Research on environmental-decision making is usually based on utilitarian models, which imply that people's decisions are only influenced by the outcomes. This research provides evidence for values and moral positions that reflect nonconsequentialist rather than consequentialist views. In doing this, this article refers to “sacred values,” which are values that are seen as not-substitutable and nontradable. Two studies were designed to examine evidence for sacred values and their role on act versus omission choices within the environmental domain. The studies revealed (...) that sacred values were closely associated with preferences for actions, trade-off reluctance, deontological focus, and position of moral universalism. The results suggest that it is important to account for sacred values and nonconsequentialist views in environmental decision-making research. (shrink)

BackgroundValue sensitivity – the ability to recognize value-related issues when they arise in practice – is an indispensable competence for medical practitioners to enter decision-making processes related to ethical questions. However, the psychological competence of value sensitivity is seldom an explicit subject in the training of medical professionals. In this contribution, we outline the traditional concept of moral sensitivity in medicine and its revised form conceptualized as value sensitivity and we propose an instrument that measures value sensitivity.MethodsWe developed an instrument (...) for assessing the sensitivity for three value groups in a four step procedure: 1) value identification ; 2) value representation ; 3) vignette construction and quality evaluation ; and 4) instrument validation by comparing nursing professionals with hospital managers.ResultsWe find that nursing professionals recognize and ascribe importance to principle-related issues more than professionals from hospital management. The latter are more likely to recognize and ascribe importance to strategy-related issues.ConclusionsThese hypothesis-driven results demonstrate the discriminatory power of our newly developed instrument, which makes it useful not only for health care professionals in practice but for students and people working in the clinical context as well. (shrink)

The principles of biomedical ethics – autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice – are of paradigmatic importance for framing ethical problems in medicine and for teaching ethics to medical students and professionals. In order to underline this significance, Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress base the principles in the common morality, i.e. they claim that the principles represent basic moral values shared by all persons committed to morality and are thus grounded in human moral psychology. We empirically investigated the relationship (...) of the principles to other moral and non-moral values that provide orientations in medicine. By way of comparison, we performed a similar analysis for the business & finance domain. (shrink)

This volume provides an overview of the most recent developments in empirical investigations of morality and assesses their impact and importance for ethical thinking. It involves contributions of scholars both from philosophy, theology and empirical sciences with firm standings in their own disciplines, but an inclination to step across borders-in particular the one between the world of facts and the world of norms. Human morality is complex, and probably even messy-and this clean distinction becomes blurred whenever one looks more closely (...) at the various components that enable and influence our moral actions and ethical orientations. In that way, morality may indeed be located between facts and norms-and an empirically informed ethics that is less concerned with analytical purity but immerses into this moral complexity may be an important step to make the contributions of ethics to this world more valuable and relevant. (shrink)

Moral Enhancement wird von einer Reihe einflussreicher Bioethiker propagiert, zum Teil mit dem Anspruch, dass nur dadurch die Menschheit vor ihrem selbstverschuldeten Untergang zu retten sei. Nachdem begründete Zweifel an der Eignung der zum Moral Enhancement vorgeschlagenen Psychopharmaka aufgekommen sind, wurden neurochirurgische Interventionen, insbesondere die Tiefe Hirnstimulation, vorgeschlagen. Diese Ad-hoc-Vorschläge stützen sich auf eine Handvoll neurochirurgischer Eingriffe an geistig schwer behinderten Menschen sowie die Psychochirurgie des letzten Jahrhunderts. In diesem Aufsatz geht es erstens um die Frage, ob Moral Enhancement durch (...) neurochirurgische Methoden überhaupt möglich ist und, wenn ja, inwiefern, und zweitens um die Frage nach dessen ethischer Vertretbarkeit, sofern es möglich ist. Mit den bisher vorgeschlagenen Methoden des neurochirurgischen Moral Enhancement könnte man zwar Aggressionen oder den Sexualtrieb reduzieren, sodass weniger Selbstkontrolle erforderlich wäre, um moralisch angemessen zu handeln. Theoretisch denkbar, aber bisher nicht durch empirische Evidenz gestützt, ist, dass neurochirurgische Eingriffe die Selbstkontrolle verbessern könnten. Nach dem Modell der moralischen Intelligenz von Carmen Tanner und Markus Christen lässt sich zeigen, dass dadurch allenfalls eine Komponente der moralischen Intelligenz verbessert werden könnte, nämlich die moralische Standhaftigkeit. Keiner der bisherigen Vorschläge zielt dagegen auf die Verbesserung der anderen vier Komponenten, also des moralischen Kompasses, der moralischen Sensibilität, der moralischen Urteilsfähigkeit und der moralischen Motivation. Ein umfassendes Moral Enhancement durch neurochirurgische Eingriffe ist mit den gegenwärtig verfügbaren oder vorgeschlagenen Methoden also nicht möglich. Allenfalls lässt sich in Zukunft durch Closed-Loop-Systeme, die bestimmte Impulse automatisch herunter regeln, ein moralkonformeres Verhalten erreichen. Eine nur technisch induzierte Verhaltensverbesserung wäre allerdings höchstens unter Zugrundelegung eines utilitaristischen Moralverständnisses als moralische Verbesserung anzuerkennen. (shrink)

