This article has as its theme the democracy as fundamentalism, or the democratic fundamentalism. Its main objective is the recognition that the thinking about democracy can itself be fundamentalist, implying that not only religious fundamentalisms are a threat to contemporary democracy. Its method and object are the interpretation of texts by two contemporary philosophers who do not usually talk to each other, the Italian Gianni Vattimo and the French Jean-Luc Nancy. The essay's thesis is the affirmation of democratic thinking as (...) a form of fundamentalism, insofar as it fulfills certain conditions established by the two thinkers analyzed. These conditions are, in the language of the aforementioned philosophers, the framing of democracy under the so-called strong thought, or its subsumption to a metaphysical way of thought, so that it becomes incapable of self-criticism and its necessary reinvention. Thus, it is expected to contribute to the construction of a self-critical vision of democracy through dialogue with aspects of thought little known of important philosophers and also through the dialogue between philosophy and theology as emancipatory ways of knowing. (shrink)

Many philosophers have shown sympathy to the thought that reality is fundamentally positive. Julio De Rizzo formulates this idea precisely by means of the notion of grounding, and examines how the resulting thesis fares with respect to three much discussed classes of negative truths, namely that of negative predications, that of negative causal reports, and that of negative existential truths. By shedding light on the issues advocates of the thesis have to deal with, this work shows the positivist account (...) to be a tenable position in metaphysics. (shrink)

Recognizing that the presence of the Religious School Teaching discipline in public elementary schools in Brazil is a complex and controversial subject, it is of fundamental importance that alternatives be sought so that its offer takes place in such a way as to enable the emergence of conscious and participatory people in the process of transforming society. It was in pursuit of this objective that the authors of this article found in the category of conscientização, proposed by Paulo Freire, a (...) possible way for teachers of the Religious Education discipline of Brazilian public schools to contribute to the formation of autonomous citizens, with a critical conscience, capable of making their own choices, with full freedom. Methodologically, the article was organized using the See, Judge and Act method. This method of analysis allows us to look at the socioeconomic, political and cultural reality in which people are inserted, to confront a specific theoretical instrument, with the aim of proposing possible ways and alternatives for the promotion of a liberating education. Thus, in the first section analyzes two theoretical categories related to education, namely: banking education and liberating education. In the second section, an attempt was made to weave an approach around the category of conscientização, proposed by Paulo Freire. In the third section, the authors present possible paths of action for a liberating education based on the teaching of Religious Education. (shrink)

Resumen El artículo sitúa su reflexión en el tema del ecumenismo, relacionándolo con las propuestas de aggiornamento expresadas por el Vaticano II. Hace también alusión al ámbito de las mudanzas en el seno del protestantismo, de las Iglesias ortodoxas e incluso del cristianismo romano. Además alude a los grandes nombres que trazaron la reflexión teológica en el período de crisis que antecedió al evento –hablamos de aspectos que acabaron incidiendo en los debates conciliares. Siguiendo a Gutiérrez, el artículo destaca tres (...) dimensiones relativas a la búsqueda del diálogo de la Iglesia con el mundo contemporáneo: la urgencia de ser actual, la perspectiva ecuménica y la solidaridad con los pobres. Analiza los “caminos equivocados” que fueron adoptados por la Iglesia en lo concerniente a las propuestas ecumênicas del Concilio: el tomar un “execesivo cuidado” en lo que respecta al mundo moderno, las posiciones de intolerância frente a lo diferente, la comprensión reduccionista del ecumenismo. Hace mención a la exigência de construir relaciones que tengan como bases: la gracia y el amor. Por último, propone la tesis de que “no puede existir un sentido del diálogo, un encuentro entre los seres diferentes, sin la libertad”. Palabras-clave : Iglesia. Vaticano II. Ecumenismo. Diálogo inter-religioso.This article focuses its discussion on the theme of ecumenism, in relation to the catholic proposal of aggiornamento expressed by Vatican II. The text refers to the changes within the Protestantism, the Orthodox churches and also within the Roman Christianity. It also mentions the relevant names that marked theological reflection in those times of crisis prior to the Council. Following the author´s thought, the text highlights three dimensions of the dialogue of the Church with the contemporary world: the urgency in getting things update, the ecumenical perspective and the solidarity with the poor. The article evaluates the "wrong path" taken by the Church in relation to the propositions of the ecumenical council: attitudes of intolerance to the different and the reductionist understanding of ecumenism. It also refers to the need to build relationships whose bases are the grace and love. The article finally expresses the following thesis: "there cannot be a sense of dialogue among different beings without freedom." Keywords : Church. Vatican II. Ecumenism. Inter-religious Dialogue. - DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2011v9n24p1246. (shrink)

Few if any distinctions are more easily recognisable and assented to than that between _objects_, that is, things which are some ways, and that which they are, that is, _ways for objects to be_ (‘ways of being’ for short). In this paper I present an argument designed to show that this distinction is indeterminate in the sense that the truth-conditions of predicational sentences leave open what should count as an object and a way of being. The bulk of the argument (...) is inspired by the celebrated permutation argument advanced by Quine, Wallace, Putnam and others. (shrink)

Although from a philosophical perspective, many reflections can be brought up about the theorizing process, in this essay, we aim to reflect on the importance of the alignment between ontology and epistemology. This is particularly relevant because deeper discussions about the philosophical roots that underlay the theorizing processes remain as a lack in organizational and management studies. To support our work, we adopted the epistemic-ontological alignment model as a conceptual tool and the Resource-Based View (RBV) and some of its questionings (...) as an example to carry out a reflection exercise about its epistemic-ontological alignment. RBV is a theory that plays a prominent role in management studies, especially in the strategy field. Nevertheless, discussions regarding RBV philosophical foundations are not common in the mainstream of strategic management. After our analysis, we advise that scholars care about the philosophical roots of their theoretical proposals to promote constructive dialogue in their research communities. This can avoid empty discussions and criticisms based on incongruous worldviews. Our reflections also suggest that future research should embrace the plurality of paradigms as a source of renewal and transcendence in the production of knowledge. A multi-paradigmatic movement towards more eclecticism in Administrative Science can help produce new and underexploited combinations of knowledge in the theorizing process. (shrink)

The Full Bayesian Significance Test, FBST, is extensively reviewed. Its test statistic, a genuine Bayesian measure of evidence, is discussed in detail. Its behavior in some problems of statistical inference like testing for independence in contingency tables is discussed.

