Sketch and Drive. The Gaze in Merleau-PontyIn Seminar XI (The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis), Jacques Lacan interrupts the first session, which was to be devoted to the Freudian notion of the drive, in order to consider not this fundamental concept of psychoanalysis, but the way in which Maurice Merleau-Ponty, in his posthumous book, The Visible and the Invisible, approaches the idea of the subject and how he points to the divergence between the eye and the gaze. Lacan sees in (...) Merleau-Ponty’s thesis concerning the gaze, a certain analogy with what Freud called the death drive. But, concerning voyance, Lacan wonders if Merleau-Ponty does not fall back into a Platonic imaginary of an ultra-gaze from which each body would issue. But or task now is to show that Merleau-Ponty remained faithful to the fact that the gaze cannot really be explained and that his philosophy of the flesh has not reduced the diverse dimension of experience to a central power of constitution. In order to apprehend better the notion of the flesh, we shall bring into play Merleau-Ponty’s theory of the Gestalt, which will allow us to show how, for Merleau-Ponty, the drive is always an irreducible alterity that stops the indivision of the whole from being able to be experienced as a synthesis.Adombramento e pulsione. Lo sguardo in Merleau-PontyNel seminario XI (I quattro concetti della psicoanalisi), Jacques Lacan sospende la prima seduta dedicata alla discussione della nozione freudiana di pulsione, per esaminare non il concetto fondamentale della psicoanalisi ma la maniera in cui Maurice Merleau-Ponty, nel suo libro postumo Il visibile e l’invisibile, affronta il tema e mostra lo scarto che esiste tra occhio e sguardo. Lacan scorge nella tesi di Merleau-Ponty concernente lo sguardo una certa analogia con ciò che Freud ha chiamato pulsione di morte. Ma, a proposito della voyance, Lacan si chiede se Merleau-Ponty non ricada in fondo nell’immaginario platonico di un ultra-sguardo dal quale dovrebbe provenire ogni corpo. Il nostro intento è quindi mostrare che Merleau-Ponty è rimasto fedele alla concezione dell’inesplicabilità dello sguardo estraneo e che allo stesso modo la sua filosofia della carne non ha ridotto le diverse dimensioni dell’esperienza ad un potere centrale di costituzione. Per meglio comprendere la nozione di carne faremo appello alla teoria merleau-pontiana della Gestalt, la quale ci permetterà di mostrare come, per il filosofo, la pulsione sia sempre un’alterità irreducibile tale da impedire che l’indivisione del tutto possa talvolta essere vissuta come sintesi. (shrink)

El control biológico de especies no nativas que causan daños económicos y ambientales es la tecnología más importante de la Biología de las Invasiones. Si bien hay acuerdo que dicha tecnología es ambientalmente más amigable que el control químico, existen discusiones abiertas sobre los riesgos asociados a la misma. En el presente trabajo analizamos, utilizando como fuentes artículos científicos de revisión, las bases epistémicas subyacentes al desarrollo y la evaluación de riesgos asociados al control biológico. En particular, si sucede o (...) no simplificación epistemológica y su vínculo con la subestimación de riesgos. El análisis muestra que suceden cuatro tipos interrelacionados de simplificación epistemológica: i) interacciones uno-a-uno de tipo fisiológicas, linealizadas y descontextualizadas entre agente de control y especies blanco o no-blanco; ii) predominancia de factores de niveles organísmico e infra-organísmico, en vinculación con teorías y conceptos de la Ecofisiología; lo que obvia interacciones, procesos y mecanismos que suceden a nivel de comunidad y ecosistemas, y los marcos teóricos de la Ecología asociados; iii) exclusión de mecanismos evolutivos relevantes como la adaptación y la plasticidad fenotípica post-introducción; y iv) restricción de temporalidades y espacialidades a aquellas de procesos fisiológicos y comportamentales del nivel organísmico o inferiores. Este escenario deriva en una subestimación, o directamente omisión, de riesgos ambientales como alteraciones potenciales que el evento de control biológico puede imponer sobre especies no-blanco y también sobre procesos y mecanismos comunitarios y ecosistémicos. (shrink)

