Los filósofos tienen una especial responsabilidad en la búsqueda de un horizonte de sentido que articule adecuadamente el conocimiento científico y las obligaciones morales de las personas. Para llevar a cabo esta labor es fundamental el análisis de las características constitutivas de la vida en general y de la vida humana en particular. Este artículo propone una reflexión en este sentido, que tiene en cuenta las siguientes perspectivas: 1) algunos cambios conceptuales sobre la "vida" ocurridos a lo largo de la (...) historia, 2) los dilemas que la ciencia actual presenta respecto de las fronteras de la vida humana, especialmente con relación a los... procesos del desarrollo embrionario, 3) la significación del principio ético de respeto a la dignidad de la vida humana, y 4) el tratamiento que se da a este principio en la Constitución española y en las declaraciones internacionales más relevantes para este contexto. Philosophers bear a special responsibility in searching a horizon of meaning that properly articulates the scientific knowledge and the moral commitments of people. To carry out this task, it is fundamental to analyze the constitutive features of life in general and of human life in particular. This article puts forward some ideas on the subject, organized around the following lines: 1) some specific changes in our concept of "life" occurred along the history, 2) the dilemmas presented by current science concerning the borders of human life, especially those relative to the processes of embryonic development, 3) the significance of the ethical... principle of respect for the dignity of human life, and 4) the treatment that is given to this principle in the Spanish Constitution, as well as in the most relevant international declarations in this area. (shrink)

Ce livre présente cinq entretiens avec des philosophes pionniers dans le champ de la bioéthique francophone, Anne Fagot-Largeault et Jean-Yves Goff i (France), Gilbert Hottois et Jean-Noël Missa (Belgique) et Marie-Hélène Parizeau (Québec), cinq personnalités de renom, connues pour leur trajectoire exceptionnelle. Les entretiens menés avec ces auteurs au sujet de leurs oeuvres, de leurs expériences dans des comités de bioéthique et des différents débats soulevés ces dernières années nous permettent de connaître leur travail, mais aussi de faire une incursion (...) dans le développement fulgurant de la bio-médecine et des biotechnologies des cinquante dernières années. Les conséquences de ces applications, les problèmes éthiques générés, les jugements favorables et défavorables à l'égard des changements sociaux qui se sont produits et le bouleversement d'idées qui s'en est suivi, sont autant d'aspects abordés dans ces entretiens. L'utilisation du langage courant exige un effort de synthèse important; aussi ces entretiens sous la forme d'une conversation, offrent-ils au lecteur une large vision panoramique, rigoureuse et concise de l'évolution de la bioéthique francophone. (shrink)

Some plausibly necessary a posteriori theoretical claims include ‘water is H 2 O’, ‘gold is the element with atomic number 79’, and ‘cats are animals’. In this paper I challenge the necessity of the third claim. I argue that there are possible worlds in which cats exist, but are not animals. Under any of the species concepts currently accepted in biology, organisms do not belong essentially to their species. This is equally true of their ancestors. In phylogenetic systematics, monophyletic clades (...) such as the animal kingdom are composed of an ancestral stem species and all of its descendants. If the stem species had not existed, neither would the clade. Thus it could have been the case that all the organisms which actually belong to the animal kingdom might have existed yet not have been animals. (shrink)

Se trata de la reseña de un libro que, siguiendo en la estela de obras importantes como _La tradición velada _(Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 1990), de Francisco José Martín, o _El pensamiento lingüístico de José Ortega y Gasset _(A Coruña: Spiralia, 2009), de Concha d’ Olhaberriague, destaca la relevancia y el múltiple significado de _exilio _que el año de 1932 representa en el trayecto biográfico del filósofo, cuando la decepción con la política y la necesidad de concentrarse en sus meditaciones filosóficas (...) lo llevan a una retirada del escenario público, antes mismo del exilio geográfico asociado a la Guerra Civil. Las circunstancias habían cambiado y a partir de 1936 cambiarán particularmente, aunque la vocación de Ortega no. Esmeralda Balaguer toma como ejemplo la cuestión de su silencio (tantas veces malinterpretada por otros autores) y comprueba cómo la fidelidad al imperativo de autenticidad permitió al filósofo renovar en las últimas décadas de su producción numerosas concepciones que defendía desde muy temprano. (shrink)

José Ortega y Gasset deu em Lisboa, em 1944, um curso universitário intitulado La razón histórica. Não obstante ter ficado incompleto, após interrupção por doença do autor, ele é talvez um dos mais importantes vestígios da sua estada em Portugal, durante a última etapa do seu longo exílio. Em edição da Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, Margarida I. Almeida Amoedo disponibiliza agora a tradução desse curso, enquadrando-o no contexto próximo da obra orteguiana.