Much forensic inference based upon DNA evidence is made assuming Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) for the genetic loci being used. Several statistical tests to detect and measure deviation from HWE have been devised, and their limitations become more obvious when testing for deviation within multiallelic DNA loci. The most popular methods-Chi-square and Likelihood-ratio tests-are based on asymptotic results and cannot guarantee a good performance in the presence of low frequency genotypes. Since the parameter space dimension increases at a quadratic rate on (...) the number of alleles, some authors suggest applying sequential methods, where the multiallelic case is reformulated as a sequence of “biallelic” tests. However, in this approach it is not obvious how to assess the general evidence of the original hypothesis; nor is it clear how to establish the significance level for its acceptance/rejection. In this work, we introduce a straightforward method for the multiallelic HWE test, which overcomes the aforementioned issues of sequential methods. The core theory for the proposed method is given by the Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST), an intuitive Bayesian approach which does not assign positive probabilities to zero measure sets when testing sharp hypotheses. We compare FBST performance to Chi-square, Likelihood-ratio and Markov chain tests, in three numerical experiments. The results suggest that FBST is a robust and high performance method for the HWE test, even in the presence of several alleles and small sample sizes. (shrink)

The unit root problem plays a central role in empirical applications in the time series econometric literature. However, significance tests developed under the frequentist tradition present various conceptual problems that jeopardize the power of these tests, especially for small samples. Bayesian alternatives, although having interesting interpretations and being precisely defined, experience problems due to the fact that that the hypothesis of interest in this case is sharp or precise. The Bayesian significance test used in this article, for the unit root (...) hypothesis, is based solely on the posterior density function, without the need of imposing positive probabilities to sets of zero Lebesgue measure. Furthermore, it is conducted under strict observance of the likelihood principle. It was designed mainly for testing sharp null hypotheses and it is called FBST for Full Bayesian Significance Test. (shrink)

To estimate causal relationships, time series econometricians must be aware of spurious correlation, a problem first mentioned by Yule (1926). To deal with this problem, one can work either with differenced series or multivariate models: VAR (VEC or VECM) models. These models usually include at least one cointegration relation. Although the Bayesian literature on VAR/VEC is quite advanced, Bauwens et al. (1999) highlighted that “the topic of selecting the cointegrating rank has not yet given very useful and convincing results”. The (...) present article applies the Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST), especially designed to deal with sharp hypotheses, to cointegration rank selection tests in VECM time series models. It shows the FBST implementation using both simulated and available (in the literature) data sets. As illustration, standard non informative priors are used. (shrink)

The data analyzed in this paper are part of the results described in Bueno et al. (2000). Three cytogenetics endpoints were analyzed in three populations of a species of wild rodent – Akodon montensis – living in an industrial, an agricultural, and a preservation area at the Itajaí Valley, State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The polychromatic/normochromatic ratio, the mitotic index, and the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocites were used in an attempt to establish a genotoxic profile of each area. It (...) was assumed that the three populations were in the same conditions with respect to the influence of confounding factors such as animal age, health, nutrition status, presence of pathogens, and intra- and inter-populational genetic variability. Therefore, any differences found in the endpoints analyzed could be attributed to the external agents present in each area. The statistical models used in this paper are mixtures of negative-binomials and Poisson variables. The Poisson variables are used as approximations of binomials for rare events. The mixing distributions are beta densities. The statistical analyzes are under the bayesian perspective, as opposed to the frequentist ones often considered in the literature, as for instance in Bueno et al. (2000). (shrink)

Gene clustering is a useful exploratory technique to group together genes with similar expression levels under distinct cell cycle phases or distinct conditions. It helps the biologist to identify potentially meaningful relationships between genes. In this study, we propose a clustering method based on multivariate normal mixture models, where the number of clusters is predicted via sequential hypothesis tests: at each step, the method considers a mixture model of m components (m = 2 in the first step) and tests if (...) in fact it should be m - 1. If the hypothesis is rejected, m is increased and a new test is carried out. The method continues (increasing m) until the hypothesis is accepted. The theoretical core of the method is the full Bayesian significance test, an intuitive Bayesian approach, which needs no model complexity penalization nor positive probabilities for sharp hypotheses. Numerical experiments were based on a cDNA microarray dataset consisting of expression levels of 205 genes belonging to four functional categories, for 10 distinct strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To analyze the method’s sensitivity to data dimension, we performed principal components analysis on the original dataset and predicted the number of classes using 2 to 10 principal components. Compared to Mclust (model-based clustering), our method shows more consistent results. (shrink)

We present a module based criterion, i.e. a sufficient condition based on the absolute value of the matrix coefficients, for the convergence of Gauss–Seidel method (GSM) for a square system of linear algebraic equations, the Generalized Line Criterion (GLC). We prove GLC to be the “most general” module based criterion and derive, as GLC corollaries, some previously know and also some new criteria for GSM convergence. Although far more general than the previously known results, the proof of GLC is simpler. (...) The results used here are related to recent research in stability of dynamical systems and control of manufacturing systems. (shrink)

We show how the Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST) can be used as a model selection criterion. The FBST was presented by Pereira and Stern as a coherent Bayesian significance test. Key Words: Bayesian test; Evidence; Global optimization; Information; Model selection; Numerical integration; Posterior density; Precise hypothesis; Regularization. AMS: 62A15; 62F15; 62H15.

