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)

Brand names constitute a form of value for commercial products, because they suppose a savings of search costs for the consumer. The law, as a consequence, has the obligation to protect brand names. But the number of attractive brand names is not infinite and sometimes companies seek brand names which are reminiscent of others. In this article a conflict between two companies for the distinctiveness of two brand names is addressed: one Spanish company used the English common noun doughnut for (...) a product similar to the American pastry, while the other company had already registered donut as a brand name, in addition to its variants. This second company sued the first on the grounds that the names were not distinctive. Here we offer the arguments presented to the judge in defense of the distinctiveness of doughnut and the judgment. (shrink)

It is impossible to understand the significance of Machiavelli's work if one does not understand, to begin with, the concept of man and of the world which dominates it.Too frequently the image of Machiavelli is limited only to a study of the procedures, tricks, string-pulling, ropes (and even ropes around the neck) which he prescribes for the attainment and maintainance of power, all of this well embellished with a psychology which is either praised or deprecated.

This paper delves into the character concept as applied to reproduction. Our argument is that the prevailing functional-adaptationist perspective falls short in explaining the evolution of reproductive traits, and we propose an alternative organismal-relational approach that incorporates the developmental and interactive aspects of reproduction. To begin, we define the functional individuation of reproductive traits as evolutionary strategies aimed at enhancing fitness, and we demonstrate how this perspective influences the classification of reproductive characters and modes, the comprehension of shared traits as (...) resulting from conflicts of evolutionary interest between individuals, and the explanation of reproductive diversity. After outlining the shortcomings of this framework, we introduce an organismal-relational approach grounded in evolutionary developmental studies of reproduction. This view provides a revised classification for reproductive characters and modes and offers a new understanding of interorganismal traits that takes into account their inherently relational nature. Lastly, we present the research agenda that emerges from this approach, which addresses the core explanatory gaps left by the adaptationist perspective, including the explanation of reproductive homologies and homoplasies, the developmental constraints associated with the evolution of reproductive modes, and the evolvability of reproductive characters. (shrink)

El siglo XIX es, quizás, uno de los períodos más complejos de la historia chilena en cuanto a constructor de una identidad nacional. Una imagen que se desarrolla a lo largo de la centuria, y que enfrentará a intelectuales y a la oligarquía tradicional, será la del roto Chileno, en un intento de establecer un repertorio iconográfico de construcción de una República Moderna y una imagen-país. Pero orientada, fundamentalmente, a la afirmación de una clase social, que se sustentaba con fuerza (...) en un imaginario construido a favor de sus propios intereses. (shrink)

This paper examines evolutionary ontologies from Darwin’s work to the genesis and maturation of the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis, followed by the onset of the more inclusive framework of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. We show how, in an attempt to unify different biological fields under evolutionary principles, the first synthetic theory of evolution progressively disregarded the relevance of organismic-level properties and processes. Yet, failure to reduce the systemic nature and ecological dynamics of the organism (including properties of agency and organization) to (...) that framework raises some important drawbacks. In particular, the two fundamental dimensions of developmental and ecological dynamics were largely neglected. These are the ones that highlight the relational properties of organisms and lead to recent views in, respectively, Evo-Devo and Niche Construction Theory. On this account, we argue that these two aspects illuminate how, while the Modern Synthesis became increasingly reductionist and monistic, the Extended Synthesis is currently being constituted by a pluralistic array of models capable of accommodating different ontological levels, among which that of organisms stands out due to its flexibility and potential inclusiveness. (shrink)

