This article examines the role of social media and journalistic media in presidential electoral processes. A systematic review of scientific articles published from 2012 to 2022 was conducted. The results indicate that the media has a significant influence on public perception and the political agenda during election campaigns. Furthermore, the importance of evaluating political leaders in the voters' decision-making process is emphasized. In summary, the article provides valuable insights into how the media can shape the narrative and public opinion during (...) presidential elections. (shrink)

Después de transcurridos los años de violencia política en los años 80’s e inicios de los 90’s, Perú se vio envuelto en cambios estructurales que permitieran una reconstrucción nacional de la sociedad peruana. Durante este periodo, los diferentes procesos migratorios, los cambios en la política económica interna, las reformas políticas y educativas condicionaron a los peruanos y a las futuras generaciones bajo un modelo urbano de desarrollo basado en el consumo, la individualidad y modernidad. Un modelo de desarrollo político, educativo (...) y cultural que no incluya la violencia y la memoria como parte de la identidad y quehacer nacional. El presente texto propone una mirada crítica a los orígenes y consecuencias de la violencia política en nuestro país, analizando la relación entre los actores implicados, los proyectos ideológicos y la lucha por los derechos humanos. (shrink)

Sacrificial dilemmas such as the trolley problem play an important role in experimental philosophy (x-phi). But it is increasingly argued that, since we are not likely to encounter runaway trolleys in our daily life, the usefulness of such thought experiments for understanding moral judgments in more ecologically valid contexts may be limited. However, similar sacrificial dilemmas are experienced in real life by animal research decision makers. As part of their job, they must make decisions about the suffering, and often the (...) death, of many non-human animals. For this reason, a context-specific investigation of so-called “3R dilemmas” (i.e., dilemmas where there is a conflict between the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement of the use of animals in research) is essential to improve the situation of both non-human animals and human stakeholders. An approach well suited for such investigation is experimental philosophical bioethics (“bioxphi”), which draws on methods similar to x-phi to probe more realistic, practical scenarios with an eye to informing normative debates and ethical policy. In this article, we argue for a need to investigate 3R dilemmas among professional decision-makers using the tools of bioxphi. In a first step, we define 3R dilemmas and discuss previous investigations of professionals’ attitudes in such cases. In a second step, we show how bioxphi is a promising method to investigate the whys and hows of professional decision-making in 3R dilemmas. In a last step, we provide a bioxphi template for 3R dilemmas, give recommendations on its use, explore the normative relevance of data collected by such means, and discuss important limitations. (shrink)

This chapter aims to examine the configuration of the sharing economy in the United Kingdom. The chapter provides an examination of the key opportunities and challenges that this socio-economic model generates in the country. It includes an account of different sharing economy initiatives in the United Kingdom, including crowdfunding projects, tool libraries, timesharing banks, men’s sheds, and shared workspaces, commercial sharing economy services, micro-libraries, community-gardening projects, and paid online peer-to-peer accommodation. Increased consumer choice and economic benefits derived from an extended (...) economy around the sharing economy are identified as key opportunities. Key challenges relate to policymaking and taxation of businesses and participants in the sharing economy, as well as the wider enforcement of health and safety regulations and the impact that the recent pandemic is having on the industry. The chapter also provides an examination of the latest developments and regulations in this area. In addition, the chapter identifies the most pressing issues and possible future directions of research in this context. (shrink)

The work of Lluís Duch spans topics religion, politics, ethics, family, the city, and more. In this interview, he discusses topics including his time in Germany, his devotion to both monastic and intellectual life, and the ambiguous and adverbial human condition.

Over the last sixty to seventy years, our cultures have undergone an immense shift: the "official" God has become a strange, distant, and for some, non-existent God. Does that mean that God no longer claims a presence and influence in public and private life, or that He is of no interest to 21st-century societies? Lluís Duch explores this exile of God from our present-day societies.

There is no controversy in psychology or brain sciences that brains create mind and consciousness. Doubts and opinions to the contrary are quite frequently expressed in non-scientific publications. In particular the idea that conscious mind is received, rather than created by the brain, is quite often used against “materialistic” understanding of consciousness. I summarize here arguments against such position, show that neuroscience gives coherent view of mind and consciousness, and that this view is intrinsically non-materialistic.

