Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2018 Heft: 220 Seiten: 155-172.

In Swiss semi-direct democracy, citizens are often summoned to the polls. To vote reasonably, they need to be properly informed. The media therefore have the responsibility to provide them with arguments for and against each issue of voting. Here, we focus on argumentation in a television ‘civic debate’ about abolishing compulsory military service. To provide a unified and integrated overview of the debate dynamics, we combine the Dialogical Model of Argumentation and the Argumentum Model of Topics, which share a similar (...) emphasis on the discursive dimension of argumentation. This analysis underlines the importance of linguistic and communicative resources and procedures, without neglecting the macro socio-political environment of the debate. (shrink)

Del anormal al sujeto ce la resistencia -- Subjetividad y resistencia -- Vida cotidiana del habitante de calle -- Reflexión sobre el concepto de irrealidad como forma de resistencia y ejercicio de la libertad en la experiencia cinematográfica -- Poesía y resistencia.

The contemporary confluence of globalization and ethical pluralism is at the origin of many ethical challenges that confront business nowadays, both in practice and in theory. One of the challenges arising from the development of globalization has to do with respect for cultural diversity. It is often said that the success of economic globalization tends towards social and cultural homogeneity. To the extent that cultural diversity is usually seen as a valuable reality, that global trend seems to contradict our efforts (...) to respect ethical pluralism, both personal and cultural, within society. In this paper I argue that (a) ethical minimalism, despite its emphasis on tolerance and justice, does not take pluralism seriously into account in present-day society, and (b) ethical minimalism is not suited to balancing the homogenizing trend of globalization. Certainly ethical norms are necessary, but by no means are they sufficient in themselves to encourage either justice or tolerance; nor are they sufficient to inspire and encourage good practices and sound regulations. Instead, virtue-based ethics has the capacity of inspiring and encouraging good practices. Particularly, virtue-based ethics is able to inspire a serious dialogue about ethical and legal issues both in the public arena and within organizations. (shrink)

Clarke and Beck discuss in their sections on congruency and confounds literature that has challenged the claim that the approximate number system represents numerical content. We argue that the propositions put forward by these studies aren't that far from the indirect model of number perception suggested by C&B.

Se explora la justificación que ofrece Hume del gobierno en dos momentos, y, a partir de ahí, los argumentos con los que pretende salvar la posibilidad de la resistencia civil sin afirmar tajantemente un derecho a la resistencia. Para ello pone en juego su distinción entre obligación natural —u obligación de interés—y obligación moral —-avalada por el sentimiento. Al hilo de esta distinción puede señalarse un criterio para distinguir normalidad y excepción, y, eventualmente, el tipo de situación que podría respaldar (...) acciones de resistencia civil. (shrink)

In this paper, I discuss the current thesis on the modern origin of the ad hominem-argument, by analysing the Aristotelian conception of it. In view of the recent accounts which consider it a relative argument, i.e., acceptable only by the particular respondent, I maintain that there are two Aristotelian versions of the ad hominem, that have identifiable characteristics, and both correspond to the standard variants distinguished in the contemporary treatments of the famous informal fallacy: the abusive and the circumstancial or (...) tu quoque types. I propose to reconstruct the two Aristotelian versions (see sections 1 and 2), which have been recognized again in the ninteenth century (sec. 3). Finally, I examine whether or not it was considered as a fallacious dialogue device by Aristotle and by A. Schopenhauer (sec. 4). (shrink)

The notion of a critical successor [5] in relational semantics has been central to most classic modal completeness proofs in interpretability logics. In this paper we shall work with a more general notion, that of an assuring successor. This will enable more concisely formulated completeness proofs, both with respect to ordinary and generalised Veltman semantics. Due to their interesting theoretical properties, we will devote some space to the study of a particular kind of assuring labels, the so‐called full labels and (...) maximal labels. After a general treatment of assuringness, we shall apply it to obtain a completeness result for the modal logic w.r.t. generalised semantics for a restricted class of frames. (shrink)

Suele argumentarse que la contribución original de la Reforma a la teoría de la resistencia se basa en una exégesis del pasaje paulino de Romanos, según la cual sólo se debe obediencia a las autoridades que obran en favor del interés general. De ahí se derivaría una teoría constitucionalista de la resistencia protestante, que tendría en Calvino a uno de sus principales inspiradores. Sin embargo, en el derecho de resistencia calviniano la ciudadanía no es concebida como sujeto político en sentido (...) estricto: el pueblo no es ni el fundamento de la autoridad ni puede reemplazarla o resistir si incumple sus deberes religiosos, sociales o políticos. La resistencia activa no está justificada más que como excepción y su motor es únicamente otra autoridad legitimada divinamente, esto es, que ocupe un oficio público, es decir, un tutor. La existencia de una tutoría semejante implica reconocer la incapacidad jurídica del menor tutelado, esto es, el pueblo. Difícilmente puede hablarse aquí de constitucionalismo o democracia. El análisis de las ideas del reformador en el contexto en el que fueron puestas en práctica apoyará esta tesis. (shrink)

