Apoptotic pathways have always been regarded as a key‐player in preserving tissue and organ homeostasis. Excessive activation or resistance to activation of cell death signaling may indeed be responsible for several mechanisms of disease, including malignancy and chronic degenerative diseases. Therefore, targeting apoptotic factors gained more and more attention in the scientific community and novel strategies emerged aimed at selectively blocking or stimulating cell death signaling. This is also the case for the TMEM219 death receptor, which is activated by a (...) circulating ligand, the Insulin‐like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) and induces a caspase‐8‐dependent apoptosis of the target cells. Interestingly, stimulation of the IGFBP3/TMEM219 axis exerts an anti‐proliferative effect, while blockade of the TMEM219 deleterious signal protects TMEM219‐expressing cells of the endocrine pancreas, lung, and intestine from damage and death. Here, we summarize the most updated reports on the role of the IGFBP3/TMEM219 apoptotic axis in disease conditions, including intestinal disorders and diabetes, and we describe the advancements in designing and testing novel TMEM219‐based targeting approaches in emerging potential clinical applications. (shrink)

The Article traces recent trends in the management and distribution of citizenship within the Israeli context of the 1990s, as they have evolved in the wake of new modes of migration that are neither Jewish nor Palestinian and that stem from liberalized market policies. The Article focuses on administrative and policy initiatives taken since September 2003 that deal with the naturalization of the children of undocumented labor migrants. The vulnerable situation of these migrants in lacking resident status and being eligible (...) for deportation, as well as the predominant Jewish ethno-national character of the Israeli state, make these initiatives and policy measures particularly surprising. However, these measures also reveal the boundaries of liberalizing reforms, as they become part of general trends in the nation-state towards deeming membership manageable without upsetting its national politics of identity. Indeed, it will be argued that, though this liberalizing legal reform is part of a larger context of demystification of national citizenship taking place in Israel following the adoption of socioeconomic liberal policies, it is also indicative of the adaptability of the nation-state as it seeks to reprioritize ethno-national definitions of citizenship in the face of new challenges. (shrink)

Resumo: O Ensino de Filosofia no Brasil atravessou um longo período de interdição na Educação Básica brasileira para, a partir da LDB de 1996 e dos PCN-EM 1999, ressurgir como necessidade de presença difusa na escola, em abordagem temática e transdisciplinar. Uma década adiante, a Filosofia alcança uma presença ainda mais importante, constituindo-se como disciplina obrigatória do currículo escolar da educação básica a partir de 2008. Em um contexto mais recente, com a BNCC a partir de 2015, a Filosofia segue (...) um caminho difícil entre a transversalidade e a especificidade, ora entendida como disciplina, ora como detentora de um repertório de temas e problemas incontornáveis à educação de crianças e jovens. Este artigo pretende identificar, analisar e problematizar a situação que envolve o Ensino de Filosofia no que tange às abordagens, ora transversais, ora específicas e disciplinares relativamente às últimas três décadas. Decorre desta situação a identificação de três inflexões importantes na trajetória da Filosofia na escola no período aqui destacado. Pretende-se, portanto, conjecturar sobre hipóteses da existência de possíveis avanços ou retrocessos em distintos cenários. Palavras-chave: Ensino de Filosofia; BNCC; PCNs; Filosofia como Disciplina Escolar; Filosofia do Ensino de Filosofia The specificity and transversality of Philosophy Teaching in Brazilian high schools: challenges facing the contemporary scenario and the BNCC Abstract: Philosophy in Brazil went through an extended period of interdiction in High School to, from the LDB 1996 and the PCN-EM 1999 onwards, reappear as a need for a diffused presence in school, in a thematic and transdisciplinary approach. A decade later, Philosophy gains an even more important presence, becoming a mandatory subject in the high school curriculum from 2008 onwards. In an even more recent context, with the BNCC from 2015 on, Philosophy follows a path of difficulty between transversality and specificity, sometimes understood as a discipline, sometimes as having a repertoire of themes and unavoidable problems for the education of children and young people. This article intends to identify, analyze, and problematize the situation involving Philosophy in terms of sometimes transversal, sometimes specific, and disciplinary approaches in relation to the last three decades. Throughout the highlighted period, three inflections can be noted in the trajectory of Philosophy at school. Therefore, it is intended to conjecture about hypotheses of advances or setbacks in different scenarios. Key-words: Philosophy Teaching; BNCC; PCNs; Philosophy as a School Subject; Philosophy of Teaching Philosophy La spécificité et la transversalité de l'enseignement de la philosophie dans les lycées brésiliens: défis face au scénario contemporain, et au BNCC Résumé: La philosophie au Brésil a traversé une longue période d'interdit au lycée pour, à partir des LDB 1996 and PCN-EM 1999, réapparaître comme un besoin de présence diffuse à l'école, dans une approche thématique et transdisciplinaire. Une décennie plus tard, la Philosophie prend une place encore plus importante, devenant une matière obligatoire dans le cursus du lycée à partir de 2008. Dans un contexte encore plus récent, avec le BNCC à partir de 2015, la Philosophie suit un parcours difficile entre transversalité et spécificité, tantôt comprise comme une discipline, tantôt comme ayant un répertoire de thèmes et de problèmes incontournables pour l'éducation des enfants et des jeunes. Cet article se propose d'identifier, d'analyser et de problématiser la situation de la Philosophie en termes d'approches tantôt transversales, tantôt spécifiques et disciplinaires par rapport aux trois dernières décennies. Tout au long de la période mise en évidence, trois inflexions peuvent être notées dans la trajectoire de la Philosophie à l'école. Par conséquent, il est prévu de conjecturer sur des hypothèses d'avancées ou de reculs possibles dans différents scénarios. Mots-clés: Enseignement de la Philosophie; BNCC; PCN; La Philosophie Comme Matière Scolaire; Philosophie de L'enseignement de la Philosophie Data de registro: 23/01/2023 Data de aceite: 20/03/2024. (shrink)

