La formación docente es indispensable para responder a los requerimientos de la compleja sociedad actual. De su conocimiento, iniciativa, praxis y creatividad depende el éxito o el fracaso del sujeto que aprende. Al modificar el rol del docente se transforma la actitud de los estudiantes. ¿Cómo entender la formación filosófica transdisciplinar? Este texto responde a este y otros cuestionamientos: ¿cuáles son los planteamientos pedagógicos afines a la era digital? ¿en qué medida las TIC se encuentran al servicio de una filosofía (...) educativa transdisciplinar?, ¿cómo se explica ese enfoque en la formación del docente?, ¿cuál es la función de la formación en la innovación educativa?, ¿cómo formar para la ciudadanía mundial?, ¿cuáles son las contribuciones de las nuevas ciencias para la formación educativa? El crecimiento exponencial de la ciencia y de la tecnología nos obliga a pensar en procesos formativos innovadores. En tal sentido, resulta imprescindible el estudio de estas problemáticas. (shrink)

The principle of proportionality, which has become the standard test for adjudicating human and constitutional rights disputes in jurisdictions worldwide has had few critics. Proportionality is generally taken for granted or enthusiastically promoted or accepted with minor qualifications. A Critique of Proportionality and Balancing presents a frontal challenge to this orthodoxy. It provides a comprehensive critique of the proportionality principle, and particularly of its most characteristic component, balancing. Divided into three parts, the book presents arguments against the proportionality test, critiques (...) the view of rights entailed by it, and proposes an alternative understanding of fundamental rights and their limits. (shrink)

In the last decade, the migrant population in Chile has substantially increased, where the rates have not only increased in the adult population, but also among children and adolescents, creating a potential for social and cultural development in the educational system. The present work analyzes the relationship between self-concept, self-efficacy, and subjective well-being in native and migrant adolescents in Santiago de Chile. The sample consisted of 406 students, 56.65% women, with an age range that fluctuated between 12 and 16 years, (...) with an average of 13.36 years. Student’s t-tests were used to compare the average of the constructs evaluated between natives/migrants and boys/girls participants. Subsequently, two multivariate models of simple mediation were constructed, one for natives and another for migrants, which assumed subjective well-being as a dependent variable, academic self-concept as an independent variable and the general self-efficacy as a mediating variable. In both models, gender was considered as a control variable. Results show that migrant students present higher levels of academic self-concept and general self-efficacy than native students. There are no differences with regard to well-being. In the case of gender, differences are observed only for the case of general self-efficacy, where boys present higher levels. On the other hand, a partial mediation is observed for the model of native students and a total mediation for the model of migrant students. The study yielded interesting results regarding the differences in the evaluation of the constructs of self-concept, self-efficacy, and subjective well-being in both groups. Such data can be used as inputs for the development of public policies for adolescents. (shrink)

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, now a global health crisis, has surprised health authorities around the world. Recent studies suggest that the measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak have generated issues throughout the population. Thus, it is necessary to establish and identify the possible risk factors related to the psychosocial and psychophysiological strain during the COVID-19 outbreak. The present extensive literature review assesses the social, psychological, and physiological consequences of COVID-19, reviewing the impact of quarantine measures, (...) isolation, vast human loss, social and financial consequences in the family’s economies, and its impact on the psychological health of the population. We also discussed the effect of psychophysiological factors, considering the impact of physical inactivity and modifications in nutritional habits, at psychological and physiological levels. The present review includes an actualized to date bibliography, articles for which were methodologically analyzed to verify they met the standards of quality and scientific accuracy. Authors understand the pandemic as a multifactorial event for which only a profound and extensive analysis would lead to better compression and efficient intervention in the near future. (shrink)

Selected-effects theories provide the most popular account of biological teleology. According to these theories, the purpose of a trait is to do whatever it was selected for. The vast majority of selected-effects theories consider biological teleology to be introduced by natural selection. We want to argue, however, that natural selection is not the only relevant selective process in biology. In particular, our proposal is that biological regulation is a form of biological selection. So, those who accept selected-effects theories should recognize (...) biological regulation as a distinctive source of biological teleology. The purposes derived from biological regulation are of special interest for explaining and predicting the behavior of organisms, given that regulatory mechanisms directly modulate the behavior of the systems they regulate. This explanatory power, added to the fact that regulation is widespread in the biological world, makes the idea that regulation gives rise to its own form of teleology a substantial contribution to the debate on biological teleology. (shrink)

