Para obtener una idea aproximada del horizonte estético del hombre medieval, es preciso referirse a la relación de la estética con la cultura, a la antropología subyacente, y a los diversos campos en los cuales el hombre descubre la belleza. El hombre medieval se relaciona con lo bello en el orden objetivo de las realidades del mundo, en la forja de la propia personalidad mediante las virtudes, y en el campo de las artes útiles y bellas. Tomás de Aquino es (...) un óptimo guía para descubrir el horizonte estético del hombre medieval. El artículo indica las etapas de este recorrido estético en el mundo objetivo, subjetivo y proyectivo. La primacía corresponde al logro de la belleza en el ser humano mediante la adquisición de las virtudes, de modo especial las de la vida contemplativa, para lo cual disponen las morales, y las artísticas. (shrink)

Critical congenital heart disease screening is rapidly becoming the standard of care in the United States after being added to the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel in 2011. Newborn screens typically do not require affirmative parental consent. In fact, most states allow parents to exempt their baby from receiving the required screen on the basis of religious or personally held beliefs. There are many ethical considerations implicated with allowing parents to exempt their child from newborn screening for CCHD. Considerations include the (...) treatment of religious exemptions in our current legal system, as well as medical and ethical principles in relation to the rights of infants. Although there are significant benefits to screening newborns for CCHD, when a parent refuses for religious or personal beliefs, in the case of CCHD screening, the parental decision should stand. (shrink)

This article analyses 1,073 e-mails that were hacked from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in November 2009. The incident was popularly dubbed 'Climategate', indicating that the e-mails reveal a scientific scandal. Here we analyse them differently. Rather than objecting to the exchanges based on some idea about proper scientific conduct, we see them as a rare glimpse into a situation where scientists collectively prepare for participation in heated controversy, with much focus on methodology. This allows (...) us to study how scientists communicate informally about framing propositions of facts in the best possible way. Through the eyes of science and technology studies, the e-mails provide an opportunity to study communication as part of science in the making across disciplines and laboratories. Analysed as 'written conversation' the e-mails provide information about processes of consensus formation through 'agonistic evaluations' of other scientists' work and persuasion of others to support one's own work. Also, the e-mails contain judgements about other groups and individual scientists. Consensus-forming appeared as a precarious activity. Controversies could be quite resilient in the course of this decade-long exchange, probably reflecting the complexity of the methodological challenges involved. (shrink)

In recent decades, Total Quality Management (TQM) has become an important phenomenon in the world of business, but the implications and scope of quality programs are quite different everywhere. Since different explanations have been given, most authors agree that management commitment and leadership are indispensable elements for a successful TQM implementation. Nevertheless, the study of the literature reflects a terminological confusion on this point. The authors of this paper argue that commitment and leadership are not synonymous terms.While committed managers may (...) lead the process of quality using exclusively their formal authority, those who are leaders generate a kind of influence that goes further than that. This paper suggests a multidimensional perception of leadership and upholds that only by considering the ethical dimension of leadership, together with technical and psycho-emotive ones, it is possible to explain more accurately interpersonal influences beyond the scope of power. As an illustrative example of the importance of considering each dimensions, the authors present two case studies of TQM implementation. (shrink)

Is it possible to look at schools as spaces for encounters? Could schools contribute to a deliberative mode of communication in a manner better suited to our own time and to areas where different cultures meet? Inspired primarily by classical (Dewey) and modern (Habermas) pragmatists, I turn to Seyla Benhabib, posing the question whether she supports the proposition that schools can be sites for deliberative communication. I argue that a school that engages in deliberative communication, with its stress on mutual (...) communication between different moral perspectives, gives universalism a procedurally oriented meaning, serving as an arena for encounters that represents a weak public sphere. An interactive universalism of this kind attaches importance to developing an ability and willingness to reason on the basis of the views of others and to change perspectives. In that respect, the institutional arrangements of schools are potential parts of the political dimension of cosmopolitanism, as well as its moral dimension, in terms of the obligations and responsibilities we develop through our institutions and in our actions as human beings towards one another. (shrink)

