This paper comments on ‘Critique and Negativity: Towards the Pluralisation of Critique in Educational Practice, Theory and Research’ by Dietrich Benner and Andrea English. Negativity is a disquieting ghost for teachers, educational researchers, administrators and other professionals of this field, including those involved in the design of policy. First, I make some remarks in response to the essay by Benner and English in order to draw attention to the importance of dealing with negativity. Second, I introduce a further problematisation of (...) negativity: I deal with the practical issues that emerge from the conceptual reactivation of negativity and the possible consequences that result from this in the context of teaching graduate seminars. I am especially concerned with the ways in which negativity is inscribed in the process of knowledge production (that is, research), and in the possible consequences of subscribing to one or the other concept of negativity (teleological negativity, parasitic negativity, and relational negativity as the sine qua non condition for any ontology). Lastly, I raise some points for discussion with regard to certain possible consequences of the use of one or another notion of negativity in teaching and research. (shrink)

Working from Adorno’s notion of negative dialectics, this essay charts a dialectical course of resistance toward a horizon of universal freedom. Rather than propose relations between ideal types of resistance, it emphasizes the ineliminable historical dimensions of not only real-world resistance movements but also the philosophical and political theorizing that attempts to make sense of them. In doing so it brings out certain conceptual relations that emerge or recede as the context of resistance shifts. The first moment considers the dichotomy (...) between reform and revolution, the second moment delves into modes of reform, and the third looks to modes of revolution. Along the way the essay discusses the work of such varied figures and organizations as Rosa Luxemburg, John Rawls, Martin Luther King, Jr., Candice Delmas, Robin Celikates, Kimberlee Brownlee, Emma Goldman, Students for a Democratic Society and the Weather Underground, and the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. In the end, the essay is written in the service of understanding the stakes and presuppositions of resistance, in theory and practice. (shrink)

Con base en El nombre de la Rosa de Umberto Eco se intenta mostrar la relación poder, saber y lenguaje desde la figura del laberinto tipo rizoma, sin centro ni periferia, siempre estructurable, nunca estructurado. Para hacerlo se plantean dos paradigmas hermenéuticos para descifrar los textos como laberinto. El primero se simboliza en Jorge de Burgos: todo texto es monosemántico y unidimensional, lo que políticamente lleva a fanatismos jacobinos y dogmáticos. El segundo se materializa en Guillermo de Baskerville: (...) los textos son polisemánticos y su semiosis es ilimitada, de modo que no hay textos definitivamente escritos, leídos e interpretados. Hay que habitar el mundo desde la duda como gozosa búsqueda ad infinitum, lo que se traduce políticamente en una lucha contra todo tipo de jacobismos. La conclusión es, desde este último paradigma, que la hermenéutica mora los textos desde Babel, no desde Pentecostés. Es el contraste entre la seriedad hermenéutica de Burgos y la sonrisa hermenéutica de Baskerville. (shrink)

Drawing inspiration from a well-attested historical tradition, I propose an account of cognition according to which knowledge is not only prior to belief; it is also, and crucially, not a kind of belief. Believing, in turn, is not some sort of botched knowing, but a mental state fundamentally different from knowing, with its own distinctive and complementary role in our cognitive life. I conclude that the main battle-line in the history of epistemology is drawn between the affirmation of a natural (...) mental state in which there is a contact between ‘mind’ and ‘reality’ and the rejection of such a natural mental state. For the former position, there is a mental state which is different in kind from belief, and which is constituted by the presence of the object of cognition to the cognitive subject, with no gap between them. For the latter position, all our cognition is belief, and the question becomes how and when belief is permissible. (shrink)

What are intuitions? Do they exist as distinctive mental states? Do they have an epistemic function? Can we discern specific features that characterize intuitions? Questions like these are widely d...

