In Sartrean philosophy, the body is a central element in explaining the nature of intentionality, that is, the nature of how our consciousness apprehends reality. His corporeal phenomenology aims to refute the followers of the Cartesian tradition of the mind. At the same time, in the contemporary philosophy of mind and cognition, supporters of the enactivist tradition seek to elucidate the body's central role in the constitution of cognition. Likewise, their opponents are the adherents of cognitivism, who see the locus (...) of cognition in the brain as an informational processing device for symbolic (representational) content. In this article, we intend to develop a close relationship between the Sartrean conception of intentionality and that offered by sensorimotor enactivism. Both defend the centrality of the body in so-called "cognitive" or "mental" processes; both defend a kind of externalism about mental content; and both criticize the internalist and representationalist paradigm focused on internal processes only located in the brain. These similarities allow us to trace a relationship of continuity between Sartrean phenomenology and the embodied traditions of the mind. (shrink)

O objetivo do texto é não apenas explicar a contribuição da filosofia de Nietzsche no atual debate em torno da filosofia das emoções, por meio da aproximação teórica com o emocionismo de Jesse Prinz – especialmente da abordagem das emoções entendidas como sentimento –, mas, sobretudo, defender a tese da compatibilidade da abordagem cognitiva e não cognitiva das emoções. Assim, se por um lado, emoções são acompanhadas de sinais somáticos, por outro lado, emoções também representam preocupações (Prinz) ou avaliações (Nietzsche) (...) sobre algo no mundo. A tese compatibilista auxilia na solução de duas sérias objeções ao sentimentalismo: a determinação do conteúdo das emoções e a individualização das experiências emocionais. Essa conclusão é mais bem compreendida, além disso, por meio da hipótese disposicional. (shrink)

Este artigo traz uma reflexão sobre a influência que a Biologia evolutiva exerceu sobre Sigmund Freud no tocante à teoria das pulsões e à noção de patologia que a acompanha. Também, notadamente quanto às suas tendências regressivas, conforme apresentado em Além do princípio do prazer, publicação pródiga de referenciais evolucionários, especialmente da compreensão filogenética da espécie humana, ou seja, da teoria da recapitulação de Ernst Haeckel, articulada aos fenômenos clínicos e culturais. Amparados em Georges Canguilhem, observamos que a mesma Biologia (...) cumpre função normativa na qualificação das manifestações humanas. Assim, mostraremos que o recurso a ela serviu de apoio para Freud estabelecer uma concepção psicanalítica de sujeito igualmente normativa, a saber, dotado de um psiquismo regressivo e patológico em sua natureza, cuja tendência biológica o faz repetir comportamentos do passado. Se trata de uma opção teórica em detrimento da ruptura e da variação como norteadora de sua história, assim como da história da espécie humana. (shrink)

In A moral theory of sports, Richard J. Severson examines modern sports and modern morality from the lens of evolutionary psychology. The author’s primary goals are to interpret modern sport as...

The aim of this article is to present the perspective of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) on death, as well as to explore the concept of "Dasein" in his work Being and Time (1927). Heidegger introduces Dasein as a being that projects itself toward the future, with death being one of those futures. He asks: "What would death be? Does it have a merely biological or an ontological-existential character?" (HEIDEGGER, 2005, p. 16). The article unfolds as follows: a brief (...) explanation of the search for being and what it represents as Dasein, or "being-there," understood as a being in time and as presence. Furthermore, it addresses the existential analytic, highlighting Dasein's inauthentic existence, the anguish characteristic of this being, and the quest for authentic existence. It also discusses how Dasein relates to others, to the world, and especially to death, analyzing the different ways Heidegger conceptualizes death in Being and Time. (shrink)

