El anuncio en julio de 2012 de los primeros indicios experimentales sobre la existencia del bosón de Higgs, reavivó el interés del secular debate sobre el significado de conceptos como el vacío y los campos físicos. La evolución de sus interpretaciones revela mutaciones profun- das en el trasfondo filosófco de nuestra visión de la naturaleza. Especialmente por cuanto el controvertido papel de las rupturas de simetría se ha añadido a las discusiones sobre las teorías de unificación y la estructura fundamental (...) de la materia. (shrink)

Exposed in 1948, within his masterpiece on the scope and limits of human knowledge, the epistemological tenets that Bertrand Russell regarded as fundamental elements in the construction of scientific knowledge, are still worthy of a detailed discussion today. Given the excellence of the author, it will not be surprising to see that Russell's gnoseologic postulates, even for the present scientific view, address some of the most controversial questions still to be solved in the theory of knowledge.

A lo largo del siglo XX, y en especial a partir del desarrollo de la física cuántica y de la dinámica no lineal, los conceptos de incertidumbre, impredictibilidad e indeterminación han sido fuente de gran confusión, pese a sus distintos significados y aplicaciones. Un somero análisis de las teorías que los emplean permite distinguirlos con suficiente claridad.

La termodinámica, se desarrolló en gran medida bajo el impulso de la Revolución Industrial, que ayudó a afianzar metodológicamente las seculares investigaciones sobre el calor y la temperatura. Como tal desarrollo se produjo a la sombra de la triunfante mecánica clásica —cuyos referentes físicos son notablemente distintos— y a causa de la carencia de herramientas formales adecuadas, durante mucho tiempo se admitió sin discusión que esta ciencia había de limitarse a los sistemas en equilibrio o muy cercanos a él. En (...) el presente artículo se exponen tanto el desarrollo histórico como las premisas intelectuales de semejante opción epistemológica, señalando el cambio de perspectiva ocurrido en la segunda mitad del siglo XX. (shrink)

El carácter fundamentalmente probabilista de la teoría cuántica cuestionó el realismo como filosofía básica de la ciencia, si bien ciertas interpretaciones instrumentalistas podrían no amenazar por sí solas la existencia de un mundo exterior e independiente de nuestra conciencia. La falta de un valor definido para tales magnitudes antes de la medición alentó la suposición de que tales valores “no existen” antes de la medida. Una reinterpretación de nuestras ideas sobre las magnitudes físicas, considerándolas formalmente representadas por conjuntos de valores (...) en lugar de valores numéricos concretos, ayudaría a disipar toda sombra de irrealidad física. (shrink)

El carácter fundamentalmente probabilista de la medición de las magnitudes cuánticas, alentó la suposición de que tales valores “no existen” antes de la medida. Una reinterpretación de nuestras ideas sobre las magnitudes físicas, considerándolas formalmente representadas por distribuciones de valores en lugar de valores numéricos concretos, ayudaría a disipar toda sombra de irrealidad física.

Natural selection is one of the fundamental keys of evolutionary biology, which is as much as saying of almost all life sciences. However, the effort to assess its true meaning has been involved in endless controversies almost from the beginning. The rethinking of natural selection through an abstract scheme with three ingredients - −population, environment and interaction between them− could significantly contribute to clarify this debate.

El anuncio en julio de 2012 de los primeros indicios experimentales sobre la existencia del bosón de Higgs, reavivó el interés del secular debate sobre el significado de conceptos como el vacío y los campos físicos. La evolución de sus interpretaciones revela mutaciones profundas en el trasfondo filosófico de nuestra visión de la naturaleza. Especialmente por cuanto el controvertido papel de las rupturas de simetría se ha añadido a las discusiones sobre las teorías de unificación y la estructura fundamental de (...) la materia. (shrink)

