This paper aims to offer a definition of excessive profit for cases of exploitation. Most of the literature that aims to identify cases of exploitation focus on determining a fixed price, and suggests that profit is excessive when individuals deviate from this price. More recently, Joe Horton has proposed an indifferent benchmark between transacting with a vulnerable party and not transacting with her. After arguing against the existing focus on prices, the paper proposes an alternative approach to exploitation which focuses (...) on the profit made by the purported exploiter party. It suggests that profit is excessive when an agent makes more profit than the profit that a non-vulnerable purported exploiter would have made when transacting with a non-vulnerable second party. The focus on profit leads to the conclusion that different prices may be non-exploitative depending on the situation of the agents involved. (shrink)

According to the species-as-individuals thesis(hereafter S-A-I), species are cohesive entities. Barker and Wilson recently pointed out that the type of cohesion exhibited by species is fundamentally different from that of organisms (paradigmatic individuals), suggesting that species are homeostatic property cluster kinds. In this article, I propose a shift in how to approach cohesion in the context of S-A-I: instead of analyzing the different types of cohesion and questioning whether species have them, I focus on the role played by cohesion in (...) the identity of individuals. This shift allows us to recognize why cohesion matters to S-A-I, as well as to reconceive the analogy between species and organisms (paradigmatic individuals), and also allows us to highlight the context sensitivity of both ‘‘cohesion’’ and ‘‘individuals.’’ From this perspective, I identify two problems in Barker and Wilson’s argumentation. Firstly, the authors fail to recognize that species are individuals even if they do not have the same type of cohesion that organisms have. Secondly, their argument relies on a misinterpretation of S-A-I. I conclude that species cohesion is still best framed as a feature of species individuality rather than a feature of species as homeostatic property cluster kinds. The arguments presented here contribute to the re-articulation and reevaluation of S-A-I in the face of contemporary discussions. (shrink)

Contrary to the common-sense view and positivist aspirations, scientific concepts are often imprecise. Many of these concepts are ambiguous, vague, or have an under-specified meaning. In this paper, I discuss how imprecise concepts promote integration in biology and thus benefit science. Previous discussions of this issue focus on the concepts of molecular gene and evolutionary novelty. The concept of molecular gene helps biologists integrate explanatory practices, while the notion of evolutionary novelty helps them integrate research questions into an interdisciplinary problem (...) New directions in the philosophy of science, Springer, Dordrecht, 2014). In what follows, I compare molecular gene and evolutionary novelty to another imprecise concept, namely biological lineage. This concept promotes two other types of scientific integration: it helps biologists integrate theoretical principles and methodologies into different areas of biology. The concept of biological lineage facilitates these types of integration because it is broad and under-specified in ways that the concepts of molecular gene and evolutionary novelty are not. Hence, I use the concept of biological lineage as a case study to reveal types of integration that have been overlooked by philosophers. This case study also shows that even very imprecise concepts can be beneficial to scientific practice. (shrink)

The phenomenon of self-love elicits conflicting reactions. Some believe it is the key to happiness, while others are skeptical. This essay defines self-love as wholehearted concern for one's well-being, argues that it does not imply selfishness, arrogance, or vanity, discusses reasons to value self-love, and describes ways Logic-Based Therapy can be used to help people love themselves.

In this paper we distinguish, from other sanctions, specific targeted sanctions—namely those imposed on particular individuals and sanctions on goods that facilitate the violation of human rights. We ask if these sanctions satisfy the three of the principles of Just War Theory (JWT): chance of success, proportionality and discrimination. We argue that while there is not enough empirical evidence to make a claim about specific targeted sanctions and chance of success, these sanctions do meet the principles of proportionality and discrimination, (...) which are not met by other sanctions. Our ultimate conclusion is that comprehensive sanctions, and some types of targeted sanctions—e.g., those that target sectors of the economy or dual-goods such as oil—cannot be justified, since there is another type of sanctions, namely specific targeted sanctions, that meet the principles of JWT, and hence, are fairer. (shrink)

