En _El mito del Estado_, publicado póstumamente en 1946, Ernst Cassirer analiza la confluencia entre mito, técnica y política, que se hace manifiesta en el fenómeno nacionalsocialista. Sin embargo, el uso de la categoría de “mito político” por parte del filósofo alemán, ha sido objeto de críticas por algunos intérpretes de su obra. El presente artículo se propone, en primer lugar, reconstruir estas críticas, con el propósito de evaluar, en segundo lugar, los alcances efectivos de dicho cuestionamiento, así como el (...) posible rendimiento hermenéutico y actualidad de la categoría de “mito político” de Cassirer. (shrink)

Desde su inicial estadía en Friburgo entre 1928 y 1929 hasta sus primeros escritos de la década de los años treinta, Emmanuel Levinas expresó su entusiasta adhesión a la nueva orientación fenomenológica alemana, en particular a la filosofía existencial de Martin Heidegger. Sin embargo, tras la toma del poder del nazismo en 1933 y la adhesión del maestro de Friburgo al nuevo régimen, el filósofo francés llevó a cabo una revisión crítica de los fundamentos de la “hermenéutica de la facticidad” (...) como de su posible afinidad electiva con la “filosofía del hitlerismo”. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar las reflexiones levinasianas sobre aquel trasfondo compartido entre la ontología heideggeriana y el nazismo, a partir de tres mitos presentes en la convocatoria palingenésica nacionalsocialista: la apelación a la “comunidad de la guerra”, a la “comunidad del trabajo” y a la “comunidad de la sangre”. (shrink)

En la década de 1920, Emmanuel Levinas fue cautivado por la nueva comprensión de la existencia del _ontologismo _heideggeriano en su lucha contra la filosofía neokantiana de Ernst Cassirer. Sin embargo, esta fascinación inicial declinó tras el ascenso del nazismo al poder y la adhesión de Heidegger al nuevo régimen nacionalsocialista. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el desplazamiento _dramático _de Levinas desde su temprana atracción por la hermenéutica existencial hasta su posterior alejamiento crítico.

Resumen Tras su inicial aproximación en los años veinte a la filosofía de Husserl y Heidegger, Levinas inició una década más tarde su propia reelaboración crítica del método fenomenológico. El artículo tiene como objetivo analizar la nueva comprensión de la labor fenomenológica por parte del joven Levinas a partir de sus reflexiones sobre el arte, en diálogo con el pensamiento de Gastón Bachelard, quien en la misma época propuso un intercambio fructífero entre estética y fenomenología.After his initial approach to the (...) philosophy of Husserl and Heidegger in the twenties, Levinas began a decade later his own critical re-elaboration of the phenomenological method. The present article aims to analyze the new understanding of the phenomenological work by the young Levinas from his reflections on art, in dialogue with Gaston Bachelard’s thought, who at the same time proposed a fruitful cross-linking between aesthetics and phenomenology. (shrink)

En “Acerca de la pregunta: ¿qué significa ilustrar?” de 1784, Mendelssohn sostiene que la ilustración que está conectada con la vocación esencial (wesentlich Bestimmung) del ser humano en tanto que ser humano puede entrar en conflicto no solo con la moralidad –las vocaciones extra-esenciales (außerwesentlichen Bestimmungen)– sino también con la vocación esencial del ciudadano, esto es, como miembro de un Estado. En estos casos, afirma Mendelssohn, es necesario cierto cuidado y precaución, cierta prudencia (Klugheit), en el uso de la ilustración. (...) El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar el significado de esta apelación a la prudencia, por parte de Mendelssohn, como símbolo de una Ilustración que, en su compromiso radical con la humanidad, propone una aguda indagación sobre la “situacionalidad” de la razón y su poder emancipador, en la compleja interacción entre teoría y práctica. (shrink)