O espelho da arte clássica se multiplicou em fragmentos e influenciou a arquitetura grega e seus desdobramentos, verificados no decorrer do que rotulamos chamar de história da arte. A arquitetura e o urbanismo praticados pelos gregos, e mais tarde pelos romanos, foi elemento de inspiração para personalidades de liderança e artistas nos grandes períodos históricos da humanidade, onde a cidade era tida como elemento principal da vida política e social dos povos. Do clássico ao neoclássico, o desdobramento inspirado na estética (...) da antiguidade chega ao Brasil através da corte portuguesa e se fortalece com a missão artística francesa, tornando-se uma característica estilística no Brasil do século XIX. Unir, portanto, esses fragmentos estilísticos em busca do verdadeiro reflexo clássico é o objetivo deste artigo. (shrink)

In this article, Adriana Cavarero and Nidesh Lawtoo resume a dialogue on mimetic inclinations in view of furthering a relational, embodied and affective conception of subjectivity that challenges homo erectus from the immanent perspective of homo mimeticus. If a dominant philosophical tradition tends to restrict mimesis to an illusory representation of reality, Plato was the first to know that mimesis also operates as an affective force, or pathos, that dispossesses the subject. While Plato tended to emphasize the pathological implications (...) of mimesis, Cavarero and Lawtoo agree that both mimesis and inclinations go beyond good and evil and can be put to both pathological and democratic use. Picking up a dialogue started during a walk in New York City, Cavarero and Lawtoo, take their shared interests in Joseph Conrad's relating narratives as an occasion to discuss good and bad mimetic inclinations in contemporary politics and ethics. Joined in conclusion by the Gendered Mimesis team (Willow Verkerk, Isabelle Dahms and Giulia Rignano), topics addressed include new fascism, surging democracy, ethical responsibility for vulnerable others, hypermaternity and public happiness in a precarious world. (shrink)

Adriana Novoa and Alex Levine offer here a history and interpretation of the reception of Darwinism in Argentina, illuminating the ways culture shapes ...

