This study addresses race and ethnic relations from the standpoint of Schutzian phenomenological social psychology. It shows how this approach, by focusing on intersubjectivity and the construction of self and identity, both yields an intimate look at race and reveals the critical thrust, hence, political relevance, of phenomenology.

The first part of this book is of an epistemological nature and develops an original theory of scientific objectivity, understood in a weak sense (as intersubjective agreement among the specialists) and a strong sense (as having precise concrete referents). In both cases it relies upon the adoption of operational criteria designed within the particular perspective under which any single science considers reality. The "object" so attained has a proper ontological status, dependent on the specific character of the criteria of reference (...) (regional ontologies). This justifies a form of scientific realism. Such perspectives are also the result of a complex cultural-historical situation. The awareness of such a "historical determinacy" of science justifies including in the philosophy of science the problems of ethics of science, relations of science with metaphysics, and social dimensions of science that overstep the traditional restriction of the philosophy of science to an epistemology of science. It is to this "context" that the second part of the book is devoted. (shrink)

This article investigates whether acts of plagiarism are predictable. Through a deductive, quantitative method, this study examines 517 students and their motivation and intention to plagiarize. More specifically, this study uses an ethical theoretical framework called the Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior to proffer five hypotheses about cognitive, relational, and social processing relevant to ethical decision making. Data results indicate that although most respondents reported that plagiarism was wrong, students with strong intentions to plagiarize had a more positive (...) attitude toward plagiarizing, believed that it was important that family and friends think plagiarizing is acceptable, and perceived that plagiarizing would be an easy task. However, participants in the current study with less intention to plagiarize hold negative views about plagiarism, do not believe that plagiarism is acceptable to family, friends or peers, and perceive that the act of plagiarizing would prove difficult. Based on these findings, this study considers implications important for faculty, librarians, and student support staff in preventing plagiarism through collaborations and outreach programming. (shrink)

Academic integrity has become a significant point of concern in the post-secondary landscape, and many institutions are now exploring ways on how to implement academic integrity training for students. This paper delineates the development of an Academic Integrity E-Learning (AIE-L) tutorial at MacEwan University, Canada. In its first incarnation, the AIE-L tutorial was intended as an education tool for students who had been found to violate the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. However, in a discourse of the academic integrity process, the (...) University reimagined it from only emphasising the increased understanding and strengthened commitment of students found to have committed academic misconduct to a proactive focus with education for all students. The purpose of the present paper is three-fold: first, describe the development of the AIE-L tutorial as an experiential case study; second, improve the content of the AIE-L tutorial through students’ quantitative and qualitative feedback; third, calibrate the pre and post-test questions for content validity for a forthcoming large-scale measurement of the AIE-L tutorial effectiveness. (shrink)

Contents: Evandro AGAZZI: Introduction. Part One: PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS. Paul HORWICH: Realism and Truth. Evandro AGAZZI: On the Criteria for Establishing the Ontological Status of Different Entities. Aristides BALTAS; Con-straints and Resistance: Stating a Case for Negative Realism. Michel PATY: Predicate of Existence and Predictability for a Theoretical Object in Physics. Part Two: OBSERVABILITY AND HIDDEN ENTITIES. François BONSACK: Atoms: Lessons of a History. Alberto CORDERO: Arguing for Hidden Realities. Bernard d'ESPAGNAT: On the Difficulties that Attributing Existence to «Hidden» (...) Quantities May Rise. Massimo PAURI: The Quantum, Space-Time and Observation. Part Three: APPLICATIONS TO QUANTUM PHYSICS. David ALBERT: On the Phenomenology of Quantum-Mechanical Superpositions. Gian Carlo GHIRARDI: Realism and Quantum Mechanics. Michel CROZON: Experimental Evidence of Quark Structure Inside Hadrons. (shrink)

