Este artículo se halla dividido en tres partes.En la primera, se define el estado de la ciencia física y del positivismo lógico, concluyendo el tránsito de ambos hacia el constructivismo.En la segunda, se realiza un esbozo del constructivismo de Piaget.Finalmente, en el tercer apartado, con la intención de desarrollar un ejemplo de esta confluencia en las ciencias sociales,se constata que ciertos criterios de validez defendidos para la metodología cualitativa se complementan totalmente con los contenidos en la estadística .This article is (...) divided into three sections. First, we define the state of physical science and logical positivism, concluding the transit of both towards constructivism. Second, we outlined the Piaget constructivism. Third, with the intention of developing an example of this confluence in social sciences, we argue that few criteria of qualitative methodology validity are completely complementary to those contained in the statistics. (shrink)

In 2014, an international group of scholars from various fields analysed the “societal dimensions” of synthetic biology in an interdisciplinary summer school. Here, we report and discuss the biologists’ observations on the general perception of synthetic biology by non-biologists who took part in this event. Most attendees mainly associated synthetic biology with contributions from the best-known public figures of the field, rarely mentioning other scientists. Media extrapolations of those contributions appeared to have created unrealistic expectations and irrelevant fears that were (...) widely disconnected from the current research in synthetic biology. Another observation was that when debating developments in synthetic biology, semantics strongly mattered: depending on the terms used to present an application of synthetic biology, attendees reacted in radically different ways. For example, using the term “GMOs” rather than the term “genetic engineering” led to very different reactions. Stimulating debates also happened with participants having unanticipated points of view, for instance biocentrist ethicists who argued that engineered microbes should not be used for human purposes. Another communication challenge emerged from the connotations and inaccuracies surrounding the word “life”, which impaired constructive debates, thus leading to misconceptions about the abilities of scientists to engineer or even create living organisms. Finally, it appeared that synthetic biologists tend to overestimate the knowledge of non-biologists, further affecting communication. The motivation and ability of synthetic biologists to communicate their work outside their research field needs to be fostered, notably towards policymakers who need a more accurate and technical understanding of the field to make informed decisions. Interdisciplinary events gathering scholars working in and around synthetic biology are an effective tool in addressing those issues. (shrink)

This chapter subsumes David Marr’s levels of analysis account of explanation in cognitive science under the framework of mechanistic explanation: Answering the questions that define each one of Marr’s three levels is tantamount to describing the component parts and operations of mechanisms, as well as their organization, behavior, and environmental context. By explicating these questions and showing how they are answered in several different cognitive science research programs, this chapter resolves some of the ambiguities that remain in Marr’s account, and (...) shows that many different areas and traditions of cognitive scientific research can be unified under the mechanistic framework. (shrink)

Many perception and processing effects of the lexical status of tone have been found in behavioral, psycholinguistic, and neuroscientific research, often pitting varieties of tonal Chinese against non-tonal Germanic languages. While the linguistic and cognitive evidence for lexical tone is therefore beyond dispute, the word prosodic systems of many languages continue to escape the categorizations of typologists. One controversy concerns the existence of a typological class of “pitch accent languages,” another the underlying phonological nature of surface tone contrasts, which in (...) some cases have been claimed to be metrical rather than tonal. We address the question whether the Sequence Recall Task, which has been shown to discriminate between languages with and without word stress, can distinguish languages with and without lexical tone. Using participants from non-tonal Indonesian, semi-tonal Swedish, and two varieties of tonal Mandarin, we ran SRTs with monosyllabic tonal contrasts to test the hypothesis that high performance in a tonal SRT indicates the lexical status of tone. An additional question concerned the extent to which accuracy scores depended on phonological and phonetic properties of a language’s tone system, like its complexity, the existence of an experimental contrast in a language’s phonology, and the phonetic salience of a contrast. The results suggest that a tonal SRT is not likely to discriminate between tonal and non-tonal languages within a typologically varied group, because of the effects of specific properties of their tone systems. Future research should therefore address the first hypothesis with participants from otherwise similar tonal and non-tonal varieties of the same language, where results from a tonal SRT may make a useful contribution to the typological debate on word prosody. (shrink)