This paper presents REAL, a Real-Valued Attribute Classification Tree Learning Algorithm. Several of the algorithm's unique features are explained by úe users' demands for a decision support tool to be used for evaluating financial operations strategies. Compared to competing algorithms, in our applications, REAL presents maj or advantages : (1) The REAL classification trees usually have smaller error rates. (2) A single conviction (or trust) measure at each leaf is more convenient than the traditional (probability, confidence-level) pair. (3) No need (...) for an external pruning criterion. (shrink)

Statistical tests that detect and measure deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) have been devised but are limited when testing for deviation at multiallelic DNA loci is attempted. Here we present the full Bayesian significance test (FBST) for the HWE. This test depends neither on asymptotic results nor on the number of possible alleles for the particular locus being evaluated. The FBST is based on the computation of an evidence index in favor of the HWE hypothesis. A great deal of (...) forensic inference based on DNA evidence assumes that the HWE is valid for the genetic loci being used. We applied the FBST to genotypes obtained at several multiallelic short tandem repeat loci during routine parentage testing; the locus Penta E exemplifies those clearly in HWE while others such as D10S1214 and D19S253 do not appear to show this. (shrink)

The beginning of Philosophy of Right with the concept of "Right" and "morality" presents the appearance of a form of treatment typical of the methodological individualism of natural right theories. Nevertheless, Hegel makes it clear that the expository plan does not reflect the genetic, temporal or ontological structure of the issue. This article will thus try to give an answer to the question about the criteria to which this problematic structure of the work plan responds. The thesis sustained by the (...) author is that the first two parts of the work have to be read mainly as a critical-negative exposition of the current theories, and only the third part about the institutions of Sittlichkeit provides a positive exposition of Hegel's thought. The treatment of Right and morality is not merely negative either, but takes up again and at the same time conforms to Kant's and Natural Rights fundamental principles, as necessary conditions for the comprehension of the institutions of modern society and modern State.El comienzo de la Filosofía del Derecho con el concepto de "Derecho abstracto" y la "moralidad" presenta la apariencia de una forma de tratamiento típica del individualismo metodológico de las teorías jusnaturalistas. Hegel aclara sin embargo que el plan de la exposición no refleja ni el orden genético, o temporal, ni la estructura ontológica de la cosa. La pregunta que tratará de responder este artículo es, entonces, a qué criterios responde esta problemática estructura del plan de la obra. La tesis que sostiene el autor es que las dos primeras partes de la obra se tienen que leer principalmente como una exposición crítico-negativo de las teorías vigentes, y que recién la tercera parte sobre las instituciones de la eticidad expone positivamente el pensamiento de Hegel. Pero el tratamiento del derecho y la moralidad no es tampoco meramente negativo, sino que retoma y hace suyos al mismo tiempo principios fundamentales del jusnaturalismo y de Kant, como condiciones necesarias para comprensión de las instituciones de la sociedad y del Estado modernos. (shrink)

This article raises the issue of the foundation of ethics in the situation of the pluralism of modern and contemporary society. Then , two types of answers to these problems are analyzed: comunitarism as the identitary ethics of an 'ourselves', and contractualism as the ethics of the partners' interests, which present themselves as rival theories in opposition to the universalism of kantian morality. It is however shown , how Kant himself had already worked at different levels of human integration with (...) both models: that of social contract and that of ethical community, and had articulated them in his system. The universal principle of morality , on the other hand, places itself at the meta-level of the profound grammar of the ethos of communities and contracts . Finally, it is observed that Kant´s fundamental ethical texts have not explicitly dealt with the hermeneutical problem of moral judgment in contexts of action. However, some passages of the Grundlegung are analyzed, as well as the Second Part of the Critique of Practical Reason, in which we find precise indications on this issue. It is maintained, that the observed lack of treatment may be bridged by means of widening the scope of the doctrine of reflexive judgment of aesthetic taste of the Third Critique's first part, which appears relevant, not for the foundation of the principle of morality, but for its application, i.e., for moral life.Este artículo plantea el problema de la fundamentación de la ética en la situación del pluralismo de la sociedad moderna y contemporánea. Se analizan luego dos tipos de respuesta a este problema: el comunitarismo como la ética identitaria de un nosotros, y el contractualismo como la ética de los intereses de los socios, los cuales se presentan como teorías rivales frente al universalismo de la moralidad kantiana. Se muestra sin embargo cómo el propio Kant había trabajado ya en distintos planos de la integración humana con los dos modelos del contrato social y de la comunidad ética, y los había articulado en su sistema. El principio universal de la moralidad se ubica en cambio en el meta-nivel de la gramática profunda del ethos de las comunidades y de los contratos . Se observa finalmente que los textos éticos fundamentales de Kant no han tratado de manera explícita el problema hermenéutico del juicio moral en los contextos de acción. Se analizan no obstante algunos pasajes de la Grundlegung y la Segunda Parte de la Crítica de la Razón Práctica, en los que hay indicaciones precisas sobre este problema. Se sostiene que la observada laguna se puede sortear mediante la ampliación de los alcances de la doctrina del juicio reflexivo del gusto estético de la primera parte de la Tercera Crítica, la cual parece relevante, no para la fundación del principio de la moralidad, pero sí para su aplicación, es decir: para la vida moral. (shrink)

Why should we read Carl Schmitt today? Does his friend-enemy conception of politics retain some pertinence in our “post-political” age? Do liberal democrats have something to learn from his critique of liberalism? Is his theory of sovereignty still relevant in a globalized word? These are some if the issue that Chantal Mouffe addresses in this article. The author considers that political theorists, in order to put forward a conception of a liberal-democratic society capable to win the active support of its (...) citizens, must be willing to engage with the arguments of those who have challenged the fundamental tenets of liberalism. This means confronting some disturbing questions, usually avoided by liberals and democrats alike. The intention of this article is to contribute to such a project by scrutinizing Carl Schmitts critique of liberal democracy. To bring to the fore the pertinence and actuality of Schmitt's questioning, the theme development is organized around two topics which are currently central in political theory: the boundaries of citizenship and the nature of liberal-democratic consensus. (shrink)