Este artigo objetiva demonstrar a importância do pensamento de Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) para uma melhor compreensão dos fenômenos da atualidade, tais como as novas tecnologias e o ambiente digital. Heidegger apresenta a essência da técnica como algo não técnico que acaba por atingir diretamente a humanidade numa dominação da técnica sobre o ser humano. O avanço técnico-científico ganha novo espaço e nova abordagem no fim do século XX com o nascimento da internet. Entendemos que a proposta de Heidegger pode auxiliar (...) numa análise crítica da sociedade pós-moderna marcada pela cibercultura e o ciberespaço. A reflexão tem como pano de fundo o livro Ensaios e conferências que, entre outros textos, contém a conferência proferida em 1953: “A questão da técnica”. Nosso autor mais utilizado é Francisco Rüdiger, professor da UFRS e da PUCRS. Os resultados obtidos apontam que a essência da técnica presente nas novas tecnologias, sobretudo, no ambiente digital, a partir de meados do XX, tem afetado a humanidade em seu modo de ser e viver. Com efeito, o pensar técnico gera na humanidade uma grande crise na formação da sua própria identidade, assim como no seu modo de ser e de agir no mundo. Conclui-se, então, que é necessário – como afirma Rüdiger – olhar para as questões da tecnologia e do ambiente digital numa perspectiva analítica e criticamente hermenêutica. A metodologia utilizada foi a hermenêutica fenomenológica a partir de uma ampla análise bibliográfica da temática abordada. (shrink)

Summary The fragmentary inscription on the ludi saeculares contains mention of two senatus consulta of year 17 BCE. This paper gives new arguments for identifying the five known consulars heading the drafting commission of the senatus consultum of 17 February: M. Iunius Silanus, Cn. Cornelius Lentulus, L. Marcius Censorinus, C. Asinius Pollio and L. Vinicius. This list challenges the accepted notion that senators named as members of the drafting commissions of senatus consulta were always arranged according to their seniority. Such (...) an open new approach could question or even significantly alter the chronology of Roman magistracies that has been accepted on the basis of seniority hierarchy so far. (shrink)

O presente trabalho constitui um estudo propedêutico acerca da conexão entre o trato nietzschiano do ressentimento enquanto perspectiva interpretativa e o problema do ódio vinculado à esfera política contemporânea. Nesse sentido, e tendo em vista a premissa de que a genealogia nietzschiana pode ofertar um modo de apreensão dos significados manifestos pelo fenômeno do ódio na atual situação política, o percurso metodológico deste estudo parte da análise do ressentimento em Nietzsche e do ódio como seu operativo; em seguida, examina com (...) base nessa interpretação aspectos discursivos e performativos provenientes do atual cenário político. Por esse meandro, propõe-se a edificar uma argumentação baseada no estabelecimento de algumas hipotéticas chaves hermenêuticas desde a quais pretende interpretar determinadas escolhas, práticas e discursos que vêm perfazendo uma reconhecida fatia do ambiente político do qual somos coetâneos. (shrink)

O presente texto visa analisar de maneira introdutória como se constrói no decurso do pensamento filosófico ocidental a relação de interdependência entre democracia e educação, os argumentos que lhe dão sustentação, bem como as possíveis controvérsias de significação nela existentes. Para esse fim, examinamos obras fundamentais da filosofia e em específico da filosofia da educação, buscando compreender asserções de autores que implícita ou explicitamente tratam dessa articulação.

Este repertorio registra los artículos sobre Platón que se encuentran en la Hemeroteca de la Biblioteca Central de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. El listado abarca las publicaciones existentes hasta el primer semestre del año 2000.

In this article, I draw on psychoanalysis to provide a novel understanding of Suits’ theory of games by analyzing the riddle in the Grasshopper’s recurring dream, which Suits presents in his semina...

In this paper I draw on Einstein's distinction between “principle” and “constructive” theories to isolate two levels of physical theory that can be found in both classical and (special) relativistic physics. I then argue that when we focus on theoretical explanations in physics, i.e. explanations of physical laws, the two leading views on explanation, Salmon's “bottom-up” view and Kitcher's “top-down” view, accurately describe theoretical explanations for a given level of theory. I arrive at this conclusion through an analysis of explanations (...) of mass—energy equivalence in special relativity. (shrink)

