This is one more edition of Voltaire's "Candide", meant to highlight the wealth of philosophical and theological discussions hidden behind the apparently innocent veil of the most renowned fable of modernity. The rather extended apparatus accordingly consists of a series of short chapters by Filippo Bruni on the Enlightenment and Metaphysics, and in more detail, on theology, Free choice, the problem of evil, and happiness in an imperfect world and another by Sergio Cremaschi on the Enlightenment and morality, and (...) in more detail on moral universalism, on religion without metaphysics, toleration, and pacifism. -/- Table of contents I. Before the text A trick for priests A scandalous book Garden with view -/- II. Text Candide or optimism -/- III. Context Biography 1. The seven years war 2. Calvinists and Socinians 3. Jiansenists and Gesuits 4. Marranos and inquisitors 5. Conquistadores and slave-traders 6. Paraguay under the Jesuits -/- IV. Co-text 1. Enlightenment and Metaphysics 1.1. Theology 1.2. Free choice 1.3. The problem of evil 1.4. Being happy in an imperfect world -/- 2. Enlightenment and morality 2.1. Universal morality 2.2. Religion without Metaphysics 2.3. Toleration 2.4. Pacifism -/- 3. Enlightenment and the images of other places 3.1. The image of Eldorado 3.2. The image of Paraguay 3.3 The image of the Islamic world 3.4. The image of the Jew -/- 4. The conte philosophique -/- Bibliography Lexicon Index of names and concepts -/- V. Reader’s guide. (shrink)

The editor's introduction discusses Clarence I. Lewis's conceptual pragmatism when compared with post-empiricist epistemology and argues that several Cartesian assumptions play a major role in the work, not unlike those of Logical Positivism. The suggestion is made that the Cartesian legacy still hidden in Logical Positivism turns out to be a rather heavy ballast for Lewis’s project of restructuring epistemology in a pragmatist key. More in detail, the sore point is the nature of inter-subjectivity. For Lewis, no less than for (...) the Logical Positivists at the time of the Protocols Controversy and Husserl in the Cartesian Meditations, this is a problem without a solution. The reason is that all these philosophers are apparently unable to realize that the existence of a plurality of knowing subjects cannot be treated at once both as a speculative problem and a methodological one. Lewis, thanks to his pragmatist approach both comes closer to the right answer and offers an even more naïve unsatisfactory solution to the pseudo-problem under discussion. The fact that he has clear in mind that inter-subjectivity means not only a plurality of linguistic utterances but also a co-existence of different kinds of practical behaviour. Eventually, the very idea of mind, the key-idea in the book, suffers from the above mentioned tension. In fact, if inter-subjective communication and action is considered at a methodological level, the very idea of mind would not need an analysis, and no kind of ‘reflexive’ analysis. Methodology might be limited to a ‘naïve’ level where the existence of the world and a plurality of subjects be taken as a bedrock of uncritically accepted evidence. Philosophical reflection on ultimate evidence, instead, would take a different approach, maybe the one Wittgenstein was putting into practice in the same years when Mind and the world order was written, namely it would be bound to question the very meaning of the idea of ‘mind’ as an undue fiction – the same carried out by Descartes – when he assumed the Cogito to be at once a body of self-evident truths and a thing or substance, the familiar Platonic idea of psyche or soul. (shrink)

This is the first Italian translation of Bentham’s “Deontology”. The translation goes with a rather extended apparatus meant to provide the reader with some information on Bentham’s ethical theory's own context. Some room is made for so-called forerunners of Utilitarianism, from the consequentialist-voluntarist theology of Leibniz, Malebranche, John Gay, Thomas Brown and William Paley to Locke and Hartley's incompatible associationist theories. After the theoretical context, also the real-world context is documented, from Bentham’s campaigns against the oppression of women and cruelty (...) to animals to his projects of political reform. Another section illustrates the ideas of Bentham's followers as well as the objections raised by nineteenth- and twentieth-century critics of utilitarianism. -/- Table of contents I. BEFORE THE TEXT 1. Bentham’s legacy 2. Bentham the Reformer 3. Bentham and the enlightenment project of a reformed morality 4. The principle of utility 5. Deontology or private morality 6. Utilitarianism as «eudemonologism» -/- II. TEXT Deontology I. Deontology: theoretical II. Deontology: practical III. -/- III. CO-TEXT 1. Biography 2. The reform of legislation 3. The Philosophic Radicals between the French revolution and the Industrial revolution -/- IV. CONTEXT 1. Forerunners of Utilitarianism 2. Psychological associationism 3. The oppression of women 4. Cruelty against animals 5. Parsimony and industry in Hogarth’s prints 6. Followers 6.1. John Stuart Mill 6.2. Henry Sidgwick 7. Critics 7.1. Romantic, conservative, and Christian critics 7.2. Socialist critics 8. Consequences: neo-utilitarianism 9. Consequences: critics of utilitarianism 9.1. Deontological critics 9.2. Perfectionists critics 9.3. Sceptical critics 10. Bentham’s legacy for contemporary ethics, by Bikhu Parekh Bibliography Lexicon Index of names and concepts -/- READER'S GUIDE . (shrink)