Este artigo investiga o impacto dos arquivos pessoais na reconfiguração da historiografia, destacando a relevância desses acervos em um contexto de transformações digitais. Baseando-se em reflexões de Derrida e Foucault, questiona a objetividade tradicional. Utilizando o arquivo pessoal de Allan Kardec, o da Sociedade Parisiense de Estudos Espíritas e a _Revista Espírita_ como exemplos, o artigo explora a importância de documentos acessíveis por meio do Projeto Allan Kardec e do Museu Allan Kardec. Online (AKOL). Inicia com discussão teórico-metodológica, analisando a (...) produção do arquivo de Kardec e sua influência no _corpus_ doutrinário do espiritismo, com destaque para a sistematização de supostas mensagens espirituais. Utiliza fontes primárias, incluindo manuscritos, para compreender uma das obras de Kardec, a produção de _A Gênese_ e a continuidade da doutrina após a sua morte. (shrink)

Relating Narratives is a major new work by the philosopher and feminist thinker Adriana Cavarero. First published in Italian to widespread acclaim, Relating Narratives is a fascinating and challenging new account of the relationship between selfhood and narration. Drawing a diverse array of thinkers from both the philosophical and the literary tradition, from Sophocles and Homer to Hannah Arendt, Karen Blixen, Walter Benjamin and Borges, Adriana Cadarero's theory of the `narratable self' shows how narrative models in philosophy and (...) literature can open new ways of thinking about formation of human identities. By showing how each human being has a unique story that can be told about them, Adriana Cavarero inaugurates an important shift in thinking about subjectivity and identity which relies not upon categorical or discursive norms, but rather seeks to account for `who' each one of us uniquely is. (shrink)

This paper presents a series of 4 single subject experiments aimed to investigate whether children with autism show more social engagement when interacting with the Nao robot, compared to a human partner in a motor imitation task. The Nao robot imitates gross arm movements of the child in real-time. Different behavioral criteria were analyzed based on the video data of the interaction. The results are mixed and suggest a high variability in reactions to the Nao robot. The results are as (...) follows: For Child2 and Child3, the results indicate no effect of the Nao robot in any of the target variables. Child1 and Child4 showed more eye gaze and smile/laughter in the interaction with the Nao robot compared to the human partner and Child1 showed a higher frequency of motor initiations in the interaction with the Nao robot compared to the baselines, but not with respect to the human-interaction. The robot proved to be a better facilitator of shared attention only for Child1. Keywords: human-robot interaction; assistive robotics; autism. (shrink)

This short contribution is written on the occasion of the book discussion of Sophie Loidolt’s Phenomenology of Plurality: Hannah Arendt on Political Intersubjectivity at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory. It presents an attempt to read the two key notions Loidolt elaborates in her book – spaces of meaning and spaces of the public and private – from a critical perspective offered by Judith Butler’s taking up of Arendt’s work. Offering Butler’s conception of social ontology through several major points (...) of contestation with Arendt, I argue against an all too simple reduction of her understanding of the political and normativity to poststructuralist ones. (shrink)

In his unpublished 1979 Lectures on the Philosophy of Mind, Saul Kripke offers a knowledge argument against materialism focusing on deaf people who lack knowledge of auditory experience. Kripke's argument is a precursor of Frank Jackson's better‐known knowledge argument against materialism (1982). The paper sets out Kripke's argument, brings out its interest and philosophical importance, and explores some similarities and differences between Kripke's knowledge argument and Jackson's.

The human voice does not deceive. The one who is speaking is inevitably revealed by the singular sound of her voice, no matter “what” she says. We take this fact for granted—for example, every time someone asks, over the telephone, “Who is speaking?” and receives as a reply the familiar utterance, “It’s me.” Starting from the given uniqueness of every voice, Cavarero rereads the history of philosophy through its peculiar evasion of this embodied uniqueness. She shows how this history—along with (...) the fields it comprehends, such as linguistics, musicology, political theory, and studies in orality—might be grasped as the “devocalization of Logos,” as the invariable privileging of semantike over phone, mind over body. Female figures—from the Sirens to the Muses, from Echo to opera singers—provide a crucial counterhistory, one in which the embodied voice triumphs over the immaterial semantic. Reconstructing this counterhistory, Cavarero proposes a “politics of the voice” wherein the ancient bond between Logos and politics is reconfigured, and wherein what matters is not the communicative content of a given discourse, but rather who is speaking. (shrink)

Adriana Ayers studies the evolution of kotex advertising, focusing specifically on the way in which African American women were figured into changing advertisers’ conceptions of womanhood. The article analyzes images featured in various women’s magazines to examine how ideas surrounding menstruation were packaged and sold to women.