Im vorliegenden Beitrag geht es – angesichts der enormen gesellschaftlichen Verbreitung von Quantifizierungstechniken und -imperativen im digitalen Zeitalter – um psychische Bedeutungen des digitalen Messens, Zählens und Vergleichens und um die Faszination für diese Operationen. Mit Blick auf eine sozio- und psychoanalytisch ausgerichtete Hermeneutik der Zahl werden erste Ergebnisse des Forschungsprojekts »Das vermessene Leben« erörtert. Eine der zentralen Fragen ist dabei, wie sich Merkmale digitaler Quantifizierung mit psychischen Dispositionen verbinden, spezifische Bewältigungs- und Abwehrmuster auslösen oder welche Rolle etwa die Externalisierung (...) von Affekt- oder Norm-Regulationen spielt. Schließlich wird nachgezeichnet, wie daraus neue Konstellationen und kulturelle Vorstellungen von Normalität und Pathologie hervorgehen können. (shrink)

This paper proposes a formal top-level model of explaining the outputs of machine-learning-based decision-making applications and evaluates it experimentally with three data sets. The model draws on AI & law research on argumentation with cases, which models how lawyers draw analogies to past cases and discuss their relevant similarities and differences in terms of relevant factors and dimensions in the problem domain. A case-based approach is natural since the input data of machine-learning applications can be seen as cases. While the (...) approach is motivated by legal decision making, it also applies to other kinds of decision making, such as commercial decisions about loan applications or employee hiring, as long as the outcome is binary and the input conforms to this paper’s factor- or dimension format. The model is top-level in that it can be extended with more refined accounts of similarities and differences between cases. It is shown to overcome several limitations of similar argumentation-based explanation models, which only have binary features and do not represent the tendency of features towards particular outcomes. The results of the experimental evaluation studies indicate that the model may be feasible in practice, but that further development and experimentation is needed to confirm its usefulness as an explanation model. Main challenges here are selecting from a large number of possible explanations, reducing the number of features in the explanations and adding more meaningful information to them. It also remains to be investigated how suitable our approach is for explaining non-linear models. (shrink)

The importance of socio-economic impacts from the introduction and use of genetically modified crops is reflected in increasing efforts to include them in regulatory frameworks. Aiming to identify and understand the present knowledge on SEI of GM crops, we here report the findings from an extensive study of the published international scientific peer-reviewed literature. After applying specified selection criteria, a total of 410 articles are analysed. The main findings include: limited empirical research on SEI of GM crops in the scientific (...) literature; the main focus of the majority of the published research is on a restricted set of monetary economic parameters; proportionally, there are very few empirical studies on social and non-monetary economic aspects; most of the research reports only short-term findings; the variable local contexts and conditions are generally ignored in research methodology and analysis; conventional agriculture is the commonly used comparator, with minimal consideration of other substantially different agricultural systems; and there is the overall tendency to frame the research upon not validated theoretical assumptions, and to over-extrapolate small-scale and short-term specific results to generalized conclusions. These findings point to a lack of empirical and comprehensive research on SEI of GM crops for possible use in decision-making. Broader questions and improved methodologies, assisted by more rigorous peer-review, will be required to overcome current research shortcomings. (shrink)

Las redes sociales asociadas al conocimiento resultan de interés tanto a los estudios en Ciencia Tecnología y Sociedad, como al desenvolvimiento del pensamiento de la complejidad que se desarrolla en el país. Su análisis explica la naturaleza social de la producción científica y la existencia del capital social, cuyas características se vinculan con la satisfacción y resolución de las necesidades sociales dentro de la población cubana. Se muestra una red, conformada en torno a la Publicación Archivo Médico de Camagüey, durante (...) los años 2003, 2004 y dos bimestres del 2005 sobre el desenvolvimiento de las co autorías dentro de ella. Delineando en qué forma los investigadores se relacionaron entre sí, para valorar algunos de sus resultados. Se describen, los grupos esenciales de investigación y sus principales fortalezas. Constituye una herramienta de trabajo, al exponer los cambios que están ocurriendo en torno a la Universidad Médica Camagüeyana The social networks associated to human knowledge are useful to the studies in Science Technology and Society. Their analysis explains the social nature of the scientific production and the existence of social resources, which link the satisfaction and resolution of the social necessities inside the Cuban population. The characteristics of this networks conformed in Archivo Médico de Camagüey publication on the development of co authorship from 2003 to 2005 were presented in this article. The researchers were related to each other in this work to value in which way they function together and analyze some of their results. The essential groups of investigation and their main strengths were also described. It constitutes a work tool for further research works, to considering the changes that are happening about the scientific knowledge production in Camagüey University of Medicine. (shrink)

Here, Greenberg excavates the skeletons of some of our most iconoclastic buildings, spurring on a continued engagement with those intentionally (World Trade Center) and accidentally (Charles DeGaulle Airport Terminal) destroyed that ...

