Tom Moylan's Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia was first published in the year 2000. Seventeen years later, this work still enlightens discussions and catches the attention of both science fiction and Utopian studies. Still, we have to acknowledge the fact that we are facing a belated translation. This could easily be a problem if the present edition had not provided a new perspective on Moylan's Scraps. This edition, brought together by the Brazilian research group "Literature and (...) Utopia," not only shows the contemporaneity of Tom Moylan's insights but also sheds new light on the original book thanks to the introduction by Ildney Cavalcanti and Felipe Benicio, "Reflections" by Elton... (shrink)

In 2000 “Literatura e Utopia”, a research group led by Ildney Cavalcanti, started working at the Federal University of Alagoas, including members from three other institutions. Despite its namesake, the group focuses extensively on cultural as well as literary aspects of utopian thinking, with special regard for the colonial and postcolonial viewpoints of Latin America. The group has been responsible for two issues of the university’s language and literature journal Leitura. They also penned the 2006 volume Fábulas da (...) Iminência. Ensaios sobre literatura e... (shrink)

The 1964 theorem of John Bell shows that no model that reproduces the predictions of quantum mechanics can simultaneously satisfy the assumptions of locality and determinism. On the other hand, the assumptions of signal locality plus predictability are also sufficient to derive Bell inequalities. This simple theorem, previously noted but published only relatively recently by Masanes, Acin and Gisin, has fundamental implications not entirely appreciated. Firstly, nothing can be concluded about the ontological assumptions of locality or determinism independently of each (...) other—it is possible to reproduce quantum mechanics with deterministic models that violate locality as well as indeterministic models that satisfy locality. On the other hand, the operational assumption of signal locality is an empirically testable (and well-tested) consequence of relativity. Thus Bell inequality violations imply that we can trust that some events are fundamentally unpredictable, even if we cannot trust that they are indeterministic. This result grounds the quantum-mechanical prohibition of arbitrarily accurate predictions on the assumption of no superluminal signalling, regardless of any postulates of quantum mechanics. It also sheds a new light on an early stage of the historical debate between Einstein and Bohr. (shrink)

I apply some of the lessons from quantum theory, in particular from Bell’s theorem, to a debate on the foundations of decision theory and causation. By tracing a formal analogy between the basic assumptions of causal decision theory (CDT)—which was developed partly in response to Newcomb’s problem— and those of a local hidden variable theory in the context of quantum mechanics, I show that an agent who acts according to CDT and gives any nonzero credence to some possible causal interpretations (...) underlying quantum phenomena should bet against quantum mechanics in some feasible game scenarios involving entangled systems, no matter what evidence they acquire. As a consequence, either the most accepted version of decision theory is wrong, or it provides a practical distinction, in terms of the prescribed behaviour of rational agents, between some metaphysical hypotheses regarding the causal structure underlying quantum mechanics. (shrink)

Este artigo tem como objetivo examinar o papel singular da música na reflexão de Nitzsche sobre o processo de criação poética, e analisar os efeitos de sua leitura da correspondência entre goethe e Schiller na elaboração dessa reflexão. Pretende-se mostrar, em seguida, como a análise da criação poética está associada a uma reflexão mais ampla sobre o pensamento e a linguagem.

This paper investigates continuities and changes in the definition of sickle cell disease in 1950s Brazil, taking into account that diseases have a history and are recognized as such according to the knowledge and perceptions available in a certain historical period and specific location. In the post-war era, new diagnostic tools, inheritance theories and, in particular, discussions on the concepts of race and racial relations, both nationally and internationally, were changing previous racialist and racist views. Nonetheless, the Brazilian medical interpretations (...) of sickle cell disease continued to racialize it and even use deep-rooted racist formulations to explain its symptoms or the existence of the disease. It is argued that the celebration of racial mixture and racial democracy might have concealed racist presumptions biasing the study of sickle cell disease. Although race as a biological concept gradually gave way to other genetic expressions, in Brazilian medical papers on sickle cell disease, race continued to influence the interpretation of the disease, along with the persistence of concepts of heredity through blood mixture. (shrink)

