentos fundamentadores son falaces. In this paper I examine the problem of circularity in the justification of knowledge from the point of view of argumentation theory. I introduce the expression founding argument for the arguments we use to try to prove that we know, and explain the classical account of the two fallacies that may be committed: ad ignorantiam and petitio principii. A new definition of both fallacies, based on recent work in the theory of argumentation, is used to show that not every founding argument is fallacious. (shrink)

Volume 20, Issue 7, July 2020, Page 106-109.

Nel 1929 avviene a Davos il famoso incontro tra Ernst Cassirer e Martin Heidegger che rappresenta il dibattito tra le correnti filosofiche dominanti nel mondo di lingua tedesca in quel momento, mentre ci si focalizza, nella sua risoluzione, sull’immediato futuro politico che avrebbe dovuto riguardare l'Europa, con i soliti mitmachen dell'università e della stragrande maggioranza dei suoi intellettuali, tra cuianche buoni sacerdoti e i barbieri di Cervantes, che bruciavano libri. Esattamente quattro secoli fa, tra gli altri, Lutero e Zwingli hanno (...) discusso nel cosiddetto Colloquio di Marburg, sul sacramento dell’Eucaristia, prendendo posizioni inconciliabili riguardo alla questione della presenza reale di Cristo in essa. Il presente documento intende dimostrare l'identità strutturale tra la discussione di Davos e quella del colloquio di Marburg, rivelando le sue dimensioni teologiche, che avranno, conosciute o meno, un enorme impatto sull'ulteriore sviluppo di discipline come la linguistica. (shrink)

Ce texte constitue un bref résumé de certains travaux en cours beaucoup plus longs et détaillés sur le concept de «trace» dans la théorie linguistique contemporaine, en particulier dans la syntaxe. On pense généralement que l'idée en revient à Noam Chomsky; cependant, nous découvrons déjà son utilisation, avec une valeur très précise, dans les premiers travaux de Zellig Harris sur la linguistique mathématique ou, pour être plus précis, sur les structures mathématiques du langage. À l'origine, plutôt que d'être un index (...) responsable du marquage de la place occupée par une unité antérieure à son mouvement syntaxique (qui prend toujours la forme d'un fronting), la trace était le résultat d'un produit matriciel entre des fonctions n-adiques. Ainsi, chez Harris, la trace est avant tout un concept ancré dans le calcul matriciel ou, autrement dit, une notion algébrique. La notion de Chomsky, à son tour, est étroitement liée au langage de programmation LISP. Ce texte cherche à fournir une analyse préliminaire de la complexité conceptuelle impliquée dans le concept de trace, dont les linguistes devraient prendre conscience, sous peine de s’embourber dans des incompréhensions stériles pour notre discipline au cours des décennies à venir. (shrink)

In this commentary, we criticize the argument that allowing euthanasia for people with disabilities is ableist. We analyze the distinction between facts and values in medical assistance in dying, the expressivist objection, and the problem of crypwashing.

O objetivo do estudo foi verificar evidência de validade simultânea para o Desenho da Figura Humana-Escala Sisto. Mais especificamente se o DFH-Escala Sisto diferencia as categorias de interpretação fornecidas pelo manual das Matrizes Progressivas Coloridas de Raven. Participaram 279 crianças do Ens..

This paper examines the influence of internal barriers on the relationship between the organizational capability of stakeholder integration and proactive environmental strategies. We adopt a moderate hierarchical regression model to test the hypotheses using data from a sample of 73 managers in the business education industry. The paper contributes to stakeholder theory by showing that stakeholder integration positively influences the development of proactive environmental strategies when managers perceive internal barriers to the development of such strategies. This article also explores an (...) ethical dilemma—managers may use the stakeholder integration capability to support their own interests rather than to benefit stakeholders. (shrink)

In this paper I critically evaluate the Implicit Definition Theory and its possibility of resolution of two main problems concerning logical knowledge: the explication and the justification. I point at five results that can be obtained: apriority, factuality, normativity applicability and non-circularity. I argue that in case of explication all mentioned results can be obtained but in case of justification the circularity is inevitable. In the last paragraph I propose a solution of this problem.

En este artículo se examinan críticamente dos propuestas de solución a losargumentos escépticos, la del Wittgenstein de “Sobre la Certeza” y la másreciente de Crispin Wright, y se propone una alternativa. Tras describir losaspectos positivos de ambas propuestas, se las acusa de un defecto que lasinvalida, al que se denomina “fundamentalismo” (básicamente, el de no permitirla revisión de los sistemas epistémicos) y se propone una estrategia desolución del problema.

