Estamos inmersos en un contexto donde ya no encontramos ningún sentido hablar deidentidad, donde reina la incertidumbre y el desconcierto respecto de la imagen del hombre. Enese sentido, esta creciente saturación de la cultura ha puesto en entredicho todas nuestraspremisas previas sobre el yo, convirtiendo en algo extraño las pautas de relación tradicionales.De un tiempo para acá, se han puesto en entredicho todas las premisas tradicionales sobre lanaturaleza de la identidad personal, hasta tal extremo, que los conceptos mismos de verdad, (...) deobjetividad, de saber, y aún la idea de un ente individual, dotado de determinadas propiedadesmentales, de corporalidad, de conciencia, de subjetividad están corriendo el riesgo de sereliminados de nuestro panorama cultural. Y esto significa algo inquietante para nuestra vida encomún. En términos técnicos esto lo llamaría: dilemas y disloques de la identidad. A pesar delpanorama tan aparentemente oscuro, se podría sostener que anejo a este fenómeno, se pareceasumir con gran fervor las nuevas perspectivas que se avizoran. En consecuencia, evitando unescepticismo a ultranza, aceptando la invitación de Solzshenitsyn de “ir hacia arriba” en lasiguiente etapa antropológica, me atrevería a reconocer con Gevaert que, “los problemasantropológicos se imponen por sí mismos, irrumpen en la existencia y se plantean por su propiopeso. No es, el hombre el que suscita problemas; es el propio hombre el que se haceproblemático debido a la vida y a la condición en que vive. La existencia, al hacerseproblemática, requiere una respuesta y obliga a tomar posiciones” (Gevaert, 1995: 14). (shrink)

Sebastián Madrid, Teresa Valdés, Roberto Celedón. Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano y Crea Equidad. 2020, 492 pp. Santiago, ISBN: 978-956-7382-50-7.

De Homero a Heráclito, este trabajo estudia las distintas caracterizaciones de la ley divina en la Grecia arcaica. Analiza la sustitución metonímica de la divinidad como fuente de derecho por el nómos ciudadano, y muestra la violencia simbólica y el olvido activo asociados a ese proceso de fundación política a partir del siglo V. Por último, reconstruye la axiología del marco oral de las antiguas teonomías e incide en el papel desempeñado por la escritura en la refiguración de la esfera (...) jurídica griega durante el período clásico. (shrink)

It is acceptable to state that Foucault has always held a strong stand and a radical distance in front of Kant’s thoughts. Similarly, it is possible thinking that through the changes of Foucault’s thoughts, the sceptical outlook suffered changes in relation with Kantian philosophical critique. Consequently, as said by Jon Simmons in his Foucault and the Political “it is ironic that a writer with a reputation for anarchist, nihilistic, even apocalyptic opposition to rationality, humanism and the Enlightment turned to Kant (...) as a model for critique”. Despite the fact of trying to find a labelling reference for Foucault’s thought, that’s to say, where to put it?: modernity, post-modernity, anarchism, radical sceptical; the labelling duty would be very problematic; although the philosopher himself states that “if there is a need to label Foucault within the philosophical tradition, it is in Kant’s critical philosophical tradition and his stake (Foucault’s) would be named “a critique history of Western thought”. In fact, Foucault himself also writes that, “Every contemporary thought is, in certain way, neo-Kantian. In the same way, inquiries himself, “wasn’t Kant the one who said: one doesn’t learn philosophy, one learns how to philosophize?”. (shrink)

This article deals with Donald Davidson�s concept of metaphor and Richard Rorty�s use of it for his version of political liberalism. Rorty assumes that metaphor is a linguistic element that is impossible to understand. Metaphor is an unintelligible �call� that, from within the private sphere, provokes in individuals the desire to create alternative forms of life. Once metaphor has become literal, it �and the new form of life that it entails� can form part of public life. Metaphor is the guarantee (...) of the constant renewal of political liberalism. As against Rorty, yet also relying on Davidson, I argue that both metaphor and literal meaning are comprehensible,... (Leer más) and must therefore be said to exist in a relationship of mutuality. This allows me to subject to a thorough re-elaboration Rorty�s strict internal division of the political along the lines of the public and the private. (shrink)