Ce volume envisage l'amour en tant qu'objet polymorphe : Eros, Philia, Agapé, mais aussi Storgé. Les mots grecs rendent compte, du large spectre amoureux : amour romantique, amour sexuel, amour de soi, de l'autre, pour l'autre... des catégories qui placent les manifestations du sentiment amoureux dans un espace de contraintes et de possibilités qui relève du social et du discursif. Les travaux qui sont ici réunis s'attachent ainsi à interroger des genres artistiques et discursifs dans lesquels s'ancre l'amour, ils abordent (...) la littérature et le cinéma, mais aussi l'histoire, l'histoire des idées, la sociologie l'ethnologie ou la psychologie. Ces recherches mettent en avant que l'amour constitue une manière d'appréhender et d'expliquer le monde puisqu'on peut lire à travers lui les rapports qui définissent nos sociétés et qui le définissent à leur tour. (shrink)

The development of self-regulation in early childhood is related to development of emotional regulation and attention, in particular executive attention. As the ability to self-regulate is crucial in life, it is important to reveal early predictors of self-regulation. The aim of the paper is to present the results of longitudinal studies on the relationships between the functioning of attention, regulation of emotion and later self-regulatory abilities. 310 children were assessed at three time points. At 12 months of age emotional regulation (...) in situation of frustration and attention regulation were assessed. At 18 and 24 months behavioral-emotional regulation in the Snack Delay Task was measured. Additionally parents assessed executive attention using The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire when children were 26 months old. Structural equation modelling revealed two different paths to development of self-regulatory abilities at 18 months: emotional and emotionalattentional and only one emotional-attentional path at 24 months. The early ability to focus attention and later executive attention functioning revealed to be important predictors of self-regulatory abilities both at 18 and 24 months of age. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the third chapter of Fides et ratio, entitled Intellego ut credam This sentence is usually connected with the preambula fidei, truths which are supposed to prepare human mind to receive the gift of faith. But in this case, Pope John Paul II develops this sentence in a different, more existential way according to which the real preambula fidei are not so much a set of truths as the real man who seeks the truth with his entire (...) life. This interpretation remarks the practical dimmension of the relationship between man and truth. (shrink)

La notion de « relocation » désigne le déplacement historique du visionnage cinématographique vers des milieux et des objets nouveaux. Qu’il s’agisse de regarder une œuvre cinématographique sur une tablette dans un train ou bien d’assister à un match de foot dans la salle domestique d’un home théâtre, la dispersion de l’expérience cinématographique, en cours depuis longtemps, est significativement accélérée par les nouveaux media.

Kant controversially opposed political revolutions; yet, in morality, he clearly encouraged a revolutionary attitude. Drawing especially on the relevant texts in the Metaphysics of Morals, the Religion, the Education and the Anthropology, I explore the conceptual underpinnings of Kant’s position, arguing that Kant’s contrast between moral revolution and reform is at the basis of his twofold notion of noumenal and phenomenal virtue, which in turn explains the contrast he draws between principled versus imitative behaviour in the Education. On this basis, (...) I defend the complementary role of political reform and moral revolution in his approach to cultural progress. (shrink)

The topic of this paper concerns the relation between thinking and phenomenality as it is discussed in the Philosophy of Mind. Thus, I am addressing the following questions: does the domain of phenomenal consciousness include thinking? And if so, is the phenomenality of thinking (PT) proprietary or not? I will firstly present the debate and the main notions involved in it, by contrasting a certain mainstream picture of the mind with the one offered by Phenomenology. Second, I will consider the (...) particular question of a proprietary phenomenology of conscious thought through the examination of the reductionist and antireductionist positions, concluding with a sceptical remark towards this dialectics. (shrink)

Priming and recollection are expressions of human memory mediated by different brain events. These brain events were monitored while people discriminated words from nonwords. Mean response latencies were shorter for words that appeared in an earlier study phase than for new words. This priming effect was reduced when the letters of words in study-phase presentations were presented individually in succession as opposed to together as complete words. Based on this outcome, visual word-form priming was linked to a brain potential recorded (...) from the scalp over the occipital lobe about 450 ms after word onset. This potential differed from another potential previously associated with recollection, suggesting that distinct operations associated with these two types of memory can be monitored at the precise time that they occur in the human brain. (shrink)