What type of artificial systems will claim to be conscious and will claim to experience qualia? The ability to comment upon physical states of a brain-like dynamical system coupled with its environment seems to be sufficient to make claims. The flow of internal states in such systems, guided and limited by associative memory, is similar to the stream of consciousness. A specific architecture of an artificial system, termed articon, is introduced that by its very design has to claim being conscious. (...) Non-verbal discrimination of the working memory states of the articon gives it the ability to experience different qualities of internal states. Analysis of the flow of inner states of such a system during typical behavioral process shows that qualia are inseparable from perception and action. The role of consciousness in learning of skills — when conscious information processing is replaced by subconscious — is elucidated. Arguments confirming that phenomenal experience is a result of cognitive processes are presented. Possible philosophical objections based on the Chinese room and other arguments are discussed, but they are insufficient to refute articon’s claims that it is conscious. Conditions for genuine understanding that go beyond the Turing test are presented. Articons may fulfill such conditions and in principle the structure of their experiences may be arbitrarily close to human. (shrink)

Neuronauki dokonały znacznego postępu w rozumieniu wyższych czynności poznawczych, w tym procesów decyzyjnych. Brakuje jednak zarówno prostych modeli, które pozwolą wyobrazić sobie te procesy, jak i głębszej refleksji nad wpływem tych wyników na zrozumienie natury umysłu, rozproszenia obaw, że nie jesteśmy tylko automatami. Płodny punkt widzenia na kwestię reprezentacji mentalnych daje próba zrozumienia, w jaki sposób informacja reprezentowana jest przez mózgi, jak w przybliżony sposób opisać stany mózgu tak, by można je było zinterpretować jako reprezentacje mentalne odnoszące się do umysłu. (...) Czym jest w nas to, co podejmuje decyzje? Jest to kluczowa kwestia dla zrozumienia wielu zagadnień klasycznej filozofii, od wolnej woli i problemu ciała i umysłu poczynając. Chociaż iluzja homunkulusa jest silna można się od niej uwolnić. Analiza procesów podejmowania decyzji wymaga zrozumienia w jaki sposób zakodowane są w mózgu najprostsze pojęcia. Jedynie przez aproksymację fizycznych stanów mózgu, zawierających znacznie więcej informacji niż stany mentalne, możemy dokonać istotnego postępu w rozumieniu i opisie reprezentacji mentalnych, przydatnych nie tylko filozofom, ale też mających zastosowania w analizie języka naturalnego, kategoryzacji pojęć w psychologii i architekturach kognitywnych w sztucznej inteligencji. Ucieleśnienie jak i enaktywizm są dla rozwoju reprezentacji pojęć bardzo istotne ale nie wystarczające. Po analizie współczesnej wiedzy o reprezentacji pojęć w mózgu zaprezentowano podejście oparte o język układów dynamicznych, które oferuje dość prosty język, pozwalający zrozumieć zaskakujące, często nieracjonalne decyzje podejmowane przez ludzi. Dzięki symulacjom komputerowym można się spodziewać znacznego postępu w rozumieniu reprezentacji mentalnych i wyższych czynności poznawczych, w szczególności procesów podejmowania decyzji. (shrink)

Francis Bacon. By Perez Zagorin (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998) xvi + 286 pp. $29.95, £19.95 Francis Bacon: The History of the Reign of King Henry VII. Edited by Brian Vickers (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press 1998) xlv + 284 pp. £40.00 cloth.

What type of artificial systems will claim to be conscious and will claim to experience qualia? The ability to comment upon physical states of a brain-like dynamical system coupled with its environment seems to be sufficient to make claims. The flow of internal states in such system, guided and limited by associative memory, is similar to the stream of consciousness. Minimal requirements for an artificial system that will claim to be conscious were given in form of specific architecture named articon. (...) Nonverbal discrimination of the working memory states of the articon gives it the ability to experience different qualities of internal states. Analysis of the inner state flows of such a system during typical behavioral process shows that qualia are inseparable from perception and action. The role of consciousness in learning of skills, when conscious information processing is replaced by subconscious, is elucidated. Arguments confirming that phenomenal experience is a result of cognitive processes are presented. Possible philosophical objections based on the Chinese room and other arguments are discussed, but they are insufficient to refute claims articon’s claims. Conditions for genuine understanding that go beyond the Turing test are presented. Articons may fulfill such conditions and in principle the structure of their experiences may be arbitrarily close to human. (shrink)

