Morphospaces are theoretical tools to explore the morphological organization of living and fossil organisms. They have been used mostly by the paleontological community in an effort to get the most out of one of the only pieces of evidence that fossil material usually provide: the morphology of hard parts. The expectation with the establishment of theoretical morphospaces is that, by abstracting and modeling the fundamental parts of form, the multiple processes that generate the phenotypes of embryonic and adult structures will (...) be better understood. In this essay, we suggest that ontogenetic trajectories can be used as the generative functions that build morphospaces, and propose approaches to build theoretical models for the establishment of left–right asymmetries during vertebrate heart embryogenesis. BioEssays 26:405–412, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

All cells have electric potentials across their membranes, but is there really compelling evidence to think that such potentials are used as instructional cues in developmental biology? Numerous reports indicate that, in fact, steady, weak bioelectric fields are observed throughout biology and function during diverse biological processes, including development. Bioelectric fields, generated upon amputation, are also likely to play a key role during vertebrate regeneration by providing the instructive cues needed to direct migrating cells to form a wound epithelium, a (...) structure unique to regenerating animals. However, mechanistic insight is still sorely lacking in the field. What are the genes required for bioelectric‐dependent cell migration during regeneration? The power of genetics combined with the use of zebrafish offers the best opportunity for unbiased identification of the molecular players in bioelectricity. BioEssays 29:1133–1137, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, EarlyView.

The literature on mathematical explanation contains numerous examples of explanatory, and not so explanatory proofs. In this paper we report results of an empirical study aimed at investigating mathematicians’ notion of explanatoriness, and its relationship to accounts of mathematical explanation. Using a Comparative Judgement approach, we asked 38 mathematicians to assess the explanatory value of several proofs of the same proposition. We found an extremely high level of agreement among mathematicians, and some inconsistencies between their assessments and claims in the (...) literature regarding the explanatoriness of certain types of proofs. (shrink)

Thomas Bonk has dedicated a book to analyzing the thesis of underdetermination of scientific theories, with a chapter exclusively devoted to the analysis of the relation between this idea and the indeterminacy of meaning. Both theses caused a revolution in the philosophic world in the sixties, generating a cascade of articles and doctoral theses. Agitation seems to have cooled down, but the point is still debated and it may be experiencing a renewed resurgence.

A 68-year-old patient who suffered from gastric cancer diagnosed 8 months earlier presented with multiple peritoneal and hepatic metastasis, despite several rounds of chemo- and radiotherapy. After admission to hospital, his general condition quickly became severely compromised. He was nearly emaciated, despite being on partial parenteral feeding. Four years earlier, due to a cardiac arrhythmia that was refractory to medication, the patient had a cardiac pacemaker implanted, regulated to go off at frequencies of below 70 beats per minute. Given the (...) patient's terminal situation, the team started developing some doubts about the pacemaker's effects during his dying process. The patient had mentioned his intention to donate his pacemaker after his death, but had not asked for its deactivation. The specialists were not sure about the effect of the pacemaker in unnecessarily prolonging the patient's final hour. Nevertheless, they opposed deactivation, which they considered ethically uncertain. The family, who had been initially for the deactivation, decided against it. The patient's condition was progressively deteriorating, as he was falling into a state of sopor and, later, into a coma. (shrink)

In this paper it is performed a historical account of the theoretical roots that grounded the following four key basic ideas of chemical equilibrium: ‘incomplete reaction’, ‘reversibility’, ‘equilibrium constant’ and ‘molecular dynamics’. These notions developed in nineteenth-century as a consequence of the evolution of the concept of chemical affinity. The discussion begins with the presentation of the earliest affinity table [‘Table des rapports’] published in 1718 by Geoffroy. Afterwards, it is examined Bergman’s compilation. The theory supporting this arrangement assumed that (...) chemical displacement reactions were complete and could not be reversed. It is analysed how Berthollet’s model showed the inadequacy of this view. His new conceptual considerations established that the amount of the substances involved in a reaction was an essential factor determining its direction, which accounted for the early concepts of incomplete reaction and reversibility. Guldberg and Waage specified the role of mass in chemical equilibrium reactions as they considered the concentrations of the chemicals involved, formulating the first chemical equilibrium mathematical equation that approximates what is called nowadays chemical equilibrium constant. Finally, it is presented how Pfaundler was the first to consider the kinetic theory in the interpretation of the macroscopic properties of equilibrium reactions. (shrink)