The objective of the present review on the evolution of Green Chemistry, since its emergence until 2016, aimed an integrated vision of its progress along the three phases of its development: emergence, divulgation and consolidation. The methodology involved the analysis of a selection of bibliography on the evolution of GC collected from issues of the ACS symposia series; editorials in specialized GC journals; and commemorative birthday papers/editorials of these journals and of the GC itself. The analysis allowed to identify and (...) discuss the characteristics and conceptions of GC agents about fundamental concepts and procedures, in order to visualize and better understand the state of knowledge and the subject areas that make up the field. The main alterations identified in the evolution of GC were: it acquired a better defined identity, with more participation of academy and increased scope; was progressively framed in sustainability; has been aspiring to a holistic frame and to a change on the nature of the innovation for its implementation, from incremental to transformative. The analysis suggests that for supporting expansion and consolidation of GC the following aspects deserve attention: full validation of chemical greenness by metrics; better characterization of the frontiers of GC research areas/themes; increased integration between academy and industry; and penetration in chemistry curricula. Its basic philosophy being the practice of a chemistry more focused on the environment preservation, GC means a new stage in nature and in the history of Chemistry. (shrink)

We are strongly inclined to believe in moral responsibility - the idea that certain human agents truly deserve moral praise or blame for some of their actions. However, recent philosophical discussion has put this natural belief under suspicion, and there are important reasons for thinking that moral responsibility is incompatible with both determinism and indeterminism, therefore potentially rendering it an impossibility. Presenting the major arguments for scepticism about moral responsibility, and subjecting them to sustained and penetrating critical analysis, _Moral Responsibility_ (...) lays out the intricate dialectic involved in these issues in a helpful and accessible way. A well-written and lively account, the book then goes on to suggest a way in which scepticism can be avoided, arguing that excessive pre-eminence given to the will might lie at its root. Offering an alternative to this scepticism, Carlos Moya shows how a cognitive approach to moral responsibility that stresses the importance of belief would rescue our natural and centrally important faith in the reality of moral responsibility. (shrink)

Il pensiero economico di Rosmini costituisce una sintesi originale tra diverse correnti di pensiero che egli riunisce per superare l’influenza della prospettiva utilitaristica. Basandosi sulla sua visione personalistica dell’essere umano, modifica la concezione dell’agire economico e, sulla base di essa, numerosi aspetti pratici delle politiche pubbliche. Al di là del suo interesse storico, il pensiero economico di Rosmini costituisce un contributo all’acquisizione di una prospettiva filosofica su molte delle scoperte attuali della ricerca teorica ed empirica in economia.

O presente trabalho procura discutir a função-autor a partir de Michel Foucault em suas possíveis contribuições ao campo da Ciência da Informação. Tratando-se de trabalho de caráter qualitativo, a partir de material bibliográfico, realizou-se a leitura da literatura pertinente à temática em textos de Michel Foucault e Paul Otlet, a fim de identificar o tratamento dispensado à figura do autor em ambos, procedendo à realização de um exercício comparativo. Identificou-se em Paul Otlet a presença da atribuição à figura do autor (...) o papel explorado por Michel Foucault em seus textos, correspondendo a um sentido ordenador e a uma espécie de chave de leitura para um conjunto a que se compreende por “obra”. Concluiu-se a necessidade de aprofundar o tratamento dos textos foucaultianos no campo da Ciência da Informação, procurando compreender as condições de possibilidade dos nossos objetos. (shrink)

