In this paper, we review the conventional analyses of management control systems, to conclude, first, that the illusion of control can mislead managers into believing that everything can be controlled and monitored, and, second, that no incentive system based only on extrinsic rewards can motivate individuals properly. Then, we investigate the philosophical foundations of the basic assumptions that, implicitly or explicitly, are made about the nature of the acting person. Based on personalist phenomenology, we show how the development of technical (...) and moral values is crucial to the long-run survival of organizations. We end by offering some guidelines as to what control systems should be like in order to be compatible with the nature of human persons. (shrink)

Este libro es un homenaje a la trayectoria intelectual y académica de la profesora María Teresa López de la Vieja, Catedrática emérita de la Universidad de Salamanca. En él se trazan algunos de los caminos que, con su obra, nos invita a transitar. El volumen recoge contribuciones de colegas de varias nacionalidades y procedentes de diversos ámbitos de reflexión que le son afines: la filosofía moral y política, la literatura, la teoría de la argumentación, los estudios feministas, las éticas aplicadas, (...) la bioética. Los capítulos que componen este libro dan voz a varias generaciones de investigadoras e investigadores que han acompañado y acompañan su andadura académica y que aquí dialogan con ella haciendo propias sus preocupaciones intelectuales. Con su participación contribuyen al justo reconocimiento de su dedicación a la labor docente e investigadora. (shrink)

The last years of the 20th Century have been somewhat contradictory with respect to values like loyalty, trust or truthfulness. On the one hand, (often implicitly, but sometimes very explicitly), self-interest narrowly defined seems to be the dominant force in the business world, both in theory and in practice. On the other hand, alliances, networks and other forms of cooperation have shown that self-interest has to be at least "enlightened".The academic literature has reflected both points of view, but frequently in (...) an ambiguous way, since the concepts of loyalty and trust are somewhat elusive and equivocal. This paper attempts to analyze the concept of loyalty in depth, examining the different conceptions about the word that can be found in the literature. We begin by going to the management classics (specifically, Follett, Barnard and Simon), and we then turn to the anthropological approach of Pérez López (1993), with its built-in ethical analysis, and show how trust and loyalty are crucial to the development of organizations. We end by suggesting in what ways loyalty and trust can be created and fostered in organizations. (shrink)

Currently, a central question in biology is how signals from the cell surface modulate intracellular processes. In recent years phosphoinositides have been shown to play a key role in signal transduction. Two phosphoinositide pathways have been characterized, to date. In the canonical phosphoinositide turnover pathway, activation of phosphatidylinositol‐specific phospholipase C results in the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphospate and the generation of two second messengers, inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate and diacylglycerol. The 3‐phosphoinositide pathway involves protein‐tyrosine kinase‐mediated recruitment and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, resulting (...) in the production of phosphatidylinositol 3,4‐bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5‐trisphosphate. The 3‐phosphoinositides are not substrates of any known phospholipase C, are not components of the canonical phosphoinositide turnover pathway, and may themselves act as intracellular mediators. The 3‐phosphoinositide pathway has been implicated in growth factor‐dependent mitogenesis, membrane ruffling and glucose uptake. Furthermore the homology of the yeast vps34 with the mammalian phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase has suggested a role for this pathway in vesicular trafficking.In this review the different mechanisms employed by protein‐tyrosine kinases to activate phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, and its involvement in the signaling cascade initiated by tyrosine phosphorylation, are examined. (shrink)

There are many theories about organizations that are mutually inconsistent with each other, which explain phenomena to very similar extents. Most of them ignore the ethical dimension completely. In this paper I put forth the basic principles for a theory of decision-making in organizations, which integrates ethics in the core of the theory. It is based on the work of Juan Antonio Pérez López [1991, Teoría de la Acción humana en las organizaciones (Ediciones Rialp, Madrid), 1993, Fundamentos de la Dirección (...) de Empresas (Ediciones Rialp, Madrid)] and is essentially a humanistic view of the interrelationships between people and its implications for organizational decision-making. I will first show that in any relationship between two people, the learning of the two is crucial for such a relationship to last; and then I will expand on the different aspects of that learning. This analysis will then be applied to the organizational context as a basis for organizational decision-making, Second, it applies the previous analysis to the organizational context as a basis for organizational decision making, showing how any decision in an organization needs to be analyzed on the basis of three criteria (short-run effectiveness, development of distinctive competence, and unity and identification with the organization) and how ethics is included in the last two. (shrink)

