Spectroscopy is a scientific topic at the interface between Chemistry and Physics, which is taught at high school level in relation with its fundamental applications in Analytical Chemistry. In the first part of the paper, the topic of spectroscopy is analyzed having in mind the well-known Johnstone’s triangle of chemistry education, putting in evidence the way spectroscopy is usually taught at the three levels of chemical knowledge: macroscopic/phenomenological, sub-microscopic/molecular and symbolic ones. Among these three levels, following Johnstone’s recommendations the macroscopic (...) one is the most useful for high school students who learn spectroscopy for the first time. Starting from these premises, in the second part of the paper, we propose a didactic sequence which is inspired by the historical evolution of spectroscopic instruments from the first spectroscopes invented by Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen in 1860 to the UV–vis spectrophotometers which became common since the 1960s. The idea behind our research is to analyze the conceptual advancements through the history of spectroscopy and to identify the key episodes/experiments and spectroscopic instruments. For each of them, a didactic activity, typically an experiment, is then proposed underlining the relevant aspects from the chemistry education point of view. The present paper is the occasion to reflect on the potentialities of an historical approach combined with a laboratorial one, and to discuss the role of historical instruments and related technological improvements to teach spectroscopy. (shrink)

In 1930, in Anfänge der bürgerlichen Geschichtsphilosophie, Horkheimer analyzes utopia in bourgeois philosophy of history and identifies two aspects: the criticism of what is, and the representation of what should be. Utopia therefore plays a revolutionary role in history. In 1937, in Traditionelle und kritische Theorie, Horkheimer changes opinion. Utopia is criticized as misleading, acquiescent to reality. In later writings, in a pessimistic view, the Director of the Frankfurt School describes contemporary society as a dystopia.

The object of this paper is to demonstrate the philological relation between justice, law and equality in ancient Greek or, that is the same, the philosophical relation between ethics, politics and economics. Actually it is interesting to examine the etymology of the word dikē which derives from the Sanskrit diś-(dik) and it refers more than to the generic idea of the «straight line» to the specific and astronomical concept of the «horizon (or skyline)», the apparent line that separates the cosmos (...) into two equal parts, the earth from the sky, meaning the same idea of equality which should be a rule of just law and ethical perfection. Moreover, according to my hypothesis Plato may have used the analogy of the horizon to explain his cosmological Doctrine of Ideas. (shrink)

The present paper sets out to counter the claim put forward by British philosopher of mind, Robert Kirk, according to which Sartre's notion of consciousness as for-itself, while offering some valuable insights regarding human existence, nonetheless fails to engage with the problem of how to establish the existence of such conscious beings on philosophical grounds. To the extent that it succeeds in meeting the challenge raised by Kirk's comment, the reading of Being and Nothingness offered here could be considered as (...) fulfilling a twofold aim. Firstly, it offers an answer to the problem of other minds which is construed on the basis of Sartre's ontological work, thus contributing to a still open debate in the scholarly literature devoted to Sartre's thought. Secondly, it illustrates one way in which a specific problem which is amply discussed among contemporary philosophers of mind could be tackled from within a conceptual framework rooted in the continental tradition of philosophy. (shrink)

The image of wine has a “spiritual sense”, which helps the faithful to understand the principles of their belief. Its mystery is connected with the theme of “sober inebriation”, developed by Philo of Alexandria and Origen, and culminating in Ambrose. The good wines that the bride enjoys before the groom’s arrival are a symbol of the good doctrines of the OT, whose teachings are however inferior to the revelation of the incarnate Christ. Good, sweet wine, meanwhile, refers to the doctrines (...) of the NT interpreted spiritually, the logos that helps us begin to know Christ, to bind ourselves to him in ecclesial unity and to love our neighbour. It also leads us to the “winepress”, i.e. renouncing superfluous land, becoming “full of must” and inebriated, so that we can dedicate ourselves to contemplation. The vine has a Christological value and catechetical function, dating back to John 15.1, which is often quoted with Saint Paul. The place where the vine is born and develops is the soul; the Logos supports its flowering in those who, by their free will, choose to flourish. The cluster of grapes refers to Christ, or to the victory of the righteous; the many grapes that he contains are believers. The vineyard is a symbol of the church formed by the pagans, of the commandments of God, or of the good things that God gave to man, who did not preserve them, having been stripped of them by the devil. The guardians of the vineyard are angels or priests. (shrink)

Gregory of Nyssa’s bearing in Qohelet 3:5b to wealth, rather than to the matrimonial “embrace”, is unusual by comparison withother ancient exegeses; it seems to be motivated not only by the acoluthia which characterizes his spiritual interpretation of the passage Qo. 3:2-8, but also by the crucial importance he gives to catharsis, as one the qualities he considered necessary for the exegete.

