The article analyzes three different cases of clinical research in which children are asked to participate. Participation of children in researches is one of the major challenges for Bioethics and societies nowadays due to the tensions and issues concerning the guarantee of rights in clinical research, the responsibilities of the different actors involved, and the purpose of improving the quality of life without affecting scientific freedom and new knowledge production. The aim of the article is to establish the way in (...) which autonomy is exercised, considering ethical and regulative aspects within clinical research involving children. In order to achieve such a purpose, case study research methodology is employed, revealing the tensions and ethical issues involved in this particular kind of clinical research as well as considering international documents and the national regulation regarding this particular problem. (shrink)

Standard approaches to ontological simplicity focus either on the number of things or types a theory posits or on the number of fundamental things or types a theory posits. In this paper, I suggest a ground-theoretic approach that focuses on the number of something else. After getting clear on what this approach amounts to, I motivate it, defend it, and complete it.

Elizabeth Anker y Bernardette Meyler, profesoras de literatura y de derecho respectivamente, involucradas ambas en los últimos años con el movimiento “derecho y literatura”, editan en 2017 New Directions in Law and Literature.

JUAN JOSE SAER: FIRMEZA DE LA CRÍTICA PARA EL CENTELLEO DE LA FICCIÓN.

Este trabajo pretende comprender la ética como un modo específico de sabiduría, distinguiéndola de otros modos de sabiduría, como son la magia, el mito, la técnica, la religión y la filosofía. A su vez, se establece la importancia que tiene la virtud para el planteamiento de Polo de la ética como carácter propio de este modo de sabiduría. A continuación, se intenta establecer algunas similitudes y diferencias entre la antropología de Polocon la de Zubiri referida a la noción de virtud.

Although US and European research has documented improvement in earnings quality associated with corporate governance characteristics, the situation in Latin America is questionable, given the business environment in which firms operate, which is characterized by controlling family ownership and weak legal protection. The purpose of this study is to examine the relation between the internal mechanisms of Corporate Governance and Earnings Management measured by discretionary accrual. We use a sample of listed Latin American non-financial companies from the period 2006–2009. Our (...) results show how in the Latin American context the role of external directors is limited and that Boards which meet more frequently take a more active position in the monitoring of insiders, so showing a lower use of manipulative practices. In addition, we find a non-linear relation between insider ownership and discretionary accruals, also pointing to the fact that ownership concentration may be a manipulative practices constrictor mechanism only when the ownership of main shareholders is moderate. The findings have important policy implications since this is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study to analyze the relation between the effectiveness of the government and the earnings management behavior. As policy implications, we document how when a country implements controls aimed at reducing corruption, strengthening the rule of law or improving the effectiveness of government, this leads to a reduction in firm earnings management. (shrink)

It is well known that the formal system developed by Frege in Begriffsschrift is based upon the distinction between function and argument—as opposed to the traditional distinction between subject and predicate. Almost all of the modern commentaries on Frege's work suggest a semantic interpretation of this distinction, and identify it with the ontological structure of function and object, upon which Grundgesetze is based. Those commentaries agree that the system proposed by Frege in Begriffsschrift has some gaps, but it is taken (...) as an essentially correct formal system for second-order logic: the first one in the history of logic. However, there is strong textual evidence that such an interpretation should be rejected. This evidence shows that the nature of the distinction between function and argument is stated by Frege in a significantly different way: it applies only to expressions and not to entities. The formal system based on this distinction is tremendously flexible and is suitable for making explicit the logical structure of contents as well as of deductive chains. We put forward a new reconstruction of the function-argument scheme and the quantification theory in Begriffsschrift. After that, we discuss the usual semantic interpretation of Begriffsschrift and show its inconsistencies with a rigorous reading of the text. (shrink)

Nancy Jecker’s essay Nothing to be Ashamed of: Sex Robots for Older Adults with Disabilities 1 presents a provocative application of the capabilities approach. Her ethical argument for providing access to sex robots for older adults with disabilities proceeds in five parts: 1. Older adults frequently suffer disabilities that impair sexual functioning. 2. The ability to function sexually is linked to central human capabilities, including: the ability to generate a personally meaningful life narrative; be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy; experience (...) bodily integrity; feel and express a range of human emotions; affiliate deeply with others; and reflect on and choose a plan for their life. 3. Society should take reasonable steps to support these human capabilities at a minimal threshold as part of a broader duty to respect human dignity. 4. Providing access to sex robots comprises part of reasonable efforts to support the six capabilities at a minimal threshold. 5. Therefore, society ought to make reasonable efforts to ensure access to sex robots for older adults with disabilities that impair sexual functioning. I am sympathetic to this line of reasoning, having proposed a series of legal reforms that would facilitate sexual expression among older adults with cognitive impairments as well.2 3 …. (shrink)