Malgré l’avènement de la figure de l’acteur créateur au tournant des XIXe et XXe siècles, les procédés de copie, d’imitation et de réactivation constituent une part non négligeable des outils convoqués dans les exercices spécifiques au jeu. Cette persistance, qui trouve son origine dans le _Paradoxe sur le comédien_ de Diderot, se lit et se décline tout au long de l’histoire des théories du jeu, dans le recours fréquent à un modèle, dont le type varie. C’est cette double continuité, celle (...) des procédés de copie et du modèle dans les théories du jeu auxquelles s’adossent des pratiques et dont découlent des modes de fabrication, qui a nourri une expérimentation pédagogique pratique au sein de La Manufacture – Haute École des Arts de la Scène de Lausanne. Les ateliers élaborés pour les étudiant.e.s consistant à mettre en œuvre ces trois opérations, à leur proposer une histoire sensible, c’est-à-dire éprouvée, du jeu de l’... (shrink)

ArgumentThis paper explores the links between the competing scientific, disciplinary, and institutional identifications of social scientists working for international organizations and the nature of the work produced in these establishments. By examining the case of UNESCO's Social Science Department from 1946 to 1955, the paper shows how the initial lack of organizational identification diminished the efficiency and productivity of the Department and slowed down the creation of an international system for research in the social sciences. It then examines how the (...) elaboration of such identification resulted from a period of trial and error during which several national, academic, and scientific models were explored. The paper concludes that only the discourse of “moral sensitivity” kept the Department together at a time when disillusions regarding internationalism, the destabilization of the meaning of nation, and suspicion towards some Western disciplines rendered unacceptable the universalization of a single international social scientific identification. (shrink)

Many reports independently confirm that even more than a quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the results of research and development in those countries that were under its influence are insufficient in comparison to the rest of the world. Given that human intelligence is not distributed unevenly and that science is a powerful driving force for the future of an economy, there is a hidden problem, which, if it can be resolved, may release great economic (...) potential. The first generation of researchers from Armenia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Slovakia and Ukraine, who successfully completed their education after the political revolution, were surveyed. The survey revealed many similarities with regards to ethics, but that there is mounting evidence that the main cause of the current situation is the state of the local legal systems. The conclusion was drawn that a conceptual change in staffing within the relevant legal systems is required to release potential and stimulate wealth creation. (shrink)

This book is a collection of studies on topics related to subjectivity and selfhood in medieval and early modern philosophy. The individual contributions approach the theme from a number of angles varying from cognitive and moral psychology to metaphysics and epistemology. Instead of a complete overview on the historical period, the book provides detailed glimpses into some of the most important figures of the period, such as Augustine, Avicenna, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz and Hume. The questions addressed include the ethical (...) problems of the location of one's true self and the proper distribution of labour between desire, passion and reason, and the psychological tasks of accounting for subjective experience and self-knowledge and determining different types of self-awareness. (shrink)

AimIf we want to understand people’s satisfaction in their relationships, it is essential to have a valid and reliable measure of relational needs satisfaction. The aim of this study was to test the factor structure of the Czech version of the Relational Needs Satisfaction Scale as well as the scale’s measurement invariance and convergent validity.MethodIn total, 419 adults answered a battery of measures, including the RNSS, in an online survey. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the factor structure and (...) the measurement invariance of the RNSS across gender and age. A correlational analysis was conducted to assess the convergent validity.ResultsThe five-factor structure of the RNSS was confirmed. Furthermore, support for a second-order global relationship satisfaction factor was found. The hierarchical model was strictly invariant with respect to gender and age. Furthermore, the RNSS demonstrated an expected pattern of correlations with the reference instruments.ConclusionThe Czech version of the RNSS can be considered a valid and reliable method. (shrink)