Words like "terrorism" and "war" no longer encompass the scope of contemporary violence. With this explosive book, Adriana Cavarero, one of the world's most provocative feminist theorists and political philosophers, effectively renders such terms obsolete. She introduces a new word—"horrorism"—to capture the experience of violence. Unlike terror, horrorism is a form of violation grounded in the offense of disfiguration and massacre. Numerous outbursts of violence fall within Cavarero's category of horrorism, especially when the phenomenology of violence is considered from (...) the perspective of the victim rather than that of the warrior. Cavarero locates horrorism in the philosophical, political, literary, and artistic representations of defenseless and vulnerable victims. She considers both terror and horror on the battlefields of the _Iliad_, in the decapitation of Medusa, and in the murder of Medea's children. In the modern arena, she forges a link between horror, extermination, and massacre, especially the Nazi death camps, and revisits the work of Primo Levi, Hannah Arendt's thesis on totalitarianism, and Arendt's debate with Georges Bataille on the estheticization of violence and cruelty. In applying the horroristic paradigm to the current phenomena of suicide bombers, torturers, and hypertechnological warfare, Cavarero integrates Susan Sontag's views on photography and the eroticization of horror, as well as ideas on violence and the state advanced by Thomas Hobbes and Carl Schmitt. Through her searing analysis, Caverero proves that violence against the helpless claims a specific vocabulary, one that has been known for millennia, and not just to the Western tradition. Where common language fails to form a picture of atrocity, horrorism paints a brilliant portrait of its vivid reality. (shrink)

La paz y la seguridad internacionales no sólo son el resultado de la ausencia de guerras, es decir, no son únicamente el fundamento de la preservación del orden o ausencia de violencia, sino que incluyen también, para ser alcanzadas, aspectos diversos, tales como la seguridad alimentaria. Dentro del abanico de los nuevos riesgos y amenazas a la paz y seguridad internacionales, cada vez más se está teniendo en consideración las repercusiones negativas que tienen las crisis alimentarias y el hambre que (...) sufren en torno a 800 millones de personas en todo el mundo. La preocupación y abordaje de estos temas hizo que por primera vez, el 30 de marzo de 2016, la FAO se dirigiese al Consejo de Seguridad con el objetivo de reafirmar la necesidad de mejorar la seguridad alimentaria como aspecto fundamental para la consolidación de una paz y seguridad internacional sostenibles. (shrink)

Los nombres de José Martí, Eugenio María de Hostos, Gregorio Luperón y Ramón Emeterio Betances sintetizan las luchas llevadas adelante, durante el siglo XIX, para conquistar la independencia y las libertades en la región del Caribe colonizada por España. Reconstruimos algunos de los episodios de esa lucha a través de los escritos de Ramón Emeterio Betances, "El Antillano". Tras una breve introducción biográfica y contextual, la exposición se ordena en torno a dos pares de ideas centrales de su pensamiento: las (...) de independencia y confederación antillana, por una parte, y las de defensa de la raza negra y abolición de la esclavitud, por otra. Aunque las presentamos separadamente, ellas resultan inescindibles en el conjunto de su producción.The names of José Martí, Eugenio María Hostos, Gregorio Luperón, and Ramón Emeterio Betances summarize in themselves the XIXth Century struggles for the freedom and the independence of the Caribbean countries colonized by Spain. In this paper we reconstruct some of the episodes of such struggles through the writings of Ramón Emeterio Betances, "El Antillano" . Following a short biographical and contextual introduction, this work is developed around two pairs of central ideas of his thought: those of Antillean independence and confederation, on the one hand, and those of the defense of the black people and the abolition of slavery on the other. Though presented separately, these ideas are inseparable in the bulk of Betances's production. (shrink)

