Despite the fact that the discussion on the economic man flourishes in John Stuart Mill’s work, this does not mean that this issue has not been previously discussed, at least, not in clear terms. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that even if Adam Smith never specifically characterized the person who deals with economic affairs, he pointed out some of his characteristics in his writings. We can find some clues to his thoughts on that issue in Theory of (...) Moral Sentiments, Lectures on Jurisprudence and The Wealth of Nations. In this article, Smith’s homo oeconomicus is approached in three aspects: rational, moral and emotional. In addition, we also argue that the philosopher had advanced some studies of psychology and behavioral economics that would be developed from the twentieth century, which is discussed when we approach the emotional side of Smith’s economic man. (shrink)

Recently, the mechanistic framework of active inference has been put forward as a principled foundation to develop an overarching theory of consciousness which would help address conceptual disparities in the field (Wiese 2018 ; Hohwy and Seth 2020 ). For that promise to bear out, we argue that current proposals resting on the active inference scheme need refinement to become a process theory of consciousness. One way of improving a theory in mechanistic terms is to use formalisms such as computational (...) models that implement, attune and validate the conceptual notions put forward. Here, we examine how computational modelling approaches have been used to refine the theoretical proposals linking active inference and consciousness, with a focus on the extent and success to which they have been developed to accommodate different facets of consciousness and experimental paradigms, as well as how simulations and empirical data have been used to test and improve these computational models. While current attempts using this approach have shown promising results, we argue they remain preliminary in nature. To refine their predictive and structural validity, testing those models against empirical data is needed i.e., new and unobserved neural data. A remaining challenge for active inference to become a theory of consciousness is to generalize the model to accommodate the broad range of consciousness explananda; and in particular to account for the phenomenological aspects of experience. Notwithstanding these gaps, this approach has proven to be a valuable avenue for theory advancement and holds great potential for future research. (shrink)

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo realizar un análisis del procedimiento abreviado contemplado en el Código Orgánico Integral Penal (COIP), partiendo del criterio de que ciertos aspectos de este procedimiento vulneran derechos fundamentales del investigado. Se destaca particularmente el requisito para el procesado de admitir los hechos que se le imputan para acceder a este procedimiento, lo cual, según la opinión mayoritaria de doctrinarios, compromete el principio de no autoincriminación, la presunción de inocencia y el derecho a un juicio con (...) todas sus fases. El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar el procedimiento abreviado establecido en el Código Orgánico Integral Penal (COIP), con el propósito de identificar posibles vulneraciones de derechos fundamentales del investigado. Se buscó específicamente evaluar cómo el requisito de admitir los hechos imputados para acceder a este procedimiento podría afectar principios como el de no autoincriminación y la presunción de inocencia. A través de un enfoque cualitativo y utilizando diferentes métodos de análisis, se procuró determinar si el procedimiento abreviado, tal como está configurado, garantiza un debido proceso conforme a los estándares de derechos humanos y constitucionales. La metodología aplicada se sustentó en un enfoque cualitativo, utilizando los métodos inductivo, analítico, sintético y exegético. Se llevó a cabo un análisis documental de la bibliografía relacionada con el tema investigado, así como de instrumentos internacionales de Derechos Humanos, la Constitución de la República de Ecuador, el COIP y jurisprudencia vinculada a la materia. Los resultados de la investigación determinaron que el procedimiento abreviado tal como se encuentra regulado en el COIP beneficia al Estado y al sistema de justicia al agilizar ciertos procesos legales. Sin embargo, se evidenció que este procedimiento puede vulnerar derechos esenciales del procesado, como el principio de no autoincriminación y la presunción de inocencia. Por lo tanto, se concluye que el procedimiento abreviado afecta el debido proceso al comprometer garantías fundamentales. La investigación señala que el procedimiento abreviado regulado en el COIP, si bien puede ser beneficioso para la eficiencia del sistema de justicia, también conlleva riesgos significativos de vulnerar derechos fundamentales del procesado. Por lo tanto, se destaca la necesidad de revisar y modificar este procedimiento para garantizar el respeto absoluto al debido proceso y a las garantías individuales del investigado. (shrink)

Online crowdsourcing platforms have rapidly become a popular source of data collection. Despite the various advantages these platforms offer, there are substantial concerns regarding not only data validity issues, but also the ethical, societal, and global ramifications arising from the prevalent use of online crowdsourcing platforms. This paper seeks to expand the dialogue by examining both the “internal” aspects of crowdsourcing research practices, such as data quality issues, reporting transparency, and fair compensation, and the “external” aspects, in terms of how (...) the widespread use of crowdsourcing data collection shapes the nature of scientific communities and our society in general. Online participants in research studies are informal workers who provide labor in exchange for remuneration. The paper thus highlights the need for researchers to consider the markedly different political, economic, and socio-cultural characteristics of the Global North and the Global South when undertaking crowdsourcing research involving an international sample; such consideration is crucial for both increasing research validity and mitigating societal inequities. We encourage researchers to scrutinize the value systems underlying this popular data collection research method and its associated ethical, societal, and global ramifications, as well as provide a set of recommendations regarding the use of crowdsourcing platforms. (shrink)

