Cost-benefit analysis is widely acknowledged to be an appropriate tool for providing advice to policy makers on the optimal use and management of natural resources. However, a great deal of research has indicated that the assumptions made in cost-benefit analysis concerning the natural environment diverge from real world observations. In this paper I discuss these observed divergences. To do so, I introduce the concept of Natura economica. Natura economica is the environment as it is understood in economic analysis in general, (...) and cost-benefit analysis in particular, namely as a bundle of commodities with potential market value. I argue that if this understanding of nature and its value is very different from what is generally observed, it reduces the value of the resulting policy recommendations. I then suggest four questions that policy makers should ask when they evaluate their choice of appraisal methods. If the answer is ‘yes’ to all of them, then cost-benefit analysis can provide valid information. However, if the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, other methods, such as multicriteria analysis and participatory processes, should be considered in order to arrive at better-founded policy recommendations. (shrink)

This paper examines the origin and the development of the mechanistic model of the human body and health in terms of Max Weber's theory of rationalization. It is argued that the development of Western scientific medicine is a part of the broad process of rationalization that began in sixteenth century Europe as a result of the Reformation. The development of the mechanistic view of the human body in Western medicine is consistent with the ideas of calculability, predictability, and control — (...) the major tenets of the process of rationalization as described by Weber. In recent years, however, the limitations of the mechanistic model have been the topic of many discussions. George Engel, a leading advocate of general systems theory, is one of the leading proponents of a new medical model which includes the general quality of life, clean environment, and psychological, or spiritual stability of life. The paper concludes with consideration of the potential of Engel's proposed new model in the context of the current state of rationalization in modern industrialized society. (shrink)

Does there exist any equivalence between the notions of inconsistency and consequence in paraconsistent logics as is present in the classical two valued logic? This is the key issue of this paper. Starting with a language where negation ( ${\neg}$ ) is the only connective, two sets of axioms for consequence and inconsistency of paraconsistent logics are presented. During this study two points have come out. The first one is that the notion of inconsistency of paraconsistent logics turns out to (...) be a formula-dependent notion and the second one is that the characterization (i.e. equivalence) appears to be pertinent to a class of paraconsistent logics which have double negation property. (shrink)

In Indian philosophy, Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsakas and Advaita Vedāntins recognize abhāva or anupalabdhi (non-apprehension) as an independent source of knowledge; but no other school of Indian philosophy agrees with them on this issue, and for that reason, arguments have been given by the latter schools for rejecting anupalabdhi as an independent means of knowledge. In this paper, I am going to evaluate only those arguments which have been given by the Vaiśeṣika thinkers, who admit only two pramāṇa-s, viz. pratyakṣa and anumāna, (...) and reject anupalabdhi as an independent pramāṇa. There have been many scholarly studies dealing with the arguments against the reduction of non-apprehension to some other source of knowledge that have been offered by the Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā and Advaita Vedānta, but there is hardly any full-length work that deals with the Vaiśeṣika’s reduction of non-apprehension to some other source of knowledge. In the present paper, an attempt has been made at providing a clear and specific account of the same. (shrink)

The Vaiśeṣika school is an important ancient system of Indian philosophy. According to the Vaiśeṣika philosophers, cognition or jñāna is of two types—vidyā and avidyā (vidyā ca avidyā ca), and avidyā is of four types—saṃśaya (doubt), viparyaya (illusion), anadhyavasāya (non-ascertainment) and svapna (dream). Among these four kinds of avidyā, the third kind of non-veridical cognition (avidyā), named ‘anadhyavasāya’ (non-ascertainment/non-assertory cognition), is acknowledged alone by the Vaiśeṣika school. Apart from the Vaiśeṣika school, no other school of Indian philosophy admits such a (...) type of non-veridical cognition. Such a sort of non-veridical cognition is not mentioned even in the Vaiśeṣikasūtra of Kaṇāda. However, Praśastapāda discusses it in his Padārthadharmasaṃgraha, after mentioning it as a variety of non-veridical cognition. He has been followed in this respect by the commentators of Padārthadharmasaṃgraha in their respective commentaries. Following them, in this paper I am going to establish anadhyavasāya as a distinct type of non-veridical cognition. (shrink)

