Here, we deal with the question of under which circumstances can scientists achieve a legitimate understanding of defective theories qua defective. We claim that scientists understand a theory if they can recognize the theory’s underlying inference pattern(s) and if they can reconstruct and explain what is going on in specific cases of defective theories as well as consider what the theory would do if non-defective –even before finding ways of fixing it. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of this approach to (...) understanding the meta-metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics, specifically with regard to Quasi-set theory. We illustrate this by employing Quasi-set theory to structure a defective scientific theory and make possible the understanding of the theory. (shrink)

BackgroundUmbilical cord banks are a central component, as umbilical cord tissue providers, in both medical treatment and scientific research with stem cells. But, whereas the creation of umbilical cord banks is seen as successful practice, it is perceived as a risky style of play by others. This article examines and discusses the ethical, medical and legal considerations that arise from the operation of umbilical cord banks in Mexico.DiscussionA number of experts have stated that the use of umbilical cord goes beyond (...) the mere utilization of human tissues for the purpose of treatment. This tissue is also used in research studies: genetic studies, studies to evaluate the effectiveness of new antibiotics, studies to identify new proteins, etc. Meanwhile, others claim that the law and other norms for the functioning of cord banks are not consistent and are poorly defined. Some of these critics point out that the confidentiality of donor information is handled differently in different places. The fact that private cord banks offer their services as "biological insurance" in order to obtain informed consent by promising the parents that the tissue that will be stored insures the health of their child in the future raises the issue of whether the consent is freely given or given under coercion. Another consideration that must be made in relation to privately owned cord banks has to do with the ownership of the stored umbilical cord.SummaryConflicts between moral principles and economic interests (non-moral principles) cause dilemmas in the clinical practice of umbilical cord blood storage and use especially in privately owned banks. This article presents a reflection and some of the guidelines that must be followed by umbilical cord banks in order to deal with these conflicts. This reflection is based on the fundamental notions of ethics and public health and seeks to be a contribution towards the improvement of umbilical cord banks' performance. (shrink)

The present study explores the application of advanced statistical techniques to predict the academic performance of students in the area of mathematics. Through the use of logistic regression models, decision trees, and neural networks, data from 500 high school students in public institutions were analyzed. The results show that advanced statistical techniques allow a more accurate prediction of academic performance, with a success rate of 87% in neural network models. These findings suggest that the integration of these tools can facilitate (...) the early identification of students at risk of low achievement and improve educational interventions. (shrink)

The moral ideology of banking and insurance employees in Spain was examined along with supervisor role modeling and ethics-related policies and procedures for their association with ethical behavioral intent. In addition to main effects, we found evidence supporting that the person–situation interactionist perspective in supervisor role modeling had a stronger positive relationship with ethical intention among employees with relativist moral ideology. Also as hypothesized, formal ethical polices and procedures were positively related to ethical intention among those with universal beliefs, but (...) the relationship was much weaker among relativists. Thus, firms wishing to optimally promote ethical attitudes and behavior must tailor their organization-based initiatives to the individual characteristics of their employees. (shrink)

Os prólogos dos comentários de Tomás de Aquino às obras de Aristóteles são de suma importância, porque neles o autor apresenta o que se poderia denominar “o marco conceptual” do trabalho que está empreendendo. No caso do Comentário à Política, o conceito fundamental é o conceito de natureza. A afirmação de que existe uma “imitação da natureza” significa, para Tomás, muito mais do que representou para seus antecessores. PALAVRAS-CHAVE – Tomás de Aquino. Comentário. Política. Natureza. Imitação. ABSTRACT The prologs of (...) Thomas Aquinas to the works of Aristotle are of main importance, because in these prologs the author presents what could be called “the conceptual mark” of the tasks he is undertaking. In the case of the Comments to the Politics, the fundamental concept is the concept of nature. The statement that there is an “imitation of nature” means, for Thomas, much more that it had represented for his antecessors. KEY WORDS – Thomas Aquinas. Comment. Politics. Nature. Imitatio. (shrink)

Advances in neurotechnologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data analytics are allowing interpretation of patterns from brain data to identify and even predict and manipulate mental states. Furthermore, there are avenues through which brain data can move into the consumer sphere, be reidentified and brokered. In response to these developments, there have been a number of approaches proposed to strengthen protections of brain data. To better understand the landscape of brain data protection discussions, we conducted a scoping review to identify (...) the rationales for establishing brain data protections and the proposals for protecting brain data offered in the ethics and neuroscience literature. To draw comparisons, we also surveyed the rationales given in the literature for the protection of sensitive behavioral inferences drawn from other types of personal data and associated approaches to achieving protection. This systematic examination of the rationale behind heightened protection for brain data should be useful to clarify the functional and conceptual bases given for brain data protection and to provide a better grounding for evaluating how the different approaches to brain data protection address these concerns. (shrink)