The objective structured clinical examination is a method for assessment clinical competencies and skills. However, there is a need to improve its design in psychology programs. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the different scenario's presentation order with different complexity/difficulty on the autonomic stress response of undergraduate students undergoing a Psychology OSCE. A total of 32 students of Psychology Bachelor's Degree were randomly selected and assigned to two OSCE scenarios of different complexity. While undergoing the (...) scenarios, participants heart rate variability was analyzed as an indicator of participant's stress autonomic response. Results indicate that the order of presentation of different complexity/difficulty scenarios affects the autonomic stress response of undergraduate Psychology students undergoing an OSCE. Students who underwent the high-complexity scenario first, reported significantly higher autonomic stress response than students who began the OSCE with the low-complexity scenario. Highly complex or difficult scenarios require good executive functions or cognitive control, very sensitive to autonomic stress responses. Therefore, OSCE design will benefit from placing easy scenarios first. (shrink)

We study some operations that may be defined using the minimum operator in the context of a Heyting algebra. Our motivation comes from the fact that 1) already known compatible operations, such as the successor by Kuznetsov, the minimum dense by Smetanich and the operation G by Gabbay may be defined in this way, though almost never explicitly noted in the literature; 2) defining operations in this way is equivalent, from a logical point of view, to two clauses, one corresponding (...) to an introduction rule and the other to an elimination rule, thus providing a manageable way to deal with these operations. Our main result is negative: all operations that arise turn out to be Heyting terms or the mentioned already known operations or operations interdefinable with them. However, it should be noted that some of the operations that arise may exist even if the known operations do not. We also study the extension of Priestley duality to Heyting algebras enriched with the new operations. (shrink)

ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyse how stereotypes towards older people moderate the relationship between burnout and quality of life of professionals working in nursing homes.MethodA total of 312 professionals were asked to complete questionnaires of burnout Maslach Burnout Inventory quality of Life and aging stereotypes. The moderation effects were tested using linear regression models.ResultsA negative association was observed between burnout and QoL. It was also found a statistically significant moderator effect of the total score of stereotypes and the health stereotypes, (...) besides a marginally statistically significant moderator effect for motivational stereotypes. The moderator effects were different for people with low and high negative stereotypes. QoL was more affected under conditions of high burnout, in which people with more negative stereotypes tended to present higher QoL than people with lower negative stereotypes.ConclusionHighly burned-out professionals in nursing homes may avoid their negative feelings projecting them to residents through stereotypes, as a way of coping with burnout and increasing their QoL. However, this mechanism is an “aggressive reaction” and may have negative effects for both the older adult and the professional. The comprehension of these variables is essential for developing adequate intervention programs. (shrink)

Los escritos de Jürgen Habermas han despertado en España un interés notable y sostenido en el tiempo. Han ejercido una fuerte influencia intelectual no solo en los círculos académicos, sino también en amplios sectores de la esfera pública, algo sorprendente teniendo en cuenta su complejidad y su carácter más bien técnico. En sus textos los lectores españoles han encontrado elementos que sintonizan constructivamente con los cambios acaecidos en su propia sociedad y en el mundo. Como argumento de autoridad o como (...) referencia a rebatir, Habermas se ha hecho habitual en la filosofía y en la teoría social pensada y escrita en español. En este artículo se tratará de presentar los diversos contextos que posibilitaron la acogida de sus ideas, así como los principales actores que con sus trabajos y reflexiones han protagonizado la propagación de su pensamiento. (shrink)

Belandria, Margarita Artículos El erotismo como experiencia vinculada a lo sagrado Eroticism as an experience linked to the sacred order Castrejón, Gilberto Laberintos de sabiduría: Entre la razón y el mito Labyrinths of the knowledge: Between the reason and the myth Espar, Teresa Hacia una noción de "globalización" Towards a globalization notion González R., Javier y Belandria, Margarita Filosofía, semiótica, y ritmo Philosophy, semiotics, and rhythm Hocevar, Drina Más allá del pensamiento determinante, el pensamiento reflexionante Beyond deterministic thought, reflexive (...) thought Maldonado, Rebeca La muerte como imaginario social: una mirada de la modernidad a la postmodernidad cultural Death as a social imaginary: A view modernity to cultural postmodernity Mora García, José Pascual El impacto de la ideología y la política en la cultura y el arte de la América Latina Ideological and political interference related to artistic and cultural creations in the Latin American ambit Peña, Edilio Ontología de la trascendencia Metaphysics of Transcendence Ramis Muscato, Pompeyo Sentido de una reforma general de la educación The meaning of a general reform on education Suzzarini, Andrés Traducciones H. Arendt y la idea del derecho moderno Renaut, Alain y Sosoe, Lukas Interdisciplinares Los personajes femeninos en las novelas de Alejo Carpentier Márquez Rodríguez, Alexis Gobernabilidad y constituciones (De la colonización a la emancipación Zambrano Labrador, Laurencio Recensiones Conozca al investigador: Elías Capriles Acercamiento a la obra: Individuo Sociedad y Ecosistema Velasco, Fabiola CDCHT. (shrink)

