The aim of this book is to provide a unified solution to a wide range of philosophical problems raised by fiction. While some of these problems have been the focus of extensive philosophical debate, others have received insufficient attention. In particular, the epistemology of fiction has not yet attracted the philosophical scrutiny it warrants. There has been considerable discussion of what determines the contents of works of fiction, but there have been few attempts to explain how audiences identify their contents, (...) or to identify the norms governing the correct understanding and interpretation of works of fiction. -/- This book answers a wide range of both metaphysical and epistemological questions concerning fiction in a way that clarifies the relations between them. The metaphysical questions include: What distinguishes works of fiction from works of non-fiction?; What is the nature of fictive utterances?; What determines the contents of works of fiction?; What kinds of fictive content are there?; How broad in scope is fictive content?; and What kinds of things are fictional entities? The epistemological questions include: How do audiences identify the contents of authors’ fictive utterances?; How does understanding a work of fiction differ from interpreting it?; and What role does thinking and talking about fiction from an external perspective play in enabling communication through fiction? It develops the first single theory that provides answers to all these questions. (shrink)

Dominic McIver Lopes’ Four Arts of Photography and Diarmuid Costello’s On Photography: A Philosophical Inquiry examine the state of the art in analytic philosophy of photography and present a new approach to the study of the medium. As opposed to the orthodox and prevalent view, which emphasizes its epistemic capacities, the new theory reconsiders the nature of photography, and redirects focus towards the aesthetic potential of the medium. This symposium comprises two papers that critically examine central questions addressed in the (...) two books, with responses by the two authors in defence of their respective positions. (shrink)

Hume argued that inductive inferences do not have rational justification. My aim is to reject Hume’s argument. The discussion is partly motivated by an analogy with Carroll’s Paradox, which concerns deductive inferences. A first radically externalist reply to Hume (defended by Dauer and Van Cleve) is that justified inductive inferences do not require the subject to know that nature is uniform, though the uniformity of nature is a necessary condition for having the justification. But then the subject does not have (...) reasons for believing what she believes. I defend a moderate externalist account that seeks to partly accommodate that objection to the radical externalist proposal. It is based on an extension of Peacocke’s theory of concepts: possession conditions for predicative concepts standing for natural properties include (fallible) dispositions to project them to new cases in accordance with inductive inferential patterns. (shrink)

We consider IOpen, the subsystem of PA (Peano Arithmetic) with the induction scheme restricted to quantifier-free formulas. We prove that each model of IOpen can be embedded in a model where the equation x 2 1 + x 2 2 + x 2 3 + x 2 4 = a has a solution. The main lemma states that there is no polynomial f(x,y) with coefficients in a (nonstandard) DOR M such that $|f(x,y)| for every (x,y) ∈ C, where C is (...) the curve defined on the real closure of M by C: x 2 + y 2 = a and $a > 0$ is a nonstandard element of M. (shrink)

The metaphysical question of what determines the contents of fictive utterances is closely related to the epistemological question of how audiences identify the.

En el presente artículo, aparte de contextualizar el Liber de Causis exponiendo su llegada en el Occidente cristiano (s. XII) y su probable origen en la escuela de traductores de Bagdad (entre los siglos IX y X), se examinan con detalle las nociones de causalidad «per creationem» y «per informationem» que aparecen en él. El objetivo principal que aquí se persigue es el de mostrar las continuidades y las rupturas existentes entre la doctrina de la «creación» que se presenta en (...) el Liber, fuertemente influida por el platonismo, y la de Santo Tomás de Aquino. (shrink)