Este trabajo se centra en la acción dialógica y comunicativa entre las personas con la intención de mejorar su educación. Para ello se ha adaptado el formato de las tertulias literarias dialógicas al contenido de las obras musicales. Los principales objetivos han sido: desarrollar las competencias comunicativa, lingüística y musical a través del diálogo interactivo; aumentar el grado de motivación e incrementar la cultura musical de los futuros docentes hacia la música clásica. Se combina una metodología cualitativa con cuantitativa y (...) el método investigación-acción. La muestra han sido 136 estudiantes, futuros docentes en formación. Los principales resultados ofrecen datos positivos. (shrink)

RESUMO O trabalho apresenta uma discussão polêmica, complexa e enigmática para a teoria do conhecimento: a elaboração da dialética negativa na concepção da teoria crítica frankfurtiana – sobretudo, adorniana – na interface com a dialética materialista, do marxismo. Do estudo emerge uma proposta de reestruturação do universo objetivo no sentido de indicar elementos subjetivos – por intermédio da teoria psicanalítica – como possibilidade de superação do estado da alienação ampla: intelectual, política, cultural e humana. Trata de confrontar aspectos metodológicos, teóricos (...) e subjetivos em âmbito social amparado por uma perspectiva crítica. As contribuições, para além dos embates entre o idealismo clássico e o materialismo moderno, atravessam, entre outras, as perspectivas heideggeriana, hegeliana, kantiana, freudiana, marxiana e adorniana, visando apresentar fundamentos epistemológicos e teóricos que embasam a teoria crítica ao tempo que identifica diferenças e convergências entre o materialismo sócio-histórico dialético e a dialética negativa; componentes relevantes para compreender a incursão desta teoria no âmbito das diversas áreas do conhecimento. ABSTRACT This paper presents a controversial, complex and enigmatic discussion for knowledge theory: the development of the concept of negative dialectic Frankfurtian critical theory – especially Adornian – on the interface with the materialist dialectics of Marxism. From this study emerges a restructuring proposal of the objective universe as to indicate subjective elements – through psychoanalytic theory – as a possibility to overcome the alienation state: intellectual, political, cultural and human. It is about confronting methodological, theoretical and subjective aspects of the social field supported by a critical perspective. The contributions, beyond the clashes between classical idealism and modern materialism cross, among others, the Heidegger, Hegel, Kant, Freud, Marx and Adorno's perspectives, aiming to present epistemological and theoretical foundations that underlie critical theory at the time that it identifies differences and convergences between historical social dialectic materialism and the negative dialectic; relevant components to understand the incursion of this theory in the context of various areas of knowledge. (shrink)

As one might expect, throughout his life Leibniz assumed an attitude of religious toleration both ad intra (that is, toward Christians of other confessions) and ad extra (that is, toward non-Christians, notably Muslims). The aim of this paper is to uncover the philosophical and theological foundations of Leibniz’s views on this subject. Focusing in particular on his epistolary exchange with the French Catholic convert Paul Pellisson-Fontanier, I argue that neither toleration ad intra nor toleration ad extra is grounded for Leibniz (...) in indifference toward the content of revealed religion. On the contrary, Leibniz remained convinced of the objective truth of the Christian religion as it is handed down by the millennia-old tradition of the truly universal church. In his view, reasons internal to the very nature of salvation and to the conception of God and man explicitly contained in or, at least, in accord with this tradition present religious toleration as the only justifiable answer to the differences among religions. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Educating in a convulsed political context demands a detailed analysis of the new circumstances of our times, especially the current democracy crisis. According to the latest reports issued by international evaluation organisations, one of the greatest challenges for democratic citizenship is the emergence and rise of authoritarianism within the framework of the so-called post-democracy, and also in the manifestations known as illiberal democracy. Moral and civic education has to respond to this challenge. With this in mind, we propose revitalising (...) a participative and deliberative democracy model, rethinking the basic values in citizens' education, redefining the relation between what is public and what is private, and empowering sensitivity and free creation in the new maker culture. (shrink)

