Hegel mentions Die Leiden des jungen Werther’s main character as an example of his personal notion of “beautiful soul”. The German philosopher doesn’t explicitly include Bekenntnisse einer schönen Seele’s main character. The omission is curious, because the aforementioned work is a Goethe’s Roman too. The aim of this paper is to provide an explanation of the choice made by Hegel.

Resumen: Varios comentaristas han sostenido que la ontología de la concepción hegeliana de “alma bella” se funda en la determinación conocida como “mal infinito”, desarrollada en la Doctrina del Ser. En correlación con lo antedicho, comentaristas como Paha, Hinchman, Solomon y Harris sostienen que Hegel pensaba en el sistema filosófico fichteano al momento de desarrollar su concepción de “alma bella”. Sin embargo, esta hipótesis de lectura adolece de algunas falencias que serán desarrolladas a continuación. En primer lugar, es necesario realizar (...) una breve exposición de la figura del Espíritu conocida como “alma bella”; en segundo lugar, se describirá la determinación denominada “mal infinito”; en tercer lugar, se desarrollarán los problemas que conlleva la mencionada exégesis; en cuarto lugar, se expondrán las objeciones a la inclusión de la filosofía de Fichte como ejemplo de la concepción hegeliana de “alma bella”. Finalmente, se expondrán las conclusiones.: Many scholars have stated that the ontology of the Hegelian notion of “beautiful soul” is grounded in the category known as “bad infinite”, developed in the Doctrine of Being. Regarding this, scholars like Paha, Hinchman, Solomon and Harris state that Hegel was thinking of the Fichtean philosophical system as He developed his own notion of “beautiful soul”. However, this interpretation has some issues, which will be developed below. First, we give a short explanation about the shape of the Spirit known as “beautiful soul”. Second, we describe the category called “bad infinite”. Third, we show the issues related to the interpretation. Fourth, we present the objections to the inclusion of the Fichtean philosophy as an example of the Hegelian notion of “beautiful soul”. Finally, we present the conclusions. (shrink)

Numerosos intérpretes asumen que Hegel incluía implícitamente a los ironistas dentro del elenco de pensadores cuya filosofía puede clasificarse como el pensamiento de un “alma bella”. Observamos una estrecha relación entre la mencionada figura del Espíritu y la ironía romántica. Pero dicho vínculo no puede confundirse con la identificación entre una y otra. El “alma bella” se desdobla en dos lados: la conciencia juzgante y la conciencia actuante. La primera proclama que intuye la ley moral y juzga las acciones de (...) la conciencia que actúa según la normatividad intuida. La segunda sostiene que actúa según su interpretación particular del deber. La conciencia irónica es confundida con la conciencia actuante. Veremos más adelante que la analogía adolece de una serie de falencias que no permiten sostener la similitud. (shrink)

Este trabalho analisa a Administração Pública e o poder regulamentar das agências reguladoras no Brasil, a partir da Constituição de 1988. Utilizam-se a pesquisa bibliográfica e o método dedutivo. Constata-se que essas agências foram criadas, no Brasil, em um contexto de transformação do Estado, que buscava afastar-se da intervenção direta na ordem econômica e adotar um modelo gerencial, focado mais na fiscalização e regulação dos serviços públicos, do que em sua prestação direta. Os resultados indicam que os limites do poder (...) regulamentar dessas agências, entretanto, é objeto de controvérsia, face aos limites decorrentes do princípio da legalidade. (shrink)

Hegel afirma que la perspectiva del “alma bella” es sostenida por seguidores de Fichte que confunden el Yo absoluto con el yo psicofísico. Estos pensadores y literatos son reconocidos como miembros del Romanticismo alemán. Curiosamente, Hegel no menciona la obra de Jean Paul Richter entre estos casos. Jean Paul sostiene la identificación entre el Yo absoluto fichteano y la conciencia individual. Además, el autor de Hesperus define a los personajes principales de su novela como “almas bellas” y les atribuye cualidades (...) similares a las expuestas por Hegel en la concepción de su figura del Espíritu. El objetivo del presente artículo es demostrar la coincidencia entre la noción hegeliana de “alma bella” y la representación de la subjetividad expuesta por Jean Paul Richter en Hesperus. (shrink)

This study measures the importance of finalizing university higher education in the income of Peruvian workers. Thus, information from the National Household Survey of Peru is analyzed, estimating three regression models based on who finished university studies and who did not. Our results show that completing university presents higher private returns than not doing it, and that the gap in returns by sex is shortened in those who finish their studies. In addition, there are higher returns in urban areas, capital (...) cities, quality universities, and in those who do not study an education career. (shrink)

This study focuses on taxonomic and typological methods of innovation policies in the European institutional context. Although many types of policies affect innovation, no universally accepted criteria exist to classify them. As innovation policy in a myriad of thematic areas—systemic model—has become pluralized, this article offers a method for classification. Such policies are grouped and categorized according to biological and neofunctional approaches.

