Denying the conclusion of a valid argument is not generally permissible if one suspends on one premise of the argument and believes the other premise. This can happen when one’s only critique of an argument is to undermine one premise. There is incoherence there. Here I examine how this is relevant to the debate on evolutionary debunking of our moral knowledge. I argue that one significant line of response to the debunker is unsuccessful: merely undermining the debunker’s empirical claim. It (...) is not rational to respond this way and believe one has moral knowledge. First I present evidence that prominent critics of the debunking argument merely undermine the debunker’s empirical claim. Then I argue for two premises: merely undermining a premise can only justify a middling amount of doubt towards the premise and we should have no more doubt about the conclusion of a valid argument than we do about the premises. Implications of the argument are explored. (shrink)

The unity thesis says that epistemic norms and zetetic norms (norms of inquiry) comprise a unified normative domain. We argue against the unity thesis by presenting cases where zetetic norms issue requirements to adopt doxastic attitudes (essential to the inquiry) which are forbidden by nearly platitudinous epistemic norms. We canvas a range of responses unity theorists might offer to resist our conclusion and argue that they either do not dissolve the conflict between the epistemic and zetetic norms or introduce unmotivated (...) restrictions on the space of permissible inquiries. (shrink)

On one view of the traditional doxastic attitudes, belief is credence 1, disbelief is credence 0 and suspension is any precise credence between 0 and 1. In ‘Rational agnosticism and degrees of belief’ (2013) Jane Friedman argues, against this view, that there are cases where a credence of 0 is required but where suspension is permitted. If this were so, belief, disbelief and suspension could not be identified or reduced to the aforementioned credences. I argue that Friedman relies on two (...) different notions of epistemic rationality and two different kinds of evidential absence. I clarify these distinctions and show that her argument is either not valid or includes implausible premisses, twice over. If this is so, the view that belief is credence 1, disbelief is credence 0 and suspension is any precise credence between 0 and 1 cannot be rejected on the grounds that Friedman proposes. (shrink)

The unity thesis is the thesis that epistemic norms and zetetic norms comprise a unified normative domain. We argue against the unity thesis by presenting cases where the zetetic norms issue requirements to adopt doxastic attitudes (essential to the inquiry) which are forbidden by nearly platitudinous epistemic norms. After arguing that our cases are an improvement upon extant cases in the literature, we canvas a range of responses unity theorists might offer to resist our conclusion and argue that they either (...) do not dissolve the conflict between the epistemic and zetetic norms or introduce unmotivated restrictions on the space of permissible inquiries. (shrink)

Traditionally epistemologists have taken doxastic states to come in three varieties—belief, disbelief, and suspension. Recently many epistemologists have taken our doxastic condition to be usefully represented by credences—quantified degrees of belief. Moreover, some have thought that this new credal picture is sufficient to account for everything we want to explain with the old traditional picture. Therefore, belief, disbelief, and suspension must map onto the new picture somehow. In this paper I challenge that possibility. Approaching the question from the angle of (...) suspension, I argue that all possible credal accounts face serious challenges. They either (i) falsify central claims that uphold the credal picture itself or (ii) do not permit suspension in cases where it is permissible or (iii) rule out the possibility of plainly possible confidence comparisons. (shrink)

En 1947, Emmanuel Levinas publica un breve ensayo titulado “Ser judío” (“Être juif”) en la revista Confluences. A partir de una reflexión sobre la “cuestión” o “problema judío” (Judenfrage), se pregunta por la “razón de ser” o justificación de la existencia judía. Su ensayo ha sido objeto de una reapropiación por parte de algunos intérpretes que hacen de la afirmación de Levinas de “ser judío” el punto de apoyo para una conversión ontológica o heideggerianización de su pensamiento. El presente (...) artículo analiza críticamente una de estas perspectivas hermenéuticas, la lectura de Sarah Hammerschlag, atendiendo a dos cuestiones decisivas abiertas por el texto de Levinas: la de la identidad judía y la del judaísmo en la historia. Expone una aproximación alternativa al texto de 1947 que supone otro modo de comprender el sentido de los análisis de Levinas sobre ser judío. (shrink)