Bellʼs 1964 theorem causes a severe problem for the notion that correlations require explanation, encapsulated in Reichenbachʼs principle of common cause. Despite being a hallmark of scientific thought, dropping the principle has been widely regarded as much less bitter medicine than the perceived alternative—dropping relativistic causality. Recently, however, some authors have proposed that modified forms of Reichenbachʼs principle could be maintained even with relativistic causality. Here we break down Reichenbachʼs principle into two independent assumptions—the principle of common cause proper and (...) factorization of probabilities. We show how Bellʼs theorem can be derived from these two assumptions plus relativistic causality and the law of total probability for actual events, and we review proposals to drop each of these assumptions in light of the theorem. In particular, we show that the non-commutative common causes of Hofer-Szabó and Vecsernyés fail to have an analogue of the notion that the common causes can explain the observed correlations. Moreover, we show that their definition can be satisfied trivially by any quantum product state for any quantum correlations. We also discuss how the conditional states approach of Leifer and Spekkens fares in this regard. (shrink)

This article aims to reflect on the genesis of The Birth of Tragedy based on Nietzsche's readings of Lectures on Fine Art and Literatur and Lectures on Dramatic Art by August Schlegel. Such readings, begun during his studies in Pforta, span his first years lecturing in Basel until they ultimately took shape in Nietzsche's first work. The goal is to analyze this trek of readings, in order to encover the development process of Nietzsche's thinking regarding the central issues of his (...) first work, such as the Apollonian and Dionysian, epic poetry and dramatic poetry. (shrink)

This paper discusses John Hick’s response to the problem of religious diversity, based on the distinction between the Real itself and the way He is experienced and thought of by different religious communities. To this end, we divided this work into three sections in addition to the present introduction and the final considerations. In the first section we present the hickian concept of religious phenomenon and discuss the affirmation of him in favor of the ambiguity of the universe; the second (...) section is dedicated to the analysis of Hick’s defense of the rationality of religious belief and in the third section we present Hick’s pluralist hypothesis and some variations and criticisms of this hypothesis proposed by other authors. At the end we present some critical considerations about the success of Hick’s hypothesis to respond to the problem of religious diversity. (shrink)

O USO DOS DIREITOS HUMANOS COMO FUNDAMENTO DE INTERVENÇÃO NA SOBERANIA DOS ESTADOS.

In a recent no-go theorem [Bong et al., Nature Physics (2020)], we proved that the predictions of unitary quantum mechanics for an extended Wigner’s friend scenario are incompatible with any theory satisfying three metaphysical assumptions, the conjunction of which we call “Local Friendliness”: Absoluteness of Observed Events, Locality and No-Superdeterminism. In this paper (based on an invited talk for the QBism jubilee at the 2019 Växjö conference) I discuss the implications of this theorem for QBism, as seen from the point (...) of view of experimental metaphysics. I argue that the key distinction between QBism and realist interpretations of quantum mechanics is best understood in terms of their adherence to different theories of truth: the pragmatist versus the correspondence theories. I argue that a productive pathway to resolve the measurement problem within a pragmatist view involves taking seriously the perspective of quantum betting agents, even those in what I call a “Wigner bubble”. The notion of reality afforded by QBism, I propose, will correspond to the invariant elements of any theory that has pragmatic value to all rational agents—that is, the elements that are invariant upon changes of agent perspectives. The classical notion of ‘event’ is not among those invariants, even when those events are observed by some agent. Neither are quantum states. Nevertheless, I argue that far from solipsism, a personalist view of quantum states is an expression of its precise opposite: Copernicanism. (shrink)

