Objeto o sujeto de derechos Nature: Object or subject of rights Cartay, Belkis Acerca de la racionalidad científica: Feyerabend y los límites de la argumentación Scientific rationality, Feyerabend and the limits of the argument Castrejón, Gilberto El embrión es vida humana The embryo is human life Chacín, Ronald Ética y política: Las consecuencias prácticas de la modernización en la óptica de una acción comunicativa Ethics and politics: Practical consequences of modernization from the viewpoint of a comunicative act De La Vega, (...) Marta La libertad de expresión: De la doctrina a la ley The freedom of expresion: From doctrine to law Belandria, Margarita y González, Javier Globalización y "Glocalización" frente al debate postmoderno Globalization and "Glocalizacion" in the post-moderne debate Mora García, José Pascual El Derecho en "El Alcalde de Zalamea" Law in "The Mayor of Zalamea" Parodi Remón, Carlos Interdisciplinares La palabra y su universo de sentido Word and its universe of sense Espar, Teresa Procesos existenciales en el ritmo de la poesía Existential processes in the thythm of poetry Hocevar, Drina Traducciones Karl Löwith "Mi vida en Alemania antes y después de 1933" Vasquez, Eduardo. (shrink)

La nueva concepción de la Ley en la Constitución venezolana de 1999 The new conception of law in the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution González R., Javier La justicia, ¿Una virtud necesaria? The justice, A necessary virtue? Guarisma Mérida, Aidalíz Derechos humanos, interculturalidad y racionalidad de resistencia Human rights and rationality of resistance Herrera Flores, Joaquín El estado de apertura y la esencia del lenguaje The state of disclosure and the essence of language Hocevar, Drina El problema de la libertad The problem (...) of freedom Jáuregui, Ramón M. De la violencia a la retórica en la construcción de la civilidad From violence to rhetoric in civility construction Pino de Casanova, Malin ¿Historia universal o local? Una cuestión de especial trascendencia en el campo de la jurisprudencia Universal or local history? A matter of special transcendence in the field of jurisprudence Puy Muñoz, Francisco Contra la democracia Against democracy López Corredoira, Martín Un punto de vista práctico sobre el derecho A practical point of view about law Otero Parga, Milagros El derecho en Antígona ¿Natural o positivo? Law in Antigone. Natural or positive law? Parodi Remón, Carlos Por la democracia For democracy Suzzarini, Andrés La ciencia según Hegel Science according Hegel Vásquez, Eduardo Responsabilidad civil y responsabilidad moral. Hacia una responsabilidad civil más objetiva Civil responsibility and moral responsibility. Towards a more objective civil responsibility Vielma Mendoza, Yoleida Recensiones Finnis, John: El autor y su obra Reseñado por: Hoèevar, Mayda Aguayo, Enrique: Introducción al pensamiento jurídico-filosófico de Eduardo García Máynez Reseñado por: González R., Javier. (shrink)

Objeto o sujeto de derechos Nature: Object or subject of rights Cartay, Belkis Acerca de la racionalidad científica: Feyerabend y los límites de la argumentación Scientific rationality, Feyerabend and the limits of the argument Castrejón, Gilberto El embrión es vida humana The embryo is human life Chacín, Ronald Ética y política: Las consecuencias prácticas de la modernización en la óptica de una acción comunicativa Ethics and politics: Practical consequences of modernization from the viewpoint of a comunicative act De La Vega, (...) Marta La libertad de expresión: De la doctrina a la ley The freedom of expresion: From doctrine to law Belandria, Margarita y González, Javier Globalización y "Glocalización" frente al debate postmoderno Globalization and "Glocalizacion" in the post-moderne debate Mora García, José Pascual El Derecho en "El Alcalde de Zalamea" Law in "The Mayor of Zalamea" Parodi Remón, Carlos Interdisciplinares La palabra y su universo de sentido Word and its universe of sense Espar, Teresa Procesos existenciales en el ritmo de la poesía Existential processes in the thythm of poetry Hocevar, Drina Traducciones Karl Löwith "Mi vida en Alemania antes y después de 1933" Vasquez, Eduardo. (shrink)