In this paper, we explore the issue of the elimination of sports, or elements of sports, that present a high risk of brain injury. In particular, we critically examine two elements of Angelo Corlett’s and Pam Sailors’ arguments for the prohibition of football and Nicholas Dixon’s claim for the reformation of boxing to eliminate blows to the head based on the empirical assumption of an essential or causal connection between brain injuries incurred in football and the development of a degenerative (...) brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy ; and John Stuart Mill’s rejection of consensual domination. We present four arguments to contest the validity of Corlett, Dixon’s and Sailor’s positions. Specifically, we argue that certain autonomy-based arguments undermine paternalist arguments for reform; the nature of the goods people pursue in their lives might justify their foregoing future autonomy; Mill’s argument against consensual domination draws on ambiguous and arbitrary distinctions; the lack of consensus and empirical evidence regarding CTE arising from brain injuries in sport underdetermines calls for reform. We conclude that these proposals for reforming or eliminating sports with high risks of brain injuries are not well founded. (shrink)

In a previous paper entitled ‘Beyond Physiology: Embodied Experience, Embodied Advantage, and the Inclusion of Transgender Athletes in Competitive Sport,’ we claim that analyses of the inclusion or exclusion of transgender athletes in competitive sport must go beyond physiological criteria and incorporate the notions of embodied experience and embodied advantage. Our stance has recently been challenged as impractical and excessively exclusionary. In this paper, we address these challenges and build upon them to expand on the policy implications of our original (...) framework, highlighting that embodied experience and embodied advantage heavily influence athletic performance. We differentiate competitive fairness from justice to, with an emphasis on the inclusion of transgender women in competitive sport, formulate a justice-based argument for maximizing inclusion. Afterward, we identify ideal and nonideal policy recommendations connected to our analysis of embodied experience and embodied advantage. We ultimately advocate for a qualified inclusion that assesses potential residual (physiological and embodied) advantages while striving for justice and competitive fairness. (shrink)

This article critically examines the development and consensus outputs of the Concussion in Sport Group. We examine the six Consensus Statements between 2001 and 2023 to explore the challenges that the presence of contextual forces pose to the development of effective and ethically justifiable medical guidelines to manage situations involving brain-injured athletes. First, we discuss the implicit and explicit ethical framework and goals underlining the statements. Secondly, drawing on a relational account of athlete choice, we expound on the limitations of (...) the framework, concentrating on those resulting from a simplified understanding of athlete autonomy. Thirdly, we conclude by proposing a series of recommendations to improve concussion management protocols: (1) adopting a broader understanding of autonomy built upon relational accounts, beyond just the healthcare professional-athlete relationship; (2) further minimizing conflicts of interest that increase athletes’ vulnerability and hinder decision-making ability; (3) enhancing healthcare professional training to allow better adjustment of treatment plans to athletes’ contexts; and (4) promoting research on sociocultural elements affecting athletes’ vulnerability and autonomy. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia by Bernard Suits is one of the most influential works in the philosophy of sport. In the book, Suits investigates two fundamental issues in general p...

This article discusses some of the claims of the earlier and later versions of the Contemporary Theory of Metaphor (CTM) and addresses some of the criticism that has been leveled against it. It is argued that much of this criticism arises from common misconceptions as to the real claims made by the theory. However, CTM is still in need of further exploration and empirical support. In this connection, we identify some areas where research is still needed and supply our own (...) developments. We argue for a more complex classification of metaphor types, which takes into account various complementary taxonomic perspectives, including the nature of source and target and the genericity and complexity of the metaphoric operation. We also explore metaphor in relation to cognitive prominence and conceptual interaction issues. Finally, we deal with the problem of constraints on metaphor and make a proposal for three complementary kinds of constraint. (shrink)

Language and speech depend on a relatively well defined neural circuitry, located predominantly in the left hemisphere. In this article, I discuss the origin of the speech circuit in early humans, as an expansion of an auditory-vocal articulatory network that took place after the last common ancestor with the chimpanzee. I will attempt to converge this perspective with aspects of the Mirror System Hypothesis, particularly those related to the emergence of a meaningful grammar in human communication. Basically, the strengthening of (...) auditory-vocal connectivity via the arcuate fasciculus and related tracts generated an expansion of working memory capacity for vocalizations, that was key for learning complex utterances. This process was concomitant with the development of a robust interface with visual working memory, both in the dorsal and ventral streams of auditory and visual processing. This enabled the bidirectional translation of sequential codes into hierarchical visual representations, through the development of a multimodal interface between both systems. (shrink)