El propósito de este texto es tematizar la precariedad con las herramientas de la filosofía política. Buscaremos equilibrar horizontes conceptuales con prácticas políticas para pensar la acción democrática en nuestro contexto. Nuestro argumento se compone de cuatro premisas. Primero, que elfalso dilema entre teoría y práctica nos permite explorar una relación de tensión creativa entre ambas para conceptualizar la precariedad. Segundo, que la construcción teórica de la precariedad responde tanto a ideas y conceptos como a instituciones y discursos que configuran (...) las vidas de quienes la experimentan. Tercero, que los distintos usos del concepto de precariedad permiten reconocer una fuente común de vulneración de derechos relacionada con la configuración del trabajo en el orden neoliberal. Cuarto, que relacionar la conceptualización de lo plebeyo con la de lo precario nos permite pensar prácticas democráticas renovadas. (shrink)

The present qualitative study analyzes how a group of young people already involved in STEM fields perceive the prototypical person working in STEM. Gender differences between participants in technological and non-technological STEM fields were analyzed. A total of 27 young people (59.3% women) took part in the interviews (Mean Age = 25.48 years). Of them, 16 participants were working in STEM professions, and 11 were enrolled in the final courses of STEM degrees. The results of the content analysis were examined (...) in light of social role theory and the multidimensional structure of gender stereotypes. Men in these fields were therefore attributed an unappealing and weird physical appearance. Some female participants linked STEM professionals’ intellectual abilities to the stereotype that men have higher abilities in these fields. Whereas females attributed effort and perseverance to STEM professionals’ intellectual aptitudes, males referred to the development of soft skills. Participants in technological STEM fields connected the stereotype of being a ‘weirdo’ to a boring job, whereas those in non-technological fields linked it to their unconventional character. Some participants were disappointed by a lack of correspondence between expectations and the actual job STEM professionals do. Moreover, females in technological STEM fields commented on the job’s low social impact, while males mentioned low attainment of technical qualifications. Most referents in STEM fields were masculine, some of whom were present in the mass media. The practical implications of the findings are discussed. (shrink)

Volume 19, Issue 2, April 2020, Page 201-205.

A partir de las propuestas metodológicas de los Estudios del Imaginario, este trabajo busca mostrar que algunas de las principales tramas ideadas por Philip K. Dick tienen un sustrato gnóstico. Para ello, en primer lugar, mencionamos algunos datos biográficos que muestran el interés de Dick por el gnosticismo; en segundo lugar, identificamos mitemas idénticos entre ambos corpus (“este mundo es un engaño”; “este mundo es una prisión de hierro”; “el iniciado tiene un doble”; etc.). Con ello, esta investigación contribuye al (...) debate científico en torno a la recepción y reutilización de antiguos mitos en la literatura de ciencia ficción. (shrink)

El documento presenta la propuesta ecuatoriana como una política pública viable tanto desde el punto de vista nacional como internacional. Se analizan las razones de por qué no debe atarse esta iniciativa al mercado de carbono, y se proponen premisas para impulsar acuerdos políticos que tendrán como momento clave la reunión del Convenio de Cambio Climático en Copenhague. En el documento se proponen varias posibilidades y condiciones políticas y económicas para estructurar un fondo solidario a fin de hacer viable la (...) iniciativa de no explotación del crudo en el Parque Nacional Yasuní. Se destaca que la propuesta ha recibido ya el respaldo del Parlamente Alemán, y que está en la agenda de varios parlamentos y gobiernos a nivel internacional. (shrink)

Los diferentes narrativismos que afirman la auto-constitución narrativa del self son acusados en ocasiones de círculo vicioso. Si un self es una historia que alguien podría contar, y ese self es autor de su propio relato, parece que entramos en un bucle irresoluble. Este artículo intenta evaluar diferentes respuestas a esta imputación que se dan dentro de los narrativismos contemporáneos basadas en la búsqueda de un fundamento de ese self narrativo externo al círculo vicioso.

Aunque con cierta frecuencia se ha hablado de la influencia del «Tratado sobre la libertad»de Schelling sobre la metafísica de Schopenhauer, la tradición apenas ha prestado atención a losnumerosos pero muy dispersos materiales, publicados e inéditos, que conciernen a la relación y lapolémica de Schopenhauer con dicho tratado. El artículo ofrece una exposición ordenada de talesmateriales, mostrando cuáles fueron las objeciones fundamentales de Schopenhauer al escrito y tratandode determinar la motivación última de la polémica. Asimismo, se comentan las declaraciones del (...) propioSchopenhauer con respecto a la supuesta influencia, ofreciendo claves para una interpretación de lasmismas distinta a la usual. (shrink)

College students have become more representative as blood donors, mainly to help other people. This study ascertained the association between spirituality and adherence or intention to donate blood in post-graduate students. In this quantitative and cross-sectional study, participants were 281 students from a post-graduate programme at a Brazilian public university. After complying with ethical requirements, data were collected through a questionnaire for sociodemographic characterization and identification of blood donation practices, followed by the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Descriptive statistics and parametric tests (...) were used for data analysis. A total of 74% of the participants were female and 26% were male. Previous experience and/or intention to donate blood were found in 75.3%; 14.3% donated blood periodically. In addition, 12.2% were not adept to donation and 12.5% were inapt. Spiritual Well-Being scores were similar between individuals who are not adept and those who donate periodically. In conclusion, in the sample, spirituality and blood donation are not associated, but spiritual well-being and gender are. To enhance blood donation, further research is needed. (shrink)

