This collection brings together fourteen contributions by authors from around the globe. Each of the contributions engages with questions about how local and global bioethical issues are made to be comparable, in the hope of redressing basic needs and demands for justice. These works demonstrate the significant conceptual contributions that can be made through feminists' attention to debates in a range of interrelated fields, especially as they formulate appropriate responses to developments in medical technology, global economics, population shifts, and poverty.

O priming semântico é um tipo de memória implícita que se caracteriza pelo efeito facilitador de um estímulo precedente no processamento de um estímulo posterior, causado pela relação semântica existente entre os dois. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar relações entre os efeitos de priming semânt..

Presents a unique view of the current state of development of bioethics in Latin America.

Ruy Perez Tamayo, Rubén Lisker, and Ricardo Tapia, La Construcción de la Bioética, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2007, reviewed by Arleen L. F. Salles.

This book brings the history of Latin American philosophy to an English-speaking audience through the prominent voices of Mauricio Beuchot, Horacio Cerutti-Guldberg, María Luisa Femenías, Jorge J. E. Gracia, Oscar R. Martí, León Olivé, Carlos Pereda, and Eduardo Rabossi. They argue that Spanish is not a philosophically irrelevant language and that there are original positions to be found in the work of Latin American philosophers.

Este artigo é fruto da pesquisa intitulada “O processo de encaminhamento e acolhimento no Asilo de Expostos da Santa Casa de Misericórdia da Bahia: um estudo sobre as origens dos enjeitados e as causas do abandono dos órfãos (1889- 1927).” Dentre os autores que fundamentam a presente pesquisa, destacamos Moncorvo Filho, Russel-Wood, Rizzini, Marcílio, estes autores comentam sobre momentos e pessoas ímpares relacionados à história da infância. O objetivo é analisar aspectos da história da assistência à infância no Brasil, a (...) partir da perspectiva de um dos médicos higienistas que mais se dedicou ao estudo da infância – Carlos Artur Moncorvo Filho (1871-1944). A fonte utilizada é o livro Histórico à Infancia no Brasil (1500-1922), publicado no ano de 1926. Considerado precursor das políticas de proteção à infância no Brasil, durante sua longa carreira como médico, iniciada na década de 1880, Carlos Artur Moncorvo Filho (1871-1944) publicou quase 400 obras em defesa da infância que lhe valeram reconhecimento internacional. Essa análise busca, basicamente, expor parte da narrativa do Dr. Carlos Artur Moncorvo Filho que já havia, então, publicado Higiene Infantil, em 1917, e Formulário de Doenças das Creanças, em 1923, considerados como obras de referência para a história da pediatria no Brasil. (shrink)

The ἐκπύρωσις, or world's conflagration, followed by the restoration of an identical world seems to go against the rationality of the Stoic god. The aim of this paper is to show that Cleanthes, the second head of the School, can avoid this paradox. According to Cleanthes, the conflagration is an inevitable side-effect of the necessary means used by god to sustain the world. Given that this side-effect is contrary to god's sustaining activity, but unavoidable, god's rationality requires the restoration of (...) an identical world once the conflagration subsides. The paper also deals with the relation between Cleanthes and other early Stoics on the topic of conflagration. In particular, Cleanthes' position seems to differ from Chrysippus'. For in contrast with the Cleanthean god, who causes the conflagration as a side-effect only, the Chrysippean god, according to an influential interpretation put forward by Jaap Mansfeld, causes the conflagration as his ultimate cosmological goal. (shrink)

With his insightful and wide-ranging theory of recognition, Axel Honneth has decisively reshaped the Frankfurt School tradition of critical social theory. Combining insights from philosophy, sociology, psychology, history, political economy, and cultural critique, Honneth’s work proposes nothing less than an account of the moral infrastructure of human sociality and its relation to the perils and promise of contemporary social life. This book provides an accessible overview of Honneth’s main contributions across a variety of fields, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of (...) his thought. Christopher Zurn clearly explains Honneth’s multi-faceted theory of recognition and its relation to diverse topics: individual identity, morality, activist movements, progress, social pathologies, capitalism, justice, freedom, and critique. In so doing, he places Honneth’s theory in a broad intellectual context, encompassing classic social theorists such as Kant, Hegel, Marx, Freud, Dewey, Adorno and Habermas, as well as contemporary trends in social theory and political philosophy. Treating the full range of Honneth’s corpus, including his major new work on social freedom and democratic ethical life, this book is the most up-to-date guide available. _Axel Honneth_ will be invaluable to students and scholars working across the humanities and social sciences, as well as anyone seeking a clear guide to the work of one of the most influential theorists writing today. (shrink)