El presente trabajo analiza las representaciones de América y los americanos en el siglo XVIII con base en los conceptos de hibridación cultural de García Canclini y de tradición de Ambrosio Velasco. La primera parte del estudio examina la hibridación del territorio americano según las dos ediciones de la Enciclopedia de Diderot, destacando la complejidad discursiva en torno al concepto del salvaje propuesto por Cornelius De Pauw. Posteriormente, se realiza una revisión crítica de las interpretaciones nacionalistas de Xavier Clavijero, (...) cuestionando su supuesta defensa de los antiguos mexicanos a través del análisis de narrativas que entrelazan poderes hegemónicos e identidades invisibilizadas. (shrink)

Spanish Jesuits such as Francisco Suárez (1548-1617), José de Acosta (1540-1600), Pedro de Ribadeneira (1526-1611) and Juan de Mariana (1536-1624) had a powerful impact on English thinkers of the magnitude of John Locke (1632-1704), Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Robert Persons (1546-1610), Algernon Sidney (1623-1683), and, later, William Robertson (1721-1793), Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) and Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953). An influence that was sometimes hidden and always controversial. This work highlights the importance of this influence regarding thought on politics, law and natural rights. (...) A constitutionalist understanding of political power, the recognition and promotion of innate rights and the necessary subjection of rulers to the law, all form part of the important legacy of these scholastic doctors for European intellectual heritage. Contributors to this volume: Rafael Alé Ruiz, Francisco T. Baciero Ruiz, Francisco Castilla Urbano, José Luis Cendejas Bueno, Alfonso Díaz Vera, Francisco Javier Gómez Díez, Cecilia Font de Villanueva, León M. Gómez Rivas, Fermín del Pino Díaz, Leopoldo J. Prieto López, Daniel Schwartz, Lorena Velasco Guerrero, and María Idoya Zorroza Huarte. (shrink)

Belandria, Margarita Artículos El erotismo como experiencia vinculada a lo sagrado Eroticism as an experience linked to the sacred order Castrejón, Gilberto Laberintos de sabiduría: Entre la razón y el mito Labyrinths of the knowledge: Between the reason and the myth Espar, Teresa Hacia una noción de "globalización" Towards a globalization notion González R., Javier y Belandria, Margarita Filosofía, semiótica, y ritmo Philosophy, semiotics, and rhythm Hocevar, Drina Más allá del pensamiento determinante, el pensamiento reflexionante Beyond deterministic thought, reflexive (...) thought Maldonado, Rebeca La muerte como imaginario social: una mirada de la modernidad a la postmodernidad cultural Death as a social imaginary: A view modernity to cultural postmodernity Mora García, José Pascual El impacto de la ideología y la política en la cultura y el arte de la América Latina Ideological and political interference related to artistic and cultural creations in the Latin American ambit Peña, Edilio Ontología de la trascendencia Metaphysics of Transcendence Ramis Muscato, Pompeyo Sentido de una reforma general de la educación The meaning of a general reform on education Suzzarini, Andrés Traducciones H. Arendt y la idea del derecho moderno Renaut, Alain y Sosoe, Lukas Interdisciplinares Los personajes femeninos en las novelas de Alejo Carpentier Márquez Rodríguez, Alexis Gobernabilidad y constituciones (De la colonización a la emancipación Zambrano Labrador, Laurencio Recensiones Conozca al investigador: Elías Capriles Acercamiento a la obra: Individuo Sociedad y Ecosistema Velasco, Fabiola CDCHT. (shrink)

Belandria, Margarita Artículos El erotismo como experiencia vinculada a lo sagrado Eroticism as an experience linked to the sacred order Castrejón, Gilberto Laberintos de sabiduría: Entre la razón y el mito Labyrinths of the knowledge: Between the reason and the myth Espar, Teresa Hacia una noción de "globalización" Towards a globalization notion González R., Javier y Belandria, Margarita Filosofía, semiótica, y ritmo Philosophy, semiotics, and rhythm Hocevar, Drina Más allá del pensamiento determinante, el pensamiento reflexionante Beyond deterministic thought, reflexive (...) thought Maldonado, Rebeca La muerte como imaginario social: una mirada de la modernidad a la postmodernidad cultural Death as a social imaginary: A view modernity to cultural postmodernity Mora García, José Pascual El impacto de la ideología y la política en la cultura y el arte de la América Latina Ideological and political interference related to artistic and cultural creations in the Latin American ambit Peña, Edilio Ontología de la trascendencia Metaphysics of Transcendence Ramis Muscato, Pompeyo Sentido de una reforma general de la educación The meaning of a general reform on education Suzzarini, Andrés Traducciones H. Arendt y la idea del derecho moderno Renaut, Alain y Sosoe, Lukas Interdisciplinares Los personajes femeninos en las novelas de Alejo Carpentier Márquez Rodríguez, Alexis Gobernabilidad y constituciones (De la colonización a la emancipación Zambrano Labrador, Laurencio Recensiones Conozca al investigador: Elías Capriles Acercamiento a la obra: Individuo Sociedad y Ecosistema Velasco, Fabiola CDCHT. (shrink)