Feyerabend y los límites de la argumentación Scientific rationality, Feyerabend and the limits of the argument Castrejón, Gilberto El embrión es vida humana The embryo is human life Chacín, Ronald Ética y política: Las consecuencias prácticas de la modernización en la óptica de una acción comunicativa Ethics and politics: Practical consequences of modernization from the viewpoint of a comunicative act De La Vega, Marta La libertad de expresión: De la doctrina a la ley The freedom of expresion: From doctrine to (...) law Belandria, Margarita y González, Javier Globalización y "Glocalización" frente al debate postmoderno Globalization and "Glocalizacion" in the post-moderne debate Mora García, José Pascual El Derecho en "El Alcalde de Zalamea" Law in "The Mayor of Zalamea" Parodi Remón, Carlos Interdisciplinares La palabra y su universo de sentido Word and its universe of sense Espar, Teresa Procesos existenciales en el ritmo de la poesía Existential processes in the thythm of poetry Hocevar, Drina Traducciones Karl Löwith "Mi vida en Alemania antes y después de 1933" Vasquez, Eduardo. (shrink)

La nueva concepción de la Ley en la Constitución venezolana de 1999 The new conception of law in the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution González R., Javier La justicia, ¿Una virtud necesaria? The justice, A necessary virtue? Guarisma Mérida, Aidalíz Derechos humanos, interculturalidad y racionalidad de resistencia Human rights and rationality of resistance Herrera Flores, Joaquín El estado de apertura y la esencia del lenguaje The state of disclosure and the essence of language Hocevar, Drina El problema de la libertad The problem (...) of freedom Jáuregui, Ramón M. De la violencia a la retórica en la construcción de la civilidad From violence to rhetoric in civility construction Pino de Casanova, Malin ¿Historia universal o local? Una cuestión de especial trascendencia en el campo de la jurisprudencia Universal or local history? A matter of special transcendence in the field of jurisprudence Puy Muñoz, Francisco Contra la democracia Against democracy López Corredoira, Martín Un punto de vista práctico sobre el derecho A practical point of view about law Otero Parga, Milagros El derecho en Antígona ¿Natural o positivo? Law in Antigone. Natural or positive law? Parodi Remón, Carlos Por la democracia For democracy Suzzarini, Andrés La ciencia según Hegel Science according Hegel Vásquez, Eduardo Responsabilidad civil y responsabilidad moral. Hacia una responsabilidad civil más objetiva Civil responsibility and moral responsibility. (shrink)

La nueva concepción de la Ley en la Constitución venezolana de 1999 The new conception of law in the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution González R., Javier La justicia, ¿Una virtud necesaria? The justice, A necessary virtue? Guarisma Mérida, Aidalíz Derechos humanos, interculturalidad y racionalidad de resistencia Human rights and rationality of resistance Herrera Flores, Joaquín El estado de apertura y la esencia del lenguaje The state of disclosure and the essence of language Hocevar, Drina El problema de la libertad The problem (...) of freedom Jáuregui, Ramón M. De la violencia a la retórica en la construcción de la civilidad From violence to rhetoric in civility construction Pino de Casanova, Malin ¿Historia universal o local? Una cuestión de especial trascendencia en el campo de la jurisprudencia Universal or local history? A matter of special transcendence in the field of jurisprudence Puy Muñoz, Francisco Contra la democracia Against democracy López Corredoira, Martín Un punto de vista práctico sobre el derecho A practical point of view about law Otero Parga, Milagros El derecho en Antígona ¿Natural o positivo? Law in Antigone. Natural or positive law? Parodi Remón, Carlos Por la democracia For democracy Suzzarini, Andrés La ciencia según Hegel Science according Hegel Vásquez, Eduardo Responsabilidad civil y responsabilidad moral. Hacia una responsabilidad civil más objetiva Civil responsibility and moral responsibility. Towards a more objective civil responsibility Vielma Mendoza, Yoleida Recensiones Finnis, John: El autor y su obra Reseñado por: Hoèevar, Mayda Aguayo, Enrique: Introducción al pensamiento jurídico-filosófico de Eduardo García Máynez Reseñado por: González R., Javier. (shrink)

