Meaning of place is usually approached as slow social cognitive construction. However, grounded on the theory of affordances, it may also stem from direct perception-action processes, which enable the formation of immediate perceived functional, social or symbolic meaning of place (Raymond, Kyttä, & Stedman, 2017). In the present study, affordances of places, which are perceived by a specific perceiver in a specific place, were mapped using a web-map survey. Each place offers opportunities for interaction, behavior, use, feeling or meaning, which (...) is directly perceived and actualized there. This paper aims at identifying the degree of youth-friendliness of urban neighborhoods using the hypothetical intertwined model of independent mobility and actualized affordances (Kyttä, 2004) combined with place use and meaning (Broberg, Kyttä, & Fagerholm, 2013). SoftGISchildren methodology (Broberg, Kyttä, et al., 2013) was adopted to carry out a cross-sectional research, involving 145 sixth to ninth graders of the Great Lisbon area. SoftGIS integrates Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS), enabling collection and place mapping of daily subjective environmental experiences in the physical environment, consequently allowing for individuals to be actively engaged in public processes of participation (Brown & Kyttä,2014). A place based web survey called “Ideal City: a game of graphic imagination” was adopted. Participants were asked to map their home place, select and mark social, functional, leisure and emotional place transactions, and report actual and ideal mobility to these places. Findings on mobility showed that shorter distances to meaningful affordances of places promote active and independent travel; ideally, youths would like to be more frequently active and more frequently autonomous. As for meaningful places, a total of 1632 affordances were localized, with a higher number on social category. Neighborhood area (500 meters around home place) was assessed as youth-friendly, where active and independent travel occurred more frequently, and social affordances were the most expressive type. Relational and affectional experience in the neighborhood places was meaningful for youth. Municipalities should consider these features when planning, designing and managing residential areas aiming for the well-being and health of young citizens; and include youths as specialists of space (spatialists) in planning participatory processes (PPGIS). (shrink)

Celebrando os quarenta anos de A Hermenêutica do Sujeito — o curso ministrado por Michel Foucault no Collège de France, em 1982 —, este texto propõe-se a estabelecer conexões, gerais e específicas, entre aquele curso e a Educação. É feita uma discussão acerca da perspectiva analítica não metafísica adotada por Foucault, em contraste com o atual discurso pedagógico interpretativo dominante. São discutidos os sentidos que se pode dar a alguns insights daquele curso, em suas relações com a Educação contemporânea. Propondo-se (...) uma diferenciação entre pedagogia e Pedagogia, destaca-se a função subjetivante das práticas pedagógicas na educação escolarizada. Argumenta-se em favor da ontologia histórica, em oposição à ontologia transcendental e recorre-se ao conceito de frame, de modo a ressaltar sua importância e limitações em estudos como este. Discute-se a inversão moderna que colocou ênfase no preceito do “conhece-te a ti mesmo” (gnôthi seautón), deixando em segundo plano o preceito do “cuida de ti mesmo” (epiméleia heautoû), do que resultou a substituição do ideal antigo do sujeito das ações corretas pelo ideal moderno do sujeito dos saberes verdadeiros. Sugere-se que a Educação possa contribuir para suspender a anunciada morte do sujeito ou, pelo menos, mitigar os seus efeitos. Palavras-chave: Foucault; Subjetivação; Pedagogia; Ontologia histórica. Weaves: between Hermeneutics of the Subject and Education Abstract: Celebrating the forty years of The Hermeneutics of the Subject —the course by Michel Foucault at the Collège de France, in 1982—, this text proposes to establish connections, both general and specific, between that course and Education. A discussion is made about the non-metaphysical analytical perspective adopted by Foucault, in contrast to current dominant interpretive pedagogical discourses. The meanings that can be given to some insights from that course are discussed, in their relations with education. Proposing a differentiation between pedagogy and Pedagogy, the subjectivizing function of pedagogical practices in schools is highlighted. We argue in favor of historical ontology, as opposed to transcendental ontology, and we resort to the concept of frame, in order to emphasize its importance and limitations in foucauldian studies. We discuss the modern inversion that placed emphasis on the precept “know thyself” (gnôthi seautón), leaving in the background the precept “take care of yourself” (epiméleia heautoû), which resulted in the replacement of the ideal of the subject of correct actions by the modern ideal of the subject of true knowledge. We suggest that Education can contribute to suspend the announced death of the subject or, at least, mitigate its effects. Keywords: Foucault; Subjectivizing; Pedagogy; Historical ontology. Tesituras: entre la Hermenéutica del Sujeto y la Educación Resumen: Celebrando los cuarenta años de La Hermenéutica del Sujeto —curso por Michel Foucault en el Collège de France, en 1982—, este texto se propone establecer conexiones generales y específicas, entre ese curso y la Educación. Se discute la perspectiva no-metafísica adoptada por Foucault, en contraste con el actual discurso pedagógico interpretativo dominante. Se problematizan los sentidos que se pueden dar a algunos insigths de aquel curso, en sus relaciones con la educación contemporánea. Se propone una diferenciación entre pedagogía y Pedagogía y se destaca la función de subjetivación de las prácticas pedagógicas en las escuelas. Se argumenta a favor de la ontología histórica, en oposición a la ontología transcendental, y se recurre al concepto de frame, para enfatizar su importancia y limitaciones en estudios foucaultianos. Se discute la idea moderna que puso énfasis en el precepto de “conócete a ti mismo” (gnôthi seautón), dejando en segundo plano el “cuida de ti mismo” (epiméleia heautoû), lo que derivó en la sustitución del ideal antiguo del sujeto de las acciones correctas, por el ideal moderno del sujeto del conocimiento verdadero. Se sugiere que la Educación puede contribuir a suspender la anunciada muerte del sujeto o, al menos, mitigar sus efectos. Palabras clave: Foucault; Subjetivación; Pedagogia; Ontologia histórica. Data de registro: 08/07/2022 Data de aceite: 13/12/2022. (shrink)