Belandria, Margarita Artículos El erotismo como experiencia vinculada a lo sagrado Eroticism as an experience linked to the sacred order Castrejón, Gilberto Laberintos de sabiduría: Entre la razón y el mito Labyrinths of the knowledge: Between the reason and the myth Espar, Teresa Hacia una noción de "globalización" Towards a globalization notion González R., Javier y Belandria, Margarita Filosofía, semiótica, y ritmo Philosophy, semiotics, and rhythm Hocevar, Drina Más allá del pensamiento determinante, el pensamiento reflexionante Beyond deterministic thought, reflexive (...) thought Maldonado, Rebeca La muerte como imaginario social: una mirada de la modernidad a la postmodernidad cultural Death as a social imaginary: A view modernity to cultural postmodernity Mora García, José Pascual El impacto de la ideología y la política en la cultura y el arte de la América Latina Ideological and political interference related to artistic and cultural creations in the Latin American ambit Peña, Edilio Ontología de la trascendencia Metaphysics of Transcendence Ramis Muscato, Pompeyo Sentido de una reforma general de la educación The meaning of a general reform on education Suzzarini, Andrés Traducciones H. Arendt y la idea del derecho moderno Renaut, Alain y Sosoe, Lukas Interdisciplinares Los personajes femeninos en las novelas de Alejo Carpentier Márquez Rodríguez, Alexis Gobernabilidad y constituciones (De la colonización a la emancipación Zambrano Labrador, Laurencio Recensiones Conozca al investigador: Elías Capriles Acercamiento a la obra: Individuo Sociedad y Ecosistema Velasco, Fabiola CDCHT. (shrink)

Recent years have witnessed intensive efforts to specify which requirements ethical artificial intelligence (AI) must meet. General guidelines for ethical AI consider a varying number of principles important. A frequent novel element in these guidelines, that we have bundled together under the term explicability, aims to reduce the black-box character of machine learning algorithms. The centrality of this element invites reflection on the conceptual relation between explicability and the four bioethical principles. This is important because the application of general ethical (...) frameworks to clinical decision-making entails conceptual questions: Is explicability a free-standing principle? Is it already covered by the well-established four bioethical principles? Or is it an independent value that needs to be recognized as such in medical practice? We discuss these questions in a conceptual-ethical analysis, which builds upon the findings of an empirical document analysis. On the example of the medical specialty of radiology, we analyze the position of radiological associations on the ethical use of medical AI. We address three questions: Are there references to explicability or a similar concept? What are the reasons for such inclusion? Which ethical concepts are referred to? (shrink)

While practitioners think highly of randomized studies, some philosophers argue that there is no epistemic reason to randomize. Here I show that their arguments do not entail their conclusion. Moreover, I provide novel reasons for randomizing in the context of interventional studies. The overall discussion provides a unified framework for assessing baseline balance, one that holds for interventional and observational studies alike. The upshot: practitioners’ strong preference for randomized studies can be defended in some cases, while still offering a nuanced (...) approach to evidence-appraisal, one where not all non-randomized studies are treated equally. (shrink)

It has been argued that quantum mechanics forces us to accept the existence of metaphysical, mind-independent indeterminacy. In this paper we provide an interpretation of the indeterminacy involved in the quantum phenomena in terms of a view that we call Plural Metaphysical Supervaluationism. According to it, quantum indeterminacy is captured in terms of an irreducibly plural relation between the actual world and various misrepresentations of it.

What is a valid measuring instrument? Recent philosophy has attended to logic of justification of measures, such as construct validation, but not to the question of what it means for an instrument to be a valid measure of a construct. A prominent approach grounds validity in the existence of a causal link between the attribute and its detectable manifestations. Some of its proponents claim that, therefore, validity does not depend on pragmatics and research context. In this paper, I cast doubt (...) on the possibility of a context-independent causal account of validity (what I call unconditional validity). I assess several versions, arguing that all of them fail to judge the validity of measuring instruments correctly. Because different research purposes require different properties from measuring instruments, no account of validity succeeds without referring to the specific research purpose that creates the need for measurement in the first place. (shrink)