This paper is an application of Max Weber’s thesis about the “elective affinity” between Protestant religious impulses and the rise of capitalism, and rationalization of benevolence. Exploring the history of organized philanthropy in the United States, using the life and work of John D. Rockefeller, the paper presents the power of the religious motive in Rockefeller’s commitment to philanthropy, especially towards support for scientific university based research in medicine. Presenting historical evidence, the paper argues against those who see U.S. philanthropists (...) as giving out of guilt or for selfish motivation, and those who critique philanthropic foundations as producers and reproducers of cultural hegemony. (shrink)

Chronology of Śaṅkarācārya's journey to spread his message through monasteries established by him and his followers in India.

A linguagem para Nietzsche é considerada como uma metáfora das coisas externas produzida pelos estímulos que elas causam em nós. A partir disso, indagamos sobre a possibilidade da linguagem e da história auxiliarem na busca pela verdade. Para tal, o texto reconstrói o pensamento de Nietzsche contido em dois escritos de 1873 3 1874. Por fim, contrapormos a concepção de Nietzsche, ainda que brevemente, com a visão de Habermas para demonstrar que a história, expressa pela linguagem, deve ser crítica e, (...) com isso, conduzir a verdade. (shrink)

First published in 1917 and 1918, with a second edition in 1946, this is the first English translation of Santi Romano's classic work, L'ordinamento giuridico. The main focus of The Legal Order is the notion of institution, which Romano considers to be both the core and distinguishing feature of law. After criticising accounts of the nature of law centred on notions of rule, coercion or authority, he offers a compelling conception, not merely of law as an institution, but of the (...) institution as 'the first, original and essential manifestation of law'. Romano advances a definition of a legal institution as any group who share rules within a bounded context: for example, a family, a firm, a factory, a prison, an association, a church, an illegal organisation, a state, the community of states, and so on. Therefore, this understanding of legal institutionalism at the same time provides a ground-breaking theory of legal pluralism whereby 'there are as many legal orders as institutions'. The acme of a jurisprudential current long overlooked in the Anglophone environment, The Legal Order not only proposes what Carl Schmitt described as a 'very significant theory', but, more importantly, it offers precious insights for a thorough rethinking of the relationship between law and society in today's world. (shrink)

In this study, we examine the influence of senior leadership on firms’ corporate social responsibility. We integrate upper echelons research that has investigated either the influence of the CEO or the top management team on CSR. We contend that functional experience complementarity between CEOs and TMTs in formulating and implementing CSR strategy may underlie differentiated strategies in CSR. We find that when CEOs who have predominant experience in output functions are complemented by TMTs with a lower proportion of members who (...) have experience in output functions, there is a pronounced effect on the community, product, and diversity dimensions of CSR. In turn, when output-oriented CEOs are complemented by output-oriented TMTs, we observe an effect on the employee relations dimension of CSR. Interestingly, we find no influence of CEO-TMT complementarity on the environment dimension of CSR. In general, our empirical results support the relevance of the interaction between CEOs and their TMTs in defining their firms’ CSR profile. (shrink)

This article problematizes the recent comeback of the exceptionalist jargon as it is conjured by both critics and sympathizers. While in the last decades governments across the globe had recourse to emergency measures to cope with far-reaching emergencies, from terrorism to the COVID-19 pandemic, the received view has it that political power takes advantage of states of emergency as they put themselves in the position to circumvent constitutional limitations. Carl Schmitt is claimed to be the major advocate of this conception (...) of emergency politics in that he elaborated on the concept of the state of exception as the heart of the state political power. This article contends that the received view is doubly wrong. First, soon after his espousal of exceptionalism, Schmitt realized that emergency legislation is an ineffective and costly governmental device that should be transitory and is as unstable as the crisis it is meant to overcome. Second, the received view neglects how Schmitt came to his model of ultraconservative substantive constitutionalism as he maintained that the main task of politics is to protect the normative life of a limited set of state-sponsored institutions as well as the substantive contents they produce. (shrink)