Due to the difficulty in solving combinatorial optimization problems, it is necessary to improve the performance of the algorithms by improving techniques to deal with complex optimizations. This research addresses the metaheuristics of marriage in honey-bees optimization based on the behavior of bees. The current study proposes a technique for solving combinatorial optimization problems within proper computation times. The purpose of this study focuses on the travelling salesperson problem and the application of chaotic methods in important sections of the MBO (...) metaheuristic. Three experiments were conducted to measure the efficiency and quality of the solutions: MBO with chaos to generate initial solutions ; MBO with chaos in the workers ; and MBO with chaos to generate initial solutions and the workers. The application of chaotic functions in MBO was significantly better at solving the travelling salesperson problem. (shrink)

La contaduría pública se ha vuelto una profesión importante en la actualidad, dado el cargo de confianza que asumen dentro de una institución al ser los emisores de información financiera relevante para la gerencia o la alta dirección. A su vez, es importante resaltar la gran cantidad de casos relacionados con la pérdida de valores y actos de corrupción que se presentan a diario en los medios de comunicación, la cual refleja la falta de ética de los profesionales a la (...) hora de ejercer sus funciones. En este contexto, se resalta el concepto de ética profesional, el cual garantiza el buen desempeño de un profesional bajo una serie de normas éticas que regulan su comportamiento. Por ello, el objetivo del presente artículo fue explorar el rol de la ética profesional en la formación y el ejercicio profesional del contador público. Los datos y consejos proporcionados por un contador definen en gran medida las decisiones tomadas respecto a la estructura financiera de una empresa u organización, razón por la cual un contador debe ser una persona íntegra e interesada en perseguir el interés general. Dadas las deficiencias existentes en la integridad ética y moral de los contadores, tanto universidades como empresas están implementando medidas para combatir este problema, buscando fortalecer la confianza de la población en la contaduría y prevenir que los futuros profesionales caigan en prácticas inmorales que dañan a la sociedad. (shrink)

This study analyses the performance and market timing of US socially responsible (SR) mutual funds in relation to business cycle regime shifts and different grouping criteria: Ethical strategy focus, SR attributes scores and Morningstar category. Different methodologies are applied and results highlight the importance of considering specific benchmarks related to the investment style in evaluating the SR fund performance. Our results show that, in aggregate, the abnormal performance of SR funds is negative and significant in expansion periods, but no significant (...) differences are found in recession periods. When specific benchmarks are considered, performance improves in recession periods, particularly for environmental funds, those with high SR attributes scores, and funds from the nine Morningstar style box categories. Market timing of SR funds takes positive values and is partially significant. Previous evidence of negative timing after a recent financial crisis vanishes when specific benchmarks are considered. For comparative purposes the performance of conventional US mutual funds is also analysed. There are no significant differences between the performance of SR and conventional mutual funds when a fair comparison is made within the same style categories. When all the SR funds are considered, they underperform conventional funds in expansion sub‐periods, but in recession sub‐periods they perform better, although the differences observed are not significant. (shrink)

The relation between ex falso and disjunctive syllogism, or even the justification of ex falso based on disjunctive syllogism, is an old topic in the history of logic. This old topic reappears in contemporary logic since the introduction of minimal logic by Johansson. The disjunctive syllogism seems to be part of our general non-problematic inferential practices and superficially it does not seem to be related to or to depend on our acceptance of the frequently disputable ex falso rule. We know (...) that the acceptance of the ex falso is a sufficient condition for the acceptance of the disjunctive syllogism, but the interesting question is: is the ex falso a necessary condition for the acceptance of the disjunctive syllogism? The aim of the present paper is to discuss some possible ways to define systems that combines the preservation of the disjunctive syllogism with the rejection of the ex falso. (shrink)