Research on moral cleansing and moral self-licensing has introduced dynamic considerations in the theory of moral behaviour. Past bad actions trigger negative feelings that make people more likely to engage in future moral behaviour to offset them. Symmetrically, past good deeds favour a positive self-perception that creates licensing effects, leading people to engage in behaviour that is less likely to be moral. In short, a deviation from a is balanced with a subsequent action that compensates the prior behaviour. We model (...) the decision of an individual trying to reach the optimal level of moral self-worth over time and show that under certain conditions the optimal sequence of actions follows a regular pattern which combines good and bad actions. To explore this phenomenon we conduct an economic experiment where subjects play a sequence of giving decisions (dictator games). We find that donations in the previous period affect present decisions and the sign is negative: participants' behaviour in every round is negatively correlated to what they did in the past. Hence donations over time seem to be the result of a regular pattern of self-regulation: moral licensing (being selfish after altruistic) and cleansing (altruistic after selfish). (shrink)

Exploramos aqui as conexões do mito de Prometeu com o nascimento do iluminismo ocidental. O estudo tem como base as obras de Hesíodo e Ésquilo, a partir das interpretações de Werner Jaeger e Junito Brandão. Nos poemas de Hesíodo, Prometeu é aquele titã que roubou o fogo de Zeus para entregá-lo à humanidade. Por este gesto, Prometeu e seus protegidos são duramente castigados por Zeus. Assim, mergulhados em um mundo de incontáveis e incontornáveis males, os homens, honestos, conquistam a esperança (...) de uma boa vida através do trabalho infatigável. Na tragédia de Ésquilo, Prometeu é apresentado como o iluminador e protetor da humanidade. Multi-sábio foi ele quem deu pensamento aos homens, pois estes faziam tudo sem razão. Todas as técnicas e artes humanas são devidas a Prometeu, o previdente. Aqui o mito revela o fundo a partir do qual brota a sabedoria humana: o sofrimento e a dor. No mito, revela-se, de modo essencial, a exigência do trabalho e a presença do sofrimento como condições de uma existência humana definida e considerada do ponto de vista do iluminismo. A sabedoria é a força capaz de fazer o homem superar os obstáculos e as adversidades. Prometeu representa, dessa forma, uma imagem primordial da condição humana cuja sabedoria é conquistada pelo trabalho e pela dor. (shrink)

A situação humana no mundo dos aparatos maquínicos e das formas tecnológicas de relação e subsistência exige uma revisão da autocompreensão humanista. A tecnologia moderna estabelece uma ruptura com os modos de vida milenares baseados em artefatos pré-científicos, mas isso não implica uma perda ou destruição da essência natural e menos ainda humana. Pois, a existência humana não é antes poética e depois por acidente técnica; e também não é antes carente e indeterminada e por isso técnica, e muito menos (...) prioritariamente desejo natural e então derrelição tecnológica. O humano instaurou-se poética e tecnologicamente ao conformar o mundo pelo uso de artefatos: o seu ter mundo é sempre um perfazer mundo por meio do artifício. (shrink)

With the 1999 film The Martix as its point of departure, this work explores the meaning of ‘reality’ outside the scope of empirical positivism. Drawing on the phenomenological epistemology of the interplay of noetic and noematic dimensions of experience postulated by Husserl, and on the works of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, this work considers how the reality of our experience derives not from some correspondence to a universal ‘objective’ point of view, but from our concernful involvement with our lived world as (...) the horizon of our lived and known projects. Finally, in light of Ricoeur’s work on imagination and productive reference, this work considers whether and on what grounds the distinction between so called ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ experiences is meaningful. (shrink)

This essay is part of a collection of essays reflecting critically and sympathetically on the legacy of philosopher of science and technology Joseph C. Pitt. It examines some effects social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, are having on people's capacity to engage in critical self-reflection, and draws lessons bearing on the classical issue of whether technologies can be considered neutral or embody non-cognitive values that they themselves reproduce by disciplining designers and users in particular ways. I argue that social (...) networking sites reproduce an ethic of personalization that privileges whatever theirs algorithms think are a user's personal interests at the expense of public interests, and that this in turn compromises their capacity to engage in critical self-reflection vis-a-vis issues facing society and the world. (shrink)