One of the most prominent ethical concerns regarding emerging neurotechnologies is mental privacy. This is the idea that we should have control over access to our neural data and to the information about our mental processes and states that can be obtained by analyzing it. A key issue is whether this information needs more stringent protection than other kinds of personal information. I will articulate and support the view, underlying recent regulatory frameworks, that mental privacy requires a special treatment because (...) of its relation to relevant aspects of personal identity. It has been suggested that this approach could be supported by the idea that mental privacy constitutes a fundamental psychological dimension of privacy. The connection between this psychological view of privacy and identity can be traced back to Irwin Altman’s idea that privacy is an interpersonal boundary regulation process. However, it is not clear whether this notion of privacy can be associated with a conception of identity that is relevant in contemporary neuroethics. I will suggest that the narrative and relational approach to identity, a prominent view in recent ethical discussions of neurotechnology, lines up with key aspects of Altman’s proposal. I suggest that if mental privacy is an essential component of identity, the latter could be affected by technological mind-reading. (shrink)

Systematic Knowledge Research is the approach used to describe the peculiar profiles of various forms of knowledge. It investigates the points of overlap between the various kinds of knowledge forms, and it elucidates the mechanisms of interpenetration between those forms. Systematic Knowledge Research grasps the dynamic of various forms of knowledge and their interplay, and describes the practices and the manifestations of knowledge. Knowledge Research provides analyses and suggestions for modeling each of the five fields as well as their interconnections. (...) These objectives make a difference between Systematic Knowledge Research on the one hand, and traditional theory of knowledge and varieties of science studies on the other. Knowledge Research meets the current desideratum to systematically broaden and revise the house of epistemology. (shrink)

Kripke argued for the existence of necessary a posteriori truths, and tried to explain why some of them seem to be contingent. His main explanation motivated two philosophical proposals: the attempt - linked to some interpretations of two-dimensionalism - to analyse the epistemic concept of a priori truth using metaphysical modal concepts; the argument for psychophysical dualism worked out by Kripke relying on his explanation of the appearances of contingency. I point out several difficulties for , and argue that can (...) oe blocked because of the existence of alternative accounts of the phenomenon. (shrink)

The main theme of Euripides’ Bacchae is Dionysus’ divinity and its recognition by the Thebans. The birth of Dionysus is a key point in the myth to determine that he is a god, consequently the playwright makes several of his characters mention it from different points of view. There are two versions clearly in conflict: on the one hand, Dionysus and his worshippers defend that he is a son of Zeus and, therefore, a god who must be venerated. On the (...) other hand, Pentheus, assuming his aunts’ view, thinks that his aunt Semele, who is Dionysus’ mother, lied when she stated that she had conceived a son of Zeus, in order to conceal a love affair with a mere mortal. Therefore, in the king’s opinion Dionysus is not a god but a mere human being. In addition, there are two characters, Cadmus and Tiresias, whose attitudes with regard to this matter are not so clear and have led scholars to interpret them in opposite ways. In this paper I am analyzing the passages of Bacchae on Dionysus’ birth, with special emphasis on those where Euripides shows or refers to Cadmus’ and Tiresias’ opinions, since my aim is to try to clarify, as far as possible, which stand the playwright made those two characters adopt regarding to Dionysus’ divinity. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es evaluar si la estrategia populista conlleva oportunidades o peligros para la democracia y para ello se analizan los principales elementos del discurso populista a la luz de las intervenciones de dos líderes europeos, Pablo Iglesias y Marine Le Pen. Se sostiene que la estrategia populista no implica por sí misma un riesgo para la democracia sino que depende del tipo de demandas sociales que se articulen y de los valores hegemónicos que se quieran transmitir (...) a la opinión pública. La estructura del artículo es la siguiente: en primer lugar, se realiza una revisión crítica de la literatura sobre populismo; en segundo lugar, se analizan tanto la estructura formal como el carácter vacuo y disputado del discurso populista a partir de las intervenciones de Iglesias y Le Pen; por último, se presentan unas reflexiones finales. (shrink)

