Though hippocampal volume reduction is a pathological hallmark of schizophrenia, the molecular pathway responsible for this degeneration remains unknown. Recent reports have suggested the potential role of impaired blood-brain barrier function in schizophrenia pathogenesis. However, direct evidence demonstrating an impaired BBB function is missing. In this preliminary study, we used immunohistochemistry and serum immunoglobulin G antibodies to investigate the state of BBB function in formalin-fixed postmortem samples from the hippocampus and surrounding temporal cortex of patients with schizophrenia and controls without (...) schizophrenia matched for age, sex, and race. Since a functional BBB prevents the extravasation of IgGs, detection of IgGs in the parenchyma is used as direct evidence of BBB breakdown. We also developed a semi-quantitative approach to quantify the extent of IgG leak and therein BBB breach. Analysis of our immunohistochemistry data demonstrated a significantly higher incidence of IgG leak in patients with schizophrenia compared to controls. Further, BBB permeability was significantly higher in advanced-age patients with schizophrenia than both advanced-age controls and middle-aged patients with schizophrenia. Male patients with schizophrenia also demonstrated a significant increase in IgG permeability compared to control males. Interestingly, the extravasated IgGs also demonstrated selective immunoreactivity for neurons. Based on these observations, we suggest that BBB dysfunction and IgG autoantibodies could be two key missing pathoetiological links underwriting schizophrenia hippocampal damage. (shrink)

In this paper we introduce a formalism for single-agent decision making that is based on Dynamic Argumentation Frameworks. The formalism can be used to justify a choice, which is based on the current situation the agent is involved. Taking advantage of the inference mechanism of the argumentation formalism, it is possible to consider preference relations, and conflicts among the available alternatives for that reasoning. With this formalization, given a particular set of evidence, the justified conclusions supported by warranted arguments will (...) be used by the agent’s decision rules to determine which alternatives will be selected. We also present an algorithm that implements a choice function based on our formalization. Finally, we complete our presentation by introducing formal results that relate the proposed framework with approaches of classical decision theory. (shrink)

While many may see the board game “Monopoly” as nothing more than a means of entertainment, it carries with it the potential to be used as an instrument for teaching ethical principles of business. This article makes a case that Monopoly be used to teach business ethics by providing the opportunity for a rich discussion regarding the dangers of concentrated wealth, collusion, and having an end goal that forces you into bankrupting your opponents and becoming the most cutthroat capitalist on (...) the board. Victory is achieved only by the self-serving actions of the individual; attempts at prosperity, generosity, and unity serve only to place the ethically minded player at a disadvantage. The article first provides an overview of the business principles on which Monopoly is based, and then discusses the disconnects between business ethics and winning at Monopoly, and how these disconnects can be used as a teaching tool. (shrink)

Gil R, Arroyo-Anllo EM, Ingrand P, Gil M, Neau JP, Ornon C, Bonnaud V. Self-consciousness and Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Neurol Scand 2001: 104: 296–300. # Munksgaard 2001. Objectives – To propose a neuropsychological study of the various aspects of self-consciousness (SC) in Alzheimer’s disease. Methods – Forty-five patients with probable mild or moderate AD were included in the study. Severity of their dementia was assessed by the Mini Mental State (MMS). Fourteen questions were prepared to evaluate SC. Results – (...) No significant correlations were found between SC score and educational level, age, and duration of disease. A significant correlation was found between SC score and the severity of dementia, whereas frontal disturbances were just short of the significance threshold. The various aspects of SC were not impaired to the same degree. The most disturbed ones were awareness of cognitive deficiencies, moral judgements and prospective memory. The least disturbed aspects were awareness of identity and of mental representation of the body. Items relating to anosognosia and moral judgements were significantly correlated with the MMS score, whereas affective state, body representation disorders, prospective memory, and capacities for introspection were not related to the severity of the dementia. Consciousness of identity was sound, regardless of MMS score. Conclusions – AD clearly induces an heterogeneous impairment of SC. SC requires a convergence of many neural networks. In AD, neuronal alterations involve many cortical areas and information sent to the associative frontal cortex from memory, language and visuospatial areas is lacking or disturbed. Thus, the sequential order of successive stimuli cannot be maintained by the heteromodal associative cortex (dorsal convexity of the prefrontal cortex), and the supramodal associative cortex (located rostrally in the frontal lobes) is unable to provide reliable monitoring and assessment of simultaneous neural cognitive networks carrying insufficient and inadequate input. The core deficiency in AD patients might be impaired SC equated with the disability to maintain sequential and simultaneous ‘‘attention to life’’. The Self-Consciousness Questionnaire, a clinical scale providing multidimensional measurement, indicates that different aspects of consciousness are not correlated with overall cognitive deficiency as determined by the MMSE. (shrink)