Animalism is prima facie the most plausible view about what we are; it aligns better with science and common sense, and is metaphysically more parsimonious. Thought experiments involving the brain, however, tend to elicit intuitions contrary to animalism. In this paper, I examine two classical thought experiments from the literature, brain transplant and cerebrum transplant, and a new one, cerebrum regeneration. I argue that they are theoretically possible, but that a scientifically informed account of what would actually happen shows that (...) in none of the cases would the person be separated from the animal. Our intuitions in these cases, when adequately informed by neuroscience, do not conflict with animalism – rather, they suggest a correction of the animalist position: the persisting animal should be at least minimally sentient. Sentience animalism is a new formulation of the animalist account of personal identity that allows us to reconcile facts about our biological persistence conditions with the intuition that human persistence should involve some kind of psychological continuity. (shrink)

Life on Earth descends from a common ancestor. However, it is likely that there are other instances of life in the universe. If so, each abiogenesis event will have given rise to an independently originated life clade, of which Earth-life is an example. In this paper, I argue that the set of all IOLCs in the universe forms a Darwinian population subject to natural selection, with more widely dispersed IOLCs being less likely to face extinction. As a result, we should (...) expect that, over time, more planets will become inhabited by fewer, more successful IOLCs. (shrink)

How do past experiences of violence map onto present day narratives of insurgency in northern Mozambique? In the insurgency that began in northern Mozambique in 2017, narratives of past violent encounters and animosity between different ethnic groups sharing the coastal space emerge as a way of making sense of the conflict. This article explores the ways these narratives stem from existing historical tensions between Makonde and Mwani inhabiting the northern districts of Cabo Delgado. Drawing on ethnography and oral history to (...) highlight the continuities in narrative, I will explore the ways in which current violence is interpreted through references to pivotal moments of violence in the past. I will address the historical construction of difference between Makonde and Mwani to consider what it may tell us about the fractures that underpin the insurgency. (shrink)

The development of neuropsychological assessment methods using virtual reality (VR) is a valid and promising option for the detection of cognitive impairment in the older people, focusing on activities composed of tasks of multiple demands. This study verified the association of age, schooling, and general cognitive status on the performance of neurologically healthy older adults in ECO-VR, a virtual reality task of multiple demands for neuropsychological assessment. A total of 111 older adults answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Mini Mental State (...) Examination, the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (third edition), and the ECO-VR. Correlation analyses, multiple linear regression, and comparisons between groups (effects by age and schooling groups) were used to evaluate the results. The ECO-VR total score was significantly associated with age, years of education, MMSE, and Vocabulary subtest. The linear regression models identified that age was the main predictor for total score and rule breaking of ECO-VR. According to the univariate analysis, it was identified the main effect of age group and schooling group in the total ECO-VR score, but there was no interaction effect. The results are discussed in order to understand the role of sociodemographic characteristics in the performance of older adults in a virtual reality task of multiple demands. It was also verified the possibility use of virtual reality for neuropsychological assessment of older adults. (shrink)

Philosophers bear a special responsibility in searching a horizon of meaning that properly articulates the scientific knowledge and the moral commitments of people. To carry out this task, it is fundamental to analyze the constitutive features of life in general and of human life in particular. This article puts forward some ideas on the subject, organized around the following lines: 1) some specific changes in our concept of “life” occurred along the history, 2) the dilemmas presented by current science concerning (...) the borders of human life, especially those relative to the processes of embryonic development, 3) the significance of the ethical principle of respect for the dignity of human life, and 4) the treatment that is given to this principle in the Spanish Constitution, as well as in the most relevant international declarations in this area. (shrink)

An essentialist claim often made about organisms is that they could not have originated in different gametes. The thesis of gametic essentialism (GE) is usually understood either as a particular case of material origin essentialism, or as genetic essentialism. This paper argues that it should instead be understood in terms of the numerical identity of the gametes. Since gametes are living cells, their identity conditions should be the same as those of other living beings, and therefore involve neither specific material (...) composition, nor specific genes, but continuity of the same life. Understood in this way, GE is a particular case of biological antecedents essentialism (BAE), a kind of origin essentialism that is better justified in the light of the metaphysical nature of organisms as objects that inherit life from previously existing living organisms. BAE overcomes many objections facing other origin essentialist accounts, and it recognises the importance of the gametes in transmitting not just genes, but actively functioning physical structures necessary for life. If we wish to maintain an origin essentialism principle for organisms, we should prefer BAE. (shrink)