Object or subject of rights Cartay, Belkis Acerca de la racionalidad científica: Feyerabend y los límites de la argumentación Scientific rationality, Feyerabend and the limits of the argument Castrejón, Gilberto El embrión es vida humana The embryo is human life Chacín, Ronald Ética y política: Las consecuencias prácticas de la modernización en la óptica de una acción comunicativa Ethics and politics: Practical consequences of modernization from the viewpoint of a comunicative act De La Vega, Marta La libertad de expresión: De (...) la doctrina a la ley The freedom of expresion: From doctrine to law Belandria, Margarita y González, Javier Globalización y "Glocalización" frente al debate postmoderno Globalization and "Glocalizacion" in the post-moderne debate Mora García, José Pascual El Derecho en "El Alcalde de Zalamea" Law in "The Mayor of Zalamea" Parodi Remón, Carlos Interdisciplinares La palabra y su universo de sentido Word and its universe of sense Espar, Teresa Procesos existenciales en el ritmo de la poesía Existential processes in the thythm of poetry Hocevar, Drina Traducciones Karl Löwith "Mi vida en Alemania antes y después de 1933" Vasquez, Eduardo. (shrink)

La nueva concepción de la Ley en la Constitución venezolana de 1999 The new conception of law in the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution González R., Javier La justicia, ¿Una virtud necesaria? The justice, A necessary virtue? Guarisma Mérida, Aidalíz Derechos humanos, interculturalidad y racionalidad de resistencia Human rights and rationality of resistance Herrera Flores, Joaquín El estado de apertura y la esencia del lenguaje The state of disclosure and the essence of language Hocevar, Drina El problema de la libertad The problem (...) of freedom Jáuregui, Ramón M. De la violencia a la retórica en la construcción de la civilidad From violence to rhetoric in civility construction Pino de Casanova, Malin ¿Historia universal o local? Una cuestión de especial trascendencia en el campo de la jurisprudencia Universal or local history? A matter of special transcendence in the field of jurisprudence Puy Muñoz, Francisco Contra la democracia Against democracy López Corredoira, Martín Un punto de vista práctico sobre el derecho A practical point of view about law Otero Parga, Milagros El derecho en Antígona ¿Natural o positivo? Law in Antigone. Natural or positive law? Parodi Remón, Carlos Por la democracia For democracy Suzzarini, Andrés La ciencia según Hegel Science according Hegel Vásquez, Eduardo Responsabilidad civil y responsabilidad moral. Hacia una responsabilidad civil más objetiva Civil responsibility and moral responsibility. Towards a more objective civil responsibility Vielma Mendoza, Yoleida Recensiones Finnis, John: El autor y su obra Reseñado por: Hoèevar, Mayda Aguayo, Enrique: Introducción al pensamiento jurídico-filosófico de Eduardo García Máynez Reseñado por: González R., Javier. (shrink)

La nueva concepción de la Ley en la Constitución venezolana de 1999 The new conception of law in the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution González R., Javier La justicia, ¿Una virtud necesaria? The justice, A necessary virtue? Guarisma Mérida, Aidalíz Derechos humanos, interculturalidad y racionalidad de resistencia Human rights and rationality of resistance Herrera Flores, Joaquín El estado de apertura y la esencia del lenguaje The state of disclosure and the essence of language Hocevar, Drina El problema de la libertad The problem (...) of freedom Jáuregui, Ramón M. De la violencia a la retórica en la construcción de la civilidad From violence to rhetoric in civility construction Pino de Casanova, Malin ¿Historia universal o local? Una cuestión de especial trascendencia en el campo de la jurisprudencia Universal or local history? A matter of special transcendence in the field of jurisprudence Puy Muñoz, Francisco Contra la democracia Against democracy López Corredoira, Martín Un punto de vista práctico sobre el derecho A practical point of view about law Otero Parga, Milagros El derecho en Antígona ¿Natural o positivo? Law in Antigone. Natural or positive law? Parodi Remón, Carlos Por la democracia For democracy Suzzarini, Andrés La ciencia según Hegel Science according Hegel Vásquez, Eduardo Responsabilidad civil y responsabilidad moral. Hacia una responsabilidad civil más objetiva Civil responsibility and moral responsibility. Towards a more objective civil responsibility Vielma Mendoza, Yoleida Recensiones Finnis, John: El autor y su obra Reseñado por: Hoèevar, Mayda Aguayo, Enrique: Introducción al pensamiento jurídico-filosófico de Eduardo García Máynez Reseñado por: González R., Javier. (shrink)