Since the very begining of quantum theory there started a debate on the proper role of space and time in it. Some authors assumed that space and time have their own algebraic operators. On that basis they supposed that quantum particles had “coordinates of position”, even though those coordinates were not possible to determine with infinite precision. Furthermore, time in quantum physics was taken to be on an equal foot, by means of a so-called “Heisenberg’s fourth relation of indeterminacy” concerning (...) time and energy. In this paper, the proper role of space and time in the core of non-relativistic quantum phsysics is analyzed. We will find that, rigorously, that relation for time and energy shows a different root. For the role of space, it will be discussed that there is no “coordinate of position” in the conceptual structure of quantum physics because quantum particles are not point-like objects. DOI:10.5007/1808-1711.2010v14n2p241. (shrink)

Since the very begining of quantum theory there started a debate on the proper role of space and time in it. Some authors assumed that space and time have their own algebraic operators. On that basis they supposed that quantum particles had “coordinates of position”, even though those coordinates were not possible to determine with infinite precision. Furthermore, time in quantum physics was taken to be on an equal foot, by means of a so-called “Heisenberg’s fourth relation of indeterminacy” concerning (...) time and energy. In this paper, the proper role of space and time in the core of non-relativistic quantum phsysics is analyzed. We will find that, rigorously, that relation for time and energy shows a different root. For the role of space, it will be discussed that there is no “coordinate of position” in the conceptual structure of quantum physics because quantum particles are not point-like objects. (shrink)

ResumenLos abundantes análisis filosóficos sobre la física cuántica no se han visto en general acompa- ñados por una consideración equiparable hacia su prolongación natural en la teoría cuántica de campos. Esta teoría se ha revelado en su versión electromagnética como una de las herramientas predictivas más precisas de la ciencia física. No obstante, sus cimientos conceptuales siguen siendo altamente controvertidos y cabe dudar si una ampliación de su formalismo conducirá a la tan deseada unificación de las fuerzas fundamentales, y por (...) ende, a una comprensión global de las propiedades básicas de la naturaleza.Palabras claveFilosofía de la física, teoría cuántica de campos, unificación de fuerzas, predicciónAbstractThe abundant philosophical analyses on quantum physics have not been generally followed by an equivalent consideration toward their natural continuation in the quantum field theory. This theory is regarded in its electromagnetic version as one of the best predictive tools in physical science. Nevertheless, its conceptual foundations are still surrounded by controversy and it is doubtful if an extension of its formalism will lead us to the unification of the four basic forces, and therefore to a global understanding of the basic properties of nature.KeywordsPhilosophy of physics, quantum field theory, unification of forces, prediction. (shrink)

ResumenLos abundantes análisis filosóficos sobre la física cuántica no se han visto en general acompa- ñados por una consideración equiparable hacia su prolongación natural en la teoría cuántica de campos. Esta teoría se ha revelado en su versión electromagnética como una de las herramientas predictivas más precisas de la ciencia física. No obstante, sus cimientos conceptuales siguen siendo altamente controvertidos y cabe dudar si una ampliación de su formalismo conducirá a la tan deseada unificación de las fuerzas fundamentales, y por (...) ende, a una comprensión global de las propiedades básicas de la naturaleza.Palabras claveFilosofía de la física, teoría cuántica de campos, unificación de fuerzas, predicciónAbstractThe abundant philosophical analyses on quantum physics have not been generally followed by an equivalent consideration toward their natural continuation in the quantum field theory. This theory is regarded in its electromagnetic version as one of the best predictive tools in physical science. Nevertheless, its conceptual foundations are still surrounded by controversy and it is doubtful if an extension of its formalism will lead us to the unification of the four basic forces, and therefore to a global understanding of the basic properties of nature.KeywordsPhilosophy of physics, quantum field theory, unification of forces, prediction. (shrink)

Estamos tan habituados a que la ciencia describa la realidad mediante ecuaciones de asombrosa eficacia que raramente nos detenemos a pensar en la gentileza que demuestra el mundo prestándose a ello. ¿Por qué la naturaleza obedece reglas matemáticas tan magníficamente precisas? ¿Es genuinamente matemático el mundo, o tan sólo parece serlo la parte que podemos descubrir de él? Estas y otras cuestiones con ellas relacionadas se discuten en el contenido de esta obra, donde se traza el apasionante viaje que ha (...) llevado a la humanidad a explorar el cosmos con la imprescindible ayuda de las herramientas suministradas por el inagotable caudal de la matemática. (shrink)

