The Post-genomic Era includes features both from a methodological and epistemic point of view and from an ontological perspective. Firstly, it incorporates new methods of high-throughput sequencing of DNA and RNA, and the development of complete genomes that allow a precise reference of the molecular results obtained. In addition, from an ontological perspective, the centre of gravity of the molecular processes is placed on the expression of genes, and the way in which such expression is regulated; these features turn the (...) attention towards the study of Gene Regulatory Networks, and in particular to the role of RNA. This new molecular-biological perspective based on new methodologies and approaches is affecting the existing Molecular Genetics Theory including the definition of gen and Central Dogma of Molecular Biology. An important philosophical challenges posed by this new situation is the question whether there is a sophistication of the present theory or a New Theory of Molecular Genetics and whether there is an incommensurability between this theory and the accepted theory. In this work we evaluate these changes in the light of Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolution in order to propose an alternative between a moderate and a strong view. According to the moderate one, the Post-genomic changes do not properly involve a paradigm shift or, if they do, they constitute a minor revolution. The strong view considers that, the anomalies disclosed in the Molecular Genetics Theory at conceptual and methodological level and the Post-genomic changes they lead to suppose a scientific paradigm shift. (shrink)

In this article, the dominant legitimating discursive strategies around the ever-increasing labour demands and ever-declining standards of safety and well-being at work in Spain are analysed through the lens of Boltanski and Thévenot’s (2006) view of the transformation of capitalism. A qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews is used. Results show that the justificatory arguments most commonly put forward by managers and experts are the logic of supply and demand, and values related to flexibility, resilience and adaptability to change. In (...) contrast, the stability and protection established in the twentieth century are widely cherished values, particularly among union representatives and some human resources specialists. We found that discourse practices map two specific legitimating categories (market values and a projects orientation), and one critical category (Civic World), but the critical category has no practical impact, as the predominant feeling is resignation. Our research describes the common attitudes to legitimacy in the job market and points to a deep discontent in some of its key agents. (shrink)

The US poultry industry based on flexible accumulation has been advanced as the model of agro-industrial development for agrifood globalization. Similarly, Mexico has been presented as a noteworthy example of the negative effects of neoliberal restructuring associated with the globalization project. In this paper we use both of these assertions as points of departure to guide an investigation of the case of the restructuring of the Mexican poultry industry. Informed by a commodity systems analysis, archival data and key informant interviews (...) are used to generate an overview of the history of the poultry industry in Mexico. A sociology of agrifood theoretical framework informed by regimes theory is employed to analyze the events of the case. We conclude that neoregulation related to the IMF and NAFTA restructuring in Mexico facilitated the diffusion of the US model of poultry production. (shrink)

The issue of method is an area of disagreement and contention between two different perspectives of contemporary pragmatism: linguistic neopragmatism and pragmatism of classical tendency focused on experience. Though the debate within contemporary pragmatism is wider and the context should be considered, I think that the issue of method can be addressed separately. First, the article introduces John Dewey’s idea of “experience as method” and considers Richard Rorty’s argument in favor of “pragmatism without method”. I argue that the “experimental” pragmatist (...) perspective of inquiry can successfully answer to the criticism of the latter. Secondly, the article presents the proposal of pragmatist methodology in line with Dewey’s perspective -though I suggest that it is compatible with Rorty’s neopragmatism. I argue that this proposal might be better understood as a metaphilosophical one, that is, about what is the purpose of and how to undertake philosophical inquiry. (shrink)

Si bien son pocos quienes dudarían de que, si la fe "mueve montañas", el dinero "traslada cordilleras", no resulta fácil determinar con precisión el alcance del poder económico en nuestro mundo. En parte, porque no es uno, sino múltiple; en parte, porque su presencia resulta unas veces explícita, otras implícita y, en ocasiones, oculta.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Spanish mobile phone industry to determine how mobile phone companies and certain institutions can improve protection for children who use mobile phones. We carried out a multivariate statistical analysis using anonymous primary data from mobile phone companies, and institutions and associations that protect children, to compare these stakeholders’ opinions and to put forward solutions. We proved that, even though some European countries have made an effort to provide safer ICT services, all (...) stakeholders still need to cooperate and agree on solutions to the commercial problems associated with children using mobile phones. This can be done by signing codes of conduct. We found that even though some companies implement measures to protect children from accessing harmful content via their mobile phones, they do so for reasons of legal and not social responsibility. (shrink)

