Management cybernetics has been in development since the 1960s, although its implementation has been relatively modest. Two of the best-known proposals are Beer’s Viable System Model and Steinbruner’s Cybernetic Theory of Decision. Both are homeostatic systems, inspired by living organisms. Professor Juan A. Pérez López (1934–1996) argued that homeostatic systems are not fully appropriated for human beings, and proposed instead the “Freely Adaptive System” (FAS) model to explain the dynamics of an organization formed by two dynamic human systems. This model, (...) although it is within the management cybernetic paradigm, and does not propose any anthropological philosophy, is consistent with several features of the Aristotelian anthropological tradition, including epistemology, practical reason, and virtues. The FAS model can help as a compass for decision making by considering three basic criteria—effectiveness, internal efficiency and consistency—when two persons—an active agent and a reactive agent—interact repeatedly. The model sheds light on the interdependence of ethics and efficiency in successive interactions. (shrink)

BackgroundDiagnosis and treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinomas cause anxiety and depression. Additionally, these patients suffer hormonal alterations that are associated with psychological symptoms. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a psycho-oncological intervention based on counseling to reduce anxiety and depression related to the treatment in patients with DTC.MethodsA non-randomized controlled study, with two groups [experimental group, n = 37, and control group, n = 38] and baseline and posttreatment measures, was designed. Patients in the EG received a psycho-oncological (...) intervention based on counseling in addition to the standard treatment. The independent variable was the assigned group and the dependent one was the evolution of anxiety and depression, which were analyzed separately, and both were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Other relevant covariables related to the quality of life were also analyzed using Short Form-36 Health Survey and Psychological General Wellbeing Index scales.ResultsThe difference of the posttreatment-baseline variation showed a statistically significant reduction in anxiety and depression in the EG in relation to the CG. The mean of the Psychological General Wellbeing Index scales score increased significantly in the EG and decreased significantly in the CG. All the baseline and the posttreatment scores of the variables evaluated showed a statistically significant improvement in the EG vs. the CG.ConclusionThis study demonstrates significant benefits of psycho-oncological intervention based on counseling in anxiety, depression, QoL, and wellbeing of the patient with differentiated thyroid carcinomas. (shrink)

Objetivo general: Analizar la evolución del estudio de las necesidades humanas desde los autores clásicos hasta los teóricos actuales. Metodología: Revisión bibliográfica de las necesidades humanas desde distintas perspectivas de las ciencias sociales. Resultados: En las grandes corrientes científicas que teorizan sobre las necesidades humanas, se observan distintas maneras de conceptualizarlas, aunque en su mayoría contemplan las necesidades como constructo social, que puede interpretarse vinculado al momento socio-histórico.

While rooted in careful study of Mead’s original writings and transcribed lectures and the historical context in which that work was carried out, the papers in this volume have brought Mead’s work to bear on contemporary issues in metaphysics, epistemology, cognitive science, and social and political philosophy.

On 5 August 1968, publication of the Harvard Committee’s report on the subject of “irreversible coma” established a standard for diagnosing death on neurological grounds. On the same day, the 22nd World Medical Assembly met in Sydney, Australia, and announced the Declaration of Sydney, a pronouncement on death, which is less often quoted because it was overshadowed by the impact of the Harvard Report. To put those events into present-day perspective, the authors reviewed all papers published on this subject and (...) the World Medical Association web page and documents, and corresponded with Dr A G Romualdez, the son of Dr A Z Romualdez. There was vast neurological expertise among some of the Harvard Committee members, leading to a comprehensible and practical clinical description of the brain death syndrome and the way to diagnose it. This landmark account had a global medical and social impact on the issue of human death, which simultaneously lessened reception of the Declaration of Sydney. Nonetheless, the Declaration of Sydney faced the main conceptual and philosophical issues on human death in a bold and forthright manner. This statement differentiated the meaning of death at the cellular and tissue levels from the death of the person. This was a pioneering view on the discussion of human death, published as early as in 1968, that should be recognised by current and future generations. (shrink)

El artículo es una aportación al estudio de la antropología política del protohumanismo florentino, centrado en la obra y la figura del maestro de retórica de Dante, el notario Brunetto Latini. Nos ocupamos de exponer la conexión existente entre el desarrollo del gobierno comunal en la península italiana del Duecento y la difusión de una prosa marcadamente pragmática, extendida especialmente entre jueces y notarios, que preconiza la prelacía de la filosofía práctica con respecto a la teoría y la teología. Se (...) toman también en consideración aquellos factores que manifiestan la ruptura del Convivio y de la Commedia de Dante con los supuestos doctrinales de Latini, subrayando la apuesta de Alighieri por una teología poética, que contrasta con la forma de vida inmanente proyectada por la visión enciclopédica del notario, recogida en sus escritos retóricos y políticos. (shrink)