It is my contention that there is a significant relationship between “Phenomenology of Perception” (Merleau-Ponty) and “The Second Sex” (de Beauvoir). The two authors give great importancc to the lived body (Leib), either from a neutral perspective, either from a perspective feminine. This key concept of the phenomenology allows us to understand the lived experience of women and their possible relationship with feminism. From this corporeal sense we analyze the Merleau-Pontinian redefinition of subjectivity and reason. We emphasize his criticism of (...) reductionism, both epistemological as ontological. We refute certain feminists accusations against Merleau-Ponty. To do this, we study all his work in search of traces of women, we place them in context, while we study his own hermeneutics of psychoanalysis in order to highlight the contribution of it to the deconstruction of stereotypes about femininity. We conclude by showing the main keys of this phenomenology for· the current feminist Philosophy. (shrink)

The relationship between Enlightenment and progress in David Hume is presented and discussed in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment. It is asserted that Hume’s thoughts on progress, although similar to those exposed by some of his contemporaries, are characterized by a sober conception of human action on history. Hume’s political and social philosophy proposes an interesting critical philosophy of history and progress, avoiding the undesirable extremes of naïveté and pessimism.

The reform of the health care system will include a mandate: Individuals are required to purchase health insurance provided that affordable options are available. But what is affordable health insurance? Three accounts of affordability of health coverage have been advanced. The first two accounts are empirical. The third account is needs-based. All three accounts are inadequate. I propose a fourth, the reasonable tradeoff account, according to which individuals should only be required to make reasonable tradeoffs in order to pay for (...) their health coverage. That is, health insurance is affordable if in order to pay for it one does not to have to sacrifice other benefit(s) that are comparable in importance to the benefits of health coverage. (shrink)

The statue and the lump of clay that constitutes it fail to share all of their kind and modal properties. Therefore, by Leibniz’s Law, the statue is not the lump. Question: What grounds the kind and modal differences between the statue and the lump? In virtue of what is it that the lump of clay, but not the statue, can survive being smashed? This is the grounding problem. Now a number of solutions to the grounding problem require that we substantially (...) revise our view of reality. In this paper, I provide a solution to this problem that does not require such a revision. I then show how my solution to the grounding problem can solve a related problem and answer a related question. The upshot is that the solution I offer is not only non-revisionary, but also fruitful. (shrink)

La fenomenología distingue el cuerpo-objeto (Körper) del cuerpo vivido (Leib); se interesa por este último y por el cuerpo que se nos manifiesta en nuestras experiencias y les da expresión. Este cuerpo fenoménico es el punto cero de nuestras vidas, el anclaje de nuestra existencia. La fenomenología de Simone de Beauvoir le aplica la diferencia sexual.Esta contribución continúa la hermenéutica de Beauvoir centrándose en su conocida máxima, “no se nace mujer, se llega a serlo”, teniendo en cuenta que las interpretaciones (...) se dan desde y para determinadas situaciones. La nuestra es el siglo XXI y las investigaciones fenomenológicas y feministas. Dado que la traducción es un modo de interpretación, señalaremos cómo El segundo sexo ha contribuido a comprender el devenir mujer. Para ello, en primer lugar, expondremos nuestra concepción hermenéutica de la traducción. Destacaremos después el “estilo” fenomenológico de Beauvoir y las influencias recíprocas con Merleau-Ponty para abrir la posibilidad de una diferencia sexual sin determinismos. (shrink)

This Article uses age as an entry point for examining how temporal and methodological issues in egalitarianism make substantive equality an unattractive goal for vulnerability theory. Instead, vulnerability theory should adopt a continuous doctrine of sufficiency, which is a better fit with vulnerability theory’s underlying aims and rhetoric. Instead of evaluating what individuals have in relation to others, sufficiency refocuses the inquiry on whether we have enough throughout the lifecourse. In the context of vulnerability theory, enough should be defined as (...) the capability to be resilient as guaranteed by the responsive state. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es exponer y desarrollar la posición de Lester Embree sobre los colegas como objetos culturales. Para ello, contextualizaremos su tesis en su concepción de la fenomenología y la cultura como opuestas al naturalismo. Nos preguntaremos si es necesario también oponerse al culturalismo. Analizaremos, en relación con él, el sentido de la cultura básica y su dependencia de la naturaleza, entendida principalmente como physis y movimiento. Ejemplificaremos esto con una fenomenología de la danza y su concepción (...) del cuerpo que, a su vez, es un ejemplo de la necesidad de interdisciplinaridad.The aim of this article is to expound and to develop Lester Embree’s stance on colleagues as cultural objects. To this end, we contextualize his position within his conception of Phenomenology and Culture as opposed to naturalism. We will wonder whether it is also necessary to oppose to culturalism. Regarding that, we will analyze the meaning of the basic culture and its relationship with nature. We will exemplify this with a phenomenology of dance and its conception of the body, which in turn is an example of the need for interdisciplinarity. (shrink)