There is a widely held view on measurement inferences, that goes back to Stevens’s ([1946]) theory of measurement scales and ‘permissible statistics’. This view defends the following prohibition: you should not make inferences from averages taken with ordinal scales (versus quantitative scales: interval or ratio). This prohibition is general—it applies to all ordinal scales—and it is sometimes endorsed without qualification. Adhering to it dramatically limits the research that the social and biomedical sciences can conduct. I provide a Bayesian analysis of (...) this inferential problem, determining when measurements from ordinal scales can be used to confirm hypotheses about relative group averages. The prohibition, I conclude, cannot be upheld, even in a qualified sense. The beliefs needed to make average comparisons are less demanding than those appropriate for quantitative scales. I illustrate with the alleged paradigm ordinal scale, Mohs’ scale of mineral hardness, arguing that the literature has mischaracterized it. (shrink)

An important approach to understand how the brain gives rise to consciousness is to probe the depth of unconscious processing, thus to define the key features that cause conscious awareness. Here, we investigate the possibility for subliminal stimuli to shape the context for unconscious processing. Context effects have generally been assumed to require consciousness. In the present experiment, unconscious context processing was investigated by looking at the impact of the context on the response activation elicited by a subliminal prime. We (...) compared the effects of the same subliminal prime on target processing when the prime was embedded in different unconscious contexts. Results showed that the same prime can evoke opposite responses depending on the unconscious context in which it is presented. Taken together, the results of this study show that context effects can be unconscious. (shrink)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments are proliferating at an astonishing rate. Unsurprisingly, the number of meaningful studies addressing the social impacts of AI applications in several fields has been remarkable. More recently, several contributions have started exploring the ecological impacts of AI. Machine learning systems do not have a neutral environmental cost, so it is important to unravel the ecological footprint of these techno-scientific developments. In this chapter, we discuss the sustainability of AI from environmental ethics approaches. We examine the moral (...) trade-offs that AI may cause in different moral dimensions and analyse prominent conflicts that may arise from human and more-than-human-centred concerns. (shrink)

There is a received view on measurement scales. It includes both a classification of scales and a set of prescriptions regarding measurement inferences. This article casts doubt on the adequacy of this received view. To do this, I propose an epistemic characterization of the ordinal/interval distinction, that is, one in terms of researchers’ beliefs. This novel characterization reveals the ordinal/interval distinction as too coarse grained and thus the received view as too restrictive of a framework for measurement research.

Research concerning the link between morality and education-related variables is scarce. Thus, the present study addressed this issue by focusing on the connection between moral disengagement and academic engagement and the moderating roles of educational anti-mattering and psychological distress. Our sample comprised 363 university students aged 18 to 29 (M = 20.86, SD = 1.57) from Bachelor’s and Master’s programs. Correlation analysis suggested that academic engagement was negatively associated with psychological distress and educational anti-mattering. Moderation analyses suggested that moral disengagement (...) predicted academic engagement only at high levels of psychological distress (i.e. depression, anxiety, and stress). Educational anti-mattering, however, did not significantly moderate the link between moral disengagement and academic engagement. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the results in addressing students’ academic engagement. (shrink)

When people make decisions, they act in a way that is either automatic (“rote”), or more thoughtful (“reflective”). But do people notice when others are behaving in a rote way, and do they care? We examine the detection of rote behavior and its consequences in U.S. adults, focusing specifically on pedagogy and learning. We establish repetitiveness as a cue for rote behavior (Experiment 1), and find that rote people are seen as worse teachers (Experiment 2). We also find that the (...) more a person's feedback seems similar across groups (indicating greater rote-ness), the more negatively their teaching is evaluated (Experiment 3). A word-embedding analysis of an open-response task shows people naturally cluster rote and reflective teachers into different semantic categories (Experiment 4). We also show that repetitiveness can be decoupled from perceptions of rote-ness given contextual explanation (Experiment 5). Finally, we establish two additional cues to rote behavior that can be tied to quality of teaching (Experiment 6). These results empirically show that people detect and care about scripted behaviors in pedagogy, and suggest an important extension to formal frameworks of social reasoning. (shrink)

The development of new methods in the field of prenatal testing leads to an expansion of information that needs to be provided to expectant mothers. The aim of this research is to explore opinions and attitudes of gynecologists in Germany, Poland and Russia towards access to prenatal testing and diagnostics in these countries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with n = 18 gynecologists in Germany, Poland and Russia. The interviews were analyzed using the methods of content analysis and thematic analysis. Visible (...) in all three countries is a connection of prenatal medicine with the politically and socially contentious issue of pregnancy termination. Respondents in Poland and Russia concentrated on the topic of inadequate resources. Quality of information for expectant mothers is an important point in all three countries. Only in Germany was the issue of language barriers in communication raised. With regard to non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) respondents in Germany focused on the ethical issues of routinization of testing; in Poland and Russia they concentrated on fair access to NIPT. Challenges in all three countries arise from structural factors such as imprecise and prohibitive regulations, lack of resources or organization of healthcare services. These should be addressed on a political and medico-ethical level. (shrink)