Modern natural science followed Galileo’s proposals regarding ontology, epistemology and methodology, limiting investigation to a few measurable properties of bodies by the adoption of the experimental method. Force appeared as a specialization of the traditional concept of efficient cause within the new science of Mechanics, which was soon able to incorporate practically all branches of physics. The concept of system had been introduced into scientific vocabulary in the seventeenth century and the limitations of the mechanistic approach in physics emerging by (...) the end of the nineteenth century prompted Bertalannfy to deeply re-elaborate it as System Theory. This permitted him to complement the analytic outlook with a rigorous characterization of the notion of organized totalities. This could be applied to life sciences and several other scientific domains, allowing rigorous treatment of traditional concepts such as finality, and new concepts like complexity and interdisciplinarity. (shrink)

Perspectivism is often understood as a conception according to which subjective conditions inevitably affect our knowledge and, therefore, we are never confronted with reality and facts but only with interpretations. Hence, subjectivism and anti-realism are usually associated with perspectivism. The thesis of this paper is that, especially in the case of the sciences, perspectivism can be better understood as an appreciation of the cognitive attitude that consists in considering reality only from a certain ‘point of view’, in a way that (...) can avoid subjectivism. Whereas the way of conceiving a notion is strictly subjective, the way of using it is open to intersubjective agreement, based on the practice of operations whose nature is neither mental nor linguistic. Therefore, intersubjectivity is possible within perspectivism. Perspectivism can also help understand the notion of ‘scientific objects’ in a referential sense: they are those ‘things’ that become ‘objects’ of a certain science by being investigated from the ‘point of view’ of that science. They are ‘clipped out’ of things by means of standardized operations which turn out to be the same as those granting intersubjectivity. Therefore this ‘strong’ sense of objectivity, which is clearly realist, coincides with the ‘weak’ one. The notion of truth appears fully legitimate in the case of the sciences, being clearly defined for the regional ontology of each one of them and, since this truth can be extended in an analogical sense to the theories elaborated in each science, it follows that are real also the unobservable entities postulated by those theories. (shrink)

The issue whether science can be correctly submitted to ethical judgment has been widely debated especially in the 1960s. Those who denied the legitimacy of such a judgment stressed that this would entail an undue limitation of the freedom of science; those who defended such a limitation laid stress on the great dangers that an uncontrolled growth of scientific knowledge has already produced and would continue to produce against humankind. This sterile debate can be settled by recognizing that scientific knowledge (...) can and must be evaluated, as far as its validity is concerned, exclusively through the methodological criteria admitted by the professionals of the single scientific disciplines concerned, and no ethical judgment is pertinent from this point of view. Nevertheless, if we consider science as a particular system of social activities, entailing concrete procedures, conditions and applications, the ethical evaluation of these actions is pertinent and correct. A second question is whether or not the inclusion of these ethical investigations in the specific domain of philosophy of science is correct. If one conceives philosophy of science simply as an epistemology of science consisting in a logical-methodological investigation about the language of scientific theories, this broadening would appear spurious. This view, however, is too narrow and dated: a fully fledged philosophical investigation on the complex phenomenon of science cannot prevent important outlooks and instruments of the philosophical inqujiry from legitimately pertaining to the philosophy of science. (shrink)