Usamos cotidianamente um conjunto de expressões para captar, selecionar ou referir uma determinada coisa particular e podermos em seguida dizer algo sobre essa coisa. Expressões desse tipo incluem nomes próprios, como “Platão” ou “João”, descrições definidas, como “o rei da França” ou “o autor da República”, demonstrativos, como “este” ou “isto”, etc. O uso cotidiano de tais expressões pode parecer não envolver problema filosófico algum. Afinal, o que poderia haver de mais banal? Mas, infelizmente (ou felizmente?) há problemas filosóficos dificílimos (...) envolvidos aí. Bertrand Russell notou isso, e desenvolveu uma curiosa análise das expressões do segundo tipo mencionado, estendendo-a, posteriormente, às do primeiro tipo. Russell pensava que se a sua análise estivesse correta, seria capaz de resolver um conjunto de problemas filosóficos que vão da filosofia da linguagem à metafísica. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é propor uma introdução acessível a essa análise, conhecida como Teoria das Descrições, sem esquecer o número gigantesco de críticas e defesas levantadas a favor e contra ela. (shrink)

The recently published BRAIN 2.0 Neuroethics Report offers a very helpful overview of the possible ethical, social, philosophical, and legal issues raised by neuroscience in the context of BRAIN’s research priorities thus contributing to the attempt to develop ethically sound neuroscience. In this article, we turn to a running theme of the document: the need for an ethical framework for the BRAIN Initiative and for further integration of neuroethics and neuroscience. We assess some of the issues raised and provide an (...) explanation of how we have addressed them in the Human Brain Project. We offer our experience in the HBP as a potential contribution to the international debate about neuroethics in the big brain initiatives. Our hope is that among other things, the type of exchange proposed by this AJOB special issue will prove productive in further identifying and discussing the issues and in inspiring appropriate solutions. (shrink)

O objetivo deste texto é, primeiramente, expor os contornos gerais as críticas de David Hume ao que o filósofo escocês chamou epicurismo moderno. Trata-se das filosofias de Hobbes e de seus supostos epígonos, que, aos olhos de Hume, elegeram o amor próprio como origem fundamental de nossas ações e juízos. Num segundo momento, trata-se de delinear o lugar central do conceito de simpatia nesta crítica, bem como na constituição da moral humeana.

This book proposes a new solution to the problem of vagueness. There are several different ways of addressing this problem and no clear agreement on which one is correct. The author proposes that it should be understood as the problem of explaining vague predicates in a way that systematizes six intuitions about the phenomenon and satisfies three criteria of adequacy for an ideal theory of vagueness. The third criterion, which is called the “criterion of precisification”, is the most controversial one. (...) It is based on the intuition that a predicate is vague only if it is imprecise. The author considers some different definitions of linguistic imprecision, proposing that a predicate is imprecise if and only if there is no sharp boundary between objects to which its application yields some particular truth-value and objects to which its application does not yield that truth-value. The volume critically reviews the current theories of vagueness and proposes a new one, the Theory of Vagueness as Arbitrariness, which defines a vague predicate as an arbitrary predicate that must be precisified in order to contribute to a sentence that has truth-conditions. The main advantages of this theory over the current alternatives are that it satisfies all three criteria and systematizes the relevant intuitions. (shrink)