This article intends to address the problem about God, consciousness and gnostic legacy to modernity, whose immanent nature leads to serious philosophical conclusions. Indeed, the most important concept of contemporary idealism, within philosophy of religion, is consciousness, which is related with human’s individualism and self-sufficiency. In a cosmic approach, this doctrine proposes a pantheistic view of the universe and a paradigm of man’s deification and self-redemption, whose mainstream is the New Era’s spirituality without religion. Finally, an outline of Thomist doctrines (...) on God’s transcendence and the human intellect is offered, as a proposal for a philosophy of religion based on common sense. (shrink)

O bem-estar pessoal de adolescentes é um tema de crescente interesse na literatura científica, especialmente quando se considera a escassez de artigos que considerem o ponto de vista dos adolescentes. Este estudo busca analisar relações entre bem-estar pessoal de pais e filhos e seus valores aspirad..

O presente artigo propõe-se a analisar as vantagens do acesso aos documentos digitais e ao mesmo tempo, apontar desafios encontrados ao pesquisar em documentos impressos. Neste intuito, discorre-se brevemente sobre uma experiência vivida ao pesquisar em acervos físicos e digitais em bibliotecas portuguesas. Como fundamentação teórica, busca dar ênfase aos documentos de valor histórico e ressaltar a relevância do uso da tecnologia no acesso à informação. Como resultado, o estudo permitiu constatar que o uso da tecnologia da informação aplicada ao (...) patrimônio documental oferece inúmeros ganhos tanto em relação à redução de tempo quanto aos custos empregados com a reprodução de cópias e da massa documental acumulada. Por fim, pode-se perceber que ainda é insignificante o número de instituições que investem nesses recursos, o que dificulta o acesso a esse patrimônio e consequentemente compromete o papel de responsabilidade social, o de disponibilizar os documentos à sociedade em tempo hábil. (shrink)

This book discusses the question of whether legal interpretation is a scientific activity. The law’s dependency on language, at least for the usual communication purposes, not only makes legal interpretation the main task performed by those whose work involves the law, but also an unavoidable step in the process of resolving a legal case. This task of decoding the words and sentences used by normative authorities while enacting norms, carried out in compliance with the principles and rules of the natural (...) language adopted, is prone to all of the difficulties stemming from the uncertainty intrinsic to all linguistic conventions. In this context, seeking to determine whether legal interpretation can be scientific or, in other words, can comply with the requirements for scientific knowledge, becomes a central question. In fact, the coherent application of the law depends on a knowledge regarding the meaning of normative sentences that can be classified as being structured, systematically organized and tendentially objective. Accordingly, this book focuses on analyzing precisely these problems; its respective contributions offer a range of revealing perspectives on both the problems and their ramifications. (shrink)