Ever since Aristotle, ontology has been assumed to have a single meaning. Classic ontology branched into three directions established by Kant--the three chief manifestations of reality: cosmology, psychology, and theology--and in its quality of pure ontology became the study exclusively of being. On the other hand, the three dialectical branches have been losing their validity and are being replaced by regional ontologies which take explicit account of their several objects. Four territories today present themselves for intensive speculative cultivation; quantity, matter, (...) life, and spirit. Theology has returned to its classic position at the side of pure ontology. The ideas of object and of concept are radically opposite, but nevertheless are closely related in the context of knowledge; an object is the source of a concept. A concept is formed by one or several objective instances, but does not include all of them; there are more or less determinate objects, some of which have undergone conceptual modification while others remain quite obscure, all of which indicates that the world of reality is not so evident or firm as it appears to common sense. The ideas of being and of objects bring us again to the consideration of the metaphysical theme of the individual. Neither being nor object is the concrete individual; the problem of the individual remains involved in the whole problem of substance as it was discussed in classic metaphysics, because it was completely grounded in this metaphysics and is best discussed and appreciated as the problem of the incommunicable and subsistent. Regional ontology, in fixing its attention entirely on the object, thereby limits itself and makes clear its methodological orientation. Regional ontology by no means is to be considered as a theory of science; any theory, concrete or general is subject to a synthetic process in which facts and proofs immediately given incorporate the theory into the patrimony and positive achievements of intelligence. A theory is a scientific synthesis, and although its fundamental role is logical, its origin implies experimental functions. Regional ontology can be considered as a theory of objects, but its validation does not come from science itself; rather, it is the validation of scientific facts. Ontology might be called a theory a priori, but in that case the terms "theory" and "a priori" would be contradictory since the former requires experience and the latter renounces all experimental data. Ontology operates by means of general essences which objects of the same denomination have in common; thus we speak of the realm of quantity, the realm of matter, the realm of life, and the realm of spirit. The mathematical as well as the natural, biological, and spiritual sciences clearly have different objective planes which correspond to different ontological categories, which are foreign to the experiencing subject because it knows them only concretely as phenomena. The metaphysical basis of mathematics is quantity, a real accident of matter. Quantity examined according to the ontology of mathematics arises from matter, finding its origin in matter as the quality related to form. The ontology of the physicochemical sciences is concerned with the contents of quantity, with the internal object by which quantity is numbered and given its nature. Matter presents a problem to philosophy no less important than the problem it presents to the sciences whose data are mere approximations to matter. Natural sciences which seem very intelligible resolve themselves into a morass of questions when one tries to reduce them to science strictly so-called. In present-day philosophy we say that the nature and structure of objects and beings, both inorganic and organic, are in practice external to human action, taking "human" in the sense of spiritual being. The instability of living being, in contrast to the internal equilibrium of inanimate being, makes it appear less intelligible. On the plane of ontology of life, man is the central problem, even though he is one of the most definite and individualized of beings. Man's life culminates in freedom, which makes man a responsible being, in this respect resembling God. Though less unknown than mathematical, material, and biological objects, mental objects are more difficult and involve subtle and risky problems. The first great phenomenon offered to the philosophy which penetrates the field of the ontology of the social sciences is the identity between the object and the subject, since the subject, who as far as possible refers systematically to the pure object, continually treads the boundary of reality and arrives at himself; that is, the inquiring subject becomes simultaneously the object investigated--a kind of cognitive identity possible in reflection. The second problem of this field of philosophy is the consideration of "I" as absolutely empty of objectivity. For contemporary philosophy, spirit is the world of values, and it is not so important to determine the pure reality of spirit as to understand its life, its activity, and its specific manifestation which is the world of culture. The social sciences deal with man as a spiritual being, and with the facts of culture. The values produced by culture constitute a hierarchy which goes from the most humble to the most elevated, from plain economic interest to an intense desire for God. Culture is produced by the objectification of values; spirit becomes fixed in certain entities which are cultural objects: a theory, a machine, a concert. Man acts as the creator of a culture, but the culture in turn spiritually actuates and nourishes him. The sciences of spirit go from signs to their meaning, from the expression to the living. The point of departure in historical knowledge is our own vital experience, the very life which flows within us. Only life understands life. Here we find the reason why culture indicates the maximum expression of life; in culture, man contemplates himself, and in himself he contemplates all the beings of creation. (shrink)

Abstract: In the present work we have made a critical review of the philosophical propo­ sal of Norwood R. Hanson with the aim of exposing the limits of its theoretical approach on the problem of interpretation in science. The first part of this work exposes the hansonian project, looking for evidence of his contributions to the philosophy of science and scientific thinking. In the following two sections we present a critique to his philosophical proposal. We present two exercises of philosophical (...) reflection that constitute two complementary moments of analysis. On one hand, at the level of methodological analysis, we present a discussion about how the “reversible perspective figures” that have been used for the author as arguments to explain his philosophical proposal, are insufficient to the descrip­ tion of the process of observation and interpretation. On the other hand, at the theoretical level, we question his notion of language and categories to show that his theoretical pro­ posed “vision-interpretation” has based on epistemological and analytic notions. From this perspective, it will be shown that the “hermeneutical-interpretative” approach of Hanson is incomplete, since it does not develop towards an ontology of language and observation. (shrink)

This paper has three main objectives: (a) Discuss the formal analogy between some important symmetry-invariance arguments used in physics, probability and statistics. Specifically, we will focus on Noether’s theorem in physics, the maximum entropy principle in probability theory, and de Finetti-type theorems in Bayesian statistics; (b) Discuss the epistemological and ontological implications of these theorems, as they are interpreted in physics and statistics. Specifically, we will focus on the positivist (in physics) or subjective (in statistics) interpretations vs. objective interpretations that (...) are suggested by symmetry and invariance arguments; (c) Introduce the cognitive constructivism epistemological framework as a solution that overcomes the realism-subjectivism dilemma and its pitfalls. The work of the physicist and philosopher Max Born will be particularly important in our discussion. (shrink)

This paper will investigate one of the main critiques of Rawlsian thought that emerged in the aftermath of the publication of A Theory of Justice in 1971, namely the communitarian critique by Michael Sandel. According to Sandel, Rawls starts from a radically disembodied subject, a unity of the self, from a human subject as a sovereign agent of choice, a creature whose ends are chosen rather than given. In Sandel's view, the original position is not a contract, but the realization (...) of an intersubjective being.Against Sandel's reading, this paper will argue that the parties in the original position are not the affirmation of a liberal, individualized subject, because they are neither thought of as real persons nor as future persons, just as they do not represent who people really are or their true selfs. The idea is that justice as fairness is based on a normative conception of citizens as free and equal moral persons but does not presuppose any metaphysical conception of person. Thus, it will be argued that from the later works of A Theory of Justice – with the change in the Rawlsian perspective of people, highlighting the two moral powers (rationality and reasonableness), and the idea of full autonomy (belonging to the citizens of the well-ordered society) – the communitarian critiques of Rawls' thought fall definitively to the ground. (shrink)