Um pedaço de barro solta-se de um grande barranco, formando por coincidência, e ao mesmo tempo, uma estátua de Machado de Assis. Três dias depois a estátua é completamente destruída; ao ser atingida por um machado ela se parte em vários pedaços. Chega ao fim, então, a existência tanto da estátua como do pedaço de barro da qual ela é feita. Notemos que ambos vieram a existir ao mesmo tempo e também ao mesmo tempo deixaram de existir. No período de (...) tempo que existiram tudo o que aconteceu a uma aconteceu a outra. Allan Gibbard acredita que com um exemplo deste tipo pode nos dar um caso de identidade contingente. No artigo “Contingent Identity” ele tenta mostrar a plausibilidade de um caso onde uma estátua s é igual ao pedaço de barro c e, no entanto, é possível que ambos existam e s seja diferente de c. Com isto ele pretende atacar algumas noções de Kripke sobre coisas concretas e nomes próprios. (shrink)

Recently, some have proposed moral bioenhancement as a solution to the serious moral evils that humans face. Seemingly disillusioned with traditional methods of moral education, proponents of bioenhancement believe that we should pursue and apply biotechnological means to morally enhance human beings. Such proposal has generated a lively debate about the permissibility of moral bioenhancement. We argue here that such debate is specious. The claim that moral bioenhancement is a solution – whether permissible or not – to the serious moral (...) problems that affect human beings is based on several problematic framing assumptions. We evaluate here three of such assumptions: the first rests on a contested understanding of morality, the second consist in a mistaken conception of human moral problems, and the third relates to problematic presuppositions grounding the interpretation of existent scientific evidence presented to defend moral bioenhancement. Once these framing assumptions are identified and critically evaluated, it becomes clear that the moral bioenhancement debate is misguided. (shrink)

Within the last decades, brain science has been offering new insights into the relationship among diverse psychological processes and the neural correlates of our moral thought and behavior. Despite the distinction between the explanatory/descriptive nature of science and the normative nature of morality, some neuroethicists have claimed that neuroscientific findings have normative implications. In this paper, I identify three interpretations of the claim. The first focuses on neuroscience’s role in explaining the origin of morality and of moral values and how (...) neurobiology is the bases of moral behavior. A second version is about the role that neuroscientific knowledge can play in showing the psychological plausibility of the moral psychology underlying some ethical approaches. Finally, a third version advances that neuroscience could play a role in determining the moral plausibility of some normative approaches. My aim is to delineate each version and highlight the issues raised to suggest that while neuroscience might provide information regarding the nature of moral reasoning, its role in the normative discussion itself is still quite limited. (shrink)

Este artigo é uma introdução crítica ao problema da vagueza. Não vou explicar ou avaliar as teorias da vagueza aqui. Meu objetivo é introduzir e discutir o próprio problema, com o intuito de alcançar uma formulação clara do mesmo. Minha formulação tornará claro quais condições uma teoria ideal da vagueza deveria satisfazer, assim como os principais obstáculos para desenvolver teorias que satisfaçam estas condições.

AI research is growing rapidly raising various ethical issues related to safety, risks, and other effects widely discussed in the literature. We believe that in order to adequately address those issues and engage in a productive normative discussion it is necessary to examine key concepts and categories. One such category is anthropomorphism. It is a well-known fact that AI’s functionalities and innovations are often anthropomorphized. The general public’s anthropomorphic attitudes and some of their ethical consequences have been widely discussed in (...) the literature. However, how anthropomorphism permeates AI research itself, and what the epistemological and ethical consequences of this might be have received less attention. In this paper we explore this issue. We first set the methodological/theoretical stage, making a distinction between a normative and a conceptual approach to the issues. Next, after a brief analysis of anthropomorphism and its manifestations in the public, we explore its presence within AI research with a particular focus on brain-inspired AI. Finally, on the basis of our analysis, we identify some potential epistemological and ethical consequences of the use of anthropomorphic language and discourse within the AI research community, thus reinforcing the need of complementing the practical with a conceptual analysis. (shrink)

The basis of stoic determinism (a) : everything has a cause -- The basis of stoic determinism (b) : causation is necessitating -- The threat of external determination -- Reflection and responsibility -- The three compatibilist theories of Chrysippus -- Epictetus on responsibility for unreflective action.

