A morte de Deus é um tema bastante explorado na filosofia nietzschiana, entretanto esta questão nos remete a outras,como veremos neste artigo. Na história da Filosofia foi necessário, primeiramente, que se fundamentasse o “eu” para que pudéssemos alcançar a evidência de Deus. No entanto, se o próprio eu cartesiano é posto à prova, como poderemos fundamentar a existência de Deus? Assim, fomos desconstruindo em nossa análise os fundamentos da idéia de Deus até chegarmos ao que realmente nos importava: as perspectivas, (...) os caminhos, as certezas que sobraram ao homem após a morte de Deus. Restaram, então, seguindo os passos do pensamento nietzschiano, a valorização do corpo como lugar de profunda experimentação e da terra como possibilidade de mudança e superação, aumentando assim a dimensão da responsabilidade humana consigo mesmo e com o meio em que vive. (shrink)

The debate about health insurance coverage and the related issue of unequal access to health care turn on fundamental questions of justice, but for an individual patient like DM, the abstract question about who is deserving of health insurance becomes a very concrete problem that has a profound impact on care and livelihood. DM's circumstances left him stuck in the hospital. A satisfactory discharge plan remained elusive; his insurance coverage severely limited the number and type of facilities that would accept (...) him; and his inadequate engagement in his own rehabilitation process limited discharge options even further. Despite extensive involvement with the psychiatry, social work, physical therapy, and occupational therapy teams, DM consistently made “bad” decisions. He repeatedly refused antibiotics and did not consistently work with rehab services to improve his strength and mobility. Although the clinicians wanted to provide him with the best care possible, he often seemed unwilling to do the things necessary to achieve this care—or perhaps his depression rendered him unable to do so. He also tended to take out his frustration on staff members caring for him. All of this was, in turn, very frustrating for the staff. It may be easy, however, to make too much of DM's role, to see his choices as more important than his circumstances. A major goal of the ethics consultants was to reframe DM's predicament for the staff members involved in his care. (shrink)

“Ordo,” as it has come to be used, suggests the basic structure of Christian worship that centers on table, font, and pulpit, and the shape of Christian living that flows from these centers. It is a commitment to that which grounds and guides our lives in the world.

Este trabajo busca mostrar la relevancia de considerar el punto de vista de la geografía crítica en relación a la fundamentación normativa de los principios de justicia en el marco de la justicia global. Partiendo de la definición de Escalas de Justicia de N. Fraser considero importante apuntar que un énfasis en la noción de escala geográfica como resultado de la acción social puede ayudar a clarificar el problema del alcance de los principios de justicia. En este sentido la idea (...) guía para pensar la forma de las escalas de dominación consiste en asumir que las formas de interacción social mediadas por normas definen unas determinadas relaciones de poder entre miembros habitantes de un mismo espacio político delimitado por el alcance que suponen las mismas normas. En otras palabras, pensar el espacio de acción social a nivel de las escalas hace posible considerar la forma estructural en virtud de la cual dicho espacio se articula normativamente. (shrink)

Modern scientific theories of emotional behavior, almost without exception, trace their origin to Charles Darwin, and his publications On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). The most famous evolutionary dilemma Darwin acknowledged as a challenge to his theory of natural selection was the incomplete sub Cambrian fossil record. However, Darwin struggled with two other rarely referenced theoretical and scientific dilemmas that confounded his theories about emotional behavior. These included (1) the (...) origin of social instincts (e.g., altruism, empathy, reciprocity and cooperation) and the reasons for their conservation in evolution and (2) the peripheral control of heart rate vis-a-vis emotional behavior outside of consciousness. Darwin acknowledged that social instincts are critical to the survival of some species, but had difficulty aligning them with his theory of natural selection in humans. Darwin eventually proposed that heart rate and emotions are controlled via one’s intellect and cortical mechanisms, and that instinctive behavior is genetically-programmed and inherited. Despite ongoing efforts, these two theoretical dilemmas are debated to this day. Simple testable hypotheses have yet to emerge for the biological mechanisms underlying instinctive behavior or the way heart rate is controlled in infants. In this paper, we review attempts to resolve ¬these issues over the past 160 years. We posit that research and theories that supported Darwin’s individualistic brain-centric and genetic model have become an “orthodox” Western view of emotional behavior, one that produced the prevailing behavioral construct of attachment as developed by John Bowlby. We trace research and theories that challenged this orthodoxy at various times, and show how these challenges were repeatedly overlooked, rejected, or misinterpreted. We review two new testable theories, emotional connection theory and calming cycle theory, which we argue resolve the two dilemmas We show emerging scientific evidence from physiology and a wide variety of other fields, as well from clinical trials among prematurely born infants, that supports the two theories. Clinical implications of the new theories and possible new ways to assess risk and intervene in emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders are discussed. (shrink)