This paper addresses the possibility of robots engaging in sports. Recently, several movies like Ex-Machina, Chappi, and Transcendence challenge the spectator to think of the consequences of creating artificial intelligences. Although we refer to athletes who have outstanding sporting performances as machines, for example, in cycling people say ‘the cyclist looked like a machine with wheels,’ the potential participation of such AI in sport has not been addressed. For our argument’s sake, we will assume that the creation of human-like robots (...) who will mirror human athletes’ behavior in the playing field will be possible. Recent advances in cybernetics and robotics point in this way. As argued in the literature on philosophy of mind, the fact that intelligent robots seem to be doing something does not imply they are actually doing it. Understood in this way, sport can be conceived as a particular ‘imitation game’ or Turing test, which permits us to distinguish between an artificial intelligence... (shrink)

In this article, we examine scholarly analyses of justice and develop a framework that can help assess the claims from the parties in the Russian state-led doping scandal, including, but not limited to, Russian athletes, non-Russian athletes, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and sport governing bodies. The two key components of this justice framework are pluralism and relationality/contextuality. We argue that a justice framework built upon these elements better captures the nature of justice. We conclude that no party in the Russian (...) state-led doping case has exclusive access to justice. Rather, all the parties have legitimate calls for justice against one another. Thus, the administration of justice will fail to serve justice, in its different meanings, for all parties. (shrink)

This article examines multinational banks’ approaches to corporate social responsibility in developing countries’ subsidiaries, particularly in Latin America. Building on in-depth case studies of two MNBs that are based in Europe and market leaders in Latin America, we analyze their CSR motivations and outcomes in host countries. We examine institutional environments by applying the national business system framework, and we suggest missing categories in its financial and educational dimensions. We theorize how institutional necessity determines MNBs' CSR in developing countries. Finally, (...) we examine the CSR outcomes in Latin America, where banks’ responsible conduct has led to major improvements in educational levels and financial inclusion. These improvements alleviate poverty and enhance both country's social wellbeing and MNBs’ legitimacy, leading to mutual prosperity. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is analyzing to which extent the multiverse hypothesis provides a real explanation of the peculiarities of the laws and constants in our universe. First we argue in favor of the thesis that all multiverses except Tegmark’s “mathematical multiverse” are too small to explain the fine tuning, so that they merely shift the problem up one level. But the “mathematical multiverse" is surely too large. To prove this assessment, we have performed a number of experiments with (...) cellular automata of complex behavior, which can be considered as universes in the mathematical multiverse. The analogy between what happens in some automata (in particular Conway’s “Game of Life") and the real world is very strong. But if the results of our experiments can be extrapolated to our universe, we should expect to inhabit—in the context of the multiverse—a world in which at least some of the laws and constants of nature should show a certain time dependence. Actually, the probability of our existence in a world such as ours would be mathematically equal to zero. In consequence, the results presented in this paper can be considered as an inkling that the hypothesis of the multiverse, whatever its type, does not offer an adequate explanation for the peculiarities of the physical laws in our world. (shrink)

In this paper, linguistic-analytic philosophy has been identified as the dominant methodology in the philosophy of sport. The hermeneutics of sport is contrasted with linguistic-analytic philosophy by analyzing Heidegger’s view of Truth. In doing so, two views of philosophy are compared: ontology or description. Sport hermeneutics’ task has to do with description. Hermeneutical explanations of sport attempt to describe the facticity of sport. Such a facticity is formed by three moments: embodiment, capabilities, and tradition. They are not components of sport (...) that can be identified as essential components but rather, they are identifiable only for analytic purposes. These three above-mentioned elements cannot be identified as elements, because they are intrinsically intertwined forming a unitary network of meaning. The task of sport hermeneutics is to describe the different relationships that compose such a network of meaning. In doing so, sport is a humane activity linked to the constitutive human task of making sense of reality by projecting meaning into it. (shrink)

