The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, now a global health crisis, has surprised health authorities around the world. Recent studies suggest that the measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak have generated issues throughout the population. Thus, it is necessary to establish and identify the possible risk factors related to the psychosocial and psychophysiological strain during the COVID-19 outbreak. The present extensive literature review assesses the social, psychological, and physiological consequences of COVID-19, reviewing the impact of quarantine measures, (...) isolation, vast human loss, social and financial consequences in the family’s economies, and its impact on the psychological health of the population. We also discussed the effect of psychophysiological factors, considering the impact of physical inactivity and modifications in nutritional habits, at psychological and physiological levels. The present review includes an actualized to date bibliography, articles for which were methodologically analyzed to verify they met the standards of quality and scientific accuracy. Authors understand the pandemic as a multifactorial event for which only a profound and extensive analysis would lead to better compression and efficient intervention in the near future. (shrink)

Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) has been considered as a measure of heart-brain interaction and autonomic modulation, and it is modified by cognitive and attentional tasks. In cognitive tasks, HRV was reduced in participants who achieved worse results. This could indicate the possibility of HRV predicting cognitive performance, but this association is still unclear in a high cognitive load sport such as chess Objective: To analyse modifications on HRV and subjective perception of stress, difficulty and complexity in different chess problem (...) tasks. Design: HRV was assessed at baseline. During the chess problems, HRV was also monitored, and immediately after chess problems the subjective stress, difficulty and complexity were also registered. Method: A total of 16 male chess players, age: 35.19 (13.44) and ELO: 1927.69 (167.78) were analysed while six chess problem solving tasks with different level of difficulty were conducted (two low level, two medium level and two high level chess problems). Participants were classified according to their results into two groups: high performance or low performance. Results: Friedman test showed a significant effect of tasks in HRV indexes and perceived difficulty, stress and complexity in both high and low performance groups. A decrease in HRV was observed in both groups when chess problems difficulty increased. In addition, HRV was significantly higher in the high performance group than in the low performance group during chess problems. Conclusions: An increase in autonomic modulation was observed to meet the cognitive demands of the problems, being higher while the difficulty of the tasks increased. Non-linear HRV indexes seem to be more reactive to tasks difficulty, being an interesting and useful tool in chess training. (shrink)

Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion and caused by exposure to excessive and prolonged stress related to job conditions. Moreover, burnout is highly prevalent among health care professionals. The aim of this study is, first, to examine the mediating role of social support over the effect of burnout in health care professionals and, second, to explore potential gender differences. A convenience sample of 1,035 health professionals from Ecuador, including 608 physicians and 427 nurses, was surveyed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, (...) Social Support Survey, and General Health Questionnaire as measures of burnout, social support, and general health, respectively. Social support was found to mediate the negative effects of burnout on health regardless of gender. Differences across the three dimensions of burnout and health are further discussed, along with their implications for designing effective burnout interventions for health care professionals in Ecuador. (shrink)

The objective structured clinical examination is a method for assessment clinical competencies and skills. However, there is a need to improve its design in psychology programs. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the different scenario's presentation order with different complexity/difficulty on the autonomic stress response of undergraduate students undergoing a Psychology OSCE. A total of 32 students of Psychology Bachelor's Degree were randomly selected and assigned to two OSCE scenarios of different complexity. While undergoing the (...) scenarios, participants heart rate variability was analyzed as an indicator of participant's stress autonomic response. Results indicate that the order of presentation of different complexity/difficulty scenarios affects the autonomic stress response of undergraduate Psychology students undergoing an OSCE. Students who underwent the high-complexity scenario first, reported significantly higher autonomic stress response than students who began the OSCE with the low-complexity scenario. Highly complex or difficult scenarios require good executive functions or cognitive control, very sensitive to autonomic stress responses. Therefore, OSCE design will benefit from placing easy scenarios first. (shrink)

En el artículo se presentan las novedades jurisprudenciales del Tribunal Supremo en la aplicación de la perspectiva de género. Con especial atención en el ámbito penal, el texto recorre la valoración de la declaración de la víctima en el juicio oral y la viabilidad de la prueba pericial en relación a la veracidad sobre la declaración de la víctima en materia de violencia de género.

