The need for cognitive closure is a construct postulated by Kruglanski that explains the motivational aspects which influence decision-making and its impact on the social environment. Initially, it was assessed through a unidimensional scale, later criticized for its poor satisfactory reliability and validity. Regarding these criticisms, Pierro and Kruglanski developed a new 14-item scale to measure two dimensions, which were not previously evaluated: urgency tendency and permanence tendency. Although the Revised Test of Need for Cognitive Closure is more economical in (...) terms of assessment time, it would be optimal to develop a reduced test that can assess faster while maintaining validity and reliability. The present research aims to reduce the Revised Test of Need for Cognitive Closure scale to the Argentinian context. To this end, we worked on a non-experimental design, assessing this scale within a sample of 690 Argentinian university students, and proceeded to perform reliability, as well as confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, and factorial invariance analysis. The results indicate a bi-factorial structure of a Need for Cognitive Closure instrument with eight items and two dimensions: urgency tendency and permanence tendency, suggesting good reliability in both of them. In addition, well convergent validity was checked with other validated instruments, and finally, the factor loadings were shown to be invariant. In conclusion, it was demonstrated the reliability and validity of reducing the Revised Test of Need for Cognitive Closure in our social environment. (shrink)

Trente ans après la fin définitive de la dictature et l'approbation de la Constitution de 1978, après trente-sept ans de franquisme, le moment semble venu pour l'Espagne moderne de revenir sur les années de dictature. L'ombre du franquisme n'avait jamais disparu, mais elle revient, puissante, avec l'opposition des partis de droite à la « Loi sur la mémoire historique » et le refus de l'Église de reconnaître une quelconque responsabilité dans les exactions du franquisme. La rencontre entre la Mémoire et (...) la Loi est au cœur de cet article.Thirty years alter dictatorship finally came to an end with the adoption of the 1978 Constitution and after thirty seven years of Francoism, the time seems to have come for modern Spain to look back on those years. The shadow of Francoism had never entirely disappeared, and it has returned, powerfully, with oppo­sition from the right-wing parties to the "Historical Memory Law" and the Church' s refusal to admit to any responsibility in the abuses of power meted out by the Franco regime. The encounter between Memory and Law is the core issue of this article. (shrink)

Previous research has shown that inconsistencies across repeated interviews do not indicate deception because liars deliberately tend to repeat the same story. However, when a strategic interview approach that makes it difficult for liars to use the repeat strategy is used, both consistency and evasive answers differ significantly between truth tellers and liars, and statistical software (binary logistic regression analyses) can reach high classification rates (Masip et al., 2016b ). Yet, if the interview procedure is to be used in applied (...) settings the decision process will be made by humans, not statistical software. To address this issue, in the current study, 475 college students (Experiment 1) and 142 police officers (Experiment 2) were instructed to code and use consistency, evasive answers, or a combination or both before judging the veracity of Masip et al.'s ( 2016b ) interview transcripts. Accuracy rates were high (60% to over 90%). Evasive answers yielded higher rates than consistency, and the combination of both these cues produced the highest accuracy rates in identifying both truthful and deceptive statements. Uninstructed participants performed fairly well (around 75% accuracy), apparently because they spontaneously used consistency and evasive answers. The pattern of results was the same among students, all officers, and veteran officers only, and shows that inconsistencies between interviews and evasive answers reveal deception when a strategic interview approach that hinders the repeat strategy is used. (shrink)

Friedrich Nietzsche resorted several times to the image of a child playing with sand or pebbles. His purpose in doing so was to evoke a cyclical process of construction and destruction devoid of both responsibility and finality. This essay examines, on the one hand, the relation of the child’s image to its two main hypotexts (Heraclitus DK 22 B 52 and Iliad XV 362-64) and, on the other, the range of Nietzsche’s uses of the simile.