Este estudo tem como objetivo conhecer as concepções de homem presentes na bibliografia utilizada pelas disciplinas de Psicologia Clínica das universidades gaúchas. Com esse intuito procedeu-se, inicialmente, a uma revisão bibliográfica sobre as formas de concepção de homem ao longo da história da humanidade, chegando-se à Idade Moderna e ao advento da Psicologia como ciência. Através da análise qualitativa dos planos de ensino de 11 universidades gaúchas, pode-se inferir que a concepção de homem predominante na Psicologia Clínica, como disciplina acadêmica, (...) é a concepção própria da Psicanálise.This article aims to know the concepts of man that can be found in the bibliography used in courses of clinical psychology in universities of Rio Grande do Sul. As a first step, we went through a bibliographical survey about the ways man has been comprehended along history up to Modern Age and the advent of Psychology as science. From the qualitative analysis of the teaching plans of eleven universities of Rio Grande do Sul, it is possible to infer that the psychoanalytical concept of man is the predominant conception found in clinical psychology as an academic discipline. (shrink)

Este estudo objetiva identificar os saberes específicos para o ensino de Língua Portuguesa de professores sem formação específica. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa e biográfica, sendo de cunho exploratório, realizada a partir das histórias de vida. Utilizamos, para produção dos dados, os Ateliês Biográficos de Projetos proposto por Delory-Momberger. O corpus da pesquisa é composto pelas narrativas biográficas construídas nos encontros do ABP e empregamos a análise de conteúdo como técnica para análise dos dados. Assim, evidenciamos que os (...) professores revelaram saberes e não saberes advindos das relações sociais e de sua formação profissional. Constatamos, ainda, a existência de trajetórias marcadas por histórias de vida diferentes, mas que convergem na docência em Língua Portuguesa ; que estes professores aprendem nos caminhos da docência; que mesmo sem terem a formação específica conseguem ensinar. Dessa forma, percebemos os processos formativos a partir da perspectiva pedagógica presente na prática e da revelação de saberes e não saberes para o ensino de Língua Portuguesa, que contribuem para a construção de aprendizagens da docência. (shrink)

Este texto discute alguns filmes classificados como de ficção científica para marcar como o cinema nos tem ensinado a ver e a viver nessa civilização altamente tecnológica, à qual se tem atribuído o qualificativo cibernética. (APPIGNANESI; GARRAT, 1998). Tal civilização, também configurada como pós-moderna (Lyotard, 1989), como modernidade líquida (BAUMAN, 2001), ou como modernidade tardia (JAMESON, 2002), tem sido caracterizada por atuar na produção de subjetividades bastante diversas das usualmente invocadas para referir o homem no humanismo moderno. Muitos dos debates (...) conduzidos salientam a centralidade que as TICs alcançam nas sociedades contemporâneas, que também se caracterizam pela emergência de formas ciborgues, pós-humanas ou pós-orgânicas, que representam corpos descritos muito mais como processos ou arranjos da informação do que como corposmáquina, como as perspectivas modernistas enfatizavam. Argumentamos que se rompem nessas novas representações importantes binarismos modernos, tais como, homem/máquina, biológico/tecnológico e natureza/cultura. (shrink)

Prosocial behavior is critical for the natural development of an individual as well as for promoting social relationships. Although this complex behavior results from gratuitous acts occurring between an agent and a recipient and a wealth of literature on prosocial behavior has investigated these actions, little is known about the effects on the recipient and the neurobiology underlying them. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify neural correlates of receiving prosocial behavior in the context of real-world (...) experiences, with different types of action provided by the agent, including practical help and effort appreciation. Practical help was associated with increased activation in a network of regions spanning across bilateral superior temporal sulcus, temporoparietal junction, temporal pole, and medial prefrontal cortex. Effort appreciation was associated with activation and increased task-modulated connectivity of the occipital cortex. Prosocial-dependent brain responses were associated with positive affect. Our results support the role of the theory of mind network and the visual cortices in mediating the positive effects of receiving gratuitous help. Moreover, they indicate that specific types of prosocial behavior are mediated by distinct brain networks, which further demonstrates the uniqueness of the psychological processes underlying prosocial actions. (shrink)

The paper argues that the common notion that there is a gap between a physical scope, namely, brain processes, and something immaterial such as private experiences is an illusion provoked by the conceptual conflicts of our understanding. In order to overcome this illusion, it is necessary to clarify the foundations and implications of the uses of key concepts in the cognitive field.

