In order to clarify the relationship between morality and law, it is necessary to define both concepts precisely. Cultural realities refer to concepts which are more specifically defined if we focus towards the genealogy of those realities, that is to say, their motivation, function and aim. Should we start from legal anthropology, comparative law and history of law, law arises as a social technique which coactively imposes ways of solving conflicts, protecting fundamental values for a society's co-existence. Values subject to (...) being protected are proposed by morality, the latter making subordination of law to morality inevitable. This explains that a great number of modern constitutions include a reference to fundamental moral values, that is to say, they have explicitly positivised moral contents. Legal reasoning, at all levels and expressions, needs to appeal to the aforementioned values. Constitutional reasoning, international law, legislative activity and judicial practice are studied to verify the latter. This subordination of law to morality sets out a serious problem: moralities are cultural realities which are only valid for a specific society. In order for law not to fall in a not very rational legal relativism, law should not be subordinated to morality, but to ethics, the latter understood as cross-cultural morality. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a step forward in this sense. (shrink)

In the Reality we know, we cannot say if something is infinite whether we are doing Physics, Biology, Sociology or Economics. This means we have to be careful using this concept. Infinite structures do not exist in the physical world as far as we know. So what do mathematicians mean when they assert the existence of ω? There is no universally accepted philosophy of mathematics but the most common belief is that mathematics touches on another worldly absolute truth. Many mathematicians (...) believe that mathematics involves a special perception of an idealized world of absolute truth. This comes in part from the recognition that our knowledge of the physical world is imperfect and falls short of what we can apprehend with mathematical thinking. The objective of this paper is to present an epistemological rather than an historical vision of the mathematical concept of infinity that examines the dialectic between the actual and potential infinity. (shrink)

Lovers typically entertain two sorts of thoughts about their beloveds. On the one hand, they think that some qualities of their beloveds provide reasons for loving them. Romeo would say that he loves Juliet in virtue of the way she is. On the other hand, they regard their beloveds as irreplaceable. Romeo would never be willing to exchange Juliet with another maiden. Yet it may be asked how these two sorts of thoughts can coherently coexist. If some qualities of Juliet (...) justify Romeo’s love for her, shouldn’t another maiden with the same qualities be equally lovable for him? This paper draws some distinctions that we take to be crucial to the understanding of reasons for love. Its aim is to show that, even though the claim that beloveds as irreplaceable is plausible to some extent, there is at least one interesting sense in which lovers are replaceable. (shrink)

The study of these fundamental questions, which were in part already addressed in a first monographic section dedicated to Ḥasdai Crescas in the last issue of this journal, is expanded in its perspective and scope by the articles contained in this second dossier.

Santo Antônio de Lisboa, na qualidade de pregador, deixou um legado de sermões, nos quais encontra-se toda uma visão de vida cristã. A obra não pode ser qualificada como pertencente a um filósofo, tal como se deu este nome a outros seus contemporâneos, mas possui denso conteúdo teórico, como, por exemplo, no que se refere à dimensão ética do conceito de justiça.

This book clarifies the meaning of the most important and pervasive concepts and tools in bioethical argumentation and assesses the methodological suitability of the main methods for clinical decision-making and argumentation. The first part of the book is devoted to the most developed or promising approaches regarding bioethical argumentation, namely those based on principles, values and human rights. The authors then continue to deal with the contributions and shortcomings of these approaches and suggest further developments by means of substantive and (...) procedural elements and concepts from practical philosophy, normative systems theory, theory of action, human rights and legal argumentation. Furthermore, new models of biomedical and health care decision-making, which overcome the aforementioned criticism and stress the relevance of the argumentative responsibility, are included. (shrink)

Este artículo analiza la relación entre individuo y sociedad en Theodor W. Adorno. Para ello se centra en las tensiones y mediaciones entre teoría de la sociedad y psicoanálisis. Su punto de partida es el horizonte histórico concreto del vínculo que une a ambos: la conjunción de crisis e integración. Después presenta la constitución social de la subjetividad desde la perspectiva de teoría crítica, la economía psíquico-libidinal como matriz psicosocial de dicha constitución, la tesis de la debilitación del individuo en (...) un capitalismo monopolista autoritario, su expresión en el carácter autoritario y el narcisismo herido, para acabar señalando los límites históricos del sujeto neurótico y modelo edípico y los elementos de una posible actualización de las aportaciones de una psicología social psicoanalítica. (shrink)

