La concepción de Derechos Humanos se ha desarrollado a lo largo de la historia con diferentes modalidades transformándose en un campo de acción con fundamentación propia. Este artículo analiza el fundamento de los Derechos Humanos como un accionar en sociedad conformado por un macroescenario institucional constituído para su ejercicio así como de los microescenarios donde variados actores desempeñan roles, defienden intereses distintos, engendrando ópticas que alcanzan finalmente soluciones concretas que inciden directamente en nuestra vida cotidiana.The conception of the human rights (...) has developed throughout history in different modes thus becoming an action field with its own foundations. This article analyses the foundations of the human rights as a way of acting in society, conformed by an institutional macro scenery constituted for its exercise, as well as by micro sceneries where a variety of actors perform roles, defend different interests, thus generating a number of perspectives that finally achieve concrete solutions that impact directly on our everyday life. (shrink)

Sph. 244d11–12 is a locus desperatus. Editors have suspected these lines to be corrupted. Accordingly, they have proposed multiple emendations. In my view, however, the pas sage does not need emendation but only interpretation and Schleiermacher’s construal. I argue that Sph. 244d11–12 shows that the one is not identical to a name. It shows this by analyzing what a name is and proving that the terms ‘name’ and ‘one’ are not intersubstitutable salva veritate.

RESUMEN Pocas polémicas en el ámbito de la filosofía de la biología han llevado tanto espacio como la que existen alrededor de la explicación funcional y del lenguaje funcional. Varios de los enfoques principales que han tratado de reconstruir este tipo de explicación y elucidar tal lenguaje, aunque fuertemente heterogéneos, comparten la idea de que el lenguaje funcional no es más que un modo de hablar del cual puede prescindirse, pues, asumen que el lenguaje funcional puede ser definido a partir (...) de (o reducido a) lenguaje no funcional. En consecuencia, la explicación funcional sería reducible a (o equivalente a) explicaciones no funcionales. En este trabajo repasaremos tales enfoques, y trataremos de defender que no funcionan en el siguiente sentido: no pueden dar cuenta de la totalidad de las atribuciones funcionales. En consecuencia, aunque pudieran ser útiles para elucidar o reconstruir algunas áreas de la biología, no cumplen con el objetivo de mostrar que el lenguaje funcional es eliminable. -/- RESUMO Poucas polêmicas no âmbito da filosofia da biologia tiveram tanto espaço como a que existe acerca da explicação funcional e da linguagem funcional. Vários dos principais enfoques que trataram de reconstruir este tipo de explicação e elucidar tal linguagem, ainda que fortemente heterogêneos, compartilham a ideia de que a linguagem funcional não é mais que um modo de falar do qual pode prescindir-se, pois, assumem que a linguagem funcional pode ser definida a partir de (ou reduzida a) linguagem não funcional. Em consequência, a explicação funcional seria reduzível a (ou equivalente a) explicações não funcionais. Neste trabalho repassaremos tais enfoques e trataremos de defender que não funcionam, no seguinte sentido: não podem dar conta da totalidade das atribuições funcionais. Em consequência, ainda que pudessem ser úteis para elucidar ou reconstruir algumas áreas da biologia, não alcançam o objetivo de mostrar que a linguagem funcional é eliminável. (shrink)

This paper makes use of the concepts and theoretical framework developed within the field of Argumentation Theory to account for the structure and characteristics of abduction and of the comparative processes of weighing explanatory hypothesis. It elaborates an analysis of abduction based on its consideration as a meta-explanatory argumentation scheme while elucidating its relations with abductive reasoning and inference. The conceptualization of comparative processes of weighing explanatory hypothesis as complex and varied argumentative structures is presented as an alternative to the (...) idea of providing a formally rigid and supposedly universal account of ‘inference to the best explanation’. (shrink)

Clinical ethics consultants should show bold moral courage in discharging their duties to patients, families, and healthcare providers. Given the corrosive impact on trust, and on the appropriate d...

Contrary to most current epistemologists who concentrate on core cases of rather ‘spontaneous’ trust and belief in the face of assertions, Classical rhetoricians addressed the study of ‘testimony’ as an two-acts phenomenon: that of the ‘disclosure’ of information and that of the ‘appeal’ to its authority in subsequent discursive practices. Moreover, they primarily focused on this second phase as they assumed that it was such argumentative setting that finally gave ‘testimonial’ relevance to the first act. According to this ‘rhetorical’ model, (...) then, it is the dynamics and pragmatics of such complex process that is the core issue regarding ‘testimony’. (shrink)

Contrary to current individualistic epistemology, Classical rhetoric provides us with a pragmatical and particularly dynamic conception of ‘testimony’ as a source made available for the orator by the particular community in which she acts. In order to count as usable testimony, a testimony to which one could appeal in further communications, any discourse must comply with specific rules of social sanction. A deliberate attention to the social practices in which testimony is given and assessed may offer us a more accurate (...) view of its epistemological role. (shrink)

