This book explores the epistemic side of racial and sexual oppression. It elucidates how social insensitivities and imposed silences prevent members of different groups from listening to each other.

José L. Zalabardo defends a pragmatist account of what grounds the meaning of central semantic discourses--ascriptions of truth, of propositional attitudes, and of meanings. He argues that it is the procedures that regulate acceptance and rejection that give the sentences of these discourses their meanings, and explores the application of the pragmatist template to ethical discourse. The pragmatist approach is presented as an alternative to representationalist accounts of the meaning grounds of declarative sentences, according to which a sentence has (...) the meaning it has as a result of links with the bits of the world that it purports to represent. Zalabardo develops a version of the open-question argument to support the claim that the meaning grounds of the discourses he focuses on cannot receive representationalist accounts. It is generally assumed that a declarative sentence cannot perform the function of representing the world unless it has a representationalist meaning ground. Zalabardo rejects this assumption, arguing that sentences with pragmatist meaning grounds can represent the world in exactly the same sense that sentences with representationalist meaning grounds do. This requires that there are states of affairs that the target sentences represent as obtaining, and Zalabardo develops an account of the nature of the states of affairs that can play this role for sentences with pragmatist meaning grounds. Pragmatist Semantics concludes by developing the suggestion that the meaning grounds of all our representational discourses might be ultimately pragmatist. (shrink)

While in agreement with Miranda Fricker’s context-sensitive approach to hermeneutical injustice, this paper argues that this contextualist approach has to be pluralized and rendered relational in more complex ways. In the first place, I argue that the normative assessment of social silences and the epistemic harms they generate cannot be properly carried out without a pluralistic analysis of the different interpretative communities and expressive practices that coexist in the social context in question. Social silences and hermeneutical gaps are misrepresented if (...) they are uniformly predicated of an entire social context, instead of being predicated of particular ways of inhabiting that context by particular people in relation to particular others. I contend that a more nuanced—polyphonic—contextualization offers a more adequate picture of what it means to break social silences and to repair the hermeneutical injustices associated with them. In the second place, I argue that the particular obligations with respect to hermeneutical justice that differently situated subjects and groups have are interactive and need to be determined relationally. That is, whether individuals and groups live up to their hermeneutical responsibilities has to be assessed by taking into account the forms of mutual positionality, relationality, and responsivity (or lack thereof) that these subjects and groups display with respect to one another. The central argument is developed through an examination of what in race theory and in contemporary epistemologies of ignorance has been termed “white ignorance”; that is, the kind of hermeneutical inability of privileged white subjects to recognize and make sense of their racial identities, experiences, and social positionality. (shrink)

Explores the stable core of Wittgenstein's philosophy as developed from the Tractatus to the Philosophical Investigations.

Las distintas tradiciones sobre la celebración de la Pascua en las primeras comunidades cristianas se fundamentan en las diferentes escuelas teológicas de la Iglesia Primitiva y se concretan principalmente en dos formas diferentes, aquí identificadas como Pascha = Passio y Pascha = Transitus zoith sus propias y diferentes implicaciones cristológicas características. A partir del estudio pormenorizado de fuentes hispánicas de los siglos IV al VI, patrísticas, conciliares y litúrgicas, el autor localiza un filón en la tradición de las iglesias de (...) la Península Ibérica que identifica la fiesta de la Pascua con la fiesta de la Pascua. Península Ibérica que identifica la fiesta de Pascua zuitli la pasión de Cristo, como hacía la escuela asiática, y le confiere, sobre todo en la lex orandi, una fuerte intensidad dramática. El artículo pone de relieve una cristología pascual con luz propia y al mismo tiempo revela una mens teológica, bien equilibrada y claramente definida. Las comunidades cristianas de Hispania se beneficiarán de una sana ósmosis entre lex credendi y lex orandi, que les permitirá enfrentarse al arrianismo y llevar a su plena madurez los frutos de la creencia cristiana. En la elaboración de estas tradiciones están profundamente arraigadas muchas de las ideas teológicas y litúrgicas que prevalecen en la Iglesia actual. (shrink)

Reliabilist accounts of knowledge are widely seen as having the resources for blocking sceptical arguments, since these arguments appear to rely on assumptions about the nature of knowledge that are rendered illegitimate by reliabilist accounts. The goal of this book is to assess the main arguments against the possibility of knowledge, and its conclusions challenge this consensus. The book articulates and defends a theory of knowledge that belongs firmly in the truth-tracking tradition, and argues that although the theory has the (...) resources for blocking the main standard lines of sceptical reasoning, there is a sceptical argument against which the theory offers no defence, as it doesn’t rely on any assumptions that the theory would render illegitimate. The book ends with the suggestion that the problem might have a metaphysical solution—that although the sceptical argument may make no illegitimate epistemological assumptions, it does rest on a questionable account of the nature of cognition. (shrink)

The subject matter of this paper is the view that it is correct, in an absolute sense, to believe a proposition just in case the proposition is true. I take issue with arguments in support of this view put forward by Nishi Shah and David Velleman.