Through the analysis of Mariano Campo’s published works and thanks to further insights offered by some unpublished manuscripts, the profile of a philosopher is outlined, whose main interest, throughout his academic and research activity, has been aesthetics. More specifically, Campo has focused on the centrality of feelings to human aesthetic experience: it is through feeling that we experience a transfiguration of reality, which happens paradigmatically when, in front of an artwork, we appreciate it as an integral whole, a totality.

In this case report, we studied Theory of Mind and figurative language comprehension in a 7.2-year-old child, conventionally named RJ, with isolated and complete agenesis of the corpus callosum, a rare malformation due to the absence of the corpus callosum, the major tract connecting the two brain hemispheres. To study ToM, which is the capability to infer the other’s mental states, we used the classical false belief tasks, and to study figurative language, i.e., those linguistic usages involving non-literal meanings, we (...) used tasks assessing metaphor and idiom comprehension. RJ’s intellectual level and his phonological, lexical, and grammatical abilities were all adequate. In both the ToM false belief tasks and novel sensory metaphor comprehension, RJ showed a delay of 3 years and a significant gap compared to a typically developing control group, while in idioms, his performance was at the border of average. These outcomes suggest that RJ has a specific pragmatic difficulty in all tasks where he must interpret the other’s communicative intention, as in ToM tasks and novel sensory metaphor comprehension. The outcomes also open up interesting insights into the relationships between ToM and figurative language in children with isolated and complete ACC. (shrink)

BackgroundCollecting post-mortem brain tissue is essential, especially from healthy “control” individuals, to advance knowledge on increasingly common neurological and mental disorders. Yet, healthy individuals, on which this study is focused, are still understudied. The aim of the study was to explore, among healthy potential brain donors and/or donors’ relatives, attitude, concerns and opinion about post-mortem brain donation (PMBD).MethodsA convenience sampling of the general population (twins and their non-twin contacts) was adopted. From June 2018 to February 2019, 12 focus groups were (...) conducted in four Italian cities: Milan, Turin, Rome and Naples, stratified according to twin and non-twin status. A qualitative content analysis was performed with both deductive and inductive approaches. Emotional interactions analysis corroborated results.ResultsOne hundred and three individuals (49–91 yrs of age) participated. Female were 60%. Participants had scarse knowledge regarding PMBD. Factors affecting attitude towards donation were: concerns, emotions, and misconceptions about donation and research. Religion, spirituality and secular attitude were implied, as well as trust towards research and medical institutions and a high degree of uncertainty about brain death ascertainment. Family had a very multifaceted central role in decision making. A previous experience with neurodegenerative diseases seems among factors able to favour brain donation.ConclusionsThe study sheds light on healthy individuals’ attitudes about PMBD. Brain had a special significance for participants, and the ascertainment of brain death was a source of debate and doubt. Our findings emphasise the importance of targeted communication and thorough information to promote this kind of donation, within an ethical framework of conduct. Trust in research and health professionals emerged as an essential factor for a collaborative attitude towards donation and informed decision making in PMBD. (shrink)

BackgroundThe measures taken to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, such as the lockdown in Italy, do impact psychological health; yet, less is known about their effect on cognitive functioning. The transactional theory of stress predicts reciprocal influences between perceived stress and cognitive performance. However, the effects of a period of stress due to social isolation on spatial cognition and exploration have been little examined. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effects and impact of the (...) COVID-19 pandemic on spatial cognition tasks, particularly those concerning spatial exploration, and the physiological leftward bias known as pseudoneglect. A right-hemisphere asymmetry for spatial attention processes crucially contributes to pseudoneglect. Other evidence indicates a predominantly right-hemisphere activity in stressful situations. We also analyzed the effects of lockdown on coping strategies, which typically show an opposite pattern of hemispheric asymmetry, favoring the left hemisphere. If so, then pseudoneglect should increase during the lockdown and be negatively correlated with the efficacy of coping strategies.MethodsOne week before the start of the lockdown due to COVID-19 in Italy, we had collected data from a battery of behavioral tests including tasks of peri-personal spatial cognition. During the quarantine period, from late April to early May 2020, we repeated the testing sessions with a subgroup of the same participants. At both testing sessions, participants performed digitized neuropsychological tests, including a Cancellation task, Radial Arm Maze task, and Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices. Participants also completed a newly developed COVID-19 Student Stress Scale, based on transactional models of stress, and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced—New Italian Version to assess coping orientation.ResultsThe tendency to start cancelation from a left-sided item, to explore first a left-sided arm of the maze, and to choose erroneous response items on the left side of the page on Raven’s matrices increased from T1 to T2. The degree of pseudoneglect increment positively correlated with perceived stress and negatively correlated with Positive Attitude and Problem-Solving COPE-NIV subscales.ConclusionLockdown-related stress may have contributed to increase leftward bias during quarantine through a greater activation of the right hemisphere. On the other hand, pseudoneglect was decreased for better coping participants, perhaps as a consequence of a more balanced hemispheric activity in these individuals. (shrink)