RESUMEN En este documento se presenta la traducción al español de la obra de teatro A lover of animals, escrita hace 120 años por Henry Stephens Salt, intelectual inglés activista por el trato justo hacia los humanos y los animales. Se introducen elementos que permiten al lector acercarse a la discusión planteada en la obra y se enfatiza en el personaje Claud Kersterman, médico y vivisector que expone una serie de ideas sobre la medicina, la ciencia y el valor de (...) los animales que se pueden apreciar en la actualidad. Finalmente, se resalta el valor que la literatura teatral puede tener para analizar discusiones como las que suscita el trato hacia los animales en contextos generales o particulares como el de la vivisección. ABSTRACT This document presents the Spanish translation of the play A lover of animals, written 120 years ago by Henry Stephens Salt, an English intellectual activist in favor of humans and animals being treated fairly. Elements are introduced which allow the reader to understand the discussion which is set out in the play. Emphasis is placed on the character of Claud Kersterman, a doctor and vivisector who states a series of ideas on medicine, science and the importance of animals, which can be appreciated nowadays. Finally, it is highlighted the significance that theatre literature can have to analyze discussions such as the ones given rise to by the way animals are treated in general or specific contexts such as vivisection. (shrink)

La tecnología espacial y sus productos derivados se han convertido en un elemento fundamental para la vida y para la supervivencia y prosperidad de las sociedades desarrolladas y poseen un peso creciente en aquellas otras que están en vías de desarrollo. Esta dependencia del espacio irá, además, reforzándose progresivamente en los próximos años. Esta realidad, unida a los riesgos y desafíos asociados a fenómenos naturales, accidentes no provocados, o bien, a acciones intencionadas realizadas por otros actores en el espacio, trae (...) como consecuencia la necesidad de protección de nuestras actividades en el espacio para garantizar un acceso continuado; de no hacerlo, el impacto en el normal desarrollo de nuestras vidas y en el planeamiento y conducción de operaciones militares sería muy significativo. En general, las Fuerzas Armadas españolas disponen de un nivel muy aceptable de capacidades espaciales para afrontar los entornos operativos del presente. Sin embargo, el espacio ultraterrestre se encuentra cada vez más congestionado y disputado y, en este contexto, no existe la misma disponibilidad de capacidades necesarias para implementar un control efectivo del espacio que permita contrarrestar actividades maliciosas de potenciales adversarios, aspecto en el que resulta imprescindible avanzar. (shrink)

Since pragmatic arguments for agnostic religious commitment do not require one to believe on insufficient evidence, they avoid one of the moral objections to pragmatic arguments for belief in God: the objection that one should not believe on insufficient evidence. However, I will argue that pragmatic arguments for agnostic religious commitment must deal with two related moral objections. First, if we have a duty to investigate the truth in matters of importance to our behavior, then making such a commitment turns (...) out to conflict to some extent with that duty, though not, I think, to an unacceptable degree. Second, some people have a conception of God and the religious life such that making an agnostic religious commitment may interfere with the person's ability to reflect on moral matters and act on her conclusions, thus putting her at greater risk of doing the wrong thing. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to present a renewed reading of ethical-normative debates on recognition of cultural differences, by interrogating the initiatives that have constituted the international minority rights framework. The article is divided into three sections: 1. The first section approaches an introductory definition of minority rights. 2. The second section presents the philosophical reading of Charles Taylor on minority rights, within the ethical framework of his communitarian conception of freedom and individual development. 3. The third section presents (...) the philosophical reading of Bhabha on minority rights, within the ethical framework of his humanistic critique to the political construction of cultural differences. (shrink)

This work addresses the question of the relationships between philosophy and the history of philosophy, the latter understood as a philosophical discipline in the strict sense. Indeed, unlike what happened some fifty years ago, the debate between the history of philosophy and philosophy seems to be taking place today as an internal debate on the history of philosophy. From this point of view, it is no longer a "quarrel" (in which two opposing positions face: "history or philosophy" vs. "philosophy iff (...) history"), but rather a reflection of those who practice this discipline about our own work, insofar as our work is at the same time historical and philosophical. In this regard, the problem raised in this work focuses on the method, and inextricably linked to the method, on the object and purpose of the historiographic work in (or for) philosophy. In the present work, I propose to defend the positions of archeological philosophy regarding these points (method, object and purpose), against the history of philosophy of analytical tendency. (shrink)