Lawrence et al. have presented an argument purporting to show that “relative facts do not exist” and, consequently, “Relational Quantum Mechanics is incompatible with quantum mechanics”. The argument is based on a GHZ-like contradiction between constraints satisfied by measurement outcomes in an extended Wigner’s friend scenario. Here we present a strengthened version of the argument, and show why, contrary to the claim by Lawrence et al., these arguments do not contradict the consistency of a theory of relative facts. Rather, considering (...) this argument helps clarify how one should not think about a theory of relative facts, like RQM. (shrink)

As of 1869, and throughout the entire period during which he wrote the essay “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life”, published in 1874, Nietzsche was a classical philology professor at the University of Basel. During this period, he reflected critically on theoretical and methodological questions in his field, emphasizing that if the study of Antiquity is to be linked to the analysis and critique of the sources, it loses, through this, contact with its own time, becoming knowledge (...) that is out-of-touch with the fundamental questions of its time. Nietzsche proposes establishing a different relationship with the past than that of the modern scientist: whereas the latter sees history from the perspective purely of knowledge, the professor from the University of Basel seeks a model in the past that is able to instigate reflection on the present, establishing a confrontation between distinct cultures, with different sets of values, so as to create some distance with the thought processes that are crystallized in modern times. This article intends to show how Nietzsche, from his notions of unhistory and supra-history, sought to investigate the value of history, contrasting the concept of the past as pure knowledge with a concept linked to life and action, that is able to generate the future. (shrink)

This paper provides an exploratory comparative assessment of the institutional pressures influencing corporate social responsibility in a developed country, UK, vs. a developing country, Brazil, based on a survey of different actors. Information on sustainability concerns, organizational strategies and mechanisms of pressure was collected through interviews with environmental regulatory agencies, financial institutions, media and non-governmental organizations. Our results confirm that the more advanced awareness and CSR responsiveness in the UK is a consequence of a predominance of coercive and normative forces (...) on the organizational field. The institutional forces tend to build a Brazilian organizational field that is relational based and risk intensive. The findings lend support to the view that CSR responses are unlikely to be easily transformed into uniform standardized practices across the globe. This paper contributes to a collective understanding of the organizational field and a common template for CSR in the context of developed and developing countries. (shrink)

CAVALCANTI NETO, Lamartine de Hollanda. Contributions of Thomistic Psychology to the study of the plasticity of the ethos. 2012. 571s. Thesis (Doctorate in Bioethics) – Centro Universitário São Camilo, São Paulo,2012. If Ethics is not a static science, it is because ethos — its basic object of study — is a mutable reality. For this reason, ethical themes, chiefly those of Bioethics, are directly related to the study of the plasticity of the ethos. Nevertheless, such investigation requires that the (...) researcher distance himself from concrete ethical questions, to apply himself to the theoretical examination of what enables the existence and development of such questions — that is, the aforementioned plasticity. However, bibliographical literature on this subject has revealed a scarcity of works focused specifically on the theme. This scarcity seems to indicate that the subject is still in a process of methodological definition. Therefore, we propose as a research question, to investigate at the theoretical level, if Thomistic Psychology can be considered a valid study tool for the plasticity of ethos. For this aim, we adopt a documental and bibliographical research methodology adapted to the aforesaid question, based on the presupposition that such validity can be gauged to the extent that Thomistic Psychology offers objective contributions to the study of the plasticity of the ethos. Backed by extensive literature, we present an overview of Thomistic Psychology, as well as of ethos and its plasticity. With the data obtained, we establish a discussion with a view to identifying these contributions. Based on the results, we close with a reply, while still open, to our research question, hoping to afford, in this way, a kind of platform on which new studies can be developed with greater facility. (shrink)

This paper analyses the role of foreign and local companies in shaping Brazilian positions on global sustainability. It deals with an empirical investigation of CSR practices of firms from the electronics, food, and personal care sectors in response to pressures of 'market' and 'non-market' stakeholders. The results demonstrate that CSR decisions by foreign and local firms are triggered by organisational considerations and anticipated economic gains. The degree of implementation of CSR activities by foreign firms is more advanced than that of (...) local firms. The survey also confirms the hypothesis that market stakeholders exert pressure on companies and positively influence CSR. Non-market stakeholders seem to have a minor effect on corporate social responsibility decisions. We conclude that the institutional environment is a critical determinant of the extent to which the dialogue between stakeholders and companies leads to the attainment of sustainable development. (shrink)

