With the discovery in 1995 of the first planet orbiting another star, we know that planets are not unique to our own Solar System. For centuries, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the Universe. We are now finally one step closer to knowing the answer. The quest for exoplanets is an exciting one, because it holds the possibility that one day we might find life elsewhere in the Universe, born in the light of another sun. Written from the (...) perspective of one of the pioneers of this scientific adventure, this exciting account describes the development of the modern observing technique that has enabled astronomers to find so many planets orbiting around other stars. It reveals the wealth of new planets that have now been discovered outside our Solar System, and what this means in terms of finding other life in the Universe. (shrink)

Discussions about the evolution of human social cognition usually portray the social environment of early hominins as highly hierarchical and violent. In this evolutionary narrative, our propensity for violence was overcome in our lineage by an increase in our intellectual capacities. However, I will argue in this article that we are at least equally justified in believing that our early hominin ancestors were less aggressive and hierarchical than is suggested in these models. This view is consistent with the available comparative (...) and palaeoanthropological evidence. I will show that this alternative model not only does not support long-held views of human origins, but also has important consequences for debates about the evolution of our capacity for normative guidance. _1_ Introduction _2_ Philosophical Motivation _3_ The Puzzle of Hominin Evolution _4_ The Mosaic Hypothesis _5_ Evidence for the Model _6_ Palaeoanthropological Support _7_ Philosophical Consequences. (shrink)

The Earth is facing pressing societal grand challenges that require urgent managerial action. Responsible management learning has emerged as a discipline to prepare managers to act as responsible leaders that can effectively address such pressing challenges. This article aims to extend current knowledge on RML in the domain of corporate sustainability through the application of threshold concepts, novel ideas which provide a doorway to new knowledge and transform a learner’s mindset. Specifically, after conducting a systematic review of the management literature, (...) we identify 33 CS threshold concepts that are useful for mainstream managers and practitioners in their RML process. We group them into six CS threshold concept themes that can help managers understand the complexities and interconnectedness that characterize CS. Finally, we map CS threshold concepts with key competences for effective RML. Therefore, our contribution relies on translating existing CS theoretical frameworks into transformative, specific, understandable and applicable pieces of knowledge that might help mainstream managers to embed CS principles in their daily management practices. (shrink)

Clearly in contrast to the sociosymbolic approaches that underlie the positions of Butler or Derrida, this article delves into a materialist and machinic reading of the ontology of Deleuze and Guattari. This ontology is the basis of a posthumanist conception that allows to join political philosophy, technology and biology understood as complex rhizomatic systems. From this point of view, we propose to construct an antagonistic posthumanist politics that is an alternative to the pluriversal ethics defended by Braidotti. We believe that (...) the latter maintains an excessively liberal position that prioritizes inclusion as a new form of consensus in the face of conflict. (shrink)

In the literature, Fair Trade (FT) goods are usually associated with other products differentiated by process attributes such as organic food, genetically modified (GM) food or child labour-free clothing. All of these products are regarded as credence goods. This classification refers to the simplified definition of credence goods, which describes product attributes which consumers cannot evaluate, even after having consumed the good. Focusing on the characteristics of FT goods, this article proposes a reassessment of the link between FT goods and (...) credence properties as defined by Darby and Kami. We first demonstrate that (1) the usual classification masks important particularities of FT goods compared to other goods with process attributes and (2) the full definition of credence goods may even provide a better description of the quality of FT goods. However - and this is our second theoretical contribution - the lack of consensus among experts concerning FT standards and their level of efficiency encourage us to consider FT goods as indeterminate goods as defined by Lupton. This result leads us to suggest a new typology of product attributes summarized in an innovative diagram. It sheds light on how competition between the different FT approaches works and why the FT market is still confined to a niche, if not threatened with collapse. We mainly illustrate our theoretical analysis with observations relating to the French FT market and institutions. (shrink)

We analyse the reception of Niklas Luhmanns social metatheory in Slovenian social. The first part outlines the intellectual climate that prevailed in the decade before the post-socialist transition. The decline of the previously dominant Marxist ideology created space for other social theories. Luhmanns ideas were the most prominent among social macro theories in the initial phase. The second part describes variations in the reception of his ideas. The initial affirmative approach was upgraded by a number of more selective and critical (...) approaches. The third part shows that, although his ideas are no longer quite so prominent, his work is both well recognized and firmly embedded in Slovenian social thought. (shrink)