En este libro un equipo formado por especialistas españoles y extranjeros pasa revista a los principales aspectos del conocimiento del mundo físico. Los autores combinan la perspectiva científica con la filosófica, en un esfuerzo de diálogo interdisciplinar que quiere estar a la altura de los tiempos. Reflejan la variedad de puntos de vista de los cultivadores de la filosofía de la naturaleza, aunque com¬parten la misma fe en el futuro de la disciplina y en el papel que le corresponde para (...) corregir los desequilibrios de la cultura contemporánea. (shrink)

En esta obra monumental de Jesper Lützen sobre la mecánica de Heinrich Hertz encontramos una magnífica exposición de la vida y obra de este insigne físico germano. Un interesante relato de las influencias intelectuales que modelaron su pensamiento científico, culmina con un exhaustivo análisis de la reformulación de la mecánica clásica que Hertz planteó poco antes de su prematuro fallecimiento.

The important yet contradictory role of innovation in society calls for a philosophy of innovation. Critically exploring innovation in relation to values, the economy and social change, Rafael Ziegler proposes a collaborative theory and practice of innovation that aims to liberate possibilities for our common futures. Following cues from the arts and drawing on the innovation literature across the social sciences, this book exposes pro-innovation bias and the gospel of disruptive change. Not only entrepreneurs but also civic networks and (...) tinkerers are discussed as sources of innovation, and social change as a balancing act of innovation, exnovation and restoration. The discussion of capabilitarian, communitarian, liberal, republican and socialist ideas of justice and innovation leads Ziegler to a transformative proposal: 'enough innovation' based on enough for all and with respect for all. This is a thought-provoking read for scholars working on sustainability-transformation, democratic, responsible and social innovation, and philosophy of economics. (shrink)

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo principal colocar em revisão os fundamentos decisores dos hard cases (Dworkin) que envolvem ativamente posicionamentos políticos no âmbito material da discussão apresentada em litígio.

This volume offer a manifold approach to a less evident and until now much neglected undercurrent in the work of Hannah Arendt., namely her ambiguous relation to the Judeo-Christian relligious heritage. Arendt's dissertation was dedicated to the concept of love in the works of Augustine, where she set her tone and developmed her frame for approaching theological matters. Her understanding of secularity might provide a model for the reconciliation of secularization and the persistence of religious belief in the contemporary world. (...) Thought Hannah Arendt wad certainly and outspokenly a secular thinker, her work also harbors ways of understanding secularization as the possibility of a new, maybe even messianic, attitude towards finite life and earthly reality. She famously depicts this attitude as "faith in and hope for the world". --Book cover. (shrink)

This paper presents an experience in developing professional ethics by an approach that integrates knowledge, teaching methodologies and assessment coherently. It has been implemented for students in both the Software Engineering and Computer Engineering degree programs of the Technical University of Madrid, in which professional ethics is studied as a part of a required course. Our contribution of this paper is a model for formative assessment that clarifies the learning goals, enhances the results, simplifies the scoring and can be replicated (...) in other contexts. A quasi-experimental study that involves many of the students of the required course has been developed. To test the effectiveness of the teaching process, the analysis of ethical dilemmas and the use of deontological codes have been integrated, and a scoring rubric has been designed. Currently, this model is also being used to develop skills related to social responsibility and sustainability for undergraduate and postgraduate students of diverse academic context. (shrink)