El trabajo presenta la conjetura de que los mundos posibles son universales estructurales máximos. En primer lugar, se explican brevemente las diferentes concepciones actualistas existentes sobre los mundos posibles y los problemas sistemáticos que deben enfrentar. Se argumenta que la conjetura presentada muestra cómo todas esas concepciones pueden ser unificadas en una teoría única y simple. En segundo lugar, se explica por qué la mejor alternativa para la constitución del espacio modal son los universales trascendentes. Finalmente, se indican brevemente algunas (...) dificultades para la concepción presentada. Una justificación definitiva de la conjetura deberá consistir principalmente en la solución de esas dificultades. The work presents the conjecture that possible worlds are maximal structural universals. First, the paper explains roughly the different actualist extant conceptions of possible worlds and the systematic problems they have to face. It is argued that the conjecture presented shows how all those different conceptions can be unified in a single simple theory. Second, it is explained why the best alternative for the constitution of the modal space is a domain of transcendent universals. Finally, some difficulties for the conception are briefly indicated. A definitive justification of the conjecture presented should consist mainly in tackling those difficulties. (shrink)

Una de las características distintivas de la producción graciana tiene que ver con su impronta antropológico-filosófica. A lo largo de sus páginas se despliega una semántica y una serie de problematizaciones que constantemente invitan a pensar acerca de la naturaleza humana. Se trazan distinciones entre los habitantes del mundo y se plantean numerosas reflexiones acerca de cómo es que cada quién llega a ser lo que es. No obstante, es interesante observar que, pese a que Gracián exhibe un gran interés (...) por estos temas, pareciera que no se contempla el lugar del elemento religioso. Atendiendo a esto, resulta provechoso investigar cuáles son los motivos por los que esto sucede. Para ello, este trabajo revisa algunas cuestiones relativas a la biografía del autor, el medio en el que produce y lo que se estima que son algunos de los rasgos fundamentales de su producción. (shrink)

Cuando se habla de literatura y filosofía, generalmente se hace referencia a campos totalmente distintos, con producciones enteramente diferentes. Algunos textos parecen pertenecer de manera exclusiva ya sea al ámbito de la filosofía o de la literatura, como si no pudiera haber hibridación; como si lo que fuera de un campo no pudiera ser leído en la clave del de otro. En este sentido, cabe preguntarse si una obra considerada literaria podría leerse filosóficamente y cómo.

The article deals with phenomenology in Lithuania. The main thesis of the article is this: phenomenology is a living tradition in need of both development and interpretation. The minor thesis follows from the main one: the Western phenomenological tradition and Lithuanian philosophy interact and develop in tandem with one another. According to the authors, the contact between poetics and philosophy is the dominant form of phenomenology in Lithuania. The phenomenological tradition is treated as creative and living philosophical thought.

En una serie de trabajos Carol Cleland ha argumentado por los últimos veinte años que la búsqueda de una definición de la vida es no solo inútil sino contraproducente. Una definición en términos de condiciones necesarias y suficientes nos podría cegar para la tarea mucho más importante de desarrollar una teoría universal de la vida. La principal justificación para este alegato es que la vida es una clase natural. Términos para clases naturales no poseen definiciones ideales, porque pretenden hacer referencia (...) a rasgos objetivos del mundo y no hacer explícito el contenido de nuestro pensamiento o lenguaje. Se argumenta aquí que la vida es, en efecto, una clase natural y, luego, la semántica para el término vida no puede darse por una definición ideal con condiciones necesarias y suficientes. Sin embargo, la semántica del término vida no excluye la posibilidad de hallar una ‘definición real’ adecuada de la esencia de la vida, esto es, de qué es la vida. Una definición real no es la enunciación del significado de un término sino de una esencia. (shrink)