Based on a condensed historical overview of management as an artifact, the article argues that management is still suffused by an implicit paradigm of value extraction that is ideologically and culturally tinted and that we need to find a new foothold in theory and practice, a more universally valid approach with an encompassing awareness of societal well-being and long-term impact. The radically new approach proposed is based on free energy minimization, a concept from computational neuroscience, as a universally valid principle (...) derived from the biological imperative to survive that holds true for individuals and social systems alike. In order to reduce harmful free energy from entropy and stochastic adversity, an amplified way of perceiving and being aware of reality is required that needs to be cultivated. This is achieved through the guiding principle of Minding, an ongoing process of inner and outer awareness and caring consideration of oneself, others and the world around us, routed in a comprehensive consciousness including awareness of Body sensations, Emotions, Thoughts and Action impulses (BETA). This comprehensive, strategic awareness is proposed as a unifying, contextual framework for individual and collective well-being rather than a categorical imperative, and therefore may, when and where indispensable, include value extraction and value maximization if required for the overall objective of shared, long-term flourishing. The article also presents examples of implementation of the proposed approach for both individuals and organizations and briefly introduces MBSAT-Mindfulness-based Strategic Awareness Training, a training protocol designed specifically to enhance the competence of Minding, the guiding principle. (shrink)

En este artículo se pretende poner de manifiesto las restricciones impuestas por el Estado español a la libertad de movimiento. Una vez descritas estas restricciones en las tres primeras olas de la pandemia de la Covid-19, se reflexiona sobre los posibles excesos del gobierno aumentando su control sobre una ciudadanía preocupada y con temor hacia la pandemia. Sin embargo, existe una consecuencia inesperada en las actitudes políticas de las personas: una reducción de las preferencias hacia la democracia, a favor del (...) autoritarismo. (shrink)

El presente trabajo se enfoca en el abordaje que realiza Foucault de la tragedia Edipo Rey de Sófocles. Mi objetivo es rastrear algunas diferencias entre el análisis que el autor realiza en sus trabajos de los años 70 y el que se encuentra en sus últimos cursos. En esta última etapa, aparece una interpretación que ya no se limita a la descripción genealógica de un modo de ejercer el poder, sino que muestra las implicancias transformadoras de este reconocimiento. A través (...) de esta torsión se hace explicita la dimensión ética del rastreo genealógico, una cuestión que se expresa en un posicionamiento más claro que distingue a la verdad del saber jurídico-discursivo. Este enfoque también revela las diversas posibilidades de desestabilización, cambio y constitución a la altura de este reconocimiento. (shrink)

En este artículo analizamos la crítica que Richard Rorty hace de la apelación al “método experimental” por parte de John Dewey. Defendemos que la categórica desestimación que Rorty presenta del vínculo entre el pragmatismo de Dewey y su concepción de método hubiera sido o bien matizada, o bien radicalmente diferente, de haber considerado seriamente la importancia que la reflexión sobre la educación tenía para el filósofo de Vermont. Nuestra estrategia interpretativa se apoya en la recuperación que Henry Cowles hace recientemente (...) de la apelación al método experimental que Dewey lleva a cabo en How We Think —uno de sus textos educativos más importantes—, en donde se muestra las vinculaciones relevantes entre pragmatismo, evolucionismo y método. Este marco histórico-conceptual nos permitirá cuestionar la reconstrucción de Rorty en torno de este aspecto de la filosofía deweyana tomando en cuenta, fundamentalmente, sus propias reflexiones sobre educación. (shrink)

The article focuses on some discursive defects that influence on decision-making around issues of science and technology (technoscience). Particularly, the nature and use of the linguistic phenomenon known as bullshit are analysed, and the results of this analysis are placed into the general context of the controversy about climate change. The conclusion emphasizes the relevance of avoiding confusions and humbug in the information available to the public and linked to decisions in the realm of science policy or regulation.

Resumen: El problema del mal sigue inquietando la conciencia humana, lo que hace indispensable revisar las fuentes de nuestro entendimiento de esa terrible dificultad. Agustí­n de Hipona suele ser considerado el primer filósofo en encarar este problema desde una perspectiva sistemática. Sin embargo, la solución privacionista que presentó, siguiendo directrices neoplatónicas, es considerada como un artefacto más teológico que filosófico. La solución agustiniana, de enorme influencia en la historia de la filosofí­a, ha sido acusada de ser una concepción metafí­sica y (...) falta de claridad, de suerte que no contribuye a aclarar el origen y naturaleza del mal. En este ensayo presentará las lí­neas generales de la solución agustiniana y mostrará su solidez conceptual y su importancia en la solución del problema del mal.: Augustine of Hippo is usually regarded as the first philosopher to affront this problem from a systematic point of view. Nonetheless, the privationist solution he offered, forged in neoplatonic terms, is considered a theological, rather than a philosophical, device. Despite its enormous influence, Augustinian solution has been accused of being both metaphysical and misleading, because it cannot provide an adequate approach the origin and nature of evil. This essay intends to expose the main lines of the Augustinian solution, its internal steadiness and import as solution to the problem of evil. (shrink)

¿Es el Antropoceno una nueva época geológica? La discusión está abierta científica y profesionalmente, lo que acentúa aún más la cuestión de su alcance cultural -teórico y práctico- difícilmente asumible bajo un único concepto que reúna todas las ramificaciones de dicha denominación. Este trabajo intenta proporcionar, desde un punto de vista filosófico, un campo semántico para «Antropoceno» que ayude a ordenar y comprender la vastísima literatura existente al día de hoy.

