This article includes a study about the preface of Moreh ha-Moreh, a philosophical commentary on Guide for the Perplexed written by Sem Tob ibn Falaquera at the end of XIIIth century. In this introduction Sem Tob ibn Falaquera defends Maimonides and his works. In addition, he exposes his opinion about different subjects, like the nature, the determining factors and limits of philosophical labour or the harmony between reason and faith.

El objetivo de este artículo es definir la concepción del acto involuntario de Francisco Suárez y mostrarla como un medio que permite comprender y profundizar en su teoría de la acción humana. En esta cuestión, el Doctor Eximio parte de presupuestos elaborados por Tomás de Aquino que amplía y adapta siguiendo sus propias tesis metafísicas y teológicas sobre la relación entre Dios y las creaturas. Mostraremos cómo Suárez vincula el verdadero involuntario con el _simpliciter_, lo forzado, necesario e indeseado, (...) dejando al _secundum quid_ como un acto mixto en el que la libertad y la voluntad, pese a las injerencias externas, no quedan anuladas. Por último, subrayaremos las consecuencias de la definición suareciana de lo involuntario sobre la noción de libertad, haciendo patente que tanto una como otra serían imposibles fuera del marco teórico que él sustenta, caracterizado por la eficiencia humana (y su dependencia de la divinidad) y no por la premoción física. (shrink)

Históricamente, los estudios de desastres han presentado dos comprensiones antagónicas de las catástrofes: singularidades extremas que producen historia o procesos que perpetúan estructuras sociopolíticas e inequidades. Mediante un análisis del terremoto de 1970 en Ancash, Perú, y su influencia en la implementación de discursos de (des)aceleración en medio de grandes transformaciones en la sociedad peruana, este artículo presenta una comprensión alternativa de los desastres más allá de la disrupción y continuidad, para enfocarse en las articulaciones temporales que estos producen. Al (...) ser concebidos como dispositivos temporales, los desastres tienen la capacidad de reestructurar ritmos, escalas y temporalidades de manera heterogénea y múltiple. El artículo pretende aportar argumentos que, aunque basados en el terremoto de Ancash, pueden aplicarse a otros debates sobre catástrofes, crisis y desastres como desencadenantes de aceleración y desaceleración económica, social o cultural. (shrink)

Este trabajo profundiza en la legitimación teológica perversa que el falso místico hace de sus actos sexuales. Con tal propósito, se hace una introducción histórica a las prácticas sexuales de carácter gnóstico y se considera el juego discursivo ambiguo entre lo exotérico y esotérico. Como ejemplo, se analizan algunas ambigüedades textuales en la obra de Javier Garrido OFM (condenado canónicamente por “falso misticismo”), a la luz de la investigación sobre los abusos sexuales de los hermanos Philippe OP y Jean Vanier. (...) Asimismo, se exploran tres coincidencias con ideas ajenas al cristianismo que divinizan la pulsión sexual. Y se concluye apelando al discernimiento y la prudencia sobre el lenguaje místico-esponsal, y a la claridad en la moral sexual. (shrink)

El impacto generado por Vigilar y castigar no ha dejado de crecer desde su aparición en 1975. En este artículo se abordan las estrategias de investigación que subyacen a su análisis de la prisión, la cual pasó en poco tiempo de ser un elemento marginal de la penalidad a constituir la forma privilegiada de castigo. La hipótesis de Foucault es que su rápida aceptación por parte del sistema jurídico se debe a la generalización previa de las disciplinas esparcidas por todo (...) el cuerpo social. El problema estriba en que una hipótesis como esta, pese a su evidente originalidad, alberga sin embargo un defecto constitutivo en el análisis propuesto, al no explicitar las precondiciones que hicieron posible dicho proceso. El propósito del artículo es identificarlas en el análisis de Marx en torno a la acumulación originaria. De esa manera, destacamos los elementos de agregación y complementación, así como las posibles disputas entre ambos autores, logrando postular cómo se enmarca la microfísica del poder en la generalización de la forma mercancía y el dominio del capital. (shrink)