O autor Darlei Dall’Agnol é formado em Filosofia pela Universidade de Caxias do sul e cursou mestrado em Filosofia na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, com uma dissertação sobre ética e linguagem em Wittgestein; fez Doutorado em Filosofia na Universidade de Bristol, Inglaterra, defendendo tese sobre valor intrínseco na ética de Moore. Publicou vários livros na área de Ética e possui inúmeros artigos e capítulos de livros publicados no Brasil e no exterior. Algumas das obras desse autor são: (...) Ética e Linguagem: uma Introdução ao Tractatus de Wittgenstein, Valor Intrínseco – Metaética, ética normativa e ética prática em G. E. Moore, ambas com publicação em 2005. (shrink)

Neste artigo abordaremos a questão da mentira, em Kant, vinculando a questões de ordem moral. Pois, sendo a ética e o direito ramos da moral, o problema da mentira encontra-se em saber se ela é uma questão ética ou jurídica, ou se é um problema moral, que engloba tanto a ética como o direito, que não legitimam tal ato. Iniciaremos esta unidade com a análise dos conceitos de moral, ética e direito buscando compreender o que constitui cada um desses campos (...) da cultura e qual a distinção entre ambos. Em seguida trataremos, em especial, da questão da mentira na filosofia prática de Kant, abordando o seu posicionamento ético sobre o ato de mentir, onde é levantada a questão em saber se uma falsa declaração pode ser legitimada ou não. Por fim, analisaremos o debate entre Kant e Benjamim Constant, sobre a problemática da mentira, onde será tratada a questão de um suposto direito de mentir e dos princípios gerais e intermediários, a saber, se é possível a aplicação de um princípio geral de forma absoluta isolada sem o auxílio de princípios intermediários. (shrink)

Es una tesis admitida y común la que sostiene que Descartes introdujo la forma moderna del método y del quehacer filosófico, caracterizados ambos por su desconexión del terreno de la espiritualidad, del cuidado de sí, de la ascesis y de toda una forma de vida. Se considera que Foucault compartía esa tesis, lo que en su momento criticaría Pierre Hadot. En el presente trabajo tratamos de mostrar que la forma en que Descartes elaboró su método y su propuesta no se (...) ajusta a aquella tesis recibida. En él se mantiene la relación antigua entre filosofía y espiritualidad, método y paideía. Una vez mostrado esto, apuntamos finalmente cómo en él, sin embargo, se abrió la vía para que se diera la ruptura que él no practicó. (shrink)

ResumoAs práticas culturais fundem, a todo o momento, diferentes relações entre sistemas culturais (EVEN-ZOHAR, 1990) que antes eram separados. Tais manifestações híbridas reconfiguram e desterritorializam processos simbólicos. Nesse sentido, o presente artigo realiza uma análise comparatista das relações intertextuais presentes na configuração artística do álbum Esú, do rapper brasileiro Baco Exu do Blues, em especial na faixa “Capitães de Areia” em relação ao romance quase homônimo de Jorge Amado, às referências à mitologia dos Erês, e à série fotográfica Laróyè, (...) de Mario Cravo Neto. Para analisar as implicações dessas inter-relações na configuração cultural e identitária da obra, buscamos aporte teórico-crítico no campo dos Estudos Culturais pela perspectiva de conceitos que tentam dar conta desses processos, acerca do Hibridismo, em Néstor García Canclini, e das reflexões sobre sincretismo religioso em Sérgio Ferretti.Palavras-chave: Capitães da Areia; Hibridismo; sincretismo religioso; práticas culturais. AbstractCultural practices merge, at all times, different relationships with cultural systems (EVENN-ZOHAR, 1991) that were previously separated. Such hybrid manifestations reconfigure and deterritorialize symbolic processes. In this sense, this article performs a comparative analysis of the intertextual relations present in the artistic configuration of the album Esú, by rapper Baco Exu do Blues, especially the track “Capitães de Areia” and references to the mythology of the Erês, to the novel by Jorge Amado and Laróyè photographic series by Mario Cravo Neto. To analyze the implications of these interrelations in the cultural and identity configuration of the work, we seek theoretical-critical support in the field of Cultural Studies from the perspective of concepts that try to account for these processes, about Hybridism in Néstor García Canclini and reflections on religious syncretism in Sérgio Ferreti.Keywords: Capitães da Areia; Hybridity; religious syncretism; cultural practices. (shrink)

