As is well known, any preorder R on a set U induces an Alexandrov topology on U. In some interesting cases related to data mining an Alexandrov topology can be transformed into different types of logico-algebraic models. In some cases, (pre)topological operators provided by Pointless Topology may define a topological space on U even if R is not a preorder. If this is the case, then we call R a crypto-preorder. The paper studies the conditions under which a relation R (...) is a crypto-preorder and how to transform a crypto-preorder into a proper preorder. (shrink)

La pragmática trascendental del lenguaje de Karl-Otto Apel ha sido principalmente una reconstrucción (y fundamentación) de los presupuestos irrebasables del discurso argumentativo. Ella no se ha extendido sobre las acciones en principio no discursivas de los hombres. En el presente trabajo se expone cómo debería entenderse a este tipo de acciones en el marco de dicha pragmática. Así, se presentan aquí las implicancias que tiene para la constitución y explicación de las acciones el ser comprendidas bajo un aspecto central de (...) la pragmática de Apel como es la crítica trascendental del sentido. Con este objetivo, se desarrollan (I) las características generales y esquemáticas que presenta el lenguaje en su rol de “dador” de sentido en la obra de Apel. Luego (II), el artículo se extiende sobre este rol aplicado ahora a las acciones en general de los individuos. Finalmente, y mediante una reflexión sobre la validez implicada en toda articulación lingüística (III), se extraen algunas conclusiones sobre cómo debería entenderse a las acciones en el marco de la pragmática trascendental del lenguaje (IV). Karl-Otto Apel’s transcendental pragmatics of language has been mainly a reconstruction (and justification) of the inevitable assumptions of argumentative discourse. This pragmatic has said barely anything about non argumentative action of men. This paper shows what implies for the constitution and explanation of non-argumentative actions of men to be understood under a central aspect of that pragmatic as the transcendental critic of sense (Sinn). To this end, it develops (I) the general and schematic characteristics that language presents in its role of meaning “giver” in the work of Apel. Then (II), the article spreads over this role now applied to the actions of individuals in general. Finally, through a reflection on the validity involved in all linguistic articulation (III), draws some conclusions about how the actions should be understood within the framework of transcendental pragmatics of language (IV). (shrink)

Many believe that a citizen who engages in civil disobedience is not exempt from the sanctions that apply to standard law-breaking conduct. Since he is responsible for a deliberate breach of the law, he is also liable to punishment. Focusing on a conception of responsibility as answerability, I argue that a civil disobedient is responsible (i.e. answerable) to his fellows for the charges of wrongdoing, yet he is not liable to punishment merely for breaching the law. To support this claim, (...) I defend an account of political obligation framed in terms of respect for (rather than mere obedience to) the law, and argue that the mere illegality of civil disobedience does not suffice to establish wrongdoing. I then discuss and reject three objections to my argument. (shrink)

El trabajo que aquí se presenta tiene como objetivo señalar cuáles son las condiciones estructurales que presenta una acción humana cuando se la comprende bajo la perspectiva de la pragmática trascendental de Karl-Otto Apel. Desde este punto de vista, la tesis principal que procura defender es que las acciones humanas comprendidas bajo la óptica de la pragmática trascendental contienen simetrías estructurales con los actos de habla. El trabajo no sólo señala en su primera parte (1) cuáles son las condiciones preliminares (...) que deben tenerse en cuenta para arribar a la tesis mencionada sino que en un segundo apartado (2) procura aportar argumentos a ella discutiendo con dos posiciones que sostienen que las condiciones de racionalidad de una y otra forma de actuar son completamente diferentes. Finalmente, en un tercer apartado (3) se extraen algunas conclusiones de la discusión mantenida en la sección anterior y se resumen las simetrías estructurales entre una y otra forma de actuar. (shrink)

Se aborda el problema fundamental de la pragmática trascendental del lenguaje, así como también la cuestión de la ética del discurso desarrollada por K.-O. Apel y J. Habermas; asunto referido a la obligatoriedad de las reglas del discurso. La atención se centra en la objeción de Habermas, que restringe el alcance de la obligatoriedad de esas reglas. Se analiza la objeción, así como la solución que este autor propone, y se ofrece un sentido para su respuesta.