A partir de temáticas diferentes pero profundamente conectadas entre sí, los siete ensayos que componen este libro tienen en común un interés básico: «la situación del hombre en el mundo» en estos inicios del siglo XXI. En ninguno de ellos nos referimos directamente a la crítica situación seguramente, prebélica de la hora presente. Sin embargo, las alusiones, las referencias indirectas y las evocaciones históricas permiten una reconstrucción de las etapas del camino que ha seguido y que todavía sigue nuestra cultura (...) hasta llegar a ese estado de cosas. Hemos titulado a este conjunto de ensayos de antropología «las estaciones del laberinto». Con este título no pretendemos solamente describir la entrada y unas ciertas formas de extravío en el laberinto, sino que, sobre todo, queremos señalar cuál puede ser, según nuestra manera de ver las cosas, la salida de él. La reflexión en torno a la vida cotidiana constituida y concretada mediante términos como palabra, religión, educación, historia, simbolismo, silencio, mal, salud, etc. constituye el centro de la praxis antropológica que hemos venido desarrollando durante estos últimos treinta años. En el ser humano, el «buen uso» de esos elementos permite la articulación siempre problemática entre interioridad y exterioridad, mientras que el «mal uso» conduce al caos y a lo que, en otro contexto, hemos denominado «desestructuración simbólica». Hombres y mujeres jamás pueden eludir la entrada en el laberinto. La cuestión esencial es si resulta posible, a nivel individual y colectivo y a pesar de nuestra ineludible constitución laberíntica, mantener activo con ciertos visos de verosimilitud el deseo de salir de él. (shrink)

Experiments with remote perception and Random Event Generators (REG) performed over the last decades show small but significant anomalous effects. Since these effects seem to be independent of spatial and temporal distance, they appear to be in disagreement with the standard scientific worldview. A very simple explanation of quantum mechanics is pre- sented, rejecting all unjustified claims about the world. A view of mind in agreement with cognitive neuroscience is introduced. It is argued that mind and consciousness are emer- gent (...) properties of the brain and are understandable without any nonphysical assumptions. A plausible explanation of the results of anomalous experiments, based on the concept of synchronicity, introduced by C.G. Jung and advocated by W. Pauli, is offered. A proof is given that strong correlations should exist between any systems that once interacted. Synchronicity events between parts of the brain and physical objects may be sufficient to explain the results of anomalous experiments. Standard physics is sufficient to understand these phenomena. Motto. (shrink)

Current cognitive architectures are either working at the abstract, symbolic level, or the low, emergent level related to neural modeling. The best way to understand phenomena is to see, or imagine them, hence the need for a geometric model of mental processes. Geometric models should be based on an intermediate level of modeling that describe mental states in terms of features relevant from the first-person perspective but also linked to neural events. Concepts should be represented as geometrical objects that have (...) sufficiently rich structures to show their properties and their relations to other concepts. The best way to create such geometrical representations of concepts is through the approximate description of the physical states of neural networks. The evolution of brain states is then represented as a trajectory linking successful concepts, and topological constraints on the shape of such trajectory define grammar and logic. (shrink)

Reflexió dedicada al cos humà. Per tal d’analitzar algunes de les característiques del cos humà en la societat dels nostres dies, es procedeix, d’entrada, a una breu exposició de la història del cos en la cultura occidental i, més endavant, s’analitzen alguns aspectes laterals, però tanmateix essencials per a un tractament antropològic del cos com poden ser, per exemple, el cos de la dona en la cultura occidental i el patriarcalisme com a forma d’organitzar els cossos humans.

The book written by top experts in CI provides such clear directions and the much-needed focus on the most important and challenging research issues, showing a ...

The following questions are considered: Why is it difficult to create a theory of consciousness? What are the contents of consciousness? What kind of theory is acceptable as transparent? and, What is the value of conscious experience?

Lehar misrepresents the Neuron Doctrine and indirect realism. His conclusions on consciousness are unjustified. The Bubble Gestalt perceptual modeling disconnected from neuroscience has no explanatory power.

Rules and similarity are two sides of the same phenomenon, but the number of features has nothing to do with transition from similarity to rules; threshold logic helps to understand why.