This article examines Aristotle's views concerning the possibility of friendship between human beings and nonhuman animals. The suggestion that he denies this possibility is rejected. I reassess the textual evidence adduced by scholars in support of this reading, while adding new material for discussion. Central to the traditional reading is the assumption that animals, in Aristotle's view, cannot be friends in virtue of their cognitive limitations. I argue that Aristotle's account of animal cognition is perfectly consistent with the possibility of (...) friendship between human beings and nonhuman animals. (shrink)

John Ackrill argued that Aristotelian bodies are conceptually promiscuous, since they fail to exemplify the modal relations that are expected to hold between their matter and their form. Although “potentially alive”, organic bodies are bound to be ensouled, on pain of lacking the required potential; but to the extent that they are ensouled, they are already actually alive. It seems odd to claim that a body may lack what it cannot help having. This paper claims that the standard solution falls (...) short of the strong unity living beings display, given that nothing in them can be accidentally alive. An alternative proposal is advanced, based on two distinctions Aristotle draws in his philosophical lexicon: both matter and form have a claim to being called “nature”; formal nature may be found in its subject either in actuality or in potentiality. It is argued that the characterization of organic bodies as “potentially alive” conforms to, a pattern that helps explain the specific way in which bodies share in the organisms’ life. Two possible instances of are finally considered by way of illustration. (shrink)

En mayo de 2003 se celebró la duodécima edición de las «Conferencias Aranguren». Jorge Semprún dictó tres conferencias magistrales tituladas «Kant y la mochila del maquis», «El mal radical y las letrinas de Buchenwald» y «Literatura y memoria del mal: de Sartre a Paul Ricoeur», agrupadas todas ellas bajo el título genérico de Memoria del mal. El hilo conductor de las tres intervenciones fue la experiencia de Semprún como deportado político en el campo de concentración de Buchenwald, tan cercano (...) al Weimar de Schiller y Goethe. Allí pudo experimentar el mal radical, pero también la fraternidad, a través de los grupos de resistencia antifascista que coordinaban en el campo los distintos grupos políticos clandestinos. Esta experiencia le sirvió para repasar las lecturas filosóficas que había realizado en su época de estudiante de Filosofía en la Sorbona, así como las que le interesaron una vez terminada la guerra. De esta forma, Semprún hizo un recorrido por distintos autores argumentando la relación de los mismos con el problema del mal. (shrink)

I argue that there are different orders of mechanisms with different constitutive relevance and individuation conditions. In common first-order mechanistic explanations, constitutive relevance norms are captured by the matched-interlevel-experiments condition (Craver et al. (2021) Synthese 199:8807–8828). Regarding individuation, we say that any two mechanisms are of the same type when they have the same concrete components performing the same activities in the same arrangement. By contrast, in higher-order mechanistic explanations, we formulate the decompositions in terms of generalized basic components (GBCs). (...) These GBCs (e.g., logic gates) possess causal properties that are common to a set of physical systems. Mechanistic explanations formulated in terms of GBCs embody the epistemic value of horizontal integration, which aims to explain as many phenomena as possible with a minimal amount of abstract components (Wajnerman Paz (2017a) Philos Psychol 30:213–234). Two higher-order mechanisms are of the same type when they share all the same GBCs, and they are organized as performing the same activities with the same interactions. I use this notion of mechanistic order to enhance the mechanistic account of computation (MAC) and provide an account of the epistemic norms of computational explanation and the nature of medium-independent functional properties and mechanisms. Finally, I use these new conceptual tools to address four criticisms of the MAC. (shrink)

The objective of the communication is to analyze the characteristics of the training projects and their relationship with the development of collaborative work in Higher Education Institutions. As a study methodology, a documentary investigation was carried out, through the review and obtaining of information in various bibliographical sources. The results indicate that training projects are a strategy aimed at training people who, in a collaborative way and with the support of new technologies, are able to mobilize their knowledge in solving (...) their most pressing context problems, so they differ from traditional educational practices, in which knowledge are transmitted by the teacher in an academic manner. In conclusion, it is necessary to continue carrying out theoretical and empirical studies that enable the educational change required by the society of our time. (shrink)