Anders als die griechische und die römische Kunst hat die frühchristliche nur wenige Gesamtdarstellungen erhalten. Im deutschsprachigen Bereich ist hier die bereits 1958 erschienene „Frühchristliche Kunst“ von W.F. Volbach zu nennen oder den von B. Brenk herausgegebenen Band „Spätantike und frühes Christentum“, der 1977 veröffentlicht wurde und auch mehr als zwanzig Jahre nach seinem Erscheinen seinen Wert als Nachschlagewerk und einführende Literatur behalten hat. Von den Einführungen in die christliche Archäologie ist die Arbeit von P. Testini, Archeologia cristiana, 1980 in (...) zweiter Auflage erschienen und mit nur kleinen Abbildungen ausgestattet worden; das Werk von F.W. Deichmann, Archeologia cristiana, wurde erst in seiner italienischen Übersetzung, die 1993 in Rom publiziert wurde, mit Fotos und Plänen versehen. Der zu besprechende Band von Maria Antonietta Crippa und Mahmoud Zibawi ist in seiner Zielsetzung eher mit dem von Volbach zu vergleichen, der auf Anmerkungen verzichtet und mit großformatigen Fotos brilliert. Er richtet sich somit eher an ein breiteres, kulturell interessiertes und vorgebildetes Publikum, dem diese faszinierende Epoche in ihrer Breite und dem Glanz ihrer Denkmäler nahegebracht wird. Die Beschränkung auf wenige Anmerkungen ist bei dem Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung legitim, denn der Fachkollege kann einschlägige und neuere Literatur leicht selbst auffinden. Eine Bibliographie findet sich auf den S. 481–486, wobei deutschsprachige Literatur eher schwach vertreten ist – ein Umstand, den man nicht den beiden Autoren anlasten wird, sondern der eine allgemein verbreitete Erscheinung ist und Stoff zum Nachdenken geben sollte. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event entailing long-term consequences on population health and welfare. Those who contracted the coronavirus may have suffered from both physical and mental health issues that unfold the need for tailored intervention strategies. Hence, our study aims to investigate the psychological and social consequences of COVID-19 on a sample of 86 participants, encompassing 43 patients recruited from Bari University Hospital, 19 of whom were hospitalized due to the disease. The remaining 43 were individuals not fallen (...) ill with COVID-19 to date. The investigation yielded significant gender differences in post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, and representation of interpersonal distance, evaluated through the IES-R, the BDI-II, and the IVAS task, respectively. This pattern of results was not replicated in the control group. In general, participants who reported having experienced the most intense post-traumatic symptoms also presented a greater mood deflection and, more specifically, within the clinical group women obtained the highest scores on both scales. Women reported higher IES-R and BDI-II scores compared to men, that could indicate that women who have contracted COVID-19 are more exposed to post-traumatic and depressive symptoms. Our results also showed a significant effect of COVID-19 on IPD with a tendency of disease-experienced individuals to increase their preferred IPD from adults, children, and elderly people. Regarding gender differences in mood and proxemic behavior, a correlation between depressive symptoms and probable PTSD and a further correlation between probable PTSD and greater IPD were found in women from both clinical and control group. Overall, these findings might contribute to a better understanding of gender-based implications of the current pandemic on mental health, also leading to the development of integrated yet personalized intervention strategies. (shrink)

L'auteure, italienne antifasciste dès l'adolescence, ne cache pas, dans son introduction, qu'elle écrit ce livre « comme un récit à deux miroirs ». Intriguée dans son enfance par le personnage de la « savante et poétesse...martyre de la liberté » dont une plaque conserve, à Rome, le souvenir, elle s'identifie largement, devenue adulte, à celle qui dirige et rédige à Naples, sous la Révolution, il Monitore napoletano. Peu connue en France, l'héroïne de la révolution napolitaine, marquis..