BackgroundPreprint usage is growing rapidly in the life sciences; however, questions remain on the relative quality of preprints when compared to published articles. An objective dimension of quality that is readily measurable is completeness of reporting, as transparency can improve the reader’s ability to independently interpret data and reproduce findings.MethodsIn this observational study, we initially compared independent samples of articles published in bioRxiv and in PubMed-indexed journals in 2016 using a quality of reporting questionnaire. After that, we performed paired comparisons (...) between preprints from bioRxiv to their own peer-reviewed versions in journals.ResultsPeer-reviewed articles had, on average, higher quality of reporting than preprints, although the difference was small, with absolute differences of 5.0% [95% CI 1.4, 8.6] and 4.7% [95% CI 2.4, 7.0] of reported items in the independent samples and paired sample comparison, respectively. There were larger differences favoring peer-reviewed articles in subjective ratings of how clearly titles and abstracts presented the main findings and how easy it was to locate relevant reporting information. Changes in reporting from preprints to peer-reviewed versions did not correlate with the impact factor of the publication venue or with the time lag from bioRxiv to journal publication.ConclusionsOur results suggest that, on average, publication in a peer-reviewed journal is associated with improvement in quality of reporting. They also show that quality of reporting in preprints in the life sciences is within a similar range as that of peer-reviewed articles, albeit slightly lower on average, supporting the idea that preprints should be considered valid scientific contributions. (shrink)

t Intentional sampling methods are non-randomized procedures that select a group of individuals for a sample with the purpose of meeting specific prescribed criteria. In this paper we extend previous works related to intentional sampling, and address the problem of sequential allocation for clinical trials with few patients. Roughly speaking, patients are enrolled sequentially, according to the order in which they start the treatment at the clinic or hospital. The allocation problem consists in assigning each new patient to one, and (...) only one, of the alternative treatment arms. The main requisite is that the profiles in the alternative arms remain similar with respect to some relevant patients’ attributes (age, gender, disease, symptom severity and others). We perform numerical experiments based on a real case study and discuss how to conveniently set up perturbation parameters, in order to yield a suitable balance between optimality – the similarity among the relative frequencies of patients in the several categories for both arms, and decoupling – the absence of a tendency to allocate each pair of patients consistently to the same arm. (shrink)

8 March, now known as International Women’s Day, is a day for feminist claims where demonstrations are organized in over 150 countries, with the participation of millions of women all around the world. These demonstrations can be viewed as collective rituals and thus focus attention on the processes that facilitate different psychosocial effects. This work aims to explore the mechanisms involved in participation in the demonstrations of 8 March 2020, collective and ritualized feminist actions, and their correlates associated with personal (...) well-being and collective well-being, collective efficacy and collective growth, and behavioral intention to support the fight for women’s rights. To this end, a cross-cultural study was conducted with the participation of 2,854 people from countries in Latin America and Europe, with a retrospective correlational cross-sectional design and a convenience sample. Participants were divided between demonstration participants and non-demonstrators or followers who monitored participants through the media and social networks. Compared with non-demonstrators and with males, female and non-binary gender respondents had greater scores in mechanisms and criterion variables. Further random-effects model meta-analyses revealed that the perceived emotional synchrony was consistently associated with more proximal mechanisms, as well as with criterion variables. Finally, sequential moderation analyses showed that proposed mechanisms successfully mediated the effects of participation on every criterion variable. These results indicate that participation in 8M marches and demonstrations can be analyzed through the literature on collective rituals. As such, collective participation implies positive outcomes both individually and collectively, which are further reinforced through key psychological mechanisms, in line with a Durkheimian approach to collective rituals. (shrink)

The goal of this paper is to survey, in a uniform and systematic way, the main results regarding networks of evolutionary processors reported so far. First, we recall the results concerning the computational power of these networks viewed as language generating devices. Then, we briefly present a few NP-complete problems and recall how they were solved in linear time by networks of evolutionary processors with linearly bounded resources (nodes, ruIes, symbols).