El proceso educativo sufrió un drástico cambio debido a la pandemia que padecimos a nivel mundial, tuvimos que aprender a usar las herramientas tecnológicas en la enseñanza y en el aprendizaje. Por lo que siguiendo esta tendencia planteamos la utilización de la aplicación “Física M-Lab” en su primera versión para la enseñanza de la cinemática.Como estamos en el campo de las ciencias sociales, utilizamos el diseño cuasiexperimental que nos permitió concluir en que los aprendizajes mejoraron significativamente.

Electrical brain activity modulation in terms of changes in its intensity and spatial distribution is a function of age and task demand. However, the dynamics of brain modulation is unknown when it depends on external factors such as training. The aim of this research is to verify the effect of deductive reasoning training on the modulation in the brain activity of healthy younger and older adults ( (mean age of 21 ± 3.39) and (mean age of 68.92 ± 5.72)). The (...) analysis reveals the benefits of training, showing that it lowers cerebral activation while increasing the number of correct responses in the trained reasoning task (). The brain source generators were identified by time-averaging low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) current density images. In both groups, a bilateral overactivation associated with the task and not with age was identified. However, while the profile of bilateral activation in younger adults was symmetrical in anterior areas, in the older ones, the profile was located asymmetrically in anterior and posterior areas. Consequently, bilaterality may be a marker of how the brain adapts to maintain cognitive function in demanding tasks in both age groups. However, the differential bilateral locations across age groups indicate that the tendency to brain modulation is determined by age. (shrink)

Synthetic biology is an emerging engineering discipline that attempts to design and rewire biological components, so as to achieve new functions in a robust and predictable manner. The new tools and strategies provided by synthetic biology have the potential to improve therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, synthetic biology will help design small molecules, proteins, gene networks, and vectors to target disease‐related genes. Ultimately, new intelligent delivery systems will provide targeted and sustained therapeutic benefits. New treatments will arise from combining (...) ‘protect and repair’ strategies: the use of drug treatments, the promotion of neurotrophic factor synthesis, and gene targeting. Going beyond RNAi and artificial transcription factors, site‐specific genome modification is likely to play an increasing role, especially with newly available gene editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 systems. Taken together, these advances will help develop safe and long‐term therapies for many brain diseases in human patients. (shrink)