El ocho de febrero de 2013, a los ochenta y ocho años, falleció en Madrid el filósofo José Gómez Caffarena, pensador que no merece que caiga en el olvido. Su obra supuso un gran impulso modernizador en el debate filosófico español. Impulso que aún tiene gran recorrido, sobre todo en lo que afecta a la filosofía práctica, tan central en la actualidad por los retos que nos plantean nuestras complejas sociedades y el espectacular desarrollo de la tecnociencia. De la (...) admiración y el horror a la acción y la esperanza. Antropología y ética de José Gómez Caffarena es el título de la obra en la que realizo una lectura del pensamiento del autor madrileño desde las problemáticas contemporáneas al ponerlo en diálogo con las filosofías más representativas del siglo XX-XXI, como: el posmodernismo, el estructuralismo o el neo-positivismo. El presente artículo da una visión genérica, aunque esperamos lo suficientemente profunda y comprensible, del proyecto ético que encierra la compleja filosofía caffareniana. (shrink)

El presente proyecto de investigación se ubica en el marco del equipo Innova de la Universidad de Deusto. “El equipo Innova es un equipo de investigación interfacultaticio que tiene como propósito el desarrollo de la innovación desde una perspectiva multifocal, ya que trata aspectos tan diversos como: organizativos, formativos y estructurales.” En este contexto se espera que la presente investigación pueda realizar una aportación sustancial en lo relativo al papel que desempañan las Competencias Genéricas en los procesos de educación superior. (...) Se estima que los resultados por alcanzar en este trabajo habrán de responder a demandas que se presentan en el contexto educativo actual, en el marco de una sociedad caracterizada por la complejidad. Uno de los aspectos innovadores que define a esta indagación es, en el concierto de la interdisciplinariedad mencionada líneas arriba, el abordar cuestiones centrales del saber pedagógico bajo la perspectiva de la Hermenéutica filosófica. Puntualmente se toman aquí dos temas que son muy caros para la Pedagogía, el primero de ellos es ‘el problema de la comprensión’ y el otro lo concerniente a la ‘significatividad’. En la literatura preponderante en el ámbito pedagógico el abordaje de estas dos categorías se realiza recurriendo a los aportes de la psicología cognitiva. En el presente trabajo se asume este dato, pero se aborda sistemáticamente desde otro campo disciplinar como es la Hermenéutica filosófica. Las disciplinas filosóficas en general y en este caso particular la Hermenéutica, entran en diálogo con diversos campos científicos, como aquí lo hacen con la Pedagogía, bajo una perspectiva crítica y, a la vez, totalizante. Es decir, procuran reunir los aportes de los diversos campos científicos al tiempo de atender las articulaciones y las tensiones que entre ellos puedan surgir, al abordar el problema desde un horizonte más amplio que el que cae bajo el específico objeto de estudio de cada disciplina. Se busca, de este modo, una adecuada articulación entre los aportes específicos de cada campo científico bajo una lectura integradora que es propia de la Filosofía. Este posicionamiento es fundamental y, en este sentido innovador, al procurar enriquecer el campo de las Competencias Genéricas mediante las ‘Competencias Semánticas’, que se mueven en el ámbito de la significatividad y el sentido, requisitos imprescindibles para que un sujeto pueda posicionarse personal y comunitariamente en una sociedad compleja. Para lograr este cometido se ha recurrido a una metodología de investigación cualitativa de análisis de contenido, que se ha aplicado a una selección de obras que refieren a la hermenéutica de H-G. Gadamer y P. Ricoeur. (shrink)

En este artículo, en el marco del surgimiento de los nuevos realismos del siglo XXI y de su manifestación en el ámbito latinoamericano, se aborda en particular el Nuevo Realismo Analógico de Mauricio Beuchot. El filósofo mexicano entiende que gran parte de los desarrollos filosóficos del siglo XX han conducido al relativismo, y que, dadas las consecuencias socio-políticas producidas, es necesario resarcir el realismo. En este trabajo se problematiza la posibilidad de resarcir el realismo y evitar el relativismo partiendo de (...) las mismas bases que las de las filosofías cuestionadas. Nuestro objetivo es revisar uno de los supuestos ontológicos y epistemológicos subyacentes a dicho realismo y evaluar los alcances de este, cuestionando al mismo tiempo su declarada criticidad. Dicho análisis nos permitirá sostener, basado en los estudios antropológicos de Philippe Descola, que el realismo de Beuchot sucumbe al mismo relativismo que cuestiona y, en consecuencia, desde esta perspectiva, su propuesta es insuficiente para resarcir el realismo y evitar el relativismo. (shrink)

GABRIEL BELLO REGUERA: Emigración y ética. Humanizar y deshumanizar, Madrid, Plaza y Valdés, 2011, 341 pp.