Choice reaction tasks are performed faster when stimulus location corresponds to response location. This spatial stimulus–response compatibility effect affects performance at the level of action planning and execution. However, when response selection is completed before movement initiation, the Simon effect arises only at the planning level. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether when a precocious response selection is requested, the Simon effect can be detected on the kinematics characterizing the online control phase of a non-ballistic movement. Participants (...) were presented with red or green colored squares, which could appear on the right, left, above, or below a central cross. Depending on the square's color, participants had to release one of two buttons, then reach toward and press a corresponding lateral pad. We found evidence of the Simon effect on both action planning and on-line control. Moreover, the investigation of response conflict at the level of previous trials, a factor that might determine interference at the level of the current response, revealed a conflict adaptation process across trials. Results are discussed in terms of current theories concerned with the Simon effect and the distinction between action planning and control. (shrink)

This article reviews Christopher W. Tindale’s The Philosophy of Argument and Audience Reception.

How questions and why questions interact in complex ways within biological practice. One of the most fruitful accounts to think about this relation is the widely known systemic approach, which has its origin mainly in the works of Robert Cummins (1975, 1983). As we will show, this approach effectively manages to capture much of what biologists do, especially in areas such as molecular biology, neuroscience and neuroethology. Our aim with this work is to discuss the metatheoretical status of the presuppositions (...) behind systemic analysis. We will hold that these assumptions are of an empirical nature, and that they can be reconstructed as parts of a theory. (shrink)

Ambiguity surrounding the effect of external engagement on academic research has raised questions about what motivates researchers to collaborate with third parties. We argue that what matters for society is research that can be absorbed by users. We define ‘openness’ as a willingness by researchers to make research more usable by external partners by responding to external influences in their own research practices. We ask what kinds of characteristics define those researchers who are more ‘open’ to creating usable knowledge. Our (...) empirical study analyses a sample of 1583 researchers working at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research. Results demonstrate that it is personal factors that determine which researchers have open behaviours. The paper concludes that policies to encourage external engagement should focus on experiences which legitimate and validate knowledge produced through user encounters, both at the academic formation career stage as well as through providing ongoing opportunities to engage with third parties. (shrink)

This paper is a response to H. Siegel’s “Arguing with Arguments” from a rhetorical perspective on argumentation. First I address Siegel’s concept of ‘argument in its abstract propositional sense’ and attempt to show that it is not at all an obvious object that should unquestionably be the privileged focus of argumentation theory. I then defend C. W. Tindale’s rhetorical perspective on argumentation against some of Siegel’s misreadings and also some of his legitimate disagreements regarding the relations between _persuasion_ and _rational_ (...) _justification_ and the way we should understand the source of argumentative normativity. (shrink)

El artículo plantea las conexiones entre la tesis de la banalidad del mal y la historia de la voluntad presente en La vida del espíritu. Interpreta Eichmann en Jerusalén como una obra sobre el mal burocrático, pero sobre todo como estudio acerca de la responsabilidad, tanto jurídica como moral. De la historia de la voluntad resalta tres aspectos que pueden ser puestos en conexión con el problema de la responsabilidad: la ontología de la contingencia, la idea de individualidad vinculada a (...) la voluntad y la capacidad de trascendencia y resistencia subyacentes en la teoría de Duns Escoto de la libertad como indiferencia. Por último, sugiere una vinculación entre la banalidad del mal y la ontología del bien desarrolladas en “Algunas cuestiones de filosofía moral”, de 1965-1966, la lucha contra el gnosticismo y la defensa de una relación entre moralidad e inteligibilidad del mal. (shrink)

The aim of the present study is to analyze individual differences in academic self-efficacy within a population of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors from the European cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Variables describing educational level and length of stay were considered in a sample of 377 individuals being cared for in different youth centers. Of these, 63.4% belonged to the group who had stayed at the center for less than 9 months and 36.6% reported a length of stay of more than 9 (...) months. The age of participants ranged between 8 and 17 years old. Once the quality parameters of the instrument were elaborated, reliability and validity was confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis using Structural Equation Modeling methodology. Data collection was then initiated. The results overall indicate that 87.6% of those who completed the questionnaire reported a higher level of self-efficacy with regards to working with any classmate, whilst at the same time seeing themselves as capable of achieving good marks. ANOVA results indicated significant differences with respect to educational level and length of stay. In this regard, students who had received professional training and had been at the Center for more than 9 months, were the ones who developed greater academic self-efficacy for spending more time working when tasks were judged to be difficult. The results obtained demonstrate that any intervention will be positive as long as it promotes different institutions to develop strategies that cater to a length of stay of more than 9 months and target education, academic self-efficacy, socialization and strengthening the future workforce. Such interventions can be directed through new European, Spanish or local level policies. It is clear that institutions still have a lot of work left to do. (shrink)

DISCURSOS DE LA SUBJETIVIDAD: LA CRÍTICA DE LOS ESCRITORES.