Objetivo. Verificar si el procesamiento semántico de estímulos visuales complejos, como la repetición, la identidad, el orden y la doble incongruencia, es recursivo o computable. Sujetos y métodos. Veintisiete universitarios respondieron a un paradigma adaptado N400 con cinco condiciones, cada una con 80 tareas, mientras se registraba su actividad cerebral con un gorro de 64 electrodos. Resultados. Dos ventanas temporales de 400 a 550 ms y de 550 a 800 ms se analizaron mediante un contraste ANOVA del factor condición por (...) regiones de interés. Además, se calculó la solución inversa de las ventanas mediante tomografía electromagnética de baja resolución para identificar las fuentes corticales subyacentes a los potenciales eléctricos. Se corroboran diferencias significativas (p< 0, 05) en los potenciales N400 y P600 en áreas frontales y centroparietales asociadas a los operadores lógicos estudiados. Conclusión. Se confirma que el procesamiento cerebral de imágenes complejas (congruentes/incongruentes) es modulado por la repetición, la identidad y el orden, pero no por la negación. Por consiguiente, se puede decir que el procesamiento semántico de imágenes complejas es semicomputable. (shrink)

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the approach to the health-disease system, raising the question about the principles of bioethics present in physician–patient relations. The principles while widely accepted may not be sufficient for a comprehensive ethical analysis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the perception of these principles and the physician–patient relationship during a hospital stay through a qualitative approach. Method Sixteen semi-structured interviews took place to know the patients’ perception during their 2020 hospitalization for COVID-19. (...) The data was analyzed through the constant comparison method, creating categories and comparing them. In the end, seven categories were established and were grouped in three: bioethical principles (dignity, charity, vulnerability, autonomy), doctor-patient relationship (participant commitment, informed consent, health staff-patient relationship) and the experience of the disease (illness, the role of the family). Results The research found that most patients described a positive experience, with the feeling of having been well cared for with no sense of discrimination or injustice done. The majority also reported that their autonomy was respected in the treatment decisions. The evaluation of these attitudes is an area of opportunity, especially when the patients' vulnerability is at risk. Conclusions The ethics of virtue offers a better reflection of how human beings manifest themselves by emphasizing the development of virtuous character and behaviors that allow them to realize their values in life. Authorized by the Research Ethics Committee with registration: DI/18/105-B/3/308. (shrink)

The company at the service of today's society is reinventing itself to satisfy people's needs in a more efficient and adapted way. Globalization and digitization promote increasing interaction and new forms of economic organization such as collaborative economy. However, can it be understood that this new business model, more than others, has as its raison d'être in the search for the “common good”? A first approach suggests the presence of values related to collaboration between equals aiming at a common good. (...) However, the possible existence of a profit motive and the labor relations framework in which certain activities are carried out have created a debate on their ethical qualification. In this context, considering 278 companies in the collaborative economy sector, the relationship between the concept of “common good” and the collaborative economy is analyzed, while examining whether these new realities have an explicit ethical intention (of search for goods for people). According to the results, it is not possible to assert that these platforms have an ethical concern, but it is observed that they are in line with the common good and implicitly contribute to the service of society. (shrink)

The role of science rhetoric in the global village -- Scientific English in the postmodern age -- Problematizing the rhetoric of contemporary science -- A contrastive rhetoric approach to science dissemination -- Disciplinary practices and procedures within research sites -- Triangulating procedures, practices and texts in scientific discourse -- ELF and a more complex sociolinguistic landscape -- Re-defining the rhetoric of science.

La práctica docente reflexiva (PDR) se considera como una estrategia significativa para impulsar proyectos de innovación en centros educativos y mejorar el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar la asociación entre el desarrollo de una práctica docente reflexiva y el fomento de la innovación educativa. Para ello, se siguió una metodología mixta con alcance exploratorio-descriptivo y una recolección de datos de corte transversal. La vertiente cuantitativa contempló la visión de docentes de aula y docentes directivos (...) (n=123) de cinco centros escolares chilenos, quienes expresaron sus opiniones en un cuestionario ad hoc. En la vertiente cualitativa se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a 18 docentes de aula y docentes directivos de los centros involucrados en esta investigación. Para sus relatos se realizó un análisis de contenido lo que permitió identificar patrones, temas convergentes y divergentes, considerando el contexto escolar como marco de refencia. Los resultados revelan una asociación entre una práctica docente reflexiva, donde el profesorado incorpora en su labor elementos y prácticas asociadas a un nivel de reflexión crítica, y su participación en proyectos de innovación educativa. (shrink)

