Inauguration speech at chair number 18 of the Brasilian Academy of Philosophy.

This paper investigates some classical oppositional categories, like synthetic vs. analytic, posterior vs. prior, imagination vs. grammar, metaphor vs. hermeneutics, metaphysics vs. observation, innovation vs. routine, and image vs. sound, and the role they play in epistemology and philosophy of science. The epistemological framework of objective cognitive constructivism is of special interest in these investigations. Oppositional relations are formally represented using algebraic lattice structures like the cube and the hexagon of opposition, with applications in the contexts of modern color theory, (...) Kantian philosophy, Jungian psychology, and linguistics. (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.

1. Modern science in historical perspective -- On the origins of modern science -- The post-Renaissance revolution : the New Science -- Frank Sherwood Taylor : the man who was converted by Galileo -- The limits of science -- Proofs and demonstrations -- On the intelligibility of Quantum Mechanics -- Uncertainty, incompleteness, chance, and design -- A Finite, Open and Contingent Universe -- 2. On the origin and development of life -- A brief history of evolutionary thought -- Life's intelligible (...) design -- What are the contributions of Genetics to the understanding of life? -- On the Human Genome in contrast to the Great Apes Genome -- On The Evolution Controversy -- Scientific critiques of Darwinism -- 3. Beyond nature and history -- The religion of Darwinism -- On the riddle of man's origin -- On science, history and free will -- Science and Faith -- Concluding remarks. (shrink)

O gás sarin no metrô de Tóquio, as 'balas perdidas' no Rio de Janeiro e os ataques terroristas às torres gêmeas em Nova York ou ao transporte coletivo em Madri e Londres revelam que nossa sociedade interdependente é muito vulnerável.

De la materia del sueño nace de un esfuerzo de síntesis entre dos orientaciones vitales. Por un lado, en el plano poético, la poesía y los medios por los que esta logra extenderse en la vida cotidiana a partir de la experiencia de lo maravilloso; por otro, en el plano político, las potencialidades de la Utopía como medio de reactivación del imaginario revolucionario. Es ahí, y no en otra parte, donde debe enmarcarse este ensayo. Si no fuera porque ellos nunca (...) hablaron previamente, podríamos decir que en este libro está basada la última película de Jan Švankmajer, Sobreviviendo a la vida (Teoría y práctica). (shrink)

A INTERFERÊNCIA DO PODER EXECUTIVO NOS ORÇAMENTOS DO PODER JUDICIÁRIO E DO MINISTÉRIO PÚBLICO: SEPARAÇÃO DOS PODERES E IMPACTOS NO EXERCÍCIO DE SUAS FUNÇÕES INSTITUCIONAIS.

Este artigo traz uma reflexão sobre a influência que a Biologia evolutiva exerceu sobre Sigmund Freud no tocante à teoria das pulsões e à noção de patologia que a acompanha. Também, notadamente quanto às suas tendências regressivas, conforme apresentado em Além do princípio do prazer, publicação pródiga de referenciais evolucionários, especialmente da compreensão filogenética da espécie humana, ou seja, da teoria da recapitulação de Ernst Haeckel, articulada aos fenômenos clínicos e culturais. Amparados em Georges Canguilhem, observamos que a mesma Biologia (...) cumpre função normativa na qualificação das manifestações humanas. Assim, mostraremos que o recurso a ela serviu de apoio para Freud estabelecer uma concepção psicanalítica de sujeito igualmente normativa, a saber, dotado de um psiquismo regressivo e patológico em sua natureza, cuja tendência biológica o faz repetir comportamentos do passado. Se trata de uma opção teórica em detrimento da ruptura e da variação como norteadora de sua história, assim como da história da espécie humana. (shrink)

Conceptual congruency effects are biases induced by an irrelevant conceptual dimension of a task (e.g., location in vertical space) on the processing of another, relevant dimension (e.g., judging words’ emotional evaluation). Such effects are a central empirical pillar for recent views about how the mind/brain represents concepts. In the present paper, we show how attentional cueing (both exogenous and endogenous) to each conceptual dimension succeeds in modifying both the manifestation and the symmetry of the effect. The theoretical implications of this (...) finding are discussed. (shrink)

t. 1. Introducción a la filosofía del derecho.

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)

This article provides a critical reading of the ‘Parecer CNE-CES 60, de 2014’, from the Ministry of education, Brazil, which defines the curriculum guidelines for courses of Baccalaureate in Theology. In its first section it discusses the theoretical background of the ‘Parecer’, questioning its illuminist orientation, as well as its pedagogical theory focused on contents and not on the students activities. It aims to show that are two opposed educational paradigms in the ‘Parecer’, the illuminist and the constructivist, although the (...) illuminist is the dominant one. It also question the view of the theologian present in the ‘Parecer’, marked by significant absences from the professional field of religious work. In the second section, the article presents a sample of particular interpretation of the ‘Parecer’, indicating the guidelines of a curriculum based on the constructivist paradigm. It dedicates special attention to the occult dimension of the curriculum and to an articulation of the student’s activities in relationship to the disciplines of the course. (shrink)