En una serie de trabajos Carol Cleland ha argumentado por los últimos veinte años que la búsqueda de una definición de la vida es no solo inútil sino contraproducente. Una definición en términos de condiciones necesarias y suficientes nos podría cegar para la tarea mucho más importante de desarrollar una teoría universal de la vida. La principal justificación para este alegato es que la vida es una clase natural. Términos para clases naturales no poseen definiciones ideales, porque pretenden hacer referencia (...) a rasgos objetivos del mundo y no hacer explícito el contenido de nuestro pensamiento o lenguaje. Se argumenta aquí que la vida es, en efecto, una clase natural y, luego, la semántica para el término vida no puede darse por una definición ideal con condiciones necesarias y suficientes. Sin embargo, la semántica del término vida no excluye la posibilidad de hallar una ‘definición real’ adecuada de la esencia de la vida, esto es, de qué es la vida. Una definición real no es la enunciación del significado de un término sino de una esencia. (shrink)

This book explores the epistemic side of oppression, focusing on racial and sexual oppression and their interconnections. It elucidates how social insensitivities and imposed silences prevent members of different groups from interacting epistemically in fruitful ways--from listening to each other, learning from each other, and mutually enriching each other's perspectives. Medina's epistemology of resistance offers a contextualist theory of our complicity with epistemic injustices and a social connection model of shared responsibility for improving epistemic conditions of participation in social practices. (...) Through the articulation of a new interactionism and polyphonic contextualism, the book develops a sustained argument about the role of the imagination in mediating social perceptions and interactions. It concludes that only through the cultivation of practices of resistance can we develop a social imagination that can help us become sensitive to the suffering of excluded and stigmatized subjects. Drawing on Feminist Standpoint Theory and Critical Race Theory, this book makes contributions to social epistemology and to recent discussions of testimonial and hermeneutical injustice, epistemic responsibility, counter-performativity, and solidarity in the fight against racism and sexism. (shrink)

This book explores the epistemic side of racial and sexual oppression. It elucidates how social insensitivities and imposed silences prevent members of different groups from listening to each other.

This book engages the perspective of public reason and the position of religious believers through a mutual confrontation of Rawlsian political liberalism and Gandhian ideas. By teasing out concords and discords between Rawls and Gandhi, Jeff Shawn Jose innovatively advances the debate about the role of religion in the public sphere.

El texto presenta la crítica heideggeriana a los conceptos de teoría y praxis, tal como han sido acuñados por la tradición filosófica. El artículo muestra el giro transformador que hace el filósofo alemán en el tratamiento de estas dos nociones, con el fin de delinear una nueva concepción de filosofía, a propósito de la crítica y transformación de estas concepciones. La crítica se centra en señalar cómo en la tradición filosófica ha preponderado la teoría, comprendida desde una visión lógico – (...) racional, y la comprensión de la praxis como una instancia a-teórica, lo que deja de lado las consideraciones prácticas centrales y primarias implicadas en el pensar, y el ejercicio práctico como instancia comprensiva y de pensamiento. En este sentido, se muestra la reivindicación de la praxis, de la cotidianidad y de la situación fáctica como aspectos de central importancia en el ser del Dasein; y se plantea una nueva comprensión de lo que implica la teoría y las nuevas relaciones que se establecen en el nexo teoría – praxis como posibilidades del ser del Dasein, sin caer en el primado de la una sobre la otra, lo que implica la transformación de sus modos de comprensión. Finalmente, se muestra cómo un ejercicio filosófico desde estas intuiciones se encuentra más cercano a la comprensión e interpretación práctica que al desarrollo de teorías en el sentido clásico del término. (shrink)

Para favorecer la interacción disciplinar y recuperar la dimensión práctica del conocimiento matemático en la escuela secundaria, Yves Chevallard plantea la necesidad de introducir en los programas de estudio la matemática mixta. La matemática mixta, cuyo apogeo tuvo lugar en Europa entre los siglos XVI y XVIII, se propone el abordaje de problemas surgidos por fuera de la propia matemática valiéndose de nociones mecánicas -como la de centro de gravedad y fuerza centrífuga- y del empleo de variados instrumentos para realizar (...) las construcciones requeridas. En este trabajo consideramos a la matemática mixta en la cultura matemática de la segunda mitad del siglo XVII y, en dicho contexto, presentamos dos casos de la práctica matemática de G. W. Leibniz en los que la investigación matemática involucra el diseño de máquinas. La consideración de tales casos permite situar a la matemática mixta, siguiendo la terminología de Ian Hacking, en un terreno medio entre representar e intervenir. El terreno medio entre representar e intervenir es un valle fértil donde la matemática aporta a, y se nutre de, una multiplicidad de otros dominios. También es una vía de acceso para historizar el conocimiento matemático, destacando las condiciones materiales para su desarrollo y el importante rol de los problemas. Palabras clave: Práctica matemática, Resolución de problemas, Siglo XVII, Máquinas, Cultura material. (shrink)