Life is a self-maintaining process based on metabolism. Something is said to be alive when it exhibits organization and is actively involved in its own continued existence through carrying out metabolic processes. A life is a spatio-temporally restricted event, which continues while the life processes are occurring in a particular chunk of matter (or, arguably, when they are temporally suspended, but can be restarted at any moment), even though there is continuous replacement of parts. Life is organized in discrete packages, (...) particular cells and multicellular organisms with differing degrees of individuality. Biological species, too, have been shown to be individuals, and not classes, as these collections of organisms are spatio-temporally localized, restricted, continuous, and somewhat cohesive entities, with a definite beginning and end. Assuming that all life on Earth has a common origin, all living organisms, cells, and tissues descending from this origin exhibit continuity of the life processes at the cellular level, as well as many of the features that define the individual character of species: spatio-temporal localization and restriction, continuity, historicity, and cohesiveness. Therefore, life on Earth is an ontological individual. Independent origins of life will have produced other such individuals. These provisionally called ‘life-individuals’ constitute a category of organization of life which has seldom been recognized. The discovery of at least one independent life-individual would go a long way toward the project of the universality of biology. (shrink)

Este ensayo se pregunta por qué el concepto de institución —omnipresente, fundamental, la marca que distingue a la sociedad humana de agrupaciones animales no humanas: jaurías, matanzas, rebaños, colmenas, exaltaciones— es tan difícil de definir; introduce el concepto de instituciones defectivas; ofrece definiciones de institución, defecto y republicanismo en registros filológicos, filosóficos, económicos y sociológicos; y enfatiza el problema estructural de ofrecer definiciones de estos términos desde dentro de instituciones que requieren tales definiciones, pero que también sirven como condición de (...) su inteligibilidad. Partiendo de la tradición anarcofilosófica, se ofrece una alternativa, que es también una alternativa a las figuras de gobierno asociadas a la concepción liberal del Estado: un republicanismo aberrante compuesto por instituciones defectivas, atravesado por la necesidad de su abolición. (shrink)

This paper aims, on the one hand, to determine the valid span of the diagram of unequal hours and, on the other, to find a mathematical expression for the error. It is found that the diagram is valid for the two days of the equinoxes and for the times when the sun is on the horizon or on the meridian. This subject has previously been treated by Delambre in 1819 and Drecker in 1925, but not comprehensively.

This paper addresses the question ‘what is an organism?’. Extant theories of organismality only provide a partial answer because they do not include an account of composition on which an ontology of living entities can be based. Here we develop a new account of what organisms are, based on a naturalistic answer to the special composition question, the bound state view. We argue that physical structure, including the existence of a boundary, is essential for life, and that, therefore, organisms are (...) a particular kind of composite physical object – living objects. The bound state account of composition explains how composite physical objects exist in the world, and the property ‘life’ distinguishes the subset of those objects which are organisms. Our view obviates the need for disjunctive accounts of composition for living and non-living entities, placing ‘organism’ within the context of a broader scientific ontology, while at the same time providing a clear criterion of organismality that can be used in adjudicating problematic cases of biological individuality. (shrink)

In The Expanse, the future of humanity is constantly at stake. In The Expanse vestiges of an ancient alien civilization with incredibly advanced technology have been found—which eventually permits human interstellar expansion through the gates. James Lenman argues that, even if we agree that biodiversity is a good thing, it only means that it's good that there should be natural diversity while life exists on Earth. While we might not be facing interplanetary war or the unpredictable consequences of ancient alien (...) technology, many serious dangers face the human species today. We are quite resilient and have survived numerous disasters in the past, including floods, earthquakes, famine, pandemics, and wars. Small population size and restricted distribution range are factors that increase a species’ extinction risk. Interplanetary expansion could potentially bring about speciation, which means the separation of Homo sapiens into different species. (shrink)

O objetivo deste estudo é identificar como a adoção aparece nas histórias de vida de indivíduos adotados e como eles normalizam suas experiências relacionadas à adoção. Focaliza-se a re-historiação do “eu” na narrativa e considera-se que o seu final é determinado por quem constrói a narrativa, não por eventos relatados cronologicamente. Os dados provêm das narrativas de dois indivíduos adotados, transcritas segundo convenções utilizadas na Análise da Conversa Etnometodológica, nas quais se destaca a presença dos eventos relacionados à adoção na (...) re-historiação dos pesquisados e na constituição de seus “eus” parciais, considerando também as características rítmicas e outras propriedades da fala em interação. Foi possível constatar que o final da história influencia na maneira como a narrativa é construída e como as experiências de adoção aparecem nas narrativas, com maior ou menor grau de normalização a elas atribuído. (shrink)