Biomarker-based predictive tests for subjectively asymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are utilized in research today. Novel applications of artificial intelligence (AI) promise to predict the onset of AD several years in advance without determining biomarker thresholds. Until now, little attention has been paid to the new ethical challenges that AI brings to the early diagnosis in asymptomatic individuals, beyond contributing to research purposes, when we still lack adequate treatment. The aim of this paper is to explore the ethical arguments put forward (...) for AI aided AD prediction in subjectively asymptomatic individuals and their ethical implications. The ethical assessment is based on a systematic literature search. Thematic analysis was conducted inductively of 18 included publications. The ethical framework includes the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Reasons for offering predictive tests to asymptomatic individuals are the right to know, a positive balance of the risk-benefit assessment, and the opportunity for future planning. Reasons against are the lack of disease modifying treatment, the accuracy and explicability of AI aided prediction, the right not to know, and threats to social rights. We conclude that there are serious ethical concerns in offering early diagnosis to asymptomatic individuals and the issues raised by the application of AI add to the already known issues. Nevertheless, pre-symptomatic testing should only be offered on request to avoid inflicted harm. We recommend developing training for physicians in communicating AI aided prediction. (shrink)

This issue opens an inquiry into the tension between solidity and fluidity. This tension is ingrained in the Western intellectual tradition and informs theoretical debates across the sciences and humanities. In physics, solid is one phase of matter, alongside liquid, gas and plasma. This, however, assumes all matter to be particulate. Reversing the relation between statics and dynamics, we argue to the contrary, that matter exists as continuous flux. It is both solid and fluid. What difference would it make were (...) we to start from our inescapable participation in a world of solid fluids? Is solid fluidity a condition of being in the midst of things, or of intermediacy on a solid-fluid continuum? Does the world appear fluid in the process of its formation, but solid when you look back on things already formed? Here we open new paths for theorizing matter and meaning at a time of ecological crisis. (shrink)

Agricultural innovation happens at different scales and through different streams. In the absence of a common global research agenda, decisions on which innovations are brought to existence, and through which methods, are taken with insufficient view on how innovation affects social relations, the environment, and future food production. Mostly, innovations are considered from the standpoint of economic efficiency, particularly in relationship to creating jobs for technology-exporting countries. Increasingly, however, the realization that innovations cannot be successful on their technical prowess alone (...) calls for a broader investigation. (shrink)

Current developments in fields such as quantum physics, fine arts, robotics, cognitive sciences or defense and security indicate the emergence of creative systems capable of producing new and innovative solutions through combinations of machine learning algorithms. These systems, called machine invention systems, challenge the established invention paradigm in promising the automation of – at least parts of – the innovation process. This paper’s main contribution is twofold. Based on the identified state-of-the-art examples in the above mentioned fields, key components for (...) machine invention systems and their relations are identified, creating a conceptual model as well as proposing a working definition for machine invention systems. The differences and delimitations to other concepts in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence, such as machine discovery systems are discussed as well. Furthermore, the paper briefly addresses the social and societal implications and limitations that come with the adoption of the technology. Because of their revolutionizing potential, there are widespread implications to consider from ethical and moral implications to policymaking and societal changes, like changes in the job structure. The discussion part approaches some of these implications, as well as solutions to some of the proposed challenges. The paper concludes by discussing some of the systemic benefits that can be accessed through machine invention. (shrink)

La noción de emergencia acompaña a la Filosofía de la Biología desde finales del siglo XIX, afirmando que las propiedades de los sistemas biológicos no pueden deducirse de las de sus componentes. A lo largo del siglo XX las caracterizaciones de este concepto se han apoyado en cuatro pilares, impredecibilidad, novedad, restricción y causación descendente, pilares ligados a la asunción de una jerarquización de la realidad en niveles de organización. En este trabajo intento demostrar que puede explicarse la naturaleza de (...) las propiedades biológicas sin hacer referencia a la emergencia utilizando como herramienta la noción de cuasi-descomponibilidad propuesta originariamente por Herbert Simon. (shrink)

La búsqueda de un pluralismo integrativo en filosofía de la ciencia presenta ecos fructíferos en discusiones contemporáneas de la filosofía de la psiquiatría, sobre todo en torno a la necesidad de un pluralismo que supere un reduccionismo neurobiológico y un eclecticismo biopsicosocial. Los trabajos de la filósofa Sandra Mitchell constituirán un punto de partida para visualizar la necesidad de un paradigma pluralista, al mismo tiempo que permitirán exponer la tesis de que es necesario un modelo que permita una integración real (...) entre las diversas dimensiones relevantes en psiquiatría para así no caer implícitamente nuevamente en un pluralismo reduccionista. En esta línea, se analizarán críticamente las perspectivas que han surgido en psiquiatría a la hora de lograr un pluralismo integrativo. Finalmente se revisará el modelo enactivo en ciencia cognitiva y su aplicación en psiquiatría como un posible alternativa en búsqueda de una integración en psiquiatría que permita un pluralismo integrativo a nivel ontológico, permitiendo un camino medio entre una psiquiatría neurocéntrica y una ecléctica relativista. (shrink)