Background The Regional Committee for Africa of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001 expressed concern that some health-related studies undertaken in the Region were not subjected to any form of ethics review. In 2003, the study reported in this paper was conducted to determine which Member country did not have a national research ethics committee (REC) with a view to guiding the WHO Regional Office in developing practical strategies for supporting those countries. Methods This is a descriptive study. The (...) questionnaire was prepared and sent by diplomatic pouch to all the 46 Member States in the WHO African Region, through the WHO country representatives, for facilitation and follow up. The data were entered in Excel spreadsheet and subsequently exported to STATA for analysis. A Chi-Squared test (χ 2) for independence was undertaken to test the relationship between presence/absence of Research Ethics Committee (REC) and selected individual socioeconomic and health variables. Results The main findings were as follows: the response rate was 61% (28/46); 64% (18/28) confirmed the existence of RECs; 36% (10/28) of the respondent countries did not have a REC (although 80% of them reported that they had in place an ad hoc ethical review mechanism); 85% (22/26) of the countries that responded to this question indicated that ethical approval of research proposals was, in principle, required; and although 59% of the countries that had a REC expected it to meet every month, only 44% of them reported that the REC actually met on a monthly basis. In the Chi-Squared test, only the average population in the group of countries with a REC was statistically different (at 5% level of significance) from that of the group of countries without a REC. Conclusion In the current era of globalized biomedical research, good ethics stewardship demands that every country, irrespective of its level of economic development, should have in place a functional research ethics review system in order to protect the dignity, integrity and safety of its citizens who participate in research. (shrink)

Robert Kilwardby is a central figure in late medieval philosophy and theology, but key areas of his thought still remain unexamined in a systematic way. This book offers a comprehensive overview of his works, ranging from topics in logic to theology, done in a way that is accessible to non-specialists and to anyone interested in medieval thought.

Kierkegaard and the Challenges of Infinitude brings together a number of essays culminating the scientific events held during the duration of a project devoted to the translation and study of works by Søren Kierkegaard, which has been sponsored by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (PTDC/FIL/FIL/100.281/2008). The essays reunited here had their first versions delivered at an International Conference held in October 25-26th, 2012, under the auspices of the Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa (Philosophy Centre of (...) the University of Lisbon, CFUL) and hosted by the Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa (Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon). The conference was commissioned by José Miranda Justo and Eisabete M. de Sousa, who also co-edited the present volume, together with rené Rosfort, who was the recipient of a grant as resident scholar in the Kierkegaard project during the three last months of 2012. (shrink)

The catalyst for much of classical pragmatist political thought was the great waves of migration to the United States in the early 20th century. José-Antonio Orosco examines the work of several pragmatist social thinkers, including John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois, Josiah Royce, and Jane Addams, regarding the challenges large-scale immigration brings to American democracy. Orosco argues that the ideas of the classical pragmatists can help us understand the ways in which immigrants might strengthen the cultural foundations of (...) the United States in order to achieve a more deliberative and participatory democracy. Like earlier pragmatists, Orosco begins with a critique of the melting pot in favor of finding new ways to imagine the civic role of our immigrant population. He concludes that by applying the insights of American pragmatism, we can find guidance through controversial contemporary issues such as undocumented immigration, multicultural education, and racialized conceptions of citizenship. (shrink)

Examina a relação entre a leitura e os programas computacionais de mineração de textos, no contexto das Humanidades Digitais (HD). Através da pesquisa bibliográfica e da reunião de fontes textuais relevantes para o argumento, esta relação é descrita sob a forma de uma simbiose entre o ser humano e o computador, nos termos propostos inicialmente por Asimov (2005). Uma concepção da leitura como operação da inteligência é posta em diálogo com o conceito e as aplicações da mineração de textos. Da (...) reflexão sobre a simbiose entre leitura e mineração de textos é obtido, como resultado, um ponto de vista em relação às HD, entendida como um conjunto de estratégias para o crescimento e a adaptação da cultura humana no ambiente digital. (shrink)

Abstractabstract:This article explores the relationship between rhetoric and violence by running this pairing through a corresponding couplet: rhetoric and race. Arguing for a common substrate between these two pairs of terms—coloniality—this article proposes that rhetorics of "nonviolence" are better understood as rhetorics of anti-violence.

Articles chiefly on the role of religion in society; includes articles on Dharma and philosophy of religion; presented at the International Conference "Dharma: Interface Between Secular and Sacred", during 4-7 January 2015, at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru, organized by Centre for the Study of World Religions, Dharmaram College and Globethics.net India.