In the Organon Aristotle describes some deductive schemata in which inconsistencies do not entail the trivialization of the logical theory involved. This thesis is corroborated by three different theoretical topics by him discussed, which are presented in this paper. We analyse inference schema used by Aristotle in the Protrepticus and the method of indirect demonstration for categorical syllogisms. Both methods exemplify as Aristotle employs classical reductio ad absurdum strategies. Following, we discuss valid syllogisms from opposite premises (contrary and contradictory) studied (...) by the Stagerian in the Analytica Priora (B15). According to him, the following syllogisms are valid from opposite premises, in which small Latin letters stand for terms such as subject and predicate, and capital Latin letters stand for the categorical propositions such as in the traditional notation: (i) in the second figure, Eba,Aba ` Eaa (Cesare), Aba, Eba ` Eaa (Camestres), Eba, I ba ` Oaa (Festino), and Aba,Oba ` Oaa (Baroco); (ii) in the third one, Eab,Aab ` Oaa (Felapton), Oab,Aab ` Oaa (Bocardo) and Eab, Iab ` Oaa (Ferison). Finally, we discuss the passage from the Analytica Posteriora (A11) in which Aristotle states that the Principle of Non-Contradiction is not generally presupposed in all demonstrations (scientific syllogisms), but only in those in which the conclusion must be proved from the Principle; the Stagerian states that if a syllogism of the first figure has the major term consistent, the other terms of the demonstration can be each one separately inconsistent. These results allow us to propose an interpretation of his deductive theory as a broad sense paraconsistent theory. Firstly, we proceed to a hermeneutical analysis, evaluating its logical significance and the interplay of the results with some other points of Aristotle’s philosophy. Secondly, we point to a logical interpretation of the Aristotelian syllogisms from opposite premises in the antilogisms method proposed by Christine Ladd-Franklin in 1883, and we also present a logical treatment of the Aristotelian demonstration with inconsistent material in the paraconsistent logics Cn, 1 _ n _!, introduced by da Costa in 1963. These two issues seem having not yet been analysed in detail in the literature. (shrink)

Este número da Revista Diálogos debate o tema da consolidação dos estudos acerca da Idade Média. Assim, neste artigo, apresentamos um levantamento bibliográfico da personagem Morgana na lenda arturiana, de suas origens medievais a seu resgate literário oitocentos anos depois de que fora literariamente citada pela primeira vez. Baseamos nossas considerações em teóricos como Câmara, Carver e Kopřivová. Concluímos que este é um estudo válido porque dialoga com a História e com a Literatura no que tange ao reflexo de Morgana (...) na história das mulheres no Ocidente, não se restringindo ao Medievo, mas que se amplia multidisciplinarmente. (shrink)

The two volumes to which this is apreface consist of the Proceedings of the Second International Conference on History and Philosophy of Science. The Conference was organized by the Joint Commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS) under the auspices of the IUHPS, the Italian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science, and the Domus Galilaeana of Pisa, headed by Professor Vincenzo Cappelletti. Domus Galilaeana also served as the host institution, with some help from the (...) University of Pisa. The Conference took place in Pisa, Italy, on September 4-8, 1978. The editors of these two volumes of the Proceedings of the Pisa Conference acknowledge with gratitude the help by the different sponsoring organizations, and in the first place that by both Divisions of the IUHPS, which made the Conference possible. A special recognition is due to Professor Evandro Agazzi, President of the Italian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science, who was co opted as an additional member of the Organizing Committee. This committee was otherwise identical with the Joint Commission, whose members were initially John Murdoch, John North, Arpad Szab6, Robert Butts, Jaakko Hintikka, and Vadim Sadovsky. Later, Erwin Hiebert and Lubos Novy were appointed as additional members. (shrink)

This book is the outcome of the Workshop Ciências Humanas, held in the city of São Pedro (SP), by thePROPe (Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" - Unesp), with the aim of comprising ebooks for the collection "Desafios Contemporâneos". On this occasion, a team of teachers and representatives of research groups, formed by academics Evandro Fiorin, José Marcos Romão da Silva, Maria Antônia Benutti, Paula da Cruz Landim, Paulo Roberto Masseran, Rosa Maria Araújo Simões (...) and Rosangela da Silva Leote (of several university units and different courses), discussed the ideas of its formulation according to the following "Art, science and creative processes; philosophy in Brazil: incorporation or creation. (shrink)

Philosophy of Science, understood as a special philosophical discipline, was born only at the beginning of the twentieth century as part of the effort for overcoming the “foundational crisis” that had affected especially mathematics and physics. Therefore, it was conceived as an investigation about the features and reliability of scientific knowledge and for a few decades was deeply marked by the philosophical approach of logical empiricism. This cognitive point of view persisted also when, after Kuhn’s work, the attention focused on (...) the scientific activity in order to understand scientific change and a sociological model replaced the view that empirical adequacy and logical consistency are the factors that determine the change of scientific theories. Ethical, social and political considerations regarding science ware considered inappropriate and potentially dangerous since they violate the alleged “neutrality of science” with respect to values. Nevertheless, the strict intertwining of science and technology in contemporary “technoscience” has produced a wide debate regarding the practical aspect of technoscientific activity that has the intrinsic features of a philosophical debate. Therefore, it is natural and advisable that the entire wealth of the philosophical disciplines be called to contribute to the specific complex discourse of the Philosophy of Science. (shrink)

Regroupement d'articles et d'essais sous deux grands titres : le monde de la science et de la technique; la rencontre avec la dimension éthique. [SDM].