Why is space 3-dimensional? The fi rst answer to this question, entirely based on Physics, was given by Ehrenfest, in 1917, who showed that the stability requirement for n-dimensional two-body planetary system very strongly constrains space dimensionality, favouring 3-d. This kind of approach will be generically called "stability postulate" throughout this paper and was shown by Tangherlini, in 1963, to be still valid in the framework of general relativity as well as for quantum mechanical hydrogen atom, giving the same constraint (...) for space{dimensionality. In the present work, before criticizing this methodology, a brief discussion has been introduced, aimed at stressing and clarifying some general physical aspects of the problem of how to determine the number of space dimensions. Then, the epistemological consequences of Ehrenfest's methodology are critically reviewed. An alternative procedure to get at the proper number of dimensions, in which the stability postulate - and the implicit singularities in three-dimensional physics - are not an essential part of the argument, is proposed. In this way, the main epistemological problems contained in Ehrenfest's original idea are avoided. The alternative methodology proposed in this paper is realized by obtaining and discussing the n-dimensional quantum theory as expressed in Planck's law, de Broglie relation and the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. As a consequence, it is possible to propose an experiment, based on thermal neutron di raction by crystals, to directly measure space dimensionality. Finally the distinguished role of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory in the determination of space dimensionality is stressed. (shrink)

El proyecto de una Universidad europea común alberga, además de una ordenación racional y una homologación internacional de los estudios, un cambio en las metodologías educativas. Este cambio de paradigma educativo se debe centrar en la sustitución de una enseñanza excesivamente teórica por una educación activa, apoyándose en una formación más práctica y en el uso de nuevas tecnologías. El presente trabajo, que parte de un análisis previo de la situación actual, examina estos escenarios y propone diferentes vías para la (...) renovación pedagógica y la innovación educativa. Por un lado, a través de los cambios en la oferta y el replanteamiento del modo de enseñanza tradicional con el uso de las nuevas metodologías. Y por otro, con la implantación de las nuevas tecnologías educativas de apoyo a la docencia. (shrink)

En este artículo se analiza la posición de El eclipse de la fraternidad, ensayo publicado por Antoni Domènech, en el debate acerca del republicanismo cívico. Para ello se atiende en primer lugar a la recepción, en esa obra, de la democracia ateniense y de la institución del salario para cargos públicos, establecido en Atenas desde la revolución de Efialtes en el 461 a. de C. Este es un elemento nuclear en el argumento del libro. Se sigue así la aparición del (...) problema de la fraternidad en la trayectoria intelectual de Domènech. A través de esa recepción de la democracia ateniense, Domènech toma partido en el debate internacional acerca de la tradición republicana y de su origen. La segunda parte del artículo versa sobre este problema. Finalmente se trata de comprender la peculiaridad de El eclipse de la fraternidad en el contexto del republicanismo filosófico español. El método de análisis utilizado se inspira en la sociología de la filosofía, desarrollada entre otros por Pierre Bourdieu, Randall Collins y Martin Kusch. (shrink)

John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham are often said to have held opposed views concerning the way “the value” of different pleasures should be estimated. Mill is accused of being an inconsistent utilitarian because he thought that, when comparing the value of two pleasures, we should not forget to take their “quality” into account. Bentham, on the other hand, is said to have believed that we should take “only quantity” into consideration. By verifying what they actually wrote, and reflecting on (...) what they meant by words like “value”, “quantity”, and “quality”, we find that these allegations are largely imaginary and that the difference between Mill and Bentham on this question has (at least) been exaggerated. Bentham, for example, did not write that "quantity of pleasure being equal, pushpin is as good as poetry", as is so often reported. In his Principles of Morals and Legislation he clearly tells us why he rejects the inaccurate word “quantity”, when speaking of “the value of (a lot of) pain or pleasure”, and he explicitly introduces “quality” – both the word and the concept – in his analysis of rewards and punishments. These clarifications allow us to sort-out a few other confusions concerning utilitarianism. We explain, for example, why authors like Amartya Sen and Michael Sandel are mistaken in believing that rights and freedoms have “no intrinsic value” (only instrumental value) in utilitarian ethics. (shrink)