A radical reform of the agri-food biotech regulation in the EU is considered in many quarters as a pressing necessity. Indeed, two important decisions on the legal status of the so-called New Breeding Techniques are expected shortly. In order to clarify some basic aspects of the complex scenario, after a brief introduction regarding the “GMO” fallacy, we offer our point of view on the following facets: A faulty approach is frequent in the discussion of the agri-food regulation; NBTs, genome editing (...) may lead to the disappearance of the “GMO” meme; Beyond health and safety issues: socio-economic considerations; Sustainability: the comprehensive, meaningful starting point of a positive reform; The theoretical and legal basis for the reform are already contained in the EU’s general guidelines to legislation. (shrink)

Functions and objectives serve as an incentive for children living in Brazil to question their role as a child in society.

¿Por qué recurren las mujeres migrantes a un método abortivo clandestino cuando existen cauces regulados y gratuitos para interrumpir el embarazo? A partir de un caso relatado en una noticia de prensa, el presente trabajo pretende ofrecer argumentos capaces de fundamentar una posible respuesta. Frente al modelo médico hegemónico, el uso del misoprostol extiende el debate no sólo a la identificación de las disfunciones del sistema sanitario español, sino a discursos relacionados con la identidad y a planteamientos autogestionarios de empoderamiento (...) para las mujeres. (shrink)

Social engineering cyberattacks are a major threat because they often prelude sophisticated and devastating cyberattacks. Social engineering cyberattacks are a kind of psychological attack that exploits weaknesses in human cognitive functions. Adequate defense against social engineering cyberattacks requires a deeper understanding of what aspects of human cognition are exploited by these cyberattacks, why humans are susceptible to these cyberattacks, and how we can minimize or at least mitigate their damage. These questions have received some amount of attention, but the state-of-the-art (...) understanding is superficial and scattered in the literature. In this paper, we review human cognition through the lens of social engineering cyberattacks. Then, we propose an extended framework of human cognitive functions to accommodate social engineering cyberattacks. We cast existing studies on various aspects of social engineering cyberattacks into the extended framework, while drawing a number of insights that represent the current understanding and shed light on future research directions. The extended framework might inspire future research endeavor toward a new sub-field that can be called Cybersecurity Cognitive Psychology, which tailors or adapts principles of Cognitive Psychology to the cybersecurity domain while embracing new notions and concepts that are unique to the cybersecurity domain. (shrink)

En el ámbito de la situación presente de crisis de lo humano, así como de la efusión actual del fenómeno místico, esta reflexión se aproxima a la experiencia mística contemporánea a través de uno de sus testigos: Etty Hillesum. El acercamiento a la trama narrativa de su diario hizo posible que el decir del ser, el decir sobre lo humano en la experiencia mística se abriera paso a través de un ejercicio hermenéutico existencial con la mediación del relato. El asunto (...) central consistió en buscar en la experiencia mística la raíz y expresiones de su fuerza humanizadora. En este sentido, a partir de una aproximación a ‘lo humano’ desde las categorías: interioridad, actitud teologal y alteridad, la reflexión abrió el paso a la consideración sobre la experiencia mística y su conexión con ‘lo humano’ que busca humanidad. Asunto éste que hizo posible plantear algunas perspectivas que contribuyan a explicitar el potencial humanizador de la Experiencia Mística hoy. ln the ambit of the present situation of the crisis of the 'human', as well as of the current outpouring of the mystic phenomenon, this reflection approaches contemporary mystical experience by one of its witnesses: Etty Hillesum. The approach to the narrative of her diary made it possible to soy of the "being", which is to say about the human in the mystical experience would open a way through a hermeneutic existential exercise with the mediation of the story. The main issue consisted of searching in the mystical experience, the root and expressions of its humanizing force. In this sense, from an approximation to the 'human' from the categories: interiority, theological attitude and otherness, the reflection opened the way for consideration on the mystical experience and its connection with the 'human' which seeks its humanity. This matter which made it possible to set out some perspectives that contribute to make explicit the humanizing potential of the Mystical Experience today. (shrink)