The “classic” is a vexed term in the work of William Carlos Williams. He uses the category to describe both the stale classicism of T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound and, conversely, the authentic, “aberrant” classic of James Joyce and surrealism. Analyzing unpublished archival manuscripts alongside the posthumously published collection of essays, The Embodiment of Knowledge, I approach the classic through Williams's theories of pedagogy. Williams parodies and rejects academic modes of reading that cling to the “malignant rigidities” of (...) the past. Yet Paterson and The Embodiment also theorize the reader's interpretive power to disrupt any homogenizing conformity latent in the literary tradition. This dissonant hermeneutics can recuperate the classics and represents a form of resistance to a binary logic of past versus present, or European versus American literature. (shrink)

Bayesian reverse-engineering is a research strategy for developing three-level explanations of behavior and cognition. Starting from a computational-level analysis of behavior and cognition as optimal probabilistic inference, Bayesian reverse-engineers apply numerous tweaks and heuristics to formulate testable hypotheses at the algorithmic and implementational levels. In so doing, they exploit recent technological advances in Bayesian artificial intelligence, machine learning, and statistics, but also consider established principles from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Although these tweaks and heuristics are highly pragmatic in character and (...) are often deployed unsystematically, Bayesian reverse-engineering avoids several important worries that have been raised about the explanatory credentials of Bayesian cognitive science: the worry that the lower levels of analysis are being ignored altogether; the challenge that the mathematical models being developed are unfalsifiable; and the charge that the terms ‘optimal’ and ‘rational’ have lost their customary normative force. But while Bayesian reverse-engineering is therefore a viable and productive research strategy, it is also no fool-proof recipe for explanatory success. (shrink)

This book introduces readers to central concepts and ideas in Mexican philosophy. Couched in stories and anecdotes from the author's life, the book offers these concepts and ideas as orientations, recommendations, or exhortation for navigating today's world. The structure and the style of the book aims at making these accessible to both specialists and non-specialist or anyone who may have had some experience with contemporary forms of marginalization, alienation, objectification, or any of the various forms of dread and accidentality familiar (...) to modern life. This, the author thinks, is most of us. Narrowing down the scope of the tradition, the author draws from the history of Mexican philosophy in the 20th century, as it is at this time that Mexican philosophy comes into its own. The book begins with two short introductions, one is an introduction philosophy in Mexico, the other to Mexican philosophy. Here, readers are introduced to Alfonso de la Veracruz, who offered the first philosophy course in the Americas in 1540 in the monastery of a small town in Michoacán, Mexico. From there, it presents four main themes from Mexican philosophy that recur in the philosophical literature. The remainder of the book serves as a "guide" for living a better, more fulfilling life. The main characters in what the author considers an uncontroversial retelling of Mexican philosophy are Antonio Caso, Samuel Ramos, Emilio Uranga, Leopoldo Zea, Jorge Portilla, Rosario Castellanos, Elsa Cecilia Frost, and, of course, persons in the author's own life. (shrink)

The existence of sovereign rights over genetic resources is today well recognized in international law. However, the legal status of such resources in terms of property rights is still unclear. The consideration of this issue requires a clear distinction between physical and intangible property. Legislation in developed countries has extended patent protection to genetic resources, in addition to the protection of plant varieties via breeders' rights. The extension of protection and the implementation of the TRIPs Agreement may have important implications (...) for breeding programs and trade in seeds. While intellectual property protection of genetic resources is rapidly advancing, considerable work is still to be done to ensure the compensation for the informal innovations made by local and indigenous communities. (shrink)