Con el presente trabajo se pretende crear una estrategia que posibilite un aprendizaje sólido deltema de potencial eléctrico, a través de una analogía entre los potenciales eléctrico y gravitacional.La actividad que se propone concibe el uso de materiales de bajo costo con el objetivo de aproximarel conocimiento físico al común de los estudiantes. Esto porque se ha percibido en la población focode este estudio, un cierto desinterés por la física, lo que de alguna forma resulta contradictorio, unavez que la presencia (...) de esta ciencia, en nuestro día a día, se manifiesta en las diversas actividadesque desenvolvemos en el contexto en que estamos insertados, así como en el uso extendido delas nuevas tecnologías de información y comunicación (TIC) a que la especie humana ha venidoteniendo acceso en los últimos años. Por su parte, para la creación de la citada estrategia se haconsiderado el uso de una metodología que concibe una revisión de la bibliografía disponible sobreel tema y tiene una tendencia cualitativa-cuantitativa, siendo esta referida al análisis de los datos queserán colectados durante la experiencia. Los resultados muestran que hubo un mejor desempeñode los estudiantes durante la segunda etapa del proceso investigativo. Esto nos permite concluirque la enseñanza de la física a través de analogías elaboradas por los profesores de esta asignaturaposibilita un mejor aprendizaje de esta ciencia en la medida en que se vinculan conocimientoscientíficos y cotidianos. (shrink)

El presente trabajo plantea la necesidad de volver a la clásica distinción de conocimiento teórico y conocimiento práctico y repensar el lugar de la voluntad y la libertad humanas en el proceso cognoscitivo en general. Desde la consideración de la noción de conciencia, del valor dado a la dimensión cognoscitiva en el ámbito moral, la índole del conocer como relación con lo real y la idea de verdad, llegamos a la conclusión de que el planteamiento racionalista que excluye a la (...) fe como ajena al conocimiento lo hace por el mismo motivo por el que excluye a la voluntad: para evitar la necesidad de tener que decidir. (shrink)

La noción de interpretación desarrollada en el racionalismo crítico de Karl R. Popper muestra atributos específicos que la distinguen de modo sustancial de la interpretación constitutiva de la experiencia que tanto N. R. Hanson como Th. Kuhn defienden en sus respectivas propuestas. Se muestra que la interpretación del modelo popperiano queda atrapada en una epistemología de corte empirista que la separa de modo radical de toda hermenéutica filosófica. The notion of interpretation developed in the critical rationalism of Karl R. Popper (...) displays specific attributes that substantially distinguish it from the constituent interpretation of experience defended in both N. R. Hanson and T. Kuhn proposals. The article shows that the interpretation of Popper's model is trapped in an empiricist epistemology that radically separates it from all hermeneutic philosophy. (shrink)

We advance the thesis that the method of experimental economics can make significant contributions to normative, as opposed to descriptive, business ethics. We contend that there are two basic ways in which experimental economics may make this contribution, and we exemplify these ways by pointing to experimental support of social contract theory as rational foundation for business ethics. These two ways are: (1) adding psychological realism; and (2) testing some quasi-empirical assumptions present in normative theory. In order to make good (...) our methodological claim, we first describe the methodological rules of experimental economics, distinguishing this method from other behavioral business ethics approaches. We also contemplate the possible objection that empirical methods cannot bear on normative ethics because there is no way of bridging the gap between descriptive theory (how people behave) and normative theory (how people ought to behave). (shrink)