Será la guerra, justamente, el escenario propicio para el abuso de cadáveres con fines políticos, en el que confluyen dos elementos consustanciales al Mal. El primero apunta a la negación del Otro como ser humano y sujeto de derecho, lo cual habilita al agresor para proceder con crueldad sobre su víctima. El segundo remite a la gradual “espectacularización” del cadáver, cuyas imágenes develan el ensañamiento con el Otro. Del arte a las imágenes digitales, las escenografías del Mal se despliegan de (...) modo polisémico. El drama, por lo tanto, acontece en la puesta en escena del sufrimiento del otro, reside no solo en el rostro de dolor y el grito de muerte del derrotado -o en el placer, coraje o valentía de su verdugo-, sino también en un más allá, en el uso y abuso del cadáver enemigo para prolongar el daño y el dolor -directa o indirectamente- en el deudo y su comunidad. (shrink)

Los intentos de descubrir una ética o un fundamento de ésta en Ser y tiempo de Martin Heidegger son la mayoría de veces infructuosos debido al poco espacio que Heidegger le dedica al tema del “otro“ en su parte “positiva“, lo que le ha valido a éste no pocos reproches. Quienes vislumbran aquí una ética se podrían agrupar en tres: Los que ven una ética negativa (al modo de la teología negativa), los que centran su exposición en el concepto de (...) Fürsorge, y los que centran su visión en el concepto de Entschlossenheit. En este texto se esbozan estas tres líneas principales de interpretación. (shrink)

RESUMEN Para analizar la gubernamentalidad neoliberal, se asume como problema la caracterización de las formas contemporáneas de ejercicio del poder bajo una nueva modalidad de soberanía política localizada en el mercado. Se proponen las nociones de inmunidad y excepción como claves hermenéuticas, y se establece un diálogo entre las derivas foucaultianas de los trabajos de R. Esposito y G. Agamben. Se muestra cómo la relación entre poder y vida asume una forma estratificada y diferenciada, siguiendo una racionalidad de gobierno que (...) encuentra en el cálculo del riesgo el operador funcional de sus intervenciones estratégicas sobre la población. ABSTRACT In order to analyze neoliberal governmentality, the article addresses the issue of the characterization of contemporary forms of exercise of power under a new modality of political sovereignty located in the market. It suggests the notions of immunity and exception as hermeneutical keys and establishes a dialogue between the Foucauldian drift of the work of R. Esposito and G. Agamben. The article also shows how the relation between power and life takes on a stratified and differentiated form when it follows a rationality for government that makes risk calculation the functional operator of its strategic interventions in the population. (shrink)

La pensée heideggérienne de l'être recèle un paradoxe : elle est à la fois le lieu de découvertes prodigieuses et de l'occultation d'une partie importante de l'être de l'homme : la dimension éthique. Afin de comprendre ce phénomène, notre recherche prend pour fil conducteur la manière restrictive dont Heidegger interprète le bien de Platon, à travers tout son chemin de pensée.

У статті зроблена спроба привернути увагу фахівців до такого напряму економіки й розваг, як гральний бізнес. Описано розвиток i стан цього бізнесу в США, Росiйськiй Федерацiї й Українi. Наголошено на перспективності розвитку грального бізнесу в Україні.

We propose a methodology for normative evaluation when preferences are context-dependent. We offer a precise definition of context-dependence and formulate a normative criterion of self-determination, according to which one situation is better than another if individuals are aware of more potential contexts of a choice problem. We provide two interpretations of our normative approach: an extension of Sugden’s opportunity criterion and an application of Sen’s positional views in his theory of justice. Our proposition is consistent with Muldoon’s and Gaus’ approaches (...) of public reason in social contract theory, which account for the diversity of perspectives in non-ideal worlds. (shrink)

VVe argue in this essay that the real violence in schools is a result of the structural violence of oppresive social conditions that force students, especially low-income African American and Latino males, tofeel vulnerable, angry, and resistant to the normative expectations of “police-like” school environments. Instead of making attempts to transform these oppressive conditions and explore alternatives outsideof these frameworks, schools utilize the ideological state apparatuses (ISA’s) to justify the construction of certain students (e.g., African American and Latino males) as (...) “violent/deviant/disabled” therebymaking it an individual rather than a social problem. On the other hand, we contend, a political economic analysis of educational contexts makes critical linkages between race, class, and disabilityand in doing so offers an alternative way of re-theorizing identity. Additionally this argument will aIso demonstrate how a political economic analysis exposes and re-orients one towards a collective (global) struggle for social transfornlation in critical multicultural contexts. (shrink)