The bioethics research conducted in Ibero‐American countries has been very much restricted to its own realm.The aim of this study was to perform a bibliometric evaluation of bioethics papers by authors affiliated with Ibero‐American institutions, and to determine how their work influences global bioethics literature.We performed a literature search in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS CC) and Scopus.We identified a total of 5,975 documents, of which 84.3% were articles, 11.6% reviews and 4.1% book chapters. The median number of (...) citations per paper was higher in English‐language journals.Only 10 articles published between 2010 and 2019 in peer‐reviewed bioethics journals and produced exclusively by authors from Ibero‐American institutions garnered more than 15 citations.Our study suggests that if researchers from Ibero‐American institutions want to influence global bioethical thinking, they must make the required leap in quality to be able to publish in high‐quality bioethics and mainstream journals. (shrink)

The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) provides that “an individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead.” We show that the UDDA contains two conflicting interpretations of the phrase “cessation of functions.” By one interpretation, what matters for the determination of death is the cessation of spontaneous functions only, regardless of their generation by artificial means. By the (...) other, what matters is the cessation of both spontaneous and artificially supported functions. Because each UDDA criterion uses a different interpretation, the law is conceptually inconsistent. A single consistent interpretation would lead to the conclusion that conscious individuals whose respiratory and circulatory functions are artificially supported are actually dead, or that individuals whose brain is entirely and irreversibly destroyed may be alive. We explore solutions to mitigate the inconsistency. (shrink)

Despite the central presence of materialism in the history of philosophy, there is no universal consensus on the meaning of the word “matter” nor of the doctrine of philosophical materialism. Dictionaries of philosophy often identify this philosophy with its most reductionist and even eliminative versions, in line with Robert Boyle’s seventeenth century coinage of the term. But when we take the concept back in time to Greek philosophers and forward onto our own times, we recognize more inclusive forms of materialism (...) as well as complex interplays with non-materialist thought about the place of matter in reality, including Christian philosophy and German idealism. We define philosophical materialism in its most general way both positively (the identification of reality with matter understood as changeability and plurality) and negatively (the negation of disembodied living beings and hypostatized ideas). This inclusive approach to philosophical materialism offers a new light to illuminate a critical history of the concept of matter and materialism from Ancient Greece to the present that is also attentive to scientific developments. By following the most important connections and discontinuities among theoretical frameworks on the idea of matter, we present a general thread that offers a rich and plural, but highly cohesive, field of investigation. Finally, we propose building on rich non-reductionist materialist philosophies, such as Mario Bunge’s systemic materialism and Gustavo Bueno’s discontinuous materialism, to elaborate powerful theoretical alternatives to both physicalism and spiritualism. (shrink)

(2014). Cross-world luck at the time of decision is a problem for compatibilists as well. Philosophical Explorations: Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 112-125. doi: 10.1080/13869795.2014.912673.

A popular accusation against moral relativism is that it goes too far in its vindication of tolerance. The idea behind accusations like this can be summarized in the slogan, frequently attributed to relativism, that “anything goes”. The aim of this paper is to defend moral relativism from the accusation that it is an “anything goes” view; from the accusation that it forces us to suspend our judgment in cases in which we do not think we should even be allowed to. (...) In the end, relativism is not an “anything goes” view because it is not a view about what goes, but about the way things go—about what goes on when we say that something is morally right or wrong. There is indeed a view, sometimes called “relativism”, that forces us to suspend our judgment about practices that do not allow for such comfort, but it is not so much moral relativism as moral contextualism. Apparently, though, the most salient alternative to “anything goes” views such as contextualism is not moral relativism. It is moral objectivism, according to which there is a fact of the matter about moral issues. However, I show that moral objectivism too ends up being an “anything goes” view unless the objectivist takes herself to be endowed with “God’s point of view”, which I prove troublesome. (shrink)

Journal of Social Philosophy, Volume 53, Issue 3, Page 421-440, Fall 2022.

Photos. "This is a masterly book which brings together the two major Bacons--the politician and the philosopher. . .

This paper defends the claim that pragmatic encroachment—the idea that knowledge is sensitive to the practical stakes of believing—can explain a distinctive kind of epistemic injustice: the injustice that occurs when prejudice causes someone to know less than they otherwise would. This encroachment injustice, as we call it, occurs when the threat of being met with prejudice raises the stakes for someone to rely on her belief when acting, by raising the level of evidential support required for knowledge. We explain (...) this notion of encroachment injustice, connect it to the empirical literature on implicit bias, and defend it against important objections. (shrink)