Theory of Mind (ToM) is one of the most relevant concepts in the field of social cognition, particularly in the case of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Literature showing that individuals with ASD display deficits in ToM is extensive and robust. However, some related issues deserve more research: the heterogeneous profile of ToM abilities in children with ASD and the association between different levels of ToM development and social, pragmatic, and adaptive behaviors in everyday life. The first objective of this study (...) was to identify profiles of children with ASD without intellectual disability (ID), based on explicit and applied ToM knowledge, and compare these profiles with a group of children with typical development (TD). A second objective was to determine differences in symptom severity, adaptive/social behavior, and pragmatic abilities between the profiles identified. Fifty-two children with a clinical diagnosis of ASD without ID and 37 children with TD performed neuropsychological ToM tasks and two vocabulary and memory tests. In addition, all of their mothers completed different questionnaires about applied ToM abilities, severity of ASD symptoms, adaptive/social skills, and pragmatic competence. Two subgroups were identified in the cluster analysis carried out with explicit and applied ToM indicators. The “Lower ToM abilities” profile obtained significantly lower scores than the “Higher ToM abilities” profile on all the ToM measures. Furthermore, the analysis of covariance, controlling for vocabulary and working memory (ANCOVAs), showed statistically significant differences in applied ToM abilities between the two groups of children with ASD without ID and the group with TD. However, only the group with “Higher ToM abilities” achieved similar performance to the TD group on the verbal task of explicit ToM knowledge. Finally, the “Lower ToM abilities” cluster obtained significantly higher scores on autism symptoms (social and communication domains) and lower scores on adaptive behavior and pragmatic skills than the cluster with “Higher ToM abilities”. Taken together, these findings have implications for understanding the heterogeneity in ToM skills in children with ASD without ID, and their differential impact on social, communicative, and adaptive behaviors. (shrink)

A recent issue of Topics in Cognitive Science featured 11 thoughtful commentaries responding to our article “What happened to cognitive science?” (Núñez et al., 2019). Here, we identify several themes that arose in those commentaries and respond to each. Crucial to understanding our original article is the fundamental distinction between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary endeavors: Cognitive science began (and has stayed) as multidisciplinary but has failed to move on to form a cohesive interdisciplinary field. We clarify and elaborate our original argument (...) and reiterate the importance of a data‐driven evaluation of the current status of the field, which exhibits a marked disciplinary imbalance, a lack of a coherent conceptual core, and a striking absence of a consistent curriculum in the institutions that grant degrees in this domain. Half a century after the creation of cognitive science, it may now be a good time to revisit goals and visions for how to best approach the ever‐fascinating scientific study of the mind(s). (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo consiste em analisar como Nietzsche, baseado na filosofia schopenhauriana, resolveu o problema do surgimento da tragédia grega através da elevação dos elementos Apolo e Dionísio a um estatuto ontológico, e como os gregos fizeram isso em seu tempo através da Música, além de revelar como, em Nietzsche, o pensamento de Sócrates surge como o “perverso algoz da arte”.O estudo foi realizado através de uma pesquisa bibliográfica com base nas seguintes obras do filósofo: A visão Dionisíaca de (...) Mundo e O nascimento da tragédia no espírito da Música. Na segunda parte, sugere-se como Nietzsche faz esse resgate do trágico em sua época e qual a recepção no século XIX de seu trabalho. (shrink)

This article offers a new reading of Heidegger's thesis of the animal in The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics. Framing Heidegger's text through a brief analysis of Protagoras' genetic story of nature and of man's nature in Plato's eponymous dialogue, our reading brings out three key elements common to both texts: living nature as a normative rather than a physical order, the poverty of man's world in relation to the animal, and the attempted redemption of the latter through the acquisition of (...) Weltbildung. Staying with the way Heidegger brings out man's poverty in world in the text allows us (i) to undo once for all the oft-repeated charge of Heidegger's anthropocentric interpretation of the animal, (ii) to stage the hypothesis that philosophy and the life sciences of his day draw upon a common basic experience of the autonomy of life in relation to everything human, all-too-human, and (iii) to demonstrate the normativity and poverty of life. (shrink)