Hoy en día hay numerosos problemas que conciernen al área de la educación en general. Existen preocupaciones acerca de los distintos modos de alfabetización, las alternativas de evaluación, las mejores estrategias de enseñanza y el uso de nuevos recursos en el aula, entre varios más. No obstante, esto es sólo la punta del iceberg. Por debajo de estas temáticas abarcativas, existe lo particular, o mejor dicho, lo disciplinar. Cada disciplina tiene sus propias reflexiones en las que se articulan el qué (...) y el cómo se enseña y aprende. Por supuesto, lo mismo ocurre con la filosofía. Sin embargo, no se debe perder de vista una serie de elementos distintivos que la vuelven bastante especial. Entre ellos cabe mencionar la falta de consenso acerca de lo que es, cómo considera a su enseñanza como un problema filosófico en sí mismo, su lugar delicado en las instituciones educativas y la copiosa producción con la que cuenta desde hace unas pocas décadas. Teniendo en cuenta lo señalado, este trabajo se propone ofrecer un aporte al campo de la enseñanza de la filosofía. Lo que se pretende es pensar en el potencial de trabajar con las emociones en su espacio que muchas veces se entiende como eminentemente racional. Para ello se recuperan aportes de filósofos dedicados a distintas problemáticas, pero haciendo un lugar especial a quienes se dedicaron a pensar una enseñanza de la filosofía filosófica. (shrink)

A partir del análisis de tres crónicas de Carlos Monsiváis incluidas en la antología Los rituales del caos de 1995 respondemos a la pregunta por el tipo de discurso que constituyen dichas crónicas, es decir, ¿de qué hablan las crónicas de Monsiváis?, ¿están criticando algo?, y si es así ¿qué tipo de crítica establecen los textos del cronista mexicano?. A partir de los conceptos teóricos de Manuel Asensi, Slavoj Zizek o Julio Ramos abordamos la crónica monsivaisiana como una repolitización del (...) discurso literario. En ese sentido, retomamos el concepto de discurso y ponemos entre comillas el de “literariadedad” entendiendo, siguiendo a Asensi, que una maquinaria semiótica o discursiva opera desde distintas manifestaciones culturales, ya sea para consolidar una ideología dominante o para cuestionarla, quedando con ello de manifiesto que la interpelación hacia los sujetos por parte del texto, texto en un sentido amplio, tiene lugar no solamente desde el tratado político o filosófico. A partir de esto último, interpretamos que las crónicas monsivaisinas, como maquinarias discursivas, constituyen un cuestionamiento a la ideología dominante en el contexto en donde se encuentran operando, a decir, a la ideología nacionalista mexicana corporativista creada en los años treinta y perpetuada hasta la actualidad, al mismo tiempo que un cuestionamiento epistemológico al proyecto literario mismo. (shrink)

Our commentary articulates some of the commonalities between Baumeister et al.'s theory of socially differentiated roles and Strategic Differentiation-Integration Effort. We expand upon the target article's position by arguing that differentiating social roles is contextual and driven by varying ecological pressures, producing character displacement not only among individuals within complex societies, but also across social systems and multiple levels of organization.

ABSTRACT The presence of truth and honesty is a permanent demand, and becomes vital the more committed and intimate a relationship is. Medical practice is relevant to this discussion when one questions whether or not a physician should always tell their patient the truth in the face of a progressive or potentially fatal disease, regarding the diagnosis, outcome, therapy and evolution of the specific disease. From this discussion we aim, with the present report, to look at the truth applicable to (...) the patient‐physician relationship, and its ethical and moral implications; and also to look at where the Brazilian Code of Medical Ethics (BCME) and the medical literature stand regarding this issue. One concludes that there are only two moments not to tell a patient the truth: when the patient does not want to be informed, and when the truth could be iatrogenic. The question now is, when would the truth be iatrogenic? Physicians, in our opinion, would not be able to judge solitarily when the truth might be deleterious to their patient. Alternatively, we propose the appointment of a multidisciplinary commission to help the doctor with such a decision. (shrink)