La logique spécifique des jugements de valeur est à chercher dans le discours rhétorique. Cette thèse développée par Ch. Perelman dans L'Empire rhétorique (1977) nous rappelle l'introduction à l'éthique de Jean Buridan (XIVe s.). Selon Buridan la philosophie morale ne peut se contenter d'appliquer la logique générale: elle a besoin d'une logique spéciale, une „logique morale” qui n'est rien autre que la technique persuasive qu'on étudie dans la Rhétorique. Roger Bacon (XlIIe s.) a même essayé d'intégrer cette rhétorique dans l'éthique (...) : elle est la partie pratique de la science morale. Bien que leur textes rappellent parfois les considérations de la ‘nouvelle rhétorique’, la relation entre l'éthique et la rhétorique y est envisagée d'une manière toute différente. Pour les auteurs médiévaux la rhétorique est une science auxiliaire de l'éthique : elle sert de liaison entre la théorie et la pratique. Dans la partie théorétique de l'éthique la logique ‘générale’ reste en vigeur. Ce n'est que pour mettre en pratique les règles et valeurs qui ont été ‘démontrées’ par la théorie qu'on a recours à la technique persuasive et sa logique ‘spéciale’. La rhétorique n'a donc qu'une fonction subsidaire. On retrouve la même conception au début des temps modernes chez Francis Bacon qui attribue à la rhétorique la fonction d'appliquer le dictamen rationis à l'imagination pour exciter ainsi la volonté. Une tout autre conception est défendue par l'humaniste Lorenzo Valla qui essaie de réintégrer l'argumentation morale dans le discours rhétorique où elle trouve sa place originaire. Notre propre point de vue est développé en confrontation avec Aristote, de qui nous avons hérité le projet d'une ‘science pratique’ et l'ambiguité qui en est inhérente 1° La rhétorique présuppose l'éthique. 2° L'éthique qui se veut epistème, ne relève pas de la rhétorique qui n'est qu'une technè. Elle se présente comme une science à caractère dialectique. 3° Les difficultés arrivent dès qu'on exalte la fonction pratique de cette science (cf. récemment R. Hare). Dès que l'éthique veut être efficace dans la vie concrète, elle devient une argumentation qui relève plutôt du discours épidectique (Weltanschauung). Notre société, en pleine crise morale, a certainement besoin d'un tel discours qui essaie d'intensifier l'adhésion à des valeurs morales. Mais il nous semble qu'il reste à côté d'un tel discours - en pleine expansion des nos jours - une place bien discrète pour une reflection critique qui en analyse les raisons : qui n'est pas inutile, bien que peu efficace. (shrink)

Davidson’s treatment of akrasia resorts to the introduction of a type of operator, the prima facie connector. This operator should yield conditional judgments in which the affirmation of the antecedent does not admit to obtain the consequent as a separate conclusion; and it must allow to separate ..

Lukács and Twentieth Century Literature Tough he elaborated a robust system of Marxist aesthetics whose categories enabled him to formulate a brilliant analysis of the 19th century realist novel, Lukács proved unable to understand the literature of the 20th century. In fact he either ignored or regarded as “decadent” almost all the major representatives of the avant-garde, such as Proust and Kafka. is was not due to the intrinsic limitations of the aesthetic categories themselves. It was rather an effect of (...) his “optimistic” vision of the historical period following after the 1917 Revolution and the hypothesis of the development of socialism. is led him to regard as anti-realist the alleged “pessimism” of the avant-garde. Towards the end of his life, Lukács did however adopt a more critical position towards “real socialism”. He thus moved towards a more positive understanding of the literature of his time. (shrink)

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)

The purpose of the paper is to present a logical framework that allow to formalize a kind of prima facie duties, defeasible conditional duties, indefeasible conditional duties and actual (indefeasible) duties, as well as to show their logical interconnections.