Resumen: En este artículo se estudia la dimensión estética de prácticas denominadas artísticas, que no fueron concebidas dentro de los cánones clásicos europeos del “Arte”. Nos centramos en el problema disciplinar que se genera al separar las prácticas estéticas -es decir todas aquellas manifestaciones sensibles- de culturas no-europeas de aquellas que sí pertenecen a los cánones académicos o institucionales de tradición europea; las primeras perteneciendo al ámbito de la antropología y arqueología y las segundas al arte y la estética. Sostenemos (...) que estas divisiones epistemológicas se fundamentan en parte en los prejuicios civilizatorios que tomaron fuerza con el evolucionismo social y que dividieron como categorías separadas lo “civilizado” de lo “primitivo”, relegando sobre todo esta última al ámbito de estudio científico. Sin embargo, se resaltan en este artículo aquellas vertientes de pensamiento que, desde las humanidades de tradición europea, se pueden entretejer con las agencias y significados que yacen detrás de las prácticas estéticas transculturales. Abstract: This article studies the aesthetic dimension of so-called artistic practices, which were not conceived within the classical European canons of “Art”. We focus on the disciplinary problem generated by separating aesthetic practices -that is, all those sensitive manifestations- of non-European cultures from those that do belong to the academic or institutional canons of European tradition; the former belonging to the field of anthropology and archaeology and the latter to art and aesthetics. We argue that these epistemological divisions are based in part on the civilizational prejudices that gained strength with social evolutionism and that divided the “civilized” from the “primitive” as separate categories, relegating the latter mainly to the realm of scientific study. However, this paper highlights those strands of thought that, from the humanities of European tradition, can be interwoven with the agencies and meanings that lie behind transcultural aesthetic practices. (shrink)

After two decades in the 21st Century, and despite all the advances in the area, some very important names from past centuries still do not have the recognition they deserve in the global history of library and information science and, specifically, of knowledge organization. Although acknowledged in British librarianship, the name of James Duff Brown still does not have a proper recognition on a global scale. His contributions to a free and more democratic library had a prominent place in the (...) works and projects he developed during his time at the libraries of Clerkenwell and Islington in London. Free access to the library shelves, an architecture centered on books and people, and classifications that are more dynamic were dreams fulfilled by Brown. With this biographical article, we hope to live up to his legacy and pay homage to a true librarian and an advocate of the public library and subject classification. (shrink)

En la primera parte de este trabajo se busca explicar por qué tanto la figura personal de Jorge Luis Borges como su propia obra han generado alguna clase de recelo o “miedo”. Las prevenciones de orden político hacia su persona, por un lado, y las complejas relaciones entre la dificultad y disfrute que surgen en el tratamiento sus textos, por el otro, son dos dimensiones interconectadas que participan en la configuración de una representación cultural sobre Borges en su propio país, (...) Argentina. Como un método para vencer “el miedo a Borges”, en la segunda parte se muestra cómo muy diversas y heterogéneas producciones de la cultura popular pueden llegar a ser vías de acceso para empezar a tratar temas de su obra. En la tercera parte, que es el núcleo de este trabajo, se presenta el desarrollo una investigación que recurrió a un capítulo de la serie de dibujos animados “Los Simpson” como vía de acceso a un texto de Borges. Los resultados ofrecen evidencia empírica a favor de las dos hipótesis evaluadas. En primer lugar, una tarea preparatoria con una producción de la cultura popular parece favorecer la comprensión global. En segundo lugar, la lectura en voz alta y comentada parece favorecer no sólo la comprensión en general sino también el disfrute de los textos. (shrink)

In the past 20 years, experimental philosophers have been investigating folk intuitions about the compatibility of determinism with free will and moral responsibility using vignettes depicting agents in deterministic universes. However, recent research suggests that participants massively fail to understand these vignettes. Moreover, it has also been proposed that these comprehension errors might even be systematic and thus unavoidable, threatening the project of probing folk intuitions about free will and determinism through vignettes. Through five studies, we suggest that past studies (...) have overestimated participants’ failure to understand vignettes depicting deterministic universes, mainly by relying on unreliable samples and by using non-validated measures. We also show that using new vignettes that take more time to better describe what determinism is substantially reduces comprehension errors and their impact on participants’ intuitions. We conclude that, at least in the current state of the art, skepticism about the possibility to probe folk intuitions about the compatibility of determinism with free will and moral responsibility through the use of vignettes is premature. (shrink)

Frente al modelo anterior, en el que el juez tomaba las decisiones fundamentales respecto de las situaciones de desprotección del menor, la vigente normativa centra la actuación protectora en los entes públicos y contempla un abanico de técnicas y medidas que abarcan desde la prevención de las situaciones de desprotección de menores, pasando por la declaración de situación de riesgo, previa a la posible declaración de desamparo y consiguiente asunción automática de la tutela por la Administración y la inserción o (...) integración familiar, laboral y social de los menores que han padecido la situación de desprotección. (shrink)