El análisis pretende acercarse a las cuestiones que se derivan del reconocimiento de la educación como un componente clave de la reconversión productiva de las ciudades. La construcción local de prioridades educativas constituye, a nuestro juicio, unos de los territorios en los que hemos de problematizar los modos en que es tematizada la reconversión de la ciudad de rango medio en el discurso social de Olavarría, Argentina. Para ello se procura dar cuenta de aquellos factores estructurales que contribuyen a la (...) emergencia de nuevos actores, nuevos discursos y nuevos significados al tiempo que abrevan en el pasado, lo redefinen y resignifican. (shrink)

Bermúdez identifies the “Interface Problem” as the central problem in the philosophy of psychology: how commonsensical psychological explanations can be integrated with lower-level explanations? In particular, since folk psychology is meant to provide causal explanations on a par with, say, neurobiological explanations, the question of how to understand the relation between the two layers arises naturally. Donald Davidson claimed that the interface problem is actually ill-posed and put forward his version of the “Autonomy Picture”, the view known as anomalous monism. (...) This work reviews Davidson’s proposal in the light of digital universes: we model the key claims of the theory using cellular automata and show that Davidson’s original version of the Autonomy Picture is immune to two arguments against autonomy. (shrink)

Dos místicos relativamente contemporáneos: Etty Hillesum y Benjamín González Buelta; dos estilos, dos contextos y una coincidencia establecida desde sus experiencias espirituales, en profunda conexión con la realidad, en medio de la vida y sus desafíos. Hillesum no habla propiamente de la experiencia mística, sin embargo, su proceso personal existencial en el duro contexto de guerra que le tocó vivir, la condujo a descubrirse profundamente habitada. Su experiencia de Dios le hizo posible comprender y gestionar el dolor en medio de (...) la guerra, así como la necesidad de ‘hacerse bálsamo sobre las heridas’ de sus hermanos judíos. Etty es una mística de ojos abiertos. Benjamín González Buelta ha profundizado en la comprensión de la mística, describiéndola y analizándola desde la experiencia de Dios en el contexto latinoamericano. Su reflexión permite hoy leer a Etty Hillesum desde la perspectiva del místico de ojos abiertos. (shrink)

In this commentary, we criticize the argument that allowing euthanasia for people with disabilities is ableist. We analyze the distinction between facts and values in medical assistance in dying, the expressivist objection, and the problem of crypwashing.

Ontologies play a vital role in organizing and constructing knowledge across various domains, enabling effective knowledge management and sharing. The development of domain-specific ontologies, such as the ONTO-TDM ontology for teaching domain modeling, is essential for providing a comprehensive and standardized representation of knowledge within a given discipline. However, to maximize the usefulness and relevance of such ontologies, it is crucial to automate their population with domain-specific information, reducing manual work and ensuring scalability. This paper presents a novel method for (...) ontology population by extracting and integrating relevant information from diverse sources. The method combines the TextRank algorithm with Word2Vec to enhance keyword extraction, capturing both semantic meaning and textual importance. Keywords are then annotated and used to train a machine learning classifier, which aids in integrating new instances into the ontology. Experiments show that the proposed method achieves a precision of 63.33%, a recall of 61.29% and an F1-score of 62.28%, significantly improving keyword extraction and ontology population accuracy compared to existing methods. This validates the method’s effectiveness in semi-automatically extracting relevant instances from diverse data sources, enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of ontology population, and advancing automated knowledge management in domain-specific contexts. (shrink)

