Reseña "Conocimiento Expropiado. Epistemología política para una democracia radical".

Marie Curie is the first scientist woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (1903) and another in Chemistry (1911). Her life and her work summarize the tenacity, effort and passion for knowing aspects related to the reality of a new physical-chemical phenomenon: radioactivity. In this semblance, in addition to the scientific aspect, the human aspect that accompanies and sometimes overshadows the lives of great men is shown.

This paper aims to analyse how the discourse of CEO letters and other factors influence community involvement and Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in the mining industry. The analysis is based on qualitative information disclosed in sustainability reports and CEO letters from 32 mining firms. Content analysis was undertaken to obtain data for the study, and then a regression analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to test the hypotheses defined in the study. The results indicate that the CEO (...) discourse influences how a firm expresses the importance of gaining its SLO, the philanthropic activities in which companies become involved and the destinations of the investments in the communities in which they operate. The results also show changes in the discourse between 2011 and 2015, which are, in part, explained by the difficult situation experienced by the sector during this period. The paper contributes to the Corporate Social Responsibility literature by integrating different theories from this field into the SLO framework. The analysis carried out and the results obtained are useful for both CEOs and Sustainability Managers, especially in managing their relationships with the communities where they operate or intend to operate. (shrink)

Desde la consideración de Tomás de Aquino del conocimiento por connaturalidad, "el conocimiento que aporta a la inteligencia más datos que los puramente racionales, especialmente todos los datos proporcionados por la afectividad", es posible hacer un acercamiento integral a la realidad y establecer una relación con otras áreas de sabiduría y sus objetos de estudio. Esto ayuda a confrontar algunos problemas filosóficos reales, como la pérdida de la visión holística de la realidad, el reduccionismo epistemológico y el relativismo gnoseológico. Recordar (...) el estudio iniciado en la primera parte del siglo XX por tomistas bien conocidos sobre la connaturalidad ayudaría a comprender mejor la realidad y el ser humano, y facilitaría el diálogo entre Filosofía, Ciencia y Teología sobre temas como Ecología, Estética o Mística. (shrink)

This paper aims to analyse how the discourse of CEO letters and other factors influence community involvement and Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in the mining industry. The analysis is based on qualitative information disclosed in sustainability reports and CEO letters from 32 mining firms. Content analysis was undertaken to obtain data for the study, and then a regression analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to test the hypotheses defined in the study. The results indicate that the CEO (...) discourse influences how a firm expresses the importance of gaining its SLO, the philanthropic activities in which companies become involved and the destinations of the investments in the communities in which they operate. The results also show changes in the discourse between 2011 and 2015, which are, in part, explained by the difficult situation experienced by the sector during this period. The paper contributes to the Corporate Social Responsibility literature by integrating different theories from this field into the SLO framework. The analysis carried out and the results obtained are useful for both CEOs and Sustainability Managers, especially in managing their relationships with the communities where they operate or intend to operate. (shrink)

In their recent article, Brownet alanalyse several ethical aspects around immunity passports and put forward some recommendations for implementing them. Although they offer a comprehensive perspective, they overlook two essential aspects. First, while the authors consider the possibility that immunological passports may appear to discriminate against those who do not possess them, the opposite viewpoint of immune people is underdeveloped. We argue that if a person has been tested positive for and recovered from COVID-19, becoming immune to it, she cannot (...) be considered a hazard to public health and, therefore, the curtailment of her fundamental rights (eg, the right to freedom of movement) is not legitimate. Second, they omit that vaccine distribution will create similar problems related to immunity-based licenses. Vaccine certificates will de facto generate a sort of immunity passport. In the next phases of the pandemic, different immunity statuses will be at stake, because the need to identify who can spread COVID-19 is unavoidable. If a person does not pose a threat to public health because she cannot spread the infection, then her right to freedom of movement should be respected, regardless of how she acquired that immunity. (shrink)