En este artículo se propone una transformación del gobierno de las universidades públicas de Colombia en el marco de una propuesta de reforma de la educación superior. En esta se debe introducir la idea de la profundización de la democracia en consonancia con las transformaciones políticas y sociales que se están dando en el país en el sentido de un cambio en las estructuras de poder político. Esta transformación tiene que darse mediante una radicalización de la representación profesoral y estudiantil. (...) This paper suggests a total change in the government of public universities in Colombia within the frame of a proposal of reform of the higher education. This reform should include the idea of deepening democracy which is in line with the political and social changes that are taking place in the country mainly as a change in political power structures. This total change must take place through a radicalization of faculty and student representation. (shrink)

En el presente escrito busco esclarecer las dificultades a las que se enfrenta la metafísica de Spinoza, a la luz de su contexto histórico intelectual. En particular, exploro cómo el desarrollo del concepto de grados de perfección en la escolástica tardía ejerce una fuerte influencia en el pensamiento espinosista, hasta el punto de arrojarlo a una serie de dificultades, en las que el horizonte cualitativo de la realidad se confunde con el cuantitativo. De este modo, el proyecto de naturalización de (...) Dios de Spinoza no parece solventar completamente el problema del abismo relacional que hay entre una entidad absolutamente infinita y los compuestos finitos procedentes de ella. (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)

El presente trabajo tiene la finalidad de mostrar la fenomenología dialéctica de Eduardo Nicol. Para ello parto de lo que considera Nicol el origen de la crisis de la metafísica. Identificado el origen de tal crisis, expondré los tipos de relación del conocimiento que existen en relación a lo que Nicol llama “ontología de la verdad”. En esta exposición, mostraré el sentido que adquiere para Nicol el carácter apodícti-co de la experiencia y la relación existente entre método y ontología. Estas (...) dos ideas nos revelarán la importancia que tiene el “otro” en el desarrollo fenomenológico nicoliano así como el sentido de la historicidad.Como consecuencia, la fenomenología dialéctica se presenta como un método que pretende dar solución a la crisis de la metafísica continuando la tradición fenomenológica iniciada por Husserl a través de una revisión de la misma.This research is intended to show the phenomenological method of Eduardo Nicol. To do this I start from the consideration of Nicol regarding the origin of the crisis of metaphysics. Identified the origin of this crisis, I will explain the relationship types of knowledge that exist in relation to what Nicol called "ontology of truth." In this presentation, I will show the meaning that for Nicol has the apodictic character of experience and the relationship between method and ontology. These two ideas will reveal the importance of the "other" in the phenomenological development and sense of historicity. As a result, dialectical phenomenology is presented as a method that aims to answer the crisis of metaphysics continuing the tradition begun by Husserl through a review of it. (shrink)

Resumen El presente ensayo se interroga, a partir de una lectura de la novela 2666 de Roberto Bolaño, por la posibilidad del pensamiento filosófico: ¿Es posible el pensamiento filosófico bajo las condiciones actuales de la experiencia? El problema se plantea por el hecho de que dicha experiencia parece implicar la imposibilidad del pensamiento. Lo anterior entrañaría la siguiente paradoja: de hecho, habría un pensamiento imposible, a saber, el de la imposibilidad del pensamiento. Este problema parece ser puesto en escena en (...) 2666, en un episodio en el que dos personajes se confrontan respecto de los asesinatos de mujeres en Santa Teresa. Quisiéramos mostrar que dichos personajes pueden ser concebidos como dos modos del pensamiento, opuestos de manera radical, en tanto que la existencia del uno torna imposible la del otro. Se concluye sobre la derrota del pensamiento filosófico.In this essay, I wonder, from a reading of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 novel, if philosophical thinking is possible under the current conditions of experience. The problem arises from the fact that such experience seems to imply the impossibility of thinking. The foregoing would entail the following paradox: in fact, there would be an impossible thought, namely that of the impossibility of thought. This problem seems to be staged in 2666, in an episode in which two characters confront each other regarding the murders of women in Santa Teresa. We would like to show that these characters could be conceived as two modes of thought, radically opposed, while the existence of the one makes the other impossible. It concludes about the defeat of philosophical thought. (shrink)