Este artigo discute o conceito de herdabilidade, empregado pela genética do comportamento, genética molecular e a teoria da herdabilidade, sob a perspectiva do modelo reticulado de racionalidade científica, de Larry Laudan. Analisa os argumentos contrários à utilização do termo herdabilidade focando principalmente nos resultados de experimentos da genética do comportamento. Conclui que algumas críticas ao termo herdabilidade são válidas tais como o termo poder ser confuso para o público em geral, mas podem ser extremas como as que propõem sua extinção. (...) A análise desenvolvida leva à conclusão de que a herdabilidade, tanto pela genética do comportamento, quanto pela genética molecular, é útil para seus respectivos fins. Os autores consideram que ao invés de ser extinto, o termo pode ser utilizado considerando mais análises, resultados e conclusões, sendo, portanto, essa a escolha mais racional e progressiva. (shrink)

He maintained that there are two main categories of truth: those that are a result of natural laws and those that are completely necessary since their opposite suggests contradiction. God can dispense solely with the latter rules, such as the law of human mortality. Although a doctrine of faith may conflict with second-type realities, it can never contradict first-type truths. Therefore, reason may not be able to completely understand an article of religion, even though it cannot be self-contradictory. Simply put, (...) mysteries like the Trinity are "above reason." However, how can we balance the odds in favor of a religious belief with those based on natural law and common experience? The presence and character of God, as well as the global harmony that underpins the providential creation and order of the universe, must all be considered when we make these choices. On the other hand, moving from the higher to the lower classes is also feasible. Since goodness has an immediate order to the higher pattern of the universal source of being, rational creatures are able to understand "the meaning of the good as such" (II-IIae q.2, a.3). The last good that theologians and philosophers examine is different; the former is the bonum ultimum, which can only be understood with the help of revelation, while the later is the beatific vision, which reason can understand. Both conceptions of the ultimate good have significant implications since they serve as the foundation for the political division between secular and ecclesiastical authority as well as the moral division between natural and supernatural virtues. (shrink)

Even though Pato ka never acheived a critique of the political limits of Husserl´s and Heidegger´s philosophies, he did clearly set the limits of those philosophies, limits after which the phenomenological philosophy of Patocka adopts a new dimension. En this paper we argue that vis-a-vis Husserl´s ..

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.

Resumen La estructura hermenéutica de Gaudium et spes, fundada sobre el método ver-juzgar-obrar, fue motivo de arduos debates en el Vaticano II. El impacto del método en el posconcilio ha sido muy importante en las diversas regiones geográficas de la Iglesia, particularmente en la teología y la pastoral latinoamericanas. El presente artículo ofrece un análisis de varias contribuciones recientes que procuran enriquecer la metodología, especialmente en el momento de auscultación de la realidad. Pone de manifiesto algunos de los progresos que (...) se proponen, destaca adquisiciones que se mantienen y, sobre todo, saca a la luz un asunto necesitado de profundización ulterior: una lectura más teológica de la realidad que implica un cambio en la visión sobre la revelación y que capacita a la teología para asumir los desafíos de la llamada tercera Ilustración.The hermeneutical structure of Gaudium et Spes, grounded in the see-judge-act method, was the subject of arduous debates during the Second Vatican Council. The influence of the method after the Council has been vital for the Church throughout the world, particularly upon the theological and pastoral work done in Latin America. The present article offers an analysis of recent contributions that aim at enhancing the method, especially when auscultating and intentionally listening to reality. It highlights some proposed developments and underlines enduring convictions. Most importantly, it calls for the exploration of a more theological reading of reality that demands a change in the way revelation is envisioned and understood, and empowers theology to face and assume the challenges of the so-called third Illustration. (shrink)

Ernst Bloch formulated problems of enormous philosophical and human relevance. He held that in our contemporary situation we have but two questions concerning the fundamental direction of our lives and history: we must choose, first, between hopeless nihilism and transcendent hope; and, second, between transcendent hope with transcendence and transcendent hope without transcendence. Bloch opted for the transcendent hope without transcendence and formulated a hard critique of hope with transcendence. Josef Pieper and Bernard Schumacher have offered a competent response to (...) Bloch from the Catholic perspective. However, we offer here a little explored aspect of the problem by demonstrating that Bloch’s metaphysical arguments do not consider that (a) a material reality necessarily has the concrete potentiality of dissolving, and (b) therefore, left to itself, it will dissolve necessarily in infinite time; and that (c) no effect can have a reality disproportionate to its cause, which is the reason why (d) no immortal reality can proceed from mortal reality without the intervention of a higher cause. (shrink)