Resumen Este ensayo analiza la manera tan negativa en que Emilia Pardo Bazán representa al matrimonio en Los pazos de Ulloa. Se intenta mostrar que el escepticismo de la autora, al presentar esta institución social como un proyecto fallido, constituye una protesta feminista contra la soflama masculina hegemónica del siglo xix, que aceptaba como válido únicamente el vínculo conyugal bendecido por la Iglesia y/o sancionado por el Estado. Con este objetivo, se estudian algunos factores que afectaban las relaciones maritales de (...) las mujeres de aquella época, tales como la percepción que se tenía de la mujer—como agente civilizador y como inductora del mal—, las expectativas sociales de la mujer casadera y casada, el alto valor atribuido a la virginidad prenupcial y a la maternidad, la doble moral en el ejercicio de la sexualidad, la subordinación de la mujer al hombre y la violencia doméstica física y mental. Palabras clave: Los pazos de Ulloa, Emilia Pardo Bazán, virginidad, maternidad, matrimonio, civilización y barbarie.In this essay, I analyze Emilia Pardo Bazán's negative portrait of marriage in The House of Ulloa. I attempt to show that the author's skepticism of this social institution, which she presents as a failed project, is a feminist protest against the 19thcentury hegemonic masculine discourse that considered Catholic marriage and/or legal marriage as the only acceptable forms of a conjugal bond. With that intention, I comment on several key factors that affected women’s marital relationships at that time. For example, the dual perception of women both as civilizing agents and as a temptation to sin and subsequent perdition, the social expectations from a maiden and from a married woman, the high value attributed to prenuptial virginity and of maternity, the double standards for men and women in the expression of their sexuality, the subordination of women to men, and domestic physical and mental violence, among other. Key words: Los pazos de Ulloa, The House of Ulloa, Emilia Pardo Bazán, virginity, maternity, marriage, civilization and barbarism\e. (shrink)

The relationship between students and higher education is seen to have become increasingly transactional. We approach the study of the student–HE relationship in a novel way, by focusing on students’ behaviour post-university, rather than on student narratives. Conceptually, the article builds on multidimensional views of student engagement and the differentiation between psychological transactional contracts – where students who achieve better academic results are more likely to donate – and relational contracts – where students donate more following engagement in social experiences. (...) Making use of longitudinal data on donation behaviour from over 50,000 alumni from an English university over two decades, we find that while students who get better degree outcomes are more likely to donate, the association between participation in social experiences and donations is much stronger. This questions prevalent transactional models of HE and underlines the limitations of purely consumerist views of the relation between students and higher education institutions, even in the marketized UK context. (shrink)

Friedrich Nietzsche has emerged as one of the most important and influential modern philosophers. For several decades, the book series Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung has set the agenda in a rapidly growing and changing field of Nietzsche scholarship. The scope of the series is interdisciplinary and international in orientation reflects the entire spectrum of research on Nietzsche, from philosophy to literary studies and political theory. The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that undergo a strict peer-review process. The book (...) series is led by an international team of editors, whose work represents the full range of current Nietzsche scholarship. (shrink)

RESUMEN Algunos autores estamos interesados por cierto ámbito o enfoque de la actividad filosófica usualmente denominado "filosofía experimental". El objetivo fundamental de este artículo es analizar los rasgos principales que caracterizan a dicha especialidad, conforme al sentido en que comenzó a utilizarse esa etiqueta. Entre otras consideraciones, se constatará que la denominación "filosofía experimental" es parcialmente acertada, pero también parcialmente equívoca debido a dos razones. Una razón queda de manifiesto en discusiones contemporáneas que localizan antecedentes de ese enfoque en conexiones (...) entre la filosofía y las ciencias empíricas a través de los siglos. La segunda razón tiene mayor importancia; para identificarla será conveniente evaluar las funciones de la experimentación, tanto en las ciencias empíricas como en la filosofía. De especial relevancia será reflexionar sobre cierto tipo de experimentos: los experimentos mentales. ABSTRACT Some of us are interested in a certain field or approach to philosophical activity usually called "experimental philosophy". The primary goal of this article is to analyze the main features that characterize this specialty, according to the sense in which the label began to be used. Among other considerations, we will see that the description "experimental philosophy" is partially correct, but also partially wrong, due to two reasons. The first can be tracked in contemporary discussions that locate antecedents of that approach in connections between philosophy and the empirical sciences through the centuries. To identify the second, more important reason, it will be convenient to evaluate the functions of experimentation, both in the empirical sciences and in philosophy. To reflect on certain types of experiments, mental experiments, will be crucially relevant. (shrink)