Desde su inicial estadía en Friburgo entre 1928 y 1929 hasta sus primeros escritos de la década de los años treinta, Emmanuel Levinas expresó su entusiasta adhesión a la nueva orientación fenomenológica alemana, en particular a la filosofía existencial de Martin Heidegger. Sin embargo, tras la toma del poder del nazismo en 1933 y la adhesión del maestro de Friburgo al nuevo régimen, el filósofo francés llevó a cabo una revisión crítica de los fundamentos de la “hermenéutica de la (...) facticidad” como de su posible afinidad electiva con la “filosofía del hitlerismo”. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar las reflexiones levinasianas sobre aquel trasfondo compartido entre la ontología heideggeriana y el nazismo, a partir de tres mitos presentes en la convocatoria palingenésica nacionalsocialista: la apelación a la “comunidad de la guerra”, a la “comunidad del trabajo” y a la “comunidad de la sangre”. (shrink)

En la década de 1920, Emmanuel Levinas fue cautivado por la nueva comprensión de la existencia del _ontologismo _heideggeriano en su lucha contra la filosofía neokantiana de Ernst Cassirer. Sin embargo, esta fascinación inicial declinó tras el ascenso del nazismo al poder y la adhesión de Heidegger al nuevo régimen nacionalsocialista. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el desplazamiento _dramático _de Levinas desde su temprana atracción por la hermenéutica existencial hasta su posterior alejamiento crítico.

En el siguiente artículo se expondrán algunos apartados específicos de la obra Los principios de la ciencia de Eduardo Nicol y cómo tal texto tuvo una repercusión destacable dentro del pensamiento latinoamericano de la década de los sesenta. El planteamiento aquí expuesto gira en torno a la influencia de Nicol que se desprende del momento en que nuestro autor viaja y publica extensivamente por diversos países en América Latina, ejemplos de ello serían sus cursos en la Universidad de La Habana (...) en 1955 o su visita a Colombia a principios de los 60. Momento en que sus publicaciones estimuladas por la editorial Fondo de Cultura Económica le llevaron a ser estudiado en diferentes facultades de manera interdisciplinaria. A partir de esto, sin la pretensión de abarcar las ramificaciones que puede llegar a tener el pensamiento de Nicol en América Latina, nos centraremos en un caso específico, la presencia de su obra en el libro ¿Extensión o comunicación? del pensador Paulo Freire. (shrink)

This essay looks at Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz to trace the film's transformation of a mechanistic scientific discourse into affective indeterminacy. Through patterns of repetition of a key event, the film considers its protagonist as a complex web of constantly shifting forces – a network of biological, social, political and semiotic flows coalescing in a body that exists in a state of perpetual oscillation between force and mutilation, ecstasy and pain. The role of physics and other materialist discourses in the film (...) is thus not to fixate subjectivity, but rather to provide a passage into its affective transformations and the intense desubjectification that results. (shrink)

Background Physicians play a fundamental role in the care of patients at the end of life that includes knowing how to accompany patients, alleviate their suffering and inform them about their situation. However, in reality, doctors are part of this society that is reticent to face death and lack the proper education to manage it in their clinical practice. The objective of this study was to explore the residents’ concepts of death and related aspects, their reactions and actions in situations (...) pertaining to death in their practice, and their perceptions about existing and necessary training conditions. Methods A qualitative approach was used to examine these points in depth based on interviews conducted with seven oncology residents. Results Participants do not have a clear concept of death and, although it is seen as a common phenomenon, they consider it an enemy to beat. The situations to which respondents react more frequently with frustration and sadness after the death of patients were when they felt emotionally involved, if they identify with the patient, in cases of pediatric patients and with patients who refuse treatment. To deal with death, participants raise barriers and attempt to become insensitive. Although residents in this study recognize the importance of training to learn how to better deal with death, it seems they are not fully invested in reaching more of it. Conclusions Participants face death in a daily basis without the necessary training, which appears to impact them more than they are willing to accept. They do not achieve their goals managing situations regarding death as well as they assume they do. Despite recognizing the need of more training and support for better coping with death, they prefer to continue to learn from their experience. Trial registration Not applicable. (shrink)

The epigraphic poems written in Arabic in the Alhambra and Generalife have been studied for more than four hundred years. Therefore, their authorship and meaning have been determined. In the present paper, I will analyze one of the two poems that had not received any critical attention so far and, at the same time, I will try to explain the meaning of this poem within the Na?rid and North African context.