Introduction: There is currently no binding, internationally accepted and successful approach to ensure global equitable access to healthcare during a pandemic. The aim of this ethical analysis is to bring into the discussion a legally regulated vaccine allocation as a possible strategy for equitable global access to vaccines. We focus our analysis on COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) and an existing EU regulation that, after adjustment, could promote global vaccine allocation. -/- Methods: The main documents discussing the two strategies are (...) examined with a qualitative content analysis. The ethical values reasonableness, openness and transparency, inclusiveness, responsiveness and accountability serve as categories for our ethical analysis. -/- Results: We observed that the decision-making processes in a legal solution to expand access to vaccines would be more transparent than in COVAX initiative, would be more inclusive, especially of nation states, and the values responsiveness and accountability could be easily incorporated in the development of a new regulation. -/- Discussion: A legal strategy that offers incentives to the pharmaceutical industry in return for global distribution of vaccines according to the Fair Priority Model is an innovative way to achieve global and equitable access to vaccines. However, in the long term, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will require from all nations to work in solidarity to find durable solutions for global vaccine research and development. Interim solutions, such as our proposed legal strategy for equitable access to vaccines, and efforts to find long-term solutions must be advanced in parallel. (shrink)

This paper aims to analyze the ethical challenges in experimental drug use during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, using Germany as a case study. In Germany uniform ethical guidelines were available early on nationwide, which was considered as desirable by other states to reduce uncertainties and convey a message of unity. The purpose of this ethical analysis is to assist the preparation of future guidelines on the use of medicines during public health emergencies. The use of hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir (...) and COVID-19 convalescent plasma in clinical settings was analyzed from the perspective of the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and autonomy. We observed that drug safety and drug distribution during the pandemic affects all four ethical principles. We therefore recommend to establish ethical guidelines (i) to discuss experimental treatment options with patients from all population groups who are in urgent need, (ii) to facilitate the recording of patient reactions to drugs in off-label use, (iii) to expand inclusion criteria for clinical studies to avoid missing potentially negative effects on excluded groups, and (iv) to maintain sufficient access to repurposed drugs for patients with prior conditions. (shrink)

En este trabajo analizamos críticamente el enfoque mecanicista de explicación científica centrándonos principalmente en la forma en la que este da cuenta de los fenómenos biológicos. Nos proponemos complementar esta perspectiva con una concepción de nivel como intervalo de cuasi-descomponibilidad que nos permite fundamentar metafísicamente las propuestas mecanicistas clásicas en las propiedades sistémicas características de las entidades biológicas. A través del análisis de ejemplos concretos, demostraremos cómo nuestra propuesta permite superar algunas de las limitaciones de los enfoques predominantes de explicación (...) mecanística. (shrink)

In this paper we articulate a characterization of the concept of disease as a social problem. We argue that, from a social ontology point of view, diseases are problems that are identified and addressed within the framework of concrete social institutions and practices (those that shape medicine). This approach allows us to overcome the classical distinction between naturalist and normativist approaches in the philosophy of medicine, taking into account both the material and the symbolic factors that shape the categories and (...) determine the practices of medicine. (shrink)

Public goods, as well as commercial commodities, are affected by exclusive arrangements secured by intellectual property (IP) rights. These rights serve as an incentive to invest human and material capital in research and development. Particularly in the life sciences, IP rights regulate objects such as food and medicines that are key to securing human rights, especially the right to adequate food and the right to health. Consequently, IP serves private (economic) and public interests. Part of this charge claims that the (...) current IP regime is privatizing the very building blocks of research and development – that used to be part of the commons. The public domain, in contrast to the private domain, may be the locus of much more diverse forms of creativity that at the same time ensures a wider plurality of productive traditions. An IP regime must support a sense of public morality because it is dependent upon civil support. This inevitably prompts questions of what are “good” exclusive rights and what are “bad” exclusive rights, and how shall such IP rights be developed. We argue that the democratization of the current IP regimes is an important first step to respond to these issues. (shrink)