Algunos autores estamos interesados por cierto ámbito o enfoque de la actividad filosófica usualmente denominado “filosofía experimental”. El objetivo fundamental de este artículo es analizar los rasgos principales que caracterizan a dicha especialidad, conforme al sentido en que comenzó a utilizarse esa etiqueta. Entre otras consideraciones, se constatará que la denominación “filosofía experimental” es parcialmente acertada, pero también parcialmente equívoca debido a dos razones. Una razón queda de manifiesto en discusiones contemporáneas que localizan antecedentes de ese enfoque en conexiones entre (...) la filosofía y las ciencias empíricas a través de los siglos. La segunda razón tiene mayor importancia; para identificarla será conveniente evaluar las funciones de la experimentación, tanto en las ciencias empíricas como en la filosofía. De especial relevancia será reflexionar sobre cierto tipo de experimentos: los experimentos mentales. (shrink)

E. Machery and some collaborators have used survey data to criticize Kripke’s anti-descriptivism about proper names. I highlight a number of drawbacks in the tests of Machery et al. Some of my objections concern their ambiguity. In particular, the responses that–according to them–reveal descriptivist intuitions can be interpreted as anti-descriptivist responses. Furthermore, their vignettes are inconsistent. I also discuss other issues related to the role of intuitions in philosophy; Machery et al.’s theses depends on an unjustified assumption: there is not (...) expertise regarding intuitions. (shrink)

El presente de la Filosofía del Derecho es un libro concebido para mostrar la vitalidad actual de la Filosofía Jurídica. Está escrito en la madurez de su autora, y por lo mismo huye de cualquier extremismo más propio de la juventud. Como ella misma dice, no busca una sola respuesta correcta para las preguntas que en él se formulan, ni para las posiciones que en este libro se defienden. Muy al contrario, simplemente ofrece un punto de vista personal, sobre los (...) principales problemas que tiene planteados en la actualidad la Filosofía del Derecho. A través de sus páginas, se ofrece un relato, sobre el ser de la Filosofía del Derecho, la esencia del Derecho, y el pensamiento filosófico jurídico de los siglos XIX, XX y XXI visto con los ojos de algunos de sus principales protagonistas. También muestra un panorama de las relaciones entre el Derecho y la lógica, especialmente referidas a la interpretación, a la argumentación, y a la metodología jurídicas. Tampoco olvida la importancia del estudio de la relación del Derecho con los valores, especialmente con la justicia, que es el primero y más importante de todos ellos. Por último, reflexiona sobre la deontología profesional, estudiando de forma más concreta, las particularidades deontológicas de los principales operadores jurídicos. Los temas elegidos forman parte de algunos de los más debatidos dentro de la Filosofía del Derecho actual. Reflexionar sobre estos problemas es una labor propia de todo jurista, en realidad lo es, de todo ser humano preocupado por entender y mejorar si es posible, el mundo que le rodea. Este libro modestamente pretende ayudar en ese intento. Milagros Otero Parga, nació en Santiago de Compostela en 1960. Es doctora en Derecho (1987) por la misma Universidad. En la actualidad y desde 2011, es Catedrática de Filosofía del Derecho. Ha publicado 16 libros y 138 artículos en revistas nacionales e internacionales. Los temas a los que presta mayor atención son Axiología Jurídica, Derechos Humanos, Historia del pensamiento Jurídico, Argumentación Jurídica y Mediación. Es profesora invitada en algunas de las más prestigiosas universidades de Bue­nos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paulo y Montevideo. Asidua visitante de México ha sido conferenciante en las universidades Iberoamericana, Panamericana, Ana­huac, Intercontinental, Autónoma del Estado de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Universidad Judicial de Durango y Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla. Es asesora académica de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Estado de México y de la Escuela Judicial del mismo Estado. Este último orga­nismo la nombró también Magister Honoris Causa. Es académica numeraria de la Real Academia Gallega de Jurisprudencia y Legislación. Fue decana de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Santiago de Com­postela y secretaria de la Comisión de Doctorado y Tercer Ciclo de la Universidad. Tiene en su poder la Medalla de Plata de Galicia, la Insignia de Oro de la Facultad de Derecho, y la Insignia de Oro de la Universidad de Santiago. Ha sido Valedora do Pobo de Galicia (2015-2019). (shrink)