La bioética no se presenta como una ciencia bien delimitada, sino más bien como un ámbito de cuestiones y problemas que se ha ido ampliando a partir de los años 70. En los inicios, la bioética abarcaba esencialmente la medicina y las biotecnologías, hoy incluye otros aspectos como el cuidado de los animales y la protección del medio ambiente, y muchos de sus temas conciernen a las políticas de salud y a la propuesta de normas legales. La novedad de la (...) bioética, con respecto a la ética médica tradicional, se basa en el hecho de que el enorme progreso de las tecnologías en la práctica médica ha producido una gran cantidad de situaciones inéditas, en las que es posible y hasta necesario tomar decisiones para las cuales no existían normas en la ética tradicional. Esto depende también de la notable complejidad de las situaciones típicas de los debates bioéticos. Por estas razones, la bioética se presenta como un paradigma de lo que tiene que ser la ética en el contexto de una civilización tecnológica, es decir como la búsqueda de un punto de encuentro entre la tecnología y la conciencia moral. Si nos damos cuenta de esta característica fundamental, es posible reconocer en la bioética la presencia de un estatuto epistemológico propio, que consiste en la adopción del método interdisciplinar desde un enfoque sistémico y con capacidad de tomar en cuenta los fenómenos de la complejidad. De esta manera, la bioética conseguirá constituirse desde un punto de vista holístico que le permitirá relacionar los niveles más simples con los más complejos, así como aprovechar constructivamente las diferencias doctrinales y culturales que conlleva la globalización en nuestro tiempo. (shrink)

In this paper, we evaluate Button’s claim that knot is a nasty connective. Knot’s nastiness is due to the fact that, when one extends the set \ with knot, the connective provides counterexamples to a number of classically valid operational rules in a sequent calculus proof system. We show that just as going non-transitive diminishes tonk’s nastiness, knot’s nastiness can also be reduced by dropping Reflexivity, a different structural rule. Since doing so restores all other rules in the system as (...) validity-preserving, we are inclined to conclude that there, knot is not that nasty. However, since motivating non-reflexivity is harder than motivating non-transitivity, we also acknowledge that disagreement with our conclusion is possible. (shrink)

: In today’s political philosophy framework, it is commonplace to associate Adam Smith with akind of theory that ignores human dispositions and considers only the self-interested perspective ofindividuals. Although this view has been widely supported in different fields – viz Philosophy andEconomy, we consider this a biased interpretation. Using the Cambridge School orientation, we explainthe importance of historical background in reading Smith’s work to argue that Smith’s writings should beinterpreted within the Scottish Enlightenment context. From this contextual approach, it is (...) possible tosustain an integrated reading of Smith’s books The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and An Inquiryinto the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations (WN). This reading leads to a more faithfulinterpretation of Smith’s idea that the agent in society is morally engaged in socio-economic relations.Once this hypothesis is confirmed, we will defend a systematic analysis of Smith’s philosophy arguingthat Smith’s philosophy is a holistic system, in what we call a tripartite theory. (shrink)