Vitoria and Suárez defend the categorical immunity of the innocent not to be intentionally killed. But they allow for inflicting collective punishment on the innocent and the noninnocent alike during and after a just war. So they allow for deliberately harming them. Inflicting harm on the innocent can often result in their death. Hence, holding both claims seems incoherent. First, the objections against using the term “innocent” are explained. Second, their views on just war are explored. And third, by appealing (...) to Aquinas' double-effect reasoning, it is shown how they try to avoid the above-mentioned incoherence. Still, their appeal might be insufficient to palliate the tension between the above-mentioned claims. If just wars are possible, the deliberate harming of the innocent is reasonably unavoidable for defeating and punishing those who wage them. Hence, defenders of just wars, whether from a religious or a secular perspective, must live with such a tension. (shrink)

Existen dos grandes visiones acerca del contenido del derecho humano al ambiente: una tiene un carácter más político y aspira a la transformación social y otra es pragmática y atiende más a los aspectos técnico-jurídicos. El artículo trata de perfilar cuál sería el contenido del derecho al ambiente desde cada una de estas visiones, para concluir que ambas posiciones no son disyuntivas sino complementarias, necesitando cada una de la otra. En la primera parte se trata del derecho humano al medio (...) ambiente en los textos legales, principalmente en la Constitución española. Este derecho está integrado por tres aspectos: la información, la participación y la educación. El derecho al medio ambiente como objetivo político es estudiado en la segunda parte del artículo, subrayando los diferentes perfiles del mismo en los países desarrollados y en los países en vías de desarrollo. (shrink)

Los ensayos clínicos son imprescindibles para disponer de medicamentos que ayuden a nuestra curación. En muchos casos es imprescindible llevarlos a cabo con menores para lograr medicamentos seguros y ef icaces para ese grupo de población. Existen muchas normas que regulan la participación de los menores en esos ensayos, tratando de conciliar la necesidad de investigar con la proteger el bienestar de los niños. Este trabajo trata de ofrecer una interpretación coherente de la confusa regulación española sobre la materia. El (...) criterio general consiste en exigir tanto el consentimiento de los padres (o representantes legales) y el asentimiento de los niños hasta que alcancen la mayoría de edad legal. (shrink)

Algunos autores sostienen que una de las características que ha de tener la bioética que aspire a ser universal es la laicidad. En la primera parte del trabajo analizo lo que algunos autores que se han ocupado de la cuestión entienden por bioética laica y el tratamiento que proponen para las posiciones procedentes de ámbitos religiosos. Concluyo que el concepto de bioética laica es ambiguo y corre el riesgo de convertirse en justificación para la exclusión pública de aquellos discursos que (...) no se compartan. En la segunda parte recuerdo algunas ideas acerca de la utilidad social de la religión (Tocqueville) y de la importancia vital de la libertad de pensamiento y expresión para la democracia (Mill), en cuanto que pueden contribuir a definir con mayor precisión el puesto de las religiones en los debates públicos sobre bioética. (shrink)

There is an ongoing debate about the meaning of lexical words, i.e., words that contribute with content to the meaning of sentences. This debate has coincided with a renewal in the study of polysemy, which has taken place in the psycholinguistics camp mainly. There is already a fruitful interbreeding between two lines of research: the theoretical study of lexical word meaning, on the one hand, and the models of polysemy psycholinguists present, on the other. In this paper I aim at (...) deepening on this ongoing interbreeding, examine what is said about polysemy, particularly in the psycholinguistics literature, and then show how what we seem to know about the representation and storage of polysemous senses affects the models that we have about lexical word meaning. (shrink)

RESUMEN El objetivo del presente estudio está dirigido a exponer particularidades éticas del trabajo anatomopatológico a la luz de la realidad histórico social. Se emplean métodos teóricos y empíricos y a partir del análisis documental se opera con referentes en los enfoques contemporáneos. El estudio de aspectos generales referidos a la moral y a la ética permitió acceder a definiciones, bases legales y evolución histórica, a la vez que se profundiza en su repercusión en el sector salud y se desarrollan (...) las peculiaridades del trabajo anatomopatológico desde sus manifestaciones en la actividad asistencial, docente e investigativa. Se concluye que los principios éticos generales de la conducta profesional y médica son aplicables al trabajo anatomopatológico en todas sus esferas; al igual que los de la bioética. ABSTRACT The objective of the present study is directed to exhibit ethical peculiarities of the anatomical-pathological work in view of the historical-social reality. Theoretical and empirical methods are used and from the documentary analysis it occurs with modality in the contemporary approaches. The study of general aspects referred to the morality and to the ethics allowed to gain access to definitions, legal bases and historical evolution, simultaneously that deepens in its aftereffect in the sector health and the peculiarities of the anatomical-pathological work develop from its declarations in the welfare, teaching and investigative activity. One concludes that the general ethical beginning of the professional and medical conduct is applicable to the anatomical-pathological work in all its spheres; as those of the bioethics. (shrink)

