In this papper, we will do a travel to the history about Movimiento 19 de Abril, a Colombian guerrilla, and one of their units: the Batallón América. This army was conformed for four groups: M-19 and Movimiento Armado Quintín Lame, Alfaro Vive Carajo, and Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru. This battalion was a perfect example about the relation of M-19 with national and international guerrillas, and the Socialist International. Across this paper, we will show a primal idea about the (...) internationalism in the Latin American guerrillas, its effects in the posterior history from these guerrillas, the important paper from the Batallón América in their strategy about the cooperation between guerrillas in Colombia and the creation of a transnational revolutionary army in the Latin American continent. (shrink)

Conceptual engineering means to provide a method to assess and improve our concepts working as cognitive devices. But conceptual engineering still lacks an account of what concepts are (as cognitive devices) and of what engineering is (in the case of cognition). And without such prior understanding of its subject matter, or so it is claimed here, conceptual engineering is bound to remain useless, merely operating as a piecemeal approach, with no overall grip on its target domain. The purpose of this (...) programmatic paper is to overcome this knowledge gap by providing some guidelines for developing the theories of concepts and of cognition that will ground the systematic unified framework needed to effectively implement conceptual engineering as a widely applicable method for the cognitive optimization of our conceptual devices. (shrink)

There is very little study of Latin American Philosophy in the English-speaking philosophical world. This can sometimes lead to the impression that there is nothing of philosophical worth in Latin American philosophy or its history. The present article offers some reasons for thinking that this impression is mistaken, and indeed, that we ought to have more study of Latin American philosophy than currently exists in the English-speaking philosophical world. In particular, the article argues for three things: (1) an account of (...) cultural resources that is useful for illuminating the fact of cultural differences and variations in cultural complexity, (2) a framework for understanding the value of philosophy, and (3) the conclusion that there is demonstrable value to Latin American philosophy and its study. (shrink)

Essays by some of the world's leading educators provide a revolutionary portrait of new ideas and developments in education that can influence the possibility of social and political change. The authors take into account such diverse terrain as feminism, ecology, media, and individual liberty in their pursuit of new ideas that can inform the fundamental practice of education and promote a more humane civil society. The book consolidates recent thinking just as it reflects on emerging new lines of critical theory.

I consider some themes and issues arising in recent work on moral responsibility, focusing on three recent books —Carlos Moya's Moral Responsibility, Al Mele's Free Will and Luck, and John Martin Fischer's My Way. I argue that these texts collectively suggest some difficulties with the way in which many issues are currently framed in the free will debates, including disputes about what constitutes compatibilism and incompatibilism and the relevance of intuitions and ordinary language for describing the metaphysics of free will (...) and moral responsibility. I also argue that each of the accounts raise more particular puzzles: it is unclear to what extent Moya’s account is properly an account of free will; Mele’s account raises questions about the significance of luck for compatibilist theories; and Fischer’s account of the value of responsibility as self-expression raises questions about the normative significance of moral responsibility. (shrink)

The paper presents a renewed Habermasian view on transnational multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) and assesses the institutional characteristics of the Equator Principles Association (EPA) from a deliberative democracy perspective. Habermas’ work has been widely adopted in the academic literature on the political responsibilities of (multinational) corporations (i.e., political corporate social responsibility), and also in assessing the democratic qualities of MSIs. Commentators, however, have noted that Habermas’ approach relies very much on ‘nation-state democracy’ and may not be applicable to democracy in MSIs—in (...) which nation-states are virtually absent. We argue that Habermas’ detailed conceptualization of the institutionalization of deliberative democracy can be applied to transnational MSIs if these initiatives can be said to have their own ‘dèmoi’ that can be represented in associational decision-making. Therefore, we develop a definition of the dèmos of an MSI based on the notion of collective agency. Subsequently, we explain how Habermas’ approach to democracy can be applied to MSIs and show that it has more to offer than hitherto has been uncovered. Our illustrative analysis of the EPA confirms the criticisms regarding this MSI which have recently been articulated by researchers and practitioners, but also yields new findings and possible avenues for the further development of the EPA: That is, although our assessment suggests that the EPA in its current state is still far from being a democratic MSI, the possibility of a sensible analysis of its democratic character indicates that transnational MSIs can, in principle, help to fill governance gaps in a democratic way. (shrink)