RESUMEN: En el actual contexto científico que forma la concepción darwiniana de las especies aún persisten las interpretaciones esencialistas de los conceptos de especie. ¿Se trata aquí sólo de la ignorancia de la teoría biológica? O, más bien, ¿es posible comprender la persistencia de los enfoques esencialistas sobre la base de la potencialidad de estos enfoques para explicar el logro de ciertos valores epistémicos de los actuales conceptos de especie? Me propongo responder afirmativamente a esta última pregunta. En la sección (...) 1 argumento que Samir Okasha (2002) no logra mostrar que hay otras razones, distintas a la de la ignorancia de la biología, que motivan el error de Kripke y de Putnam acerca de las especies. En la sección 2 propongo mi respuesta a la pregunta inicial en términos de algunos valores epistémicos que comparten las ideas esencialistas acerca de las especies y algunos de los actuales conceptos de especie.ABSTRACT: In the current scientific context that forms Darwinian conception of species, essentialist interpretations of the species concept persist. Is this only because of an ignorance of the biological theory? Or rather, is it possible to understand the persistence of essentialist approaches on the basis of the potentiality of these approaches to account for the achievement of certain epistemic values of the current species concepts? I intend to give a positive answer to this second question. In Section 1, I argue that Samir Okasha (2002) does not succeed in demonstrating that there are other reasons, which are different from that one regarding the ignorance about biology, which cause Kripke and Putnam to be mistaken about the species. In Section 2, I put forward my answer to the initial question in terms of some epistemic values sharing the essentialist ideas about the species and some of the current species concepts. (shrink)

Throughout his work Aquinas is consistent in holding that, about God, we do not know what He is but rather what He is not. We do not have a direct knowledge of divine essence in this life. However, from his De potentia onwards, and in the Summa theologiae , Thomas argues that the names which mean divine perfections –being, goodness, wisdom and the like– are not merely negative or relational terms, but are predicated substantialiter of God. That means they signify (...) the very divine substance, though imperfectly. The paper tries to analyze what type of knowledge this attribution presupposes, and according to this, to what extent his natural theology can be assessed as negative or positive. (shrink)

Abstract This essay seeks to realize the following question: what is the correspondence between the sign and the thing that names? In reality, what is significant is closely linked with the being, however in this case the sense will be a particular manifestation of an own subjectivity; therefore the determinant relation is limited to the capacity of representation, where the meaning is connected with the socio-cultural sense. In this regard, this work seek realize this problem from the analytical approach of (...) Ludwig Wittgenstein, who is based on the method of philosophical investigation through formal logic. In this first period of development, his speculative work, which in principle leads to the search for logical foundations for mathematics, practised it in direction to the study of the nature of the representation. Subsequently, and as necessary this test delimitation, will expose the confrontation —more not necessarily contradiction— of their approaches in the light of the own Wittgenstein who, in a second reflective period poured into his later work, is obliged to discuss the foundational in his speculative work logical-philosophical topics from a pragmatic point of view. (shrink)

Neste artigo, faço críticas às críticas tecidas por John Rawlscontra o utilitarismo, compreendido como teoria política, em seu livroA Theory of Justice. Esforçar-me-ei por mostrar que, ainda que outilitarismo considere a maximização da felicidade como o critério dedistinção das instituições políticas corretamente ordenadas, isso nãosignifica que ele seja indiferente a questões de justiça distributiva.Buscarei mostrar que o utilitarismo incorpora tais princípios de justiça,porque o modo como a felicidade é distribuída determina a proporçãoem que ela pode ser produzida. Além disso, como (...) veremos, as críticasfeitas por Rawls estão fundadas numa concepção extremamenteempobrecida do princípio da prudência racional, a qual ele injustamenteatribui ao seu opositor. Não obstante, também buscarei mostrar quedeterminadas críticas feitas por Rawls estão na direção correta, a saberaquelas que, em oposição ao utilitarismo, apresentam a liberdade, enão a felicidade, como constituidora do bem incondicional que deveser justamente distribuído.In this paper, I criticize the criticisms that John Rawls developsagainst the Utilitarianism, understood as a political theory, in his bookA Theory of Justice. I would like to show that, although theUtilitarianism takes the maximization of happiness as the criterion ofrightly ordered political institutions, it does not mean that it cannot bevery sensitive to questions of distributive justice. I will show that theUtilitarianism embeds such principles of justice, because the way happiness is distributed determines the proportion in which it can beproduced. Moreover, as we will see, Rawls criticisms are based on avery poorly conception of rational prudence that he then unfairlyattributes to his opponent. Nevertheless, I will also show that Rawlscriticism is in the right way, when he asserts, in opposition to theUtilitarianism, that freedom, instead of happiness, is the unconditionalgood that should be rightly distributed. (shrink)

My aim is to present the work of Jean Meslier and to give some keys, so that the reading of said work may be interesting for our time. My idea is that our reading should not be a study on Meslier, but on the way in which pain, hatred and anger forge his work – and what this entails when one attempts to write against injustice and inequality. In the first place, it implies a given speechlessness, lacking the words with (...) which we usually speak in our unfair and unequal world, since they become illegitimate precisely in our sharing such world. (shrink)

My aim is to present the work of Jean Meslier and to give some keys, so that the reading of said work may be interesting for our time. My idea is that our reading should not be a study on Meslier, but on the way in which pain, hatred and anger forge his work – and what this entails when one attempts to write against injustice and inequality. In the first place, it implies a given speechlessness, lacking the words with (...) which we usually speak in our unfair and unequal world, since they become illegitimate precisely in our sharing such world. (shrink)

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

In this paper I mainly draw attention to the largely discussed § 244 of the Philosophical Investigations of Ludwig Wittgenstein. I begin by providing what I take to be a right reconstruction of the argument in it, in which Wittgenstein maintains that, in contradistinction to the presup-positions of the supporter of a private language, we learn words for sen-sations, like “pain”, for example, not by correlating the sign directly with the corresponding sensation. Instead, “pain” is learned in connection with the (...) natural expression of pain, with pain-behavior, so that the word takes the place of the natural expression. Next, I develop two lines of criticism on Wittgenstein’s argument. First, I argue that Wittgenstein does not explain how the learner substitutes the conventional expression for the natural one. Second, I maintain that, in his explanation of how we learn words for sensations, Wittgenstein shares one of the most impor-tant presuppositions of the private language, the very one that he wanted to discard once and for all, namely, that one can know from her own case what pain is. (shrink)

