We are witnessing a certain tendency in epistemology to account for the anti-luck intuition in terms of risk. I.e., instead of the traditional anti-luck diagnosis of Gettier cases and fake barn cases, a new anti-risk diagnosis seems to be preferable by many. My goal in this paper is twofold: first, I contribute to motivate that drift; and second, I defend that we ought to partially resist it. An anti-risk diagnosis is valid and preferable for fake barn cases, but we still (...) need an anti-luck diagnosis for classic Gettier cases. The paper thus defends the Solomon-like result that we need both concepts—epistemic luck and epistemic risk—to deal with all the cases where knowledge is undermined. (shrink)

The question initially raised in this paper was on how one’s religious sensibility affects one’s response to suffering. Focusing on three particular disasters that hit the Philippines, we look at the various media sources: the writing about the rains and flooding found in broadsheets and online media, and some ethnographic descriptions coming from the social sciences; we also look at experiential or anecdotal sources. All this provides us with material to establish certain traits and topics that come to fore in (...) times of disaster, including such concerns as the lessons learned during disaster, the wrath of God, and points of cultural pride such as notions of solidarity and resilience. A significant upshot of this study has been the recognition of epistemic and methodological reevaluations that had to constantly be taken. This concludes in a retrieval of the contextuality of suffering, a redefinition of what it means to say that the response is a Christian one, and finally a proposal that paying closer attention to these points, in addition to non-philosophical sources, might be a way of rethinking the problem of suffering beyond the scope of traditional theodicies. (shrink)

The word ‘humanism’ was coined in the Renaissance, a period of self-proclaimed cultural reawakening. The preceding Middle Ages were perceived as a dark period of obsession with sin, death and hell, a nightmare, out of which the humanists intended to awaken. The refined, subtle, classical, literary Latin of Antiquity had been replaced by the poor, boring, stiff Latin of the Middle Ages. The serene view of Antiquity, with its appreciation of pleasure and beauty had given way to the dark medieval (...) view of humanity as sinful and of earthly life as a valley of tears in which to try to earn heaven was the only worthwhile activity. Around the fifteenth century some writers and scholars rejected this medieval heritage. They intended to break with a dark and oppressive tradition and to initiate a cultural reawakening, a return to Antiquity. They called themselves humanists. (shrink)

Este artículo tiene como objetivo principal contrastar las teorías deJürgen Habermas y Michael Walzer en relación con las bondades e infortuniosde la ‘democracia deliberativa’, modelo que, en el caso habermasiano, se encauzaa superar al liberalismo clásico y al republicanismo cívico, dos concepcionestradicionales y con gran influencia en el pensamiento político actual. Elautor de Facticidad y validez le objetará al primer modelo que restringe el espaciopúblico a una racionalidad instrumental y a un Estado neutro encaminados asalvaguardar los intereses privados y los (...) derechos negativos. Al segundo, quelimita la acción política a una comprensión ética contextualizada y a una visiónidealista de las virtudes cívicas. Sostiene que ambas perspectivas son necesariaspero insuficientes para fortalecer los sistemas democráticos en sociedadessistémicas y multiculturales. Walzer, por su parte, ha puesto en tela de juicio elrumbo deliberativo habermasiano por cuanto lo considera un paradigma queciñe la acción política a la racionalidad argumentativa, sin tomar en cuenta lasotras prácticas sociales orientadas por la pasión, el coraje, la actitud competitivay los intereses.The aim of this article is to contrast the theories of Habermas andWalzer in relation to the benefits and misfortunes of deliberative democracy, a model that, for Habermas, is channeled to overcome classical liberalism and civic republicanism, the traditional main currents with great influence on the contemporary political thought. The author of Between facts and norms objected to the first model that it restricts the public space to an instrumental rationality and to a neutral State designed to safeguard private interests and individual rights. To the second, because it limits political action to a barely ethical understanding of an idealistic vision of civic virtues. Habermas argues that both perspectives are necessary but insufficient to strengthen democratic systems in systemic and multicultural societies. Walzer, meanwhile, has questioned the direction of Habermasian deliberative approach because he considers it as a paradigm that grasp political action only within the sphere of argumentative rationality, without taking into account other social practices guided by passion, courage, competitive attitudes and interests. (shrink)