We present a proof of the equivalence between two deductive systems for constructive necessity, namely an axiomatic characterisation inspired by Hakli and Negri's system of derivations from assumptions for modal logic , a Hilbert-style formalism designed to ensure the validity of the deduction theorem, and the judgmental reconstruction given by Pfenning and Davies by means of a natural deduction approach that makes a distinction between valid and true formulae, constructively. Both systems and the proof of their equivalence are formally verified (...) using the state-of-the-art proof assistant Coq. The proof approach taken throughout the paper unveils the use of some alternative proof methods that allow for a smooth transition from the high-level mathematical proofs to their mechanised counterparts. (shrink)

Sustainable investment (SI), which integrates social, environmental and ethical issues, has grown from a niche market of individual ethical investors to embrace institutional investors (e.g. pension funds) resulting in £764 billion in assets under management in the UK alone [Eurosif, 2008 : ‘European SRI Study 2008’ (Eurosif, Paris)]. Explaining this growth is complex, involving shifts in personal and collective values, reactions to corporate scandals, scientific and media pronouncements about climate change, Government initiatives, responses from financial markets and the influence of (...) SI innovators in The City of London. The article examines the influence of human agency through interviews with 14 SI champions who have variously been responsible for launching SI funds and changing investment processes and organisational structures in order to enhance SI. Interviewees were asked about their motivations and persuasive strategies, the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them as well as broader implications of SI for financial markets. The following key categories inform the results and the discussion: Values; Conservatism, Antipathy and Incredulity; Optimism and Sympathy from Insiders; The Social and Political Context; The Business Case; Organisational Constraints; Inappropriate forms of Remuneration; Short-termism; The Nature of Capitalism. Three discourses were also identified. The first is the necessity to make a business case for SI; the second is the benefits that SI can bring to the quest of overcoming short-termism; the third is a belief that for SI to have a significant influence, greater government intervention is required. (shrink)

In eukaryotic cells the nucleus and its contents are separated from the cytoplasm by the nuclear envelope. Macromolecules, as well as smaller molecules and ions, can cross the nuclear envelope through the nuclear pore complex. Molecules greater than approx. 60 kDa and containing a nuclear localization signal are actively transported across the nuclear membranes, but there has been little evidence for regulatory mechanisms for smaller molecules and ions. Recently, diffusion across the nuclear envelope has been observed to be regulated by (...) nuclear cisternal Ca2+ concentrations. Following depletion of Ca2+ from the nuclear store by inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate or Ca2+ chelators, a fluorescent 10 kDa marker molecule was no longer able to enter the nucleus. Distinct conformational states of the nuclear pore complexes depended on the Ca2+ filling state of the nuclear envelope, supporting the assumption that a switch in the conformation of the nuclear pore complex may control the transport of intermediate‐sized molecules across the nuclear envelope. Thus nuclear Ca2+ stores may regulate the conformational state of the nuclear pore complex, and thereby passive diffusion of molecules between the cytosol and the nucleoplasm. The physiological significance of this finding is currently unknown. (shrink)

An intriguing question in the field of stress is what makes an individual more likely to be susceptible or resilient to stress‐induced depression. Predisposition to stress susceptibility is believed to be influenced by genetic factors and early adversity. However, beyond genetics and life experiences, recent evidence has highlighted social rank as a key determinant of susceptibility to stress, underscoring dominant individuals as the vulnerable ones. This evidence is in conflict with epidemiological, clinical, and animal work pointing at a link between (...) social subordination and depression. Here, we review and analyze rodent protocols addressing the relevance of social rank to predict vulnerability to chronic social stress. We also discuss whether a specific social status (i.e., dominance or subordination) is the appropriate predictor of vulnerability to develop stress‐induced depression or rather, the loss of social rank and resources. (shrink)