Resumen Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el debate filosófico entre Ernst Cassirer y Martin Heidegger en el periodo de entreguerras, a partir de su modo disímil de comprender la libertad del hombre como proceso de autoconfiguración del sujeto o Dasein. En primer lugar, se examinará la reinterpretación global de la filosofía kantiana por parte de ambos pensadores a la luz de sus proyectos filosóficos: en el caso de Cassirer, la filosofía de las formas simbólicas, en el de Heidegger, la (...) hermenéutica de la facticidad. En segundo lugar, se analizarán sus interpretaciones sobre el pensamiento estético de Friedrich Schiller, en el marco de sus reflexiones sobre la función del arte para la comprensión de la Selbstbildung. Ello permitirá iluminar un nuevo aspecto de esta disputa, así como determinar la distancia entre sus dos orientaciones filosóficas y políticas.This paper aims to analyze the philosophical debate between Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger in the interwar period, starting from their dissimilar way of understanding human freedom as a process of selfconfiguration of the subject or Dasein. First, we will examine the global reinterpretation of Kantian philosophy by both thinkers in the light of their philosophical projects: in the case of Cassirer, the philosophy of symbolic forms, in the case of Heidegger, the hermeneutics of facticity. Second, their interpretations of the aesthetic thought of Friedrich Schiller will be analyzed, within the framework of their reflections on the function of art for the understanding of the Selbstbildung. This will illuminate a new aspect of this debate and determine the distance between their two philosophical and political orientations. (shrink)

Resumen Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el debate filosófico entre Ernst Cassirer y Martin Heidegger en el periodo de entreguerras, a partir de su modo disímil de comprender la libertad del hombre como proceso de autoconfiguración del sujeto o Dasein. En primer lugar, se examinará la reinterpretación global de la filosofía kantiana por parte de ambos pensadores a la luz de sus proyectos filosóficos: en el caso de Cassirer, la filosofía de las formas simbólicas, en el de Heidegger, la (...) hermenéutica de la facticidad. En segundo lugar, se analizarán sus interpretaciones sobre el pensamiento estético de Friedrich Schiller, en el marco de sus reflexiones sobre la función del arte para la comprensión de la Selbstbildung. Ello permitirá iluminar un nuevo aspecto de esta disputa, así como determinar la distancia entre sus dos orientaciones filosóficas y políticas.This paper aims to analyze the philosophical debate between Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger in the interwar period, starting from their dissimilar way of understanding human freedom as a process of selfconfiguration of the subject or Dasein. First, we will examine the global reinterpretation of Kantian philosophy by both thinkers in the light of their philosophical projects: in the case of Cassirer, the philosophy of symbolic forms, in the case of Heidegger, the hermeneutics of facticity. Second, their interpretations of the aesthetic thought of Friedrich Schiller will be analyzed, within the framework of their reflections on the function of art for the understanding of the Selbstbildung. This will illuminate a new aspect of this debate and determine the distance between their two philosophical and political orientations. (shrink)

Este nuevo libro colectivo recoge los trabajos del grupo de investigación de Filosofía de la PUCE, elaborados entre 2019 y 2020. El tema elegido, Tecnología y política, define una de las problemáticas contemporáneas más relevantes dentro del trabajo académico. Como en ocasiones anteriores, cada autor plantea contextos de lectura diversos; los aportes recorren un escenario complejo, resultado de los caminos que cada uno ha elegido para consolidar su propia reflexión a partir de los proyectos de escritura de tesis de posgrado (...) y de investigaciones desarrolladas tanto en universidades europeas como americanas. Sin embargo, el punto de encuentro está dado en la perspectiva y en las condiciones que determinan la posibilidad de proponer un pensamiento crítico y propositivo desde América Latina. (shrink)

El 25 de agosto de 1769, Johann Caspar Lavater envió a Moses Mendelssohn una dedicatoria junto con la traducción de algunas secciones de La palingénésie philosophique, de Charles Bonnet. En esta dedicatoria, Lavater desafió a Mendelssohn a refutar públicamente los argumentos de Bonnet sobre la verdad del cristianismo o, en caso contrario, “hacer lo que Sócrates habría hecho si hubiera leído esta obra y la hubiera encontrado irrefutable”. En su réplica a Lavater, Mendelssohn interpreta este desafío como un llamado a (...) la conversión. El objetivo del presente artículo es analizar el modo en que los ideales de conocimiento y evidencia de Lavater están inextricablemente unidos a su celo misionero. (shrink)