'We desire all and only those things we conceive to be good; we avoid what we conceive to be bad.' This slogan was once the standard view of the relationship between desire or motivation and rational evaluation. Many critics have rejected this scholastic formula as either trivial or wrong. It appears to be trivial if we just define the good as 'what we want', and wrong if we consider apparent conflicts between what we seem to want and what we seem (...) to think is good. In Appearances of the Good, Sergio Tenenbaum argues that the old slogan is both significant and right, even in cases of apparent conflict between our desires and our evaluative judgements. Maintaining that the good is the formal end of practical inquiry in much the same way as truth is the formal end of theoretical inquiry, he provides a fully unified account of motivation and evaluation. (shrink)

Compilación de textos que abordan la elaboración de las ideas filosóficas de Gaos, así como la forma en la que éste se apropia de algunos de los autores más significativos del pensamiento occidental.

. The uniform prior distribution is often seen as a mathematical description of noninformativeness. This paper uses the well-known Three Prisoners Paradox to examine the impossibility of maintaining noninformativeness throughout hierarchization. The Paradox has been solved by Bayesian conditioning over the choice made by the Warder when asked to name a prisoner who will be shot. We generalize the paradox to situations of N prisoners, k executions and m announcements made by the Warder. We then extend the consequences of hierarchically (...) placing uniform and symmetrical priors for the probability p of the Warder naming Prisoner B, say. We prove that breaks of indifference and neutrality caused by assignment of uniform and symmetrical priors in lieu of degenerate indifference probabilities hold in general. Speaking of unknown probabilities or of probability of a probability must be forbidden as meaningless. Bruno de Finetti, 1977 I regard the use of hierarchical chains as a technique helping you to sharpen your subjective probabilities. I. J. Good, 1981. (shrink)

The main purpose of this thesis is to explore de Finetti's ideas and contributions to decision theory. Such ideas are not as well-known as his work on probability. ;The first part of the work is placed in a unisubjective decision-making context. It starts by including a discussion on predictivism, an approach to statistics which de Finetti insisted on and which has only recently been rediscovered and advocated. ;The second part is placed in the context of group, or multisubjective, decision-making. This (...) area is well-known for its negative results, starting with Arrow's impossibility theorem. While being aware of such difficulties, de Finetti made important contributions to this field, which he saw as the appropriate context to approach basic concepts such as "objectivity" and Wald's admissibility theorem. Such concepts, together with exchangeability, illuminate the Bayesian position by also making connection with the non-Bayesian approach. ;The last part of the work starts with a critical discussion of classical methods which are unacceptable for Bayesians. Finally, an important application problem--environmental stress screening--is solved from a Bayesian predictivist point of view. (shrink)

Developing World Bioethics, Accepted Article.

Definiciones de epistemología hay muchas, al igual que clases y estilos. Sin embargo, más allá de esta diversidad, es necesario contar con una definición básica que guíe nuestra comprensión del tema. Dos serán las preguntas que nos ayuden a ello en este artículo: a) ¿qué es la epistemología? y b) ¿para qué le sirve al científico?