In the recent literature on militant democracy, two claims are made on the relation between its most famous advocate, Karl Loewenstein, and German jurist Carl Schmitt. The first claim is that, although the latter came to support the Nazi regime, in the late 1920s he provided an early model of militant democracy that looks more robust and elaborated than Loewenstein’s. Schmitt’s constrained democracy is believed to cut deeper into that which militancy is supposed to safeguard. The second claim is that (...) this latter model underlies other versions of militant democracy, including Loewenstein’s. This article argues that the first claim is largely correct while the second is to be rejected. In doing so, it delves deep into Schmitt’s understanding of the materiality of law, that is, the social normativity that he believed the constitution was designed to protect, and casts light on the procedural orientation of Loewenstein’s militant democracy. The conclusion is that both these theories espouse a form of conservatism, though different from one another, and that in different ways both can be detrimental to democracy. (shrink)

The Somatic Mutation Theory has been challenged on its fundamentals by the Tissue Organization Field Theory of Carcinogenesis. However, a recent publication has questioned whether TOFT could be a valid alternative theory of carcinogenesis to that presented by SMT. Herein we critically review arguments supporting the irreducible opposition between the two theoretical approaches by highlighting differences regarding the philosophical, methodological and experimental approaches on which they respectively rely. We conclude that SMT has not explained carcinogenesis due to severe epistemological and (...) empirical shortcomings, while TOFT is gaining momentum. The main issue is actually to submit SMT to rigorous testing. This concern includes the imperatives to seek evidence for disproving one’s hypothesis, and to consider the whole, and not just selective evidence. (shrink)

The bumpy road to institutionalism : Schmitt's way-out of decisionism -- Exploring Schmitt's institutionalism : institutions and normality -- Institutionalist decisionism : law as the shelter of society -- Institution and identity : reassessing Schmitt's political theory -- Schmitt vs. Kelsen : the social ontology of legal life -- Schmitt vs. Hauriou : the politicization of institutionalism -- Schmitt vs. Romano : institutionalism without pluralism? -- Schmitt vs. Mortati : the concretization of the concrete order -- The impossibility of legal (...) indeterminacy -- The inconceivability of legal pluralism. (shrink)

Las experiencias de unio mystica alcanzadas por Plotino encuentran su reflejo en los escritos que los pensadores gnósticos utilizan en sus discusiones con este en Roma, tal como describen Zostrianos (NH VIII, 1) y Allógenes (NH XI, 3). A pesar de dicha rivalidad filosófica, es posible encontrar similitudes entre los testimonios si analizamos estas experiencias a través de su relación con los denominados Estados Alterados de Consciencia (EAC), concepto propuesto por la psicología de la religión. Tanto el corpus filosófico como (...) la tradición gnóstica describen este estado particular del alma (ψυχἠ) al detallar el proceso mistico. En dicho proceso destaca para ambos el cambio profundo en la consciencia del iniciado, aunque neoplatónicos y gnósticos difieren en los límites de identificación con la divinidad.De esta forma, a través del análisis textual y filológico, centraremos el presente trabajo en el estudio de la unio mystica en dos aspectos. Por una parte, en el proceso mismo seguido por el iniciado. Por otra, en el grado de unión o contacto del visionario-iniciado con el Absoluto o la divinidad. Dicho análisis subrayará los caminos comunes que impulsaban ambas escuelas de pensamiento en su búsqueda de lo trascendente, a la vez que planteará preguntas esenciales sobre dicho proceso que delimitarán claramente las diferencias entre las mismas. (shrink)

In science it is obvious that we are certain about many things, but among philosophers there is little agreement as to why we know these things. In Knowing Things for Sure physicist and realist philosopher, Mariano Artigas traces the confusion to non-realist philosophies and argues that practitioners of experimental science do reach logical truths about reality.