RESUMEN Se fundamenta la concepción teórica general de la educación axiológica en el contexto del sistema de enseñanza de postgrado para la formación de educadores ambientales. Se aplicaron los métodos del nivel teórico analítico-sintético, inductivo-deductivo, histórico-lógico y ascensión de lo abstracto a lo concreto, con la intención de sistematizar información proveniente de la bibliografía consultada y de la experiencia profesional de los autores. Se defiende la idea de considerar la existencia de una dimensión ambiental de valores universales, en lugar de (...) hacer referencia a valores estrictamente ambientales. Se enfatiza en la importancia que, para la educación, adquiere la estimulación de la actividad valorativa del sujeto, a partir de una noción precisa del sistema de virtudes y fortalezas del carácter. Se identifican cinco valores básicos a desarrollar en el educador ambiental, para asegurar, desde el punto de vista axiológico, su desempeño en la preparación de diferentes sectores sociales y consolidar la necesaria contribución de los mismos a la sostenibilidad ecológica. ABSTRACT In this paper a general theoretical conception of axiological education is systematized in the context of the postgraduate educational system in the training of environmental educators. Methods of the theoretic level to systematize information obtained from the bibliography and from the vocational experience of the author. The category value is analyzed aimed at using it unilaterally from the environmental perspective and it is concluded that it is much more objective, from the theoretical point of view, to assume the existence of an environmental dimension of universal values ​​rather than of strictly environmental values. It emphasizes on the importance of the stimulation of the person’s valuating activity for education, from a precise notion of the system of virtues and character strengths. Five basic values are identified ​​ to be developed in an environmental educator to ensure, from the axiological point of view, his performance in the preparation of different social sectors to strengthen their necessary contribution to ecological sustainability. (shrink)

Resumen En este trabajo se estudia la percepción de un grupo de estudiantes universitarios sevillanos, sin conocimientos especializados sobre la variación geográfica y social del español, hacia las variedades andaluza, canaria y castellana. Los resultados revelan la presencia significativa de juicios negativos hacia su propia modalidad de habla, tanto en lo relativo a la pronunciación como a su asociación con un estatus social bajo. No obstante, se produjo un incremento de consideraciones positivas cuando se les pidió la valoración de los (...) habitantes de su región, los andaluces. La variedad castellana, que se identificó como la forma de hablar más prestigiosa, recibió las valoraciones más positivas: fue considerada una pronunciación clara y sus hablantes se asociaron a una posición social elevada. En tercer lugar, las creencias sobre la variedad canaria reforzaron algunos tópicos como la dulzura del acento. (shrink)

Climate change is a threat to food system stability, with small islands particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. In Puerto Rico, a diminished agricultural sector and resulting food import dependence have been implicated in reduced diet quality, rural impoverishment, and periodic food insecurity during natural disasters. In contrast, smallholder farmers in Puerto Rico serve as cultural emblems of self-sufficient food production, providing fresh foods to local communities in an informal economy and leveraging traditional knowledge systems to manage varying ecological and (...) climatic constraints. The current mixed methods study sought to document this expertise and employed a questionnaire and narrative interviewing in a purposeful sample of 30 smallholder farmers after Hurricane María to identify experiences in post-disaster food access and agricultural recovery and reveal underlying socioecological knowledge that may contribute to a more climate resilient food system in Puerto Rico. Although the hurricane resulted in significant damages, farmers contributed to post-disaster food access by sharing a variety of surviving fruits, vegetables, and root crops among community members. Practices such as crop diversification, seed banking, and soil conservation were identified as climate resilient farm management strategies, and smallholder farmer networks were discussed as a promising solution to amass resources and bolster agricultural productivity. These recommendations were shared in a narrative highlighting socioecological identity, self-sufficiency, community and cultural heritage, and collaborative agency as integral to agricultural resilience. Efforts to promote climate resilience in Puerto Rico must leverage smallholder farmers’ socioecological expertise to reclaim a more equitable, sustainable, and community-owned food system. (shrink)