Critical congenital heart disease screening is rapidly becoming the standard of care in the United States after being added to the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel in 2011. Newborn screens typically do not require affirmative parental consent. In fact, most states allow parents to exempt their baby from receiving the required screen on the basis of religious or personally held beliefs. There are many ethical considerations implicated with allowing parents to exempt their child from newborn screening for CCHD. Considerations include the (...) treatment of religious exemptions in our current legal system, as well as medical and ethical principles in relation to the rights of infants. Although there are significant benefits to screening newborns for CCHD, when a parent refuses for religious or personal beliefs, in the case of CCHD screening, the parental decision should stand. (shrink)

The author describes the role of the research subject advocate (RSA), inaugurated in 2001, which adds a fourth level of protection for human research subjects.

Code-based cryptography is currently the second most promising post-quantum mathematical tool for quantum-resistant algorithms. Since in 2022 the first post-quantum standard Key Encapsulation Mechanism, Kyber (a latticed-based algorithm), was selected to be established as standard, and after that the National Institute of Standards and Technology post-quantum standardization call focused in code-based cryptosystems. Three of the four candidates that remain in the fourth round are code-based algorithms. In fact, the only non-code-based algorithm (SIKE) is now considered vulnerable. Due to this landscape, (...) it is crucial to update previous results about these algorithms and their functioning. The Fujisaki-Okamoto transformation is a key part of the study of post-quantum algorithms and in this work we focus our analysis on Classic McEliece, BIKE and HQC proposals, and how they apply this transformation to obtain IND-CCA semantic security. Since after security the most important parameter in the evaluation of the algorithms is performance, we have compared the performance of the code-based algorithms of the NIST call considering the same architecture for all of them. (shrink)

La idea de racionalidad en Michel Foucault no se refiere a un criterio de razón universal a modo de conocimiento puro y neutral, sino conjugada en plural como «racionalidades». Funciona como un régimen de verdad que no solo produce nuevos conceptos y una organización histórica de la observación, sino también dominios de regulación e intervenciones políticas y técnicas. Aplicadas a la economía punitiva, y por extensión a la del poder, las racionalidades punitivas han permitido aflorar un análisis crítico inusual de (...) los sistemas del castigo mediante diferentes conceptos en apariencia usuales que alcanzan una radicalidad inusitada en la objetivación de las redes de poder/saber, y que desbordan tanto el campo de la política penal como el de las rígidas explicaciones materialistas. En última instancia, han permitido construir un orden punitivo macrosocial y unas macroformas de dominación a partir de la diversidad de micropoderes. (shrink)

This paper shows that, for a large range of parameters, the journal editor prefers to delegate the choice to review the manuscript to the biased referee. If the peer review process is informative and the review reports are costly for the reviewers, even biased referees with extreme scientific preferences may choose to become informed about the manuscript’s quality. On the contrary, if the review process is potentially informative but the reviewer reports are not costly for the referees, the biased reviewer (...) has no incentive to become informed about the manuscript. Furthermore, if the reports are costly for referees but the peer review processes are not potentially informative, the biased reviewers will never become informed. In this paper, we also present a web resource that helps editors to experiment with the review process as a device for information transmission. (shrink)

Alternatives to convenience sampling (CS) are needed for HIV/STI surveillance of most-at-risk populations in Latin America. We compared CS, time space sampling (TSS), and respondent driven sampling (RDS) for recruitment of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) in Lima, Peru. During concurrent 60-day periods from June-August, 2011, we recruited MSM/TW for epidemiologic surveillance using CS, TSS, and RDS. A total of 748 participants were recruited through CS, 233 through TSS, and 127 through RDS. The TSS (...) sample included the largest proportion of TW (30.7 %) and the lowest percentage of subjects who had previously participated in HIV/STI research (14.9 %). The prevalence of newly diagnosed HIV infection, according to participants' self-reported previous HIV diagnosis, was highest among TSS recruits (17.9 %) compared with RDS (12.6 %) and CS (10.2 %). TSS identified diverse populations of MSM/TW with higher prevalences of HIV/STIs not accessed by other methods. (shrink)