L'auteure, italienne antifasciste dès l'adolescence, ne cache pas, dans son introduction, qu'elle écrit ce livre « comme un récit à deux miroirs ». Intriguée dans son enfance par le personnage de la « savante et poétesse...martyre de la liberté » dont une plaque conserve, à Rome, le souvenir, elle s'identifie largement, devenue adulte, à celle qui dirige et rédige à Naples, sous la Révolution, il Monitore napoletano. Peu connue en France, l'héroïne de la révolution napolitaine, marquis...

L'auteure, italienne antifasciste dès l'adolescence, ne cache pas, dans son introduction, qu'elle écrit ce livre « comme un récit à deux miroirs ». Intriguée dans son enfance par le personnage de la « savante et poétesse...martyre de la liberté » dont une plaque conserve, à Rome, le souvenir, elle s'identifie largement, devenue adulte, à celle qui dirige et rédige à Naples, sous la Révolution, il Monitore napoletano. Peu connue en France, l'héroïne de la révolution napolitaine, marquis...

In these pages a significant effort is undertaken to bridge the perennial gap between Marxist-Leninist theory and practice. Maria Antonietta Macciocchi is particularly suited to this task. She has been a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) for over twenty years. She participated in the underground during World War II and has served as a foreign correspondent for L'Unità. In 1968, eager to re-establish contact with the Italian working class, Macciocchi accepted the Party's proposal that she become (...) a candidate from parliament from Naples. Before departing from Paris where she had been serving as L'Unità's correspondent she suggested to her friend Louis Althusser that they conduct a political correspondence. (shrink)

Immanuel Kant : La polímica sobre la Crítica de la razón pura. Introducción de Claudio La Rocca. Edición y traducción de Mario Caimi. Boadilla del Monte , Mónimo Tránsito y Antonio Machado Libros, 2002, 203 S. ISBN 84-7774-758-X. Kant verstehen. Understanding Kant. Über die Interpretation philosophischer Texte. Hrsg. von Dieter Schönecker und Thomas Zwenger. Darmstadt 2001, 344 S., ISBN 3-534-15207-7 2. unveränd. Auflage 2004. Maria Antonietta Pranteda: Il legno storto. I significati del male in Kant. Torino: Leo S. (...) Olschki, 2002. 377 S. ISBN 88-222-5084-2. Beatrice Centi : Coscienza, etica e architettonica in Kant. Uno studio attraverso le Critiche. Biblioteca di Studi Kantiani, Bd. 16. Pisa u. Rom: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali 2002, 286 S. ISBN 88-8147-307-0. (shrink)

La estabilidad es una de las características centrales de una constitución, aunque su consecución trascienda los planteamientos puramente constitucionales. Los métodos institucionales que se han utilizado para, en cierta medida, intentar alcanzarla son diversos —y a veces contradictorios— según se adapten más o menos fácilmente a la demanda de cambio constitucional. Entre estos fenómenos, este trabajo formula un nuevo concepto denominado liquidez constitucional cuya utilidad radica en propiciar dimensiones de flexibilidad en constituciones rígidas. La liquidez constitucional se canaliza a través (...) de las denominadas cláusulas de liquidez constitucional que se formulan inductivamente a la luz de la Constitución española de 1978 y que son analizadas estructural y funcionalmente. Finalmente, se comparan con otros conceptos tradicionales relativos al tratamiento de la estabilidad y el cambio constitucional. (shrink)

El cuidado de sí es cuidado de lo más humano de cada uno de nosotros. La convicción nuclear que lo rige es siempre la misma: que lo humano puede intensificarse y crecer. Y que el peligro reside siempre en la degeneración. Intensificar lo humano es ir hacia lo “más humano”. En absoluto se busca la “superación” o el “más allá” de lo humano. Este artículo es un intento de relacionar la lectura que hace Foucault del tema del cuidado de sí (...) con la urgente necesidad de repensar hoy el lugar de lo educativo como lugar propio para ese cuidado. Para tal fin, se propone el concepto de altertopía educativa, como lugar, no solo de resistencia al dominio de la banalidad contextual, sino de gestación de la fuerza revolucionaria. (shrink)