Given the ubiquitous nature of love, numerous theories have been proposed to explain its existence. One such theory refers to love as a commitment device, suggesting that romantic love evolved to foster commitment between partners and enhance their reproductive success. In the present study, we investigated this hypothesis using a large-scale sample of 86,310 individual responses collected across 90 countries. If romantic love is universally perceived as a force that fosters commitment between long-term partners, we expected that individuals likely to (...) suffer greater losses from the termination of their relationships—including people of lower socioeconomic status, those with many children, and women—would place a higher value on romantic love compared to people with higher status, those with fewer children, and men. These predictions were supported. Additionally, we observed that individuals from countries with a higher (vs. lower) Human Development Index placed a greater level of importance on romantic love, suggesting that modernization might influence how romantic love is evaluated. On average, participants worldwide were unwilling to commit to a long-term romantic relationship without love, highlighting romantic love’s universal importance. (shrink)

This paper is written to provide an aesthetic parameter to sensibly analyze the controversy that arose after the naming of Carlo J. Caparas as National Artist for Visual Arts and Film. By contextualizing Caparas and his works in five clusters of aesthetic systems, namely, traditional, modern, patronage, pseudo-modern, and postmodern, this paper argues that there can never be a coherent, sustained, and rational justification for the error committed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in honoring him. The paper concludes with the (...) note that the aesthetic discourse on the controversy was unfortunately converted into a legal discourse as a case was filed by some National Artists, Art Groups, and concerned citizens at the Supreme Court, questioning the legality of the so-called “presidential insertion.”. (shrink)

This work empirically tests the concept of the ‘whistleblowing triangle,’ which is modeled on the three factors encapsulated by the fraud triangle, in the Indonesian context. Anchored in the proposition of an original research framework on the whistleblowing triangle and derived hypotheses, this work aims to expand the body of knowledge on this topic by providing empirical evidence. The sample used is taken from audit firms affiliated with both the big 4 and non-big 4 companies operating in Indonesia. The results (...) of analysis using the PLS-PM method found a significant relationship between the components of the whistleblowing triangle and the intention of blowing the whistle. We found that financial incentives are the most significant predictor of auditors’ intention to blow the whistle in Indonesia. Other components, such as opportunity and rationalization, also play an important role in supporting auditors’ intention to blow the whistle. Our findings also suggest that related pressures are the top priority for audit firms in Indonesia to consider in increasing whistleblowing intention. We expand the previous literature on whistleblowing which has been derived from the components of the fraud triangle :28–56, 2016; Smaili and Arroyo in J Bus Ethics, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3663-7, 2017) by adding empirical evidence. (shrink)

Este artículo se ocupa de las relaciones entre poder y verdad en los cursos de Michel Foucault. Busca mostrar cómo se ha pasado de una concepción en la que se insistía en las instancias de poder como productoras de discursos verdad al análisis de la fuerza de la propia verdad como límite del poder. En este contexto, luego de haberse ocupado de la introducción de la idea de voluntad en la arqueología de saber y sus consecuencias, aborda las nociones de (...) régimen de verdad y veridicción. (shrink)

Entrevista a Edgardo Castro realizada por Harold Dupuis, el 14 de noviembre de 2022.