In this paper I will discuss certain aspects of Leibniz's theory and practice of 'soft reasoning' as exemplified by his defence of two central mysteries of the Christian revelation: the Trinity and the Incarnation. By theory and practice of 'soft' or 'broad' reasoning, I mean the development of rational strategies which can successefully be applied to the many areas of human understanding which escape strict demonstration, that is, the 'hard' or 'narrow' reasoning typical of mathematical argumentation. These strategies disclose an (...) 'other' reason, i.e. a complementary set of arguments and methods developed by Leibniz in order to deal with crucial issues such as the 'weighting' of probabilities and truths of fact. I will argue that one of the most compelling examples of the importance and fertility of Leibniz's 'other' reason is provided by his solution to the problems posed by the unique epistemological status of theological mysteries. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This paper explores some key features of Medieval accounts of intuition, focusing on Thomas Aquinas (1224/5–1274), on the one hand, and on Duns Scotus (c. 1266-1308), Peter Auriol (c. 1280–1322), and William Ockham (c. 1287-1347), on the other hand. The first section is devoted to the type of intuitive cognition which is accepted by all these authors, namely, the immediate and direct grasp of some present material object by the senses. It is from this basic sensory intuition – they (...) agree – that human cognition starts. The second section turns to intuitive intellectual cognition and to the much greater disagreements which divide these philosophers. Notwithstanding these important differences, the paper’s conclusion draws attention to the similarities in the conception of intuition which cut across the otherwise significantly different accounts of the authors discussed. I end with an invitation to recover their older way of thinking of intuition. (shrink)

Leibniz's repeated interventions in the Trinitarian polemics widespread throughout Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries cannot merely be read as scholastic exercises or concessions to the conventions of his time. On the contrary, they involved reflection on issues fundamental to Leibniz's philosophical doctrines: issues such as the relationship between faith and reason, the limitations of the human intellect and the various grades of human knowledge, and the significance of the ' analogia Trinitatis' reconsidered in light of the concept of (...) harmony. This paper concentrates on the writings of the young Leibniz before his visit to Paris and aims to examine the role played by contemporary discussions concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation in the formation of Leibniz's thought. (shrink)

Este relato de experiência discute um eixo de um projeto de ensino, pesquisa e extensão multi e interdisciplinar sobre educação e humanização da morte. Trata-se de ações da Psicologia destinadas à saúde mental dos trabalhadores do serviço funerário da cidade de São Paulo. A intervenção dividiu-se em duas etapas: visitas aos cemitérios, para aproximação daqueles pesquisadores à realidade e às demandas desses servidores; e oficinas com técnicas de dinâmica de grupo. Estas aconteceram por cinco meses, contaram com 130 participantes — (...) motoristas, sepultadores, “veloristas”, supervisores e gestores de recursos humanos — e tiveram como facilitadoras as integrantes da graduação e da pós-graduação em Psicologia. A análise das oficinas evidenciou, da parte dos servidores, sensibilização para suas necessidades em favor da saúde mental, percepção do valor de cuidado e humanização em suas relações profissionais e pessoais. Ademais, ações como essa realçaram a relevância de frequente acolhimento psicólogico a trabalhadores de serviços funerários. (shrink)

This article tries to show that focusing on why and how subject and object are distinct is of key importance for understanding the nature of knowledge itself. It argues that: 1) cognition starts with an aliud which is present to a felt self in a way fundamentally different from one’s own modes of being; 2) individual human knowledge in its paradigmatic form is essentially first-personal, that is, its object-directedness requires a built-in, implicit awareness of a ‘self’ that provides the unifying (...) perspective from which the aliud is apprehended; 3) this is a first-order awareness which is crucially distinct from the second-order awareness which requires a reflexive cognitive act – a distinction which the author proposes to cash out in terms of ‘first-person knowledge’ versus ‘self-knowledge. (shrink)