This article describes research to build an embodied conversational agent as an interface to a question-and-answer system about a National Science Foundation program. We call this ECA the LifeLike Avatar, and it can interact with its users in spoken natural language to answer general as well as specific questions about specific topics. In an idealized case, the LifeLike Avatar could conceivably provide a user with a level of interaction such that he or she would not be certain as to whether (...) he or she is talking to the actual person via video teleconference. This could be considered a extended version of the seminal Turing test. Although passing such a test is still far off, our work moves the science in that direction. The Uncanny Valley notwithstanding, applications of such lifelike interfaces could include those where specific instructors/caregivers could be represented as stand-ins for the actual person in situations where personal representation is important. Possible areas that come to mind that might benefit from these lifelike ECAs include health-care support for elderly/disabled patients in extended home care, education/training, and knowledge preservation. Another more personal application would be to posthumously preserve elements of the persona of a loved one by family members. We apply this approach to a Q/a system for knowledge preservation and dissemination, where the specific individual who had this knowledge was to retire from the US National Science Foundation. The system is described in detail, and evaluations were performed to determine how well the system was perceived by users. (shrink)

Este repertorio registra información de Husserl en la Internet, una breve historia sobre los Nachlaß, el índice de la Husserliana, un listado de las publicaciones de y sobre Husserl disponibles en la Biblioteca Central de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, y los artículos sobre Husserl que se encuentran en la Hemeroteca. El listado abarca las publicaciones existentes hasta el año 1997.

Cet article présente chez José Carlos Mariátegui la construction d’une critique dialectique de la modernité depuis la périphérie de l’Occident, contribuant ainsi à une histoire intellectuelle marxiste décoloniale. Inséré dans l’horizon intellectuel et épistémique de son temps, Mariátegui a produit un récit critique du système capitaliste périphérique, mettant en débat à la fois sa face moderne et sa face coloniale, destructrice et violente. Nous soutenons que l’essayiste péruvien s’est éloigné à la fois de la vision centrée sur l’Ouest, caractérisée (...) par le marxisme orthodoxe, et des interprétations selon lesquelles les lieux périphériques seraient des espaces pratiquement extérieurs à la modernité occidentale. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Acosta, José de (1539–1600) Alberdi, Juan Bautista (1810–84) Bello, Andrés (1781–1865) Bilbao, Francisco (1823–65) Bolkvar, Simón (1783–1830) Casas, Bartolomé de las (1484–1566) Caso, Antonio (1883–1946) Cruz, Sor Juana Inés de la (1651–95) da Costa, Newton Carneiro Affonso (b. 1929) Dussel, Enrique (b. 1934) Frondizi, Risieri (1910–83) Gaos, José (1900–69) González Prada, Manuel (1848–1918) Gracia, Jorge J. E. (b. 1942) Haya de la Torre, Victor Raúl (1895–1979) Hostos, Eugenio Marka de (1839–1903) Ingenieros, José (1877–1925) Korn, Alejandro (...) (1860–1936) Lastarria, José Victorino (1817–88) Lemos, Miguel (1854–1917) Mariátegui, José Carlos (1895–1930) Martk, José (1853–95) Méndez Sierra, Justo (1848–1912) Mora, José Maria Luis (1794–1850) Miró Quesada, Francisco (b. 1918) Rabossi, Eduardo (1930–2005) Ramos, Samuel (1897–1959) Rodó, José Enrique (1872–1917) Romero, Francisco (1891–1962) Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de (1499–1590) Salazar Bondy, Augusto (1925–74) Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino (1811–88) Ofelia Schutte (b. 1945) Sepslveda, Juan Ginés de (ca. 1494–1573) Torretti, Roberto (b. 1930) Vasconcelos, José (1882–1959) Vaz Ferreira, Carlos (1872–1958) Villoro, Luis (b. 1922) Vitoria, Francisco de (ca. 1483–1546) Zea Aguilar, Leopoldo (1912–2004) Acknowledgment Further Reading. (shrink)

Many of the computing systems programmed using Machine Learning are opaque: it is difficult to know why they do what they do or how they work. Explainable Artificial Intelligence aims to develop analytic techniques that render opaque computing systems transparent, but lacks a normative framework with which to evaluate these techniques’ explanatory successes. The aim of the present discussion is to develop such a framework, paying particular attention to different stakeholders’ distinct explanatory requirements. Building on an analysis of “opacity” from (...) philosophy of science, this framework is modeled after accounts of explanation in cognitive science. The framework distinguishes between the explanation-seeking questions that are likely to be asked by different stakeholders, and specifies the general ways in which these questions should be answered so as to allow these stakeholders to perform their roles in the Machine Learning ecosystem. By applying the normative framework to recently developed techniques such as input heatmapping, feature-detector visualization, and diagnostic classification, it is possible to determine whether and to what extent techniques from Explainable Artificial Intelligence can be used to render opaque computing systems transparent and, thus, whether they can be used to solve the Black Box Problem. (shrink)

Según cierto sector de la posteoría, Ilya Prigogine habría creado una nueva alianza con la naturaleza bajo el signo de una conjunción de ciencia y filosofía, donde los estudios sobre la irreversibilidad, las estructuras disipativas y las estructuras auto-organizativas juegan un rol preponderante ..