This article offers an in-depth analysis of Carl Schmitt's social ontology to explain how and why he came to reject exceptionalist decisionism. To this end, the authors unearth the considerable shifts in terms of social ontology that paved the way for this conceptual turn. The gist of their argument is that Schmitt's Political Theology (1922) espoused a Hobbesian conception of the political as the possibility condition for stable patters of social interaction. Though the first three chapters of Political Theology were (...) originally designed for and published in a posthumous Festschrift for Max Weber, his understanding of the social was indebted to a Hobbesian legacy. Nonetheless, shortly thereafter, he began to revise his conception of the social and to put stress on the organisational dynamics of social institutions as independent of there being a political authority. From 1927 through to 1950, Schmitt never got back to his 1922 exceptionalist view of politics and rather sought to make sense of how the state could and should draw the contents of the legal order from the normative life of social institutions. (shrink)

Transhumanism is a scientific and philosophical movement that proposes to overcome, through new technologies, the restrictions imposed on us by our biological condition. Some transhumanists assume that the struggle against natural limits could lead to a radical change in our body or even to its replacement. Other authors, such as Nicholas Agar, propose a moderate enhancement that does not exceed the framework of what we understand to be human. In this article, I will offer a plausible interpretation of the project (...) of human enhancement from a Thomistic perspective. To carry out my analysis, I will focus on three fundamental metaphysical and anthropological questions: How do advocates of radical enhancement understand the relationship between limits, imperfections and evils in human nature? How is this relationship understood from moderate positions? And Is any of these proposals compatible with Aquinas’ anthropology? I will conclude that the identification of limits with imperfections and evils assumed by radical positions is incompatible with Aquinas’ anthropology. Nevertheless, this does not entail that any bio-modification is unacceptable. Aquinas’ peculiar metaphysics, together with its anthropology in which the natural, the supernatural and the preternatural realms intertwine, can offer an interesting framework to assess the human enhancement project. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis article offers an unconventional interpretation of Carl Schmitt’s conception of the political. It first identifies two alternative readings – an ‘exceptionalist’ and a ‘concretist’ one – to make the claim that in the late 1920s he laid the foundations for a theory of politics that overcame the flaws of his theory of exception. It then explains why the concretist reading provides an insightful key to Schmitt’s take on the relationship between politics and law as a whole. Despite this, the (...) chief aim of this analysis is not interpretive. Rather, the article claims that such a paradigm change was related to Schmitt’s pondering on the elements that were menacing to draw the experience of modern statehood to an end even more seriously than any upheavals and revolutions. For he came to the conclusion that the mere claim to political self-sufficiency on the part on non-state social entities was able to defy the idea of the state as the political entity par excellence. While these reflections urged Schmitt to reformulate many features of his conception of the political, the article contends that this particular juncture in his production sheds light on a crucial feature of contemporary politics. (shrink)

Husserl va haciéndose consciente de que el ideal “racionalista” de la razón no hace justicia por sí solo a la riqueza de la vida moral. La vida lograda no consistiría solamente en conducir ésta de acuerdo con el ideal de la razón, sino en dejarse mover por el amor. Éste presenta dos características: revela la individualidad de la persona que ama y de la persona amada y funda una “comunidad del tender” con la(s) persona(s) amada(s).

In developed countries, companies are now substantially reliant on the skills and abilities of their leaders to tackle a variety of complex issues. There is a growing consensus that leadership development training and assessment methods should adopt more holistic methodologies, including those associated with the emotional and neuroendocrine aspects of learning. Recent research into the assessment of leadership competencies has proposed the use of objective methods and measurements based on neuroscience. One of the challenges to be faced in the development (...) of a performance-based methodology to measure leadership skills is how to generate real-life situations with triggers that allow us to study management competencies under controlled laboratory conditions. A way to address this question is to take advantage of virtual environments to recreate real-life situations that might arise in performance-based assessments. We propose virtual reality (VR) as a very promising tool to observe various leadership related behavioral patterns during dynamic, complex and realistic situations. By seamlessly embedding assessment methods into virtual learning environments, VR can provide objective assessment methods with high ecological validity. VR also holds unlimited opportunities for leadership training providing subjects with intelligent tutoring systems that adapts situations in real time according to the observed behaviors. (shrink)