Multi-Task Learning tries to improve the learning process of different tasks by solving them simultaneously. A popular Multi-Task Learning formulation for SVM is to combine common and task-specific parts. Other approaches rely on using a Graph Laplacian regularizer. Here we propose a combination of these two approaches that can be applied to L1, L2 and LS-SVMs. We also propose an algorithm to iteratively learn the graph adjacency matrix used in the Laplacian regularization. We test our proposal with synthetic and real (...) problems, both in regression and classification settings. When the task structure is present, we show that our model is able to detect it, which leads to better results, and we also show it to be competitive even when this structure is not present. (shrink)

This article traces the historical roots and origins of the concept of the “axial age” until it reaches its moment of consolidation, with the book The Origin and Goal of History, originally published in 1949, by Karl Jaspers. In addition, some contemporary authors are analyzed who, based on a critical examination of the concept, propose to update it. By analyzing the epistemological characteristics of each of these stages, we can show which elements continue and at the same time which elements (...) change in the understanding of the axial age. While in the first two phases (historical and philosophical), there was a greater emphasis on the simultaneity and equality between civilizations, its shift to the field of sociology (phase 3) implied a greater emphasis on the diversity of civilizations. We also point out that in the current phase, unlike the previous stages, the concept shifts from the analysis of pre-modern civilizations to the analysis of modern civilization as a type of axial era. Despite these shifts and changes, we understand that there is a common basis present in all phases of the discussion. In addition, the research concludes that, despite certain evolutionist readings, criticized here, the concept of the axial age, whether used in a historical-philosophical or sociological key, contains cosmopolitan and plural assumptions and, as such, continues to be an important analytical resource for understanding the complexity and cultural diversity of past and present civilizations. (shrink)

Having a “normal” professional job and doing research impose different social and personal connotations. These differences materialize at least in two clear ways. First, it is common that researchers in the making find it very difficult to communicate to their closest social network (e.g., family and old close friends) the content and the importance of their work, as they lose known sources of social comparison. Meanwhile, professional job titles (e.g., brand manager, auditor, lawyer) are self-explanatory, and they provide for the (...) owner an immediate social contextualization and recognition. Second, students normally receive delayed and ambiguous feedback and reinforcement while doing a PhD, contrasting with the continuous flow of assessment that companies give to their employees. In this article, I analyze how young researchers may develop a feeling of social isolation as the communication bridges with family, old friends, and undergraduate colleagues become narrower than before, making it difficult to receive external reinforcement on their social position and comparative achievement. This feeling, combined with the ambiguous feedback during the early stages of a research career, challenges the self-esteem of PhD students, forcing them to develop a self-contained personal security in order to cope with those two social contexts. Some young researchers might even withdraw from PhD programs should they fail to develop such psychological strength. I approach the issue through my own experience, first as a junior consultant in a multinational firm and then as a PhD candidate in economics. Second, I explore the behavioral phenomena that occur beneath those feelings in order to understand how to build such psychological strength. My goal is, through the exploration of my personal experience of becoming a researcher, to offer young researchers a useful narrative to help face the potentially negative feelings that may emerge when learning to balance these conflicting social roles. (shrink)

Se interpreta el relato del Génesis 11 como un factum de la condición humana, cuya historicidad nos es legada por la tradición judeocristiana. El relato bíblico supone para el temprano pensamiento occidental un reconocimiento de que la lengua (su pluralidad) juega un papel fundamental en la configuración del lazo social. Según Gadamer, el problema con el relato del Génesis 11 consiste en que induce a una visión inapropiada del lenguaje desde el punto de vista ontológico. La aproximación que se intenta (...) –siguiendo a Heidegger- destaca que la configuración ontológica del hombre lo muestra como un ser inmediatamente social y comprensivo. The hermeneutic circle and confusio linguarum, or how comprehension is possible The tale of Genesis 11 is usually interpreted as a factum of human condition, whose historicity is bequeathed to us by the Judeo-Christian tradition. For early Western thought, the biblical tale means the recognition of (the plurality of) language's key role in shaping social bonds. According to Gadamer, the problem with the story of Genesis 11 is that it induces an inappropriate view of language from an ontological point of view. The approach attempted here –following Heidegger– points out that the ontological configuration of man displays him as an immediately social and supportive being. (shrink)