En este artículo discuto el supuesto compromiso de la lógica modal cuantificada con el esencialismo. Entre otros argumentos, Quine, el más emblemático de los críticos de la modalidad, ha objetado a la lógica modal cuantificada que ésta se compromete con una doctrina filosófica usualmente considerada sospechosa, el esencialismo: la concepción que distingue, de entre los atributos de una cosa, aquellos que le son esenciales de otros poseidos sólo contingentemente. Examino en qué medida Quine puede tener razón sobre ese punto explorando (...) una analogía entre la lógica modal y la logica clásica de primer orden. Con ello se pretende proporcionar una visión clarificadora sobre el estatus de la lógica modal y su relación con la lógica en general.In this paper I discuss the alleged commitment of quantified modal logic to philosophical essentialism. Besides some other more or less related arguments against quantified modal logic, Quine (its more prominent critic) objects to it by claiming its commitment to a philosophical doctrine usually regarded as suspicious, essentialism: the view that some of the attributes of a thing are essential to it, and others are accidental. I study to what extent Quine can be right about this specific issue. I defend some of his views by exploring an analogy between modal logic and standard first order logic. That serves to get a better understanding of the status of modal logic and its relation with logic in general. (shrink)

I propose a number of criteria for the adequacy of an account of pictorial realism. Such an account must: explain the epistemic significance of realistic pictures; explain why accuracy and detail are salient to realism; be consistent with an accurate account of depiction; and explain the features of pictorial realism. I identify six features of pictorial realism. I then propose an account of realism as a measure of the information pictures provide about how their objects would look, were one to (...) see them. This account meets the criteria I have identified and is superior to alternative accounts of realism. (shrink)

I present some puzzling cases regarding knowledge and its relation to rational credence. They seem to entail a failure of an apparently correct principle: if S knows P, then the epistemic justi...

El propósito del artículo es reflexionar sobre las políticas públicas implementadas desde el gobierno nacional hacia los movimientos sociales en el contexto argentino actual. El interés es debatir la influencia de los programas sociales –en particular el Programa de Ingreso Social con Trabajo (en adelante PAT)– en la situación de los jóvenes de sectores urbanos populares. Lo haremos a partir de abordar la compleja relación entre los emprendimientos cooperativos, las políticas de subsidio y las estrategias de los jóvenes participantes en (...) una experiencia territorial. La base empírica resulta de una investigación cualitativa con militantes de un movimiento de trabajadores desocupados. Los hallazgos dan cuenta de múltiples tensiones; mientras que su adscripción a la acción colectiva promueve la autogestión y mediatiza el acceso a planes sociales, como componentes de la fuerza de trabajo en período activo y de formación, los trabajadores desocupados siguen ubicados en posiciones marginales respecto al mercado de empleo. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the public policies implemented from the national government to the social movements in Argentina’s current context. The interest is to discuss the influence of social programs, including Social Program Income through Work (hereafter pat) in the situation of young people from urban areas. We will address it from the complex relationship established among cooperative ventures, social policies and strategies of the young participants in a territorial experience. The empirical basis is a qualitative research with a militant movement of unemployed workers. The findings realize multiple stresses; while its allegiance to collective action promotes self–management and mediates access to social programs as components of the active labor force and training period, which are located in marginal positions on the labor market. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es defender la presencia del pensamiento jesuítico en Argentina después de la independencia. La muestra a la que se ha sometido este interrogante se sitúa en los siglos XIX y comienzos del XX. El pensador elegido es Joaquín V. González político y jurista argentino de gran prestigio. Compararemos el pensamiento de este autor, símbolo de su época, con las ideas de la filosofía jurídica de los jesuítas, ejemplificando con el pensamiento de Francisco Suárez, sin duda (...) una de los pensadores más importates de la Filosofía Jurídica Española de todos los tiempos. (shrink)