An effective method to increase the number of potential cadaveric organ donors is to make people donors by default with the option to opt out. This non-coercive public policy tool to influence people’s choices is often justified on the basis of the as-judged-by-themselves principle: people are nudged into choosing what they themselves truly want. We review three often hypothesized reasons for why defaults work and argue that the as-judged-by-themselves principle may hold only in two of these cases. We specify further (...) conditions for when the principle can hold in these cases and show that whether those conditions are met is often unclear. We recommend ways to expand nationwide surveys to identify the actual reasons for why defaults work and discuss mandated choice policy as a viable solution to many arising conundrums. (shrink)

A discussão sobre o Ensino Religioso na escola pública das diferentes unidades da Federação é uma polêmica constante ao longo da história da República brasileira. A imposição legal do Ensino Religioso no âmbito escolar pode remeter à ideia de um Estado não laico e acarretar mais preocupações e discussões do que propriamente promover uma formação integral que favoreça os estudantes. No Estado laico, as religiões são livres contanto que respeitem a neutralidade confessional da esfera pública e a garantia de cuidar (...) do bem comum. O Ensino Religioso, no espaço da educação, contribui para prevenir a intolerância e instiga os estudantes a buscar seus direitos e liberdades. Isto não significa abrir mão do direito de expressão da confessionalidade de alunos e professores, mas permitir ao outro ser sujeito de sua cultura e de seus desejos. O Ensino Religioso como componente curricular está alicerçado nos princípios da cidadania, no entendimento do outro enquanto outro. E isso só é possível num Estado laico, pois é competência do Estado assegurar aos alunos o direito de receber a formação religiosa desejada. É um direito cidadão. Palavras-chave: Educação; Ensino Religioso; Estado laico.The discussion of Religious Education in public schools of the various units of the federation is a constant debate throughout the history of the Brazilian Republic. The legal imposition on Religious Education in schools may refer to the idea of a secular State and not cause more concern and discussion than actually promote an integral formation that favors students. In the secular State, religions are free provided, they satisfy the confessional neutrality of the public sphere and ensuring care for the common good. The Religious Education in the area of education helps to prevent intolerance and encourages students to pursue their rights and freedoms. This does not mean giving up the right of expression of denominational pupils and teachers, but to allow another to be subject to their culture and their desires. The Religious Education as a curriculum component is based on principles of citizenship, in understanding the other as other. And this is only possible in a secular State, it is responsibility of the State to ensure students the right to receive religious training desired. It is a citizen right. Key words: Education; Religious Education; Secular State. (shrink)

O presente artigo partiu do questionamento: como os alunos do Curso de Pedagogia de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES) de Curitiba são instigados para trabalhar na prática educacional a partir da perspectiva da diversidade cultural e de forma integrada entre as disciplinas História, Geografia e Ensino Religioso? Para tanto, utilizou-se a metodologia bibliográfica e documental. Analisou-se 712 planos de aula, elaborados pelos alunos das turmas de 2006 a 2010 na disciplina Metodologia de História, Geografia e Ensino Religioso, ofertada no (...) 3º ano do Curso de Pedagogia em uma IES de Curitiba. Os resultados apontam que o Curso atende o que preconiza a legislação educacional brasileira, formando docentes capazes de considerar a diversidade cultural na prática escolar. Esse é o primeiro passo para a construção do reconhecimento das diferentes culturas presentes no espaço escolar, potencialmente rico para se desenvolver relações democráticas, de respeito pelas diferenças, de ética e de garantia de direitos sociais e humanos. Palavras-Chave: Diversidade Cultural. Formação de Professores. Interdisciplinaridade.This article came from the question, as the students of the education of a Higher Education Institution-HEI of Curitiba, are instigated to work in educational practice from the perspective of cultural diversity, and interdisciplinary way between the three subject areas: History, Geography and Religious Education? To answer this question, the 712 lesson plans developed by students in the classes from 2006 to 2010 in the subject "Methodology of History, Geography and Religious Education, offered in the 3rd year of the Course of Pedagogy in a HEI of Curitiba, were analyzed. The results show that the course realize what the Brazilian Educational Documents appoint, trainee teachers to able consider the Brazilian cultural diversity in educational practice. This is the first step in building recognition of the different cultures present in school, potentially rich in order to develop democratic relations, respect for differences, ethics and ensuring social and human rights. Keywords : Cultural Diversity. Teacher education. Interdisciplinary. (shrink)