Este artículo tiene como objetivo esclarecer la relación entre juicio y deseo en el pensamiento de Gilles Deleuze y destacar la importancia de Spinoza para la resolución de este problema. La concepción negativa del deseo es la base de la cultura y el pensamiento de Occidente; sin embargo, Spinoza nos propone una concepción afirmativa e inmanente. Estos elementos son fundamentales para esclarecer el sentido teórico y práctico de la propuesta de Gilles Deleuze en su obra, donde una concepción afirmativa del (...) deseo le permite proponer la existencia de dos imágenes del pensamiento: una imagen moral, la cual crítica; y, una imagen ética, que restituye, a partir de la teoría de los afectos y la naturaleza de Spinoza, el valor afirmativo del cuerpo y los afectos. Deleuze y Spinoza, así, nos proponen una imagen del pensamiento que sostiene el valor de lo afirmativo sobre lo negativo, es decir, que relieva la producción de lo diferente y lo múltiple sobre la jerarquía de lo idéntico o lo hegemónico. (shrink)

The main objective of this article is to analyze the cognitive level of the activities in History textbooks in Spain, England, and Portugal in the transition stage from Primary to Secondary Education (11–13 years), according to the country of origin, typology, and the concepts and disciplinary contents included. The design of this research is quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional. The non-probabilistic sample consists of 6,561 activities contained in 27 school textbooks from Spain, England, and Portugal. Descriptive and contrast analyses have been (...) carried out using parametric tests. The results indicate that textbooks from Spain and Portugal mainly include activities situated between a basic and intermediate cognitive level while in England, the cognitive level of activities is medium or high. The ANOVA and TukeyBtests show significant differences between the cognitive level required in the activities and the typology of exercises, the concepts, and historical contents worked on. The activities with higher cognitive level correspond to those of creation and essays, the exercises that work on empathy and historical relevance, and that contain activities of social and economic history. In contrast, the activities with the lowest cognitive level are short questions and objective tests, those that work on first-order concepts (data and concrete facts), and those on the History of Art. The conclusion is that there is a need for a balanced presence of first-order content and historical thinking skills, the application in the classroom of a more active student-centered methodology, and the teachers’ conception of history teaching that prioritizes historical skills. (shrink)

The concept of polarity is pervasive in natural language. It relates syntax, semantics and pragmatics narrowly, Semantics: an international handbook of natural language meaning, De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin, 2011; Israel in The grammar of polarity: pragmatics, sensitivity, and the logic of scales, Cambridge studies in linguistics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2014), it refers to items of many syntactic categories such as nouns, verbs and adverbs. Neutral polarity items appear in affirmative and negative sentences, negative polarity items cannot appear in affirmative (...) sentences, and positive polarity items cannot appear in negative sentences. A way of reasoning in Natural Language is through Natural Logic. This logic is based on the concept of polarity in order to make the meaning of a sentence weaker o stronger without changing its truth value. There exist many proposals to compute polarity in the Natural Logic context, the most widely known are the ones by: van Benthem, Sánchez-Valencia, Dowty, and van Eijck, 6th international Tbilisi symposium on logic, language, and computation, Batumi, Georgia, Springer, 2007). If Natural Logic is going to be used, as an inferential mechanism between text fragments, in Natural Language Processing applications such as text summarization, question answering, and information extraction, it is a priority to know what the existing relationship among the aforementioned algorithms is; for example, to implement the most general. We show in this paper the equivalence among the analyzed algorithms, filling a gap in Natural Logic research, particularly in computing polarity, and the soundness of their algorithms. (shrink)

Open peer commentary on the article “Constructivist Model Building: Empirical Examples From Mathematics Education” by Catherine Ulrich, Erik S. Tillema, Amy J. Hackenberg & Anderson Norton. Upshot: I argue that radical constructivism poses a series of deep methodological constraints on educational research. We focus on the work of Ulrich et al. to illustrate the practical implications of these constraints.