Estamos siendo testigos de grandes avances tecnológicos y, a la vez, de grandes desastres naturales y sociales que nos impulsan a plantearnos cuáles son las causas últimas de la degradación natural ecológica. El abuso en el uso de los recursos tal vez pueda tener relación con el abuso en el uso de la tecnología; incluso ser causa de la gran desigualdad social en el acceso a bienes necesarios para llevar una vida digna, raíz de muchos conflictos sociales. La ecología es (...) una disciplina científica, pero cada vez es más habitual ampararse en este término para lanzar opiniones o generar un debate de ideologías de índole catastrofista que no hacen más que generar malestar social sin visos de solución práctica. Las reflexiones sobre la ecología nos parece que deben plantearse de una forma interdisciplinar, pero no de cualquier manera, sino respetando el estatuto epistemológico de cada área del saber. Cuidar el método científico, en el ámbito científico; el filosófico, en el suyo propio; e incluso el teológico. El tema de nuestra relación con la naturaleza nos afecta tan íntimamente que casi todas las áreas del conocimiento pueden decir algo al respecto. En el presente trabajo comenzamos ese diálogo y presentamos las ideas básicas desde las que se podría plantear un modo de actuar humano respetuoso para con los demás hombres y los demás seres de la naturaleza, que mejore nuestro modo de vivir y evite más daños y perjuicios. A esto nos referimos cuando hablamos de “ética ambiental”. La ecología nos toca de cerca porque tiene que ver con el modo de habitar nuestro mundo y las relaciones que tenemos con los demás seres vivos y no vivos. A fin de poder delinear las líneas principales de una ética orientada al medioambiente es preciso, en primer lugar, conocer los datos científicos sobre el tema; en segundo lugar, analizar los problemas graves que se están detectando y comprender que muchas de sus causas todavía son desconocidas y precisan de un estudio más detenido; finalmente, es conveniente revisar las alternativas de solución que nos orienten a llevar una vida mejor, donde se sugieran modos de obrar que no nos cierren el camino hacia ese destino común que tenemos como seres humanos, y que integre al resto de criaturas porque no somos los únicos seres vivientes del planeta. La propuesta de una “ética ambiental” apunta a considerar un verdadero “ecologismo solidario”. (shrink)

La violencia de género (VG) es consecuencia de la cultura androcéntrica que define las identidades y los roles de hombres y mujeres. Esta construcción socio-cultural establece la desigualdad como un factor limitante y de control para las mujeres, y a partir de ella desarrolla mecanismos para alcanzar sus objetivos, entre ellos la violencia. Suestructuralidad se demuestra cuando situaciones como la pandemia tienen un impacto directo sobre ella, y diferente al resto de las violencias interpersonales. Pero también por las estrategias políticas (...) y sociales que niegan su realidad (negacionismo),a pesar de la objetividad de los 60 homicidios de mujeres y los 5 de niños y niñas que se producen de mediacada año. Todo ello indica que para erradicar la VG es necesario ampliar el pacto de Estado para hacerlo contra el “machismo”, es decir, contra la construcción cultural que la integra como parte de la normalidad para luegocuestionar determinados resultados por su gravedad, al tiempo que los explica y justifica a través de mitos y estereotipos. (shrink)

Markov blankets – statistical independences between system and environment – have become popular to describe the boundaries of living systems under Bayesian views of cognition. The intuition behind Markov blankets originates from considering acyclic, atemporal networks. In contrast, living systems display recurrent, nonequilibrium interactions that generate pervasive couplings between system and environment, making Markov blankets highly unusual and restricted to particular cases.

El trabajo explora ciertos lazos entre el pensamiento kantiano y la propuesta de los intelectuales argentinos durante el período posrevolucionario en lo referido a las herramientas para “salir de la revolución” y construir una nación. Se analizan algunas de las coincidencias entre ambos pensamientos en dos planos: en el de los diagnósticos de la realidad posrevolucionaria y de las dificultades que hay que afrontar para llevarla a buen término y en el de los proyectos diseñados para lograrlo. Se tratan ciertos (...) “tópicos” de la “generación del ‘37" y se destaca su relación (que se reconoce como mediada pero se rescata como genuina y significativa) con el pensamiento kantiano sobre la historia y la política. This paper explores certain bonds between Kantian thinking and the Argentinean intellectuals’ proposal outlined during the post-revolution period, in relation to the means to “get out of the revolution” and build a new nation. Certain coincidences between these two schools of thought are analyzed from two perspectives: one in relation to the diagnoses of the post-revolutionary reality and the difficulties to be overcome in order to succeed; the other, in reference to the projects designed to achieve such goal. Topics relevant to the “‘37 generation” are also discussed, especially in relation to Kantian’s thinking about History and Politics. Such relationship is admittedly mediated but recognized as genuine and significant. (shrink)