Frege's account of indirect proof has been thought to be problematic. This thought seems to rest on the supposition that some notion of logical consequence ? which Frege did not have ? is indispensable for a satisfactory account of indirect proof. It is not so. Frege's account is no less workable than the account predominant today. Indeed, Frege's account may be best understood as a restatement of the latter, although from a higher order point of view. I argue that this (...) ascent is motivated by Frege's conception of logic. (shrink)

This paper discusses the philosophical concept of John Rawls on distributive justice and how it can be applied as a possible guide in the Philippine ayuda distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it discusses how the pandemic affected the Philippine economy and the complaints on the ayuda program regarding the ayuda distribution in the country. Second, it explains Rawlsian distributive justice and Rawls’ ideas, such as the veil of ignorance, liberty, and difference principles. Lastly, it discusses Rawls’ notion of distributive (...) justice as a guide in the ayuda distribution to provide a perspective on the equitable and just distribution of benefits given the limited resources. The main point is that the distribution of financial assistance or ayuda can be guided by Rawls’s notion of distributive justice, which prioritizes the well-being of the least well-off or disadvantaged. (shrink)

The article introduces the concept of the logonomic sign as an elaboration on Hodge and Kress’s promising yet under-examined ideas about logonomic systems. Logonomic signs are defined as socially devised signs that constrain multimodal semiosis by restricting who is able to produce what signs under what circumstances. Based on the Peircean categories, the functioning of logonomic signs is modeled as a three-phase process of logonomic understanding, logonomic actualization, and logonomic reproduction. Based on Kull’s theory of evolution of semiotic systems, logonomic (...) signs are theorized as mechanisms of retention and standardization of semiotic Habits. The mechanism of reproduction of logonomic signs is modeled as a sign in which past logonomic semioses function as Objects by being iconically represented by similar current logonomic semioses functioning as Representamens, and in which future logonomic semioses are produced as Interpretants. The methodological potential of the proposed concept is discussed in the context of the integrative transdisciplinary capacity of semiotics in social research. (shrink)

Ceux qui parlent une langue seconde, savent par leur propre expérience que, malgré une bonne connaissance du vocabulaire et des règles de la grammaire, ils n'arrivent pas à réagir verbalement à des situations concrètes de la même manière que ceux qui la parlent en langue maternelle. Cet ouvrage, à la fois théorique et pratique, tâche de combler ce vide par une analyse contrastive serrée des enonces en situation, à partir d'un corpus étendu et varié, et de tests nombreux avec des (...) sujets français, anglais, italiens, hongrois et japonais. (shrink)

La filosofía latinoamericana de la liberación en sus orígenes consideró la importancia del pueblo, lo popular, la cultura y los pobres. Aun con discusiones y divergencias en el interior del movimiento -a raíz de las diferentes concepciones filosóficas y políticas- pueblo-clase, pueblo-nación, pueblo-sectores populares estuvo presente en la producción de muchos de sus autores. Todos asumieron la cuestión del pueblo, pero ninguno apostó en denominar tal filosofía de la liberación como “filosofía del pueblo”. Cuestión que no dudaron en asumir, en (...) cambio, cuando la producción teológica latinoamericana producida en Argentina fue denominada como “teología del pueblo”, primero despectivamente y posteriormente como nombre propio y nota característica. Es más, Scannone incluso consideró que era adecuado nombrar como “ético cultural” a la corriente filosófica inspirada en la sabiduría popular por él representada, pero difícilmente hubiera admitido que se denominara su filosofía inculturada de la liberación como “del pueblo”. (shrink)

We consider the complexity of the integration operator on real functions with respect to the subrecursive class M^2 . We prove that the definite integral of a uniformly M^2-computable analytic real function with M^2-computable limits is itself M^2-computable real number. We generalise this result to integrals with parameters and with varying limits. As an application, we show that the Euler-Mascheroni constant is M^2-computable.

Mi comentario se divide en tres partes que obedecen, sin método ni exhaustividad, a las tres facetas que más me han interesado de Dworkin y que esta biografía me permitió revisitar: su faceta de intelectual público, su liberalismo ético o perfeccionista y un breve colofón sobre su generosidad académica.