En el Escolio acerca del “Espacio y el Tiempo”, Newton expone su concepción referida a un Espacio absoluto, elcual posee existencia tan real, como la de los demás cuerpos físicos pero en forma independiente de estos, es asíque una de las características de la física newtoniana‡ va a ser el interés por conceder una existencia independientey real al espacio y al tiempo, así como a la materia, ya que en las leyes del movimiento de Newton aparece elconcepto de aceleración, y (...) en esta teoría, la palabra aceleración sólo puede denotar “aceleración con respecto alespacio”. Por consiguiente, el espacio de Newton debe ser concebido “en reposo absoluto” o, al menos, con elfin de que sea posible considerar que la aceleración que aparece en las leyes del movimiento sea una “magnitud”o (fuerza), con algún significado. Por tal motivo, se propone: “distinguir el reposo y el movimiento tanto relativoscomo absolutos, por sus propiedades, causas y efectos.”. (shrink)

Legal interpretation is a complex subject that raises several problems, and one of them relates to the question whether legal interpretative propositions are objective. Several claims arguing in favor of this objective stance are discussed in the article with the idea of understanding the nature of such claims.Resumen:La interpretación jurídica es un tema complejo que plantea diversos pro- blemas, y uno de ellos, quizá el más relevante, es el relativo a establecer si las proposiciones interpretativas derivadas de un texto jurídico (...) son objetivas. Las principales posturas existentes en torno a la posible objetividad de las proposiciones interpretativas, son analizadas y evaluadas por el autor (en especial, la llamada “objetividad modesta”) para descubrir si existe un referente objetivo para las interpretaciones jurídicas, el término objetivo de esa referencia y en que consiste tal objetividad. (shrink)

This book focuses on the emerging scientific discipline of astrobiology, exploring the humanistic issues of this multidisciplinary field. To be sure, there are myriad scientific questions that astrobiologists have only begun to address. However, this is not a purely scientific enterprise. More research on the broader social and conceptual aspects of astrobiology is needed. Just what are our ethical obligations toward different sorts of alien life? Should we attempt to communicate with life beyond our planet? What is “life” in the (...) most general sense? The current volume addresses these questions by looking at different perspectives from philosophers, historians, theologians, social scientists, and legal scholars. It sets a benchmark for future work in astrobiology, giving readers the groundwork from which to base the continuous scholarship coming from this ever-growing scientific field. (shrink)

Between the two horns of Jørgensen's dilemma, the authors opt for that according to which logic deals not only with truth and falsity but also with those concepts not possessing this semantic reference. Notwithstanding the “descriptive” prejudice, deontic logic has gained validity among modal logics. The technical foundation proposed consists in an abstract characterization of logical consequence. By identifying in the abstract notion of consequence the primitive from which to begin, it is possible to define the connectives - even those (...) of obligation - by means of the rules of introduction or elimination in a context of derivation. (shrink)

In this article, we formally define and investigate the computational complexity of the definability problem for open first-order formulas with equality. Given a logic $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{L}}$, the $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{L}}$-definability problem for finite structures takes as an input a finite structure $\boldsymbol{A}$ and a target relation $T$ over the domain of $\boldsymbol{A}$ and determines whether there is a formula of $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{L}}$ whose interpretation in $\boldsymbol{A}$ coincides with $T$. We show that the complexity of this problem for open first-order formulas is coNP-complete. We also (...) investigate the parametric complexity of the problem and prove that if the size and the arity of the target relation $T$ are taken as parameters, then open definability is $\textrm{coW}[1]$-complete for every vocabulary $\tau $ with at least one, at least binary, relation. (shrink)

Apresentação - Dossiê: Judaísmo: religião, cultura, nação.

This paper focus on the phenomenological theories of perception and intuitive acts in general, and aims to show the relevance of William James’ concept of fringe to understand them. Although Husserl claims that James’ analysis were carried on without the phenomenological reduction and were thus biased by psychological and physiological prejudices, the paper stresses the high value of those analysis: James’ intended to remain faithful to the meaning of lived experience and avoided any considerations where descriptions could be entangled with (...) uncriticized philosophical theories (e.g. about the nature of brain states). The paper also aims to show that James’ importance for Husserl could be extended beyond the explanation of acts intending singular individuals to the acts intending universal objectivities and essences. (shrink)