When viewed as the most comprehensive theory of collections, set theory leaves no room for classes. But the vocabulary of classes, it is argued, provides us with compact and, sometimes, irreplaceable formulations of largecardinal hypotheses that are prominent in much very important and very interesting work in set theory. Fortunately, George Boolos has persuasively argued that plural quantification over the universe of all sets need not commit us to classes. This paper suggests that we retain the vocabulary of classes, but (...) explain that what appears to be singular reference to classes is, in fact, covert plural reference to sets. (shrink)

Groups are ubiquitous in our lives. But while some of them are highly structured and appear to support a shared intentionality and even a shared agency, others are much less cohesive and do not seem to demand much of their individual members. Queues, for example, seem to be, at a given time, nothing over and above some individuals as they exemplify a certain spatial arrangement. Indeed, the main aim of this paper is to develop the more general thought that at (...) a given time, a group is nothing over and above some individual members as they exemplify a certain complex condition. The general conception of groups that emerges is able to accommodate a variety of constraints on a reasonable answer to the question of what are groups. (shrink)

This paper interprets the relation between sovereignty and guilt in Nietzsche's Genealogy. I argue that, contrary to received opinion, Nietzsche was not opposed to the moral concept of guilt. I analyse Nietzsche's account of the emergence of the guilty conscience out of a pre-moral bad conscience. Drawing attention to Nietzsche's references to many different forms of conscience and analogizing to his account of punishment, I propose that we distinguish between the enduring and the fluid elements of a ‘conscience’, defining the (...) enduring element as the practice of forming self-conceptions. I show that for Nietzsche, the moralization of the bad conscience results from mixing it with the material concepts of guilt and duty, a process effected by prehistoric religious institutions by way of the concept of god. This moralization furnishes a new conception of oneself as a responsible agent and holds the promise of sovereignty by giving us a freedom unknown to other creatures, but at the price of our becoming subject to moral guilt. According to Nietzsche, however, the very forces that made it possible have spoiled this promise and, under the pressures of the ascetic ideal, a harmful notion of responsibility understood in terms of sin now dominates our lives. Thus, to fully realize our sovereignty, we must liberate ourselves from this sinful conscience. (shrink)

Part I of Frege’s Grundgesetze is devoted to the “exposition [Darlegung]” of his formal system.

An argument is made that only through a detailed comparison of mutational mechanisms underlying the evolution of the genetic systems governing development, can the 'logic' of individual development be fully comprehended. To do this, it is essential to choose two or more genes (or their products) that interact in the establishment of a given function, and to compare the molecular basis of that interaction in closely related species. The rationale to this approach arises from observations of molecular co‐evolution between interacting (...) partners involved with given functions which have led to species specificity in the manner in which such functions are effected. Molecular coevolution reveals that divergence in sequence can be tolerated whilst biological functions are maintained, not because it is neutral and dispensable but because successful, compensatory changes can evolve in eukaryotic genomes that are in continuous states of flux. (shrink)

Evolutionary genetics is concerned with natural selection and neutral drift, to the virtual exclusion of almost everything else. In its current focus on DNA variation, it reduces phenotypes to symbols. Varying phenotypes, however, are the units of evolution, and, if we want a comprehensive theory of evolution, we need to consider both the internal and external evolutionary forces that shape the development of phenotypes. Genetic systems are redundant, modular and subject to a variety of genomic mechanisms of “turnover” (transposition, gene (...) conversion, unequal crossingover, slippage and so on). As such the construction and spread of novel combinations of modules by turnover, in particular within gene promoters, contributes significantly to the evolution of phenotypes. Furthermore, redundancy, turnover and modularity lead to ever more complex networks of genetic interactions and ever more functions for a given module. The significant interaction between genomic turnover and natural selection leads to a molecular coevolution between interacting modules and hence facilitates the establishment of biological novelties. BioEssays 22:1153–1159, 2000. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Diario metafisico (1928-1933)--Abbozzo di una fenomenologia dell'avere.--Rilievi sull'irreligione contemporanea.--Riflessioni sulla fede.--Lineamenti di una filosofia concreta.--Nota.--Nota bio-bibliografica (p. 199-200).