Background: Nurses are the largest professional group in healthcare and those who make more decisions. In 2014, the Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe launched the “Guide on the decision-making process regarding medical treatment in end-of-life situations”, aiming at improving decision-making processes and empowering professionals in making end-of-life decisions. The Guide does not mention nurses explicitly. Objectives: To analyze the ethical principles most valued by nurses working in palliative care when making end-of-life decisions and investigate if they are (...) consistent with the framework and recommendations of the Guide; to identify what disputed/controversial issues are more frequent in these nurses’ current end-of-life care practices. Design: Qualitative secondary analysis. Participants/context: Three qualitative datasets including 32 interviews from previous studies with nurses working in palliative care in Portugal. Ethical consideration: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Research Lab of the Instituto de Bioética. Ethical procedures are thoroughly described. Findings: All participant nurses referred to autonomy as an ethical principle paramount in end-of-life decision-making. They were commonly involved in end-of-life decision-making. Palliative sedation and communication were the most mentioned disputed/controversial issues. Discussion: Autonomy was highly valued in end-of-life care and decision-making. Nurses expressed major concerns in assessing patients’ preferences, wishes, and promoting advance care planning. Nurses working in palliative care in Portugal were highly involved in end-of-life decision-making. These processes embraced a collective, inclusive approach. Palliative sedation was the most mentioned disputed issue, which is aligned with previous findings. Communication also emerged as a sensitive ethical issue; it is surprising, however, that only three nurses referred to it. Conclusion: While the Guide does not explicitly mention nurses in its content, this study shows that nurses working in palliative care in Portugal are involved in these processes. Further research is needed on nurses’ involvement and practices in end-of-life decision-making. (shrink)

La técnica no es un fenómeno más de nuestra época, sino que ha llegado a convertirse en la figura metafísica que la define. El estudio analiza el alcance de esta tesis planteada por Jaspers y Heidegger. Para ello ofrecemos, en un primer momento, una tematización del elemento innovador que caracteriza a la técnica moderna respecto de épocas anteriores, atendiendo especialmente a su carácter totalizador y a la inversión antropológica que supone. A continuación, discutiremos algunas de las consecuencias antropológicas del estatuto (...) ontológico de la técnica. Un fenómeno sin precedentes en la historia de la humanidad, por cuanto la técnica ha dejado de ser un medio o instrumento al servicio de las necesidades y fines humanos para convertirse en un fenómeno capaz de producirlos, estableciendo posibilidades de sentido. Una inversión onto-antropológica que provoca una alienación de la existencia misma. (shrink)

Scanlon (2008) has argued that his theory of permissibility (STP) has more explanatory power than the Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE). I believe this claim is wrong. Borrowing Michael Walzer’s method of inquiry, I will evaluate the explanatory virtue of these accounts by their understanding of actual moral intuitions originated in historical cases. Practically, I will evaluate these accounts as they explain cases of hostage crises. The main question in this context is: is it permissible that nation-states act with military (...) force in order to liberate hostages, even if those actions put the lives of the hostages at risk? The first part of this paper has an operative reconstruction of the relevant theories. In the second section, two cases of hostage crises will be considered: the Moscow theater hostage crisis of 2002, and the Jaque Operation, which occurred in Colombia in 2008. Additionally, it will be shown that DDE explains these cases better than STP. Finally, this paper offers a critical analysis of Scanlon’s account of the explanatory power of both STP and DDE. (shrink)

This essay aims to defend the need to help animals in any disaster situation, be it anthropogenic, natural, or hybrid. To this end, I will first establish a brief foundation of the antispeciesist principles that have been advocated by different theorists over the last decades. Then, I will describe the conflict between environmental and animal approaches as a problem for the consideration of animals in unfavorable situations. This will be followed by the ways in which animals can be harmed in (...) such contexts. After that, I will argue that many anthropogenic disasters affect animals, but they also deserve aid in the face of natural disasters: they are sentient beings and capable of suffering just like humans, to whom help is offered unconditionally in such cases. Finally, I will propose sentience, particularly suffering, and an ecofeminist and antispeciesist approach to address the situation of animals in disaster situations in a dialogic way between environmentalist and individual-centered positions. (shrink)