In the paper below the authors describe three super-tasks. They show that although the abstract notion of a super-task may be, as Benacerraf suggested, a conceptual mismatch, the completion of the three super-tasks involved can be defined rather naturally, without leading to inconsistency, by means of a particular kinematical interpretation combined with a principle of continuity.

In 1836, at 19 years of age, Colombian philosopher José Eusebio Caro wrote a sociological and anthropological treatise titled Mecánica social that illustrates in context the reception of French philosophy in 19th-century Colombian philosophical thought. The purpose of this paper is to present critically Caro’s theory of the will and to bring to light the philosophical sources from which he draw, especially physiology and its role as theoretical basis for both ideology and a new “scientific” anthropology that could, in turn, (...) provide support for a science of morals and legislation, a major goal of French radical liberal thought. (shrink)

Las reflexiones de Pascal sobre la diversión, que arrojan luces sobre las complejas singularidades de la condición humana, destacando su precariedad, ¿son pertinentes para la sociedad actual? Esa es la pregunta a la que intenta responder este artículo. En el mundo actual estamos inmersos en una paradoja donde divertirse es un régimen de elementos dispersos, que se traduce en la cultura de lo efímero, a la que hay que renunciar para restaurar algo consistente; pero, gran paradoja, mientras uno se divierte (...) no deja de involucrarse, en un mundo al revés, en caminos laterales, luchando por crear nuevas formas de diversión, por el miedo o la incapacidad para enfrentarse a sí mismo. Pascal nos ayuda a encontrar luces para salir de esa disyuntiva. (shrink)

This article presents Nietzsche's notion of the Übermensch (le surhomme in French) as a development of romanticism conceived of as a quest to reveal the sentiment that defines or characterizes each individual as an individual. This approach reveals the affinities between Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, notably with respect to Schopenhauer's notion of Will that Nietzsche transforms into that of the Will to power, thereby underscoring what can be considered as Nietzsche's individualism. We argue that as a romantic notion, the notion of (...) Übermensch fashions an ideal of what life could be but overlooks the importance of otherness and the role that otherness plays in defining the individual. Going beyond Nietzsche implies that the Übermensch, as a logical construct neglects the desire to please that constitutes an important part of an individual's relation with otherness. (shrink)

This paper considers the way mathematical and computational models are used in network neuroscience to deliver mechanistic explanations. Two case studies are considered: Recent work on klinotaxis by Caenorhabditis elegans, and a longstanding research effort on the network basis of schizophrenia in humans. These case studies illustrate the various ways in which network, simulation and dynamical models contribute to the aim of representing and understanding network mechanisms in the brain, and thus, of delivering mechanistic explanations. After outlining this mechanistic construal (...) of network neuroscience, two concerns are addressed. In response to the concern that functional network models are non-explanatory, it is argued that functional network models are in fact explanatory mechanism sketches. In response to the concern that models which emphasize a network’s organization over its composition do not explain mechanistically, it is argued that this emphasis is both appropriate and consistent with the principles of mechanistic explanation. What emerges is an improved understanding of the ways in which mathematical and computational models are deployed in network neuroscience, as well as an improved conception of mechanistic explanation in general. (shrink)

Whereas most branches of neuroscience are thought to provide mechanistic explanations, systems neuroscience is not. Two reasons are traditionally cited in support of this conclusion. First, systems neuroscientists rarely, if ever, rely on the dual strategies of decomposition and localization. Second, they typically emphasize organizational properties over the properties of individual components. In this paper, I argue that neither reason is conclusive: researchers might rely on alternative strategies for mechanism discovery, and focusing on organization is often appropriate and consistent with (...) the norms of mechanistic explanation. Thus, many explanations in systems neuroscience can also be viewed as mechanistic explanations. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between Wolfhart Pannenberg's idea of God and his conception of history, with the intention of determining the precise nature of the link that, in his view, connects both philosophical and the theological reflection on the meaning of history. We shall first analyze Pannenberg's response to the traditional criticism of Christianity as an anthropomorphic projection of the human being. Then we shall pay attention to the features of any possible fundamentum of (...) history. We will show that, according to Pannenberg, a transition from a philosophical into a theological consideration of history is needed in order to provide a rationally acceptable foundation for both the unity and the meaning of universal history. (shrink)