It is, we think, fair to say that scholarship on post-Kantian philosophy1 has traditionally tended to focus on theoretical philosophy rather than on practical philoso...

While the word “democracy” has proliferated in social and political discourse in recent decades, I suggest that the liberal democracy of the past, connected as it is (especially in the West) to the market economy, is insufficient for the challenges facing the contemporary Latin American context. I assess and criticize democratic ideas in order to suggest that the way forward is radical democracy based on socio-economic and political justice. These, however, have to be articulated at a variety of levels, from (...) that of local and indigenous peoples to that of national and international relations. (shrink)

The so-called Trolley Problem was first discussed by Philippa Foot in 1967 as a way to test moral intuitions regarding the doctrine of double effect, Kantian principles and utilitarianism. Ever since, a great number of philosophers and psychologists have come up with alternative scenarios to further test intuitions and the relevance of conventional moral doctrines. Given that physicians routinely face moral decisions regarding life and death, the Trolley Problem should be considered of great importance in medical ethics. In this article, (...) five “classic” trolley scenarios are discussed: the driver diverting the trolley, a bystander pulling a lever to divert the trolley, a fat man being thrown from a bridge to stop the trolley, a bystander pulling a lever to divert a trolley so that a fat man may be run over, and a bystander pulling a lever so that a fat man falls off from a bridge to stop the trolley. As these scenarios are discussed, relevant moral differences amongst them are addressed, and some of the applications in medical ethics are discussed. The article concludes that Trolley scenarios are not the ultimate criterion to make ethical decisions in difficult ethical challenges in medicine cases but they do serve as an initial intuitive guide. (shrink)

The history of the field of business ethics in the U.S. remains understudied and misunderstood. In this article I begin to remedy this oversight about the past, and I suggest how it can be beneficial in the present. Using both published and unpublished primary sources, I argue that the business ethics field emerged in the early twentieth century, against the backdrop of the establishment of business schools in major universities. I bring to light four important developments: business ethics lectures at (...) the University of California and Yale University, Leon Marshall’s curriculum at the College of Commerce of the University of Chicago, and the William A. Vawter Foundation on Business Ethics at Northwestern University. Then, I consider the payoffs of my historical account for business ethics theory, pedagogy, and practice. Specifically, I present four implications of my account under these headings: business ethics as a public problem; the place of ethics in business schools; historicizing business ethics; and historical self-knowledge. (shrink)

Many dubious disciplines have been removed from academic institutions, but theology is not one of them, as it is still taught in respectable universities. This article argues that theology does not deserve that special treatment. Theology has long pretended to be a science, but it can never be, because ultimately, theology is grounded on faith and authority, two tenets that run counter to the scientific method. Natural theology appeals to evidence and reason, but it also fails in its endeavor. More (...) recent theologians admit that their discipline is not science per se, but still consider it legitimate in its quest for meaning. There are also reasons to doubt this claim, as there is no need to appeal to the supernatural to find meaning. (shrink)

Bullfighting debates in Spain are increasingly intense. Defenders of bullfighting as sport and as art, typically argue that many of the country’s most esteemed intellectual and artistic figures were bullfight enthusiasts. This is admittedly true, but by the same token Spain has a long tradition of anti-bullfighting thought. One prominent critic of bullfighting in the eighteenth century was Gaspar Melchor Jovellanos. Often considered the best representative of the Spanish Enlightenment, Jovellanos did not address bullfighting as a central concern. But, in (...) some writings, he did level important criticisms against this sort of spectacle. Defenders of bullfighting frequently argue that Jovellanos’ critique of bullfighting relies mostly on economic arguments. While it is true that Jovellanos offered economic reasons to oppose bullfighting, a closer reading of his works reveals that he had a larger concern with the violent nature of bullfighting, which cohered with his Enlightenment philosophy. (shrink)