En el marco de un nuevo descubrimiento de la fenomenología, este trabajo ofrece diferentes argumentos para superar la clásica interpretación de Husserl considerándolo un representante prototípico del solipsismo. En primer lugar, se refuta la interpretación mentalista de Dreyfus de la fenomenología husserliana, mostrando que su programa filosófico va más allá de la tradicional dicotomía entre internalismo y externalismo; en segundo lugar, se señalan algunas de las principales contribuciones realizadas por la fenomenología de Husserl al campo de las ciencias cognitivas y (...) a la filosofía analítica de las mentes, destacando la importancia concedida a las síntesis pasivas en la llamada fenomenología genética. In the frame of a new discovery of phenomenology, the present essay offers different arguments to overcome the classical interpretation ofHusserl considering him a prototypical solipsist. First we refute Dreyfus' mentalistic misunderstanding of Husserlian phenomenology, and show that his philosophical program is beyond the traditional dichotomy between internalism and externalism. Second, it is our aim to point out some of the fundamental contributions made by Husserl's phenomenology to the cognitive sciences and analytical philosophy of mind, especially highlighting the importance attributed to passive synthesis in his genetic phenomenology. (shrink)

Globalization focuses on the development of new productive, trade, and economic techniques. However, this process, evolutionary technologically, has involved, paradoxically, an involution in important roles of our political, social, and cultural life, basically, about the misinformation in administrative procedures, the lack of legal security, and an atomization of the individual wills. That’s Ulrich Beck has called “the global risk society”. A society where organized irresponsibility and power relations of some international actors with political and enterprise weight govern important financial and (...) economic resources for their own benefit. “The risk society” has imposed its own political rules of control and loss of control, defining new ways of organization -out of citizens or politicians- governed by those economic forces. In this new scenario, the past does not determine the present events but the future, uncertain and fearsome, makes conditional on the present courses of action. A kind of prevision or precaution on impending disasters determines our future which nowadays does not depend on us but on those in economic and technological control. The new precautionary scenario begins with threats and ends with the demolition of social gains made in recent decades. The outcome of this risk society is the systematic destruction of public values like solidarity, trust, or common good, and their replacement by the primacy of economics over politics and the consideration of the market as the only effective means of allocating resources. Some resources, public in many cases, that are managed in a totally private way, and whose benefits are given up from traditionally considered public goods: education, health care, dwelling, social services, pensions, and indeed justice. Against this, the most consistent solution, most daring and the most difficult passes to reassign new powers to the states, to reinstate the sovereignty of citizens in decisions that affect us, and to share goods and public resources with parameters of ethics and social justice. A task that is not limited to simple political choice of our representatives, but in a personal involvement in all areas of our political, economic and social life. (shrink)

Nowadays philosophy is characterized by such heterogeneous intellectual practices that its very unity and coherence seem endangered. What is especially disconcerting is that most authors manage to largely ignore the very existence of methodological positions radically different from their own. Fortunately, there have been exceptions, and the present volume focuses on one of them: the failed debate that took place between John Searle and Jacques Derrida. -/- This book thoroughly analyses that exchange, contextualizing it within the respective philosophical traditions of (...) the two thinkers, with the general aim of turning their dispute into what it was not: a respectful, sensible and fruitful controversy. This episode is thus taken as an opportunity to reflect on the peculiar nature of philosophy as an intellectual practice, and to discuss some of its main themes: language as an instrument for communication, the intentionality of consciousness, and difference as a constitutive element of every text. (shrink)

ArgumentThis paper addresses the complex process of inscribing the names of the American natural world – both the natural species and the territories – in the records of the Spanish Empire as undertaken by its official chronicler Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo (1478–1557). Fernandez de Oviedo's ambitious attempt to identify all natural phenomena in the Historia general y natural de las Indias provides a very clear instance of the parallel developments of science and imperial discourse in the Early Modern period. As (...) we shall see, however, Fernández de Oviedo's point of view in this regard was by no means the same as the point of view developed in Spain by the imperial administration; on the contrary, Fernandez de Oviedo's criteria for identifying and naming reveal an effort to displace any external assumption and prejudice and call for a distinctly local view of American reality. In Fernández de Oviedo's text, the traditional notions of identity and difference as well as the relative positions of center and periphery were put into question in order to propose new ways to frame and control reality in an expanding world. (shrink)