This paper tries to offer a descriptive account of the normative workings of evaluative fallacy charges directed to narratives. In order to do that, I first defend the continuity and mutual dependence, as based on a dynamical conception of argument, between the ‘belief conception’ and the ‘argumentative conception’ of fallacy. Then, I construe a catalogue of ‘fallacy charges’ based on both such a continuity and the variety of counterarguments explored by the theoretical framework of Argument Dialectics. And finally, I apply (...) these ideas and distinctions in the analysis of four examples of published texts in which the charge of ‘fallacious narrative’ is issued by a discursive agent against other discursive agents’ either full-fledged narratives or narrative assumptions. The analyses confirm some of the characteristics mentioned in the catalogue as well as the argumentative nature of fallacy charges, even when the censored discourse does not exactly or explicitly contain an argument. The analyses also help understand the distinction between a rather concrete ‘linguistic’ use of the term narrative and a more abstract and elusive ‘discursive’ one, in which the difficulties of both identifying the object of censorship and the exact meaning of the fallacy charge multiply. (shrink)

La idea de “clasicismo” es una de las categorías más usadas en el mundo de las artes y de la estética filosófica. Sin embargo, la variedad de sus usos ha ocasionado que el término presente dificultades de interpretación y ambigüedades a quienes estudian el arte o la literatura clasicistas. El presente artículo se propone introducir algo de claridad y distinción en la discusión sobre la idea de “clasicismo”. Para ello, nos ocupamos, en primer lugar, de las cuestiones que conciernen a (...) su génesis histórica, disociándolo del concepto parejo, pero esencialmente diferente, de lo clásico. En segundo lugar, ofrecemos una caracterización de su estructura mediante una sistematización de sus cuatro sentidos principales tal y como se usan habitualmente en la bibliografía sobre el tema. De esta forma, el clasicismo se nos presenta como el problema de articular las diferentes conceptualizaciones filosóficas que se han adoptado sobre lo clásico. (shrink)

This paper is an essay on metaphilosophy that reviews, describes, categorises, and discusses different ways philosophers have approached the justification of abduction as a mode of reasoning and arguing. Advocating an argumentative approach to abduction, I model the philosophical debate over its justification as the critical assessment of a warrant-establishing argument allowing “H explains D” to be used as a reason for “H can be inferred from D.” Philosophers have discussed the conditions under which such kind of generic argument can (...) be accepted, and I identify five kinds of such conditions, namely: a) dialectical/procedural restriction; b) claim restriction; c) restriction over acceptable explanatory principles; d) balancing restriction; and e) epistemic restriction. (shrink)

Some interpreters take the arguments at Cratylus 439D3–440C1 to argue for Forms. Some interpreters also believe that these arguments are elliptical or contain lacunae. I accept that the arguments are elliptical. However, I deny that they contain lacunae. I present the most natural construal of the text and argue that it neither trades on Forms nor postulates Forms. To make my case, I show that Cratylus 439D3–440C1 has a modest end, which is to refute a particular notion of flux.

El sacrificio humano es una imagen frecuente en las religiones antiguas, concretamente en la griega, y su estudio ha levantado numerosos enfrentamientos entre corrientes historiográficas distintas. Uno de los casos más sobresalientes es del culto a Zeus en el Monte Liceo, que aquí analizamos. Las fuentes literarias reflejan la creencia de los griegos en estos sacrificios humanos, así que podemos decir que los sacrificios fueron reales porque fueron usados para construir paisaje y, por lo tanto, realidad.

One of the most widely used procedures applied to non-human animals or pre-linguistic humans is the “violation of expectation paradigm”. Curiously there is almost no discussion in the philosophical literature about it. Our objective will be to provide a first approach to the meta-theoretical nature of the assumptions behind the procedure that appeals to the violation of expectation and to extract some consequences. We show that behind them exists an empirical principle that affirms that the violation of the expectation of (...) certain mental rules generates surprise. We then proceeded to discuss the nature of these “mental rules”. We show that, as is often the case with theoretical concepts proposed by theories, they do not have a fixed interpretation. This will allow us to show that the usual relationship found in the developmental psychology literature between this experimental paradigm and cognitive approaches (which interpret experimental results in terms of higher-level mental activities) is not necessary. Finally, we relate this experimental design with the mark test and the inequity aversion test and discuss the possible ampliation of the application of the empirical principle of violation of expectation. (shrink)

The present article offers a reflection upon the welfare systems of states which attract large numbers of immigrants and must therefore take responsibility for awarding equal rights to immigrants and avoiding their becoming new marginalised groups. To this end, a brief description is given of the evolution of the profile of immigrants, which leads to a consideration of future demand on the basis of the resources offered by the states accepting immigrants and of the new population profiles, paying special attention (...) to the variables determined by family composition , cultural aspects and the legal-administrative situation. (shrink)