The question “what is an interpretation?” is often intertwined with the perhaps even harder question “what is a scientific theory?”. Given this proximity, we try to clarify the first question to acquire some ground for the latter. The quarrel between the syntactic and semantic conceptions of scientific theories occupied a large part of the scenario of the philosophy of science in the 20th century. For many authors, one of the two currents needed to be victorious. We endorse that such debate, (...) at least in the terms commonly expressed, can be misleading. We argue that the traditional notion of “interpretation” within the syntax/semantic debate is not the same as that of the debate concerning the interpretation of quantum mechanics. As much as the term is the same, the term “interpretation” as employed in quantum mechanics has its meaning beyond (pure) logic. Our main focus here lies on the formal aspects of the solutions to the measurement problem. There are many versions of quantum theory, many of them incompatible with each other. In order to encompass a wider variety of approaches to quantum theory, we propose a different one with an emphasis on pure formalism. This perspective has the intent of elucidating the role of each so-called “interpretation” of quantum mechanics, as well as the precise origin of the need to interpret it. (shrink)

Scholars in the humanities and social sciences have turned to ethics to theorize politics in what seems to be an increasingly depoliticized age. Yet the move toward ethics has obscured the ongoing value of political responsibility and the vibrant life it represents as an effective response to power. Sounding the alarm for those who care about robust forms of civic engagement, this book fights for a new conception of political responsibility that meets the challenges of today's democratic practice. Antonio Y. (...) Vázquez-Arroyo forcefully argues against the notion that modern predicaments of power can only be addressed ethically or philosophically through pristine concepts that operate outside of the political realm. By returning to the political, the individual is reintroduced to the binding principles of participatory democracy and the burdens of acting and thinking as a member of a collective. Vázquez-Arroyo historicizes the ethical turn to better understand its ascendence and reworks Adorno's dialectic of responsibility to reassert the political in contemporary thought and theory. (shrink)

Philosophers of science commonly connect ontology and science, stating that these disciplines maintain a two-way relationship: on the one hand, we can extract ontology from scientific theories; on the other hand, ontology provides the realistic content of our scientific theories. In this article, we will critically examine the process of naturalizing ontology, i.e., confining the work of ontologists merely to the task of pointing out which entities certain theories commit themselves to. We will use non-relativistic quantum mechanics as a case (...) study. We begin by distinguishing two roles for ontology: the first would be characterized by cataloging existing entities according to quantum mechanics; the second would be characterized by establishing more general ontological categories in which existing entities must be classified. We argue that only the first step is available for a naturalistic approach; the second step not being open for determination or anchoring in science. Finally, we also argue that metaphysics is still a step beyond ontology, not contained in either of the two tasks of ontology, being thus even farther from science. (shrink)

This article describes the evolution of the theme of the subject in the work of Michel Foucault. More precisely, it develops the relationship between subject and history, from his first works, dedicated to the history of psychology and of madness, to his courses devoted to biopolitics.Este artículo describe la evolución del tema del sujeto en la obra de Michel Foucault. Más precisamente, desarrolla la relación entre sujeto e historia desde sus primeros trabajos, dedicados a la historia de la psicología y (...) de la locura, hasta sus cursos consagrados a la biopolítica. (shrink)

In this article we deal with Roberto Esposito’s reading of the relationship between biopolitics and institution. We examine the interpretation proposed by Esposito in his recent work on institutionalism, where he develops Foucault’s anti-institutionalist position and theheterogeneity between institution and biopolitics. In addition to analyzing the anti-institutionalist elements of Michel Foucault, we also propose the possibility of an institutionalist reading based on the Foucauldian writings of the late 1970s.

The genesis of Feynman's original approach to QED is reviewed. The main ideas of his original presentation at the Pocono Conference are discussed and compared with the ones involved in his action-at-distance formulation of classical electrodynamics. The role of the de Sitter group in Feynman's visualization of space-time processes is emphasized.

It is sometimes argued that, given its detachment from our current most successful science, analytic metaphysics has no epistemic value because it contributes nothing to our knowledge of reality. Relatedly, it is also argued that metaphysics properly constrained by science can avoid that problem. In this paper we argue, however, that given the current understanding of the relation between science and metaphysics, metaphysics allegedly constrained by science suffers the same fate as its unconstrained sister; that is, what is currently thought (...) of as scientifically respectful metaphysics may end up also being without epistemic value. The core of our claim is that although much emphasis is put on the supposed difference between unconstrained analytic metaphysics, in opposition to scientifically constrained metaphysics, it is largely forgotten that no clear constraining relation of metaphysics by science is yet available. (shrink)