The "people of knowledge" of traditional Mazatec medicine have preserved until today the ritual use of psilocybin mushrooms as part of their health care systems. The renewed interest in the effect of psilocybin on human consciousness for both therapeutic and recreational purposes usually obviates the historical and cultural background of indigenous peoples, as well as the legitimation of their practices and knowledge. In this article, through the case study of a foreign person who attended a Mazatec ritual specialist to participate (...) in a ritual night ceremony known as velada, we show the importance of approaching research on psychoactive plants and mushrooms from a transdisciplinary and intercultural perspective, so that we can appreciate the profound complexity of the healing processes that take place in traditional indigenous contexts, as well as the limits of recreational uses or exclusively neopositivist and clinical approaches. (shrink)

The problem of the reduction of chemistry to physics has been traditionally addressed in terms of classical structural chemistry and standard quantum mechanics. In this work, we will study the problem from the perspective of the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules, proposed by Richard Bader in the nineties. The purpose of this article is to unveil the role of QTAIM in the inter-theoretical relations between chemistry and physics. We argue that, although the QTAIM solves two relevant obstacles to reduction (...) by providing a rigorous definition of chemical bond and of atoms in a molecule, it appeals to concepts that are unacceptable in the quantum–mechanical context. Therefore, the QTAIM fails to provide the desired reduction. On the other hand, we will show that the QTAIM is more similar to Bohmian mechanics and that the basic elements of both theories are closely related. (shrink)

La revista “Ciencia Tomista” de algún modo resume la tradición de los dominicos en la Provincia de España. Lo que han vivido y lo que han pensado. Apasionados por buscar la verdad en los surcos de la historia cambiante, han aportado lo mejor que tenían al servicio de la Iglesia y de la sociedad. La riqueza y pluralidad de esta tradición viva, con su versión peculiar en cada etapa del camino según los distintos contextos sociales y eclesiales, recomiendan moderación y (...) modestia en el juicio sobre la misma. Especialmente cuando el que escribe ha bebido y se siente deudor de esa tradición. Consciente de que el tema que me han encomendado desborda lo que pueda redactar en unas páginas, opto por apuntar algunas líneas y ámbitos por donde ha discurrido la tradición dominicana reflejada en la Revista. En un primer punto se ven distintas etapas en el diálogo con el mundo moderno. Un segundo punto propone la encarnación como denominador común en toda la trayectoria de la revista. Un tercer punto sugiere los caminos abiertos en esa tradición de Ciencia Tomista que son indicativos para el futuro de la teología y de la evangelización.“Ciencia Tomista” journal summarizes the Dominicans’ tradition of the Province of Spain. What they lived and thought about. Eager to seek the truth in the furrows of a changing history, they contributed their best to serve the church and society. The richness and plurality of this living tradition with its peculiar version in each stage of the way according to the different, social and ecclesiastical contents, recommend moderation and modesty in judging it. Specially when I drank of that tradition and am indebted to it. Conscious the theme I was commended exceeds what I can write in these pages, I will try to point out the tendencies and limits through which the Dominican tradition, shown in the Journal, flowed. In a first point, different phases can be seen in a dialogue with the modern world. A second point proposes the incarnation as common denominator of the journal whole trajectory. A third point suggests the opened ways in CT journal as indicative of the future of theology and evangelization. (shrink)

Considering the "current" as a living, effective and revitalizing presence, and the "tradition" as that which we historically remains, this article studies the presence of scholastic thought in contemporary philosophy, through the work of Ortega, Zubiri and Habermas. In this sense, from the admiration and esteem for the scholastic tradition, but far from identifying himself with it, José Ortega y Gasset pays special attention to the doctrine of transcendentals, and to the concepts of evidence, conscience and, very especially, (...) actuality. Xavier Zubiri, who was trained for obvious reasons in this tradition, recognizes the powerful influence of Suárez, the "richness and precision" of the scholastic vocabulary and his "intellectual rigour", but if he exposes the scholastic doctrines, he discusses and updates them permanently. Talk about the substance, the essence, the transcendental and, very especially, the intelligence. All this has a radical importance in his reflection on God. Last but not least is the case of Habermas. His latest work constitutes a genealogy of philosophical reason in Western culture. In it, Habermas is interested in the validity of the reflections of not a few scholastic authors, in the relationship between faith and knowledge, and in the controversy over the Hellenization of Christianity. (shrink)