Volvemos sobre la tesis salazariana según la cual la cultura peruana y latinoamericana puede ser caracterizada como "cultura de la dominación", con el propósito de ponerla en relación con desarrollos, que el mismo autor realiza en textos posteriores a la publicación del polémico libro titulado ¿Existe una filosofía de nuestra América?. Desarrollos a través de los cuales será posible despejar la pregunta por la función social de la filosofía, seguir de cerca su caracterización de la "cultura de la dominación" y (...) comprender las categorías dicotómicas "dominación / liberación" en el marco de una peculiar tensión dialéctica. Todos estos elementos convergen en su formulación de un humanismo emergente. We turn back on the salazarian thesis according to which the Peruvian and Latin-American culture can be characterized as "culture of domination", for the purpose of positioning it in relation with developments, which the same author carries out in texts after the publication of the controversial book entitled ¿Existe una filosofía de nuestra América?. Developments across which it will be possible to clear the question for the social function of philosophy, to closely follow his characterization of the "culture of domination" and to understand the dichotomous categories "domination/liberation" in the context of a peculiar dialectic tension. All these elements converge on his formulation of an emerging humanism. (shrink)

La infamia constituye el modelo ideal de castigo actual, ya que marca el cuerpo real y simbólico de ciertos sujetos, sin ninguna mediación institucional: los individuos y los grupos sociales se arrogan el derecho a imputar, juzgar y castigar. De manera que existen instituciones formales y, además, ciertos colectivos informales que neutralizan, excluyen, matan y encierran real y simbólicamente, ejerciendo un poder para-judicial y para-penal. En palabras más precisas, hay una penalidad que no pasa necesariamente por el poder judicial ni (...) el proceso legal, sino por el tribunal social y psicológico efectuado por algunos agentes de control social informal. La realidad evidencia la absorción progresiva del proceso judicial en el juicio colectivo, sin ninguna garantía ni código distinto a la mirada, el murmullo social y el juicio instantáneo. La sociedad se transforma así en un tribunal permanente que odia, etiqueta y castiga, y cuya inmediatez, espontaneidad y anonimato reaviva la infamia de los viejos sistemas de la penalidad medieval, así como la devastadora marcación totalitaria. (shrink)

La problematización de sentido integra el horizonte histórico y cultural de la modernidad occidental, donde se abre la posibilidad de una explosión de sentidos. En este escenario, el pensamiento filosófico se enfrenta a la crisis de fundamentación última y la dificultad para traducir, en términos de verdad y racionalidad, la reflexión en el campo de la filosofía y las ciencias humanas. En este sentido, existen por lo menos dos alternativas para que las filosofías modernas, sin renunciar a la pretensión de (...) universalidad, se encuentren con su propio tiempo histórico: la hermenéutica y la crítica dialéctica. El pensamiento de Paul Ricoeur, para quien hermenéutica y crítica son dos momentos necesarios a la reflexión filosófica, promueve la reconciliación entre estas dos tradiciones de la filosofía moderna. Sin embargo, la tesis que se plantea en este ensayo es que las estrategias reconciliadoras de Ricoeur corresponden, en último término, a la construcción de su propio pensamiento filosófico. Es decir, el movimiento reconciliador del pensamiento ricoeurniano es parte de su propio proyecto filosófico, a saber, el de hacer emerger una hermenéutica crítica y una ética ontológicamente fundada. (shrink)

Voltada ao enfoque mais específico de pensar a condição da Filosofia na universidade, esta obra traz diversas contribuições de professores e pesquisadores que têm se dedicado ao assunto. Em linhas gerais, seu conteúdo discute a noção de Estado republicano em relação à Filosofia e às instituições de ensino. Pensa os currículos, a especificidade da aprendizagem e do saber filosóficos, bem como os parâmetros da pesquisa em Filosofia na universidade. Além disso, reflete sobre as condições de inserção da Filosofia na Educação (...) Básica e no contexto das novas tecnologias, que traz a modalidade do ensino a distância. (shrink)