Eschatological beliefs have matured alongside both biblical composition and Christian history. This evolution can be traced using cultural evolutionary studies. The process reflects attempts to adapt to new conditions and challenges—sometimes giving place to more focused views, but also sometimes to failures and dysfunctional forms or fruitless variations. It becomes a theological duty to assess this evolution better. The key element is the reception of these eschatological beliefs, to discern what expressions of them are more helpful in encouraging Christian fidelity, (...) coping with distress, and engaging with individual and societal challenges. In this article, we outline a research programme that links eschatology to anthropology, and that tries to analyse beliefs according to state‐of‐the‐art methods, such as evolutionary cultural studies and research on the believing process. We also contribute a case study based on the concept of hell to test the proposed approach. (shrink)

Marsilio de Pádua e Guilherme de Ockham viveram seus últimos anos na corte de Luís da Baviera. Ambos opuseram-se aos papas da época. Entretanto, a posição deles a respeito do primado do sumo pontífice não é idêntica. Enquanto Marsílio a nega quase totalmente, Ockham observa que se trata de um problema de cunho teológico e critica os argumentos de Marsílio.

Resumen: El presente trabajo se centra en los presupuestos hermenéuticos de los que parte la teoría comunicacional del derecho de Gregorio Robles, como doctrina que muestra una vía de superación de la dicotomía entre filosofía analítica y hermenéutica con la finalidad de hacer más claro el lenguaje de los juristas. Para ello, se analizan cuatro de las obras del autor, desde un punto de vista descriptivo y crítico, que presentan una mayor impronta hermenéutica como son Introducción a la Teoría del (...) Derecho, El Derecho como texto, Teoría del Derecho y Comunicación, lenguaje y derecho, para abordar el contexto en el que se mueve, sus influencias, la plausibilidad de la propia teoría dentro del marco analítico-hermenéutico, y el análisis descriptivo y crítico del manejo de determinados conceptos del debate hermenéutico en la teoría comunicacional del derecho. Abstract: The present paper focuses on the hermeneutical assumptions of Gregorio Robles’s communicational theory of law, as doctrine that shows a way of overcoming the dichotomy between analytical philosophy and hermeneutics in order to clarify the language of jurists. For that purpose, it analyzes four of the author’s works from a descriptive and critical point of view that present a greater hermeneutical influence such as Introduction to Legal Theory, Law as Text, Legal Theory and Communication, Language and Law, to tackle the context of the author, his influences, the plausibility of the theory itself within the analytical and hermeneutical framework, and the descriptive and critical analysis of the use of certain concepts of the hermeneutical debate in the communicational theory of law. (shrink)

Desde su primera juventud, inquietó a José Antonio Maravall la pregunta acerca de quién hace la Historia y hasta qué punto ésta determina nuestra vida. Este ensayo, donde aborda el tema con profusión, lo escribió durante los cuatro años siguientes a su regreso de París en 1954. En el lustro que estuvo allí al frente del Colegio de España, el trato asiduo con varios de los historiadores que entonces dominaban la escena internacional, abrió sus horizontes de respuesta a la (...) pregunta apuntada, respuesta que es, a la vez, un mentís a los determinismos históricos de la Europa de preguerra, y una cortapisa a las utopías del liberalismo individualista. En la Teoría del saber histórico se abordan también los problemas epistemológicos y metodológicos del momento, con la preocupación por la introducción de conceptos y categorías tomadas de las ciencias sociales, y la apertura a nuevos campos de investigación. Pionera en su terreno, y durante tiempo ejemplar único, la obra gozó de gran respeto y mucha influencia. (shrink)

Under the influence of naturalistic approaches, contemporary philosophy of science tends to characterize scientific objectivity not by virtue of the individualistic following of rules or satisfying epistemic utilities, but as a property arising from the organisational features of groups. This paper presents a critical review of one such proposal, that of Helen Longino, probing some of its main features against the debate between Pasteur and Pouchet in mid-nineteenth-century France regarding the spontaneous generation of life. After considering some weaknesses and strengths, (...) it is argued that Longino’s social epistemology is only able to generate normativity by implicitly assuming a classic procedural notion of epistemic acceptability. The paper also aims to use this historical case to shed light on the complex, multidimensional nature of the dynamics of actual science, arguing both against purely epistemic and exclusively social approaches in a satisfactory meta-scientific explanation of controversies. (shrink)