BackgroundThe Catalan Institute of Health is the largest health services public provider in Catalonia. “CIH Code of Ethics Virtual Forum”, was created within the Intranet of the CIH to facilitate participation among their employees. The current study aims to: a) Analyse the CIH workers’ assessment of their own, their colleagues’ and the organization’s observance of ethical values; b) Identify the opinions, attitudes, experiences and practices related to the ethical values from the discourse of the workers that contributed voluntarily to the (...) CEVF.MethodsMixed methods study with convergent parallel design:1.Cross sectional study by means of a self-administered, ad hoc, anonymous questionnaire to assess the observance of the ethical values of the CIH according to the participants. A total of 712 workers responded to the questionnaire. A descriptive, bivariate analysis of the results was carried out. 2.Qualitative study to determine the meaning for the workers of the ethical values put forward by the organization. Their individual opinions and experiences were explored by means of a thematic contents analysis of 225 comments posted in the CEVF. The study was conducted between May and December 2008.ResultsThe average score for observance of the CE by the respondents themselves was high, between 3.5-4/5 for the observance by their colleagues and close to 3/5 for the CIH management. These results do not change when we compare by gender, age group and professional discipline. The comments on the values are information-rich, they mirror the ethical environment of the institution and show various ethical dilemmas and suggestions.ConclusionsResults show that it is feasible for a publicly funded health care organization to develop a CE with the participation of employees and the support of the management. Results underscore the relevance of this strategy for the implementation, improvement and update of the CE as a responsibility shared by all workers. Practices consistent with ethical values are rewarded by social approval, enhance employee’s confidence and coherence in decision-making and improve public engagement and institutional policies. (shrink)

El artículo es una aportación al estudio de la antropología política del protohumanismo florentino, centrado en la obra y la figura del maestro de retórica de Dante, el notario Brunetto Latini. Nos ocupamos de exponer la conexión existente entre el desarrollo del gobierno comunal en la península italiana del Duecento y la difusión de una prosa marcadamente pragmática, extendida especialmente entre jueces y notarios, que preconiza la prelacía de la filosofía práctica con respecto a la teoría y la teología. Se (...) toman también en consideración aquellos factores que manifiestan la ruptura del Convivio y de la Commedia de Dante con los supuestos doctrinales de Latini, subrayando la apuesta de Alighieri por una teología poética, que contrasta con la forma de vida inmanente proyectada por la visión enciclopédica del notario, recogida en sus escritos retóricos y políticos. (shrink)

Theatre has been used in psychological intervention and as a metaphor for social life, tendencies that affect the self, highlighting how influential theatrical performance can be for individuals. Their limitations – in terms of the empowerment of the self and its authenticity, respectively - can be overcome by treating theatrical performance as a leisure experience, which considers that freedom and satisfaction play a central role in a more comprehensive understanding and development of the self. With this in mind, we present (...) the conceptual and empirical bases of the leisure experience as an alternative conception of theatrical performance. To do so, we organised a 20-hour theatre exercise workshop with 16 university students (15 women, one man), aged between 18 and 21 years old (M = 19.06 years; SD = 1.06). Qualitative instruments used were: the Time Budget Technique (questionnaire about the activities carried out in the workshop, valued in relation to two items: perceptions of freedom and satisfaction); the Twenty-Statement Test (where people list characteristics of themselves – self-descriptions – related in this case to the theatrical exercises); and, as a third instrument, a combination of the other two – specifying which exercises were more closely related to the self-descriptions. The results showed that group discussion was the activity with the highest perception of freedom, followed by obstacle exercises; as regards the perception of satisfaction, the highest value was observed in the relaxations. In the case of the self-descriptions, the acquisition of practical and intellectual skills was significant, as well as emotional outlook and the expression of self-esteem. In sum, this empirical support - using qualitative instruments that invite an exploration of the self - revealed, on the one hand, which specific characteristics of the self are manifested by doing theatrical exercises and, on the other hand, which exercises – when experienced as leisure – have a more decisive impact on the self. Thus, this paper shows what aspects must be taken into account when deciding which activities to include in a psychosocial intervention addressed to the development of the self from the standpoint of theatrical performance as a leisure activity. (shrink)