Different cell lineages growing in microgravity undergo a spontaneous transition leading to the emergence of two distinct phenotypes. By returning these populations in a normal gravitational field, the two phenotypes collapse, recovering their original configuration. In this review, we hypothesize that, once the gravitational constraint is removed, the system freely explores its phenotypic space, while, when in a gravitational field, cells are “constrained” to adopt only one favored configuration. We suggest that the genome allows for a wide range of “possibilities” (...) but it is unable per se to choose among them: the emergence of a specific phenotype is enabled by physical constraints that drive the system toward a preferred solution. These findings may help in understanding how cells and tissues behave in both development and cancer. In microgravity, cells undergo spontaneous and reversible transitions between different phenotypes. In the absence of physical constraints, living systems could yield bi-stable decisions. On the contrary, physical ‘boundaries’ constrain cells to acquire only a specific configuration by selecting and shaping different gene expression patterns provided by the intrinsic genetic stochasticity. (shrink)

Moritz Geiger was one of the most significant members of the early phase of the phenomenological movement. His work on the consciousness of feelings constitutes an example of careful phenomenological analysis. The central question Geiger raised is this: how are feelings given to consciousness when they are “fully lived”? As I seek to prove, the principal result of his analysis is to point out a way of being oriented towards feelings without objectifying them. Geiger’s analysis of the consciousness of feelings (...) is a masterpiece of phenomenological precision. It is reasonable to think that it influenced the way Husserl conceived of something so decisive as emotive intentionality. (shrink)

In this article I contend that the re-emergence of religion in Western liberal states is a feature of a much broader phenomenon, namely, the re-establishment of legal pluralism whereby various social actors claim to be the legitimate producers of their own law. To prove this, I first offer an account of secularization as the successful attempt of modern states to dismantle a legal-pluralist system. Based on this, I argue that the reviviscence of religions is the reviviscence of their practical side: (...) religious practices tend to be perceived by religious group members as providing guidance for conduct, one that challenges the rules of the state legal order and its monistic structure. Finally, by exploring the issue of same-sex union recognition, I defend the claim that, in a truly post-secular society, the state should allow a multiplicity of relationship-recognition models that reflect and meet different interests and needs. (shrink)

This article centres on the legal recognition of same-sex marriage with a view to exploring the issue of unspeakability; that is, the condition whereby some questions cannot be articulated because of a lack of words. More specifically, the article will explore what happens to those social practices that are not given legal speakability and thereby legal recognition/protection. To this end, I first focus on how words are produced in the sphere of everyday life and their dependence on the existence of (...) a widespread normality. I then discuss how the law sees to the preservation and the reproduction of normality by providing a set of categories which are made available to law-abiders to settle disputes when they arise. In doing so, I elucidate the twofold role played by law as both a selective and a creative device. To cast some light on the particular way law operates, I discuss an important decision by the Italian Constitutional Court in 2010, which provides a telling example of how legal officials are able to seal off the set of legal categories and to leave some issues in the sphere of the unspeakable. I then unearth a paradox: while unspeakability reveals a condition of powerlessness, the acquisition of speakability could bring about even harsher exclusionary effects. I conclude by arguing that the entry into the sphere of official law is always a Janus-faced achievement, but can play as an effective instrument of critique. (shrink)

Este trabajo presenta algunas discusiones preliminares a una reconstrucción de la mecánicacuántica desde una perspectiva estructuralista. Intento responder a la pregunta por lostérminos MQ- no teóricos, es decir, qué magnitudes pueden ser medidas con independenciade la ecuación de Schrödinger y de la regla de Born. Uno de los aspectos relevantes que puedeser analizado una vez que se ha respondido a esta pregunta es el problema de la medición.Dado que el problema de la medición está directamente relacionado con el carácter linealde (...) la evolución temporal del estado dada por la ecuación de Schrödinger, la medición delos valores de aquellos conceptos que no presupongan esta ley no se verá afectada por esteproblema. Si bien esto no responde a todas las preguntas sobre la medición cuántica, indicaun primer paso a dar en la dirección hacia una comprensión más acabada de este problema. (shrink)