En el artículo se ofrece un análisis crítico de la misión como inculturación del Evangelio, desde una perspectiva filosófico-teológica. Para comenzar, se exponen las deficiencias de la evangelización colonizadora en América. Posteriormente, se proponen dos posibles sentidos de la plantatio ecclesiae como meta de la misión. En tercer lugar, se esclarece la manera en la que se entiende la relación entre Evangelio y cultura en la Nueva Evangelización. La tesis por demostrar es que el principal problema al que está expuesta (...) la inculturación del Evangelio es la idolatría. (shrink)

El presente artículo versa sobre la relación entre el sistema que el filósofo mexicanoJosé Vasconcelos llama monismo estético y su teoría del conocimiento, donde primalo que denomina “conocimiento emocional”. Se ubica, además, al pensamientovasconceliano en el contexto del pensamiento latinoamericano de principios delsiglo xx y la reacción antipositivista de la época.

La cuestión de la creación artística ha sido motivo de reflexiones desde hace siglos: si es un fin en sí misma o si es medio de lograr otros fines, políticos e ideológicos. El presente trabajo se encamina a estudiar cuáles son las ideas al respecto planteadas en el marxismo y cuál ha sido el origen teórico del realismo socialista, considerado como un añadido posterior, ajeno a las concepciones de Marx.

This article provides a state of the art review of the philosophical literature on scientific representation. It first argues that the topic emerges historically mainly out of what may be called the modelling tradition. It then introduces a number of helpful analytical distinctions, and goes on to divide contemporary approaches to scientific representation into two distinct kinds, substantive and deflationary. Analogies with related discussions of artistic representation in aesthetics, and of the nature of truth in metaphysics are pursued. It is (...) finally urged that the most promising approaches - and the ones most likely to feature prominently in future developments - are deflationary. In particular, a defence is provided of a genuinely inferential conception of representation. (shrink)

Este artículo realiza una defensa de las axiologías centradas en el sufrimiento, que sostienen la prioridad de evitar el sufrimiento frente a la promoción de otros valores. Para ello, explica en primer lugar cómo ciertas cuestiones relativas a la creación de individuos sugieren la existencia de una asimetría entre el sufrimiento y la felicidad. Continúa describiendo un conjunto de argumentos a favor de la prioridad del sufrimiento relativos a individuos ya existentes. Asimismo, señala y responde a distintas objeciones que podrían (...) ser dirigidas contra estas axiologías. Finalmente, concluye que las posiciones centradas en el sufrimiento no están todavía lo bastante exploradas y pueden tener un gran potencial. (shrink)

This article provides a state-of-the-art review of the philosophical literature on scientific representation. It first argues that the topic emerges historically mainly out of what may be called the modelling tradition. It then introduces a number of helpful analytical distinctions and goes on to divide contemporary approaches to scientific representation into two distinct kinds, substantive and deflationary. Analogies with related discussions of artistic representation in aesthetics and the nature of truth in metaphysics are pursued. It is finally urged that the (...) most promising approaches—and the ones most likely to feature prominently in future developments—are deflationary. In particular, a defense is provided of a genuinely inferential conception of representation. (shrink)

Following some of the main arguments Derrida develops in ‘White Mythology’, in this article I propose an unexplored dialogue between Derrida and Althusser considering the use and the place that each of them gives to metaphor in their philosophical strategies. I give special attention to some rather isolated passages of ‘Elements of Self-Criticism’ and ‘Lenin and Philosophy’, where Althusser, against all evidence, seems to be quite aware of the importance of metaphor and mataphorization in every philosophical practice. As Balibar has (...) argued, contrary to the metaphysical tradition, metaphor would not be the opposite but what anticipates the concept. In this sense, it is possible to observe how Althusser’s work has continuously put into practice – as the singular signature of his theoretical practice – something that I call the ‘detour of metaphor’ as a necessary ‘deviation’ for the production of new concepts. Without any evidence that Althusser may have known Derrida’s essay, I show how Althusser’s own theoretical work, one in which ‘metaphor’ as a philosophical theme appears to be rather anecdotic, is unexpectedly close to Derrida’s own positions concerning the margins of philosophy and its ‘outside’, the relation to the metaphysical tradition, and the importance of strategy in philosophy. (shrink)