Sketch and Drive. The Gaze in Merleau-PontyIn Seminar XI (The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis), Jacques Lacan interrupts the first session, which was to be devoted to the Freudian notion of the drive, in order to consider not this fundamental concept of psychoanalysis, but the way in which Maurice Merleau-Ponty, in his posthumous book, The Visible and the Invisible, approaches the idea of the subject and how he points to the divergence between the eye and the gaze. Lacan sees in (...) Merleau-Ponty’s thesis concerning the gaze, a certain analogy with what Freud called the death drive. But, concerning voyance, Lacan wonders if Merleau-Ponty does not fall back into a Platonic imaginary of an ultra-gaze from which each body would issue. But or task now is to show that Merleau-Ponty remained faithful to the fact that the gaze cannot really be explained and that his philosophy of the flesh has not reduced the diverse dimension of experience to a central power of constitution. In order to apprehend better the notion of the flesh, we shall bring into play Merleau-Ponty’s theory of the Gestalt, which will allow us to show how, for Merleau-Ponty, the drive is always an irreducible alterity that stops the indivision of the whole from being able to be experienced as a synthesis.Adombramento e pulsione. Lo sguardo in Merleau-PontyNel seminario XI (I quattro concetti della psicoanalisi), Jacques Lacan sospende la prima seduta dedicata alla discussione della nozione freudiana di pulsione, per esaminare non il concetto fondamentale della psicoanalisi ma la maniera in cui Maurice Merleau-Ponty, nel suo libro postumo Il visibile e l’invisibile, affronta il tema e mostra lo scarto che esiste tra occhio e sguardo. Lacan scorge nella tesi di Merleau-Ponty concernente lo sguardo una certa analogia con ciò che Freud ha chiamato pulsione di morte. Ma, a proposito della voyance, Lacan si chiede se Merleau-Ponty non ricada in fondo nell’immaginario platonico di un ultra-sguardo dal quale dovrebbe provenire ogni corpo. Il nostro intento è quindi mostrare che Merleau-Ponty è rimasto fedele alla concezione dell’inesplicabilità dello sguardo estraneo e che allo stesso modo la sua filosofia della carne non ha ridotto le diverse dimensioni dell’esperienza ad un potere centrale di costituzione. Per meglio comprendere la nozione di carne faremo appello alla teoria merleau-pontiana della Gestalt, la quale ci permetterà di mostrare come, per il filosofo, la pulsione sia sempre un’alterità irreducibile tale da impedire che l’indivisione del tutto possa talvolta essere vissuta come sintesi. (shrink)

"La modernidad trae consigo un nuevo modo de fundamentar el conocimiento. Ya no son los textos sagrados, los filósofos cercanos al dogma o los teólogos quienes brindan los marcos conceptuales a partir de los cuales legitimar el orden social y fundamentar la política. Los modernos emprenden un nuevo camino en el que el conocimiento surge como resultado de un proceso de construcción, como el resultado de la actividad racional humana. Proceso que aspira a llegar a consolidarse como un camino hacia (...) el saber legítimo y que debe ser fundamentado de un modo diferente. Un proceso desencantado cuyo fin es impugnar el orden social vigente y sus fundamentos filosóficos para instalar mediante una transformación radical uno nuevo más acorde con los intereses de la burguesía en ascenso. Desde este marco, "Desencantamiento y revolución" acerca a los estudiantes los principales problemas epistemológicos con los que un científico se topa a la hora de construir un conocimiento de lo social y las principales características de las teorías sociales que surgen como respuesta a dichos problemas." --Contratapa. (shrink)

Inspirados na leitura gestáltica que Merleau-Ponty fez de Husserl, propomos uma nova formatação para o diagrama husserliano, segundo a qual, em torno de cada evento atual, partiriam três orientações distintas e simultâneas: i) na direção dos codados retidos, ii) na direção do horizonte de idealidade, iii) e na direção do horizonte de idealidade refletida. Não pensamos que haja, entre essas três orientações, qualquer eventual sequencia ou ordenamento serial, porquanto Merleau-Ponty admite uma relação expressiva entre os eventos entre si. Com essa (...) nova formatação, tentamos evitar aquilo que, na avaliação de Merleau-Ponty, corresponde ao “engano de Husserl”, precisamente: “ter descrito o encaixamento a partir de um Präsensfeld [campo de presença] considerado como se não tivesse espessura, como consciência imanente”1. (shrink)