Martha Nussbuam is one of the most prolific and original philosophers working today. Influenced by ancient philosophy, she has written on the relationship between fiction, the emotions and moral reasoning. With Amartya Sen she developed the capabilities approach to human well-being, which helped shape the UN’s Human Development Index. She is Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago.

Widely hailed as one of the most significant works in modern political philosophy, John Rawls's _Political Liberalism_ defended a powerful vision of society that respects reasonable ways of life, both religious and secular. These core values have never been more critical as anxiety grows over political and religious difference and new restrictions are placed on peaceful protest and individual expression. In her introduction to the volume, Martha Nussbaum discusses the main themes of _Political Liberalism _and puts them into the (...) context of contemporary philosophical debates. (shrink)

In this critique, Martha Nussbaum argues that our dominant theories of development have given us policies that ignore our most basic human needs for dignity and self-respect.

The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of the mirror as a methodological tool, with which Plato discusses reflection and describes the mimetic phenomena. The notion of the mirror first presents Plato’s view on the metaphysical division of the world. It then accounts for Plato’s hostility towards the poets and reveals that the ideal polis is the product of a special kind of philosophical mimesis. I argue that Plato’s own mirror is the dialogues he writes, and the (...) perfection of his mimetic activity is juxtaposed to the hazardous imitations of the poets. (shrink)

In the eighteenth century a large scale emigration of the most enterprising strata of mainly mercantile Greeks from their homelands in Asia Minor, Greece and the Balkans’ area, then under Ottoman rule, resulted in the creation of Greek merchant communities in the most important commercial and financial centers of the Mediterranean and Western Europe.

For St. Maximos the Confessor, the seventh century Byzantine theologian, deification was the ultimate goal of the monk and an event that required action both on the parts of God and the individual. While God originally bestowed upon humanity his image and likeness, as a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve that takes place in the garden, humankind loses its ‘likeness’ to God. According to the Confessor, by following the commandments found in the Christian Gospel, one is able (...) to regain the likeness to God and, by doing so, one moves closer and closer to God, ultimately experiencing deification. This study will focus on the Commentary on the Lord’s Prayer but will also reference the Ascetical Life and the Centuries on Charity. For Maximos, deification will not take place without becoming ‘like’ God. (shrink)

St. Maximos the Confessor, a 7th-century monk, wrote several ascetical treatises that addressed the monastic life. This article explores the role of unwanted intrusive thoughts, the logismoi, outlined in two of his earlier works, the Centuries on Love and the Questions and Doubts. The author encourages the reader to pay particular attention to one’s thoughts, take the time to familiarize oneself with the thoughts that enter one’s mind, and offers advice on how to eliminate the causes of unwanted intrusive thoughts. (...) He concludes that the mind or nous is considered neutral ground and one is able to control, but not completely eradicate, the unwanted thoughts by utilizing specific spiritual techniques. (shrink)

Collectively these essays inform educators and researchers at different grade levels about the teaching and learning of proof at each level and, thus, help ...

What is argumentation? -- Building a classroom culture of argumentation -- Structuring classroom discussions to focus on argumentation -- Infusing all instruction with argumentation -- Argumentation for all students -- Argumentation and the mathematical practices -- Technology in teaching and learning argumentation -- Assessing argumentation and proof -- Conclusion.