Bentham's critical statements on the Declaration of Human Rights of the French revolutionaries are supposed to be merely of historical value, as directed against a dated formulation. Against this, it is argued that the essential point of Bentham's argument is valid against any intuitivist interpretation of human rights (that is, against interpretations that take human rights as ultimate, absolute data) but are agreeable with an interpretation that takes Human Rights to be preferred lines of action that are normally conducive to (...) the greatest general hapiness. (shrink)

El presente artículo aborda la relación ambivalente de Nietzsche con los filósofos helenísticos, para saber por qué, a pesar de la extraordinaria influencia que estas escuelas ejercieron en su pensamiento, Nietzsche se les opone tan violentamente en su obra más tardía. Verificaremos que las principales críticas de Nietzsche a estas escuelas guardan mucha similitud con las que él dirigirá al cristianismo, y a la propia idea de terapia, como una crítica a la tradicional forma de concebirla, que estas escuelas parecen (...) inaugurar y fortalecer. Nietzsche identifica a los filósofos helenísticos como los promotores fundamentales del nihilismo, que él diagnostica como la mayor enfermedad de la cultura occidental, para la que se requiere un médico adecuado y un tratamiento efectivo. La terapia cristiana no fue la única y, principalmente, no fue la primera, pues tiene a los filósofos helenísticos como claros predecesores y precursores. Tampoco estos escaparon al escrutinio crítico de Nietzsche que, en la reconstitución de la historia clínica de la cultura occidental, los identifica como promotores fundamentales de la enfermedad que diagnostica, muy en particular por haber justamente creado las condiciones y el encuadramiento necesarios para la emergencia de la terapia cristiana, preparando el terreno y lanzando las semillas sin las cuales el cristianismo no habría podido surgir y, sobre todo, triunfar. Referente central del desarrollo de esta reflexión será el parágrafo 120 de La gaya ciencia, crucial para el hilo argumentativo. (shrink)

Esta revisión narrativa aborda la evolución histórica y legal de las voluntades anticipadas a nivel global y local desde su surgimiento. Parte del principio de autonomía en la bioética moderna y su relación con la vulnerabilidad del paciente, así como la consideración de la muerte por parte de los profesionales de la salud. Destaca el papel esencial del documento de voluntades anticipadas como una herramienta valiosa en la relación médico paciente-familia, siendo fundamental para comprender la perspectiva del paciente. Se define (...) el documento considerando la literatura médica y se discute su aplicación, subrayando la importancia de no esperar hasta un deterioro clínico avanzado para su implementación. La revisión también examina la legislación nacional e internacional, así como el conocimiento médico actual, con el objetivo de facilitar decisiones consensuadas entre todas las partes involucradas en el cuidado del paciente. (shrink)

En este trabajo caracterizamos la filosofia de M. Merleau-Ponty como una fenomenología de la expresión ontológica, por considerar que reflexiona sobre algunos impensados de Husserl y los prolonga en una nueva ontología contribuyendo así, una vez más, a superar los dualismos heredados, en este caso, el que se produce entre fenomenología y ontología. Aunque haremos un recorrido por toda la obra merleau-pontiana, para pensar el sentir nos centraremos en la última, en la que el cuerpo vivido, pieza clave de la (...) rehabilitación ontológica de lo sensible, interacciona entre lo visible y lo invisible y la percepción se redefine como proceso que ocurre entre mi carne y la carne del mundo. Así veremos cómo Merleau-Ponty desarrolla la génesis y la síntesis pasiva explicitando el problema de· la estética transcendental, implícita en Husserl. Ésta se inicia con la reflexividad corporal y culmina en la reversibilidad siempre inminente de la carne. La ·fenomenología describe la experiencia originaria de ese sentir desde dentro de su propia evidencia. (shrink)