Workplace Incivility (WI) occurs worldwide and has negative consequences on individuals and organizations. Valid and comprehensive instruments have been used, specifically in English speaking countries, to measure such adverse process at work, but it is not available a validated instrument for research carried out in Spanish speaking countries. In this study we aim to test the psychometric properties of the Matthews and Ritter’s four-item Workplace Incivility Scale (2016) with Spanish workers (N= 407) from different sectors. Participants’ mean age was 38.73 (...) (SD= 10.45) years old and the percentage of female employees was 59.2%. Confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS 19.0 was carried out, presenting a good fit. The internal consistency, convergent and concurrent validity of the scale were examined. Results show good scale reliability and expected high correlations with social undermining. Moreover, the scale related to propensity to leave a job, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being in the expected way. After configural invariance across groups was established, testing for metric invariance and scalar invariance was performed. Considering Δχ² and ΔCFI tests for two nested models, the 4-item scale was invariant when the employment status is considered (permanent vs temporal, full-time vs part-time and supervisor vs non supervisors). Overall, our findings showed good psychometric properties of the shorter version of the Workplace Incivility Scale in Spain. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed. (shrink)

The use of writing or journaling as a tool toward healing is becoming increasingly accepted in the vernacular of healing litanies. Reference books, personal narratives, and research on the effects of writing on healing psychological discomfort are abundant. Heal Yourself with Writing, written by screenwriter Catherine Ann Jones, and published in 2013, won a Nautilus Book Award for 2014. The following review reflects a book that is a well-thought journey through the steps of intentional or focused writing for the express (...) purpose of moving from living from beliefs and thoughts that do not serve healthy wholeness or fullness of life, into living more freely and more authentically. (shrink)

¿Qué hacer cuando el matrimonio quiere tener un hijo y éste tarda en venir, o simplemente no viene? La naprotecnología, como estudio médico de la fertilidad masculina y femenina, ofrece una respuesta válida para afrontar esta situación de infertilidad/esterilidad. Seguimos como camino el método triangular propuesto por Elio Sgreccia: ver los datos científicos para realizar un análisis antropológico y una valoración ética que oriente el actuar concreto.La naprotecnología, como ciencia médica, constituye un abordaje médico y científico que busca resolver los (...) trastornos reproductivos y ginecológicos del varón y de la mujer, identificando las principales causas que afectan a la verdadera salud reproductiva. A partir de este diagnóstico, busca corregir las posibles alteraciones y restaurar la salud y fertilidad. Este modo de afrontar la infertilidad/esterilidad se ilustra con varios casos clínicos y los resultados obtenidos en España durante los años 2015 a 2021. A continuación, realizamos un análisis antropológico del modo de afrontar la infertilidad, analizando el sujeto que la padece: ¿Quién es el ser humano? ¿Cómo es su sexualidad? ¿En qué entorno se realiza primordialmente la procreación? Con esta base esbozamos un juicio ético ante este modo de afrontar los problemas de infertilidad/esterilidad. (shrink)

El ser humano precisa de la técnica para vivir y desarrollarse en todas sus dimensiones, biológicas, sociales y espirituales. La técnica, por su parte, cobra sentido cuando es puesta precisamente al servicio del desarrollo humano. Pero lo técnico ha ido desplegándose a lo largo de la historia en diversas modalidades: de la simple técnica hemos pasado a la tecnología, después a la tecnociencia, de ahí a la biotecnología y, en última instancia, a la antropotecnia. En los últimos años algunos pensadores (...) han propuesto emplear lo técnico sobre el propio ser humano, para transformarlo en un ser posthumano. Tanto Husserl como la escuela de Frankfurt habían denunciado ya la pérdida del sentido provocada por la absolutización de la razón instrumental. Nosotros detectamos que el riesgo del sinsentido se intensifica cuando lo técnico se aplica sin criterio, sin otra razón que la puramente instrumental, sobre el propio ser humano. Argumentamos que, si este proyecto antropotécnico se cumpliese, probablemente lo técnico mismo perdería su sentido y vería posiblemente debilitado su propio crecimiento. Entendemos que la respuesta, con todo, no ha de ir en la línea neoludita, sino en la línea de la actitud que Heidegger denominó serenidad. (shrink)