“Philosophy is constitutive of good citizenship. It becomes part of what you are when you are a good citizen – a thoughtful person. Philosophy has manyroles. It can be just fun, a game that you play. It can be a way you try to approach your own death or illness, or that of a family member. I’m just focusing on the place where I think I can win over people, and say ‘Look here, you do care about democracy don’t you? (...) Then you’d better see that philosophy has a place.’”. (shrink)

The biology of early life adversity explores how social experiences early in life affect physical and psychological health and well-being throughout the life course. In our previous work, we argued that narratives emerging from and about this research field tend to focus on harm and lasting damage with little discussion of reversibility and resilience. However, as the Science and Technology Studies literature has demonstrated, scientific research can be actively taken up and transformed as it moves through social worlds. Drawing on (...) fieldwork with actors in education and juvenile corrections in the US Pacific Northwest, we found that they employed the biology of early life adversity not only to promote prevention but also to argue for changes within their own institutions that would allow them to better serve children and youth who have experienced adversity and trauma. Our study shows that biosocial narratives are neither inherently liberatory nor inherently oppressive but that the situated narrative choreographies in which they are enrolled are essential for their political effects. In our case, we show how these biosocial narratives have been articulated with knowledge and practices from restorative justice and trauma-informed care to reimagine the social meaning of the biology of early life adversity. (shrink)

In this major book Martha Nussbaum, one of the most innovative and influential philosophical voices of our time, proposes a kind of feminism that is genuinely international, argues for an ethical underpinning to all thought about development planning and public policy, and dramatically moves beyond the abstractions of economists and philosophers to embed thought about justice in the concrete reality of the struggles of poor women. Nussbaum argues that international political and economic thought must be sensitive to gender difference (...) as a problem of justice, and that feminist thought must begin to focus on the problems of women in the third world. Taking as her point of departure the predicament of poor women in India, she shows how philosophy should undergird basic constitutional principles that should be respected and implemented by all governments, and used as a comparative measure of quality of life across nations. (shrink)

The Hastings Center addresses fundamental ethical issues in the areas of health, medicine, and the environment as they affect individuals, communities, and societies. With a small staff of senior researchers at the Center and drawing upon national and international experts, The Hastings Center pursues interdisciplinary research and education that includes both theory and practice. Founded in 1969 by philosopher Daniel Callahan and psychoanalyst Willard Gaylin, The Hastings Center is the oldest independent, nonpartisan, interdisciplinary research institute of its kind in the (...) world. From its earliest days The Hastings Center has understood that the moral problems arising from rapid advances in medicine and biology are set within a broad intellectual and social context. The Center's collaborations with policy-makers, in the private as well as the public sphere, assist them in analyzing the ethical dimensions of their work. (shrink)

Theories of social justice are necessarily abstract, reaching beyond the particular and the immediate to the general and the timeless. Yet such theories, addressing the world and its problems, must respond to the real and changing dilemmas of the day. A brilliant work of practical philosophy, Frontiers of Justice is dedicated to this proposition. Taking up three urgent problems of social justice neglected by current theories and thus harder to tackle in practical terms and everyday life, Martha Nussbaum seeks (...) a theory of social justice that can guide us to a richer, more responsive approach to social cooperation. The idea of the social contract--especially as developed in the work of John Rawls--is one of the most powerful approaches to social justice in the Western tradition. But as Nussbaum demonstrates, even Rawls's theory, suggesting a contract for mutual advantage among approximate equals, cannot address questions of social justice posed by unequal parties. How, for instance, can we extend the equal rights of citizenship--education, health care, political rights and liberties--to those with physical and mental disabilities? How can we extend justice and dignified life conditions to all citizens of the world? And how, finally, can we bring our treatment of nonhuman animals into our notions of social justice? Exploring the limitations of the social contract in these three areas, Nussbaum devises an alternative theory based on the idea of capabilities. She helps us to think more clearly about the purposes of political cooperation and the nature of political principles--and to look to a future of greater justice for all. (shrink)