Discute os direitos humanos em seu cerne filosófico e ético, aponta seu melhor enquadramento seu diante dos influxos anti-metafísicos da pós-modernidade. Objetiva, de modo geral, explanar o atual quadro de conceituação e de fundamentação dos direitos humanos segundo as premissas históricas do humanismo jurídico. Objetiva, especificamente, discorrer sobre a evolução histórica dos direitos humanos, fornecendo os elementos básicos de seus fundamentos filosóficos até a pós-modernidade; e analisar a estrutura da entificação metafísica na concepção do ser do homem e como isso (...) se reflete na interpretação dos direitos humanos. Metodologicamente, utiliza-se da analítica-existencial de Martin Heidegger aplicada à construção teórica do humanismo jurídico anti-metafísico. Observa, como resultado, que ainda há uma grande lacuna filosófica a ser colmatada nas perspectivas éticas e ontológicas dos direitos humanos. Conclui ser necessário um estudo filosófico mais aprofundado sobre o tema, para que suas bases éticas e sociais sejam mais bem estabelecidas no plano jurídico-normativo. (shrink)

RESUMONeste ensaio defende-se o argumento de que a configuração cronotópica potencializa a obra literária como forma metafórica para experimentar a vida cotidiana. Esse argumento apoia-se nas declarações em que Bakhtin destacou que a organização de processos psicológicos de personagens no enredo está relacionada com a experiência da unidade tempo-espaço, conceitualmente denominada de cronotopo. Para exemplificar essas questões desenvolveu-se aqui uma análise da configuração cronotópica do autor-personagem no Livro do desassossego de Fernando Pessoa. A dificuldade do autor-personagem para negociar as posições (...) de figura e fundo no seu pensamento refletiu uma experiência de fronteira específica, revelada na frequente associação de termos antagônicos e uso frequente de neologismos. Percebendo o funcionamento cronotópico da narrativa, discute-se o potencial da literatura na provisão de metáforas para vida real. Nessas considerações chamou-se a atenção para a participação do leitor na constituição do cronotopo e da obra.ABSTRACTIn this essay we defend the argument that chronotopic configuration enhances literary works providing metaphors for everyday life. This argument is embedded in statements in which Bakhtin emphasized that the organization of the characters' psychological processes in plots is related to the experience of temporal-spatial unity, conceptually called the chronotope. In order to address these issues, we developed an analysis of chronotopic configuration of author-character, in "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa. The difficulty met by the author-character in negotiating positions of figure and background in plots reflects a specific border experience, revealed in the common association of antagonistic terms and frequent use of neologisms. Considering properties of narrativity in the chronotopic analysis we can discuss the potential literature has of providing real life metaphors. Moreover, through these remarks, greater emphasis has been placed on the reader's participation in the constitution of the chronotope and on literary work. (shrink)

RESUMO: O objeto deste artigo é a noção de pós-modernismo, em torno da qual se travou um amplo debate que, num passado recente, alcançou grande projeção, e arrefeceu de modo algo abrupto. Buscaremos demonstrar que uma consideração crítica acerca do referido debate amplia nossa compreensão a propósito do capitalismo contemporâneo e, nesse sentido, por um lado, será realizado um esforço de apreensão conceitual, com o intuito de fixar as principais determinações do pós-modernismo. Por outro lado, tentaremos ancorar historicamente o debate (...) sobre o pós-modernismo, localizando certas articulações entre o desenvolvimento teórico e o processo histórico que lhe é subjacente. ABSTRACT: The object of this article is the notion of postmodernism, a topic around which was established a wide-ranging debate that achieved wide publicity in the fairly recent past. This debate, however, has since cooled abruptly. We will seek to demonstrate that a critical consideration of this debate enhances our understanding of contemporary capitalism. We first make an effort at conceptual apprehension, in order to establish the main determinations of postmodernism. We then try to historically anchor the debate on postmodernism, locating certain connections between its theoretical development and underlying historical processes. (shrink)