The Purpose in Life Test is a measure of purpose in life widely used in many cultures and countries; however, cross-cultural assessments are scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL in the general population of seven Latin American countries. A total of 4306 people participated, selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, where Uruguay has the highest mean age ; while Ecuador has the lowest mean age. Furthermore, in each country, there is a higher proportion (...) of women than men. Using Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the factorial structure does not show evidence of invariance among the included countries. However, based on the Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment, there is evidence that a three-dimensional structure of the PIL is the same in the participating countries. Results based on item response theory indicate that most PIL items can significantly differentiate responses according to the level of life purpose. In addition, people with low life purpose will tend to choose the lower response alternatives on the PIL; while people with higher life purpose will choose higher response alternatives. The findings indicate that the PIL has the potential to increase knowledge about how people conceive and experience their purpose in life in different countries. (shrink)

Posiblemente el turismo es una de las pocas actividades humanas que encierra la ambivalencia de ser a la vez, negocio y ocio. Habitualmente, es analizado en la primera perspectiva como sector productivo y en pocas ocasiones se hace referencia a este concepto desde el punto de vista del ocio. Menos aun, se ahonda en la idea de que por ser una actividad de ocio tiene una dimensión educativa. Por ello, y desde esa reflexión pedagógica, se plantea este artículo, como una (...) aproximación conceptual a la experiencia educativa para el turista, para el profesional anfitrión y para la comunidad de recepción que encierra una modalidad concreta del turismo, la cultural. (shrink)

Este trabajo aborda la fenomenología de Merleau-Ponty y su interpretación de los aspectos más significativos del pensamiento de Husserl. Su temprana concepción de la fenomenología como «estilo» la desarrolló ampliamente como una fenomenología de la percepción, del lenguaje y del cuerpo en su inherencia en el mundo. Más tarde, las implicaciones del campo fenomenológico le condujeron a una nueva ontología «indirecta» que constituye una clave principal para entender su última posición filosófica. «La carne del mundo» no se limita a designar (...) una ontología regional, sino que es un elemento del Ser, en el sentido de la capa última de realidad que abarca al hombre y al mundo. (shrink)

En este artículo se presenta una propuesta formativa utilizando el cine como material cultural y fuente de conocimiento. Una película como Babel permite trabajar la globalización y la educación de la ciudadanía, con planteamientos que exigen un nuevo humanismo, una nueva relación interpersonal, conscientes de los problemas de comunicación, prejuicios y choques culturales derivados del desarrollo tecnológico. La película cuestiona esta existencia en un mundo global interrelacionado, evocando el viejo mito bíblico de la Torre de Babel haciendo énfasis en identificaciones (...) erróneas, malentendidos y oportunidades fallidas, como manos invisibles que nos guían; o el fin cuyo destino se nos escapa.Babel hace comprender la realidad de la globalización. Nos permite observar cuatro lugares tan distantes como Estados Unidos, Méjico, Marruecos y Japón, no sólo distanciados físicamente. Los cuatro países representan estilos culturales diferentes, tres formas de realización humana. Asistimos al choque, a la incomunicación personal, al aislamiento por la diferencia de cultura y la ficticia proximidad tecnológica. Vivimos juntos, pero aislados los unos de los otros. (shrink)

En esta investigación sometemos, a 640 alumnos/as de cuarto a sexto de Primaria, a prueba un modelo relacional entre seis habilidades socio – emocionales, la percepción y el resultado académico en Lengua Castellana y Literatura. Los resultados obtenidos en el análisis nos muestran significatividad entre la percepción y el resultado real obtenido en Lengua y las habilidades de toma de conciencia y control emocional, las habilidades socioemocionales, la cooperación y ayuda durante el trabajo, las habilidades de vida y bienestar subjetiva (...) como mejora de la calidad de vida y como poder motivacional en el rendimiento académico en Lengua Castellana y Literatura. (shrink)

Este artículo presenta una aproximación lógico-filosófica al problema de las medidas sin interacción (ifm, por sus siglas en inglés) presentes en ciertos experimentos físicos mecánico-cuánticos. Se explicitarán tanto las posibles vías para abordar el estudio de las IFM desde una perspectiva formal, como algunos de los principales retos a la hora de llevar a cabo dicha aproximación.