This study, based on three years of research and over 40 hours of videotaped interaction in psychiatry, investigates the issue of insanity ascription/exoneration in psychiatric interviews. Following Sacks's model of membership categorization analysis, this article analyzes the discursive resources that psychiatrists may draw on to achieve some conclusion regarding their patients' psychopathological status. As it turns out, psychiatrists' invocation of patients' putative membership categories plays a crucial role in the achievement of such a conclusion. I examine some fragments of psychiatric (...) intake interviews and subsequent psychiatric interviews. The analysis shows that the process that may lead to insanity ascription/exoneration in psychiatric interviews basically involves the use of mundane, commonsense reasoning. (shrink)

Marcel Proust ha passat a la història de la cultura occidental com un escriptor, principalment novelista. Amb tot, la seva obra mestra. A la recerca del temps perdut, un dels cims de la literatura mundial, conté nombroses reflexions que permeten identificar clarament també un Proust pensador. Reconstruir la filosofia de Proust tot resseguint la mirada sobre el món que representa a la recerca?. és l'objectiu d'aquest assaig. A partir dels aforismes, sovint metafòrics, del Narrador proustià, Jaume Urgell ens ofereix (...) una anàlisi de la posició de l'escriptor francès en el context de la filosofia del segle XX. Expressant-se de vegades com a hereu d'un pensament anti-racionalista, en ocasions com a a coetani del existencialisme europeu i sovint precursor tant del pensament ironista com de mites de la quotidianitat més contemporània, Marcel Proust ens llega una obra plena de significats i alhora lliure de qualsevol convencionalisme, cosncient de les seves pròpies màscares i alhora innocent en el seu desenvolupament. Aquest assaigpresenta també algunes de les contribucions més rellevants en l'estudi de l'obra proustiana, com són les de Samuel Beckett, Gilles Deleuze i Richard Rorty, i desbrossa les incursions de Proust en el camp de la psicologia, l'ètica i l'estètica. Jaume Urgell És llicenciat en ciències empresarials i MBA per ESADE i Màster en Administració Pública per la Universitat de Harvard. Té un Diploma d'Estudis Avançats en Filosofia i Literatura per la UB. Dedica la seva vida intel·lectual a la literatura, la filosofia, la política i les relacions internacionals, i ha publicat diversos llibres i articles sobre aquestes matèries. (shrink)

Historical accounts of the work of J. J. Thomson find a contradiction in his work. On the one hand, he is presented as a Maxwellian theoretical physicist dealing with a typically Victorian entity, the ether. On the other hand, the analysis of his experimental work at the Cavendish seems to have little connection with his mathematical work. In this paper, I discuss the metaphysical views of J. J. Thomson, and argue that his deep belief in the ultimate continuity of matter (...) can be seen to give a framework to both his theoretical and his experimental work. His metaphysical beliefs were not in the least shaken by the discovery of discrete phenomena and entities, not even by his suggestion of the existence of corpuscles later known as electrons. His formation in Cambridge, together with some ideas that he acquired in his youth at Owens College, Manchester, are the key to understanding his metaphysics and the role it plays in his scientific work. (shrink)

Based on narrative, iconographical, and liturgical sources, this is the first systematic study to trace the story of the ritual of royal self-coronations from Ancient Persia to the present. Exposing as myth the idea that Napoleon's act of self-coronation in 1804 was the first extraordinary event to break the secular tradition of kings being crowned by bishops, Jaume Aurell vividly demonstrates that self-coronations were not as transgressive or unconventional as has been imagined. Drawing on numerous examples of royal self-coronations, (...) with a particular focus on European Kings of the Middle Ages, including Frederic II of Germany, Alphonse XI of Castile, Peter IV of Aragon and Charles III of Navarra, Aurell draws on history, anthropology, ritual studies, liturgy and art history to explore royal self-coronations as privileged sites at which the frontiers and limits between the temporal and spiritual, politics and religion, tradition and innovation are encountered. (shrink)

The origin of the bilaterian metazoans from radial ancestors is one of the biggest puzzles in animal evolution. A way to solve it is to identify the nature and main features of the last common ancestor of the bilaterians (LCB). Recent progress in molecular phylogeny has shown that many platyhelminth flatworms, regarded for a long time as basal bilaterians, now belong to the lophotrochozoan protostomates. In contrast, the LCB is now considered a complex organism bearing several features of modern bilaterians. (...) Here we discuss an alternative view, in which acoelomorph (Acoela + Nemertodermatida) flatworms, which do not belong to the Platyhelminthes, represent the earliest extant bilaterian clade. Sequences from ribosomal and other nuclear genes, Hox cluster genes, and reinterpretation of some morphological features strongly support the basal position of acoelomorphs arguing against a complex LCB. This reconstruction backs the old planuloid–acoeloid hypothesis and may help our understanding of the evolution of body axes, Hox genes and the Cambrian explosion. BioEssays 26:1046–1057, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