Until the middle of the present century it was a commonly accepted opinion that theory change in science was the expression of cumulative progress consisting in the acquisition of new truths and the elimination of old errors. Logical empiricists developed this idea through a deductive model, saying that a theory T superseding a theory T must be able logically to explain whatever T explained and something more as well. Popper too shared this model, but stressed that T explains the old (...) known facts in its own new way. The further pursual of this line quickly led to the thesis of the non-comparability or incommensurability of theories: if T and T are different, then the very concepts which have the same denomination in both actually have different meanings; in such a way any sentence whatever has different meanings in T and in T and cannot serve to compare them. owing to this, the deductive model was abandoned as a tool for understanding theory change and scientific progress, and other models were proposed by people such as Lakatos, Kuhn, Feyerabend, Sneed and Stegmüller. The common feature of all these new positions may be seen in the claim that no possibility exists of interpreting theory change in terms of the cumulative acquisition of truth. It seems to us that the older and the newer positions are one-sided, and, in order to eliminate their respective shortcomings, we propose to interpret theory change in a new way.The starting point consists in recognizing that every scientific discipline singles out its specific domain of objects by selecting a few specific predicates for its discourse. Some of these predicates must be operational and they determine the objects of the theory concerned. In the case of a transition from T to T, we must consider whether or not the operational predicates remain unchanged, in the sense of being still related to the same operations. If they do not change in their relation to operations, then T and T are comparable. If the operational predicates are not all identical in T and T, the two theories show a rather high degree of incommensurability, and this happens because they do not refer to the same objects. Theory change means in this case change of objects. But now we can see that even incommensurability is compatible with progress conceived as the accumulation of truth. Indeed, T and T remain true about their respective objects, and the global amount of truth acquired is increased. (shrink)

This book offers a comprehensive update on the scientific realism debate, enabling readers to gain a novel appreciation of the role of objectivity and truth in science and to understand fully the various ways in which antirealist conceptions have been subjected to challenge over recent decades. Authoritative representatives of different philosophical traditions explain their perspectives on the meaning and validity of scientific realism and describe the strategies being adopted to counter persisting antirealist positions. The coverage extends beyond the usual discussion (...) of realism within the context of the natural sciences, and especially physics, to encompass also its applicability in mathematics, logic, and the human sciences. The book will appeal to all with an interest in the recent realist epistemologies of science, the nature of current philosophical debate, and the ongoing rehabilitation of truth as the legitimate goal of scientific research. (shrink)

La arquitectura digital ha alterado de manera decisiva la sociedad y, en consecuencia, demanda respuestas legales. De la Internet desarrollada en la década de 1970 con fines militares, casi nada permanece igual. La plataforma ha otorgado un poder sin igual a las empresas de tecnología, cambiando la forma en que nos comunicamos, abordamos la política, negociamos y también cómo nos relacionamos. En la economía digital actual, la atención de los usuarios es el principal producto, y estos usuarios también son productores (...) de contenido. En este modelo, se facilita la propagación de información falsa, lo que pone en riesgo la democracia y la ciencia. Para abordar estos fenómenos, es fundamental desarrollar y aplicar mecanismos adecuados de regulación de las plataformas para proteger a la sociedad y la libertad. Este estudio se basa en este contexto para analizar algunas respuestas regulatorias que se están debatiendo en Brasil. (shrink)

Después de haber analizado las razones que indujeron a las antiguas matemáticas griegas y de que Aristóteles sólo admitiera una débil forma de lo infinito, se explora una ampliación de este concepto más allá de sus referencias numéricas y geométricas. El infinito puede expresar la “inagotable” riqueza ontológica de los atributos de las entidades individuales o, en otro sentido, el infinito puede ser entendido como aquello “ilimitado”. En este segundo sentido la “negación” se presenta como una fuerza positiva en la (...) formación del sentido ontológico de lo infinito.After having analyzed the reasons that induced ancient Greek mathematics and Aristotle to admit only a weak form of the infinite a broadening of this notion beyond its numerical and geometrical references is explored. The infinite can express the “inexhaustible” ontological richness of the attributes of individual entities or, in another sense, the infinite can be understood as the “unlimited”. In this second sense the “negation” appears as a positive force in the shaping of the ontological meaning of the infinite. (shrink)