Le cadran solaire analemmatique est présenté pour la première fois par un mathématicien français, appelé Vaulezard, dans un petit fascicule publié en 1640. Suit un deuxième ouvrage, plus complet, en 1644. Dernier venu, ce cadran attire l'attention d'importants savants tels que Foster et Lalande. Parfait dès le départ, il a néanmoins la singulière particularité d'inspirer diverses tentatives d'amélioration, plutôt infructueuses, et d'être à l'origine de quelques variétés de cadrans analemmatiques qui, elles, connaissent un franc succès. Nous apportons la preuve trigonométrique (...) et, pour la première fois semble‐t‐il, la preuve géométrique de sa validité astronomique en suivant fidèlement la méthode de construction indiquée par Vaulezard. Nous effectuons, en outre, un survol aussi exhaustif que possible des différents modèles dérivés de ce cadran ainsi que de la littérature les concernant.SummaryThe analemmatic sundial was briefly presented for the first time in 1640 by the French mathematician Vaulezard and was described in more detail by him in 1644. The analemmatic dial is the last genuine sundial to be invented and it has attracted the attention of some important scholars such as Foster and Lalande. Although perfect from the very beginning, it had the unusual particularity of inspiring several unfortunate attempts at its improvement as well as being at the origin of a few other types of analemmatic dials, which met with a certain success. We provide here the trigonometric proof and for the first time, the geometric proof of its astronomical validity by closely following the construction method of Vaulezard. We also make a comprehensive survey of the different kinds of analemmatic sundials and of their literature. (shrink)

Summary The first attempt at a classification of sundials appeared only in 1953, in the catalogue established by Henri Michel for the Museum of Liège. It was immediately followed, in the same year, by the article by Kathleen Higgins, exclusively dedicated to this topic. The influence of this second study has spread out throughout the numerous articles on sundials that have been subsequently published. The aim of the present paper is to bring some order to these two old classifications, which (...) are in fact quite similar and were sufficiently valid at the time, and to propose a new approach to the problem based, for the first time, on principles directly linked to astronomy and geometry. Moreover, this latter approach has the advantage of a flexibility in its application to all kinds of sundial collections. (shrink)

Previous research suggests that all-inclusive superordinate categories, such as “citizens of the world” and “humans,” may represent different socio-psychological realities. Yet it remains unclear whether the use of different categories may account for different psychological processes and attitudinal or behavioral outcomes. Two studies extended previous research by comparing how these categories are cognitively represented, and their impact on intergroup helping from host communities toward migrants. In a correlational study, 168 nationals from 25 countries perceived the group of migrants as more (...) prototypical of the superordinate category “citizens of the world” than their national group, whereas no differences in prototypicality occurred for the category “humans.” Identification with “citizens of the world” was positively associated with a disposition to oppose helping migrants and to offer dependency-oriented help. However, identification with “humans” was positively associated with helping in general, and with offering dependency- and autonomy-oriented help; and negatively associated with opposition to helping. The experimental study manipulated the salience of “citizens of the world” vs. “humans” vs. control category, among 224 nationals from 36 countries. Results showed that the salience of “humans” triggered higher entitativity and essentialist perceptions, and dual-identity representations. No differences due to salience were found for representations of relative ingroup prototypicality or helping responses. Overall, these findings suggest that the interchangeable use of different labels is problematic, considering these might activate different representations, and thus, are likely to lead, in some circumstances, to different attitudinal or behavioral outcomes. (shrink)

In two experiments, we examined the impact of color on cognitive performance by asking participants to categorize stimuli presented in three different colors: red, green, and gray (baseline). Participants were either asked to categorize the meaning of words as related to the concepts of “go” or “stop” (Experiment 1) or to indicate if a neutral verbal stimulus was a word or not (lexical decision task, Experiment 2). Overall, we observed performance facilitation in response to go stimuli presented in green (vs. (...) red or gray) and performance inhibition in response to go stimuli presented in red. The opposite pattern was observed for stop‐related stimuli. Importantly, results also indicated that color might also be used to categorize neutral stimuli. Overall, these findings provide support to the green‐go and red‐stop color associations and test the potential functional autonomy acquired by these colors and the boundary conditions to their effects on stimuli categorization. (shrink)