The current research is based on Senninger’s Learning Zone Model applied to the tourists’ comfort zone. This model was created in 2000 and it proved to be useful in many applied areas: Psychology, Sociology, Marketing and Management. This modes is a behavioral one and shows how a person can justify his action based on previous tested experiences or dares to step beyond in fear, learn or growth zone. Our research is extending the existent area of expertise to tourism. We aimed (...) at exploring whether the tourists’ apprehension toward choosing their next destination from a comfort zone perspective or rather from the other zones’ perspectives such as fear, learning or growth. To meet this purpose we conducted a mixed method: firstly a qualitative one, an in-depth interview based on Delphi method with 10 tourism specialists and secondly an online survey on 208 Generation Z tourists. The interviews were meant to help developing a 20 items scale to measure from which of the 4 zones are the respondents making the choice of the future travel destination. Our conclusions show that Gen Z tourists display behaviors that can be associated with learning or growth zones rather than the comfort zone. This is relevant when choosing the next travel destination, because our findings could bring about a new approach to promoting tourist destinations as part of various products. As a result, a large range of managerial tools can better adapt the promotion messages to the target market from a new psychological perspective. (shrink)

Em Situating the self: gender, community and postmodernism in contemporary ethics, publicado em 1992, Seyla Benhabib propôs a ideia de reversibilidade de perspectivas, como um exercício real ou imaginado, por meio do qual poderíamos fazer presente a perspectiva do outro. Na sequência, Iris Young fez críticas ao conceito, problematizando a sua possibilidade e mesmo a sua desejabilidade. Para Young o problema é a ideia de simetria que fundamenta especialmente a sua versão imaginada. Através da análise dos argumentos apresentados nos textos, (...) e da avaliação contextual de dois encontros com a questão negra nos Estados Unidos – o de Hannah Arendt e o da própria Benhabib – o artigo buscará questionar essa possibilidade, retomando as críticas de Young e as pretensões do conceito para a teoria democrática de Benhabib argumentando que há um impasse entre a necessidade do diálogo imaginado para a sua potencialidade para se pensar a política contemporânea e a sua impossibilidade e mesmo indesejabilidade. (shrink)

Este artigo tem por objetivo, a partir da retomada da crítica neorrepublicana à ideia de liberdade política de Hannah Arendt, esclarecer o significado da liberdade para a autora e sua contribuição para a retomada do republicanismo, a saber, por uma teoria da liberdade ampla, fundamentada no cultivo das atividades espirituais.

En este ensayo, nos proponemos explorar los diferentes significados de los conceptos de vivibilidad y vida en el pensamiento de Judith butler. si bien es crucial para su obra temprana —butler se refiere por primera vez a este concepto en su introducción del libro, El género en disputa de 1999—, el concepto en sí emerge con más claridad y elaboración en su obra tardía. nuestra pregunta principal sería: ¿cuál es el hilo conductor que une las diferentes concepciones de vida en (...) el trabajo de butler? ¿cuáles son los lazos entre la vida abyecta, invivible, precaria, indolora, desechada y desposeída? De estas dos preguntas surgen otras más: como la cuestión de gradación de vivibilidad — qué vida importa, y “cuánto,” y cómo pensar este tipo de cuantificación de algo no-cuantificable—; y la cuestión de la universalidad. estas preguntas, obviamente, tienen que contar con evidencias bajo las cuales la vida es cualificada, calificada y contada como vivible. estas condiciones abarcan las normas que organizan las posibilidades de reconocimiento y los órdenes de reconocimiento tanto como la distribución diferencial de la humanidad. Y además engloban las maneras en las que estamos constituidos políticamente, pero también, las maneras en las que el “nosotros” se define como social y corporal. La cuestión de la vida vivible está, por ende, enmarañada con la problemática de la contraposición entre la voluntad individual y la idea del “nosotros”, que, como seres, necesitamos —en palabras de la propia butler— “para mantener y reproducir las condiciones de propia vivibilidad”. (shrink)