El artículo analiza la producción de vacunas en el Instituto Bacteriológico del Departamento Nacional de Higiene de Argentina entre 1913 y 1921. Durante estos años, bajo la dirección del bacteriólogo austríaco Rudolf Kraus, la producción de vacunas fue una apuesta central de las actividades del IB. Para ello, presentamos una reconstrucción de los diferentes aspectos sociales y cognitivos involucrados en estos desarrollos, tales como la selección de los productos, de las técnicas utilizadas, del alcance que tuvieron en su distribución y (...) aplicación efectiva, de las expectativas en torno a su aplicación y de las relaciones y antecedentes a nivel internacional de cada caso, entre otras cuestiones. Proponemos, como eje del análisis, que es posible identificar tres tipos de racionalidades que guiaron el desarrollo de las vacunas, ligadas a las retribuciones o diferentes usos que estas podían redituar en los distintos campos o espacios sociales: una médica-sanitaria, una comercial y una científico-técnica, resultado de las diferentes expectativas y demandas que atravesaron al IB. En términos metodológicos, el trabajo se basa en el análisis de diversas fuentes documentales, tales como trabajos científicos y memorias institucionales del IB y del DNH, trabajos de divulgación profesional o educación universitaria de la época, y bibliografía secundaria de la historia de la ciencia y la medicina. (shrink)

Recent research has shown that cultural, linguistic, and sociodemographic peculiarities influence the measurement of trait emotional intelligence. Assessing trait EI in different populations fosters cross-cultural research and expands the construct’s nomological network. In mental health, the trait EI of clinical populations has been scarcely researched. Accordingly, the present study examined the relationship between trait EI and key sociodemographic variables on Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire datasets with mental healthcare patients from three different Spanish-speaking countries. Collectively, these datasets comprised 528 participants, 23% (...) from Chile, 28% from Peru, and 49% from Spain. The sociodemographic variables we used for trait EI comparisons were gender, age, educational level, civil status, and occupational status. Analyses involved Multigroup Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling and analysis of covariance. Our results revealed significant between-country differences in trait EI across the studied sociodemographic variables and interactions between these variables. Measurement invariance across the datasets was attained up to the scalar level regarding gender and education, although analyses on age, civil status, and occupation displayed non-invariance. The resultant psychometric evidence supports the suitability of the TEIQue-SF for the accurate cross-cultural assessment of trait EI in mental health settings. It also highlights the importance of incorporating trait EI into extant psychotherapeutic frameworks to enhance non-pharmacological treatment efficacy. (shrink)

This article studies natural food packaging as enabling artifacts of the traditional material culture of Antioquia in Colombia. For this purpose, we consider artifacts as objective nodes that combine design and use intentions, functions, materials, histories, artifactual lineages, and cooperative relationships that stabilize ritualized practices of a human group. We take the example of natural packaging as artifacts that enablers and stabilizers of traditional cooking and food preparation practices. Natural packaging materials are here assumed to be leaves having some favorable (...) property to contain a food product. After providing a theoretical reflection, we analyze the data collected from fieldwork we conducted in two towns in Antioquia, Colombia (Santa Fe de Antioquia and Amagá), as well as from an interview with an expert in the field. Finally, we show that it is possible to postulate an analysis under a relational ontological description of a traditional practice with conceptual categories of the philosophy of technology. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 110 Heft: 2 Seiten: 318-321.