Polish translation of an article by Gérard Chazal, devoted to the relationship of François Dagognet’s philosophy to the work of Gaston Bachelard. The author shows the complexity of this relationship, analyzing it in relation to the philosophy of science, the philosophy of technology and the philosophy of art. In many dimensions Chazal shows that Dagognet was inspired not so much by the letter of Bachelard’s texts as by their spirit, using his methods and concepts in areas that Bachelard was not (...) or only marginally interested in. The article is also an interesting voice in the discussion about the essence of the reception of philosophical concepts and currents. In this aspect author asks about the negation of the source theory in its continuations at the same time asking whether it is not this kind of negative inspiration that best testifies to the vitality of the theory — alive due to constant creative transformations. (shrink)

Este libro propone un recorrido por la obra de Jürgen Habermas desde la atención prioritaria hacia la articulación histórica y efectiva de las identidades. Así, la versión de Habermas como representante señero de la segunda generación de la Escuela de Frankfurt es analizada atendiendo, además de a su ambición epistemológica como ciencia social, a su comprensión de los escenarios de la praxis, allí, en definitiva, donde se dilucida la posible realización de los ideales identitarios. El contraste entre la crítica de (...) Habermas a los nacionalismos obsesionados con el nexo entre pasado histórico e identidad colectiva y las comparecencias empíricas de unas voluntades políticas y sociales nacionalistas que persiguen su autodeterminación precisamente desde el reclamo de ese nexo, permite advertir los problemas de la teoría de Habermas para integrar como conocimiento las dimensiones de la realidad social que discuten su idea de un progreso dirigido hacia el universalismo. Desde ese interés principal que focaliza la presente lectura de los textos de Habermas, cobra protagonismo la reflexión acerca de la experiencia histórica y las repercusiones que la misma puede tener en la comprensión de los requerimientos de la identidad. De ahí que también tenga presencia la influencia del Holocausto en la sensibilidad teórica de un Habermas comprometido en el propósito de que sea normativamente imposible la repetición de un escenario similar. Una vez aclaradas las condiciones que influyen en la versión de Habermas acerca de los límites de la legitimidad en las apuestas identitarias, el análisis empírico del uso nacionalista del bombardeo a Gernika y de la obra de Picasso "Guernica", se presenta como un contrapunto plástico a los ideales de la teoría. Así, el recurso de la identidad colectiva vasca a ese recodo puntual de su historia se conjuga en una clave que choca con la concepción moderna sobre cómo se construye la autonomía. La evidencia de que las diversas interpretaciones inconciliables sobre el Guernica forman parte de la materialización social de una determinada convicción identitaria testifica, justamente, acerca de la necesidad de integrar en la teoría esas dimensiones de la vida social que, en efecto, chocan con la racionalidad y que, en principio, retan al sociólogo para comprender que no es lo mismo la racionalidad de su ciencia que la de su objeto de estudio. (shrink)

Tocqueville e John Stuart Mill são dois dos grandes mestres de ciência política e filosofia política. Com efeito, poderíamos dizer que somos todos discípulos destes autores. Por um lado, porque Tocqueville foi o primeiro autor a refletir sobre o paradigma democrático, entendido como constelação política especificamente moderna. Por outro lado, o conceito ou ideal de liberdade desempenha um papel central nos dois autores. Liberdade é um dos pilares fundadores de qualquer projeto democrático e apesar do reconhecimento da importância igualmente vital (...) do conceito de igualdade, que se vem afirmando como condição necessária para o desenvolvimento politico na era de Tocqueville e de Mill, a liberdade permanece central nas suas preocupações. Neste artigo irei revisitar os argumentos avançados pelos autores, argumentos estes que nos alertam para os perigos da democracia, e mais precisamente, a tirania da maioria. Começarei por retratar o contexto das obras de Democracia na América de Tocqueville e Sobre a Liberdade de Mill. De seguida, ofereço uma reflexão sobre as implicações da tirania da maioria hoje. Por fim, proponho um conjunto de medidas que nos poderão ajudar a contrabalançar as tendências antidemocráticas das democracias contemporâneas. (shrink)