Autistic individuals are commonly said – and also consider themselves – to be excessively literalist, in the sense that they tend to prefer literal interpretations of words and utterances. This literalist bias seems to be fairly specific to autism and still lacks a convincing explanation. In this paper we explore a novel hypothesis that has the potential to account for the literalist bias in autism. We argue that literalism results from an atypical functioning of the predictive system: specifically, an atypical (...) balance between predictions and error signals in language processing may make individuals more uncertain about their own predictions. Such uncertainty is then often resolved by resorting to the safest interpretation, that is, the literal one. We start by reviewing existing explanations of other autistic traits that appeal to predictive processing. We then apply these insights to language, by showing that predictions play a key role in everyday comprehension and that a low level of confidence in one’s own predictions is likely to escalate comprehension difficulties. Finally, we take a deeper look at non-literal uses of language by discussing the case of metaphors, to illustrate how a predictive processing account offers a promising explanation of the literalist bias in autism. (shrink)

Many, including American citizens, and foreigners, are asking whether a convicted felon could be elected and serve as president of the US. The answer to their query is a resounding, yes. In spite of people’s bewilderment, there is nothing in the US Constitution to prevent a convicted felon from occupying the Oval Office if fairly elected. Yet the more pressing question is: Should reasonable and fair-minded citizens vote for a convicted felon based solely on their partisan politics disregarding the general (...) welfare? This is not a factual question, but rather a question about good judgement in politics. Good judgment, however, is not only about virtuous or vicious character but also about who can deliver better outcomes for those affected by policies. (shrink)

Objections to child labour range from its creating unfair trade advantage to its infringing children’s human rights. Analysis of the responsibilities of various parties implicated in the use of child labour can lead to identifying stages in a cumulative ethical approach which is not self‐defeating. The author is an economist who has recently completed his MBA at London Business School.

The renewed interest in concepts and their role in psychological theorizing is partially motivated by Machery’s claim that concepts are so heterogeneous that they have no explanatory role. Against this, pluralism argues that there is multiplicity of different concepts for any given category, while hybridism argues that a concept is constituted by a rich common representation. This article aims to advance the understanding of the hybrid view of concepts. First, we examine the main arguments against hybrid concepts and conclude that, (...) even if not successful, they challenge hybridism to find a robust criterion for concept individuation and to show an explanatory advantage for hybrid concepts. Then we propose such a criterion of individuation, which we will call ‘functional stable coactivation’. Finally, we examine the prospects of hybridism to understand what is involved in recent approaches to categorization and meaning extraction. 1 The Heterogeneity of Conceptual Representations2 Two Challenges for Hybrid Concepts: Individuation and Explanation2.1 The coordination criterion2.2 Concepts as constituents of thoughts3 Individuating Hybrids: Functional Stable Coactivation4 The Explanatory Power of Hybrid Concepts4.1 Categorization4.2 Meaning extraction4.2.1 Linguistic comprehension and rich lexical entries4.2.2 Polysemy and hybrid concepts5 Conclusion. (shrink)

1Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol, 9 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TB, UKScience Without Laws Ronald Giere Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press 1999 x + 285 Hardback£17.50.

This paper presents a blueprint for an ecological cognitive architecture. Ecological psychology, I contend, must be complemented with a story about the role of the CNS in perception, action, and cognition. To arrive at such a story while staying true to the tenets of ecological psychology, it will be necessary to flesh out the central metaphor according to which the animal perceives its environment by ‘resonating’ to information in energy patterns: what is needed is a theory of resonance. I offer (...) here the two main elements of such a theory: a framework and a methodology. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the consolidation of Molecular Evolution, a field originating in the 1960s at the interface of molecular biology, biochemistry, evolutionary biology, biophysics and studies on the origin of life and exobiology. The claim is made that Molecular Evolution became a discipline by integrating different sorts of scientific traditions: experimental, theoretical and comparative. The author critically incorporates Timothy Lenoir’s treatment of disciplines , as well as ideas developed by Stephen Toulmin on the same subject. On their account disciplines (...) are spaces where the social and epistemic dimensions of science are deeply and complexly interwoven. However, a more detailed account of discipline formation and the dynamics of an emerging disciplinary field is lacking in their analysis. The present essay suggests focusing on the role of scientific concepts in the double configuration of disciplines: the social/political and the epistemic order. In the case of Molecular Evolution the concepts of molecular clock and informational molecules played a central role, both in differentiating molecular from classical evolutionists, and in promoting communication between the different sorts of traditions integrated in Molecular Evolution. The paper finishes with a reflection on the historicity of disciplines, and the historicity of our concepts of disciplines. (shrink)