According to Kanazawa (Psychol Rev 111:512–523, 2004), general intelligence, which he considers as a synonym of abstract thinking, evolved specifically to allow our ancestors to deal with evolutionary novel problems while conferring no advantage in solving evolutionary familiar ones. We present a study whereby the results contradict Kanazawa’s hypothesis by demonstrating that performance on an evolutionary novel problem (an abstract reasoning task) predicts performance on an evolutionary familiar problem (a social reasoning task).

Vanity underlies human behavior and can be expressed in various forms in social, moral, aesthetic, and economic fields. It is an emotional complex that encompasses narcissism and histrionics as character traits, as well as other functions such as memory, imagination, cognition, and instinctive drive. Using a psychological-philosophical approach, this study explores the influence of vanity on economic behavior, detailing vanity within social interactions between an agent who exhibits vanity and a spectator who observes, particularly in the context of mutual comparison (...) related to external signs of wealth. (shrink)

The philosopher's controversial link with Heidegger is explored by Jon Mark Mikkelsen in the final essay, which concludes that, although Heidegger's view of art is consistent, both historically and conceptually, with his political involvement with fascism, the same cannot be said of Kuki.".

O presente artigo apresenta alguns fatores relacionados à permanência, rompimento e retomo de mulheres agredidas à relação conjugal, bem como alguns depoimentos. Conclui-se que a conscientização das mulheres do seu papel na perpetuação desse ciclo é fundamental para que ela possa tomar-se a protagonista das mudanças na relação.

This paper addresses the notion of dialectics in the linguistic bodies theory. First, it presents it as a three-aspect concept, namely, the ontological aspect, the methodological aspect, and the dialectical model. Subsequently, it discusses the ontological aspect and the dialectical model and, based on the enactivist linguistic notions of concreteness and abstraction, suggests that it can be conceived as a two-fold concept: methodological and epistemological. This suggestion intends to avoid the paradox we are led to by acknowledging three ontological enactivist (...) claims and a few assumptions of the methodological approach.Keywords: Dialectics, Enactivism, Language, Epistemology, Ontology. (shrink)

Os avanços da democracia no Brasil não têm resultado num processo amplo de discussão sobre a cidadania, seus significados e realização. Este fato pode ser verificado pelo número cada vez maior de discursos que resumem o exercício da cidadania a participação nas eleições. O presente artigo tem como intuito discutir de que maneira a construção de outros fóruns de discussão e de participação popular podem possibilitar redefinições da democracia e da cidadania, que busquem fomentar a participação efetiva e a construção (...) da esfera pública. Para tanto, analisa o papel que as escolas públicas da periferia paulista podem ter neste processo ao se tornarem lócus da construção da cidadania, com a implementação de um modelo de gestão democrática que, busque, através da construção coletiva do Projeto Político-Pedagógico, a real participação da comunidade e dos diferentes sujeitos que dela fazem parte. The progress of democracy in Brazil has not resulted in an extensive process of discussion of citizenship, its meaning and fulfillment. This fact can be verified by the increasing number of speeches which summarize the exercise of citizenship participation in elections. This article has the intention to discuss how the construction of other discussion forums and popular participation can enable redefinitions of democracy and citizenship, which seek to promote the effective participation and the construction of the public sphere. It analyzes the role that public schools on the outskirts of São Paulo in this process may have become the locus of citizenship building, with the implementation of a model of democratic management that seeks, through the collective construction of the Political-Pedagogical Project, the real community participation and the different subjects that are part of it. (shrink)

How has the body been discussed in cyber artworks? Technologies of communication nets such as the World Wide Web, satellites, mobile phones and GPS are triggering drastic transformations of the concept we have of the body as well as of the perception of ourselves. The purpose of this article is to emphasize some aspects existing in art pieces that question and investigate the concept of body and the emergence of a new kind of consciousness.

Our objective in this paper is twofold: first, we intend to address the tenability of the enactivist middle way between realism and idealism, as it is proposed in The Embodied Mind. We do so by taking the enactivist conception of bringing forth a world literally in three conceptual levels: enaction, niche construction and social construction. Based on this proposal, we claim that enactivism is compatible with the idea of an independent reality without committing to the claim that organisms have cognitive (...) access to a world composed of properties specified prior to any cognitive activity. Our second goal is to show that our literal interpretation of bringing forth a world not only sustains the legitimacy of the middle way, but it also allows us to revive the conception of evolution as natural drift—which is perhaps the least examined aspect of the original enactivist theory and is central to the understanding of cognition in an enactive way. Natural drift focuses on how structural couplings between organism and environment trigger viable pathways of maintenance and reproduction, instead of selecting the most adapted trait to a pregiven environment. Thus, although enactivists typically do not explore the consequences of their views regarding evolutionary dynamics, we show how natural drift provides a suitable starting point. (shrink)

Campbell, Ulrich, and Grady (2016) should be commended for attempting to contribute to the discussion of what many believe is currently a messy concept. They propose that a broader definition of mo...