Conceptions of evil have changed dramatically over time, and though humans continue to commit acts of cruelty against one another, today we possess a clearer, more moral way of analyzing them. In _Narrating Evil_, María Pía Lara explores what has changed in our understanding of evil, why the transformation matters, and how we can learn from this specific historical development. Drawing on Immanuel Kant's and Hannah Arendt's ideas about reflective judgment, Lara argues that narrative plays a key role in helping (...) societies acknowledge their pasts. Particular stories haunt our consciousness and lead to a kind of examination and dialogue that shape notions of morality. A powerful description of a crime can act as a filter, helping us to draw conclusions about what constitutes a moral wrong, and public debates over these narratives allow us to construct a more accurate picture of historical truth, leading to a better understanding of why such actions are possible. In building her argument, Lara considers Greek tragedies, Shakespeare's depictions of evil, Joseph Conrad's literary metaphors, and movies that portray human cruelty. Turning to such philosophers and writers as Jürgen Habermas, Walter Benjamin, Primo Levi, Giorgio Agamben, and Ariel Dorfman, Lara defines a reflexive relationship between an event, the narrative of the event, and the public reception of the narrative, and she proves that the stories of perpetrators and sufferers are always intertwined. The process of disclosure, debate, and the public fashioning of collective judgment are vital methods through which we make sense not only of new forms of cruelty but of past crimes as well. _Narrating Evil_ describes the steps of this process and why they are a crucial part of our attempt to build a different, more just world. (shrink)

El dualismo de propiedades y los qualia han sido problemas heredados de la teoría cartesiana. ‘Problemas viejos con nuevas vestiduras’ que se han traslapado en el discurso de las ciencias cognitivas, en especial en el de la filosofía de la mente. Para algunos pensadores contemporáneos dichos «problemas» están en el marco de las cuestiones metafísicas. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo develar la génesis del problema ocasionada por el uso inadecuado del lenguaje, con el fin de mostrar que tales cuestiones a (...) la larga no son más que pseudoproblemas. Problemas de orden lingüístico y lógico disfrazados con ropaje metafísico. El método usado en este estudio fue el método analítico. Por lo cual, en la primera parte del escrito se analiza el discurso que da origen al problema ; posteriormente, se revisa el discurso cartesiano —por ser la doctrina oficial que hereda el problema a la filosofía de la mente—. Como conclusiones, se presentan las razones por las que se afirma que dichos problemas no son más que errores heredados por el uso del lenguaje. Por último, se presentan de manera breve cómo las posturas eliminativista y emergentista de Dennett y Searle no son realmente la superación del dualismo como ellos lo sustentan. (shrink)

Silence is reserved for what cannot be verbally expressed. The well-known Wittgensteinian quote summarizes an established understanding of the relationship between language and silence: because language is not enough to account for reality and thinking, it must be transcended by other means of expression, like music or silence. But what if the opposite is the case and silence is not the extension but the precondition of language, the ultimate source of meaning? This paper explores how this is the phenomenological and (...) Derridean philosophical framework of Coetzee’s novels, a literary universe created from the will to signify and build singular meanings. (shrink)

La crisis pandémica sufrida por el Covid-19 no tiene parangón, con un importante impacto económico y financiero, además de sanitario. Sin embargo, este propio marco nos permite y, a su vez, nos obliga a auditar los daños y repensar un nuevo marco jurídico y político que incluya a toda la ciudadanía mundial, sin penalización. La mirada para contabilizar el daño ciudadano no puede ignorar el enfoque de los derechos humanos desde la perspectiva feminista, sino que se requiere inexorablemente de una (...) obligatoria y urgente metodología de género. Sin perder de vista los objetivos de la Agenda Mundial de 2030, y el compromiso con la erradicación de la pobreza, la incorporación de esta metodología obliga a repensar la Sociedad del Trabajo y la Sociedad de cuidados para reivindicar la importancia que para el bienestar humano tiene el trabajo realizado dentro del hogar, y la urgencia de computarlo normativa y globalmente como generador de bienes y servicios. (shrink)

Postmodern political critiques speak of the death of ideology, the end of history, and the postsecular return of religious attitudes, yet radical conservative theorists such as Mark Lilla argue religion and politics are inextricably intertwined. Returning much-needed uncertainty to debates over the political while revitalizing the very terms in which they are defined, María Pía Lara explores the ambiguity of secularization and the theoretical potential of a structural break between politics and religion. For Lara, secularization means three things: the translation (...) of religious semantics into politics; a transformation of religious notions into political ideas; and the reoccupation of a space left void by changing political actors that gives rise to new conceptions of political interaction. Conceptual innovation redefines politics as a horizontal relationship between governments and the governed and better enables societies (and individual political actors) to articulate meaning through action--that is, through the emergence of new concepts. These actions, Lara proves, radically transform our understanding of politics and the role of political agents and are further enhanced by challenging the structural dependence of politics on religious phenomena. (shrink)