I put forward an inferentialist account of Lewis structures (LSs). In this view, the role of LSs is not to realistically depict molecules, but instead to allow surrogate reasoning and inference in chemistry. I also show that the usage of LSs is a central part of a person’s identity as a chemist, as it is defined within educational identity theory. Taking these conclusions together, I argue that the inferentialist approach to LSs and chemistry identity theory can be studied in parallel, (...) as two complementary sides of the same research programme. (shrink)

Lorenzo Sacconi's The Social Contract of the Firm (Berlin, Springer, 2000) is a major contribution to the normative theory of the firm. It contains a full-fledged contractarian explanation of the role of Corporate Codes of Ethics. Sacconi proposes a game-theoretical model of the normative structure of the firm, including explicit and implicit contracts binding the members of the organisation, and the so-called constitutional contract: the hypothetical agreement that sets the basic co-operative structure in which the organisation consists. While Sacconi's theory (...) is sound and full of suggestions, it is doubtful whether it completely grasps the nature of organisational ethics. In presenting organisations as the product of an agreement among self-interested individuals, the model does not account for the social and systemic embeddedness of business institutions. This paper points to several shortcomings of Sacconi's view, and explores alternative understandings of a contractarian morality as applied to business ethics. (shrink)

El artículo presenta la concepción de filosofía de Jürgen Habermas, en distintos momentos de su trayectoria intelectual, resaltando el carácter polémico de su toma de posición frente a las concepciones metafísicas y posmodernas del quehacer filosófico.

The appearance of the following pages might suggest an "intellectual biography". My purpose is not, though, to offer such a simple thing . Indeed, I would like to follow the evolution of Gauthier's thought not only to show how a thinker evolved from a particular view about a particular problem toward a quite original and suggestive formulation, but also to deepen our comprehension of moral contractarianism and its implications, by means of its contextualization. For this reason, I will focus not (...) on Gauthier's philosophical production as a whole , but on the papers and works that mark the line toward moral contractarianism as it is found in Morals by Agreement . The trajectory we are about to go over is not, therefore, only a personal adventure , but the adventure of ideas. This will not be an easy journey. Our focus on the historical development of concepts will prevent us from giving a fully systematic account of every one of them. The unfamiliar reader may be disappointed as we use somewhat strange terms without completely explaining their meaning. We beg acquiescence with our method, hoping that, on the whole, the essential ideas will be understandable without a detailed discussion. (shrink)

Lorenzo Sacconi and his coauthors have put forward the hypothesis that impartial agreements on distributive rules may generate a conditional preference for conformity. The observable effect of this preference would be compliance with fair distributive rules chosen behind a veil of ignorance, even in the absence of external coercion. This paper uses a Dictator Game with production and taking option to compare two ways in which the device of the veil of ignorance may be thought to generate a motivation for, (...) and compliance with a fair distributive rule: individually-as a thought experiment that should work as a moral cue- and collectively-as an actual process of agreement among subjects. The main result is that actual agreement proves to be necessary for agents to be led towards a fair distributive principle and to generate a significant amount of compliance in absence of external authority. This conclusion vindicates the role of actual agreements in generating motivational power in correspondence with fair distributive rules. (shrink)

Lorenzo Sacconi’s recent re-statement of his social contract account of business ethics is a major contribution to our understanding of the normative nature of CSR as the expression of a fair multi-party agreement supported by the economic rationality of each participant. However, at one crucial point in his theory, Sacconi introduces the concept of stakeholders’ conformist preferences – their disposition to punish the firm if it defects from the agreement, refusing to abide by its own explicit CSR policies and norms. (...) We take issue with him over this concept: we show that the assumption of conformist preferences is a moral premise, and it arguably weakens the normativity of the theory as a whole. As an alternative, we propose an evolutionary game theoretic approach. We draw upon recent applications of evolutionary game theory to moral philosophy (Skyrms, Danielson), and we use a computer simulation of the trust game. According to this approach, the failure of the logic of reputation, which is the problem conformist preferences were introduced to solve, is overcome through the dynamics of interaction. (shrink)

Lorenzo Sacconi's recent re-statement of his social contract account of business ethics is a major contribution to our understanding of the normative nature of CSR as the expression of a fair multi-party agreement supported by the economic rationality of each participant. However, at one crucial point in his theory, Sacconi introduces the concept of stakeholders' conformist preferences - their disposition to punish the firm if it defects from the agreement, refusing to abide by its own explicit CSR policies and norms. (...) We take issue with him over this concept: we show that the assumption of conformist preferences is a moral premise, and it arguably weakens the normativity of the theory as a whole. As an alternative, we propose an evolutionary game theoretic approach. We draw upon recent applications of evolutionary game theory to moral philosophy , and we use a computer simulation of the trust game. According to this approach, the failure of the logic of reputation, which is the problem conformist preferences were introduced to solve, is overcome through the dynamics of interaction. (shrink)