High‐fidelity binding of transcription factors (TFs) to DNA target sites is fundamental for proper regulation of cellular processes, as well as for the maintenance of cell identity. Recognition of cognate binding motifs in the genome is attributed by and large to the DNA binding domains of TFs. As an additional mode of conferring binding specificity, noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been proposed to assist associated TFs in finding their binding sites by interacting with either DNA or RNA in the vicinity of (...) their target loci. However, a well‐documented example of such a mechanism was lacking until we recently reported that a ncRNA made by Epstein‐Barr virus uses an RNA–RNA interaction with nascent transcripts generated from the viral genome to facilitate the recruitment of an interacting TF, PAX5, to viral DNA. This proof‐of‐principle finding suggests that cellular ncRNAs may likewise function in guiding interacting TFs to chromatin target sites. (shrink)

The general question to be considered in this paper points to the nature of the world described by chemistry: what is macro-chemical ontology like? In particular, we want to identify the ontological categories that underlie chemical discourse and chemical practice. This is not an easy task, because modern Western metaphysics was strongly modeled by theoretical physics. For this reason, we attempt to answer our question by contrasting macro-chemical ontology with the mainstream ontology of physics and of traditional metaphysics. In particular, (...) we introduce the distinction between stuff-ontology, proper of chemistry, and individual-ontology, proper of physics. These two ontologies differ from each other in the basic categories of their own structures. On this basis, we characterize individual-ontology in such a way that the features of stuff-ontology will arise by contrast with it. (shrink)

I discuss an aspect of individual differences which has not been considered adequately in the target article, despite its potential role in the rationality debate. Besides having different intellectual abilities, different individuals may produce different erroneous responses to the same problem. In deductive reasoning, different response patterns contradict deterministic views of deductive inferences. In decision-making, variations in nonoptimal choice may explain successful collective actions.

The goals of the present study were to test whether (and which) basic numerical abilities can be improved with training and whether training effects transfer to improvement in children’s math achievement. The literature is mixed with evidence that does or does not substantiate the efficacy of training basic numerical ability. In the present study, we developed a child-friendly software named ‘123 Bakery’ which includes four training modules; non-symbolic numerosity comparison, non-symbolic numerosity estimation, approximate arithmetic and symbol-to-numerosity mapping. Fifty-six first graders (...) were randomly assigned to either the training or control group. The training group participated in 6 weeks of training (5 times a week, 30 minutes per day). All participants underwent pre- and post- training assessment of their basic numerical processing ability (including numerosity discrimination acuity, symbolic/non-symbolic magnitude estimation, approximate arithmetic, symbol-to-numerosity mapping), overall math achievement and intelligence, 6 weeks apart. The acuity for numerosity discrimination (approximate number sense acuity; ANS acuity) significantly improved after training, but this training effect did not transfer to improvement in symbolic, exact calculation, or any other math ability. We conclude that basic numerical cognition training leads to improvement in ANS acuity, but whether this effect transfers to symbolic math ability remains to be further tested. (shrink)

Se analizará la manera en que la influencia teórica de las ciencias biológicas y médicas sobre la noción de “vida” imponen una transformación de las construcciones políticas, ideológicas y legales de un Estado que puede ser descrito como biopolítico. Para esto, se acudirá al análisis de la transformación de la idea operativa de “vida” desde la perspectiva agambiana de la politización de la muerte y la pretensión de disolver el umbral de decidibilidad entre vida y muerte para tomar, luego, tres (...) ejemplos de instancias legales en las que puede terminarse con la vida sin contradecir el propósito biopolítico de protegerla; esto es, instancias en las cuales no existe penalización ante la finalización de la vida. Estos tres ejemplos, que se presentarán de manera progresiva son: a) la eutanasia, b) el aborto y c) la contracepción. Es importante aclarar que no se pretende defender ni condenar en un plano moral las instancias de decisión sobre la disposición de una vida distinta de la propia, ni tampoco dar argumentos para que algo así se haga. Por el contrario, lo que aquí se pretende es aportar una dimensión explicativa –y analítica– desde el marco de la biopolítica, siguiendo, quizá, la sugerencia agambiana respecto de la necesidad de adoptar una perspectiva de este tipo para poder tener una comprensión adecuada de ciertos fenómenos políticos. (shrink)