Partiendo de la invitación hecha por el Papa Juan Pablo II en su Carta Apostólica "Tertio Millennio Adveniente" a reflexionar sobre la estrecha relación existente entre los misterios de la Encarnación y de la Eucaristía (perspectiva central del Jubileo 2000: TM 55), este trabajo estudia en profundidad las claves bíblicas y teológicas desde las que estos dos misterios que se pueden ver y considerar. Entre las muchas claves desde las que sería posible leer e interpretar estos misterios, este trabajo (...) ha seleccionado seis de ellas, que perfectamente aplicables a ambos misterios, y que constituyen el hilo conductor de la presente reflexión: el trinitario, el pascual, la unidad, la presencia mutuamente vinculante y redentora, la plenitud y las claves marianas. (shrink)

Del 15 al 17 de noviembre de 2012 tuvo lugar el Congreso de Teo-logía “A los 50 años del Concilio Vaticano II ”, organizado por las Facultades de Teología de España y Portugal, en el Auditorio Juan Pablo II de la Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca. El acto inaugural fue presidido por el cardenal Antonio María Rouco Varela, arzobispo de Madrid y presidente de la Conferencia Episco-pal Española, titular del centro académico.

Uno de los principales problemas de la filosofía de la psicopatología contemporánea consiste en definir qué tipo de estados mentales son aquellos que denominamos delirantes. A esto se le ha denominado el “problema tipológico de los delirios”. El principal objetivo de este artículo es examinar las principales alternativas filosóficas contemporáneas a este problema: el doxasticismo—de acuerdo con el cuál los deli-rios deben ser caracterizados como creencias—y al anti-doxasticismo—el cuál niega el estatuto doxásticos de los delirios y ofrece una caracterización alternativa. (...) Para examinar el debate, el artículo presentará las principales características de ambas posiciones y sus fundamentos. Después, examinaremos los principales argumentos esgrimidos contra el doxasticismo y las respuestas y contraargumentos por parte de las alternativas doxásticas. Finalmente, expondremos algunas cuestiones conceptua-les y desafíos abiertos relacionados con el debate y que, a nuestro juicio, deberían de marcar la hoja de ruta de los filósofos de la mente interesados en los delirios en los próximos años. (shrink)

La manifestación de Jesús tiene su punto culminante en el último día de la fiesta de las Tiendas, en el templo de Jerusalén (Jn 7,38-39). Jesús se proclama poseedor y dador del Espíritu. De la comunión con Cristo emerge la potencia del amor divino, el Espíritu, en el creyente. Cristo resucitado, el Espíritu, la libertad, están en relación de mutua implicación, y constituyen un contexto existencial unitario en la persona que los acoge, según san Pablo. Es preciso tomar conciencia (...) del Espíritu presente en nuestra interioridad. Religiosas/os han encarnado la fertilidad del Espíritu y la ilustran para nuestro tiempo. Para entender la vitalidad, la acción del Espíritu que reciben los creyentes debemos mirar a María. (shrink)

Eco-Marxism presents a debate between two theoretical schools: metabolic rift theory, developed by John Foster and others, and world-ecology, proposed by Jason W. Moore. The debate refers ultimately to ontology, more precisely to the relation between society and nature. Critical realism plays a central role as the philosophical underlabouring for metabolic rift theory and has implications regarding the Anthropocene/Capitalocene debate as well. Reviewing the debate through CR categories provides clarity about the specifically social character of the causes of ecological disruptions. (...) Using CR, metabolic rift theorists could explain the interdisciplinary character of their analyses. By distinguishing between real transfactual mechanisms and their actual interaction in open systems, I intend to show that neither metabolic rift theory, nor its interdisciplinary approach to the Anthropocene, involve Cartesian Dualism, as Moore claims. World-Ecology provides an alternative historical account of capitalism's environmental history, but it does not critically replace metabolic rift theory. (shrink)

Resumen: En este trabajo voy a intentar una crítica inmanente del “monismo moral” de Axel Honneth desde el punto de vista de la lectura categorial del capital reconstruida por Moishe Postone. Críticos de Honneth como Nancy Fraser han señalado que los mercados modernos no podrían reconstruirse exhaustivamente en términos morales. Recuperando la crítica inmanente de la sociedad capitalista de Postone, sostendré que puede reconstruirse el cómo los mercados capitalistas presuponen principios normativos, cuya realización no distorsionada obturan sistemáticamente. La lógica del (...) capital, por lo tanto, permite construir un cuestionamiento de la neutralización sistemática de las pretensiones morales en el capitalismo y su dinámica social.: In this essay I will attempt an immanent criticism of Axel Honneth´s “moral monism” from the standpoint of Moishe Postone´s categorial reading of capital. Honneth´s critics such us Nancy Fraser have pointed out that modern markets cannot be fully reconstructed in moral terms. On the basis of Postone´s immanent critique of capitalism, I will claim that it is possible to reconstruct how capitalist markets presuppose moral principles, but systematically distort their realization. Postones theory may ground a critique of the neutralization of moral consideration in the capitalist form of society. This categorial reading may, thus, alloud for a questioning of the systemic neutralization of moral concerns under capitalism. (shrink)