This article examines Machiavelli’s image of humanity. It argues against the prevailing views that characterize it either as pessimistic or optimistic and defends the thesis that the Florentine has a realist image of humanity. Machiavelli is a psychological egoist who conceives of man as a being whose actions are motivated by his drives, appetites, and passions, which lead him often to immoral behavior. Man’s main drives are “ambition” (ambizione) and “avarice” (avarizia). This article also investigates Machiavelli’s concept of nature and (...) shows that, for him, the constancy of human nature is the central premise that makes the scientific analysis of politics possible. Despite the fact that human drives and capabilities are the same at all times, good laws, military training, and religion allow man to be changed and educated toward “virtue” (virtù). To make such changes in man, however, presupposes a good legal and political order. Machiavelli justifies the state because of its capacity to reshape human nature and to improve man. The state is not only a coercive power but a moral institution. This leads to the conclusion that Machiavelli does not separate politics from morality as most scholars claim. (shrink)

One of the great dangers of our time is that the cumulative long-term action of smart socio-technical environments engineered to control thought and behavior results in an excessive loss of freedom. In response to this challenge, that we shall call humanity’s socio-technical dilemma, we outline here some fundamental ideas of a political program to control these environments, which is similar to the one proposed by Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger. It is similar insofar as we share their paternalistic and humanistic (...) approach. But it is different insofar as we claim, first, the duty to admit that it is a version of Sloterdijk’s controversial human zoo; second, the theoretical and practical convenience of identifying the human capabilities to be promoted by these environments with the capabilities necessary for the democratic electorate to comply with the competence principle; and third, the awareness of the probable long-term unsustainability of the program in a context of competition between countries and companies, in spite of which it must be implemented because of its moral superiority. (shrink)

Las principales disputas que han tenido lugar en el seno del tomismo contemporáneo han estado marcadas por un fuerte criticismo respecto a la escuela tomista dominicana. Las tesis más discutidas pueden sintetizarse en torno a la comprensión del esse y su énfasis en el conjunto de la filosofía del ser. El dominico canadiense Lawrence Dewan quiso contrarrestar este criticismo equilibrando este énfasis sobre el esse haciendo valer el papel de la forma en el pensamiento de Tomás de Aquino. La forma, (...) que es algo divino en las cosas, no es sólo mera potencia receptiva, sino causa del esse y mediadora del acto creador del ente. En este artículo vamos a estudiar detenidamente las ideas principales del tomismo dewaniano a la luz de los aspectos más originales de la enseñanza del Aquinate, desde una perspectiva crítica. (shrink)

El formalismo no es la única dolencia que aqueja al Derecho o, mejor, a quienes tienen la función de interpretarlo y aplicarlo. Pero es quizás la más perniciosa en los países latinos por el carácter de enfermedad endémica que ha adquirido en nuestra cultura jurídica. Es cierto, por otro lado, que no todo lo que se llama a veces "formalismo" es igualmente rechazable; e incluso hay un formalismo -un significado de esa expresión- que no lo es en absoluto. El Derecho (...) es, en buena medida, un fenómeno de autoridad; en el mismo, las razones formales tienen una importancia fundamental, lo que no ocurre, por ejemplo, en la moral. Por eso, los jueces no deben dialogar, como a veces se dice, de tú a tú con la Constitución y con las leyes, sino que deben reconocer la autoridad de la una y de las otras; en el caso del juez constitucional, el sometimiento a la Constitución debe ir unido a la deferencia hacia el legislador como principio interpretativo fundamental. Si las cosas no fueran así, no habría Estado de Derecho, simplemente porque el imperio de la ley habría pasado a ser imperio o gobierno de los jueces. (shrink)

Coherence theories are regularly confronted with the objection that there can be many coherent systems, so that mere coherence is said to be insufficient as either the defining element of truth or even as a working criterion of truth. This objection has been called the “master objection”. If someone is taking coherence not only as a criterion supporting the truth of a theory, but as an ingredient to a definition of “true” she has to attack the master objection straight on.

This article examines the dynamics that have turned a recent Marian apparition on the window of a bank in Clearwater, Florida, from a local into a global phenomenon. Drawing from theories of globalization, we show how the apparition exemplifies what sociologist Roland Robertson refers to as the mutually implicative `universalization of particularism and the particularization of universalism'. Among the factors analyzed are global pilgrimage, transnational migration, mediascapes (particularly through the Internet) and the Vatican's New Evangelization initiative. On the basis of (...) this case study, the article argues for the need to go beyond secularization theory - the dominant modernist approach to religion and social change - and to adopt a flexible, polymethodological framework that takes into account the complex, and often contradictory, relations between the local and the global and the mediating roles religion plays. (shrink)