El artículo investiga los fundamentos racistas del autoritarismo brasileño a través del análisis de la obra de Oliveira Viana. En primer lugar, se desarrolla la idea de “decantación blanca de la teoría social”, fenómeno por el cual la blancura separa y desecha la crítica al racismo de un determinado autor, depurando su pensamiento. Luego, con base en las contribuciones de Clóvis Moura y Michel Foucault, analizamos cómo los argumentos de Viana sobre el “tipo racial” local y el “pueblo” como objeto (...) de ciencia representan un punto de inflexión para la ciencia brasileña. A través del conocimiento gerencial de la población, tales concepciones vinculan decisivamente “raza” y administración pública, constituyendo la soberanía como biopolítica y la arquitectura institucional del Estado como gestión racial de la vida y la muerte. Se concluye que el pensamiento de Viana fue estratégico en el tratamiento de los dilemas de la blanquitud brasileña frente a los impasses resultantes de la posabolición y las transformaciones políticas y económicas globales de principios del siglo XX. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo consiste em analisar algumas considerações de Chisholm sobre as mudanças presentes na definição brentaniana de fenômeno psíquico, tal como foi apresentada na obra Psicologia Descritiva. Para dar conta desta tarefa, exporemos a tese de Chisholm que aponta uma mudança na doutrina da in-existência intencional do objeto apresentada na Psicologia do ponto de vista empírico em 1874. A exposição desse ponto consistirá de três etapas. Mostraremos, na primeira etapa, que tal tese encontra essas mudanças na descrição brentaniana (...) dos fenômenos psíquicos e as atribui ao abandono da ontologia aristotélico-tomista que fundamentava a doutrina da in-existência intencional do objeto. Apresentaremos, na segunda etapa, a nova definição brentaniana de fenômeno psíquico formulada na Psicologia descritiva e destacaremos o novo fundamento epistemológico apontado pela tese de Chisholm, ou seja, a relação intencional própria de todo ato psíquico. Finalmente, com o propósito de destacar a virtude da tese chisholmeana, nós utilizaremos seus pressupostos para interpretar um ponto específico da recepção de Descartes na Psicologia descritiva. (shrink)

A lo largo del Cuaderno azul, Wittgenstein usa reiteradamente la figura del Sócrates platónico como una especie de figura antagonista contra la cual presenta sus nuevos puntos de vista filosóficos a la altura de los años 30. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar esos puntos de vista atendiendo al papel que tienen en su elaboración las alusiones críticas al Sócrates platónico. Nos centraremos principalmente en el examen que hace Wittgenstein de la forma de la pregunta socrática «¿Qué es X?», (...) en el modo en que entiende la relación del Cuaderno azul con la filosofía platónica, en su valoración crítica del conflicto socrático-platónico con el lenguaje cotidiano y, por último, en el análisis de las fuentes de lo que llama «nuestro ansia de generalidad». (shrink)

Modern cosmology, though a confluence of relativity theory and elementary particle physics, and with the help of very sophisticated mathematical models, tries to encompass the Universe as a whole, and to propose theories regarding its origin and evolution. But this cannot work without the evolution of several philosophical issues, concerning the epistemological status of this enterprise, its implicit or explicit extra-scientific presuppositions, as well as the real sense and interpretation of the theories and principles involved. This book provides a survey (...) of these different aspects, for it gives some essential elements of the scientific background necessary for understanding the main issues of modern cosmology, and at the same time offer a discussion of the problems arising in it; problems which are never purely scientific, nor purely philosophical. Science and philosophy are therefore again deeply interrelated, at the moment where man tries to understand the Universe and his place in it. And this not only because the legitimacy of calling cosmology a science implies the acceptance of intellectual approaches which overstep the usual criteria of physical science and have a deep philosophical connotation, but also because the evolutionary way of thinking, strongly backed by cosmology, reinforces the role of this approach in the philosophy of science and in philosophy in general. (shrink)