Should we use human germline genome modification (HGGM) only when serious diseases are involved? This belief is the underlying factor in the article written by Kleiderman, Ravitsky and Knoppers to which I now respond. In my opinion, the answer to this question should be negative. In this paper, I attempt to show that there are no good reasons to think that this technology should be limited to serious diseases once it is sufficiently proven to be safe and efficient. In fact, (...) opting otherwise would negatively harm human beings’ right to the highest standard of health that unmodified embryos could promote. Therefore, the issue should not be so much to define adequately what a serious disease is, but rather to elucidate whether this concept should play any role beyond the context of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). This paper argues that we should not accept the similarity between technologies such as PGT and HGGM because they face different challenges and offer totally different possibilities. Therefore, we are in urgent need to build a completely new ethical architecture that covers the application of germline editing in human embryos. As a part of that process, a much deeper debate on the necessity of distinguishing different disease types is required. (shrink)

We propose a liminality-based analysis of the process of ethical leadership/followership in organizations. A liminal view presents ethical leadership as a process taking place in organizational contexts that are often characterized by high levels of ambiguity, which render the usual rules and preferences dubious or inadequate. In these relational spaces, involving leaders, followers, and their context, old frames may be questioned and new ones introduced in an emergent way, through subtle processes whose evolution and implications may not be easy to (...) grasp even by those participating in them. (shrink)

A negative conclusion, like R. Feynman’s sentence “nature is uncomprehensible”, forces us to examine the value of contemporary science from the point of view of understanding. As a contribution to this task, I criticize some of the philosophical presuppositions of experimentalism. Then I try to place some stepping stones towards metaphysics, conceived as a rational extension of science, and devoted to the search for intelligibility.

As the contemporary heirs of popular music or cinema, computer games are gradually taking over the mar-kets of entertainment. Much like cinema and music, computer games are taking the spotlight in another front – that which blames them for encouraging unethical behaviors. Apparently, computer games turn their users into blood thirsty zombies with a computer game learnt ability of aiming with deadly precision. The goal of this paper is to pay attention to the ethical nature of computer games, in order (...) to understand better the ways we can evaluate their morality in western cultures providing a framework to understand some of these concerns. This paper poses questions about the ontology of games and their ethical meaning, in an attempt to give ethical theory a word in the analysis of computer games. (shrink)

In A Virtue Epistemology, Ernest Sosa defines the notions of safety and aptness of beliefs and uses them to characterize two kinds of knowledge, animal and reflective. This paper tries to bring out what I take as an incoherence in Sosa's views concerning how safety and aptness relate to knowledge and to each other. I discuss an apparent counterexample Sosa gives to his final view that aptness suffices for animal knowledge and argue that in fact the principle on which Sosa (...) responds to the counterexample does not permit the response he offers. The principle in question is problematic for Sosa's epistemology in a deeper way: it doesn't seem to cohere with Sosa's view that only aptness, not safety, is required for animal knowledge. En A Virtue Epistemology, Ernesto Sosa define las nociones de seguridad y aptitud de las creencias y las usa para caracterizar dos clases de conocimiento, el animal y el reflexivo. En este artículo discuto lo que parece una incoherencia en las tesis de Sosa acerca de cómo se relacionan la seguridad y la aptitud con el conocimiento y entre sí. Examino un aparente contraejemplo que Sosa plantea a su tesis final de que la aptitud es suficiente para el conocimiento animal, y argumento que el principio que él usa para responder al contraejemplo de hecho no permite dar esa respuesta. El principio en cuestión es problemático para la epistemología de Sosa de una manera más profunda: no parece ser coherente con su tesis central de que sólo la aptitud, no la seguridad, es necesaria para el conocimiento animal. (shrink)