Este trabalho procura demonstrar as afinidades existentes entre a obra de Dostoiévski e a filosofia de Mikhail Bakhtin. Por meio de uma análise comparativa, conclui-se que a polifonia, característica fundamental do romance de Dostoiévski segundo Bakhtin, realiza-se como uma síntese artística de conceitos filosóficos como singularidade, responsabilidade, inacabamento e dialogismo.

This essay analyses the contribution of the knowledge of Greek culture in Antiquity for Mikhail Bakhtin’s achievement. It shows how the Socratic dialogue and serious-comic genres contributed to forming the novel – according do Bakhtin’s conceptions – by developing its carnavalized line. It concludes that, although Bakhtin was not properly a Hellenist, he has contributed to Ancient Greece studies, by exploring the literary creativity of Hellenist period.

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar as conexões entre o pensamento político de Nietzsche e sua crítica da cultura, tal como desenvolvidos nas notas e ensaios do primeiro período de sua obra, especialmente no ensaio Cinco prefácios a cinco livros não escritos. Trata-se de mostrar como o filósofo procura, a partir de uma singular análise do Estado e da sociedade na Grécia antiga, restituir à experiência política uma dimensão reflexiva em declínio na modernidade.

ABSTRACT In this article, I propose a dialogical analysis of five online cartoons which reverberate the discourse of the former president of Brazil (2019-2022) at the UN in September 2020, when he called the international community to combat Christphobia. Named after the same term, the cartoons present a framework of interdiscursive antagonism between Christian and the former President of Brazil’s fanatic followers’ positions. Assuming that cartoons are a privileged discursive genre for understanding the dialogical resonances between interlocutors and discourses, this (...) work approaches Christphobia as a responsive utterance in terms of scales of meaning. From the analysis, one can see a discursive game of incompatibility and estrangement, that makes room to a Christophobic “Other” in opposition to a persecuted “minority us,” as once presented during the UN discourse. There is an emphasis on a perception of religious intolerance as a result of the political agenda of the former president of Brazil’s religious-ideological alignment. (shrink)

Propõe a expansão da classe Espiritismo na Classificação Decimal de Dewey. Justifica a proposta devido ao grande número de adeptos e à produção literária espírita. Evidencia que o Espiritismo é a oitava religião com mais praticantes no mundo e a terceira no Brasil. Apresenta a importância da doutrina espírita ao redor do mundo e no Brasil. Utiliza a teoria proposta por Vanda Brougthon para religião e acrescenta as facetas ciência, filosofia, religião e aspectos gerais da Doutrina Espírita. Analisa propostas de (...) expansão de classes existentes e elabora uma revisão de literatura acerca da história do espiritismo. Utiliza a metodologia de Barité para modificação de esquemas de classificação. Os termos foram coletados a partir do tesauro espírita e da obra de referência da Federação Espírita Brasileira e sistematiza os conceitos hierarquicamente. Propõe a expansão da classe 202 – Doutrina a partir da identificação e sistematização dos conceitos, colocando-os de forma notacional. Conclui que uma doutrina com tantos adeptos e com uma grande produção literária deve ser representada adequadamente na Classificação Decimal de Dewey e a que a mesma oferece pouco espaço de representação na classe 200 para as diversas religiões praticadas no mundo. (shrink)