This article discusses three major dilemmas embedded in women's labor migration by focusing on undocumented Latina migrants in Israel. The first is that to break the cycle of blocked mobility in their homelands, migrant women must take jobs that they would have never taken in their countries of origin, despite uncertainty about possible economic outcomes. The second dilemma is that the search for economic betterment leads Latina migrants to risk living and working illegally in the host country, forcing them to (...) remain on the margins of society. The third dilemma relates to the role of mothers who, to secure a better future for their children, are forced to leave them behind, thus subverting the traditional definition of motherhood. The absence of an egalitarian notion and the practice of citizenship for non-Jews leave undocumented labor migrants in Israel without prospects for incorporation into the society. (shrink)

This essay answers two questions that continue to drive debate in moral and legal philosophy; namely, ‘Is a risk of harm a wrong?’ and ‘Is a risk of harm a harm?’. The essay’s central claim is that to risk harm can be both to wrong and to harm. This stands in contrast to the respective positions of Heidi Hurd and Stephen Perry, whose views represent prominent extremes in this debate about risks. The essay shows that there is at least one (...) category of risks – intentional impositions of risk on unconsenting agents – which can be both wrongful and harmful. The wrongfulness of these risks can be established when, on the balance of reasons, one ought not to impose them. The harmfulness of these risks can be established when the risks are shown to set back legitimate interests. In those cases where risks constitute a denial of the moral status of agents, risks set back agents’ interest in dignity. In these ways, the essay shows that there are instances when a risk can constitute both a wrong and a harm. (shrink)

The outsourcing and offshoring of clinical trials has expanded a global field of experimental activity. This essay addresses the competitive logic and social norms by which a field of human subjects research for drug development has taken form. The clinical trials industry and its move to low- and middle-income countries serve as a telescope into the global clinical trial and how it is crafted and made to work in different locales. Lives often depend on new medical commodities as they enter (...) the value chains of transnational medicine and capital. Transparency remains a key problem. The essay explores the politics of creating centralized registries through which the scope of this experimental enterprise might be known. As the engine of pharmaceutical research molds itself to international and national regulatory norms, detection of adverse risk can be deferred or minimized. The essay also points to policy gaps with respect to how the benefits and insecurities of global experiments are distributed as well as to emergent political practices of care and accountability. (shrink)

I introduce a novel multidimensional framework tailored to investigate a set of phenomena that might appear intractable and render them amenable to scientific inquiry. In particular, I focus on examining altered states of consciousness that appear to the experiencing subject as “contentless” or “objectless” states in some form, either by having disrupted or reduced content of awareness, or content that appears as missing altogether. By drawing on empirical research, I propose a cluster of phenomenological dimensions aimed at enhancing our understanding (...) of this group of experiences of minimal awareness, including “Richness of the Content”, “Bodily-Awareness”, “Passage of Time”, “Attentional Focus”, and “Self-Revelation”. The result is a robust framework that provides precise scientific terminology, facilitating its operationalisation and adaptability for future empirical work. I show the explanatory power of this framework through a case study of the state of clear light sleep—a state widely reported by Indo-Tibetan Buddhist traditions as an instance of pure awareness during sleep, a state of consciousness-as-such. This rare phenomenon has gained increasing attention in contemporary analytic philosophy of mind for the study of the nature of consciousness. However, we still lack consensus on its characterisation and potential identity with other associated states. I end the paper by illustrating how the state of clear light sleep can be situated in relation to other associated states and more ordinary ones as regions of a multidimensional state space. (shrink)