En este trabajo se evalúa críticamente el papel de la Teoría de las Definiciones Implícitas en la resolución de dos problemas en torno al conocimiento de la lógica: el problema de la explicación , y el problema de la justificación . Se fijan cinco resultados a alcanzar: aprioricidad, factualismo, normatividad, aplicabilidad y no circularidad viciosa. Se argumentará que, aunque dichos resultados se pueden alcanzar respecto al problema de la explicación, no se evita la circularidad viciosa en el problema de la (...) justificación. (shrink)

Tras una breve presentación / explicación de la noción de similaridad intermundana que se utiliza en lógica condicional, se explican cuatro nociones intuitivas, pre-teóricas, de similaridad, así como las implicaciones formales que posee su adopción como correlato informal para la noción técnica de similaridad entre mundos: parecido entre objetos, magnitud del cambio, semejanza estructural, y probabilidad / posibilidad de eventos. Por ultimo, se retoman dos problemas tradicionales de la lógica condicional a la luz de los conceptos recién definidos: la asunción (...) de unicidad (vinculada al tercio excluso condicional), y el principio de comparabilidad (vinculada al principio de monotonía racional). (shrink)

El propósito de este artículo es mostrar las diferencia entre las verdades lógicas y el resto de verdades analíticas, y en especial mostrar los distintos tratamientos formales.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo buscar evidências de validade baseada na relação com variáveis externas para a Escala de Suporte Laboral (ESUL). Participaram 175 universitários trabalhadores de ambos os sexos. Para a coleta de dados, além da ESUL, foi utilizada a Escala de Identificação Organizacio..

O processo de resposta do Teste Pictórico de Memória (TEPIC-M) classifica seus itens em três categorias sequenciais (céu, terra e água). Assim, aventou-se a hipótese que pessoas com uma familiaridade diária com o mar (Aracaju-grupo A) lembrariam mais desses itens quando comparadas com pessoas sem es..

Pritchard sostiene que la condición de habilidad y la condición de seguridad le imponen demandas independientes al conocimiento, i.e., que la satisfacción de una no implica la satisfacción de la otra y que, por lo tanto, ninguna de ellas es suficiente por sí misma para ofrecer una caracterización adecuada de esta noción. Argumento, por el contrario, que no hay buenas razones para pensar que la condición de seguridad es insuficiente. Empleando algunos conceptos de Greco y Pritchard y Kallestrup para caracterizar (...) a las habilidades cognitivas y el caso del mentiroso consistente de Lackey, argumento que TEMP, el caso clave de Pritchard para mostrar que puede haber seguridad sin habilidad, no funciona porque el proceso cognitivo relevante constituye una realización legítima, aunque anómala, de una habilidad. Pritchard maintains that the ability and the safety conditions impose independent demands on knowledge, i.e., that satisfying only one of them is not sufficient to acquire knowledge. I argue that there are no good reasons to suppose that the safety condition is not sufficient. I claim that TEMP, the key case proposed by Pritchard to show that there can be safety without ability, fails because therelevant cognitive process constitutes a legitimate, although anomalous, realization of a cognitive ability. (shrink)

The main aim of this article is to reflect on the impact of biases related to artificial intelligence (AI) systems developed to tackle issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, with special focus on those developed for triage and risk prediction. A secondary aim is to review assessment tools that have been developed to prevent biases in AI systems. In addition, we provide a conceptual clarification for some terms related to biases in this particular context. We focus mainly on nonracial biases (...) that may be less considered when addressing biases in AI systems in the existing literature. In the manuscript, we found that the existence of bias in AI systems used for COVID-19 can result in algorithmic justice and that the legal frameworks and strategies developed to prevent the apparition of bias have failed to adequately consider social determinants of health. Finally, we make some recommendations on how to include more diverse professional profiles in order to develop AI systems that increase the epistemic diversity needed to tackle AI biases during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. (shrink)