This article studies the traditional economic, political and religious alienation in Brazilian society. This retrospective study will analyze the causes and consequences of this alienation, from colonial times until the mid-twentieth century. It was only in the 1940's that Brazilian people began, slowly, to have a voice in the decision taking processes that affected their fate. Brazilian society was established under the aegis of Catholicism, the official religion of the State until 1891, and was ruled by an elite that dominated (...) the economic, political and religious spheres, controlling all the means that were necessary to keep them in power. The underprivileged majority, without any political participation, lived on the crumbs within the acceptable limits for the elite. This process was methodical and systematic. In the mid-twentieth century, for reasons that will be discussed in this article, there was a brief but intense popular interest in taking control of their own fate. This phenomenon was soon aborted by the historical happenings that marked the 1960’s. This study will focus in pondering: is there really a possibility of change in the Brazilian society or is it an unachievable utopia? (shrink)

En este artículo de rastrea de manera general la influencia de Leibniz en el surgimiento del transformismo en el siglo XVIII. Se divide en cuatro breves secciones. En la primera, se discuten algunos elementos sobre el progreso en biología. En la segunda, se enumeran tres de los principios lebinizianos de interés. En la tercera algunas consideraciones contextuales son introducidas y finalmente en la cuarta se resume la influencia de Leibniz en este importante campo.

Em República 377a Sócrates diz que as fábulas (mythos) são, no todo, falsas, mas possuem, alguma verdade. Diante dessa falsidade geral, a tentativa será de entender melhor onde estaria, de que modo se apresentaria e de que tipo seria essa verdade. Para tanto, será necessário tentar responder se falsidade e verdade podem ocorrer num mesmo lugar e, se a resposta for afirmativa, de que tipo é a sua relação. No âmbito dos conceitos de pano de fundo será preciso verificar se (...) há uma teoria da correspondência da verdade ou não e uma teoria do conhecimento por contato ou proposicional. Essas respostas permitirão identificar se verdade e falsidade possuem o mesmo objeto e qual é o objeto de uma fábula. Todo esse percurso deve gerar uma concepção de fábula condizente para ser o primeiro instrumento educacional na formação das crianças. Os resultados apontam para um tipo de híbrido verdade e falsidade que não se encaixa nas categorias dos diálogos platônicos. Palavras-chave: Verdade; Mentira; República; Fábulas; Platão. How can fables be generally false and yet contain some truth? A reflection on the Republic 377a Abstract: In Republic 377a Socrates says that fables (mythos) are, on the whole, false, but they possess some truth. In the face of this general falsity, the attempt will be to understand better where this truth would be, how it would be presented and what kind of truth it would be. To do so, it will be necessary to try to answer if falsehood and truth can occur in the same place and, if the answer is affirmative, of which type is their relationship. In the context of background concepts, it will be necessary to verify whether there is a correspondence theory of truth and if there is a theory of propositional knowledge or knowledge by acquaintance. These answers will allow to explore whether truth and falsehood have the same object and what is the object of a fable. This conclusion should generate a conception of a fable that is suitable to be the first educational tool in forming children. The results point to a type of hybrid truth and falsehood that does not fit into the categories of Platonic dialogues. Key-words: Truth; Lie; Republic; Fables; Plato. Comment les fables peuvent-elles être généralement fausses et contenir une part de vérité? Une réflexion sur la République 377a Résumé : Dans la République 377a, Socrate affirme que les fables (mythos) sont, dans l'ensemble, fausses, mais qu'elles possèdent une part de vérité. Face à cette fausseté générale, on cherchera à mieux comprendre où se trouverait cette vérité, comment elle se présenterait et de quel type de vérité il s'agirait. Pour ce faire, il faudra essayer de répondre à la question de savoir si la fausseté et la vérité peuvent se trouver au même endroit et, si la réponse est affirmative, de quel type est leur relation. Dans le contexte des concepts de base, il sera nécessaire de vérifier s'il existe une théorie de la correspondance de la vérité et s'il existe une théorie de la connaissance propositionnelle ou de la connaissance par accointance. Ces réponses permettront d'explorer si la vérité et la fausseté ont le même objet et quel est l'objet d'une fable. L'ensemble de ce parcours devrait générer une conception de la fable qui soit apte à être le premier outil éducatif dans la formation des enfants. Les résultats indiquent un type de vérité et de fausseté hybride qui n'entre pas dans les catégories des dialogues platoniciens. Mots clés: Vérité; Mensonge; République; Fables; Platon. Data de registro: 01/08/2023 Data de aceite: 12/06/2024. (shrink)