Principialismo, bioética personalista y principios de acción en medicina y en servicios de salud Principialismo, bioética personalista e princípios de ação em medicina e serviços de saúde Since there is a gap and differences between bioethical concepts and other principles of action arising from the practice of modern medicine, their comparison is reasonable. Modern medicine has created principles of action based on evidence and principles of quality in medicine, and bioethical argumentation frequently resorts to principlism or personalist bioethics. This article (...) intends to illustrate the characteristics of the relationships between these concepts and their potential mutual enrichment. A simple, practical comparison matrix is proposed to compare the relationship between principles. These concepts have a significant overlap; however, both in the history of ideas and in their formulation, they are very dissimilar. Emphasis is placed on the contextual value of this analysis given by global health trends and some implications for medicine from personalist bioethics. Para citar este artículo / To reference this article / Para citar este artigo Insua JT. Principialismo, bioética personalista y principios de acción en medicina y en servicios de salud. pers. bioét. 2018; 22: 223-246. DOI: 10.5294/pebi.2018.22.2.3. (shrink)

Este artículo se divide en tres partes. En la primera se procura situar la argumentación de Kant siguiendo todos los pasos dados en la Fundamentación III. Se optó por seguir la división interna comunmente aceptada, y no los conjuntos de parágrafos indicados por McCarthy. En la segunda, se desarrolla la crítica rea li za da por Allison. En la tercera, finalmente, se discuten, breve y sintéticamente, tres interrogantes: i) la relación entre la libertad transcendental y el imperativo categórico; ii) el (...) problema del círculo vicioso oculto y iii) las dos fallas de la deducción de la libertad en Fundamentación III, identificadas por Allison, comparando su argumentación con la de McCarthy.This article is divided into three parts. In the first part Kant´s argumentation following all the steps given in Fundamentación III is explained. The commonly accepted internal division was fol lowed, and not the sets of para graphs indicated by McCarthy. In the second part, the criticism developed by Allison is developed. In the third part, three questions are quickly and syntheti cally discussed; i) the relation be tween transcenden tal liberty and the categorical imperitive; ii) the problem of the hid denviscious circle, and iii) two errors in the deduction of liberty in Fundamentación III, identified by Allison, comparing his argumentation with that of McCarthy. (shrink)

Este ensaio discute a relevância de algumas abordagens epistemológicas, éticas e políticas de Jürgen Habermas para a análise de práticas de justiça de transição. Como objeto da análise, parte-se da experiência do autor como consultor de um dos grupos de trabalho da Comissão Nacional da Verdade brasileira, que foi estabelecida pela Lei 12528/2011. A construção da análise é teórica e não empírica, portanto despreza para efeitos argumentativos os meandros das investigações, depoimentos, audiências públicas e outros mecanismos de pesquisa efetivamente usados (...) pelos grupos de trabalho da Comissão Nacional da Verdade. O escopo da investigação é o papel da busca cooperativa da verdade, como empreendimento epistemológico, na consecução de elementos que favoreçam a reconciliação nacional e ao estabelecimento de um repertório hermenêutico capaz de criar condições para o entendimento mútuo, ante situações de superação de injustiças cometidas historicamente. O recurso à teoria de Jürgen Habermas é justificado, não apenas pela biografia deste autor, que se retroalimenta da necessidade histórica de reparação das injustiças cometidas pelo Nacional Socialismo na Alemanha, porém, sobretudo, pelas investigações sobre o papel da aprendizagem comunicativa como elemento restabelecedor de uma solidariedade construída em bases morais, de uma ética discursiva, que favorecem ao estabelecimento do Estado de direito e da democracia deliberativa. Neste sentido, a argumentação desenvolvida parte de constatações da Comissão Nacional da Verdade, se debruça sobre aspectos da ética do discurso, referentes à resolução de conflitos e se conclui com apreciações sobre o papel da justificação no estabelecimento da verdade. (shrink)

Saint Thomas Aquinas establishes why is it that logic is the directive art of the act of reason and why is it convenient to divide it in correspondence with the operations of the intelect. Thus, the Posterior Analytics are related with the act of reason which goes from one thing which is known to other thing that is unknown. By analogy with the process of necessity of nature, in which she can not fail, Aquinas explains that truth can not fail (...) in the demonstrative syllogism, which has the certainty of science, and that this act of reason is founded in the Posterior Analytics. The rest of saint Thomas Aquinas' exposition focuses on determining to which books of logic does each act or process of reason corresponds. (shrink)