Background Providing understandable information to patients is necessary to achieve the aims of the Informed Consent process: respecting and promoting patients’ autonomy and protecting patients from harm. In recent decades, new, primarily digital technologies have been used to apply and test innovative formats of Informed Consent. We conducted a systematic review to explore the impact of using digital tools for Informed Consent in both clinical research and in clinical practice. Understanding, satisfaction and participation were compared for digital tools versus the (...) non-digital Informed Consent process. Methods We searched for studies on available electronic databases, including Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane. Studies were identified using specific Mesh-terms/keywords. We included studies, published from January 2012 to October 2020, that focused on the use of digital Informed Consent tools for clinical research, or clinical procedures. Digital interventions were defined as interventions that used multimedia or audio–video to provide information to patients. We classified the interventions into 3 different categories: video only, non-interactive multimedia, and interactive multimedia. Results Our search yielded 19,579 publications. After title and abstract screening 100 studies were retained for full-text analysis, of which 73 publications were included. Studies examined interactive multimedia, non-interactive multimedia, and videos, and most studies were conducted on adults. Innovations in consent were tested for clinical/surgical procedures and clinical research. For research IC, 21 outcomes were explored, with a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes being observed in 8/12 studies. For clinical/surgical procedures 49 outcomes were explored, and 21/26 studies reported a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes. Conclusions Digital technologies for informed consent were not found to negatively affect any of the outcomes, and overall, multimedia tools seem desirable. Multimedia tools indicated a higher impact than videos only. Presence of a researcher may potentially enhance efficacy of different outcomes in research IC processes. Studies were heterogeneous in design, making evaluation of impact challenging. Robust study design including standardization is needed to conclusively assess impact. (shrink)

Dejó dicho Jean Cocteau que su pesimismo no era sino una variedad de su optimismo. Se acordaba uno de este aforismo mientras atendía a las intervenciones de Javier Gomá y Alain Finkielkraut en el Institut Français de Madrid.1 Acaso el optimismo del español llegaba a desazonar un tanto más que el pesimismo del francés. Las diatribas de Finkielkraut, defensor acérrimo de la educación republicana francesa, dirigidas al periodo que abarca las últimas cuatro décadas, encontraban en Gomá, apólogo de la (...) ejemplaridad2 como método pedagógico y del cosmopolitismo ilustrado —“Ser español es la manera más práctica de ser contemporáneo”, subrayó aquel día—, respuesta en forma de pregunta: “¿En qué otra época preferirías vivir?”. Pregunta que resulta ciertamente tramposa cuando de lo que se trata es de analizar la deriva de las democracias liberales de un tiempo a esta parte, considerando a lo que se tendía ayer y pensando donde, en efecto, estamos hoy... (shrink)

Contemporary biological research has suggested that some host–microbiome multispecies systems (referred to as “holobionts”) can in certain circumstances evolve as unique biological individual, thus being a unit of selection in evolution. If this is so, then it is arguably the case that some biological adaptations have evolved at the level of the multispecies system, what we call hologenomic adaptations. However, no research has yet been devoted to investigating their nature, or how these adaptations can be distinguished from adaptations at the (...) species-level (genomic adaptations). In this paper, we cover this gap by investigating the nature of hologenomic adaptations. By drawing on the case of the evolution of sanguivory diet in vampire bats, we argue that a trait constitutes a hologenomic adaptation when its evolution can only be explained if the holobiont is considered the biological individual that manifests this adaptation, while the bacterial taxa that bear the trait are only opportunistic beneficiaries of it. We then use the philosophical notions of emergence and inter-identity to explain the nature of this form of individuality and argue why it is special of holobionts. Overall, our paper illustrates how the use of philosophical concepts can illuminate scientific discussions, in the trend of what has recently been called metaphysics of biology. (shrink)

¿Puede la inteligencia artificial (IA) hacernos más morales o ayudarnos a tomar decisiones más éticas? El libro Más (que) humanos. Biotecnología, inteligencia artificial y ética de la mejora, editado por Francisco Lara y Julian Savulescu (2021), puede inspirarnos filosóficamente sobre este debate contemporáneo. En esta nota crítica, contextualizo la aportación general del volumen y analizo los dos últimos capítulos de Monasterio-Astobiza y de Lara y Deckers, quienes argumentan a favor del uso de la IA para hacernos mejores agentes morales. El (...) objetivo es ampliar y matizar críticamente algunas cuestiones clave sobre cómo la IA puede asistirnos para tomar decisiones más éticas. (shrink)