“Myth theorists” have recently called the normative requirement of means-end rationality into question. I show that we can accept certain lessons from the Myth Theorists and also salvage our intuition that there is a normative requirement of means-end rationality. I argue that any appeal to a requirement to make our attitudes coherent as such is superfluous and unnecessary in order to vindicate the requirement of means-end rationality and also avoid the problematic conclusion that persons ought to take the means to (...) whatever ends they happen to intend. (shrink)

La epistemología bayesiana tiene como concepto capital la condicionalización simple. Para comprender de buena forma cómo opera esta regla, se debe dar cuenta de la concepción subjetiva de la probabilidad. Sobre la base de lo anterior es posible esclarecer alcances y límites de la condicionalización simple. En general, cuando esta regla enfrenta una dificultad se hacen esfuerzos por resolver dicha particular cuestión, pero no es usual encontrar propuestas unificadas con la intención de resolver varias de las complicaciones subyacentes al bayesianismo (...) ortodoxo. Por lo mismo, el propósito de esta investigación es justamente proponer aquello: un marco bayesiano ampliado que tendrá por objeto solucionar más de una cuestión particular. Más específicamente, el problema de la incorregibilidad, el problema del surgimiento del cero, el problema de la evidencia antigua y el problema de las teorías nuevas. Lo anterior se logrará adicionando al bayesianismo ortodoxo dos cuestiones, a saber, la condicionalización épsilon y una reconstrucción racional. Palabras clave: Probabilidad Subjetiva, Grados de Creencia, Dogmatismo Bayesiano, Evidencia Antigua, Nuevas Teorías. (shrink)

Contemporary research offers a more compelling account on the complex emotion of envy than the traditional view of envy as simply something bad. This essay explains how Logic-Based Therapy can use this account to coach individuals struggling with negative species of envy. Given that jealousy and envy are often equated, the essay differentiates the two; explains the conditions that make the four species of envy possible; identifies cardinal fallacies associated with negative species of envy; proposes counteractive virtues, and describes ways (...) to help people struggling with negative species of envy acquire these virtues. (shrink)

O artigo problematiza o transumanismo no debate contemporâneo, abrindo caminhos deinvestigação para compreender as complexas linhas da sabedoria transumanista. Busca umacompreensão da condição transumana e dos novos desafios éticos e políticos na era da evolução pordesign intencional. Debate as contradições e possibilidades admiráveis do aperfeiçoamento humano pormeio das sofisticadas técnicas contemporâneas de manipulação e criação de novas formas de vida,inclusive fisiológicas. Assim, pergunta: qual a relação da phronesis transumanista diante da phronesishumanista iluminista? Seria uma superação completa dos ideais humanistas tradicionais? (...) Ou seria umanegação total desses ideais? A tese central é a de que a phronesis transumanista é uma evoluçãocrítica, não sem contradições, dos ideais propostos pelo humanismo renascentista e iluminista, não seconstituindo, portanto, nem como superação nem como oposição a estes ideais. (shrink)