Este artículo estudia afinidades no exploradas entre la teoría del capitalismo de El Anti-Edipo y algunas discusiones sobre la reproducción social en el marxismo feminista. Por un lado, el capitalismo, con su movimiento de decodificación de flujos, tiende a disolver a la familia bajo movimientos desterritorializados. Por el otro, supone una reterritorialización edípica en cuanto separa el parentesco de las relaciones de producción, fundando una escisión históricamente novedosa. La distinción entre axiomática y reterritorializaciones capitalistas, en este contexto, aparece como una (...) forma conceptual adecuada para analizar la relación entre familia y capitalismo en términos feministas-marxistas. (shrink)

The article presents a comparative analysis of the theories of capitalism of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s Anti-Oedipus and Moishe Postone’s Time, Labor, and Social Domination. What Postone calls abstract domination is similar to the capitalist axiomatic of the French philosophers. These works introduce theories concerning the historical specificity of capitalism, which, at the same time, make possible an immanent critique of this particular social form. The authors of these works agree on highlighting the historically specific aspects of capitalism that (...) make the latter different from other social forms. Likewise, they maintain a partially affirmative relation to this social form, in which contradictory historical emancipatory possibilities are developed. Therefore, the article draws a parallel between Postone’s idea of abstract social domination and Deleuze and Guattari’s capitalist axiomatic. It also aims at showing that the three authors introduce a critique of capitalism, which is based on their own historical and social developments, and which work in an immanent way and not with abstract normative standards. (shrink)

Santiago Maldonado desapareció el 1° de agosto de 2017 durante la represión que Gendarmería Nacional realizó en la localidad de Cushamen, en la provincia de Chubut, contra la protesta de la comunidad mapuche en la que Maldonado participaba. El sur argentino tiene una larga experiencia de reclamos del pueblo mapuche centrados en recuperar las tierras que consideran ancestrales, lograr la autonomía jurisdiccional y alcanzar el reconocimiento de libertad económico - productiva y de su identidad cultural. El 1° de agosto de (...) 2017, la Gendarmería ingresó al Pu Lof en Resistencia de Cushamen dado que el Movimiento Autónomo de Puel Mapu había cortado durante 24 horas la ruta 40, que recorre Argentina paralela a la cordillera de los Andes, para reclamar la liberación de su líder Facundo Jones Huala, detenido un mes antes en la provincia de Rio Negro. La Gendarmería Nacional había recibido orden de la justicia federal para despejar la ruta 40 pero, una vez que la cumplió, ingresó también a la comunidad de manera ilegal. La desaparición de Santiago Maldonado fue denunciada de forma inmediata por la comunidad, para luego, convertirse en el reclamo central de los organismos de Derechos Humanos y de diversas organizaciones políticas. Maldonado estuvo 78 días desaparecido hasta el hallazgo de su cadáver, sumergido en el Río Chubut, durante un rastrillaje que los buzos de la Prefectura realizaron, rio arriba respecto del lugar de la represión. La movilización social, política, jurídica y mediática que se produjo durante el tiempo que Maldonado estuvo desaparecido reflejó cómo la Historia Reciente argentina continúa abierta, se hizo evidente la presencia del pasado en el presente y las disputas sociales y políticas que de ello se desprenden. Más precisamente, quedaron expuestas las memorias en conflicto en torno a lo ocurrido durante la última Dictadura militar en Argentina y a la violación a los derechos humanos mediante la desaparición forzada y el Terrorismo de Estado. En este contexto, y entendiendo que los medios de comunicación son una herramienta clave donde se producen esas luchas por la memoria como proyección de discusiones y conflictos más profundos, el objetivo del presente trabajo radica en analizar cómo se presentó la desaparición y muerte de Santiago Maldonado en la prensa escrita argentina, ¿A qué imaginarios responde y qué significados tiene esa conceptualización?, ¿Qué luchas sobre el pasado reciente argentino visibilizó?, y ¿Qué posiciones se intentaron legitimar con su utilización pública?. Para dar respuesta a estos interrogantes se analizarán los diarios La Nación y Página 12 (versiones digitales) observando la existencia de una lucha por los sentidos del pasado que pugnó por el significado de la desaparición y de la muerte de Santiago Maldonado. Si bien se entiende que dichos periódicos no agotan las líneas de análisis del caso, se seleccionaron como punto de inicio de la investigación en tanto constituyen publicaciones masivas dirigidas a perfiles de lectores disimiles donde pueden rastrearse las disputas por la memoria antes mencionadas. El foco de análisis estará puesto en los meses de la desaparición y muerte de Santiago Maldonado para reflejar la existencia de una lucha por los sentidos del pasado que pugnó por atribuirle diferentes significados al destino del joven. (shrink)