Este artículo se ocupa de la recepción de la noción foucaultiana de “gubernamentalidad” en el pensamiento de Roberto Esposito a partir de la traducción al italiano de las lecciones de Foucault de los años 1977 y 1978 en el Collège de France. En primer lugar, se exponen los diferentes contextos de recepción de estas lecciones, en particular en el ámbito anglosajón de los estudios sobre la gubernamentalidad y en el de la crisis del marxismo italiano de finales de los setenta. (...) En segundo lugar, se analiza la posición de Foucault en sus cursos de estos años desde la perspectiva de la oposición entre maquiavelismo y antimaquiavelismo en vista, precisamente, de la recepción italiana. Por último, se aborda la recepción de la noción de “gubernamentalidad” por parte de Roberto Esposito en su obra de 1980, La politica e la storia. El artículo muestra la importancia de esta recepción temprana de las lecciones de Foucault respecto de la formación de la corriente biopolítica italiana y, sobre todo, sus especificidades. (shrink)

We discuss the ‘Consciousness Causes Collapse Hypothesis’ (CCCH), the interpretation of quantum mechanics according to which consciousness solves the measurement problem. At first, it seems that the very hypothesis that consciousness causally acts over matter counts as a reductio of CCCH. However, CCCH won’t go so easily. In this paper we attempt to bring new light to the discussion. We distinguish the ontology of the interpretation (the positing of a causally efficacious consciousness as part of the furniture of reality) from (...) metaphysics (the metaphysical character of that consciousness). That distinction allows us to map the philosophical theories of consciousness compatible with quantum mechanics under the tenets of CCCH. Also, it indicates that the problem will have to be discussed at a metaphysical level rather than at the physical level. Our analysis corroborates recent arguments to the effect that this interpretation is not ruled out so easily. (shrink)

EN BIOLOGIE AUSSI, L'AUTRE EST EN NOUS La biologie nous montre que, dans des conditions physiologiques normales, quelque chose de l'autre est en nous. Nous avons déjà parlé de la greffe tissulaire où évidemment le tissu ou ...

Carnap's conception of linguistic frameworks is widespread; however, it is not entirely clear nor consensual to pinpoint what is the influence of his stance within the traditional realist/anti-realist debate. In this paper, we place Carnap as a proponent of a scientific realist stance, by presenting what he called “linguistic realism”. Some possible criticisms are considered, and a case study is offered with wave function realism, a popular position in the philosophy of quantum mechanics.

Metaphysics is traditionally conceived as aiming at the truth — indeed, the most fundamental truths about the most general features of reality. Philosophical naturalists, urging that philosophical claims be grounded on science, have often assumed an eliminativist attitude towards metaphysics, consequently paying little attention to such a definition. In the more recent literature, however, naturalism has instead been taken to entail that the traditional conception of metaphysics can be accepted if and only if one is a scientific realist (and puts (...) the right constraints on acceptable metaphysical claims). Here, we want to suggest that naturalists can, and perhaps should, pick a third option, based on a significant yet acceptable revision of the established understanding of metaphysics. More particularly, we will claim that a fictionalist approach to metaphysics is compatible with both the idea that the discipline inquires into the fundamental features of reality and naturalistic methodology; at the same time, it meshes well with both scientific realism and instrumentalism. (shrink)

El estudio busca señalar cómo, en la situación espiritual de nuestro presente, arte y filosofía se acercan con frecuencia de tal manera que parece imposible delimitar con precisión uno de otro dominio. Dicha situación es particularmente crítica por cuanto, en nuestro presente, la filosofía mengua a ojos vista en tanto el arte se encuentra también vulnerado en su centro significante. El presente ensayo busca la vía de acceso a las patologías del arte y de la filosofía, que las acercan a (...) transformaciones esenciales. Dichas vías de acceso son fenómenos marginales respecto del núcleo sancionado de la conciencia estética: ocasionalidad, apertura e in-significancia (Guerrero y el autor de este trabajo. Así diseccionado el problema de los modos de interpenetración de arte y filosofía, se muestra que aquí es esencialmente conciencia interna de ésta. (shrink)

Crisis significa el momento culminante de un proceso de riesgo. momento en el que todo puede perder se o ganarse. A partir de este supuesto. la investigación descubre tres niveles de crisis de la cultura occidental. Dichos niveles conciernen a la orientación, el crecimiento y el fundamento de individuos. grupos e instituciones. Las ciencias la praxissocio-política y la filosofía son tocadas por las crisis de diversa manera. En los filósofos son visibles aquellos tres niveles, fenómeno de indudable fuerza heurística pues (...) permite encontrar relevancia concreta al concepto de areté. En efecto. su sentido presente se articula desde la filosofía en tanto punto de concentración de la crisis contemporánea. (shrink)

El autor intenta fijar los diversos niveles de significado del concepto de "alienación" para determinar, finalmente, su especificidad filosófica. Con tal propósito se recorren los momentos de formación de dicho concepto filosófico que alcanza en Marx un papel clave en la comprensión de la especie humana. Se analiza igualmente,la rehabilitación del término alienación en las ciencias del hombre, y se concluye postulando una teoría fllosófica de la alienación sobre la base del tiempo como su horizonte trascendental-ontológico.