This study analyzes the logic behind the development of environmental responsiveness in companies that are located in geographical clusters. Drawing on previous research, we contend that competitiveness and legitimation are important sources of variation in these companies’ environmental responses. In particular, the companies’ perceived rivalry, competition tracking capabilities, interaction with industry associations and network embeddedness influence their competitiveness and legitimation motivations for environmental responsiveness. We used structural equation modeling to test these hypotheses on a sample of 251-clustered agricultural firms in (...) Spain. The results support the hypotheses and provide a number of insights about the underlying motivations behind going green in geographical clusters. (shrink)

Se ha acusado a los jesuitas, muchas veces, de ser una orden híbrida: son religiosos y también seculares, se preocupan del Evangelio y también de la economía, política, ciencias, etc. ¿De dónde proviene esta particular forma de ser? Pensamos que la clave para responder a esta pregunta está en la preocupación de los jesuitas por la idea del bien común que ya se puede encontrar en sus documentos fundacionales.

Este trabajo esboza una forma de justificar el principio estructurador central de una teoría veritista de la evaluación epistémica, en respuesta a críticas planteadas por Eleonora Cresto a mi defensa del veritismo frente a una serie de objeciones en el sentido de que no es capaz de explicar la naturaleza y el valor del entendimiento. La primera sección presenta el esbozo de justificación del núcleo de una teoría veritista; la segunda responde a críticas más específicas de Cresto. This paper sketches (...) a way to justify the central tenet of a veritistic theory of epistemic evaluation, in response to problems raised by Eleonora Cresto concerning my defense of veritism, against a series of objetions to the effect that veritistic epistemology is uncapable of explaining the nature and value of understanding. The first section presents the sketch of justification of the nucleus of a veritistic theory, the second responds to some of Cresto's more specific criticisms. (shrink)

Del 15 al 17 de noviembre de 2012 tuvo lugar el Congreso de Teo-logía “A los 50 años del Concilio Vaticano II ”, organizado por las Facultades de Teología de España y Portugal, en el Auditorio Juan Pablo II de la Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca. El acto inaugural fue presidido por el cardenal Antonio María Rouco Varela, arzobispo de Madrid y presidente de la Conferencia Episco-pal Española, titular del centro académico.

Las aminas biógenas son compuestos nitrogenados de pequeño tamaño con actividad biológica que se forman por la descarboxilación enzimática de ciertos aminoácidos. Las aminas biógenas se encuentran presentes en todos los seres vivos, en los que participan en procesos biológicas de gran importancia. Sin em­bargo, debido al metabolismo de algunos microorganismos, estos compuestos se pueden acumular en alimentos en concentraciones elevadas, constituyendo un riesgo para la salud de los consumido­res. Para que las aminas biógenas alcancen estas concentraciones elevadas en los (...) alimentos se requiere, como condición indispensa­ble, la presencia de microrganismos productores, por lo que se han desarrollado diferentes métodos para detectar la presencia de los mismos. Entre estos métodos, aquellos basados en técnicas inde­pendientes de cultivo, como la PCR, presentan ventajas como su gran especificidad, el hecho de ser rápidos y de fácil realización, y que en muchos casos ni siquiera es necesario un tratamiento previo de la muestra, lo que facilita su incorporación a las plantas de elabo­ración. En este trabajo se describen algunos de los métodos dispo­nibles en la actualidad para la detección de microorganismos pro­ductores de aminas biógenas, así como sus posibles aplicaciones. (shrink)

We study the relationship between values-work and virtue ethics in organizations. Drawing from an ethnographic study of a hospice for the poor in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we demonstrate how organizational practices of values-work are used to combat the disenchantment of modern medical treatment of death. We identify three core sets of practices, _Humility, Sympathetic Impartiality,_ and _Practical Wisdom_, each premised on humanistic virtues used to counteract the totalizing pressures of rationalization and professionalization of modern medicine. We theorize how the Sower (...) Method of organizing a “good death” might be applied to counteract the disenchanting effects of organizing contemporary work. (shrink)

The histories of philosophy in Mexico published between 1943 and 2016 display gender inequality, as they include many more male than female authors. But are they a true and objective portrayal of women’s participation in, and contribution to, Mexican philosophy? In this essay I discuss why we should perform an ethical revision of the selection criteria used in the histories of philosophy in Mexico, and I will present some proposals that I believe could help repair the epistemic injustice that women (...) have been historically subjected to in this field. (shrink)