There is a growing resurgence in the study of psychedelic medicines for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. However, certain early investigations are marred by questionable research methods, abuses against research participants, and covert Central Intelligence Agency financial involvement. The purpose of this study was to understand how and to what extent people of colour and other vulnerable populations, specifically, individuals who were incarcerated or incapacitated due to mental health issues, were exploited during the first wave of (...) psychedelic research in the USA. To do so, we reviewed available empirical publications according to current ethical standards. Variables of interest included race and ethnicity of participants, population vulnerability, drug administration conditions, informed consent and undue influence. Our findings draw attention to the history of research abuses against people of colour in Western psychedelic research. In light of these findings, we urge a call-to-action to current psychedelic researchers to prioritise culturally inclusive and socially responsible research methods in current and future studies. All data relevant to the study are included in the article. (shrink)

Este artigo trata de três objeções à teoria do propósito. Essa teoria afirma que o único sentido que a nossa vida pode ter é satisfazer um propósito que Deus nos atribuiu. A primeira objeção que trabalharei afirma que seria incompatível com a bondade de Deus que Ele nos punisse por não cumprirmos o seu propósito. A segunda sugere que a oferta de um céu por cumprirmos o seu propósito seria ofensiva, poderia ser encarada como exploração. Por fim, a última é (...) a acusação feita por Kurt Baier de que o próprio fato de Deus nos atribuir um propósito seria ofensivo. Metz responde a essas três acusações em seu artigo "Poderá o propósito de Deus ser a única fonte de sentido para a vida?" acreditando escapar dessas acusações. Meu objetivo é mostrar que, embora Metz escape das duas primeiras, sua resposta ao argumento de Baier leva-o a ter que aceitar que Deus é injusto. (shrink)

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is an important ethical, legal, and political theme for the European Commission. Although variously defined, it is generally understood as an interactive process that engages social actors, researchers, and innovators who must be mutually responsive and work towards the ethical permissibility of the relevant research and its products. The framework of RRI calls for contextually addressing not just research and innovation impact but also the background research process, specially the societal visions underlying it and the (...) norms and priorities that shape scientific agendas. This requires the integration of anticipatory, inclusive, and responsive dimensions, and the nurturing of a certain type of reflexivity among a variety of stakeholders, from scientists to funders. In this paper, we do not address potential limitations but focus on the potential contribution of philosophical reflection to RRI in the context of the Ethics and Society subproject of the Human Brain Project (HBP). We show how the type of conceptual analysis provided by philosophically oriented approaches theoretically and ethically broadens research and innovation within the HBP. We further suggest that overt inclusion of philosophical reflection can promote the aims and objectives of RRI. (shrink)

The attempt to convene a discussion about childhood suggests a plurality of educative issues and raises important problems in the context of basic education. To recognize children in their specificity, and to engage and encounter them beyond the discourses produced about them seems to be a challenge today, most especially in the field of childhood education. The large majority of educational discourses assume a notion of childhood as inserted in chronological time, associated with the future, and constituting a doubtful minority. (...) The objective of this paper is to understand what significations and meanings are configuring the discursive practices maintained among teachers about the childhood.I start with the hypothesis that, despite the reconstitution of meaning that has occurred in the field, educators still associate the concept of childhood and its formation with the idea of becoming adult, and presume to explain the notion of childhood technically, in terms of a body of “scientific” knowledge. The research described here is based on an inquiry that took place in various Childhood Education Centers of the Public Municipal Network of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Although it is unfinished, this research, based on interviews, suggests that teacher discourses inhabit two discursive temporalities, and two childhoods: on the one side, the affirmation of the same, of unification, of linearity; on the other, the affirmation of difference, of novelty, of the singular. Although they enunciate different meanings for childhood, these meanings are not in themselves contradictory. They do, however, function in some way to maintain a form of schooling that lacks sensitivity to children and a more affirmative relationship to childhood in general, and which encloses itself in an adult vision of what children’s needs might be the. I try to show that those needs exceed the specificity of the teaching and learning typically encountered in schools, and to evaluate to what extent they are affirmed by scholarly notions of childhood. (shrink)

A Rhetoric of Ruins combines conceptual and theoretical frameworks to explore ghost towns, disaster sites, and environmental badlands as remnants of modernity. Methods of analysis include Jeremiadic, hauntological, psychogeographic, and heterotopian ways of reading U.S. and international sites.