The main objective of this paper is to present a mathematics education of helplessness in a problematization movement of political affects. So, we produce a discussion about Circuit of Affects, by the Brazilian philosopher Vladimir Safatle, in which fear and hope are constituted as affects that paralyze us and prevent us from creating new forms of life. Helplessness could be constituted as an affect for us to move with the contingency outside the temporality of expectation. The Covid-19 pandemic is used (...) as example for our considerations in the direction of presenting, in a first draft, three concepts to think/operate a mathematics education of helplessness: scale, belonging and border. A mathematics education with Gaia between humans and non-humans in becoming movements. (shrink)

Frente a la posición escolástica dominante hasta d siglo XVIII que consideraba el mal como ausencia de ser. Kant denuncia el mal como realidad existente, no meramente lógica, cuyo carácter negativo proviene de su oposición al deber moral. Kant nos va a decir que el mal es contraposición real, no simplemente una carencia. Este carácter ontológico del mal pone en tela de juicio la visión moderna del Progreso: éste no es el desenlace natural del devenir humano, ya que es posible (...) también progresar en el mal, como abundante ha probado la historia, incluso la reciente. De ahí la necesidad de replantearse el ser del hombre, a la luz de su responsabilidad trascendental. Si hay razones para el optimismo, no descansan en una fe ciega en el hombre, sino en su capacidad moral para superar su propia inclinación al mal. In opposition to the scholastic view dominant until the 18"' Century, that evil was but the absence of being, Kant maintains chat evil is actual reality, not merely logical, and that its negate character lies in its opposition co moral duty. Kant asserts that evil is real contrariety, not simply deficiency. This ontological character of evil challenges the modern idea of progress: Progress is not the •natural• course of events, since it is also possible to progress in evil, as history –events recent hit story- has proved abundantly. Therefore the question of the being of man must be reformulated in the light of his transcendental responsibility Whether there are reasons for optimism, they cannot be based on the faith in man, bur on his moral capability to overcome his own tendency to evil. (shrink)

This paper intends to examine a tension within Kant's theory of respect for the moral law. Originally, in the Groundwork, respect is conceived by Kant as a mere effect or by-product of the immediate determination of the will by the moral law. However, in the Second Critique, Kant seems to confer to respect a more positive role by assigning to it the task to weaken the influence exercised by the inclinations, thereby promoting the influence of the moral law on the (...) will. We show that this shift in Kant's theory of respect is entirely due to a concession to a widespread model of determination of the will by inclinations, which is of Humean inspiration. Besides, we show that that Humean model must be completely abandoned because it is at odds both with Kant's considered view of moral motivation and of the determination of the will by inclinations.Este artigo tem por objetivo examinar uma tensão existente no interior da teoria kantiana do respeito pela lei moral. Originalmente, na Fundamentação, o respeito é concebido por Kant como um mero efeito ou subproduto da imediata determinação da vontade pela lei moral. Na segunda Crítica, contudo, Kant parece conceder um papel mais positivo ao respeito, dando a ele a tarefa de enfraquecer a influência exercida pelas inclinações, o que contaria como uma promoção da influência da lei moral sobre a vontade. Buscaremos mostrar que essa alteração na teoria kantiana do respeito é inteiramente devida a uma concessão a um difundido modelo de determinação da vontade que é de inspiração humiana. Além disso, buscaremos mostrar que esse modelo humiano tem de ser completamente abandonado, porque ele se choca tanto com a concepção refletida de Kant sobre motivação moral quanto com sua concepção refletida sobre a determinação da vontade pelas inclinações. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es reflexionar sobre las posibilidades y posiciones de la producción literaria en un momento histórico en el que pululan los discursos apocalípticos sobre toda una serie de finales diferentes. Ante las especificidades de los imaginarios temporales contemporáneos, ¿cómo pensar la literatura y las posibilidades de «empezar» o de repetir el gesto de comienzo? después de recorrer algunas posiciones de la crítica se proponen algunas características de respuesta o de resistencia por parte de los escritores; relatos (...) de filiación, visión del pasado como novedad, anacronismo voluntario, inversión o digresión frente a las obsesiones memoríales, serían algunas de estas posibilidades. En todas ellas habría una defensa de lo literario ante una percepción degradada de su función colectiva y de sus capacidades para narrar lo social. This article considers the positions in literary production at an historic time characterized by a proliferation of apocalyptic discourse. Taking into account specific contemporary conceptions of time, how does one think about literature and the strategies for "beginning"? After a review of various critical approaches about "la fin de la littérature" in French criticism, or the incompleteness of literature in cultural critique, we propose an examination of the characteristics of the authors' responses to or their resistance to this proliferation. Genealogies, visioning the past as novelty, voluntary anachronism, inversion or regression in the face of the obsession of memory are, for example, some of the possibilities. In all of these there would seem to be a defense of literary work in light of the degraded perception of its collective function and its capacities for talking about society. (shrink)

RESUMENMe propongo examinar críticamente la analogía entre selección natural y condicionamiento operante que Fodor y Piattelli-Palmarini utilizan para sostener que los mismos argumentos que desacreditan la teoría conductista desacreditan la teoría de la selección natural. Estas teorías no son independientes ni conceptual ni históricamente y, por eso, no es razonable hacer una analogía entre ambas con las intenciones que se proponen Fodor y Piattelli-Palmarini. La selección natural es una condición causal del me­ca­nismo de condicionamiento operante, motivo por el cual la (...) refutación de la teoría del condicio­na­miento no puede ser una razón para la refutación de la teoría de la selección natural. ABSTRACTIn this paper I argue against the analogy between natural selection and operant conditioning that Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini used to argue that the same arguments that discredit the behaviorist theory discredit the theory of natural selection. These theories are not independent either conceptually or historically and, therefore, it is unreasonable to make an analogy between selection and operant conditioning that can serve Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini's intentions. Natural selection is a causal condition of the mechanism of operant conditioning, so the refutation of the theory of operant conditioning cannot be a reason for the refutation of the theory of natural selection. (shrink)