This essay explores the relation between two perspectives on the nature of human rights. According to the "political" or "practical" perspective, human rights are claims that individuals have against certain institutional structures, in particular modern states, in virtue of interests they have in contexts that include them. According to the more traditional "humanist" or "naturalistic" perspective, human rights are pre-institutional claims that individuals have against all other individuals in virtue of interests characteristic of their common humanity. This essay argues that (...) once we identify the two perspectives in their best light, we can see that they are complementary and that in fact we need both to make good normative sense of the contemporary practice of human rights. It explains how humanist and political considerations can and should work in tandem to account for the concept, content, and justification of human rights. (shrink)

What should our theorizing about social justice aim at? Many political philosophers think that a crucial goal is to identify a perfectly just society. Amartya Sen disagrees. In The Idea of Justice, he argues that the proper goal of an inquiry about justice is to undertake comparative assessments of feasible social scenarios in order to identify reforms that involve justice-enhancement, or injustice-reduction, even if the results fall short of perfect justice. Sen calls this the “comparative approach” to the theory of (...) justice. He urges its adoption on the basis of a sustained critique of the former approach, which he calls “transcendental.” In this paper I pursue two tasks, one critical and the other constructive. First, I argue that Sen’s account of the contrast between the transcendental and the comparative approaches is not convincing, and second, I suggest what I take to be a broader and more plausible account of comparative assessments of justice. The core claim is that political philosophers should not shy away from the pursuit of ambitious theories of justice (including, for example, ideal theories of perfect justice), although they should engage in careful consideration of issues of political feasibility bearing on their practical implementation. (shrink)

This paper examines employees’ reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility programs at the attitudinal level. The results presented are drawn from an in-depth study of two Chilean construction firms that have well-established CSR programs. Grounded theory was applied to the data prior to the construction of the conceptual framework. The analysis shows that the implementation of CSR programs generates two types of attitudes in employees: attitudes toward the organization and attitudes toward society. These two broad types of attitudes can then be (...) broken down into four different categories : acceptance of the new role of the organization, identification with the organization, importance attached to the work performed and a sense of social justice. In turn, each of these categories is a grouping of many different concepts, some of which have at first sight little to do with CSR. Finally, the analysis reveals an attitudinal employee typology: the committed worker, the indifferent worker, and the dissident worker. (shrink)

Do we have positive duties to help others in need or are our moral duties only negative, focused on not harming them? If these positive duties exist, are they strong and strict demands or are they weak and discretionary? Can we say that at least some positive duties of assistance are also duties of justice worthy of institutionalization and coercive enforcement by legal institutions? Can the scope of some of such duties be cosmopolitan or should all of them be circumscribed (...) to what we owe to our compatriots? This paper addresses these questions from a Kantian perspective, and argues that Kant’s practical philosophy provides sufficient resources to develop and defend the claim that there are basic positive duties of justice, some of which have a global scope. (shrink)