RESUMEN: Este artículo revisa contribuciones recientes a la filosofía de la tecnología tomando como punto de partida una reflexión sobre la naturaleza de los artefactos, su conocimiento y las condiciones normativas vinculadas a su producción y uso. Se discute, en primer lugar, en torno al realismo/anti-realismo respecto a las clases artificiales según la teoría funcional y la teoría histórico-intencional de los artefactos. En segundo lugar, se abordan cuestiones relativas a las peculiaridades del conocimiento funcional y el privilegio epistémico del conocimiento (...) que los hacedores tienen de sus productos. Por último, se retoma el tradicional debate sobre los artefactos como portadores de valor y sobre la dimensión normativa de la técnica.ABSTRACT: In this paper, I review recent contributions to the philosophical reflection on technology. I take as starting point discussions on the ontological nature of artifacts and then discuss questions regarding how we get to know about them and the normative dimensions involved in the making and use of artifacts. Firstly, I introduce the debate between realists and antirealists about the nature of artificial kinds and how the issue is respectively addressed by functional and intentional-historical conceptions. Secondly, I raise some questions about the specificity of functional knowledge as a kind of know-how and discuss about the epistemic privilege of the makers-knowledge. The last section takes up again the traditional debate on artifacts as value bearers and the normative dimensions of technology. (shrink)

Autorka artykułu podejmuje temat mistyki spekulacyjnej dotyczącej tego, czy istoty ludzkie mogą osiągnąć pełną jedność z zasadą bytu w kontekście koncepcji imago repraesentationis Mikołaja z Kuzy. U Mikołaja z Kuzy to pytanie pojawia się w kontekście zachowania wolności człowieka,jako imago imitationis creata, dzięki unii personalnej z Absolutem.Dans cet article l’auteur traite un thème de la spéculation mystique qui concerne la question de savoir si l’etre humain peut atteindre une union complete avec l’origine ou principe de l’être dans le contexte de (...) la notion repraesentationis imago de Nicolas de Cues. Chez Nicolas de Cues cette question se pose en termes de déroulement de la liberté de l’être humain, comme imago imitationis creata, à travers cette union personnelle avec l’Absolu.In this article the author deals with a theme of mystical speculation that regards the question of whether the human being can reach a complete union with the origin or principle of being within the context of Nicholas of Cusa’s notion of imago repraesentationis. In Nicholas of Cusa, this question is posed in terms of the unfolding of the human being’s freedom, as imago imitationis creata, through that personal union with the Absolute. (shrink)

Reductive intellectualists (e.g., Stanley & Williamson 2001; Stanley 2011a; 2011b; Brogaard 2008; 2009; 2011) hold that knowledge-how is a kind of knowledge-that. If this thesis is correct, then we should expect the defeasibility conditions for knowledge-how and knowledge-that to be uniform—viz., that the mechanisms of epistemic defeat which undermine propositional knowledge will be equally capable of imperilling knowledge-how. The goal of this paper is twofold: first, against intellectualism, we will show that knowledge-how is in fact resilient to being undermined by (...) the very kinds of traditional (propositional) epistemic defeaters which clearly defeat the items of propositional knowledge which intellectualists identify with knowledge-how. Second, we aim to fill an important lacuna in the contemporary debate, which is to develop an alternative way in which epistemic defeat for knowledge-how could be modelled within an anti-intellectualist framework. (shrink)

The decision whether to have a realist or an anti-realist attitude towards scientific hypotheses is interpreted in this paper as a choice that scientists themselves have to face in their work as scientists, rather than as a ‘philosophical’ problem. Scientists’ choices between realism and instrumentalism (or other types of anti-realism) are interpreted in this paper with the help of two different conceptual tools: a deflationary semantics grounded in the inferentialist approach to linguistic practices developed by some authors (e.g., Sellars, Brandom), (...) and an epistemic utility function that tries to represent the cognitive preferences of scientists. The first tool is applied to two different questions traditionally related to the problem of scientific realism: the non-miracle argument, and the continuity of reference. The second one is applied to the problem of unconceived alternatives, and to the distinction between realist and instrumentalist attitudes towards scientific hypotheses. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to show to what extent Descartes can be situated within the Augustinian metaphysical tradition and to what extent he has departed from it. To this end, we will argue that Descartes has borrowed his main Meditations’ arguments from Augustine’s philosophy. However, in spite of all factual and textual evidence we will provide against the originality of Descartes’ metaphysical discussions, it will be stressed, on the other hand, that in borrowing not only the cogito (...) argument, but also some general features of his philosophy from Augustine’s works, Descartes intends to frame a metaphysics which will be the ground on his new mechanistic physics. Having this in mind, we will hold that no claim can be put forward against the originality and far-reaching scope of Descartes’ philosophical intentions. Indeed, Descartes’ purpose is to build a new science under a metaphysics, even though this metaphysics is the Augustianian one. (shrink)