In this paper we argue that there should be a relationship of dialogue (excluding subordination and independence) between neurosciences and normative ethics. Our main argument is based on the fact that knowledge from neuroscience (and, in particular, studies on the causal role of oxytocin in human behavior) can explain and give content to some motivational and psychological limits that would modify moral demands on individuals. We show that in the face of a hypothetical case proposing moral enhancement through the application (...) of aerosolized oxytocin, neuroethical arguments alone are insufficient to determine its moral permissibility or impermissibility. Furthermore, we argue that it is also not possible to establish the superiority of normative arguments, since neuroscience insights are more effective in modifying behaviors constrained by our own physical and neurological constitution. We conclude that both serve to make decisions, both individually and collectively, to try to better accommodate our attitudes and behaviors to what we consider morally right to do. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to carry out a psychosocial analysis of child-to-parent violence (CPV) in a sample of school adolescents, considering a set of individual variables (psychological distress, problematic use of social networking sites, and perceived non-conformist social reputation) and family variables (open and problematic communication with parents) according to sex. The sample consisted of 3,731 adolescents (54% boys), aged between 14 and 16 years (M = 14.6 years, SD = 0.567), from the state of Nuevo León, Mexico. (...) The scores of the boys and girls were analyzed to check for differences. Also, correlations between all the study variables were calculated. Finally, a multiple stepwise regression analysis was carried out for the total sample and also for boys and girls separately. Results confirmed the important role of individual variables as predictors of CPV in boys and girls. The main difference between boys and girls was observed in the predictive weight of problematic use of social networking sites, which was higher in girls than in boys. Open communication with the father was a significant factor for predicting the decrease of CPV levels in the case of boys, while open communication with the mother predicted the decrease of CPV in girls. Problematic communication with the mother showed similar values in boys and girls when predicting CPV, however, the predictive weight of problematic communication with the father was higher in girls than in boys. These results are interesting and have important implications for the prevention of CPV. (shrink)

Close: Nearing the Future by Means of Symbiogenesis and Hyperobjectivity. At the beginning of the 21st century we find a call for philosophers to join a new alliance: with artists and architects rather than linguists or physicists. In order to see the ecosystem, we need to switch concepts, look away from nature and move towards ambiance and hyperobjects. Along with this rehabilitation of Aristotle (by speculative realism and, more specifically, object-oriented ontology) comes a call for a fresh start as post-humanistic (...) symbionts. These are proposals for alternatives to the catastrophic end of the short-lived drama of the Anthropocene. All this aids the here introduction of near-future hyperobjectivity. (shrink)

Measurement practices are central to most sciences. In the human sciences, however, it remains controversial whether the measurement of human attributes—depression, happiness, intelligence, etc.—has been successful. Are, say, widely used depression questionnaires valid measuring instruments? Can we trust self-reported happiness scales to deliver quantitative measurements as it is sometimes claimed? These and related questions are till today hotly disputed. There are two main frameworks under which human measurements are studied and criticized. One is the so-called construct validity framework. Here, criticisms (...) to human measurements are typically of the form “this instrument is not valid: it does not actually measure the attribute we set out to measure”. The second framework is the standard typology of measurement scales (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio). Human measurements are commonly challenged for being merely ordinal—not quantitative: interval or ratio—despite the fact that many researchers use measurement results as if they were quantitative. The first part of the dissertation studies how adequate these frameworks are for evaluating measuring instruments and the inferences they afford. Regarding the concept of validity, it is commonly understood unconditionally, that is, without restricting validity judgments about measuring instruments to context-specific situations. Instruments are said to be (in)valid simpliciter. In Chapter 2, I argue against this conception of validity and in favor of a contextual one. Regarding the second main framework, the standard typology of scales is typically linked to a set of prescriptions regarding (un)justified measurement inferences. I call this classification-cum-prescriptions the “received view” on measurement scales. In chapters 3 and 4, I question the idea that the received view is an impeccable guide for clarifying the kinds of inferences we are licensed to make from measurement results in human science contexts. I motivate general doubts about the adequacy of the received view in Chapter 3, and I articulate these doubts in detail for the specific case of average group comparisons in Chapter 4. The upshot of this first part of the dissertation is a deeper awareness of the complexity surrounding which inferences can legitimately be made from measuring instruments. The first part of the dissertation is largely framed under the assumption that some human attributes are indeed quantitative, even if they are not currently being measured quantitatively. The second part addresses two important issues raised by that assumption. Chapter 5 tackles the so-called “quantity objection”: that human science attributes are themselves not quantitative, thus they cannot be quantitatively measured. This objection has been deployed to argue against optimistic positions regarding human quantification. I argue that the quantity objection is not successful in this sense—it begs the question to these optimistic human scientists that, just like their colleagues in the physical sciences have done, postulate theoretical quantitative attributes as working hypotheses. But what does treating human attributes quantitatively as working hypotheses amount to? And what are, or can be, “amounts” of depression, happiness, etc.? Chapter 6 argues that there is not one but various approaches for quantitatively conceiving of human attributes, each with its own success conditions. This chapter offers a conceptual framework for making progress on debates about controversial human measurements. (shrink)