En el siguiente trabajo se explicará el Principio de Tolerancia en Carnap y su relación con valores derivados del pragmatismo en la elección de sistemas lógicos. La intención es la de hacer un sucinto repaso a la filosofía de Carnap que nos lleve a comprender las bases de tal principio, en el cual existen premisas pragmáticas que incluyen valores Ilustrados en el ejercicio de la ciencia. Tales valores nos ayudarían a elegir entre sistemas científicos (matemáticas newtonianas o einstenianas; geometrías euclidianas (...) o no euclidianas) que aunque igualmente lógicos, son seleccionados acorde con su función práctica. Esto, siguiendo la línea interpretativa de A. W. Carus, representa cierta novedad en la exposición clásica de Rudolf Carnap. (shrink)

Over the history of research on sign languages, much scholarship has highlighted the pervasive presence of signs whose forms relate to their meaning in a non-arbitrary way. The presence of these forms suggests that sign language vocabularies are shaped, at least in part, by a pressure toward maintaining a link between form and meaning in wordforms. We use a vector space approach to test the ways this pressure might shape sign language vocabularies, examining how non-arbitrary forms are distributed within the (...) lexicons of two unrelated sign languages. Vector space models situate the representations of words in a multi-dimensional space where the distance between words indexes their relatedness in meaning. Using phonological information from the vocabularies of American Sign Language and British Sign Language, we tested whether increased similarity between the semantic representations of signs corresponds to increased phonological similarity. The results of the computational analysis showed a significant positive relationship between phonological form and semantic meaning for both sign languages, which was strongest when the sign language lexicons were organized into clusters of semantically related signs. The analysis also revealed variation in the strength of patterns across the form-meaning relationships seen between phonological parameters within each sign language, as well as between the two languages. This shows that while the connection between form and meaning is not entirely language specific, there are cross-linguistic differences in how these mappings are realized for signs in each language, suggesting that arbitrariness as well as cognitive or cultural influences may play a role in how these patterns are realized. The results of this analysis not only contribute to our understanding of the distribution of non-arbitrariness in sign language lexicons, but also demonstrate a new way that computational modeling can be harnessed in lexicon-wide investigations of sign languages. (shrink)

Se ha acusado a los jesuitas, muchas veces, de ser una orden híbrida: son religiosos y también seculares, se preocupan del Evangelio y también de la economía, política, ciencias, etc. ¿De dónde proviene esta particular forma de ser? Pensamos que la clave para responder a esta pregunta está en la preocupación de los jesuitas por la idea del bien común que ya se puede encontrar en sus documentos fundacionales.

This study tested the direct effects of Dark Tetrad traits on organizational and interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors. We also examined the moderating effects of the three dimensions of organizational justice – distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice – on the Dark Tetrad-CWBs relationships. Based on the data from 613 employees across different occupations, the results revealed that only psychopathy and sadism had significant effects on CWBs targeted at the organization. The results also supported the direct effect of sadism on (...) interpersonal CWBs. The findings confirmed the moderating role of interactional justice but differentially, depending on the dark trait and the target of workplace deviance. Whereas low and medium levels of interactional justice moderated the relationship between Machiavellianism and CWBs directed to the organization, it did not play any role in narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism. Regarding CWBs aimed at other people, interactional justice emerged as a significant moderator in Machiavellianism and sadism. But, whereas sadistic employees performed more harmful behaviors toward other individuals whatever their level of interactional justice, if people high in Machiavellianism perceived a high fair interpersonal treatment, they did not show deviant behaviors directed at other employees. The paper concludes with some suggestions and recommendations about the relevance of organizational justice in the influence of dark personality traits on CWBs. (shrink)

Los siglos del gótico final de la Edad Media fueron, en el género pictórico en concreto, una época de continuidad de presupuestos en el terreno del arte y de incorporación de elementos naturalistas, pero también reflejaron la importancia del influjo del pensamiento en boga, por ejemplo, el del hermetismo. The artist-craftsman and microcosm in late Middle Age The centuries of the final Gothic of the Middles Ages were, particularly in the pictorial genre, a time of continuity of presuppositions in the (...) realm of arts as well as incorporation of naturalistic elements. However, they also reflected the significant influence of ways of thinking in vogue, such as hermeticism, for instance. (shrink)