En este trabajo se analiza el concepto de Estado racional mediante tres perspectivas que de modo explícito o implícito se encuentran en el Fundamento del derecho natural de Fichte. Con la intención de mostrar la centralidad del concepto de Estado, en primer lugar se trata la perspectiva de la superfluidad y sus límites ; en segundo lugar se trata la perspectiva de la coacción, que también brinda un concepto de Estado negativo. En tercer lugar se trata la perspectiva que, sin (...) caracterizarlo negativamente, no obstante no alcanza una comprensión positiva del Estado, donde éste sea el concepto central de la filosofía social, política y económica de Fichte. Finalmente, a partir de El Estado comercial cerrado y Los caracteres de la edad contemporánea se esboza una clasificación sobre los diferentes conceptos de Estado desarrollados y contenidos bajo una unidad de sentido. (shrink)

This article deals with the issue of resignification to advance a hypothesis on the way in which social practices are transformed with recourse to the language of institutions. It first discusses the transition from gay liberation to same-sex marriage equality by exploring the trajectory of homosexuals’ rights claims. The article continues by providing a theoretical interpretation of what brought this shift about, that is, what the author calls a movement ‘from the street to the court’: in both civil law and (...) common law jurisdictions, legal means are increasingly being used by individuals and groups to make their claims audible to political institutions and to society at large. Then, an analysis is offered of the shape that social struggles take when socio-political claims are articulated with recourse to the legal language. The conclusion is that reliance on the law as a device to achieve political goals and construct same-sex group identity risks producing but a feeble resignification of the conventional heterosexual matrix. In light of that, a more effective way to defy this matrix is to create awareness of what is gained and what gets lost in becoming legally visible. (shrink)

Queer critics talk more and more about a normalization process whereby early lesbian and gay struggles against traditional values and institutions are being replaced by the pursuit of inclusion within mainstream society. The ‘assimilation’ of same-sex practices, critics contend, lowers the critical potential of homosexuals’ claims and marginalizes other less acceptable forms of sexualities. The present article contributes to this literature by tracing the roots and dynamics of normalization. It makes the claim that heteronormative categories infiltrated homosexual culture well before (...) the spread of neoconservative gay movements and produced inner distinctions intended to exclude those who did not fit intergroup classifications. It then maintains that this analysis casts some interesting light on the current quest for gay rights, and in particular for same-sex marriage. By doing so, this article aims to tackle the broader question of how to produce societal changes able to circumvent rearguard reactions from the dominant culture. (shrink)

Según reza la tradición, la filosofía nació del asombro. El mundo, pleno de verdad y de belleza, invitaba a la contemplación. Pero esta actitud reverente fue abandonada por las ideologías, que redefinieron a la filosofía como un programa de acción. El pensamiento devino praxis, programa transformador dirigido a eliminar los males y alienaciones, construyendo, por fin, el paraíso en la tierra. El TH puede interpretarse como una reedición de este espíritu ideológico, que apuesta por la tecnología como instrumento para la (...) revolución más radical: la transformación de la biología humana. En cuanto a lo metodológico, mi trabajo tiene dos partes. La primera (secciones 1 a 5) es una presentación general, que incluye una consideración acerca de la relevancia de la cuestión, su contexto filosófico, antecedentes, definición, y una alusión a las formas habituales en que el TH se autojustifica. En la segunda parte (secciones 6, 7 y 8) propongo un análisis teórico. En la sección 6, introduzco mi interpretación del TH como ideología. En la sección 7, analizo la dificultad fundamental del TH, esto es, su tendencia a colapsar, bajo el rótulo de aspectos indeseables e innecesarios de la naturaleza humana, verdaderos males con límites constitutivos. Ya en el apartado conclusivo, expongo cómo las dificultades ontológicas y epistémicas del progresismo radical de las ideologías afectan también al TH. (shrink)