Numa época em que as transformações económicas, políticas e sociais têm vindo a criar à física (e às ciências em geral) um novo contexto de investigação, procuro dar conta do modo como estes novos desafios, que se estendem ao domínio filosófico e cultural, estão a ser encarados pelos cientistas. Num momento em que a "ciência de investigação" ("académica", "normal") sofre uma retracção face à expansão duma ciência "pós-normal", "pós-académica", e em que, ao lado da clivagem entre as "duas" culturas (científica (...) e humanística) uma "terceira", de face tecnológica se vai impondo, aponta-se o risco da concepção duma física "imune" à mudança cultural. /// I attempt to show how scientists are dealing with some new challenges coming from both the philosophical and the cultural domains, in the new context of research that is being created to physics (and indeed to sciences in general) by economical, political and social changes. Now that "research science" (" academic", "normal") becomes less important than a "post-normal", "postacademic" one, and in a time that besides the distinction between the "two" cultures (scientific and humanistic) a "third" one of technological nature is being generally accepted, the danger is shown of conceiving physics as "immune" to cultural change. (shrink)

By the notion of imitation, Saint Thomas Aquinas distinguishes between the cognoscitive approach towards nature and the productive approach towards art. From these relation arises the possibility of reason ordering the multitude of men who conform a community. Thus, Saint Thomas Aquinas explains how is it that the city is the most important whole that reason can know and produce directing it towards an end. Aquinas continues annotating that politics belong to the genre of practical and moral sciences, not mechanical (...) or productive, and that in these genre it is the most worthy and perfect science of them all. (shrink)

IF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY studies ideas from the past, as is generally accepted, then historians of philosophy face a serious problem concerning their object of study for two reasons. In the first place, like all history, the history of philosophy is concerned with the past and we can never have direct empirical access to the past unless that past is close to us and we have taken part in it. In order to know the past in which we have (...) not participated we must rely on the testimony of those who had direct access to it and left records of what they witnessed. In the second place, the problem arises because the specific object that the history of philosophy studies is ideas and ideas are not things, events, or facts for which we can have direct empirical evidence even if we are contemporaneous with them. The most we can have is indirect empirical evidence. We do not perceive ideas; what we perceive are certain phenomena that suggest to us certain ideas. If I ask you, for example, "Do you approve of what the President did?" and you frown in return, I conclude that you do not. But it is altogether possible that you do in fact approve of the President's action, although you wish me to think that you do not and thus mislead me by making the frown. My conclusion that you do not, then, can be taken only as an interpretation of what you are thinking based on certain empirical evidence that is only indirectly related to what you think. Thus the study of the history of philosophy is very difficult, more difficult than the study of the type of history that relies on events for which there can be direct empirical evidence; for not only is direct access to the past impossible for historians of philosophy from the present, but even if they had it they would not have direct access to the ideas which are supposed to be the object of their study. (shrink)

Much research into morphogenesis focuses on discovering mechanisms and models able to generate or describe the forms we can observe in nature. These studies all provide insights, even though they do not directly touch upon what is the focus of this article: the understanding of form. To this end a conceptual scheme based on the following ideas is proposed: understanding , emerging , persisting , selection , and the relation concerning complexity versus uncertainty , in particular, the relation between form (...) and function. This article is thus a contribution to both the epistemology and the ontology of nature and, in particular, of the living world. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical approach to the theory of autopoiesis in order to see how it challenges mainstream Darwinism. In the first part of the paper, I characterize Darwinism from the concepts of natural selection, heredity, reproduction, and evolution. This characterization is absolutely schematic, and I hope not controversial at all, since my aim is to provide a general background for the discussion of the rest of the paper. The second part presents the main (...) tenets of the theory of autopoiesis, also paying special attention to the concepts of natural selection, heredity, reproduction, and evolution. The third and final part considers some criticisms that have been directed against the theory and suggests some new ones. As I said, my intention is to offer a critical approach, so that I pretend to assess neither autopoiesis nor Darwinism. The assessment, it seems to me, would be a matter of scientific debate—not properly of philosophy. Therefore, given that my approach attempts to be a conceptual clarification, my contribution to the contemporary debate about Darwinism is twofold. On the one hand, I show that conceptually autopoiesis constitutes an important challenge to Darwinism, but on the other, I also show that some fundamental aspects of the theory appear to be both epistemologically and empirically problematic, which perhaps helps to understand why autopoiesis is not widely accepted in mainstream Darwinism. (shrink)