Resumo A situação actual intelectual caracteriza-se pelo auge de uma neurofilosofia, baseada nos novos dados das neurociências, que tenta substituir os métodos tradicionais da filosofia pelo método das ciências naturais. A minha intenção é a de mostrar que a filosofia de Zubiri, que também está ligada às ciências naturais, constitui uma fecunda alternativa à neurofilosofia cientificista e reducionista, porque a sua análise está estreitamente ligada à neurobiologia, especialmente através das noções de formalidade e de formalização, que constituem a base de (...) uma nova concepção da inteligência e da realidade. Palavras-chave : cérebro, formalidade, formalização, impressão, inteligência, realidadeCurrent intellectual situation is characterized by the vigour of neurophilosophy, founded in the new data of neurosciences, which try to replace the traditional philosophical methods of philosophy by the method of natural sciences. My aim is to show that Zubiri’s philosophy, which is also connected with the natural sciences, is a successful alternative to the pseudoscientific and reducing neurophilosophy, because his analysis is intrinsically connected with neurobiology, especially through the concepts of formality and formalization, which are the basis for grounding a new conception of intelligence and reality. Keywords : brain, formality, formalization, impression, intelligence, reality. (shrink)

This article does a research into a theme that has not been studied specifically. This is curious, as the idea of philosophy is the most important one in Ortega y Gasset’s system. Here, it is considered concerning its specifity: the principles of pantonomy and autonomy his platitudinous nature and its integrating and critical functions. As it can be seen, Philosophy’s traditional characteristics. Ortega sets them out in a masterly way, reaching its hight literary brilliance when he praises Philosophy.

Ludwig Wittgenstein’s writings inspired contemporary philosophical thinking and advanced many issues that had been addressed by traditional philosophy. The questions raised by the Viennese philosopher initiated debates on a reconsideration of philosophical terminology. This is especially true for a term that has generated at least three significant controversies since its creation and will probably generate more disputes in the following years. It is the expression “form(s) of life” which translates into German as “Lebensform(en)” and “Form des Lebens”. The present volume (...) contains contributions on forms of life, language games and the influence of Wittgenstein’s philosophy on other scholars. (shrink)

Cuestiones referentes a la naturaleza de saber-cómo han sido a menudo olvidadas y desatendidas dentro de la epistemología contemporánea. Este artículo es un intento por recuperar parte de un debate que parece haber concluido con la tácita asunción de que saber-cómo es reducible a las versiones preposicionales del saber; para ello propone un diagnóstico sobre las cuestiones implicadas en el análisis epistémico del saber-cómo. El enfrentamiento entre "disposicionalistas" y "proposicionalistas" pasa a ser entendido como una disputa acerca de dos modos (...) diferentes de explicar la normatividad del conocimiento de las reglas. De manera general, saber-cómo consiste en captar aquellas reglas que explicarían el éxito al hacer algo. Finalmente, proporciono una crítica de las versiones reductivas tradicionales del saber-cómo a conocimiento de proposiciones y ofrezco una propuesta para aclarar la naturaleza de la "captación práctica" de reglas en términos de aquellas capacidades y competencias que son identificadas subjetivamente por un agente y guían prácticamente su conducta. /// Questions about the nature of knowing-how have often been disregarded in contemporary epistemology. It is easily assumed that know-how can be reduced to propositional accounts of knowledge. In this paper, I offer a diagnosis of the issues involved in the analysis of knowing-how. The confrontation between "dispositionalists" and "propositionalists" is considered as a dispute about different ways of explaining the normativity in the knowledge of rules. Knowing-how consists in grasping those rules that would explain the success in doing something. Finally, I provide a criticism of traditional reductive accounts of knowing-how to knowledge of propositions and advance a proposal to elucídate the nature of "practical grasping" of rules in terms of those capacities and competences that are subjectively identified by an agent and guide practically her performance. (shrink)