We present a model for several early stages of the sensorimotor transformations involved in targeted arm movement. In psychophysical experiments, human subjects pointed to the remembered locations of randomly placed targets in three-dimensional space. They made consistent errors in distance, and from these errors stages in the sensorimotor transformation were deduced. When subjects attempted to move the right index finger to a virtual target they consistently undershot the distance of the more distal targets. Other experiments indicated that the error was (...) in the sensorimotor transformation rather than in the perception of distance. The error was most consistent when evaluated using a spherical coordinate system based at the right shoulder, indicating that the neural representation of target parameters is transformed from a retinocentric representation to a shoulder-centered representation. According to the model, the error in distance results from the neural implementation of a linear approximation in the algorithm to transform shoulder-centered target parameters into a set of arm orientations appropriate for placing the finger on the target. The transformation to final arm orientations places visually derived information into a frame of reference where it can readily be combined with kinesthetically derived information about initial arm orientations. The combination of these representations of initial and final arm orientations could give rise to the representation of movement direction recorded in the motor cortex by Georgopoulos and his colleagues. Later stages, such as the transformation from kinematic to dynamic parameters, or to levels of muscle activation, are beyond the scope of the present model. (shrink)

Emotions shape the landscape of our mental and social lives. Like geological upheavals in a landscape, they mark our lives as uneven, uncertain and prone to reversal. Are they simply, as some have claimed, animal energies or impulses with no connection to our thoughts? Or are they rather suffused with intelligence and discernment, and thus a source of deep awareness and understanding? In this compelling book, Martha C. Nussbaum presents a powerful argument for treating emotions not as alien forces (...) but as highly discriminating responses to what is of value and importance. She explores and illuminates the structure of a wide range of emotions, in particular compassion and love, showing that there can be no adequate ethical theory without an adequate theory of the emotions. This involves understanding their cultural sources, their history in infancy and childhood, and their sometimes unpredictable and disorderly operations in our daily lives. (shrink)

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Vision begins by introducing the reader to the anatomy of the eye and visual cortex and then proceeds to discuss image and...

A philosopher and a lawyer-economist examine the challenges of the last third of life. They write about friendship, sex, retirement communities, inheritance, poverty, and the depiction of aging women in films. These essays, or conversations, will help readers of all ages think about how to age well, or at least thoughtfully, and how to interact with older family members and friends.

A discussion on antiquity with Anthony A. Long, one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of ancient philosophy, would be engaging in any case. All the more so, since his two recently published works, Greek Models of Mind and Self and How to be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life, provide the opportunity to revisit key issues of ancient philosophy. The former is a lively and challenging work that starts with the Homeric notions of selfhood, and (...) leads the reader all the way through classical and Hellenistic philosophical psychology; the latter is a profound analysis of the Stoic ethics that focuses in particular on its foundation and principles, followed by Long’s re-worked translation of Epictetus’ Encheiridion and carefully selected parts of his Discourses. Anthony Long kindly accepted the invitation to discuss several issues that are in the core of scholarly concern, sharing interpretations and thoughts that originate from his long acquaintance with the ancient literary tradition. (shrink)

Visual Agnosia is a comprehensive and up-to-date review of disorders of higher vision that relates these disorders to current conceptions of higher vision from cognitive science, illuminating both the neuropsychological disorders and the nature of normal visual object recognition.Brain damage can lead to selective problems with visual perception, including visual agnosia the inability to recognize objects even though elementary visual functions remain unimpaired. Such disorders are relatively rare, yet they provide a window onto how the normal brain might accomplish the (...) complex task of vision. Visual Agnosia reviews a century of case studies of higher-level visual deficits following brain damage, places them in the general context of current neuroscience, and draws relevant conclusions about the organization of normal visual processing. It is unique in drawing on research in cognitive psychology, computational vision, visual neurophysiology, and neuropsychology to interpret the agnosias and draw inferences from them about visual object recognition.Following a historical account of agnosia research, Visual Agnosia offers a taxonomy of a wide range of agnosia syndromes, describing and interpreting the syndromes in terms of the latest theoretical models of visual processing and ultimately bringing them to bear as evidence on a variety of questions in the study of higher vision.Martha J. Farah is Associate Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. Visual Agnosia is included in the Issues in Biology of Language and Cognition series, edited by John Marshall. (shrink)

In this volume based on her 2014 Locke Lectures, Martha C. Nussbaum provides a bracing new view that strips the notion of forgiveness down to its Judeo-Christian roots, where it was structured by the moral relationship between a score-keeping God and penitent, self-abasing, and erring mortals.