Man kann die wissenschaftliche Tätigkeit so betrachten, daß sie von einem "wissenschaftlichen System" ausgeführt wird, welches zugleich offen und adaptiv ist und dessen allgemeines Ziel darin besteht, objektives Wissen zu produzieren und zu verbreiten. WS nimmt aus seiner Umgebung Eingaben von "Nachfrage", "Unterstützung", "Ablehnung" entgegen und reagiert auf kreative Art und Weise darauf. Sein Funktionieren ist bedingt durch die Verträglichkeit seines Ziels mit denjenigen aller andern sozialen Subsysteme, die eine Maximierung der internen Variablen von WS ausschließen mögen, um das gesamte (...) soziale System zu optimieren. Dies ist nichts anderes als ein systemtheoretischer Ausdruck für den Begriff der Verantwortung der Wissenschaft: er ist nicht streng ethisch, aber schließt die Erwägung ethischer Normen des ganzen sozialen Systems mit ein. (shrink)

RESUMENLa idea del progreso de la humanidad se ha basado, en los últimos dos siglos, en el progreso científico-técnico. Por otra parte, se ha considerado a la ciencia como el paradigma de la racionalidad. Las consecuencias negativas producidas por el progreso científico-técnico están provocando un rechazo radical, en diversas capas sociales, de la ciencia y de la racionalidad; y la idea de progreso se ha invertido en la añoranza del pasado. Superando esta imagen neopositivista de la ciencia, el trabajo intenta (...) recuperar para el futuro del ser humano tanto la racionalidad, como la ciencia y la posibilidad del progreso. La racionalidad debe fundarse en valores positivos para el futuro de la humanidad. Por su parte, el progreso debe ser entendido como una tarea por hacer en cada momento, como el compromiso en la realización de aquellos ideales, utilizando la ciencia y la técnica como sus instrumentos más valiosos. PALABRAS CLAVEPROGRESO-CIENCIA-TECNICA-VALORESABSTRACTOver the last two centuries, the idea of human progress has relied upon scientific-technological progress. Meanwhile, science has been considered the paradigm of rationality. however, the negative consequences of scientific-technological progres are causing a radical rejection, at differents social levels, of science and racionality; and the idea of prgress has become a longing for the past. Going beyond this neopositivist image of science, the paper tries to recover rationality, science and the possibility of progress for the future of humanity. Rationality should be based on positive values evisaged to advace it. Progress should be conceived as an open, permanent task using science and technology as its most valued instruments. KEYWORDSPROGRESS- SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY-VALUES. (shrink)

When it is spoken of scientific representations it is often understood that science can offer "only" representations but does not enable us to know reality. This tenet is the inheritance of a gratuitous and inconsistent presupposition that affected modern philosophy during almost two centuries, according to which we know our representations and not things, and we have to find warranties in order to believe that such representations correspond to reality. The present paper analyzes this presupposition, shows its inconsistency and, through (...) a discourse regarding the relations between thought and ontology, between sense and reference of the intellectual constructions, between abstract encoding of properties and concrete exemplification of the same by means of operational criteria of reference, justifies the cognitive purport of scientific representations, including the mathematical representations of physical phenomena. (shrink)

O trabalho é uma determinação natural do homem, porque tem como finalidade a transformação da natureza segundo as necessidades basilares dos próprios homens. Os capitalistas alteraram esta ordem específica e passaram a ver na ação trabalhista apenas uma forma de valorização exacerbada da mercadoria. Na obra "O Capital", Karl Marx representa essa transição a partir de uma tríade: mercadoria, trabalho e valor. Para ele, estes elementos devem ser analisados sob dois aspectos: o valor de uso (estágio natural do valor da (...) mercadoria) e o valor de troca (estágio modificado do valor da mercadoria). Na ordem natural, a mercadoria é trocada em equivalência ao tempo de trabalho socialmente necessário para a sua produção (valor). Na esfera capitalista, a mercadoria foge à ordem natural e se torna em fonte de exploração dos trabalhadores. Desse modo, o objetivo deste artigo é mostrar como a teoria natural do trabalho é modificada em um instrumento proeminente de exploração (mais-valia). A competição entre os capitalistas, para dominar a mais-valia, leva à formação de uma taxa generalizada de lucro e, portanto, a uma modificação da natureza da mercadoria, trabalho e valor. (shrink)