The Aymara of the Andes use absolute (cardinal) frames of reference for describing the relative position of ordinary objects. However, rather than encoding them in available absolute lexemes, they do it in lexemes that are intrinsic to the body: nayra (“front”) and qhipa (“back”), denoting east and west, respectively. Why? We use different but complementary ethnographic methods to investigate the nature of this encoding: (a) linguistic expressions and speech–gesture co-production, (b) linguistic patterns in the distinct regional Spanish-based variety Castellano Andino (...) (CA), (c) metaphorical extensions of CA’s spatial patterns to temporal ones, and (d) layouts of traditional houses. Findings indicate that, following fundamental principles of Aymara cosmology, people, objects, and land—as a whole—are conceived as having an implicit canonical orientation facing east, a primary landmark determined by the sunrise. The above bodily based lexicalizations are thus linguistic manifestations of a broader macro-cultural worldview and its psycho-cognitive reality. (shrink)

_ Source: _Volume 47, Issue 3, pp 366 - 387 In this article, I focus on Heidegger’s conception of hospitality in his first and final lectures on Hölderlin’s _Germania_, _Remembrance_, and _The Ister_. I argue that the hospitality of the foreigner for Heidegger is the condition of possibility of dwelling understood as the happening of history.In the first section I analyze the notions of hospitality in Levinas and Derrida. The second section unpacks some of the senses of the earth in (...) Heidegger as the site of man’s historical dwelling, whereas in the third section I focus on holy mourning as the disposition that reveals the earth as the uncanny ground of history. In the final section, I spell out Heidegger’s conception of hospitality, the greeting, and the foreign guest. (shrink)

The Gongsun Longzi is often considered the only extant work of the Classical Chinese “School of Names”, an early intellectual tradition mainly concerned with logic and the philosophy of language. The Gongsun Longzi is a heterogeneous collection of five chapters that include short treatises and largely fictive dialogues between an anonymous persuader and his opponent, which typically revolve around a paradoxical claim. Its value as a testimony to Early Chinese philosophy, however, is somewhat controversial due to the intricate textual history (...) of the text and our limited knowledge about its intellectual backgrounds. This volume gathers contributions by leading specialists in the fields of Classical Chinese philosophy, philology, logic, and linguistics. Besides an overview of the scholarly literature on the topic and a detailed account of the reception of the text throughout time, it presents fresh insights into philological and philosophical problems raised by the Gongsun Longzi and other closely-related texts equally attributed to the “School of Names”. (shrink)

Two systems of belief change based on paraconsistent logics are introduced in this article by means of AGM-like postulates. The first one, AGMp, is defined over any paraconsistent logic which extends classical logic such that the law of excluded middle holds w.r.t. the paraconsistent negation. The second one, AGMo , is specifically designed for paraconsistent logics known as Logics of Formal Inconsistency (LFIs), which have a formal consistency operator that allows to recover all the classical inferences. Besides the three usual (...) operations over belief sets, namely expansion, contraction and revision (which is obtained from contraction by the Levi identity), the underlying paraconsistent logic allows us to define additional operations involving (non-explosive) contradictions. Thus, it is defined external revision (which is obtained from contraction by the reverse Levi identity), consolidation and semi-revision, all of them over belief sets. It is worth noting that the latter operations, introduced by S. Hansson, involve the temporary acceptance of contradictory beliefs, and so they were originally defined only for belief bases. Unlike to previous proposals in the literature, only defined for specific paraconsistent logics, the present approach can be applied to a general class of paraconsistent logics which are supraclassical, thus preserving the spirit of AGM. Moreover, representation theorems w.r.t. constructions based on selection functions are obtained for all the operations. (shrink)

What is the nature of number systems and arithmetic that we use in science for quantification, analysis, and modeling? I argue that number concepts and arithmetic are neither hardwired in the brain, nor do they exist out there in the universe. Innate subitizing and early cognitive preconditions for number— which we share with many other species—cannot provide the foundations for the precision, richness, and range of number concepts and simple arithmetic, let alone that of more complex mathematical concepts. Numbers and (...) arithmetic, and mathematics in general, have unique features—precision, objectivity, rigor, generalizability, stability, symbolizability, and applicability to the real world—that must be accounted for. They are sophisticated concepts that developed culturally only in recent human history. I suggest that numbers and arithmetic are realized through precise combinations of non-mathematical everyday cognitive mechanisms that make human imagination and abstraction possible. One such mechanism, conceptual metaphor, is a neurally instantiated inference-preserving cross-domain mapping that allows the conceptualization of abstract entities in terms of grounded bodily experience. I analyze how the inferential organization of the properties and “laws” of arithmetic emerge metaphorically from everyday meaningful actions. Numbers and arithmetic are thus—outside of natural selection—the product of the biologically constrained interaction of individuals with the appropriate cultural and historical phenotypic variation supported by language, writing systems, and education. (shrink)