This paper offers an account of human dignity based on a discussion of Kant's moral and political philosophy and then shows its relevance for articulating and developing in a fresh way some normative dimensions of Marx’s critique of capitalism as involving exploitation, domination, and alienation, and the view of socialism as involving a combination of freedom and solidarity. What is advanced here is not Kant’s own conception of dignity, but an account that partly builds on that conception and partly criticizes (...) it. The same is the case with the account of socialism in relation to Marx’s work. As articulated, Kantian dignity and Marxian socialism turn out to be quite appealing and mutually supportive. (shrink)

The idea of dignity is pervasive in political discourse. It is central to human rights theory and practice, and it features regularly in conceptions of social justice as well as in the social movements they seek to understand or orient. However, dignity talk has been criticized for leading to problematic exclusion. Critics challenge it for undermining our recognition of the rights of non-human animals and of many human individuals (such as children, the elderly, and people with disabilities). I argue that, (...) on a plausible articulation of it, the idea of dignity does not lead to these exclusions and that it in fact helps defend an appropriately inclusive moral and political treatment of all individuals. Difficult issues about equality and diversity indeed arise, but a dignitarian approach can provide good answers to them or at least help make them clearer and more tractable. (shrink)

This article provides a survey of the emerging debate on the political representation of nonhuman animals. In Section 1, I identify some of the reasons why the interests of animals are often disregarded in policy-making, and present two arguments why these interests should be considered. In Section 2, I introduce four institutional proposals that have been discussed in the relevant literature. Section 3 attempts to make explicit the underlying logic of each proposal (i.e. which specific problems it wants to tackle). (...) Section 4 discusses some of the main normative pros and cons of each proposal. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

Most research studying the corporate social performance –corporate financial performance link has utilized developed country samples. Also, this literature has generally focused on a wide variety of industries, ignoring the fact that certain sectors – such as controversial industries – have graver social and environmental issues. Hence, a gap exists in this tradition when it comes to emerging markets and controversial industries. This paper attempts to fill this void by providing preliminary evidence and insight on the matter. Based on an (...) exploration in six Latin American countries and five controversial industries, we find a negative bidirectional association between CSP and CFP. These results tend to contradict the mainstream conclusion of a positive bidirectional link, suggesting that institutional and market-level forces play a major role in shaping this relationship. (shrink)

Since time immemorial, the phenomenon of leadership and its understanding has attracted the attention of the business world because of its important role in human groups. Nevertheless, for years efforts to understand this concept have only been centred on people in leadership roles, thus overlooking an important aspect in its understanding: the necessary moral dimension which is implicit in the relationship between leader and follower. As an illustrative example of the importance of considering good morality in leadership, an empirical study (...) is conducted in which a good performance of the "leader-follower" relationship is reflected when individuals perceive ethical leadership in higher hierarchical managerial levels. To be precise, findings of this study demonstrate that follower job response is improved through an ethics trickle-down partial effect from the Top Manager to the immediate supervisor, and also reveal both key aspects and managerial level on which the practice of ethical leadership should rest upon to have a stronger effect on the follower positive job response. Practical implications of these findings and directions for future research are finally presented. (shrink)

In the sport context, an essential aspect of an athlete’s development and performance happens during the interaction with the coach while receiving information on the aspects of performance that need to be modified. Grounded in the Self-Determination Theory and particularly on the basic psychological needs theory, a structural equation model was tested with the following sequence: perception of the amount of corrective feedback generated by the coach, perceived legitimacy of corrective feedback, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and vitality in soccer (...) players. Additionally, simple mediation and serial mediation models were also tested. Participants were 377 Mexican soccer players, who completed the instruments that evaluated the study variables. SEM results reported positive and significant variables’ interrelations in the sequence. The analysis of serial mediation model showed that the perceived legitimacy of feedback and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs fully mediated the relationship between the perception of the amount of corrective feedback generated by the coach and the perception of the subjective vitality of Mexican soccer players. Results suggest that coaches have to ensure that athletes accept the corrective feedback provided and meet their basic psychological needs. Based on SDT tenets, this research highlights the importance for coaches to be aware of the athlete’s perceptions when they are providing corrective feedback and their implications for athlete’s technical development and well-being. It is suggested to incorporate those aspects to training programs for coaches. (shrink)