The essay, divided in two parts, examines the event of the running of the bulls (encierro in Spanish). The phenomenon of the encierro, a complex cultural activity of deep historical roots, demands to be understood: What drives people to risk injury or death at the horns of untamed bulls? How should we make sense of this, subjective and objectively? To answer these questions, I use a framework that relies on explanation and assessment of popular views on the way to arguing (...) for a philosophical alternative. This arrangement is readily adaptable to many other sporting (and non-sporting) activities where risk and/or mass participation are key factors. Its unorthodox format – organised around an opening narrative of a paradigmatic, skilled and lucky run with the bulls, as well as hors texte (direct appeals to the reader) – brings the reader straight into the fray, philosophical and otherwise. Part I begins by presenting the history of the encierro. It also explains the dynamics of the event, often via images with pedagogical and critical side-commentaries. It proceeds to introduce and critically engage with prevalent explanations, most with ethnological tendencies, that conceive the running as tradition, rite, ritual and sport. This part ends with a dilemma whereby we either try to explain matters by resorting to particular and partial interpretations, or a ‘democratic’ conglomerate of superficial and confusing boundaries, or in the end we simply concede our inability to understand the phenomenon of the running of the bulls in toto. This philosophical impasse will be evaded in part 2 (Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 2, 1) via existentialist and phenomenological analysis. (shrink)

This paper is an examination and evaluation of McDowell’s criticisms of Davidson’s views on conceptual schemes and empiricism. I will argue that McDowell does not understand the real nature of Davidson’s arguments against the scheme-content dualism and that his new empiricist proposal fails to solve all the problems that old empiricism has traditionally raised. This is so because Davidson does not try to reject only a certain conception of experience by rejecting the dualism of scheme and content, but a way (...) of thinking about meaning and knowledge that assumes a dualism that cannot be maintained. (shrink)

Se realiza un estudio de los principios básicos o tradicionales de la bioética y su influencia en la práctica de la limitación del esfuerzo terapéutico en las Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos, como condicionante que favorece su aplicación en los pacientes en estado terminal. Se aborda la necesidad de una bioética no importada de otros países, que se corresponda a las características de la realidad latinoamericana y a cada contexto sociocultural. El trabajo tiene como objetivo fundamental resaltar la importancia de estos (...) principios básicos en la discusión ético-clínica para la toma de decisiones, a partir de una bioética que se corresponda a la realidad de los sistemas imperantes. A study of basic or traditional principles of bioethics and its influence in the practice of the limits of the therapeutic effort in the intensive care units, as a requirement that favors its application in terminal ill patients was carried out. The need of having bioethics principles that match Latin-American reality and each sociocultural context, not imported ones from other countries, was stated. This paper main objective is to highlight the importance of these basic principles in ethic-clinic discussion for decision-making, taking as the starting point a bioethics that corresponds to the reality of the dominant system. (shrink)

The liar analyzes in detail the genealogy of the paradox expressed by Epimenides when he claimed that all Cretans were liars. As he himself was a native of Crete, this expression was paradoxical since he expressed a truth by lying. Epimenides showed that it is possible to construct perfectly correct sentences according to grammatical and semantic rules, but that they in turn express a contradiction insofar as it is true and false indistinctly. Since the beginning of Western thought, the liar's (...) paradox has been resolved from dissimilar points of view. The book will analyze the different proposals developed in order to deactivate their pernicious consequences for any theory of truth. Thus, Aristotle proposed that the liar should be considered a fallacy, so he attempted to dissolve the presumed validity of his argument through insightful distinctions around the secundum quid et simpliciter fallacy. Subsequently, solutions were tested within the framework of discursive, dialectical and hypothetical models. In the book those propositions that change their truth value over time are analyzed, those called in the metapiptonta tradition. In medieval times the liar was assumed to be insolubious. Special attention was given to the discussion around the transcasus. Kant approached the liar from the point of view of the white lies generated by the antinomies of reason. In modern times, special care was taken to translate the liar into new expressive forms in order to pose it from a merely formal point of view. For this reason the study of him focused on showing and describing his circular, self-referential and reflective character. This work emphasizes the study of the liar within the framework of occasional expressions. The self-reference of the liar's paradox is derived from referential expressions that result from the information expressed circumstantially within the framework of a surrounding context. For this reason we propose a systematic study of the occasional in order to dissolve the liar. Our proposal proposes to characterize the surrounding expressions that determine the liar's referential meaning. (shrink)