What is the classic in history? What is a classic in historical writing? Very few historians and critics have addressed these questions, and when they have done so, it has been only in a cursory manner. These are queries that require some explanation regarding historical texts because of their peculiar ambivalence between science and art, content and form, sources and imagination, scientific and narrative language. Based on some examples of the Western historiographical tradition, I discuss in this article to what (...) extent historians should engage the concept of the classic – as has been done for literary texts. If one assumes that the historical text is not only a referential account but also a narrative analogous to literary texts, then the concept of the classic becomes one of the keys for understanding the historical text – and may improve our understanding not only of historiography, but of history itself. I will argue in this article that it is possible to identify a category of the classic text in some historical writings, precisely because of the literarity they possess without losing their specific historical condition. Because of their narrative condition, historical texts share some of the features assigned to literary texts – that is, endurance, timelessness, universal meaningfulness, resistance to historical criticism, susceptibility to multiple interpretations, and ability to function as models. Yet, since historical texts do not construct imaginary worlds but reflect external realities, they also have to achieve some specific features according to this referential content – that is, surplus of meaning, historical use of metaphors, effect of contemporaneity without damaging the pastness of the past, and a certain appropriation of literariness. Without seeking to be normative or systematic, this article focuses on some specific features of the historical classic, offering a series of reflections to open rather than try to close a debate on this complex topic. (shrink)

ArgumentThe discovery of electron diffraction by George Paget Thomson in Aberdeen and Clinton J. Davisson and Lester H. Germer at the Bell Labs has often been portrayed as an example of independent discovery. Neither team was particularly interested in the developments of the nascent quantum theory but they both ended up demonstrating one of the most striking experimental consequences of the new physics. This paper traces the aftermath of this discovery and the way electron diffraction immediately turned from empirical evidence (...) of a highly novel theory into a technique for applied and technological research. Thomson was the first to design an “electron diffraction camera,” an instrument that soon found its place in laboratories around the world. I discuss the role played by Davisson and Germer, and by Thomson in the development of electron diffraction as a “research technology,” taking into account their specific institutional settings and research cultures. While Davisson and Germer remained in the industry-oriented Bell Labs, Thomson moved to Imperial College in 1930 where collaboration first, and competition later with George I. Finch was also relevant for the consolidation of an instrument that eventually became widely known as the “Finch Camera.”. (shrink)

Karl Popper always claimed himself to be a realist. However, his constant denial to give definitions to the philosophical concepts, makes it difficult to understand what exactly he means by realism. This article focuses the attention on three meanings of Popper's realism: a metaphysical, an epistemological and a sensible realism. The later sense can be rooted in the new studies on the ethical roots of all Popper's philosophy.

Balibar, Étienne (2021)Spinoza político: Lo transindividualTraducción de Alfonso DíezBarcelona: Gedisa, 304 p.ISBN 978-84-18525-15-5.

La preocupación por la tierra ocupa actualmente las agendas políticas y culturales de los gobiernos, de las empresas, de los medios de comunicación, de las organizaciones sociales y de las iglesias, a causa de la evolución del clima, la contaminación del aire y del agua, la destrucción de la capa de ozono, el deterioro de los sistemas biológicos, el efecto invernadero, el aumento de inundaciones y el deshielo de los polos. La Conferencia episcopal canadiense habla del "imperativo ecológico cristiano" (2003, (...) 2008). (shrink)

El artículo presenta, analiza y comenta un texto de Arnau de Vilanova que se ha conservado relativo a la discusión que sostuvo este autor con los teólogos de París sobre la falacia del consecuente, en el contexto de la polémica escatológica . Los teólogos de París descalificaron la argumentación de Arnau de Vilanova porque incurría en la falacia del consecuente. Arnau de Vilanova se defiende de esta acusación.The article presents, analyzes and comments a text of Arnau de Vilanova that has (...) been conserved relative to the discussion that maintained this author with the theologians of Paris on the “fallacia consequentis”, in the context of the eschatological controversy . The theologians of Paris disqualified the argumentation of Arnau de Vilanova because he incurred the “fallacia consequentis”. Arnau de Vilanova defends himself of this accusation. (shrink)

The paper presents a dilemma for both epistemic and non-epistemic versions of conceivability-based accounts of modal knowledge. On the one horn, non-epistemic accounts do not elucidate the essentialist knowledge they would be committed to. On the other, epistemic accounts do not elucidate everyday life de re modal knowledge. In neither case, therefore, do conceivability accounts elucidate de re modal knowledge.