Can mathematics contribute to our understanding of physical phenomena? One way to try to answer this question is by getting involved in the recent philosophical dispute about the existence of mathematical explanations of physical phenomena. If there is such a thing, given the relation between explanation and understanding, we can say that there is an affirmative answer to our question. But what if we do not agree that mathematics can play an explanatory role in science? Can we still consider that (...) the above question can have an affirmative answer? My main aim here is to give an account that takes mathematics, in some of the cases discussed in the literature, as contributing to our understanding of physical phenomena despite not being explanatory. (shrink)

Ce volume contient les contributions au colloque « Lire Althusser aujourd'hui » organisé les 16 et 17 octobre 1995 à l'Ecole normale supérieure, par l'Institut Mémoires de l'Edition Contemporaine. La publication de l'Avenir dure longtemps, puis de nombreux autres inédits, ont donné à la pensée de Louis Althusser un regain d'actualité, indissociable d'une profonde modification de la lecture qui peut être faite de son oeuvre. On ne peut pas lire Althusser aujourd'hui comme on le faisait de son vivant. A leur (...) manière, chacun de ces exposés tournent ainsi autour d'une même question : qu'est-ce que lire Althusser aujourd'hui? (shrink)

Immortality is the indefinite continuation of a person’s existence, even after death. In common parlance, immortality is virtually indistinguishable from afterlife, but philosophically speaking, they are not identical. Afterlife is the continuation of existence after death, regardless of whether or not that continuation is indefinite. Immortality implies a never-ending existence, regardless of whether or not the body dies (as a matter of fact, some hypothetical medical technologies offer the prospect of a bodily immortality, but not an afterlife). Immortality has been (...) one of mankind’s major concerns, and even though it has been traditionally mainly confined to religious traditions, it is also important to philosophy. Although a wide variety of cultures have believed in some sort of immortality, such beliefs may be reduced to basically three non-exclusive models: (1) the survival of the astral body resembling the physical body; (2) the immortality of the immaterial soul (that is an incorporeal existence); (3) resurrection of the body (or re-embodiment, in case the resurrected person does not keep the same body as at the moment of death). This article examines philosophical arguments for and against the prospect of immortality. A substantial part of the discussion on immortality touches upon the fundamental question in the philosophy of mind: do souls exist? Dualists believe souls do exist and survive the death of the body; materialists believe mental activity is nothing but cerebral activity and thus death brings the total end of a person’s existence. However, some immortalists believe that, even if immortal souls do not exist, immortality may still be achieved through resurrection. Discussions on immortality are also intimately related to discussions of personal identity because any account of immortality must address how the dead person could be identical to the original person that once lived. Traditionally, philosophers have considered three main criteria for personal identity: the soul criterion , the body criterion and the psychological criterion. Although empirical science has little to offer here, the field of parapsychology has attempted to offer empirical evidence in favor of an afterlife. More recently, secular futurists envision technologies that may suspend death indefinitely (such as Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, and mind uploading), thus offering a prospect for a sort of bodily immortality. (shrink)

El trabajo enfoca la emigración desde la ética de la alteridad de Emmanuel Levinas, lo cual exige ciertas decisiones metódicas. Primero reivindicar para la alteridad la misma legitimidad filosófica de categorías consoliddadas como la identidad. Después explorar las diferencias internas a la alteridad en su despliegue temporal o histórico y espacial o (multi)cultural. Tercero, asociar la alteridad a la ética y sus diferencias para, en cuarto lugar, centrar el argumento en la alteridad ética de Emmanuel Levinas articulada, como se sabe, (...) en torno a la categoría del “otro” que, al presentarse como “rostro”, aparece como la expresión de la vulnerabilidad misma. Esta vulnerabilidad abstracta – en quinto lugar – se concreta como vulnerabilidad migratoria, efecto de condiciones socio-culturales determinadas cuyo portador, el emigrante (sobre todo el musulmán y el subshariano) encarna por derecho propio la figura filosófica del otro levinasiano y su interpelación por la justicia. En este contexto, finalmente, la responsabilidad asimétrica se revela como la imposibilidad de que los interpelados no den/demos una respuesta. . (shrink)

Lying in bed, the shriveled 86-year-old Australian woman appeared almost bionic. Congestive heart failure had rendered Mrs. A unable to breathe without a ventilator, and her failing kidneys kept her tethered to a dialysis machine 24 hours per day.