"Metafísica" se ha convertido en término insultante para muchos filósofos de nuestros días, que se sirven de él con el fin de anatematizar a sus rivales. En el fondo de tal actitud se descubre desconfianza frente a la teología y rechazo de ella; también descubre cierto paralelismo con ideas poeticas modernas. Por lo demás, la misma metafísica se ha autocriticado y transformado, lo que añade complejidad al fenómeno. El lenguaje se asume como núcleo de esta problemática. Aparece así un rasgo (...) esencial del discurso metafísico: la relación lenguaje- metalenguajes. La historia de la metafísica; la historia de un especial alargamiento metalingüístico, que se cierra de manera circular en la filosofía de Hegel. Desde entonces el discurso metafísico adquiere la propiedad de la in-significancia, lo que no ha de entenderse como debilitamiento o banalidad no como fuerza oculta, como clandestinidad. (shrink)

En este trabajo se ensaya un pensar filosófico orientado por símbolos. Seintenta así descifrar los frentes fundamentales de la alienación contemporánea, tomando como hilo conductor la figura del genio maligno(Descartes). Este introduce el frente de la opinión infinita. Su metamorfosis en Fausto (Goethe) ilumina un segundo frente: el desarrollo económico- social. Con el contexto demoníaco de "las flores del mal" (Baudelaire) se tiene una tercera metamorfosis, que enfoca el ángulo del eros desublimado.Por fin, la cuarta metamorfosis, Sammael (Th. Mann), hace (...) visible elfrente de la muerte de Dios, cuyas implicaciones histórico-filosóficas sedesarrollan en las últimas páginas del artículo. (shrink)

Desde la perspectiva de la crítica al antijuridicismo foucaultiano expuesta por Giorgio Agamben en Homo sacer, en el presente trabajo abordamos la cuestión del derecho y su relación con la vida en la genealogía de la racionalidad política moderna, desarrollada en los cursos de Michel Foucault en el Collège de France de los años 1978-1979. Nuestro objetivo es mostrar las modalidades que adopta esta relación a través de los conceptos de integración marginalista y de utilitarismo político, de golpe de Estado (...) permanente y de heterogeneidad de las formas jurídicas. A partir de estas nociones, nos proponemos, además, una confrontación con la lectura realizada por Agamben. (shrink)

This work aims to show the relevance of the question of law in Michel Foucault’s political philosophy. Arguing against the so-called ‘anti-juridicism’ of the author, we seek to determine the place that juridical forms occupy in his analysis of power based on the relationship between the history of law and the history of truth. To this end, we discuss the distinction proposed by François Ewald between the juridical and legal and we raise the need to complement the perspectives of Foucault's (...) books with some texts edited posthumously, particularly his courses at the Collège de France. Este trabajo se ocupa de mostrar la relevancia de la cuestión del derecho en la filosofía política de Michel Foucault. Argumentando contra el denominado “antijuridicismo” del autor, busca determinar el lugar que ocupan las formas jurídicas en su analítica del poder a partir de la relación entre la historia del derecho y la historia de la verdad. A tal fin, discute la distinción propuesta por François Ewald entre lo jurídico y lo legal y plantea la necesidad de complementar las perspectivas de los libros de Foucault con los textos editados póstumamente, en particular sus cursos en el Collège de France. (shrink)

Los estudios clásicos sobre el humor identifican una interrelación estrecha entre humor y angustia. En la serie narrativa Papelucho, esta interacción es constante en la trama de las distintas novelas. Este trabajo describe la interacción entre humor y angustia que se da en la obra y reflexiona sobre su sentido. Se concluye que la serie propone el humor como estrategia para enfrentar los hechos angustiantes ineludibles en la vida.

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