The following paper examines Tuomela’s explanation of the appearance of basic social facts. In this proposal, the elementary components of a social ontology are due to the “collective intentionality” shared by different actors. Even though Tuomela alludes to language being present in some forms of intentionality in his exhibition, his reconstruction is oriented towards other forms of generating social facts that suppos-edly would not include it. In this writing, it will be argued, on the contrary, that it is not possible (...) to avoid the main mechanism of generation of basic phenomena of sociality in any of its instances. Once language takes its central place as the main mechanism for coordinating action, creator of social groups and guide for a social ontology, many of the distinctions of the intentionalist program lose relevance from an ontological point of view. (shrink)

El trabajo se extiende en un breve examen del lugar asignado por algunos autores como Jürgen Habermas, Karl-Otto Apel o Julio De Zan al discurso como instancia de legitimidad y crítica meta institucional de la sociedad. Haciendo un repaso de posiciones contrarias como las de Arnold Gehlen o Niklas Luhmann se procura establecer los alcances y los límites del espacio público –topos natural del discurso– como lugar paradigmático para interrelaciones sociales de fuerte contenido normativo orientadas hacia la validez de las (...) instituciones. Por último, se realizan una serie de precisiones que son necesarias para esa reivindicación del espacio público político. (shrink)

RESUMEN Las pragmáticas formales del lenguaje han reconstruido un conjunto de presupuestos a los cuales les han atribuido un contenido ético específico y así los han convertido en el eje de una propuesta ética, la ética del discurso. Sin embargo, este contenido ético ha sido puesto en cuestión por varios autores. En este artículo, se abordan primero algunas de esas objeciones, luego se les da una respuesta tal como es posible reconstruirla en la obra de Apel y Habermas y finalmente (...) se intenta mostrar un aspecto más interesante que esas objeciones plantean y como puede ésta ser desarrollada. ABSTRACT The formal pragmatics of language have reconstructed a set of presuppositions to which they have attributed a specific ethical content and thus have made them the axis of an ethical proposal, the discourse ethics. However, this ethical content has been questioned by several authors. In this article, some of these objections are addressed first, then they are given an answer as it is possible to reconstruct it in the work of Apel and Habermas and finally try to show a more interesting aspect than those objections pose and how it can be developed. (shrink)

En el siguiente trabajo se examina la explicación de Raimo Tuomela acerca de la aparición de los hechos sociales básicos. En esa propuesta, los componentes elementales de una ontología social se deben a la “intencionalidad colectiva” compartida por diferentes actores. Si bien Tuomela hace alusión al lenguaje presente en algunas formas de intencionalidad, su reconstrucción está orientada a otras formas de generar hechos sociales que supuestamente no lo incluirían o serían más básicas que las generadas por esa praxis. En este (...) escrito se sostendrá, por el contrario, que no es posible eludir al lenguaje como principal mecanismo de generación de fenómenos elementales de la socialidad en ninguna instancia. Una vez que el lenguaje ocupa su lugar como principal instrumento de coordinación de la acción, creador de grupos sociales y desarrollo de una ontología social, muchas de las distinciones del programa intencionalista pierden relevancia desde un punto de vista ontológico. (shrink)

En el presente artículo abordo una serie de teorías que han tenido a la performatividad y a la comunicación, más precisamente, como centro de indagación y como forma de explicar la constitución de las dimensiones fundamentales de la estructura social. En concreto, presentaré y discutiré aquí el llamado ‘constructivismo comunicativo’, representado por las teorías de H. Knoblauch y J. Reichertz. Luego de presentar su relevancia y algunas de sus características más destacadas (I), hago foco en el problema del alcance de (...) lo lingüístico en estas teorías (II), así como en el fundamento del lazo social tal como ellas lo entienden (III). Finalmente (IV), esquematizo cuáles deben ser las condiciones generale. (shrink)

Diese Ansicht wird von Kant an einigen Stellen der Kritik der Urteilskraft dargelegt, an denen die Musik als „Sprache der ...