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 has resulted in an increase in known risk factors for mental health problems. Mexico adopted lockdown and physical distancing as a containment strategy with potential consequences on day to day life, such as social isolation, loss of income and loneliness that can have important consequences in terms of mental health.Objective: We aimed to examine the effect of the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress, well-being and perceived physical health among Mexican-base respondents and to (...) examine whether coping strategies would play a potential intermediating role in relation to these variables. Under the Existential Positive Psychology perspective, an emphasis was made on meaning-centered coping.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 30 and June 16th 2020 among 604 Mexicans-base respondents of which 471 were women and 132 men. Data was collected by using online questionnaires. Psychological distress was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. The Brief COPE Inventory was used to assess problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. We also used the Meaning-Centered Coping Scale. PERMA-Profiler was used to assess well-being, perceived physical health, and loneliness. Profiler and Descriptive analyses and bivariate linear regression were performed to examine the association of variables.Results: 45.9% of the participants reported moderate to extremely severe psychological distress. Our results demonstrate that problem-focused and emotion-focused coping were positively related to psychological distress, whereas meaning-centered coping was negatively associated with distress. Furthermore, psychological distress played a potential negative role in the perceived physical health, while meaning-centered coping and well-being buffered the negative influence of psychological distress on perceived physical health (completely standardized indirect effect = –0.01, SE: 0.012, 95% CI [−0.065; −0.017].Conclusion: Meaning-centered coping was found to suppress the negative influence of psychological distress on sensation of decreased physical health corroborating the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being. Future studies can further examine the value of the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being as a protective factor against severe distress during traumatic events. Findings of this study can be used to orient policies and interventions aimed to alleviate suffering in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

Biological race realism (hereafter BRR) is the view that humans form biologically distinct groups. Non-racist versions of BRR have emerged recently based on sophisticated work in science and philosophy (Hardimon 2003; 2017; Spencer 2012; 2014; 2019a). In this paper, I examine Quayshawn Spencer’s version of BRR and argue that it fails to fully consider how social, political, and moral values influence the metaphysics of race. To do so, I rely on the “science and values” literature and the notions of inductive, (...) epistemic, and ethical risk (Douglas 2000; Douglas 2009; Brown 2015; Biddle and Kukla 2017; Elliot and Richards 2017). Once one realizes the complex relationship between these types of risks and BRR, Spencer’s metaphysical arguments become less appealing than they might first seem. This analysis raises questions about what it means to do metaphysics of race in a socially responsible way. Hence, this paper aims at making these questions visible, inviting metaphysicians of race to directly engage with them. (shrink)

In Metaphysics Γ, Aristotle argues against those who seem to accept contradictions. He distinguishes between the Sophists, who deny the principle of non-contradiction through arguments, and the Natural Philosophers, whose physical investigations lead to the acceptance of objective contradictions. Heraclitus’ name appears throughout the discussion. Usually, he is associated with the discussion against the Sophists. In this paper, I explore how the discussion with the Natural Philosophers may illuminate both the interpretation of Heraclitus by Aristotle and Heraclitus’ own worldview. To (...) refute the Natural Philosophers, Aristotle proposes a general reconstruction of their reasoning. Roughly, relying on sensory evidence (A1), they see that the same thing changes from one opposite to another (A2). Such a change appears to characterize a generation out of non-being, which a Natural Philosopher does not accept (A3). To solve the problem, despite their different worldviews, Natural Philosophers hint at a state in which opposites co-occur, characterizing an objective contradiction (C). Looking at the discussion in Metaphysics Γ and Heraclitus fragments, sections 1–3 show how assumptions A1, A2, and A3 easily apply to Heraclitus. The case of the conclusion is more challenging. In the case of the Pluralists, the co-existence of opposites characterizes a state in which there is no generation. Such a view does not fit Heraclitus’ mobilism. To argue that Aristotle’s argument is general enough to encompass dynamic views, I examine his problematization of accepting the change of change in Metaphysics K and Physics V. There, after re-stating several points that appear in Metaphysics Γ, Aristotle argues that accepting the becoming of another becoming leads to a state of contradiction in which the becoming is perishing. Heraclitus’ B8, cited in Nicomachean Ethics, gives evidence that, for Aristotle, Heraclitus puts a process at the origin of an opposite process. Moreover, after examining the expression ‘living the death/dying the life’ in B62, I argue that Heraclitus was aware that his worldview implied a dynamic objective contradiction. Finally, an analysis of elemental changes in B36 proves that accepting objective contradictions does not make Heraclitus’ worldview less attractive. (shrink)