This paper deals with the so-called Cartesian ‘epistemological turn’. Taking the old term ‘idea’ to be the core of his metaphysics, Descartes deployed it in a new way. In fact, Descartes broke with the traditional Platonic-Augustian conception of ‘ideas’ as ontological beings. In his view, ideas are mental or psychological entities. Descartes advances this position in accordance with a revolutionary theory of perception and a new conception of mind, both outcomes of his denial of scholastic empiricism. What emerges from this (...) is a revival of the doctrine of innate ideas, which shapes the philosophical debates in the second half of the seventeenth-century and is responsible for the rise of epistemology or theory of knowledge as an autonomous discipline. (shrink)

This article tries to unravel some of the main clues provided by Ortega on his understanding of philosophy. The thesis we defend is that the Spanish philosopher maintains two slightly different answers concerning the question what is philosophy, though Ortega does not acknowledge them in the explicit narrative of his thinking. This, we believe, creates tensions in his late second philosophical model, as he does not fully break away from certain “adherence” or “mannerisms” associated to his early model. In this (...) respect, Ortega would be a thinker who lives between two philosophical worlds, someone who sees, narrates and interprets the philosophical shock wave occurring at his time, but does not quite let go of the old intellectual constructions. To support our thesis, we will compare two texts, his 1929 lectures What is Philosophy?, and his Notes on Thinking, from 1941. In the period between these two works, Ortega seems to move from a more “traditional,” “universalistic,” “transcendental,” in short, Husserlian phenomenological understanding of philosophy, to a more historicist, hermeneutical, and pragmatic one, which lays the emphasis on the plurality of discourses on the sense, the contingency of the philosophical narrative itself, and even the very possibility of its ending, at least in its more “metaphysical” and classical form. (shrink)

When the conquerors arrived in the Valley of Mexico, they were amazed at the creations of the culture inherited from the Toltec tradition. With the prurpose of acknowledging this culture, this paper points out that words such as truth, thinking, and doubt have a very different connotation in modern European philosophy, to the Anahuac culture, which flourished in the Valley of Mexico between the 9th and 16th centuries. This writing presents a comparison of the process to obtain true knowledge (...) according to the rationality of the Nahua world of the 16th century and three authors of European modernity: Descartes, Kant and Hegel. Modernity is found to present a dominant and egocentric subject with self-referential thinking. In the Nahua culture the ideal is the man with a "heart of stone" and a "wise face" who seeks what is true, what has roots, and expresses it through poetry, “the flower and the song”. (shrink)

Language is nothing but human subjects in as much as they speak, say and know. Language is something coming from the inside of the speaking subject manifest in the meaningful intentional purpose of the individual speaker. A language, on the contrary, is something coming from the outside, from the speech community, something offered to the speaking subject from the tradition in the technique of speaking. The speech act is nothing but the development of an intuition by the subject thus (...) transforming it in words of a language. It is both individual and social. Since human subjects are free and historical, the study of speech acts is hermeneutics, that is, interpreting speech acts with knowing and the human reality. (shrink)

Language is nothing but human subjects in as much as they speak, say and know. Language is something coming from the inside of the speaking subject manifest in the intentional meaningful purpose of the individual speaker. A language, on the contrary, is something coming from the outside, from the speech community, something offered to the speaking subject from the tradition in the technique of speaking. The speech act is the performance of an intuition by the subject, both individual and (...) social. (shrink)

Depuis les attentats du 11 mars 2004 de Madrid se sont imposées quelques questions qui, d’après notre appréhension continentale de la démocratie, exigent des réponses urgentes. Certaines questions n’ont pas encore été formulées par les intellectuels en Europe et en Espagne. Comment peut-on combattre contre le terrorisme dans une démocratie? Celui-ci est intentionnellement désigné sous le nom de tradition continentale européenne, en opposition à la tradition anglo-saxonne. Cette dernière a de nouveau formulé la question de Hobbes et dans (...) un cas douteux plaide pour la sécurité au détriment de la liberté. Les événements du 11 mars ont prouvé que la scène terroriste est financée par le trafic d’armes et de drogue. Les systèmes démocratiques dont la politique repose sur des mesures d’économie peuvent-ils contrôler le marché noir? Toutes ces questions se rapportent à la vieille question notoire des limites de la liberté. Comment définir la liberté dans une société qui doit se pourvoir d’armes pour lutter contre les actes terroristes arbitraires, contre toute forme de gouvernement autoritaire et contre les différents aspects du fanatisme? (shrink)