Este trabajo trata de las aguas termales explotadas en dos contextos nacionales diferentes: en la ciudad argentina de Nueva Federación y en el municipio catarinense de Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, dialogando con una amplia literatura sobre este tema, y destacando sus múltiples usos, centrados para la salud, para actividades de ocio y religiosas. Además, estas aguas son asumidas como patrimonio natural y cultural, como fuente de identificación y referencia simbólica, y como el centro de las disputas en "campos sociales de (...) conflicto", relativos al poder de su uso y su apropiación. También se destacan, más allá de la similitud en la forma en que las aguas termales son explotadas y pensadas en los referidos contextos, las especificidades que marcan ambos balnearios. Por último, se subraya la importancia del termalismo tanto para la Provincia de Entre Ríos como para el Estado de Santa Catarina. (shrink)

Over the past decades a number of scholars have identified Johann Heinrich Bisterfeld as one of the most decisive early influences on Leibniz. In particular, the impressive similarity between their conceptions of universal harmony has been stressed. Since the issue of relations is at the heart of both Bisterfeld and Leibniz’s doctrines of universal harmony, the extent of the similarity between their doctrines will depend, however, on Bisterfeld and Leibniz’s respective theories of relations, and especially on their ontologies of relations. (...) This paper attempts to determine in more detail whether Bisterfeld’s ontology of relations contains at least the germ of the defining features of the ontology of relations later developed by Leibniz. It comes to the conclusion that, although Bisterfeld’s theory of relations is not as fully developed and explicit as that of Leibniz, it does contain all the key “ingredients” of it. (shrink)

Introductions to epistemology routinely define knowledge as a kind of belief which meets certain criteria. In the first two sections of this article, I discuss this account and its application to religious epistemology by the influential movement known as Reformed Epistemology. In the last section, I argue that the controversial consequences drawn from this account by Reformed Epistemology offer one of the best illustrations of the untenability of a conception of knowledge as a kind of belief. I conclude by sketching (...) an alternative account of cognition which also provides a different framework for religious epistemology. (shrink)

What is knowledge? What, if anything, can we know? In Knowing and Seeing, Michael Ayers recovers the insight in the traditional distinction between knowledge and belief, according to which 'knowledge' stems from direct and perspicuous cognitive contact with ('seeing') its object, whereas 'belief' relies on 'extraneous' justification. He conducts a careful phenomenological analysis of what it is to perceive one's environment as one's environment, the result of which is not only direct realism, but recognition that in being perceptually aware of (...) anything we are at the same time perceptually aware of how we are aware of it. Perceptual knowing comes with knowing how you know. Some other forms of knowledge are similarly direct and perspicuous, but not all; a distinction is accordingly drawn between primary and secondary knowledge, and Ayers argues that no secondary knowledge is possible without some primary knowledge. Perceptual knowledge supplies the paradigm to which other cases of knowledge are diversely analogous - hence the notorious difficulty of defining knowledge. These conclusions, supported by a detailed examination of the relations between different grammatical constructions in which 'know', 'believe' and 'see' occur, fuel extended critiques of two lines of thought influential in contemporary epistemology: John McDowell's conceptualist and intellectualist account of perceptual knowledge, and Fred Dretske's 'externalist' employment of sceptical argument. Ayers unpicks the arguments for these other views, explains the failure of recent attempts at a comprehensive definition of knowledge, explores the tight relation between knowledge and certainty, and gives an account of how 'defeasibility' should and should not be understood in epistemology. (shrink)

Este artículo está dedicado a enmarcar la categoría de precariedad en un contexto amplio constituido por un conjunto de autores como J. Butler, G. Vattimo, J. Habermas o M. Nussbaum. Todos ellos convergen, desde intereses diferentes, en rechazar lo que Vattimo denomina «pensamiento fuerte», que proporciona solidez y seguridad teórica, pero que está abocado a justificar la violencia. Frente a este rechazo optan por el «pensamiento débil» que, desde su fragilidad o vulnerabilidad teóricas, es más abierto a una política y (...) una interacción ética no violenta. (shrink)