The objectives of this study are to survey, post the latest Combined Code, current board practice concerning the appointment, evaluation and development of directors and performance evaluation of boards and their committees. The Company Secretaries of all FTSE 100 and 250 companies were invited to complete, online or on paper, a survey questionnaire designed to investigate several aspects of the performance of their Boards of Directors, including the impact of relevant parts of the latest Combined Code. The more positive findings (...) are that: the Code's principles yield discernible benefits for board and company performances; board performance is most affected by new appointments which has implications for director induction; New Directors' roles and competencies are well articulated by Nomination Committees; a majority use explicit performance criteria; a majority of directors commit 3 5 days per annum to their professional development. Areas for attention suggested by the findings are as follows: a minority translate explicit performance criteria into specific improvement targets; some ambivalence characterises public disclosure of board evaluation results; evaluation of Committees' performance is less rigorous than for Main Boards; the powers and responsibilities of Subsidiary/Divisional boards are not well defined; only a minority of Nomination Committees focus on Descriptors of High Performance; traditional methods of Director selection and induction prevail; Non-Executive Directors' suitability to coach their Executive Director colleagues or other members of the executive team; only one in seven boards uses External Facilitators to assist in benchmarking their performance. The implications of these results are discussed. (shrink)

Understanding evolution beyond a gene-centered vision is a fertile ground for new questions and approaches. However, in this systemic perspective, we take issue with the necessity of the concept of information. Through the example of brain and language evolution, we propose the autonomous systems theory as a more biologically relevant framework for the evolutionary perspective offered by Jablonka & Lamb (J&L).

The present study explores the discursive practice of the hospitality industry in addressing competence-based, benevolence-based, and integrity-based accusations of trust violation made by dissatisfied customers on TripAdvisor. Authentic negative online reviews written by dissatisfied customers and the corresponding responses by hotel management downloaded directly from TripAdvisor are analyzed qualitatively with Nvivo10. Results show that hotel management has the strongest preference for apology, followed by implicit denial and then explicit denial when dealing with the three different types of accusations of trust (...) violation. The findings will enhance our understanding of trust and its repair, and benefit hospitality practitioners responsible for handling online criticisms and complaints. (shrink)

RÉSUMÉ Cet article met en lumière la formation des valeurs esthétiques entendues au sens de la philosophie de Roman Ingarden. L'auteur présente et commente trois notions essentielles de cette pensée : il s'agit de la concrétisation, de la valeur esthétique et du noyau de l'objet esthétique. Bien que la critique s'intéresse depuis longtemps à l'axiologie ingardénienne, la perspective de l'auteur, mettant en valeur la notion de noyau esthétique, indique clairement que la pensée d'Ingarden chevauche deux approches différentes en ce qui (...) concerne la formation des valeurs. Lorsqu'il s'agit de la création de nouvelles valeurs, par exemple, la soi-disant objectivité de la philosophie d'Ingarden semble masquer le côté subjectif de leur formation. ABSTRACT The objective of this article isfirst to present the major notions of Ingarden's philosophy with respect to axiology : concretization, aesthetic value and the core of the aesthetic object, and second, to show that Ingarden's so-called objective aesthetics covers up or masks the more subjective elements of value theory. Critics have long been interested in Ingarden's aesthetics, but the author's perspective, insisting on the importance of the core of the aesthetic objet, clearly reveals that Ingarden's thought actually involves two different approaches in aesthetic value theory, an empirical approach, and a more subjective, relative one which seems to remain hidden. (shrink)

The Digital Revolution is transforming the way in which we interact with one another and relate to experience. The superabundance and superfluity of the virtual world, the fleeting moment and instantaneous pleasure it provides, begin to prevail as a cultural value and determine an attitude of detachment and indifference that extends to all aspects of our life. For Søren Kierkegaard this is a “demoniacal temptation” that leads to a life devoid of spiritual depth. In the midst of the undeniable bounties (...) of technology, reflection on this paradoxical nature of the technological in our lives becomes an urgent task. (shrink)