This study examines the cultural roots of ethical conflicts in the global business environment. It begins with a brief look at worldviews on ethical behavior in general. Based on this, it is argued that an in-depth understanding of ethical conflicts has been hampered by an overreliance on Western models and viewpoints. Three common sources, or bases, of ethical conflicts are discussed as they relate to business practices, including conflicts over tastes and preferences, the relative importance of moral imperatives compared to (...) legal requirements, and people’s level of tolerance for different values among others. It is then argued that an understanding of ethical conflicts can be facilitated through different levels of understanding, including the meaning of universal values, the relationship between values and practices, and the existence of multiple levels of conflict within the same organizations or industries. These specific and interrelated ingredients in cross-cultural ethical conflicts form the basis for a broader discussion of the meaning of truth as it relates to such conflicts. The paper concludes with the need for more research that is cross-cultural and multidisciplinary in order to improve theory building and managerial practice. (shrink)

Decentralized biobanking “de-bi” applies blockchain technology and web3 values to embed the procedural principles of transparency, accountability, and inclusion into the biomedical research ecosyst...

Abstract“The Book of Secrets in the Results of Ideas”, usually called “The Book of Secrets” is a codex containing drawings and descriptions of thirty-one artifacts attributed to the engineer Alī Ibn Khalaf al-Murādī, who lived in Andalusia in southern Spain at the beginning of the 11th century. This manuscript is one of the first written testimonies that describe medieval mechanisms with complex precision. The aim of this work is to reconstruct and study from a historical and technological point of view (...) two of the ancient artifacts contained in the “Book of Secrets”, the “Fortress Demolisher” and the “Magic Well”. The “Fortress Demolisher” is a war machine designed to demolish the upper part of the walls or towers and consists of a battering ram mounted on a platform that can be raised several meters above the ground using a scissor mechanism. The “Magic Well” is a mechanism with several pulleys whose purpose is to raise water several meters from the bottom of a well by collecting a small portion of rope. To reconstruct the two artifacts, a digital model and a detailed study of the geometry and operation of the mechanisms, were first carried out. 3D printing, using the Fused Deposition Modelling technology, made the physical reproduction. The digitization and physical reproduction by 3D printing of the mechanisms represent an update of the traditional ways of transmitting knowledge. The use of these new technologies makes the knowledge more accessible, understandable and attractive. (shrink)

The fundamental principles of the classical utilitarian school characterize this trend as an administrative and legal criminology. This had two implications. On the one hand, the motives, and ultimate causes of the behavior and the unequal consequences of an arbitrary rule were ignored. On the other hand, the role of the judge was reduced to enforcing the law, while it was up to the judge to set a penalty for each offence. At the end of the nineteenth century, these principles (...) saw the gradual emergence of another punitive episteme that had emerged as a result of the colonization of the legal space by the positive sciences and etiological action programs. This was not a planned and pre-established course, but the confluence of a series of theories and programs for penal prevention that Michel Foucault summarized as the realization that the law was increasingly functioning as a norm. Now, criminality, besides being the object of scientific interest, also constitutes the indicator of a social problem and therefore its insertion in an economy of changing power. (shrink)

We propose a mathematical model for a class of predator–prey systems more complex than the usual one, involving a commensalism effect consisting in an influence of the predator on the sustainability of the prey. This effect induces interesting new features, including bi-stability. The question of the possibility of reaching a certain attractor starting from initial conditions with a small population of predators, which presents an interest from the vewpoint of the onset of the predator in evolution, is addressed. We propose (...) two possibilities: the classical one involving adapted conditions in the far past and a new one using biodiversity, specifically the presence of another predator which operates as a starter, being displaced in the sequel. (shrink)

This article reports on ethnographic research into the practical and ethical consequences of the implementation and use of telecare devices for older people living at home in Spain and the United Kingdom. Telecare services are said to allow the maintenance of their users’ autonomy through connectedness, relieving the isolation from which many older people suffer amid rising demands for care. However, engaging with Science and Technology Studies literature on “user configuration” and implementation processes, we argue here that neither services nor (...) users preexist the installation of the service: they are better described as produced along with it. Moving beyond design and appropriation practices, our contribution stresses the importance of installations as specific moments where such emplacements take place. Using Etienne Souriau’s concept of instauration, we describe the ways in which, through installation work, telecare services “bring into existence” their very infrastructure of usership. Hence, both services and telecare users are effects of fulfilling the “felicity conditions” of an achieved installation. (shrink)