The obligation to make women’s rights to health services a reality rests with the state authorities. However, in Poland, women wishing to carry out a legal termination of pregnancy are often confronted with institutional abuse on the part of health care providers who deny women the possibility of carrying out the procedure because gynaecologists invoke the institution of the conscience clause. The aim of this article is to show the mutual normative complexity of the research problem, i.e. the possibility for (...) a doctor to invoke the conscience clause in the case of a patient’s right to an abortion. The paper verifies the research hypothesis that in the field of the conscientious objection clause, systemic solutions are necessary, but not only consisting in specifying the legal provisions but also in enforcing the respect of the law by its addressees. The hypothesis is to be verified using the dogmatic method. (shrink)

Smallholder producers are the collective most likely to be affected by the introduction of GMOs globally, yet the least included in public debates and consultation about the development, implementation or regulation of this agricultural biotechnology. Why are the voices and arguments of smallholder farmers being excluded from national and international GM debates and regulation? In this article, we identify barriers which prevent smallholder farmers in Mexico from having a voice in public political, economic, scientific and social fori regarding the GM (...) maize controversy. Through the analysis of empirical data from a case study in Mexico, we identify political, institutional, economic and ontological reasons that lie behind that exclusion. We conclude with an appraisal of smallholder farmers’ perspectives on GM maize and their visions of Mexico’s rural future, within which they demand a meaningful and rightful space. (shrink)

Współczesna nauka wymaga międzynarodowej kooperacji, której wynikiem jest synergia, jej efekty są łatwiej komercjalizowane, wspólne publikacje stają się lepiej rozpoznawalne przez społeczność naukową i częściej cytowane. Autorki artykułu omawiają wsparcie Fundacji na rzecz Nauki Polskiej w umiędzynarodowieniu polskiej nauki. Prezentują ufundowane przez nią międzynarodowe stypendia i nagrody oraz, z uwagi na tematykę tego numeru, szczegółowo omawiają współpracę polskich i francuskich naukowców w ostatnich latach.

Este estudio tiene como propósito explicar la relatividad del secreto médico y la actuación del médico perito. El secreto profesional médico es un derecho a la intimidad y constituye obligación ineludible para el personal de la salud, los pacientes y peritados, de ahí que todo lo que revelen deba ser guardado para evitar daños a la vida privada de los individuos. Desde el punto de vista ético el secreto médico profesional obliga al perito a no revelar más de lo necesario (...) para el peritaje, así como a no divulgar dicho informe, limitándose a entregarlo solamente a quienes tuvieran derecho a él. This study aims at explaining the relativity of medical secrecy and the performance of the medical expert. The medical professional secrecy is a right to privacy and it is an unavoidable obligation for the health staff, and assessed patients, hence everything they reveal must be stored to prevent damage to the private life of individuals. From the ethical point of view medical confidentiality forces the expert not to disclose more than necessary for the expertise, as well as not to disclose such report, just limited to be delivered to those who had right to it. (shrink)

RESUMENEl artículo que se presenta aquí traducido se editó en alemán en un volumen homenaje al filósofo Heinrich Rombach, quien se ha sabido unido a la «escuela de Freiburg » (en Briesgau) y determinado por la conexión entre Husserl y Heidegger, que, a pesar de las diferencias, es Fenomenología. Amigos, colegas y discípulos del profesor Rombach, por entonces profesor activo de la Universidad de Würzburg, dejaron en ese volumen huellas de haber oteado brechas y caminos muy distintos, en pos de (...) alcanzar espacios abiertos, libres y diversos, propios de un filosofar que se sabe estructural, intermundano e intercultural. La participación de Franco Volpi, que se concentró en el Welt und Gegenwelt de Rombach, caminó a la par de quienes transitaron el primero de los tres movimientos, que emprendió la filosofía de Rombach y que se llama Hermética filosófica. Inspirado, pues, por la lectura del Welt und Gegenwelt, Volpi defiende que con el proyecto de la hermética el pensar de Rombach aventaja, de modo radical, la Zeitkritik de Heidegger de los fundamentos epocales, en cuyo caso el profesor italiano pone a consideración el aporte de la Hermética en la tradición de la filosofía alemana, que alcanza al fundador de la escuela hermeneútica. La carta de respuesta de Rombach, por su lado, desmiente el haber tenido que ver con la Zeitkritik heideggeriana, y lleva a primer plano lo fundamental del fenómeno hermético, esto es, la unidad inmediata e inseparable de ser humano y realidad, lo cual acontece como el respectivo caminar juntos o a la par, y sería algo con lo cual se topa quien lo pueda ver. Hermética sería entonces el arte de ver esa unidad inmediata.PALABRAS CLAVEROMBACH–HERMÉTICA–HERMENEÚTICA–FENOMENOLOGÍA–CONCREATIVO.ABSTRACTThis is a translation of an article originally published in German in a special issue dedicated to philosopher Heinrich Rombach. Rombach identified himself as a member of the “Freiburg School” in Breisgau, and delimited by the connection between Husserl and Heidegger, which, despite their differences is Phenomenology. Friends, colleagues and disciples of Professor Rombach, who was back then an active Professor at the University of Würzburg, left traces in this volume of having glimpsed very different paths and gaps in the pursuit of reaching free, open and diverse spaces, characteristic of a structural, intermundane, and intercultural way of doing philosophy. Franco Volpi’s contribution moved along others who focused on the Rombach`s Welt und Gegenwelt, following the first of three movements undertaken by Rombach`s philosophy, namely philosophical Hermetics. Inspired by Welt und Gegenwelt, Volpi claims that with the hermetic project, the thought of Rombach surpasses, in a radical way, the Heideggerian Zeitkritik, and so the Italian Professor examines the contribution of the Hermetics in the tradition of German philosophy, that includes the founder of the school of hermeneutics. The letter with Rombach`s reply to Volpi`s claim, on the other hand, denies Rombach`s involvement with the Zeikritik. Instead, Rombach emphasizes the centrality of the hermetic phenomenon, that is, the immediate and inseparable unity of human being and reality, which happens as they respectively move along together or at the same time, understood by Rombach as a special discover for who can grasp it. According to this, Hermetic is the art of seeing that immediate unity.KEYWORDSROMBACH–HERMETICS–HERMENEUTICS–PHENOMENOLOGY–CONCREATIVE. (shrink)