Many American readers like to regard Alexis de Tocqueville as an honorary American and democrat--as the young French aristocrat who came to early America and, enthralled by what he saw, proceeded to write an American book explaining democratic America to itself. Yet, as Lucien Jaume argues in this acclaimed intellectual biography, Democracy in America is best understood as a French book, written primarily for the French, and overwhelmingly concerned with France. "America," Jaume says, "was merely a pretext for (...) studying modern society and the woes of France." For Tocqueville, in short, America was a mirror for France, a way for Tocqueville to write indirectly about his own society, to engage French thinkers and debates, and to come to terms with France's aristocratic legacy. By taking seriously the idea that Tocqueville's French context is essential for understanding Democracy in America, Jaume provides a powerful and surprising new interpretation of Tocqueville's book as well as a fresh intellectual and psychological portrait of the author. Situating Tocqueville in the context of the crisis of authority in postrevolutionary France, Jaume shows that Tocqueville was an ambivalent promoter of democracy, a man who tried to reconcile himself to the coming wave, but who was also nostalgic for the aristocratic world in which he was rooted--and who believed that it would be necessary to preserve aristocratic values in order to protect liberty under democracy. Indeed, Jaume argues that one of Tocqueville's most important and original ideas was to recognize that democracy posed the threat of a new and hidden form of despotism. (shrink)

Sr. Rector de la Universidad BolivarianaIlustrísimas autoridadesProfesores de la UniversidadMiembros de la Comunidad universitariaRepresentantes de las organizaciones solidariasSeñoras y señoresMe siento profundamente feliz y conmovido. Feliz por haberme abierto las puertas de esta universidad y concederme esta alta distinción que no sólo culmina una amistad sino que inicia un camino de estrecha colaboración y de esperanzas entretejidas. Me honráis compañeros con vuestra acogida a este claust..

Resumen: Este artículo trata sobre la construcción de significados e interpretación conjunta de la obra literaria por medios digitales. Para ello, se hace una revisión a la realidad digital de la literatura y sus procesos de recepción: la lectura digital no viene determinada tanto por la naturaleza del texto como por el comportamiento del lector digital. Internet ha facilitado la creación de espacios de afinidad en los que los usuarios pueden reunirse en torno a sus aficiones, intereses u objetivos. Se (...) generan, así, comunidades de lectores en los que debaten, analizan y elaboran fanworks que, en suma, conforman el fandom. Desde esta perspectiva, es la comunidad, como inteligencia colectiva, y no el autor, la que establece los límites de la interpretación textual: decide qué es o no canónico. Todo ello permite llegar a la conclusión de que estas prácticas letradas permiten a los usuarios realizar una lectura virtualmente digital caracterizada por la sincronización y socialización de los procesos de comprensión e interpretación textual. Lo realmente interesante es la construcción del fanon pues se genera una lectura multilineal, hipertextual, transmediática, reactiva, y, sobre todo, consensuada.: This article deals with the construction of meanings and joint interpretation of the literary work by digital means. Thereby, a review of the digital reality of literature and its reception processes are made. Digital reading is not determined as much by the nature of the text as by the behavior of the digital reader. The Internet has facilitated the creation of affinity spaces where users can gather around their hobbies, interests or objectives. Thus, communities of readers are generated to debate, analyze and elaborate fanworks that, in short, make up the fandom. From this perspective, it is the community, as collective intelligence, and not the author, that sets the limits of textual interpretation: they decide what is or is not canonical. All of this allows us to conclude that these literacy practices allow users to perform a virtually digital reading characterized by the synchronization and socialization of the processes of comprehension and textual interpretation. The most interesting issue is the construction of the fanon because it generates a multilinear reading, hypertextual, transmedia, reactive, and, above all, consensus reading. (shrink)

El autor abre una amplia y profunda interrogante sobre la esperanza, recordándonos que en torno a la guerra se elevan las manifestaciones a favor de la paz; teniendo éstas su expresión principal en los foros anti-globalizadores y en los consejos ecuménicos, actuando como una presión desde abajo, que moviliza las conciencias y obliga a la clase política a saldar las cuentas con la voluntad popular. Es la sociedad civil mundial tras nuevas metas de humanización y emancipación, y desarrollo de la (...) conciencia mundial de la interdependencia. Nos propone finalmente que rastrear la esperanza, con sus distintos ropajes, en el interior del conflicto bélico significa reconocer que la historia no está sellada. (shrink)