How should political power and influence be allocated in democratic systems? That is, roughly, the core of the boundary problem in democratic theory. As of late, some authors have begun paying increased attention to the methodological aspects of this dispute. This paper attempts to make a twofold contribution to this ‘methodological turn’. On the one hand, it identifies and analyzes five desiderata of a successful principle of democratic inclusion. Any such principle, I argue, must be grounded in a clearly identifiable (...) set of values, must provide a clear standard of inclusion, must specify the relevant modalities of inclusion, must provide sound bridging principles, and must be extensionally adequate. In the first half of the paper, these desiderata are developed and critically scrutinized. On the other hand, I also extract three lessons from the previous discussion. First, that a unique answer to the boundary problem (i.e. one grounded in one single principle) is unlikely. Second, that a satisfactory answer to the boundary problem need not necessarily appeal, as some have argued, to distinctively democratic values. And third, that intuitions about political exclusion (i.e. those requiring or permitting the exclusion of some individuals) should be treated with special caution. (shrink)

This paper offers a normative exploration of what exploitation is and of what is wrong with it. The focus is on the critical assessment of the exploitation of workers in capitalist societies. Such exploitation is wrongful when it involves a contra-solidaristic use of power to benefit oneself at the expense of others. Wrongful exploitation consists in using your greater power, and sometimes even in making other less powerful than you, in order to get them to benefit you more than they (...) ought to. This account of exploitation is appealing because it simultaneously captures three morally significant dimensions of exploitation—its material and social background, the relational (interpersonal and systemic) attitudes it enacts, and the final distributive results it generates. Exploitation is indeed a multidimensional social process. The flipside of the proposed critical characterization of this process is a positive ideal of solidaristic empowerment in the allocation and use of economic power, which the paper articulates in terms of the socialist Abilities/Needs Principle (“from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs”). The Abilities/Needs Principle is grounded in human dignity. (shrink)

The current legal and political practice of human rights invokes entitlements to freely chosen work, to decent working conditions, and to form and join labor unions. Despite the importance of these rights, they remain under-explored in the philosophical literature on human rights. This article offers a systematic and constructive discussion of them. First, it surveys the content and current relevance of the labor rights stated in the most important documents of the human rights practice. Second, it gives a moral defense (...) of these rights arguing that their support involves an appropriate response to important human interests and to the human dignity of workers. Finally, it explores central normative issues about the relation between labor rights and human dignity. It responds to some objections about the importance of work, explains why labor human rights may not exhaust the demands of dignity regarding labor and arbitrates a common tension between independence and solidarity within our practical affirmation of human dignity. (shrink)

Perfectionism about well-being is, at a minimum, the view that people’s lives go well when, and because they realize their capacities. It is common to link perfectionism with an idea of human essence or nature, to yield the view that what constitutes people’s well-being is the development and exercise of characteristically human capacities. The first part of this paper considers the very serious problems associated with the idea of human nature or essence, and argues that perfectionism would be more plausible (...) if it abandons reliance on it and focuses instead on the unfolding of some valuable capacities that need not be unique to, or shared by all human beings. This revised perfectionism is evaluative all the way down, pragmatic but not unprincipled, and holistic. In its second part, the paper articulates this account in terms of the dignitarian approach—the view that we have reason to organize our personal and social life in such a way that we respond appropriately to the valuable features of individuals that give rise to their dignity. Dignity is a non-conventional, normative status based on a diverse and disjunctive set of valuable capacities. The dignitarian approach helps develop, defend, and identify the implications of the revised perfectionism suggested in the previous part of the paper while also allowing us to make sense of the role of some generalizations that animated some of the plausibility of traditional perfectionism—and this without the pitfalls of reliance on an idea of human nature. On this paper’s proposed view—Dignitarian Perfectionism—human individuals’ well-being consists, at least in part, in developing and exercising the capacities at the basis of their dignity. (shrink)