Models of normal open induction (NOI) are those discretely ordered rings, integrally closed in their fraction field whose nonnegative part satisfy Peano's induction axioms for open formulas in the language of ordered semirings. Here we study the problem of representability of an element a of a model M of NOI (in some extension of M) by a quadratic form of the type X2 + bY2 where b is a nonzero integer. Using either a trigonometric or a hyperbolic parametrization we prove (...) that except in some trivial cases, M[ x, y] with x2 + by2 = a can be embedded in a model of NOI. We also study quadratic extensions of a model M of NOI; we first prove some properties of the ring of Gaussian integers of M. Then we study the group of solutions of a Pell equation in NOI; we construct a model in which the quotient group by the squares has size continuum. (shrink)

When discussing around his Gödel-Schmidt case, Kripke implicitly invoked our intuitive judgements about reference to argue against descriptivism on proper names. E. Machery and some collaborators have used survey data to attack Kripkean theses. In this article, I raise a new objection to this kind of criticism of anti-descriptivism. The participants in the surveys were presented with two possible answers to a determinate question. I show that the answer that Machery and his collaborators presuppose to be descriptivist is in fact (...) ambiguous, and it can be interpreted according to a reading that is perfectly compatible with anti-descriptivism. To argue for this thesis, I describe two ambiguities in the experimental setup that inspires their claims. Both ambiguities relate to the distinction between counterfactual and actualist readings of certain hypotheses, questions or statements. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es proporcionar elementos para una comprensión apropiada de las diversas dialécticas entre escepticismo y antiescepticismo en epistemología. En particular, demostrar que cierta tesis escéptica es falsa o que es imposible defenderla coherentemente puede resultar insuficiente para solucionar el problema conceptual derivado de un determinado argumento escéptico a favor de dicha tesis. Incluyo una discusión sobre la fuerza y los límites de los argumentos trascendentales, así como un análisis de su estructura, ilustrado por el argumento de (...) Putnam contra la posibilidad epistémica de ser un cerebro en una cubeta. (shrink)

Contemporary debates concerning warrant transmission take for granted this thesis: when warrant transmission fails the argument fails. I challenge this thesis. An argument with conclusion C, addressed to subject S, can be cogent in the sense that recognition that the premises entail (or make highly likely) C can rationally foster in S the belief in C, without the warrant for C necessarily being gained (or reinforced) by such recognition. A key idea is to accept that some arguments should be understood (...) in a way that involves the abandonment of two characteristic idealizations imposed on rational thinkers by Bayesian modelling. (shrink)

E. Machery and some collaborators have used survey data to criticize Kripke’s anti-descriptivism about proper names. I highlight a number of drawbacks in the tests of Machery et al. Some of my objections concern their ambiguity. In particular, the responses that —according to them— reveal descriptivist intuitions can be interpreted as anti-descriptivist responses, for reasons that —as far as I know— have not been pointed out so far. Furthermore, their vignettes are apparently inconsistent. I also discuss other issues related to (...) the role of intuitions in philosophy; Machery et al.’s theses depend on an unjustified assumption: there is not expertise regarding intuitions. (shrink)

Necessitism about individuals claims that necessarily every individual necessarily exists. An analogous necessitist thesis attributes necessary existence to properties and relations. Both theses have been defended by Williamson. Furthermore, Williamson specifically argues against the hybrid conjunction of first-order contingentism and higher-order necessitism; a combination that would bring about additional drawbacks. I work out a defence of the hybrid combination, including some replies to Williamson’s additional objections. Considerations of ontological parsimony and pre-theoretical intuitions favour the hybrid view over necessitism at all (...) orders. (shrink)