Ranging from miniaturized biological robots to organoids, multi-cellular engineered living systems (M-CELS) pose complex ethical and societal challenges. Some of these challenges, such as how to best distribute risks and benefits, are likely to arise in the development of any new technology. Other challenges arise specifically because of the particular characteristics of M-CELS. For example, as an engineered living system becomes increasingly complex, it may provoke societal debate about its moral considerability, perhaps necessitating protection from harm or recognition of positive (...) moral and legal rights, particularly if derived from cells of human origin. The use of emergence-based principles in M-CELS development may also create unique challenges, making the technology difficult to fully control or predict in the laboratory as well as in applied medical or environmental settings. In response to these challenges, we argue that the M-CELS community has an obligation to systematically address the ethical and societal aspects of research and to seek input from and accountability to a broad range of stakeholders and publics. As a newly developing field, M-CELS has a significant opportunity to integrate ethically responsible norms and standards into its research and development practices from the start. With the aim of seizing this opportunity, we identify two general kinds of salient ethical issues arising from M-CELS research, and then present a set of commitments to and strategies for addressing these issues. If adopted, these commitments and strategies would help define M-CELS as not only an innovative field, but also as a model for responsible research and engineering. (shrink)

Is it possible to establish a line of research that brings Gabriel Marcel and Jean-Paul Sartre closer together? With this article, we will positively support this idea, by distancing ourselves from the overly rigid interpretations that exclusively focus on antinomic elements sliding into a reductionist and nowadays “canonical” presentation of the relationship between these philosophers. Beyond the undeniable and, fortunately, unmediated differences between the two philosophers, this article aims to investigate their positions regarding the concept of “relationship”. In doing so, (...) we will highlight how Gabriel Marcel’s “coesse” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s “being-for-others” have numerous points of contact that place both philosophers, beyond their personal positions in the religious sphere, within the common ground of “existentialism”. (shrink)

This volume offers the first-ever complete English translation of Leibniz’s Dissertatio De Arte Combinatoria together with a critical edition of the original Latin text on fa...

Falsafat wa-ḥayāt Abī Hāshim al-Jubbāʼī wa-madrasatuh -- al-Tawallud ʻinda al-Muʻtazilah.

Obiettivo di questo articolo sarà presentare l’analisi fenomenologica e teoretica che Sartre propone del concetto di malafede, a partire dal romanzo La Nausea fino all’opera L’essere e il nulla. Ricostruendo il procedimento sartriano, che dall’atteggiamento interrogativo dell’uomo di fronte all’essere porta alla posizione del non-essere, giungeremo alla libertà e all’angoscia, quali caratteri costitutivi dell’essenza umana. Il tentativo di fuggire dalla libertà, a cui per Sartre siamo condannati, e dall’angoscia che da essa deriva, condurrà l’uomo sartriano all’autoinganno, ad una vita inautentica… (...) alla malafede. (shrink)

This book presents state of the art philosophical work on conspiracy theory research that brings in sharp focus on central and important insights concerning the supposed irrationality of conspiracy theory and conspiracy theory belief, while also proposing several novel solutions to long standing issues in the broader academic debate on these things called ‘conspiracy theories’. -/- It features a critical history of conspiracy theory theory, emphasising the role of the ‘first generation’ of philosophers in conspiracy theory research. This book also (...) includes discussions of a range of key issues such as: -/- What counts as conspiracy theory? Who counts as a conspiracy theorist? How are these terms variously understood by academics and the wider public, and Are conspiracy theories automatically suspect, and is it ever reasonable to be a conspiracy theorist? The book then builds upon that work by looking at how people’s political views affect both the conspiracy theories they believe and their beliefs about conspiracy theories; how we might defend conspiracy theorising without endorsing mad, bad or dangerous conspiracy theories; and contains several proposals for unifying conspiracy theory research under one theoretical framework: particularism. -/- This volume will be a key resource for philosophers and social scientists interested in recent work on the philosophy of conspiracy theory theory and its implications for conspiracy theory research. It will also appeal to members of the public, who want to know what, if anything, is wrong with these things called “conspiracy theories”. It was originally published as a special issue of Social Epistemology. (shrink)

Zhizneopisanie -- Kniga znanii︠a︡ -- Ukazanii︠a︡ i nastavlenii︠a︡ -- Kniga o dushe.

This book analyzes for the first time in English the ethical theory that underpins Qur’anic legislation by providing a classification of specific verses in which Islam’s holy book discusses moral issues. The principal purpose of this book is to demonstrate the ways in which the Qur’an theoretically and practically provides the moral code to which Muslims around the world adhere. The author divides his analysis into a survey of Qur’anic attitudes towards the basic ethical issues of obligation and responsibility, issues (...) of moral psychology such as motivation and intention, as well as matters of social ethics such as the function of law in society. He then explores the meanings of individual morality, morality within the family and civil society, and the relationship of morality to the idea of the state. (shrink)