El uso de un conocimiento invariante para alcanzar propósitos intervencionistas o de política es comúnmente aceptado por los enfoques manipulabilistas. Sin embargo, dicho uso plantea dos problemáticas filosóficas que serán examinadas en el presente trabajo. El primer problema es ontológico, y refiere a la dificultad de encontrar genuinos factores causales estables en ciencias sociales. En este sentido, se mostrará que los fenómenos sociales no responden a una lógica de factores estables como los mecanismos o las «capacidades», sino que se adecúan (...) más a una lógica de «árboles de posibilidades” o «resultados de final abierto». El otro problema es de índole epistemológico y refiere a que, incluso si se encuentran contribuciones sociales estables, nada garantiza que dicha estabilidad prevalezca en el futuro. Diferentes tesis que avalan esta problemática serán examinadas, tales como la denominada «crítica de Lucas» o la «teoría del cisne negro». (shrink)

The Subjective Well-Being Scale and its short version were developed and validated to measure life satisfaction and positive affect in a Spanish-speaking population. The aim of the present study was to obtain additional evidence of validity for the EBS-8. To this end, the scale was applied in three successive studies to a total of 2259 Mexicans aged 12 to 81 years. The results of the first study allowed us to confirm its unifactorial structure and its adequate reliability ; in the (...) second its measurement invariance by sex, social group and age was tested. From the psychometric indices obtained, it is concluded that the EBS-8 is an excellent brief instrument constructed in Spanish to assess subjective well-being in adolescents, young people, adults and older adults. (shrink)

: The open-ended character of natural languages calls for the hypothesis that humans are endowed with a recursive procedure generating sentences which are hierarchically organized. Structural relations such as c-command, expressed on hierarchical sentential representations, determine all sorts of formal and interpretive properties of sentences. The relevant computational principles are well beyond the reach of conscious introspection, so that studying such properties requires the formulation of precise formal hypotheses, and empirically testing them. This article illustrates all these aspects of linguistic (...) research through the discussion of non-coreference effects. The article argues in favor of the formal linguistic approach based on hierarchical structures, and against alternatives based on vague notions of “analogical generalization”, and/or exploiting mere linear order. In the final part, the issue of cross-linguistic invariance and variation of non-coreference effects is addressed. Keywords: Linguistic Knowledge; Morphosyntactic Properties; Unconscious Computations; Coreference; Linguistic Representations Conoscenza linguistica e computazioni inconsce Riassunto: Il carattere aperto del linguaggio naturale avvalora l’ipotesi che gli esseri umani siano dotati di una procedura ricorsiva che genera frasi gerarchicamente organizzate. Relazioni strutturali come il c-comando, espresse su rappresentazioni frasali gerarchiche, determinano tutte le proprietà formali e interpretative delle frasi. I principi computazionali rilevanti sono totalmente al di fuori della portata della coscienza introspettiva e così lo studio di tali proprietà richiede la formulazione di precise ipotesi formali e la loro verifica sperimentale. Questo articolo illustra tutti questi aspetti della ricerca linguistica, esaminando gli effetti di non-coreferenza. Si argomenta in favore dell’approccio linguistico formale basato su strutture gerarchiche e contro alternative basate su vaghe nozioni di “generalizzazione analogica” e/o che impiegano il semplice ordine lineare. Nella parte finale si affronta il tema dell’invarianza e della variazione cross-linguistica degli effetti di non-coreferenza. Parole chiave: Conoscenza linguistica; Proprietà morfosintattiche; Computazioni inconsce; Coreferenzialità; Rappresentazioni linguistiche. (shrink)

RESUMEN: En el presente trabajo se hará una crítica al enfoque de máquinas nomológicas desarrollado por Nancy Cartwright para el caso de las ciencias sociales. Se argumentará que los fenómenos sociales no responden a una lógica de "capacidades", sino de "árboles de posibilidades" o "resultados de final abierto". La estabilidad o invarianza, si bien es posible en el reino de lo social, parece ser más la excepción que la regla. Esto tiene consecuencias importantes para los propósitos de intervención y (...) control. De acuerdo con las corrientes manipulabilistas tradicionales la invarianza es una herramienta fundamental para cumplir cualquier propósito intervencionista, ya que permite prever con un buen grado de confianza el resultado de una manipulación. Sin embargo, en este trabajo se intentará mostrar que, a pesar de que no sea del todo plausible obtener un conocimiento invariante en el reino de lo social, las intervenciones pueden ser igualmente eficaces. Para ello, será fundamental reemplazar la noción "ex-ante" de intervención por una que involucre continuidad o sistematicidad. También será clave tener en cuenta aquellas cláusulas o condiciones especificadas dentro de los modelos, ya que estos últimos cumplen el rol de ser anteproyectos para la generación de resultados. ABSTRACT: In the present paper, a critique of Nancy Cartwright's nomological machines approach in the social sciences will be made. It is argued that social phenomena do not correspond to the logic of "capacities", but to the logic of "possibility trees" or "open-ended results". Stability or invariance, although possible in the social realm, seem to be more the exception than the rule. This has important implications for the purposes of intervention and control. According to traditional manipulabilistic accounts, invariance is essential for achieving any interventionist purpose, because it allows predicting the result of a manipulation with a high degree of confidence. However, in this paper it will be shown that even though the obtaining of invariant knowledge is not entirely plausible in the social realm, interventions may be effective. To do this, it will be necessary to replace the "ex-ante" notion of intervention with another notion that involves continuity. It will also be crucial to take into account the clauses or conditions specified in models, since such models play the role of being blueprints for generating results. (shrink)