This article explores a literary tradition situated at the intersection of scientific reports, memoirs, and creative writing, termed “clinical narrative.” This genre offers a profound approach to the painful aspects of conscious experience, particularly the phenomenological states associated with mental illness and brain disease, seen as unsettling landscapes of phenomenal experience. Through case studies providing multifaceted viewpoints – first-person, second-person, and third-person perspectives – we argue that clinical narratives are valuable resources for a transepistemic study of consciousness. By examining (...) clinical conundrums such as somatic and nihilistic delusions, and anosognosia, we highlight the importance of detailed phenomenological, hermeneutic, and narrative accounts while acknowledging the significance of subpersonal, mechanistic models from cognitive and affective neuroscience. The tradition embodies the tension between the diverse perspectives in the field of mental health, including stories that directly challenge the medical discourse. However, the narrative arts can act as mediators or even peacemakers, by fostering an understanding between the opposing views. Stories are open to multiple interpretations, preserving the diversity of discourses on human meaning and avoiding the imposition of monolithic versions of our humanness. (shrink)

The hermeneutical key to reading and interpreting the Gospel of Mark is the role which the Evangelist has given to the passion of Jesus as the primary perspective for understanding all the other traditions about Jesus incorporated in the Gospel.

The book State of Affairs reconstructs the controversy over Sachverhalt in the German and Austria tradition. The author offers an overview of the different proposals made regarding the meaning of “Sachverhalt”. The aim is to present various approaches and show different perspectives and methods in studying its meaning. Each of these proposals provides a new definition of the concept. The main theme of these pages it to reproduce the debate about a concept that, finally, has come to be used (...) efficiently in the legal field. The discussion reveals numerous aspects by which philosophy has contributed to this development. (shrink)

La idea de que la fenomenología de Husserl representa una suerte de filosofía reflexiva, basada en una metodología que desarrolla la tradición cartesiana, se ha convertido en una creencia ampliamente difundida en la literatura filosófica. Este énfasis puesto por Husserl en la reflexión fue arduamente criticado por Heidegger. Desde entonces resulta frecuente encontrarse con la afirmación de que Husserl y Heidegger desarrollan dos conceptos de fe-nomenología diferentes, incluso antagónicos. No se trata de seguir alimentando esta discusión historiográfica. Aquí, por una (...) parte, se muestra el núcleo de la temprana crítica heideggeriana en el transcurso de sus primeras lecciones de Friburgo y Marburgo y, por otra, se sopesan algunas de las observaciones críticas de Heidegger a Husserl a la luz de evidencias textuales de la fenomenología husserliana, ignoradas no sólo por Heidegger, sino también por un sorprendente número de reconocidos especialistas en el campo de la filosofía, de las ciencias cognitivas y de la filosofía de la mente.The idea that Husserl’s phenomenology is a kind of reflective philosophy inspired by the Cartesian tradition has become a common-place in the philosophical literature. Heidegger was one of the first thinkers who criticized the Husserlian emphasis on reflection. Since then it is easy to find the affirmation that Husserl and Heidegger developed two different, even antagonistic concepts of phenomenology. Here is not the place to continue embracing this discussion. One the one hand, the present article shows Heidegger’s early criticism developed in the course of his first lectures in Freiburg and Marburg. On the other hand, it weighs up some of Heidegger’s critical remarks regarding the reflective nature of Husserlian phenomenology in the light of important textual evidences ignored not only by Heidegger, but also by a surprising number of specialists in the fields of philosophy, cognitive sciences, and philosophy of mind. (shrink)

The primary goal of the present research was to determine the order of swimmers on a mixed relay team that would ensure the best performance in the Fédération Internationale de Natation World Championships held in Kazan, Budapest, and Gwangju. The data were obtained from database websites for the 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 100 m medley official results,1 including 660 records from 188 entries of finals and 472 preliminary events. The results showed that the fastest swimmers were (...) located primarily in the first or second positions of the freestyle relay. The most successful gender strategy for the 4 × 100 m freestyle and for the 4 × 100 m medley relays was the order male-male-female-female, although no statistical differences were found for the medley relays. In the 4 × 100 m freestyle, the second and third relay legs had a statistical effect on the total relay time, whereas in the 4 × 100 m medley, all four relay legs had a statistical effect on the final performance, the weight of the four strokes being different in heats with respect to the final round. Also, a later position of the first female swimmer or the consecutive position of two female swimmers in the team order significantly affected the relay performance in specific events. Mixed relay events appeared to present specific strategies in comparison to traditional male- or female-only relay lineups. (shrink)