BackgroundHeavy media use has been linked to sleep problems in children, which may also extend to the infancy period. While international parent-advisory agencies, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, advise no screen time before 18 months, parents often do not follow this recommendation. Research on Italian infants’ early access to media is sparse, and only very few studies have investigated links with sleeping habits.MethodTo address this gap, we examined concurrent associations between parent-reported surveys of child technology use and sleeping (...) patterns. The Italian version of the 60 item Comprehensive Assessment of Family Media Exposure Survey, developed as part of a larger international study,, the Brief Screening Questionnaire for Infant Sleep Problems Sadeh, 2004) were completed online by 264 Italian parents of 8- to 36-month-olds and a subset completed the Parenting Stress Index Abidin, 1995) between April 2017 and April 2018.ResultsMore devices located in the child’s room and the more time spent watching TV or using an iPad were associated with less hours of sleep at night. Furthermore, more time spent watching TV or using a smartphone, as well as the number of devices in the room was associated with going to sleep later at night. Instrumental media use was associated with less sleep.ConclusionLike other countries, Italian infants have high levels of exposure to media, and differences in media patterns were associated with sleep patterns. Cultural factors influence both instrumental reasons for media use and sleep practices. Further research should explore how media use may serve to regulate emotion as a function of both contextual factors and individual differences. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo é apontar e analisar os principais fatores que levaram uma pessoa, ou um grupo de pessoas, a assistir um jogo de futebol da Copa do Mundo 2014 em uma FIFA Fan Fest e não em outros locais. Socialização, afetividade e diversão são aspectos considerados na análise. O papel do esporte enquanto produto de entretenimento e consumo também foi contemplado no estudo. O evento, pela proliferação de imagens que proporciona, é exemplo claro do que Guy Debord definiu (...) como Sociedade do Espetáculo. Foram entrevistadas 79 pessoas em duas FIFA Fan Fests realizadas na cidade de São Paulo, em partidas da seleção brasileira na Copa do Mundo 2014. Os resultados obtidos no estudo comprovam a inserção do esporte mais popular do planeta na lógica das modernas estratégias de consumo. Também evidenciam as relações existentes entre o futebol, e seu universo, e a chamada indústria do entretenimento. (shrink)

IntroductionDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers in Italy have been exposed to an unprecedented pressure and traumatic events. However, no direct comparison with the general population is available so far. The aim of this study is to detail mental health outcomes in healthcare workers compared to the general population.Methods24050 respondents completed an on-line questionnaire during the contagion peak, 21342 general population, 1295 second-line healthcare workers, and 1411 front-line healthcare workers. Depressive, anxious, post-traumatic symptoms and insomnia were assessed. Specific COVID-19 related (...) potential risk factors were also considered in healthcare workers.ResultsDepressive symptoms were more frequent in the general population and front-line healthcare workers compared to the second-line healthcare workers groups. Anxiety symptoms showed a prevalence of 21.25% in the general population, 18.05% for second-line healthcare workers, and 20.55% for front-line healthcare workers. Insomnia showed a prevalence of 7.82, 6.58, and 9.92% for the general population, second-line healthcare workers, and front-line healthcare workers, respectively. Compared to the general population, front-line healthcare workers had higher odds of endorsing total trauma-related symptoms. Both second-line healthcare workers and front-line healthcare workers had higher odds of endorsing core post-traumatic symptoms compared to the general population, while second-line healthcare workers had lower odds of endorsing negative affect and dissociative symptoms. Higher total traumatic symptom score was associated with being a front-line healthcare worker, having a colleague infected, hospitalized, or deceased, being a nurse, female gender, and younger age.ConclusionThis study suggests a significant psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian general population and healthcare workers. Front-line healthcare workers represent a specific at-risk population for post-traumatic symptoms. These findings underline the importance of monitoring and intervention strategies. (shrink)

Background: The present study compared the effects of a traditional resistance training and resistance training combined with cognitive task on body composition, physical performance, cognitive function, and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in older adults. Methods: Thirty community-dwelling older adults were randomized into TRT and RT+CT. Exercise groups performed a similar resistance training program, twice a week over 16 weeks. Cognitive Training involved performing verbal fluency simultaneously with RT. Exercise sessions were performed 2-3 sets, 8-15 repetitions at 60-70% of 1-repetition (...) maximum. Body composition, physical function, cognitive performance, and BDNF levels were assessed before and after intervention period. Results: The physical performance was similarly improved in response to both TRT and RT+CT. However, exclusive improvements on cognitive function and BDNF levels were observed only after RT+CT. Conclusion: The RT program associated with a cognitive task, improved physical and cognitive performance in healthy older adults. (shrink)