introduction Dialectic and the notion of tradition The past does not pull back but presses forward. (Hannah Arendt 1977: 10) Through the confrontation over ...

Since the 1970s, the origin of cancer is being explored from the point of view of the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT), focusing on genetic mutations and clonal expansion of somatic cells. As cancer research expanded in several directions, the dominant focus on cells remained steady, but the classes of genes and the kinds of extra-genetic factors that were shown to have causal relevance in the onset of cancer multiplied. The wild heterogeneity of cancer-related mutations and phenotypes, along with the increasing (...) complication of models, led to an oscillation between the hectic search of 'the' few key factors that cause cancer and the discouragement in face of a seeming 'endless complexity'. To tame this complexity, cancer research started to avail itself of the tools that were being developed by Systems Biology. At the same time, anti-reductionist voices began claiming that cancer research was stuck in a sterile research paradigm. This alternative discourse even gave birth to an alternative theory: the Tissue Organization Field Theory (TOFT). A deeper philosophical analysis shows the serious limits of both reductionist and anti-reductionist positions and of their polarization. This book demonstrates that a radical philosophical reflection is necessary to drive cancer research out of its impasses. At the very least, this will be a reflection on the assumptions of different kinds of cancer research, on the implications of what cancer research has been discovering over 40 years and more, on a view of scientific practice that is most able to make sense of the cognitive and social conflicts that are seen in the scientific community (and in its results), and, finally, on the nature of living entities with which we entertain this fascinating epistemological dance that we call scientific research. The proposed Dynamic and Relational View of carcinogenesis is a starting point in all these directions. (shrink)

Motor proficiency reflects the ability to perform precise and coordinated movements in different contexts. Previous research suggests that different profiles of motor proficiency may be associated with different cognitive functioning characteristics thus suggesting an interaction between cognitive and motor processes. The current study investigated this interaction in the general population of healthy adults with different profiles of motor proficiency by focusing on error-related cognitive control and behavioral adaptation mechanisms. In addition, the impact of these processes was assessed in terms of (...) trait anxiety and worries. Forty healthy adults were divided into high and low motor proficiency groups based on an assessment of their motor skills. Using electroencephalography during a flanker task, error-related negativity was measured as the neural indicator of cognitive control. Post-error slowing was measured to represent behavioral adaptation. Participants also completed an anxiety assessment questionnaire. Participants in the high motor proficiency group achieved better task accuracy and showed relatively enhanced cognitive control through increased ERN. Contrastingly, individuals in the lower motor proficiency group achieved poorer accuracy whilst showing some evidence of compensation through increased PES. Trait anxiety reflecting general worries was found to be correlated with motor functioning, but the study could not provide evidence that this was related to cognitive or behavioral control mechanisms. The interaction between cognitive and motor processes observed in this study is unique for healthy and sub-clinical populations and provides a baseline for the interpretation of similar investigations in individuals with motor disorders. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.