The Cold War, extended from the popularization of its name in 1947 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, functioned a bipolar order in which the White House and the Kremlin set the pace of events. In accordance with the decentralization of the axis of the shock [1], both superpowers chose to avoid direct confrontation and based their strategy on a kind of tactical movements carried out by third parties. The direct consequence was the creation of a breeding (...) ground in developing countries, victims of the competitiveness of both executives and in the specific case of Latin America, in a succession of political disorders that alternated the birth of revolutionary movements and the imposition of military dictatorships. (shrink)

One of the greatest objects of judicial activity and academic commentary in European Union (EU) law has been the free movement of goods. The free movement of goods continues to generate intense debates because it is at the intersection of complex and difficult choices between public regulation and market freedom, on the one hand, and EU and state powers on the other. This chapter provides an overview of such debates and how they affected the development of EU law on the (...) free movement of goods. It uses the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to identify some specificities of the European system. Under the GATT, discrimination tests are preceded by a market equivalence analysis of the relevant products, requiring an economic and empirical analysis of the market prior to determining whether the products are subject to differentiated treatment. (shrink)

Com este artigo, problematizou-se o potencial da formação continuada de professores por meio da educação a distância mediada pelo Moodle. Nessa perspectiva, pesquisou-se, principalmente, a integração hipermidiática das tecnologias nesse ambiente virtual de aprendizagem, no curso a distância de pós-graduação lato sensu em Mídias na Educação. Para isso, selecionou-se uma aula de uma disciplina desse curso oferecida no primeiro semestre de 2011 por uma universidade na qual um dos autores deste artigo trabalhou como professor-tutor. Assim, foi realizada uma investigação com (...) base na abordagem metodológica qualitativa através da observação participante, na qual se percebeu que a integração da hipermídia potencializa o diálogo-problematizador, a interatividade e o desenvolvimento da flexibilidade cognitiva nos professores-cursistas. Dessa forma, observou-se que a navegação em uma hipermídia educacional respeita o ritmo e as maneiras de aprendizagem de cada sujeito, uma vez que possibilita que os temas a serem estudados sejam acessados de forma não-linear, ou seja, de acordo com o interesse de cada aprendente e por meio de diferentes mídias. Isso viabilizou aos cursistas fazerem diversas associações entre diferentes conteúdos inter-relacionados, proporcionando assim uma ampliação da visão sobre os assuntos educacionais abordados na disciplina e, posteriormente, poderem aplicar esse conhecimento em novas situações de ensinoaprendizagem. (shrink)

En este trabajo me propongo desarrollar un estudio crítico de la concepción mecanicista de la explicación científica. En primer lugar, argumento que la caracterización mecanicista de los modelos fenoménicos (no explicativos) es inadecuada, pues no ofrece un análisis aceptable de los conceptos de modelo científico y similitud, que son fundamentales para la propuesta. En segundo lugar, sostengo que la caracterización de los modelos mecanicistas (explicativos) es igualmente inadecuada, pues los análisis disponibles de la relación explicativa de relevancia constitutiva implican una (...) tesis metafísica que es rechazada por los mismos mecanicistas. Concluyo que el mecanicismo no ofrece todavía una elucidación aceptable de la explicación científica. In this paper, I offer a critical assessment of the mechanicist approach to scientific explanation. Firstly, I argue that the mechanicist characterization of (non explanatory) phenomenological models is inadequate, since it does not develop an explication of the concepts of scientific model and similarity, which are indispensable to the approach. Secondly, I claim that the mechanicist conception of (explanatory) mechanicist models is inadequate as well, since all the available analices of the explanatory relation of constitutive relevance imply a metaphysical thesis that is rejected by the mechanicists themselves. I conclude that mechanicism needs to be emended if it aims to be considered as a genuinely illuminating approach to scientific explanation. (shrink)