Heraclitus uses paradoxical language to present the relationship between opposites in his worldview. This mode of expression has generated much controversy. Some take the paradoxes as evidence of a contradictory identity of opposites (Barnes), while others propose a dynamic union through transformation without identity that avoids the contradiction (Graham). By examining B88 and B62, I seek to identify the stronger and weaker points of such readings. The contradictory identity reading thwarts the transformation between opposites. The dynamic reading offers a plausible (...) alternative. However, it skips a characterization of how Heraclitus conceives of the transformation between opposites in physical terms. To fill this gap, I consider Heraclitus’ use of what I call the anti-cognate internal object in B62. I argue that ‘living the death and dying the life’ is a case of change as mixture, a popular conception among the early Presocratics. Upon closer examination, the anti-cognate internal object suggests that real contradictions belong to Heraclitus conception of change. The details reveal a philosophically compelling view. (shrink)

Germán Cano Gedisa Barcelona, 2023 149 páginas ISBN: 978-8419406002.

In this paper, I show how idealizations contribute to social activities in science, such as the recruitment of experts to a research project. These contributions have not been explicitly discussed by recent philosophical accounts of scientific idealization. These accounts have focused on how idealizations influence activities like scientific theorization, explanation, and modeling. Other accounts focus on how idealizations influence policy-making and science communication. I expand these accounts by exploring the uses of idealized phylogenetic trees in science. Trees are not only (...) useful for improving our understanding and public communication of evolutionary history, but they also help with the organization of laboratories and collaboration among scientists. Attending to the relation between idealizations and these social practices in science matters. It can help us understand why idealized models become entrenched and why certain social practices change over time. (shrink)

Analysis and reconstruction of the concepts of artifact and performative agency, under an ontological perspective, in order to understand the phenomena of interactivity and mutual constitution between agents and artifacts. The focus of the investigation is the agency and effectiveness of technological and artistic artifacts as they make up the world in which they can have effects and shape the agents that produce and use them. The intentionality and the agency of the intentional agents will be understood as founded on (...) the condition established by the artifacts that, although they are their creation, simultaneously impose restrictions and enhance their action and conscience. Performative action based on artifacts and artifices, in the sense of actions by which the agent is constituted as an intentional agent, establishes new modes of cooperative interaction and provides other forms of existence. (shrink)

Review on Realist conception of Truth, of the W. P. Alston.

La identidad cultural ha sido abordada desde diferentes disciplinas científicas, se va construyendo desde disímiles ángulos, de aquí que los referentes teóricos para su estudio procedan de diversas áreas del saber. Aunque no es un tema exclusivamente latinoamericano, es justamente América Latina uno de los lugares en que el análisis de esta problemática ha sido más polémico. El artículo presenta los resultados de un diagnóstico del estado de la identidad cultural de los estudiantes de la Preparatoria No.1, de la Universidad (...) Autónoma de Nuevo León, y propone un modelo pedagógico para el desarrollo de este fenómeno. Cultural identity has been studied from different scientific disciplines and considered from various perspectives. The theoretical references of its study come from diverse areas of knowledge. Being not exclusively a Latin American theme, Latin America is exactly one of the places that provide a controversial analysis. This article deals with the results of a study on cultural identity in students registered in the Preparatory n. 1, at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, and presents an educational model for its development. (shrink)

En 1888, Nietzsche se presenta a la humanidad antes del gran asalto: La transvaloración de todos los valores. Se lamenta de no ser reconocido, de ser confundido, de no ser visto ni oído por otros. Por eso, decide autopresentarse a través de un libro que intenta mostrarlo como capaz de realizar y soportar la propia transvaloración. El resultado: un libro peculiar e incomprensible, para muchos la obra de un delirante. Pero es también, para nosotros, la obra que muestra a un (...) Nietzsche intentando la inmortalidad a través de su escritura. (shrink)

Neste livro, o autor estabelece a comparação básica entre as antropologias de Lévi-Strauss e Geertz, consideradas muitas vezes como antagônicas. Indispensável para estudiosos do tema.