The widespread critical evidence surrounding executive compensation of listed corporations has boosted shareholder activism in recent decades. The say-on-pay (SOP) mechanism—a vote in which shareholders express their (dis)agreement with executive pay designs—is one of the corporate governance mechanisms that has led to this activism among listed firms. Merging agency and socioemotional wealth (SEW) arguments, this paper analyzes how effective SOP voting results are among listed family firms in terms of CEO compensation efficiency and equity. Using a sample of UK listed (...) firms from 2011 to 2018, our results show that SOP effectiveness is positively influenced by family ownership and is strongly moderated by family involvement in management and in governance as well as by family generation. Our findings stress the strong family effect and the ethical perceptions of family shareholders on SOP voting, showing how family participation in the firm encourages fairer and more aligned CEO compensation packages. SOP institutional and practical implications oriented to preserve shareholder value and family wealth are finally outlined. (shrink)

En el presente trabajo se sostienen toda una serie de tesis interrelacionadas. En primer lugar, se argumenta que el escepticismo y el pensamiento crítico no gozan de especial buena salud el ámbito de la teoría social. En segundo lugar, se sostiene que esto es también así a nivel social general. En tercer lugar, se discuten algunos mecanismos que pueden permitir explicar por qué el bullshit y el oscurantismo, y no el pensamiento crítico y el escepticismo, proliferan en ambos contextos. En (...) cuarto lugar, se abordan tres ámbitos donde la crisis del pensamiento crítico resulta especialmente grave, tanto a nivel social como académico: a saber, los movimientos ecologista, feminista y antirracista. En este caso, se defiende que no se trata tan solo de que el bullshit y el oscurantismo estén presentes en estos debates tanto en el campo académico como en el político, sino que existe una relación causal entre ambos ámbitos, así como un proceso de falsificación de preferencias que puede ser peligroso tanto para la libertad intelectual, como para la libertad de expresión y la salud de la democracia. Finalmente, el ensayo se cierra con un apartado de conclusiones donde se exploran algunas posibles vías de solución. (shrink)

Ante las dificultades que presenta el camino que hace ya algún tiempo se decidió emprender en este país, un camino lúgubre en el que proliferan como hongos diversas reivindicaciones del derecho de autodeterminación, esto es, de la soberanía, por parte de distintos pueblos o naciones, se hace evidente la necesidad de reflexionar sobre el mismo concepto del poder soberano. En este texto se aborda tal problema desde tres perspectivas, fáctica, normativa y racional. Al mismo tiempo que se ponen de manifiesto (...) las insuficiencias de las dos primeras, se defiende una comprensión racional del poder soberano, que quizá podría contribuir a la disolución de los malos augurios que se ciernen sobre nuestro futuro. (shrink)

This text focuses on the grounding of the legal and political structure of the modern state and starts from the Hobbesian conception of power as absolute and unlimited power. For their part, Spinoza and Bentham argue, against Hobbes, for the need to set certain limits to power, although they each based it on radically different grounds. Spinoza's political ontology makes it easy to carry out to the end what was permitted by a factual conception of power, which opens up the (...) possibility of thinking about power in a different way, namely, normatively. The difference between the utilitarian approach and that of Spinoza is his special conception of natural law, which leads him to maintain that it can only be defended where men have rights in common, that is, where there is civil order, making the preservation of our being the justification and limit of the institutionalization of the civil order. Bentham, however, remains true to his empiricist conception and a prisoner of its shortcomings, so that he cannot conceive of the limit of power except as self-limitation. The reason is that he does not have a sufficiently consistent concept of natural rights. Bentham's conception of them as “nonsense upon stilts” makes it impossible. (shrink)

One of the most tantalizing questions about the interpretation of Quantum Theory is the objective vs. subjective meaning of quantum states. Here, by focusing on a typical EPR experiment upon which a selection procedure is performed on one side, we will confront the fully epistemic view of quantum states with its results. Our statement is that such a view cannot be considered complete, although the opposite attitude would also pose well-known problems of interpretation.