Feminist reflections on the sexual division of labour have given rise to a body of knowledge on the ethics of care from different disciplines, including philosophy, in which outstanding contributions to the topic have been formulated. This approach is applicable to the analysis of any phenomenon and particularly that of disasters. As various investigations have highlighted, the consequences on the population throughout all of a disaster’s phases (prevention, emergency, and reconstruction) require an analysis of differentiated vulnerabilities based on gender and (...) other identity categories, such as social class, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual identity, etc. The interrelation between all these variables gives rise to differentiated impacts that cannot be ignored in catastrophic contexts, where survival and sustaining life are at stake, so care becomes a central issue. Research on the topic has also identified that, along with the analysis of social vulnerability, we must consider the capacity for agency, both individual and collective, where care is once again of vital importance. Considering the gender approach and its multiple intersections is thus a fundamental theoretical-practical proposal for the study of disasters from philosophy, as it implies an unavoidable epistemic, ontological, and ethical reflection in the face of risk reduction. (shrink)

Bourrat and Griffiths :33, 2018) have recently argued that most of the evidence presented by holobiont defenders to support the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals is not to the point and is not even adequate to discriminate multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages that would not be considered evolutionary individuals by most holobiont defenders. They further argue that an adequate criterion to distinguish the two categories is fitness alignment, presenting the notion of fitness boundedness as a criterion that (...) allows divorcing true multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages and provides an adequate criterion to single out genuine evolutionary multispecies assemblages. A consequence of their criterion is that holobionts, as conventionally defined by hologenome defenders, are not evolutionary individuals except in very rare cases, and for very specific host-symbiont associations. This paper is a critical response to Bourrat and Griffiths’ arguments and a defence of the arguments presented by holobiont defenders. Drawing upon the case of the hologenomic basis of the evolution of sanguivory in vampire bats, I argue that Bourrat and Griffiths overlook some aspects of the biological nature of the microbiome that justifies the thesis that holobionts are evolutionarily different to other multispecies assemblages. I argue that the hologenome theory of evolution should not define the hologenome as a collection of genomes, but as the sum of the host genome plus some traits of the microbiome which together constitute an evolutionary individual, a conception I refer to as the stability of traits conception of the hologenome. Based on that conception I argue that the evidence presented by holobiont defenders is to the point, and supports the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals. In this sense, the paper offers an account of the holobiont that aims to foster a dialogue between hologenome advocates and hologenome critics. (shrink)

The hologenome concept of evolution is a hypothesis about the evolution of animals and plants. It asserts that the evolution of animals and plants was partially triggered by their interactions with their symbiotic microbiomes. In that vein, the hologenome concept posits that the holobiont (animal host + symbionts of the microbiome) is a unit of selection. -/- The hologenome concept has been severely criticized on the basis that selection on holobionts would only be possible if there were a tight transgenerational (...) host-genotype-to-symbiont-genotype connection. As our current evidence suggests that this is not the case for most of the symbiont species that compose the microbiome of animals and plants, the opportunity for holobiont selection is very low in relation to the opportunity for selection on each of the species that compose the host microbiome. Therefore, holobiont selection will always be disrupted ‘from below’, by selection on each of the species that compose the microbiome. -/- This thesis constitutes a conceptual effort to defend philosophically the hologenome concept. I argue that the criticism according to which holobiont selection requires tight transgenerational host-genotype-to-symbiont-genotype connection is grounded on a metaphysical view of the world according to which the biological hierarchy needs to be nested, such that each new level of selection includes every entity from below. Applied to hologenomes, it entails that the hologenome is a collection of genomes, and selection of hologenomes is assumed to entail cospeciation of the host with the species that constitute its microbiome. -/- Against that interpretation, I propose the ‘stability of traits’ account, according to which hologenome evolution is the result of the action of natural selection in a non-nested hierarchical world. In that vein, hologenome evolution does not entail cospeciation, and thus it does not require tight transgenerational host-genotype-to-symbiont-genotype connection. By embracing a multilevel selection perspective, I argue that hologenome evolution results from the simultaneous action of natural selection on each of the lineages that compose the microbiome, and on the assemblage composed by the host genome plus the functional traits of its microbiome. Hologenome selection occurs when the evolution of the traits of the microbiome result from their effects on the fitness of the host, and it can take the form of multilevel selection 1, or multilevel selection 2. In both cases, hologenome selection entails the evolution of microbiome traits, as well as evolution of the host genome, rather than cospeciation of lineages. (shrink)

1. Le fe por la palabra -- 2. Topía y Utopía -- 3. Luz en la caverna.