A identidade do Ensino Religioso como área de conhecimento historicamente pode ser demonstrada a partir dos livros produzidos para sistematizar as reflexões, as pesquisas, enfim os diferentes estudos referentes aos aspectos legais, metodológicos, propostas de conteúdo, sobre a formação de professores e as questões relacionadas ao ensino aprendizagem deste componente curricular. Este artigo deriva do primeiro relatório de uma pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa, utilizando uma metodologia histórico-analítica apoiada em documentos impressos e visa compreender a identidade de uma disciplina que progressivamente (...) assume um perfil de área de conhecimento. São apresentados três quadros que tratam da produção referente ao Ensino Religioso. Quadro 1 - Período de publicação; Quadro 2 - Editoras que publicaram os livros sobre o Ensino Religioso; Quadro 3 - Autores e ou Co-Autores que publicaram os livros sobre o Ensino Religioso. A presente reflexão indica outras frentes como por exemplo, empreender análise de conteúdo dos textos apresentados nestas publicações a fim de contribuir para a definitiva configuração identitária do Ensino Religioso. Palavras-chave : Ensino Religioso; Produção Científica; Livros; História do Ensino Religioso; EducaçãoThe identity of Religious Education as an area of knowledge might be historically proved by books produced to systematize the reflections, the research, the different studies related to legal and methodological aspects, content proposals, teachers' background and education, and issues related to the teaching and learning of this curricular component. This is the first report of research based on a qualitative approach, using analytic and historical methodology supported by printed documents in order to determine this identity for a discipline that progressively assumes a profile of an area of knowledge. We present three aspects related to the production of Religious Education. The first - Publishing period; the second - Publishing companies that have published books on Religious Education; the third - Authors and/or Co-authors that published books on Religious Education. This research has not been concluded yet, since it is necessary to analyze the content of the texts presented in these books, produced by different publishing companies, which will later become known. Key words: Religious Education; Scientific Production; Books; History of Religious Education; Education. (shrink)

Two Lagrangians L and L′ are equivalent if the equations of motion derived from them have the same set of solutions. In that case, a matrix Λ may be defined which has the property that the trace of any analytic function of Λ is a constant of the motion. We extend this trace theorem to the case of classical field theory and discuss some of the implications for quantum theory and for procedures for finding equivalent Lagrangians.

Este artigo objetiva traçar o itinerário da educação libertadora na realidade social brasileira e refletir sobre a necessidade de se repensar a ação dessa modalidade de educação nos dias atuais. Ao se articular a realidade da época do surgimento da educação libertadora, que pretendia responder aos apelos de libertação dos povos Latino-Americanos, com a realidade dos tempos atuais e suas implicações, este artigo busca respostas às questões postas por essa educação libertadora na atualidade. Para abordar as funções do processo educativo (...) dentro do contexto de uma sociedade, é preciso situar as abordagens em sua realidade, contemporizando e adequando as suas ações. Essa temática representa um grande desafio, pois a concepção libertadora de educação extrapola os ambientes acadêmicos, visando sobretudo o bem comum do ser humano e o seu pleno desenvolvimento. Para a realização deste trabalho foram realizadas pesquisas bibliográficas e estudo da realidade desta época informatizada em que estamos inseridos, assim como suas consequências. Palavras-chave : Conscientização. Emancipação. Informatização. Educação Libertadora.This article aims to trace the route of liberating education in Brazilian social reality and reflect on the need to rethink the action of this type of education these days. In order to articulate the onset of liberating education that intended to respond to calls for liberation of Latin American peoples with the reality of the present time and its implications, this article seeks to answer to the questions posed by this liberating education today. To address the functions of the educational process within the context of a society, one must situate the approaches in their reality, compromising and adapting their actions. This theme represents a great challenge because the conception of such liberating education goes beyond the academic environments, seeking above all, the common good of the human being and its full development. The methodology used in this paper consisted of bibliographical research and a study of the reality of this computerized era in which we operate. Keywords: Awareness Empowerment. Information Technology. Liberating Education. (shrink)

A précis of Sergio Tenenbaum's Rational Powers in Action (Oxford 2021).

Rational Powers in Action presents a conception of instrumental rationality as governing actions that are extended in time with indeterminate ends. Tenenbaum argues that previous philosophical theories in this area, in focusing on momentary snapshots of the mind of idealized agents, miss central aspects of human rationality.