Acts of civil disobedience, which imply the open violation of a legal directive, often result in the forceful imposition of a choice upon others (e.g. blockades). This is sometimes justifiable, within a democracy, in cases of ‘democratic deficit’, namely, when fundamental rights of an oppressed minority are at stake. In this article, I claim that the use of physical force, in a democracy, may also be justified by the rights of (at least some of) the very people upon whom force (...) is applied. Focusing on the nature of civil disobedience as a ‘form of address’, I argue: (1) using physical force to address others in the democratic arena does not entail infringing upon their status as autonomous agents; (2) using physical force to address others in the democratic arena may contribute to the fulfilment of a positive duty to promote the autonomy of (at least some of) those very people upon whom force is applied. This is not a defence of paternalism: I claim that using force against others, in the democratic arena, may be constitutive of a behaviour that treats others with the respect due to their status as autonomous agents. (shrink)

The fair-play theory of punishment claims that the state is justified in imposing additional burdens on law-breakers, to remove the unfair advantage the latter have enjoyed by disobeying the law. From this perspective, punishment reestablishes a fair distribution of benefits and burdens among all citizens. In this paper, I object to this view by focusing on the case of civil disobedience. I argue that the mere illegality of this conduct is insufficient to establish the agent’s unfair advantage over his lawabiding (...) fellows, hence the imposition of additional burdens upon him through legal punishment. I articulate a broader account of citizens’ fair-play duties, able to capture disobedience as well as obedience to the law. While claiming that some law-breakers may not be treated as free-riders, I also gesture at the fact that some law-obeying citizens may not be ‘playing fair’: in some cases, a failure to engage in civil disobedience represents a failure to do one’s own part within the cooperative scheme of society. (shrink)

Jason Brennan has argued that democracy is intrinsically unjust, for it grants voting power to politically incompetent individuals, thus exposing people to an undue risk of harm. He claims democracy should be replaced by epistocracy, i.e., the rule of the knowers. In this paper, I show that his argument fails. First, Brennan mistakes voters’ competence for voters’ trustworthiness. Second, despite Brennan's claim to the contrary, an epistocracy may not reduce people’s exposure to an undue risk of harm. Third, Brennan overlooks (...) the fact that citizens are not equally affected by ‘bad voting.’ Fourth, far from being a defence of libertarian ideals, Brennan's argument supports paternalism. (shrink)

Introduction -- The form of happiness -- Affirmation -- Beauty is everywhere -- Love of life -- Fundamental OK -- The uniqueness of each moment -- Taste -- Spontaneity -- The reality of reality -- Healing -- Beauty cures -- Creative expression -- Nature and music -- The invisible ally -- The heart of beauty -- Sharing -- The beauty of the soul -- Good and beautiful -- Aesthetics and biology -- Knowledge -- Mind and beauty -- Revelation -- Hidden (...) resonance -- Trascendence -- Self, nature, and society -- Abuse vs. awe -- Beauty is the opposite of war. (shrink)

According to the Samaritan principle, we have a duty to rescue others from perils when we can do so at no unreasonable cost to ourself or others. Candice Delmas has argued that this principle generates a duty to engage in civil disobedience, when laws and practices expose people to ‘persistent Samaritan perils’: by engaging in this form of protest, she claims, citizens can contribute to the rescue of the victims of serious injustice. In this article, I contend that her argument (...) confuses duties of rescue with duties of justice. Furthermore, I point out that two central features of civil disobedience, namely, communicativeness and conscientiousness, make it unsuitable as a strategy for ‘rescue operations’. On the one hand, communicative constraints make civil disobedience time-consuming, and dependent on others’ willingness to engage in the communicative exchange. On the other, conscientiousness often requires agents to accept costs well beyond the threshold warranted by the Samaritan principle. Treating civil disobedients akin to ‘good Samaritans’ trivialises the selflessness of their sacrifices. (shrink)

En el presente trabajo se aborda el problema fundamental que concierne a la pragmática trascendental del lenguaje referido al alcance normativo de las reglas del discurso. Luego de presentar las características fundamentales que estas reglas manifiestan en la pragmática trascendental (I), se desarrolla la discusión en torno a su alcance normativo (II). Reconstruyendo y criticando la solución de Karl-Otto Apel a esta problemática (III) se presenta esquemáticamente una propuesta de solución (IV) y finalmente se extraen algunas conclusiones que pueden ser (...) tenidas en cuenta para futuros desarrollos de esta propuesta (V). (shrink)