El ser humano inventó las técnicas que hicieron evolucionar al hombre como género. La historia de todas las formas culturales y civilizatorias de nuestra especie, Homo sapiens, puede explicarse al ritmo de las revoluciones tecno-energéticas, que han marcado las épocas de auge, abocadas ineluctablemente a una ulterior crisis y decadencia, salvo que una renovación o innovación tecnológica permita la superación. La utopía moderna del progreso mediante el dominio industrial y despótico sobre la naturaleza ya se ha realizado lo suficiente, como (...) para hacer ver que el sistema tecnológico hiperindustrial dominante, con la política económica que conlleva, es causa de la actual crisis mundial de la civilización humana. Tal sistema está en entredicho, por su carácter no adaptativo para la especie: su mundialización resulta materialmente inviable, dadas las consecuencias catastróficas que produce para la biosfera y vistas las desigualdades explosivas que fabrica entre las poblaciones humanas y dentro de cada una de ellas. La pregunta es si cabe la posibilidad de humanizar y ecologizar la tecnología, lo que exige una «política del hombre», único camino para prevenir la autodestrucción de la humanidad. (shrink)

A partir de dos hechos: las reiteradas referencias a la doctrina de los sentidos espirituales en los teólogos monásticos medievales y el olvido de la misma por parte de los autores posteriores, nos aproximamos a este "conocimiento experimental", desde la filosofía y la teología, partiendo de algunos testimonios de los siglos XI al XIII, especialmente los referidos a la lectio divina y al opus Dei, implorando también con ellos "Accende lumen sensíbus".

Aim: The present work proposes the study of the neuromotor activity of the masseter-jaw-tongue articulation during diadochokinetic exercising to establish functional statistical relationships between surface Electromyography, 3D Accelerometry, and acoustic features extracted from the speech signal, with the aim of characterizing Hypokinetic Dysarthria. A database of multi-trait signals of recordings from an age-matched control and PD participants are used in the experimental study. Hypothesis: The main assumption is that information between sEMG and 3D acceleration, and acoustic features may be quantified (...) using linear regression methods. Methods: Recordings from a cohort of eight age-matched control participants and eight PD participants were collected during the utterance of a diadochokinetic exercise. The dynamic and acoustic absolute kinematic velocities produced during the exercises were estimated by acoustic filter inversion and numerical integration and differentiation of the speech signal. The amplitude distributions of the absolute kinematic and acoustic velocities are estimated to allow comparisons in terms of Mutual Information. Results: The regression results show the relationships between sEMG and dynamic and acoustic estimates. The projection methodology may help in understanding the basic neuromotor muscle activity regarding neurodegenerative speech in remote monitoring neuromotor and neurocognitive diseases using speech as the vehicular tool, and in the study of other speech-related disorders. The study also showed strong and significant cross-correlations between articulation kinematics, both for the control and the PD cohorts. The absolute kinematic variables presents an observable difference for the PD participants compared to the control group. Conclusion: Kinematic distributions derived from acoustic analysis may be useful biomarkers toward characterizing HD in neuromotor disorders providing new insights into PD. (shrink)

El artículo ofrece una visión panorámica de las iniciativas de pastoral de juventud llevadas a cabo por la Iglesia española desde el concilio Vaticano II a la actualidad, identificando las claves eclesiológicas y pedagógicas subyacentes a los proyectos más relevantes. En particular, identifica dos modelos fundamentales: el de las déca-das inmediatamente posteriores al concilio y el alumbrado bajo el pontificado de Juan Pablo II enmarcado en la “nueva evange-lización”. Tras la descripción de ambos modelos, se lleva a cabo una evaluación (...) pastoral de los mismos para concluir que ambos presentan debilidades y fortale-zas complementarias y, que en el futuro, habrá que afrontar con valentía una oferta pastoral plural, creativa e integrad. (shrink)