Our aim is to put into consideration the topics of “semantics”, “types”, “lifeworld” and “intersubjectivity” following the social theories of Alfred Schutz and Niklas Luhmann. First of all, and inversely to Luhmann’s perspective which receives the schutzian theory comparing equal types and semantics, we will show that types are inherent to subjectivity. Secondly, and consequently, we state that the social systems theory in the analysis of the “lifeworld”, does not pay attention to the past character of its constitution. Last, but (...) not least, we will point out that all these aspects are framed in a critique of the phenomenological notion of intersubjectivity, which from the luhmannian point of view, ignores the autonomy of consciousness, as well as the emergent character of the social. (shrink)

Paulo Freire constrói um legado para a educação brasileira que é atemporal. Diante disso, o objetivo do texto In Memorian é trazer uma entrevista póstuma com o autor. A partir de uma revisão bibliográfica, apresentamos sua história de vida e suas obras. Além disso, trazemos uma resenha das três principais obras, a saber, Pedagogia do Oprimido, Pedagogia da Esperança e Pedagogia da Autonomia. Os trechos dessas obras embasam as respostas construídas para os questionamentos em relação à Covid-19, ao movimento Black (...) Lives Matter e suas interfaces com a educação linguística e a decolonialidade, como uma forma de dialogar com as reflexões freirianas propostas para o contexto educacional. (shrink)

In gender studies on nineteenth century Argentine literature, a woman writer has been vindicated: Juana Manuela Gorriti. Considered a succesful intellectual because she was the first who entered the literary market, she is faced to another contemporary intelectual figure, Juana Manso. Novelist, teacher and politically close to Sarmiento´s ideas, Manso was insulted by the most conservative sectors of bourgeoisie. Despite Gorriti, in the contemporary feminist analysis Manso is seen like an unsuccessful intelectual. This essay tries to explain the unlike luck (...) of both, in past an present, taking in consideration political differences between them. (shrink)

We address an argument by Floridi (Synthese 168(1):151–178, 2009; 2011a), to the effect that digital and analogue are not features of reality, only of modes of presentation of reality. One can therefore have an informational ontology, like Floridi’s Informational Structural Realism, without commitment to a supposedly digital or analogue world. After introducing the topic in Sect. 1, in Sect. 2 we explain what the proposition expressed by the title of our paper means. In Sect. 3, we describe Floridi’s argument. In (...) the following three sections, we raise three difficulties for it, (i) an objection from intuitions: Floridi’s view is not supported by the intuitions embedded in the scientific views he exploits (Sect. 4); (ii) an objection from mereology: the view is incompatible with the world’s having parts (Sect. 5); (iii) an objection from counting: the view entails that the question of how many things there are doesn’t make sense (Sect. 6). In Sect. 7, we outline two possible ways out for Floridi’s position. Such ways out involve tampering with the logical properties of identity, and this may be bothersome enough. Thus, Floridi’s modus ponens will be our (and most ontologists’) modus tollens. (shrink)

Cellular automata (henceforth: CA) are discrete, abstract computational systems that have proved useful both as general models of complexity and as more specific representations of non-linear dynamics in a variety of scientific fields. Firstly, CA are (typically) spatially and temporally discrete: they are composed of a finite or denumerable set of homogeneous, simple units, the atoms or cells. At each time unit, the cells instantiate one of a finite set of states. They evolve in parallel at discrete time steps, following (...) state update functions or dynamical transition rules: the update of a cell state obtains by taking into account the states of cells in its local neighborhood (there are, therefore, no actions at a distance). Secondly, CA are abstract, as they can be specified in purely mathematical terms and implemented in physical structures. Thirdly, CA are computational systems: they can compute functions and solve algorithmic problems. Despite functioning in a different way from traditional, Turing machine-like devices, CA with suitable rules can emulate a universal Turing machine, and therefore compute, given Turing's Thesis, anything computable.... (shrink)