Resumen: En este artículo se aborda el argumento elaborado por Ludwig Wittgenstein en las Philosophische Untersuchungen acerca de la imposibilidad de un lenguaje privado. El objetivo de dicho abordaje reside en la presentación de una serie de argumentos, reconstruidos a partir de la pragmática trascendental del lenguaje, que demuestran también de una manera acabada la imposibilidad de concebir un lenguaje semejante. La importancia de los razonamientos de la pragmática trascendental consiste en que explicitan una forma de tener en cuenta el (...) propio proceso argumentativo que está ausente en los planteos de Wittgenstein. Así, luego de presentar la importancia y las particularidades del argumento de Wittgenstein se desarrolla la interpretación que es posible esgrimir desde la pragmática, así como una distinción que debe establecerse cuando se abordan cuestiones referidas al lenguaje. Por último se extraen algunas conclusiones.: This article addresses the argument developed by Ludwig Wittgenstein in Philosophische Untersuchungen about the impossibility of a private language. The objective of this approach is to present a series of arguments, reconstructed from the point of view of transcendental pragmatics of language, which also demonstrate in a finished way the impossibility of such a language. The importance of the transcendental pragmatics reasonings is that they explicitly state a way of considering the very process of argumentation that is absent in Wittgenstein’s statements. After presenting the importance and particularities of Wittgenstein’s argument, the interpretation that can be employed from pragmatics is developed, as well as a distinction that must be made when dealing with issues related to language. Finally, some conclusions are drawn. (shrink)

Part of an eleven-volume set which contains all of Ricardo's published and unpublished writings, and provides great insight into the early era of political economics.

The letters in this volume continue to cover Ricardo's correspondence while a member of the House of Commons and provide subtle refinements and elaborations to his political economic thoughts. This volume includes a complete index to volumes 6 through 9, which contain Ricardo's correspondence. The index is cross-referenced by name and topic. Ricardo's letters remain a permanent legacy to the development of his many contributions to the political economy and a record of his endearing friendships.The entire series includes: Volume 1 (...) "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation"Volume 2 "Notes on Malthus's Principles of Political Economy"Volume 3 "Pamphlets and Papers 1809-1811 "Volume 4 "Pamphlets and Papers 1815-1823"Volume 5 "Speeches and Evidence"Volume 6 "Letters 1810-1815"Volume 7 "Letters 1816-1818"Volume 8 "Letters 1819-1821"Volume 9 "Letters 1821-1823"Volume 10 "Biographical Miscellany"Volume 11 "General Index". (shrink)

Protein aggregation has been studied for at least 3 decades, and many of the principles that regulate this event are relatively well understood. Here, however, we present a different perspective to explain why proteins aggregate: we argue that aggregation may occur as a side‐effect of the lack of one or more natural partners that, under physiologic conditions, would act as chaperones. This would explain why the same surfaces that have evolved for functional purposes are also those that favour aggregation. In (...) the course of reviewing this field, we substantiate our hypothesis with three paradigmatic examples that argue for the generality of our proposal. An obvious corollary of this hypothesis is, of course, that targeting the physiological partners of a protein could be the most direct and specific approach to designing anti‐aggregation molecules. Our analysis may thus inform a different strategy for combating diseases of protein aggregation and misfolding. (shrink)

This paper considers the boundaries of "civility" in civil disobedience, by focusing on an extreme form of protest, namely, bossnapping. The latter involves workers 'kidnapping' their bosses, in order to force them to listen to their grievances. I argue that, notwithstanding its use of force, bossnapping may, under some circumstances, fulfil the requirements of a "civil" act of disobedience.

Dieser Band analysiert den Begriff des ‚Abenteuers der Vernunft’, welcher in der dritten Kritik von Kant als Hypothese für die Erklärung des Ursprungs des Lebendigen aufgestellt wird. In systematischer Hinsicht werden vornehmlich zwei Themen behandelt: der kantische Materialismus und das Verhältnis zwischen dem Abenteuer der Vernunft und der kopernikanisch-newtonianischen Wende. Der Nietzsche gewidmete Teil hat das Anliegen, seine Theorie aus dem Jahre 1868 als eine selbständige Erarbeitung physiologischer, empirischer und materialistischer Aspekte des Kantischen Kritizismus zu präsentieren.