The current tendency to moderate expectations that DNA barcode can be a method of discovering new species is due to the essentialist interpretation of this scientific analogy that is conceptually unsustainable. Something similar has happened in the philosophical field with the weakening of the initial versions of intrinsic biological essentialism. To examine the nature of this transition, I propose two principles that define a moderate EBI: one that assumes that the history of the taxon is metaphysically dependent on the evolution (...) of its intrinsic properties and another that assumes the necessary coextensivity between the intrinsic properties that explain the phenotype of the species and the bearers of identity conditions of a species. I argue that both principles are conceptually and empirically unsatisfactory. (shrink)

This book is dedicated to clarify ambiguous concepts from the world of creativity and innovation. One of the initial triggers for the development of the book was the perceived ambiguity of the binomials Design vs. Design Thinking and Innovation vs. Invention. Frequently, designers and innovation consultants are questioned by their clients about the relationships between these kind of concepts. Has the second emerged through the first, or vice-verse? Is one part of the other? Where are the similarities and which are (...) the differences? This conceptual incomprehension makes itself noticeable between many ambiguous concepts in the world of innovation and creativity. What is the difference between Radical and Disruptive Innovation? Or is Social Innovation the same as Social Intervention? And regarding Creativity, are Creativity and Creative Thinking the same? In this book the reader will find answers to these kinds of questions and doubts. 28 authors from 10 different countries and cultural backgrounds are questioning current definitions and perceptions, by comparing different sources and ideas, or simply by giving their personal opinions. Some of the authors have an academic background, others a practical one, being either entrepreneurs, working with innovation in companies, or being innovation/design consultants. (shrink)

The current tendency to moderate expectations that DNA barcode can be a method of discovering new species is due to the essentialist interpretation of this scientific analogy that is conceptually unsustainable. Something similar has happened in the philosophical field with the weakening of the initial versions of intrinsic biological essentialism. To examine the nature of this transition, I propose two principles that define a moderate EBI: one that assumes that the history of the taxon is metaphysically dependent on the evolution (...) of its intrinsic properties and another that assumes the necessary coextensivity between the intrinsic properties that explain the phenotype of the species and the bearers of identity conditions of a species. I argue that both principles are conceptually and empirically unsatisfactory. (shrink)

Este artículo evalúa los constituyentes primordiales de esta obra en cuanto a lo que es: una propuesta de lenguaje narrativo. Se demuestra que su calidad se apoya en los méritos expresivos elaborados para su enunciación y, por ello, se concentra en la identificación textual de las formas artísticas que le confieren categoría estética. Se registran los resultados del proceso receptivo de un enunciatario que ingresa en sus codificaciones y que interpreta este proceso. Se hace presente que esta actividad se realiza (...) en medio de un contexto comunicacional contemporáneo que tiene como rasgos distintivos una velocidad progresiva y una consiguiente desprolijidad analítica. This article evaluates the main constituents of the work in relation to what it is: a proposal of narrative language. It is demonstrated that its quality is supported by the expressive merits elaborated for its enunciation and, due to this, it concentrates on the textual identification of the artistic forms which give it an aesthetics category. We record the results of the receptive process of an enunciator that enters in its codes and interprets this process. It must be pointed out that this activity is developed within a contemporary communicational context which has as distinctive features a progressive speed and as a consequence an inaccurate analysis. (shrink)

In order to understand Llullian apologetics of tolerance we must situate the Llibre del gentil within the context of the Mall orca of the three religions, that of the Judea-Christian disputes, of the JudeaMuslim sectarisms, of the schism and of the Christian heterodoxies. Only by taking all this into account, can we study in Llullian apologetics concepts such as "tolerance of benevolence" or "rational tolerance". Llullian apologetics doesn't try to change a belief by another but to lay the bridge of (...) rational tolerance to understand the truth of faith in the search of the utopia of religious unity. The aim would be therefore, to look for a solution to the Judeo Christian conflict of messianism, by means, for example, of a rapprochement through the common concept of hope, even though respecting the semantic differences of both systems of thought. (shrink)

En este artículo discuto dos tesis que Thomas Pogge deriva de su concepción institucional de los derechos humanos: la tesis de la culpa y la tesis de la violación global. La tesis de la culpa asevera que los ciudadanos que contribuyen a sostener un régimen institucional que viola derechos humanos sin realizar compensaciones en beneficio de las víctimas, se convierten ellos mismos en violadores de derechos humanos. Por su parte, la tesis de la violación global asevera que al imponer regulaciones (...) injustas que tienden a generar pobreza extrema, el régimen internacional actual viola los derechos humanos de los pobres del mundo. Mi intención será probar que ambas tesis son insostenibles ya que se basan en presupuestos errados en materia de responsabilidad. Esto no nos conducirá, sin embargo, a abandonar la concepción institucional de los derechos humanos. Por el contrario, una vez depurada de sus problemas, se trata de una concepción que puede ayudarnos a pensar adecuadamente sobre la responsabilidad por los derechos humanos en un mundo globalizado. In this paper, I discuss two theses that Thomas Pogge derives from his ins-titutional conception of human rights: the thesis of guilt and the thesis of global violation. The thesis of guilt states that citizens who contribute to support an institutional regime that violates human rights without awarding the victims any compensation become themselves human rights violators. The thesis of global violation, on the other hand, states that, by imposing unfair regulations that tend to generate extreme poverty, the current international regime violates the human rights of the world's poor. My intention is to prove that both theses are untenable because both of them are based on wrong assumptions concerning responsibility. This will not lead us, however, to leave the institutional conception of human rights. On the contrary, once debugged of its problems, it can be considered a conception that can help us to think properly about responsibility for human rights in a globalized world. (shrink)

In her article “Human Rights and the Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions” published in this volume of RLPF, Cristina Lafont argues that in order to impose human rights obligations to global governance institutions, the state-centric conception of human rights that pervades current international politics must be replaced by an alternative, pluralist account. In this response I claim that, when properly interpreted, the state-centric conception is not only perfectly compatible with imposing on global governance institutions the kind of obligations Lafont has (...) in mind, but may also lead us to a better understanding of the nature of these responsibilities in a globalized world. (shrink)