En este trabajo presentamos una revision de la definición cuántica del elcetrón en relación con el principio de incertidumbre de Werner Heisenberg.In this paper we present a revision of the electron’s quantum definition in relation to the so called uncerrainty principle by Wenrer Heisenberg.

This dissertation studies modern European philosophy's reflection the historical appearance of the human sciences, under the spell of either positivist ideology or historicism, while also making their scientific character a philosophical issue. The work thus hopes to situate the human sciences in an historical context out of which they become unintelligible: the philosophical reflection that, throughout late modernity, has registered their progressive appearance as disciplines of an uncertain and often questioned degree of scientificity. In this way, it challenges a standard (...) practice of 20th c. philosophy of science---to start with the tradition inherited from logical positivism, as though the genre began ex-nihilo around the time, or with, Popper's Logik der Forschung. ;The historical itinerary reconstructed begins with the antinomy nature/freedom in modern philosophy, particularly as it appears in the Kantian corpus. This is followed by an analysis of the dissolution of system philosophy against the background of the movements that constitute the historical matrix of the human sciences: positivism and historicism. Then the work considers the "return to Kant" in Dilthey and the neo-Kantians, which is a conscious attempt to reenact philosophical theories that may serve as scientific meta-language. Finally, the dissertation traces the reception of this Fragestellung in the phenomenologies of Husserl and Heidegger, particularly in the latter's turn from a destruction of metaphysics to a critique of science and technology. ;At the same time, the historical appearance of the sciences of man is considered together with the crisis of philosophy as epistemology or general theory of knowledge. This is done without disregard to the irreversible character of the epochal differend between science and philosophy, evidenced by the crisis of epistemology as scientific meta-language and the rise of an autonomous self-reflection of sciences that constitutes their own "philosophy of science." Thus the work's conclusion attempts to find the epistemological site of a reflection on man that may go beyond the empirical in the discursive space that opens up between natural science and the retreat of philosophy as theory of knowledge. (shrink)

Two truisms about empirical justification are that experience plays a crucial role in it and that it is defeasible. There are, of course, different ways of developing these truisms into philosophical theories. I favor one particular view about the role of experience in empirical justification which may be thought to lead to problems in accommodating its defeasibility. My aim in this paper is to argue that the problems are illusory, based on an entrenched misconception how defeaters work.

Resumen: Una de las nociones más controvertidas dentro de las interpretaciones contemporáneas de la Crítica de la facultad de juzgar, es la de “sentido común”. Junto a éste, Kant propuso un nuevo modelo de validez normativa calificada como “ejemplar”, cuyo planteamiento resulta bastante problemático. El presente artículo propone una lectura y una interpretación de este tipo de validez, a partir de la reactualización realizada por Alessandro Ferrara, y desde el horizonte de la tradición retórica, representada por Aristóteles Con ello se (...) espera un mejor entendimiento del problema en cuestión, y al mismo tiempo, se pretende hacer mucho más comprensibles las posibilidades que Alessandro Ferrara le atribuye a esta forma de la normatividad.: One of the most controversial notions in contemporary interpretations of the Critique of judgment is that of common sense. Along with it, Kant proposed a new model of normative validity called exemplary, whose approach is quite problematic. This article proposes a reading and an interpretation of this type of validity, based on the reinterpretation carried out by Alessandro Ferrara and from the point of view of the rhetorical tradition as represented by Aristotle. It intends to achieve an improved understanding of the problem in question and, at the same time, to make much more understandable the possibilities that Alessandro Ferrara attributes to this form of normativity. (shrink)

This article aims to present a Free Dialogic Logic [FDL] as a general framework for hypothesis generation in the practice of modelling in science. Our proposal is based on the idea that the inferential function that models fulfil during the modelling process (surrogate reasoning) should be carried out without ontological commitments. The starting point to achieve our objective is that the scientific consideration of models without a target is a symptom that, on the one hand, the Applicability of Logic should (...) be considered among the conditions of adequacy that should take into account all modeling process and, on the other, that the inferential apparatus at the base of the surrogate reasoning process must be rid of realistic assumptions that lead to erroneous conclusions. In this sense, we propose as an alternative an ontologically neutral inferential system in the perspective of dialogical pragmatism. (shrink)

In this paper we study the interpretation of Iacobi Zabarellae on the agent intellect. He argues that the agent intellect different from the potential intelect, to whom activates and lights it directly without mediation; He sais also that do not abstracts in us, that in it coincides his being with his operation, and that is God. It is, therefore, an Averroism combined with Platonic, Augustinians and Thomists elements.