The result of a deep research work sustained for more than two decades, this book studies the construction of social knowledge from a constructivist perspective inherited from Piagetian thought. It thus advances in a process of revision and discussion, while maintaining crucial aspects of this current for the approach to the construction of the subject and the object of knowledge, in the search for the elaboration of an explanatory theory for the formation of new knowledge. A collaborative proposal between different (...) disciplines of potential interest for the different actors who study and intervene in this field. (shrink)

The use of energy supplies for economic activities is a major global concern due to its environmental impact. Mitigating this problem involves the adoption of clean energies, so it is not trivial to assess those that can fit into this category, particularly the part corresponding to electrical energy. While the consumption of the latter is often perceived as more environmentally friendly than other sources, its production process raises significant questions, hence the core motivation to evaluate the behavior of the main (...) inputs for electrical energy production over 50 years and its correlation with the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP), confirming a prominent dependence on fossil fuels, a situation that seems to differ from the expectations set forth through the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Conference of the Parties. On the other hand, even though the production of electrical energy is consistent with the behavior of the world GDP, it shows heterogeneous annual percentage changes. (shrink)

El presente estudio establece cómo los elementos iranios que estructuraban la realidad: el ganado, la tierra, el fuego, los metales, el agua, la vegetación y el hombre, trascendidos a realidades espirituales mediadoras entre la divinidad y la humanidad, son asumidos en la tradición bíblica desde el Antiguo Testamento hasta el libro del Apocalisis como personalidades angélicas. Como realidades que motivan la experiencia de lo sagrado perdura este fondo espiritual en pensadores próximos en el tiempo como Rilke, Flechner, D’Ors, Petersen, o (...) Corbin. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es valorar el reciente proyecto de Jeriy Fodor consistente en combinar una semántica informacional para el lenguaje del pensamiento y una teoría computacional de los procesos mentales. Examinamos, en primer lugar, una noción central en la obra de Fodor: la noción de "mecanismo". Defendemos entonces que, al menos para los llamados "casos-Frege", la propuesta de Fodor en The Blm and tite Expert (1994) no es satisfactoria.

A relação capital-trabalho é cada vez mais complexa. Da fábrica hierarquizada ao sistema de produção pulverizado, tecnológico e digital, a concentração do poder econômico produz uma grave externalidade negativa: a descentralização do trabalho e do seu valor social. A concentração do capital cada vez mais descarta o trabalhador em sua condição humana e de cidadania. A partir do tema do Colóquio Habermas é possível identificar o enfraquecimento do Estado como promotor e garantidor de direitos fundamentais dos trabalhadores, afetando a adesão (...) sindical como forma de lealdade da classe trabalhadora, ou em outras palavras a consciência de classe ou de solidariedade entre os trabalhadores. Por conseguinte, sindicatos enfraquecidos operam com déficit de legitimidade e de representatividade, tal como se dá com a estrutura do sindicato único por categoria profissional. Nesse contexto, refletimos sobre os efeitos dessa relação complexa e tensa, no momento de reconstrução ou de restauração da ordem democrática participativa e deliberativa, objetivando o não retrocesso social dos trabalhadores. Ancoramos o estudo na Constituição Federal, em princípios do Direito do Trabalho, em reflexões habermasianas sobre o tema. Situamos nossa pesquisa a partir de 2017, quando se deu a Reforma Trabalhista. Com essa abordagem, propomos um diálogo para além do direito positivado, uma vez que o valor social do trabalho e da livre iniciativa do empresário atravessam várias estruturas sociais que disputam espaço junto aos vários segmentos do Estado brasileiro. (shrink)

La interpretación evolutiva y unitaria que hace Gadamer de los escritos de Platón supone en sus fundamentos una comprensión bastante particular sobre la ‘estructura pregunta-respuesta' característica de los diálogos platónicos. Este trabajo intenta mostrar la radicalidad del planteamiento gadamereano de la dialéctica platónica, así como la conexión esencial entre esta estructura y el fenómeno central de la hermenéutica, a saber, el fenómeno de la comprensión. De esta manera, ambos elementos se presentarán bajo una mutua dependencia, en cuanto que la filosofía (...) hermenéutica se reconoce reflexivamente a sí misma en la ejecución del diálogo platónico. Gadamer's evolutionary and unitary interpretation of Plato's writings assumes a rather particular understanding of the ‘question-and-answer form' . This work intends to show the radicalism of Gadamer's views about the Platonic dialectic, as well as the essential connection between that structure and the central phenomenon of hermeneutics, i.e. the phenomenon of comprehending . In this way, both elements are shown to depend on each other, as Hermeneutic philosophy recognizes itself through the realization of the Platonic dialogue. (shrink)