En el presente artículo se expone la crítica que Lawrence Dewan hizo de Étienne Gilson en torno a la fórmula quidditas Dei est ipsum suum esse, en la que el canadiense entiende que el medievalista francés ha errado interpretando que santo Tomás despoja a Dios de su esencia. Para ambos autores, el auténtico tomismo pasa necesariamente por la comprensión adecuada de esta fórmula en la que el ser y la esencia, a diferencia de los entes, se identifican. A través de (...) este estudio trataremos de llegar a una respuesta sobre qué explicación es más cercana a la metafísica del Aquinate. (shrink)

La diócesis de Coria-Cáceres ha celebrado su XIV Sínodo diocesano. El presente artículo pretende señalar algunas claves teológicas sobre la sinodalidad eclesial recogida en el derecho canónico y extraer algunas consecuencias sobre la sinodalidad de la Iglesia en misión que pueda ayudar a discernir las claves pastorales de una Iglesia diocesana en el siglo XXI.

Most experimental studies of facial expression processing have used static stimuli (photographs), yet facial expressions in daily life are generally dynamic. In its original photographic format, the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces (KDEF) has been frequently utilized. In the current study, we validate a dynamic version of this database, the KDEF-dyn. To this end, we applied animation between neutral and emotional expressions (happy, sad, angry, fearful, disgusted, and surprised; 1,033-ms unfolding) to 40 KDEF models, with morphing software. Ninety-six human observers categorized (...) the expressions of the resulting 240 video-clip stimuli, and automated face analysis assessed the evidence for 6 expressions and 20 facial action units (AUs) at 31 intensities. Low-level image properties (luminance, signal-to-noise ratio, etc.) and other purely perceptual factors (e.g., size, unfolding speed) were controlled. Human recognition performance (accuracy, efficiency, and confusions) patterns were consistent with prior research using static and other dynamic expressions. Automated assessment of expressions and AUs was sensitive to intensity manipulations. Significant correlations emerged between human observers’ categorization and automated classification. The KDEF-dyn database aims to provide a balance between experimental control and ecological validity for research on emotional facial expression processing. The stimuli and the validation data are available to the scientific community. (shrink)

The ancient commentaries on Aristotle's Peri Hermeneias give us important elements to understand more clearly some difficult passages of this treatise. In the case of the indefinite names and verbs, these commentaries reveal a doctrine which explains not only the nature of the indefinites, but also why Aristotle introduces these kinds of term in Peri Hermeneias. The coherence and explanatory capacity of this doctrine is entirely absent in modern exegesis of Peri Hermeneias. This fact has important implications: it can make (...) us to think whether there will be another topics in which the ancient commentators are still indispensable to understand Aristotle. It can also make us to think to what extent a profounder reflection of the ancient commentators can modify our idea of Aristotle and the ancient world. (shrink)

Tras una inicial aproximación a la génesis del concepto de responsabilidad, génesis en la que se empiezan a percibir algunos de los rasgos del mismo que terminarán por hacerse explícitos en nuestros días, el trabajo se centra en señalar las implicaciones que tiene adscribir decididamente la responsabilidad a la época moderna y, en concreto, al surgimiento de la civilización industrial. Acaso una de las más importantes sea la de obligarnos a plantear toda una serie de asuntos en conexión necesaria con (...) otro tema-eje del pensamiento moderno, el de la identidad. Junto a dicho tema, en el texto quedan apuntados otros, como el de la justa escala en la que abordar tales asuntos o el del mal, por citar sólo dos, cuya envergadura puede servir como indicador de la importancia que presenta el concepto de responsabilidad en el pensamiento contemporáneo. (shrink)

San Pedro de Alcántara destaca por su vida de profundización en la vida contemplativa y mística. Un ejemplo palpable de esta actitud la encontramos su Tratado de Oración y Meditación. En esta reflexión realizamos una lectura filosófica de un párrafo de la meditación del primar día de esta obra alcantarina. Desde la antropología existencial, el autor del Tratado nos invita a la contemplación de uno mismo, para llegar a la trascendencia y la alteridad que deja su huella en lo más (...) profundo del ser personal. Saint Pedro of Alcántara stands out for his enthusiasm for a comtemplative and mystical life. A very good instance of his disposition towards this can be found in his “Tratado de Oración y Meditación”. In this reflection we can interpret philosophically a paragraph from this particular work, which deals with meditation on the first day, that is to say, on Monday. By means of existential anthropology, the author invites us to look thoroughly into ourselves so that we can reach a transcendental state which will mark our inner self. (shrink)