: El análisis de las disposiciones de ánimo (Gesinnungen) ofrecido por Alexander Pfänder constituye un primer capítulo de lo que se podría denominar “fenomenología de la conciencia emotiva” o “crítica de la razón afectiva”. Este fenomenólogo de la primera hora ofrece un detallado examen fenomenológico de este tipo especial de vivencias intentando, al mismo tiempo, mostrar su relevancia moral. Este trabajo pretende enmarcar y reconstruir dicho análisis en el marco de un intento más general de insistencia en la importancia que (...) el mundo de los afectos puede tener para la ética. (shrink)

Undoing Ties: Political Philosophy at the Waning of the State is a comprehensive overview of the most significant theories and contributions in the field of political philosophy of the last three decades. It is a journey through contemporary political philosophy that puts forward a basic interpretative hypothesis. Mariano Croce and Andrea Salvatore analyse the theories and proposals of many prominent political philosophers and attempt to arrive at the conclusion that today's politics is characterised by a striking reviviscence of groups (...) (whether ethnic, religious, financial, or else) which is profoundly impacting on the role of traditional political institutions, and on the state in particular. Political philosophers discussed include Giorgio Agamben, Zygmunt Bauman, Mark Goodale, Martha Nussbaum, Charles Taylor, Slavoj Žižek and many others. Undoing Ties also devotes attention to elements that are crucial to a sound analysis of contemporary politics, both at a national and at a global level, such as the law and the transformation of the legal practice and a socio-anthropological analysis of globalisation. It is an exhaustive picture of the debates and discussions in the field of political philosophy in a captivating way, which leads the reader to an informed global understanding of the field, but also to reflect on some vital issues that directly affect their everyday life. (shrink)

The modern era--the time period which envelops the Renaissance, Rationalism, Empiricism, and the Enlightenment--was a fundamental period in history which formed Western civilization into what we know today. These centuries in Europe have been defined by certain personages who are essential to our collective consciousness today: from Descartes, Luther, and Pascal, to Hobbes, Hume, and Kant. The History of Modern Philosophy provides a comprehensive overview of the major philosophers and philosophical currents of the period. Formed from their many years of (...) teaching, authors Fazio and Gamarra have developed a clear and precise text with substantial continuity and historical development of philosophy that will appeal to all those who wish to deepen their comprehension of the cultural and philosophical roots of our time. Mariano Fazio is a graduate of history, holds a PhD in philosophy, and is the author of several books of philosophy. He is a former rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and a past president of the Council of Rectors of Pontifical Roman Universities. (shrink)

La reconstrucción sistemática y el análisis crítico de la teoría husserliana acerca de la felicidad y de su búsqueda no es tarea fácil. Ello se debe tanto a dificultades terminológicas como a la dispersión en las distintas obras del fundador del método fenomenológico. Este trabajo pretende presentar los elementos fundamentales de una teoría tal en el contexto de la teleología de la vida moral. La felicidad entendida como vida dichosa en su totalidad (seliges Gesamtleben) en la cual todas las intenciones (...) –tanto las teóricas como las éticas– son cumplidas, satisfechas, constituye un ideal, inalcanzable de hecho, que guía la vida moral. Sin embargo, según Husserl, es posible acercarse, aunque sea asintóticamente, a dicha felicidad, una felicidad que también tiene una dimensión intersubjetiva que reside en el cumplimiento de los fines de una comunidad ética. (shrink)

This book introduces the theory of graded consequence and its mathematical formulation. It also compares the notion of graded consequence with other notions of consequence in fuzzy logics, and discusses possible applications of the theory in approximate reasoning and decision-support systems. One of the main points where this book emphasizes on is that GCT maintains the distinction between the three different levels of languages of a logic, namely object language, metalanguage and metametalanguage, and thus avoids the problem of violation of (...) the principle of use and mention; it also shows, gathering evidences from existing fuzzy logics, that the problem of category mistake may arise as a result of not maintaining distinction between levels. (shrink)