In 1942, American Nobel Prize-winning physicist Arthur Compton pointed out that, “Because in this field of cosmic ray studies certain unique advantages are given by their geographical position, this field of physics has been especially emphasized in South America.” This paper seeks to interrogate the making of Latin America's uniqueness with respect to cosmic-ray research through an analysis that considers Compton's geographical argument, but also goes beyond it, referring to the interactions of nature, knowledge, practices, scientific communities, and diplomacy. To (...) begin with, it highlights the place-based strategies and practices associated with cosmic-ray research. Once research in the field at different altitudes demonstrated that cosmic rays traveled from outer space to the Earth surface, their nature was scrutinized by expeditions that covered broad vertical and horizontal expanses. The study of cosmic rays in Latin America displayed the mobilization of that strategy, which reinforced the reliability of certain sites located at high altitudes and close to the geomagnetic equator in projected investigations. Moreover, such analysis of cosmic rays involved research practices in the field, the emergence of (local, regional, or international) research traditions, and the creation of spaces of knowledge at different scales. By centering on the interaction of knowledge and place, this paper shows that an exploration of the “up-and-down journeys” of cosmic-ray research in Latin America expands our understanding of the geographies and practices of 20th-century physics. (shrink)

Barnett Newman : Adam's line -- Kant and the newborn -- Virginia Woolf and the shadow of the "I" -- Plato erectus sed -- Men and trees -- We are not monkeys : on erect posture -- Hobbes and the macroanthropos -- Elias Canetti : upright before the dead -- Artemisia : the allegory of inclination -- Leonardo and maternal inclination -- Hannah Arendt : "a child has been born unto us" -- Schemata for a postural ethics -- Coda : (...) adieu to Lévinas. (shrink)

This pathbreaking work pursues two interwoven themes. Firstly, it engages in a deconstruction of Ancient philosopher's texts--mainly from Plato, but also from Homer and Parmenides--in order to free four Greek female figures from the patriarchal discourse which for centuries had imprisoned them in a particular role. Secondly, it attempts to construct a symbolic female order, reinterpreting these figures from a new perspective. Building on the theory of sexual difference, Cavarero shows that death is the central category on which the whole (...) edifice of traditional philosophy is based. By contrast, the category of birth provides the thread with which new concepts of feminist criticism can be woven together to establish a fresh way of thinking. Cavarero develops a philosophical narrative which, by re-interpreting each of the four figures of ancient thought, uncovers several images of the female desire for self-representation. Plato himself had not forseen that one day female subjectivity would assert its autonomy, plundering and throwing into confusion the patriarchal text in order to tell another story. (shrink)

Sigmund Freud sempre expressou uma profunda admiração por figuras emblemáticas do Renascimento italiano. Seu interesse por Roma e pela antiguidade romana – referências importantes em sua obra – pode ser constatado, inclusive, pela grande quantidade de viagens que Freud realizou rumo a cidades italianas entre os anos de 1876 e 1923. É nesse período, então, que o fundador da Psicanálise publica Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci (1910) e Der Moses des Michelangelo (1914). Este fato chamou a atenção de autores (...) como Eric Fromm e Jacques Lacan, os quais, na década de 60 do século XX, teceram considerações completamente divergentes acerca da complexa relação de Freud com o humanismo renascentista. Este artigo objetiva, portanto, examinar a oposição radical que se pode estabelecer entre essas duas interpretações. (shrink)

Vulnerability, understood as a negative aspect of criminalization under immune considerations, constitutes itself as a creative and transformative force that makes it possible to think about a life in common sustained through care and affirmative protection of life. The development of this idea requires three specific stages: in the first, it is described the current democracy as a government technique whose management depends on vulnerable populations; in the second, it is reviewed criminalization as a specific form of immune control; and (...) finally, it is recognized vulnerability as the basis of a new way of democratic life, departing from the attention of certain social groups that have been criminalized due to their precariousness. (shrink)

In this article, we interpret sex education from the perspective of feminist care ethics, emphasizing the concept of caring democracy, advanced by Joan Tronto one of the most influential feminist political theorists. According to Tronto, these theories show that a deficit of care and a lack of democracy are mutually conducive. We argue that, as in other areas of life, a lack of care in sexuality and sex education leads to social inequalities that eventually translate into an unequal approach to (...) freedom, equality, and justice, and to a deficit of democracy in the lives of some people. At the same time, we believe that, as a moral theory, care ethics, with its emphasis on the needs of men and women, can be adequately applied to the design of research projects, as well as to sexuality policies and practices. This may contribute to overcoming the stalemate in the debate on sex education and other topics in Slovakia. (shrink)