"Person� is a very ambiguous word (as most of our words when isolated). The outstanding vagueness of the terms used in philosophical discourse, like "action� or "mind�, is an essential characteristic of language that provides the set upon which philosophy relies. Indeed, inquiries into certainty, objectivity and many other important metaphysical problems would never arise if this indeterminacy were not present in language. The history of philosophy as such can be considered as a quest for meaningful statements on which we (...) can ground our judgment. This search for certainty has an ethical dimension, since it discloses what we have in common and what we cannot share. An important feature of this ethical dimension is that the investigation of "certainty� is, at the same time, a struggle against arbitrariness. However, we must be careful while engaging into this exploration, by refusing to analyze or equate certainty with goodness or correctness. The danger of this attractive analysis is evident in our religious and political history. I believe that Wittgenstein can help us in elucidating some of these difficult issues. The problem of the identity of persons, or what constitutes a human being, pervades through philosophical texts. The general strategy of this paper is to link the issue of certainty, as explained by Wittgenstein, with the concept of person. (shrink)

La epistemología es la teoría del conocimiento que relaciona al observador con la realidad y su percepción e interpretación. En el marco de las epistemologías constructivistas se define la cibernética de primer orden como la cibernética de los sistemas observados, en tanto que la cibernética de ..

Este trabajo contextualiza la dicotomiaque los lectores medievales de la ÉticaNicomaquea encontraron entre el planteo de lafelicidad teorética dei libra X y el de la felicidadpráctica dei libra!. La hegemonia dei enfoquesustancialista de la felicidad sostenido desde laPatrística fue puesta en cuestión por un modelooperativista que resaltaba el ejercicio de la vidavirtuosa en un marco social. Esta puesta encuestión se corresponde con la gradual recuperaciónde la Ética Nicomaquea en Occidente. Lahegemonia dei enfoque sustancialista es la causade que el planteo de (...) la Ética Nicomaquea resultaradicotomático para los pensadores medievales.En esa dicotomia fueron los aristotélicosradicales los que redefinieron el problema entér -minos de operatividad según el modelo de felicidaddei libra!, con lo que modificaron el marcode discusión para el problema de la felicidad. (shrink)

Este ensaio tem como objectivo apresentar, num primeiro momento, os resultados da análise intencional do processo de constituição dos objectos físicos, do corpo somático e da psique, tal como ela foi levada a cabo por Edmund Husserl. Na base desses resultados, será possível elaborar uma teoria da afecção que permitirá, num segundo momento, algumas aproximações com a Psicanálise de Freud e a teoria freudiana das pulsões. A especificidade do corpo somático relativamente a qualquer objecto físico – apesar de algumas semelhanças (...) no seu modo de doação – revela-se, acima de tudo, na experiência do corpo próprio e nas modalidades de vivência das afecções. Em particular, o enfraquecimento ou obscurecimento destas últimas colocam a questão da existência de um «inconsciente fenomenológico», cujas relações com o inconsciente de Freud, num terceiro e último momento do ensaio, se tentarão pôr em evidência. (shrink)

Este artigo, ao conceituar a ideia de arqueologia política do saber, propõe algumas referências históricas sobre o que denomino de corpo desarrazoado a partir do primeiro capítulo de História da Loucura, mais especificamente, a partir do tema da lepra no livro. Esta discussão pretende dar uma resposta ao problema da dissociação entre desrazão e loucura levantado a respeito do livro, mostrando que o discurso de desrazão tem como solo histórico o modo pelo qual Foucault fundamentou sua ideia de exclusão do (...) leproso. O artigo termina avaliando o tema da exclusão do leproso por meio das considerações de Foucault sobre o modelo da peste. (shrink)

Aristotle's zoological writings with their wealth of detailed investigations on diverse species of animals have fascinated medieval and Renaissance culture. This volume explores how these texts have been read in various traditions (Arabic, Hebrew, Latin), and how they have been incorporated in different genres (in philosophical and scientific treatises, in florilegia and encyclopedias, in theological symbolism, in moral allegories, and in manuscript illustrations). This multidisciplinary and multilinguistic approach highlights substantial aspects of Aristotle's animals.