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)

This article revisits the work of the Argentine political scientist Guillermo O’Donnell (1936–2011), one of Latin America’s leading intellectual figures of the twentieth century. While previous analyses have concentrated on his legacy in the social sciences, this study offers an intellectual history of O’Donnell’s ideas on democracy and inequality. It traces O’Donnell’s shifting perspectives, from a structuralist view of global centre-periphery relationships to an emphasis on individual agency concerning inequalities. The article presents, first, an analysis of his early work, in (...) particular his conceptualization of the “Bureaucratic-Authoritarian” State, which was connected to a specific view of inequality characteristic of the 1960s and 1970s. Second, the article focuses on his second major work, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule, in relation to the most important political event in Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s, namely the various transitions from dictatorship to democracy. Thirdly, the article examines in detail O’Donnell’s ideas on the quality of democracy, the state, and inequality in Latin America in the 1990s and 2000s. By exploring O’Donnell’s intellectual journey chronologically, the article illuminates the shifts and continuities in his work, thereby highlighting the evolving perspectives on inequality of one of Latin America’s foremost intellectuals. (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.

El control efectivo de la calidad y seguridad de los ali­mentos requiere de métodos analíticos que garanticen la deter­minación fiable de cualquier sustancia potencialmente perjudicial para el consumidor que pueda estar presente en el alimento antes de su distribución y comercialización. Una de las aproximaciones analíticas que contribuye a garantizar este objetivo engloba una serie de técnicas que tienen en común la utilización de anticuerpos como elementos esenciales para la detección del analito diana, y que en conjunto reciben el nombre (...) de métodos inmunoquímicos. Este artículo pretender aportar una visión básica de los principios bioquímicos subyacentes a estas tecnologías y cuáles son sus venta­jas y limitaciones en la determinación de contaminantes químicos, residuos y aditivos en matrices alimentarias. En la última parte se comentan algunas de nuestras iniciativas en este ámbito que han dado lugar a kits rápidos disponibles comercialmente tras haber transferido la tecnología correspondiente al sector industrial. (shrink)

Self-determination theory considers motivation as a multidimensional phenomenon, with different levels of intensity, purposes, intentions, wills and autonomies. It distinguishes between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation. In this paper, we are going to focus on extrinsic motivation, which is related to those tasks that the subject performs without having a purpose in themselves, and which is composed of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. The aim of this research is to analyse the relationship between them and emotional intelligence (...) in 165 students with university degrees related to Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. The main findings of this work lie mainly in the demonstration of the fact that emotional intelligence is a predictor of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. (shrink)

Bien étudiée par les sociologues nord-améri-cains, spécialement par des féministes, la problématique des femmes battues qui tuent appelle une compréhension clinique. Centré sur huit cas, cet article montre comment leur aptitude à la symbolisation a été systématiquement entravée. Grandissant dans des familles où les femmes étaient strictement confinées à la sphère domestique, où un strict contrôle de leur sexualité n’empêchait pas de sévères négligences, qui parfois allaient jusqu’à les exposer à des abus sexuels, elles ont été confrontées à un véritable (...) interdit de s’appartenir. Essentiellement, ces femmes ne se sont senties protégées ni réellement par la constance de leurs parents, ni affectivement par leur bienveillance, ni symboliquement par leur soumission à la Loi. (shrink)

Partisane de l'objectivité, notre culture n'envisage la science que sous l'angle de la neutralité, qui serait le seul chemin vers la vérité. Pourtant, les physiciens soutiennent depuis longtemps déjà que l'observateur modifie l'observé. Et qu'en est-il des sciences humaines, où l'objet observé est en même temps le sujet observant : l'homme? Allant à contre-courant des positions habituellement admises, ce livre pose la question de la place du sujet dans la recherche en sciences humaines. Le "sujet" dont il est question ici (...) est double, à la fois "observant" et "observé" : de ce fait, le chercheur ne peut être que partial. "On voit aussi bien de biais que de face" : les différents chapitres de cet ouvrage démontrent en quoi la partialité constitue en réalité un atout. Le chercheur doit la considérer comme l'unique moyen d'accéder au débat critique. Il faut se départir du désir de "saisir le réel" et accepter que la recherche gagne en profondeur lorsqu'elle assume d'être impliquée, engagée. Ainsi, la partialité assumée sans peur de s'éloigner des critères habituels de "scientificité" devient ressource, renouveau, transformation théorique. Un ouvrage de réflexion, à rebours des idées reçues. (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)