In this paper, I engage in the debate on the definition of the cyborg. I identify the two defining components of the traditional definition of the cyborg: the symbiotic relationship between human nature and technology; and the embodiment of a superhuman or inhuman feature or ability. Then, I trace these two components in the scholarly debate on the cyborg. To conclude, I explore the role the scholarly view of the cyborg plays in the debate on cyborg-athletes in the philosophy of (...) sport. (shrink)

The meaning of the word homology has changed. From being a comparative concept in pre-Darwinian times, it became a historical concept, strictly signifying a common evolutionary origin for either anatomical structures or genes. This historical understanding of homology is not useful in classification; therefore I propose a return to its pre-Darwinian meaning.

Everyone has heard of "the invisible hand," the famous metaphor used by Adam Smith (1723-1790) in The Wealth of Nations. Although he uses the expression only once in the book, it has given rise to controversy that has lasted for over two centuries. -/- The famous expression has been understood, in (at least) two very different ways. In one way by most of academia, and in a very different way by Keynes, Noah Chomsky and more lately by Mark Blaug (in (...) the second edition of The New Palgrave, 2008). -/- In the standard textbook interpretation, it is considered a poetical name for "the price mechanism" and presented as an argument in favor of laisser-faire and free trade. In this paper we recall the less well-known interpretation (of Keynes, Blaug and Chomsky), showing that Smith was more reserved towards laisser-faire than is commonly believed and that by "invisible hand" he did not mean the price mechanism. (shrink)

In this essay, we respond to Angelo Corlett’s criticism of our paper ‘Ethics, Brain Injuries, and Sports: Prohibition, Reform, and Prudence’. To do so, first, we revisit certain assumptions and arg...

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the complexity in ironic echoic mention from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics. It builds on the scenario-based approach to irony where ironic meaning is treat...

El presente trabajo pretende ser un guía y un prontuario para que el profesorado de filosofía haga uso de los conocimientos lingüísticos del alumnado. A dichos conocimientos se dedican muchas horas de trabajo escolar y pueden ser utilizados para mejorar el desempeño del alumnado en las materias de filosofía. Por otra parte, los productos de éstos que se evalúan en las materias de filosofía son de naturaleza lingüística, por lo que tal vez conviene una cierta sintonía con las materias correspondientes (...) en lo que se refiere a la evaluación de sus producciones lingüísticas. La exposición se basa en un doble hilo conductor. El primero, que estructura secuencialmente el trabajo, sigue las propiedades habituales que se consideran en un texto: cohesión, coherencia y adecuación. Estas propiedades sirven para introducir la teoría relevante que pueden servir al profesorado de filosofía para encontrar en los textos de lingüística lo que busca en orden a mejorar las habilidades de expresión y comprensión de su alumnado. Se complementa con la sugerencia de criterios de evaluación para las producciones textuales del mismo. El segundo hilo conductor se basa en diversos problemas de comprensión de textos. (shrink)

Much has been written about the disagreement and even radical opposition between Gilles Deleuze’s and Félix Guattari’s conceptualizations and those of Jacques Lacan: for example, about desire, psychotherapy, the subject and the radically opposed political consequences that result from their approaches. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate from a Lacanian perspective that in the case of a central concept such as the body, there are rather more similarities than differences. Its main thesis is that Deleuze’s and Guattari’s body (...) without organs is very close to Lacan’s notion of the Other jouissance and that with slightly different strategies they both provide arguments to fight the same enemy: that is, the control and repression of singularity under capitalism. (shrink)