Resumen En este artículo se examina el Darwinismo Neural en su explicación de la evolución de la conciencia humana, contrastando su metodología con la utilizada por Richard Lewontin, Richard Levins y Steven Rose, quienes han hecho importantes aportaciones en el estudio de los sistemas vivos desde un punto de vista dialéctico. Concluimos que la explicación interaccionista de la evolución de la conciencia planteada en el DN, supera muchas de las deficiencias del determinismo biológico; sin embargo, al compartir algunos lineamientos con (...) el cartesianismo, mantiene un carácter a-histórico insuficiente para la explicación de la conciencia humana. Finalmente, proponemos la adopción de una teoría explicativa de la conciencia humana que considere las relaciones existentes en ella, no sólo como interacciones sino también como interpenetraciones ontogénicas y filogenéticas.This article examines Neural Darwinism proposed as an explanation of evolution of human consciousness. His methodology is contrasted with that used by Richard Lewontin, Richard Levins, and Steven Rose, who made important contributions to the study of living systems from a dialectical point of view. We conclude that the interactionist explanation of the evolution of conscience put forward in ND overcomes many of the deficiencies proper to biological determinism. However, as ND also shares many of the foundations of the Cartesian approach, it maintains a non-historical character, insufficient for the account of human consciousness. We suggest the adoption of an alternative theory, able to fully explain human conscience which must consider the whole of existing relations in it, and, instead of merely considering them as interactions, they have to be observed as dialectical interpenetrations. (shrink)

La extensión universitaria es una de las vías en las que la Universidad demuestra su carácter de centro cultural de suma importancia para el desarrollo. En el artículo se valora su importancia e impacto en la sociedad; definiciones del concepto de extensión y de los modelos que poseen en la actualidad un arraigo en la vida de las instituciones de educación superior, estos últimos responden a diversas posturas ideológicas y concepciones acerca de la relación que debe existir entre la Universidad, (...) la sociedad y los sectores involucrados. Se analizan tres conceptos directamente relacionados con la temática de manera determinante: cultura, pertinencia y desarrollo sostenible. University extension is one of the ways through which the university shows being a very important cultural center for guaranteeing the development. In the following article its relevance and impact in the society is assessed; as well as the definition of the concepts of extension and the models that nowadays are very deep-rooted in the life of the high education institutions. These models respond to the different ideological positions and conceptions related to the relationship that must exist between the university, the society, and the sectors involved. Three concepts directly related to theme of the work are analysed in a determining way: culture, pertinence, and sustainable development. (shrink)

En este artículo investigamos la incidencia de tres formatos de presentación de información multisemiótica textual en la comprensión de textos escritos a partir de un pasaje retórico del género Informe de Política Monetaria. Para ello se diseñó un experimento con tres pruebas de comprensión, cuyos textos variaban en la preponderancia multisemiótica constitutiva: texto original, texto con predominancia del sistema gráfico y texto con predominancia del sistema verbal. Estos instrumentos fueron aplicados a 151 estudiantes de una carrera universitaria en el área (...) de economía, Chile, divididos en dos grupos: estudiantes de primer año de universidad y estudiantes de tercer año. Los resultados indican, por un lado, que no existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre las tres condiciones de las pruebas de comprensión, en cada grupo de estudiantes. Por otro, sí se registran diferencias significativas entre los resultados de comprensión de los grupos de lectores de primer y tercer año, particularmente a favor de textos que preponderantemente privilegian un solo formato de codificación de la información ; mientras que no se distingue por nivel de inserción disciplinar en textos que exigen una lectura integrada de los códigos verbal y gráfico. Se discuten implicancias de estos resultados para la comprensión de textos especializados multisemióticos. In this paper we investigate the impact of three presentation formats of textual multisemiotic information in the comprehension of written texts from a rhetorical passage of the genre Monetary Policy Report. To do this, an experiment with three comprehension tests was designed, in which texts varied in the constituent multisemiotic preponderance: original text, text with predominance of the graphic system, and text with predominance of the verbal system. These instruments were applied to 151 students at a university program in the field of Economics in Chile. They were divided into two groups: university freshmen and university third graders. The results indicate, on the one hand, that there are no statistically significant differences between the three conditions of the comprehension tests, in each group of students. On the other hand, there are significant differences between the results of the reading comprehension tests of first and third year university students, particularly, in favor of texts predominantly of one information encoding format ; while there is no difference in terms of the disciplinary university level in texts that required an integrated reading of verbal and graphic codes. Implications of these results for the comprehension of multisemiotic specialized texts are discussed. (shrink)

El artículo se concentra en un aspecto del diálogo platónico Ión, a saber, aquel que señala a la inspiración del poeta como un estado de posesión. Este estado es descrito como un proceso irracional que descalifica al poeta en su pretensión de dominar tanto alguna técnica como de poseer algún saber. La descripción de este estado se encuentra en el primer discurso de Sócrates en el citado diálogo y la intención del artículo es mostrar cómo esta descripción platónica de la (...) inspiración poética responde más a una invención que a una descripción veraz del proceso poético, a pesar de que Platón diga lo contrario. --- “The Poet’s Inspiration and the Platonic Fiction”. The paper is concerned with one aspect of the Platonic dialogue Ion, namely that which considers the poet’s inspiration as a state of possession. This state is described as an irrational process that undermines the poet’s claims to be master of some technique as well as knowledge. The description of this state is placed in Socrates’ first discourse in the abovementioned dialogue, and the intention of the paper is to show how this Platonic description of poetic inspiration is due more to an invention than to a true description of the poetic process, despite Plato’s opposing claims. (shrink)

A pesar de matices y variaciones de significado, la intencionalidad husserliana sigue al servicio de la verdad como adaequatio, adaptada al orden monádico de la conciencia trascendental. Sin embargo, en la conciencia interna del tiempo se ve la dificultad de interpretar intencionalmente la esfera pasiva de la conciencia, con lo cual peligra la vocación por la verdad de la intencionalidad. A partir de la constitución eidética, se busca una génesis pasiva del sentido ideal intencional, sin perder su referencia egológica. Despite (...) the nuances and variations in meaning, Husserlian intentionality continues to be at the service of truth as adaequatio, adapted to the monadic order of transcendental consciousness. However, the internal consciousness of time reveals the difficulty of interpreting the passive sphere of consciousness intentionally, which jeopardizes intentionality's vocation for truth. On the basis of eidetic constitution, a passive genesis of ideal intentional meaning is sought, which does not lose its reference to the ego. (shrink)