In this paper we address the question of what determines the content of our conscious episodes of thinking, considering recent claims that phenomenal character individuates thought contents. We present one prominent way for defenders of phenomenal intentionality to develop that view and then examine ‘sensory inner speech views’, which provide an alternative way of accounting for thought-content determinacy. We argue that such views fare well with inner speech thinking but have problems accounting for unsymbolized thinking. Within this dialectic, we present (...) an account of the nature of unsymbolized thinking that accords with and can be seen as a continuation of the activity of inner speech, while offering a way of explaining thought-content determinacy in terms of linguistic structures and representations. (shrink)

Considering the most recent advances in artificial intelligence and biomechanics, a hypothetical future of physicalism is explored. It is concluded that a rational and sensible extrapolation of present and expected future advances in those two areas will have vast consequences in the physicalist view. In particular, it is also argued that consciousness cannot be defined in a simple general manner, but only understood through the observable and behavioural actions of humans or sufficiently advanced robots, which may be, at some future (...) time, indistinct. This last result is established by applying what we call Plato’s trap, and our main conclusion is a defence of physicalism. It is argued that human beings are robots which soon will be indistinguishable from suitable advanced man-made robots, which will in turn render many philosophical questions and objections to physicalism irrelevant and, in fact, quite similar in sense and importance to some philosophical medieval questions about God, the soul and immortality. (shrink)

One big challenge faced by cognitive science is the development of a unified theory that integrates disparate scales of analysis of cognitive phenomena. In this paper, I offer a unified framework that provides a way to integrate neural and behavioral scales of analysis of cognitive phenomena—typically addressed by neuroscience and experimental psychology, respectively. The framework is based on the concept of resonance originated in ecological psychology and aims to be the foundation for a unified theory for radical embodiment; that is, (...) a unified theory for that dissident part of cognitive science that shares a methodological commitment to dynamic systems theory and remains skeptical about the adequacy of mechanism and representationalism as the guiding ideas in the field. In the course of my presentation, I analyze different issues regarding the requirements and constraints unification poses to radical embodiment. (shrink)

According to a model defended by some authors, dispositional concepts can be legitimately used in causal explanations, although such a use is not necessary. I argue, however, that there is a kind of use of dispositions in explanations that does not fall within this model: we will miss some explanations if we forsake dispositional concepts and explanations.

In this paper we discuss a phenomenon we call perspectival plurality, which has gone largely unnoticed in the current debate between relativism and contextualism about predicates of personal taste. According to perspectival plurality, the truth value of a sentence containing more than one PPT may depend on more than one perspective. Prima facie, the phenomenon engenders a problem for relativism and can be shaped into an argument in favor of contextualism. We explore the consequences of perspectival plurality in depth and (...) assess several possible responses on behalf of advocates of relativism. (shrink)

Using the method of Descriptive Experience Sampling, some subjects report experiences of thinking that do not involve words or any other symbols [Hurlburt, R. T., and C. L. Heavey. 2006. Exploring Inner Experience. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; Hurlburt, R. T., and S. A. Akhter. 2008. “Unsymbolized Thinking.” Consciousness and Cognition 17 : 1364–1374]. Even though the possibility of this unsymbolized thinking has consequences for the debate on the phenomenological status of cognitive states, the phenomenon is still insufficiently examined. This paper analyzes (...) the main properties of unsymbolized thinking and advances an explanation of its origin. According to our analysis, unsymbolized thoughts appear as propositional states, that is, they are experienced as compositional conceptual phenomena, with semantic and syntactic features analogous to those of the contents of utterances. Based on this characterization, we hypothesize that UT is continuous with the activity of inner speech, in particular, it i... (shrink)