Este articulo revisa las tesis de los pensadores árabes Avicena y Averroes referentes a la teoría del conocimiento, en especial a su punto culminar, el entendimiento agente. Se añade la revisión crítica de Leonardo Polo a tales propuestas. El quid de la crítica poliana reside en que, frente al axioma de que el conocer es acto en cualquier nivel, tales pensadores mantienen la pasividad del conocer humano. Se concluye que esas interpretaciones son despersonalizantes, y se esboza la solución de sus (...) aporías. (shrink)

Which is the best icon of philosophical activity? The Spanish philosopher Garcia Morente analyses three sculptures: Le penseur by Rodin, Il pensieroso by Michelangelo and a sculpture known as El Doncel de Siguenza, in the cathedral of this Castilian town. Morente asserts that the latest reflects better than anyone else the nature of philosophy. In this paper the Morente’s view is rejected and another two ways of representing the philosophical activity are suggested: two ancient paintings that represent more properly the (...) philosophical labour, understood as an unending Socratic dialogue. (shrink)

The paper critically examines Bobbio's famous disctinction between legal positivism as a method, a theory and an ideology. The author first highlights certain problems of the distinction itself and then focuses on Bobbio's self-determined position within it. Delving on Bobbio's analysis of the concepts of basic norm and rule of recognition, he demonstrates how Bobbio's later rejection of these two concepts implies acceptance of positivistic legal theory and ideology – despite the fact that he explicitly rejected them in the first (...) place. The reason for this Bobbio's slip is found in his absorbtion in the positivist legal culture which is permeated with the internal point of view on the law. The author suggests rejecting Bobbio's tripartite disctinction of legal positivism and proposes instead to view this as a set of seldom indvisible standpoints forming a specific legal culture. (shrink)

One of the reasons for Carnap’s (1922) analysis of space was the confounding status of many arguments around the state of the art on that topic at that time. The unsatisfactory views supplied by mathematicians, physicists and philosophers led Carnap to propose a new conception of space. His proposal, which employs the notion of intuition as a fundamental tool, fared better, but clashed with his conventionalists intentions derived from an allegedly tolerant attitude. The notion of intuition here examined allows us (...) to claim that Carnap’s target was also an objectivist epistemological program dependent on certain realistic reminiscences embodied in the notion of evidence or matter of fact (Tatbestand). (shrink)

IntroductionThe 2019–2020 pandemic COVID-19 has become a global health crisis. While many recent studies on COVID-19 pandemic have focused on disease epidemiology and psychological status of patients, few have explored the multi-facet influential factors or combined perspectives from both the patients and healthcare workers. The purposes of this study were to: analyze the influencing factors of psychological distress of COVID-19 patients; and describe the experience of healthcare workers relieving psychological distress.Materials and MethodsThis study uses a mixed-method cross-sectional design, including a (...) quantitative study and a qualitative study, targeting two populations: COVID-19 patient and health workers, respectively. In the quantitative part, we recruited a convenience sample of patients with COVID-19 from five hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei Province from 10 to 15 April, 2020. Besides, we collected data by using participants’ socio-demographic information sheet, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, the Herth Hope Index, the Distress Thermometer, the Revised Chinese Version of Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, and the Chinese Version of Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale. In the qualitative part, the participants were healthcare workers involved in medical aid missions in Hubei Province, China. Meanwhile, we used sampling with convenient and purposive, data collection with a semi-structured online video interview, and text transcription with Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.ResultsThe results reveal that 25.7% of patients reported higher level of psychological distress. After controlling the sociodemographic variables, only severity of COVID-19 and uncertainty in illness shown significant effect on psychological distress in the regression model. The experience of healthcare workers emerged five themes: Particularly needed psychological care, Manifestation of negative emotion, Manifestation of proactive adaptation, Strategies relieving psychological distress, and gains of healthcare workers after delivering effective psychological care.ConclusionThe 25.7% of patients with COVID-19 still suffered from psychological distress, which should receive timely attention from healthcare workers. And the severity of the disease and disease uncertainty have a significant impact on distress. It is critical to train the healthcare workers on detecting the different manifestation of psychological distress, offering timely disease related information, and applying communication strategies. (shrink)