After the end of their time as a caregiver, former caregivers have needs and feelings that have been subject to little study to date. The aim of the study is to determine and analyse the feelings, perceptions and practices of former caregivers in the reconstruction of their daily lives. This is a qualitative study based on the Grounded Theory developed by Charmaz. The study involved 14 former caregivers who had cared for their relative for more than 2 years and who (...) had stopped caring for them more than 2 years previously. Fourteen in-depth interviews were conducted and data were collected over 13 months between 2015 and 2017. Data were analysed using the Grounded Theory Method. In addition, this study was approved by the ethics committee of the Institut Universitari d’Investigació en Atenció Primària Jordi Gol. The former caregiver experiences a transition, which begins in the days before the death of their relative and may continue for more than 3 years. Three critical moments in the post-caring transition were found: the post-caring emptiness; the end of the period as a caregiver; and the movement towards a new life. Family and professional support is needed during this transition. Former caregivers experience a transition in the rebuilding of their daily lives; furthermore, former caregivers may be a source of support for other caregivers, which is linked to positive mental health factors. Healthcare organisations need to acknowledge the emotional, psychosocial and psychological health of former caregivers. (shrink)

This article examines the primacy of real-world bodily experience for understanding the human mind. I defend the idea that the peculiarities of the living human brain and body, and the bodily experiences they sustain, are essential ingredients of human sense-making and conceptual systems. Conceptual systems are created, brought forth, understood and sustained, through very specific cognitive mechanisms ultimately grounded in bodily experience. They don't have a transcendental abstract logic independent of the species-specific bodily features. To defend this position, I focus (...) on a case study: the fundamental concept of time flow. Using tools of cognitive linguistics, I analyse the foundations of this concept, as it is manifested naturally in everyday language. I show that there is a precise conceptual metaphor whose inferential structure gives an account of a huge variety of linguistic expressions, semantic contents, and unconscious spontaneous gestures: Time Events Are Things In Space. I discuss various special cases of this conceptual metaphor. This mapping grounds its source domain in specific spatial bodily experiences and projects its inferential structure onto a target domain making inferences in that domain possible. This mechanism allows us to unconsciously, effortlessly, and precisely understand expressions such as ‘the year 2000 is approaching’ or ‘the days ahead of us’. The general form of the mapping seems to be universal. The analysis raises important issues which demand a deeper and richer understanding of cognition and the mind: a view that sees the mind as fully embodied. In order to avoid misunderstandings with a general notion of ‘embodiment’ which has become fashionable in contemporary cognitive science, I describe what I mean by ‘full embodiment’: an embodied-oriented approach that has an explicit commitment to all of cognition, not just to low-level aspects of cognition such as sensory-motor activity or locomotion . I take embodiment to be a living phenomenon in which the primacy of bodily grounded experience is inherently part of the very subject matter of the study of the mind. (shrink)

Traditional cognitive science is Cartesian in the sense that it takes as fundamental the distinction between the mental and the physical, the mind and the world. This leads to the claim that cognition is representational and best explained using models derived from AI and computational theory. The authors depart radically from this model.

In this paper two systems of AGM-like Paraconsistent Belief Revision are overviewed, both defined over Logics of Formal Inconsistency (LFIs) due to the possibility of defining a formal consistency operator within these logics. The AGM° system is strongly based on this operator and internalize the notion of formal consistency in the explicit constructions and postulates. Alternatively, the AGMp system uses the AGM-compliance of LFIs and thus assumes a wider notion of paraconsistency - not necessarily related to the notion of formal (...) consistency. (shrink)