En la formación inicial docente, el estudio de la epistemología constituye una pieza fundamental para que los futuros profesores puedan filosofar sobre la realidad de los diversos contextos educativos y se pregunten cómo mejorarla desde los principios que rigen la investigación científica. De este modo, gracias al sustento epistemológico, los estudiantes de pedagogía pueden formarse como docentes investigadores capaces de analizar los cambios sociales propuestos por las múltiples realidades y conocer cómo se construye el conocimiento científico de una especialidad dada. (...) La finalidad de este trabajo, es presentar una reflexión filosófica-epistemológica sobre la imperiosa necesidad de desarrollar el conocimiento epistemológico en la formación inicial del profesorado de matemática e historia, considerando los fundamentos disciplinares, pedagógicos y cognitivos de dichas áreas. (shrink)

Educational accompaniment, an expanded view from personalist anthropology In today's educational landscape, the digital transformation is a methodological, pedagogical and, undoubtedly, relational challenge. In this environment, there are proposals that advocate accompaniment as a means of facing this challenge. Moreover, we could say that accompanying is fashionable, with the risk that this implies of limiting and even sweetening its true meaning and scope. To avoid this, we propose to look at the nature of the human being and rediscover what he (...) really needs in his process of personal growth. This article presents an analysis of educational accompaniment, revealing its internal dynamism, making explicit the essential conditions that make it possible and proposing some pedagogical applications that shed light on the mission of accompaniment. From this personalist and profound point of view, accompaniment is proposed as a response to the anthropological need of being human and is configured as a path of encounters oriented towards the fullness of the person. (shrink)

La metafísica occidental se constituyó desde sus orígenes aristotélicos como ontoteología. Tras la quiebra del sistema hegeliano, Nietzsche sentenció la muerte de Dios. Heidegger, por su parte, declaró el final de la metafísica afirmando que Dios no era sino un proto-ente. Ambos pensadores cifraron en la nihilidad del Dios de la razón la imposibilidad de prosecución del proyecto metafísico.Ahora bien, ¿que el Dios racionalista, fundamento sistemático absoluto, no pueda dar razón suficiente implica que es necesario renunciar al humano intento filosófico (...) de comprensión de lo real? Podemos entender la metafísica como un comprender y decir lo que es. De esta manera, la cuestión del ser se ha de plantear desde el lenguaje. En este sentido, la hermenéutica filosófica nos brinda, quizá a pesar de sí misma, una posibilidad de prosecución. Ésta pasa por la puesta en valor de la vinculación ser-lenguaje, que pertenece por derecho al origen griego de la metafísica. (shrink)

En este trabajo se estudian las características personales que determinan la actividad (ocupación o paro) en la población gallega. Para ello se construye el modelo de actividad, en el cual se estima la probabilidad de que una persona en edad de trabajar forme parte de la población activa. Una vez estimados los parámetros del modelo mediante regresión logística binaria, se calculan las probabilidades de actividad condicionadas a distintas características personales, para evaluar la influencia real de las mismas en la forma (...) en que un individuo se integra en el mercado de trabajo. Del análisis empírico se obtiene que la característica más destacada es el sexo, y que la influencia de las demás variables sobre las distintas probabilidades varía en función del sexo de la persona analizada. (shrink)

A partir de la afirmación de S. Critchley de que el psicoanálisis es la prolongación, profundización y complicación de lo que él llama paradigma trágico-heroico , se trata de precisar que lo trágico es lo que hace inseparables la teoría y la experiencia psicoanalítica de la risa y los fenómenos ligados a ella. Esto, en general, ha sido insuficientemente indagado. Siguiendo estos argumentos, se presentan algunas observaciones en torno a esa especie de exhortación “volver a las cosas mismas”, tan afín (...) al método freudiano, al “uso” de lo trágico-heroico en Lacan, al concepto de Cosa al aporte de Freud al humor . Por otra parte, y en completa relación con lo anterior, se destacan algunos señalamientos lacanianos que ubican al “cuerpo” como central en la experiencia de lo cómico. Y por último, se examina la contraposición Bergson - Freud - Lacan en torno a la risa, lo mecánico y el lenguaje. (shrink)