Analisa a representação de informações referentes à identidade e a religião islâmica no esquema de classificação bibli-ográfica mais utilizado do mundo. Investiga a existência de desvios na representação de assuntos referentes a culturas não alinhadas à cultura ocidental na 23ª edição da Classificação Decimal de Dewey (CDD23). Conceitua Organização do Conhecimento em sentido restrito como organização das informações em registros bibliográficos e, em sentido amplo, como a organização social do trabalho mental. Define Sistemas de Organização do Conhecimento, enquanto sistemas conceituais (...) atuantes como tipos de representação do conhecimento sendo frutos da organização do conhe-cimento. Aborda a construção do conceito de Islamismo no Ocidente considerando as transformações de sentido mo-duladas pelo contexto sociocultural, conferindo ao Islã a imagem da violência. Define Religião segundo Durkheim como sistema unificado de crenças e de práticas relativo a coisas sagradas; e segundo Hans Mol como a identidade sacralizada. Aponta que a parcialidade na organização do conhecimento permite que documentos relativos à cultura e à identidade de grupos sociais não alinhados jamais sejam recuperados. Objetiva identificar como os assuntos referen-tes a culturas não alinhadas com o ocidente estão organizados; verificar a influência do contexto sociocultural na representação e recuperação da informação em bases de dados de culturas diversas; analisar o Islamismo e suas rela-ções conceituais na CDD. Para alcançar os objetivos propostos realizamos estudosna CDD23 segundo a metodologia de Miranda (2009), pesquisa bibliografica em bases de dados de diferentes culturas com ênfase nas influências do contexto sociocultural na produção cientifica pertinente a cultura Islâmica. Os resultados do estudo da representação do Islamismo na CDD23 demonstaram a existência de desvios (biases) de representação históricas da CDD, evidenci-ados tanto na seleção terminológica quanto em sua estrutura conceitual. Os resultados do levantamento bibliográfico nas bases de dados demonstram uma produção cientifica sobre assuntos referentes a cultura e identidade muçulmana numerosa e diversificada nas bases de dados de natureza global (DOAJ) e não ocidental (AJOL) e uma baixa produção na base de dados ocidental (Scielo). Reitera a necessidade da conduta ética por parte do profissional na classificação de assuntos não alinhadas a cultura ocidental. (shrink)

FENOMENOLOGIA E DIREITO: UMA CONEXÃO CONTEMPORÂNEA.

Com um enfoque multidisciplinar, esta obra reúne, em doze capítulos, pesquisas e discussões teóricas de profissionais, desenvolvidas durante o curso Minter/Dinter em Psicologia, oferecido pela Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) em convênio com a Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIVASF), no período entre 2008 e 2012. As pesquisas aconteceram, na sua maioria, nas cidades de Juazeiro (BA) e Petrolina (PE), com estudos também nas regiões de Recife (PE) e Cuité (PB). A Psicologia perpassa todos os capítulos, mostrando (...) a possibilidade de sua inserção em diversas áreas, razão da sua organização em quatro blocos temáticos. Os três primeiros capítulos abrangem um estudo das expressões da representação visual dos aprendizes, na exploração de conceitos sobre as estruturas aditivas e multiplicativas; uma revisão da literatura sobre reprovação nos cursos de engenharia e uma discussão sobre a moral e a ética, ressaltando suas implicações na educação. Os quatro capítulos posteriores contemplam os estudos: atitudes/crenças sobre maternidade e infertilidade feminina; negligência intrafamiliar infanto-juvenil; prática de psicólogas em oncologia pediátrica e as representações sociais dos adolescentes sobre drogas. Na sequência, temos dois estudos que retratam as representações sociais sobre educação em saúde por docentes universitários e as relações estabelecidas entre enfermeiros e usuários nas atividades de educação em saúde. Por fim, os últimos capítulos apresentam estudos na região do Vale do São Francisco, que são: a relação entre o dinamismo da economia e o desempenho econômico dos municípios de Petrolina (PE) e Juazeiro (BA); atribuições de causalidades do sucesso e do insucesso dos empreendedores na gestão de pequenos negócios e identidade social da comunidade japonesa. Convidamos você, leitor, para um encontro com os estudos apresentados. (shrink)