Este artículo aborda el papel que juega la “admiración” en la traducción heideggeriana de tres pasajes de la Metafísica de Aristóteles. Con base en el volumen 62 de la Gesamtausgabe, se muestra que la “admiración” se relaciona con tres temas fundamentales, a saber: el mundo, la vida y la comprensión. En primer lugar, analizo el tema del mundo compartido y del mundo circundante. En segundo lugar, describo el tema de la vida, la cual es interpretada como “premura insoslayable” y “clara (...) permanencia tranquila”. En tercer lugar, desarrollo el tema de la comprensión en tres fases: “epistémica”, “propia” y “visible”. Estos temas serán retomados en trabajos ulteriores como Ser y tiempo. Por tal motivo, las lecciones de 1922 son valiosas para conocer el itinerario filosófico de Heidegger en los años veinte. Finalmente, se intenta mostrar que la triple traducción del vocablo griego θαυμάζειν realizada por Heidegger, obedece a un criterio específico de interpretación fenomenológica acorde a los temas mencionados. (shrink)

Within the general discussion of space and its dimensionality, Aristotle's position is of the greatest relevance, as one will have the opportunity to argue and discuss in this article.

This article summarizes the recent evidence on global poverty and inequality, including both developed and developing countries. Section 1 discusses poverty and inequality data and presents evidence on levels and recent trends in poverty and inequality around the world. Section 2 turns to the issues involved in aggregating inequality indices across countries, in order to construct a meaningful measure of global inequality. Section 3 discusses the empirical relationship between economic growth, poverty, and inequality dynamics. Section 4 turns to the likely (...) economic determinants of poverty and inequality changes. Section 5 offers some conclusions, and points to some promising research themes within this general topic. (shrink)

El estudio de la etnicidad ha presentado tradicionalmente una serie de dificultades. La razón última de ello estriba en la naturaleza dinámica y difusa de las identidades sociales. Este artículo reconstruye el origen intelectual de tales dificultades y la importancia de la idea de contingencia para una consideración normativa de la etnicidad. Tras repasar los principales modelos de ciudadanía moderna, el texto analiza el papel de los inmigrantes en la estructura de derechos civiles y concluye con una reflexión sobre las (...) posibilidades abiertas en la sociedad española para un modelo pluralista de integración. (shrink)

One of the most disputed questions among economists is that of "the role" and "size" that the public sector should have in a rich and developed country like France. -/- The importance of this question is understandable, because the history of nations is filled with examples of a sector (or a branch) of the economy becoming too large, or remaining too small, hampering growth or making the economy more vulnerable. A recent case is that of the "Financial Corporations Sector", which (...) doubled in size in several countries during the two decades leading up to the 2008 economic collapse [1]. -/- It is therefore legitimate to ask whether this is not also the case, in France, with "General Government" or "the Public Sector". -/- We explain why the argument most often used by those who hold this opinion (that the ratio "public expenditure/GDP" is a good measure of the size of the public sector and that in France it is too high) is not a serious one. -/- . (shrink)

The interest in crossmodal correspondences, including those involving sounds and involving tastes, has experienced rapid growth in recent years. However, the mechanisms underlying these correspondences are not well understood. In the present study (N = 302), we used an associative learning paradigm, based on previous literature using simple sounds with no consensual taste associations (i.e., square and triangle wave sounds at 200 Hz) and taste words (i.e., sweet and bitter), to test the influence of two potential mechanisms in establishing sound–taste (...) correspondences and investigate whether either learning mechanism could give rise to new and long‐lasting associations. Specifically, we examined an emotional mediation account (i.e., using sad and happy emoji facial expressions) and a transitive path (i.e., sound‐taste correspondence being mediated by color, using red and black colored squares). The results revealed that the associative learning paradigm mapping the triangle wave tone with a happy emoji facial expression induced a novel crossmodal correspondence between this sound and the word sweet. Importantly, we found that this novel association was still present two months after the experimental learning paradigm. None of the other mappings, emotional or transitive, gave rise to any significant associations between sound and taste. These findings provide evidence that new crossmodal correspondences between sounds and tastes can be created by leveraging the affective connection between both dimensions, helping elucidate the mechanisms underlying these associations. Moreover, these findings reveal that these associations can last for several weeks after the experimental session through which they were induced. (shrink)