This paper addresses the issue of the moral status of non-human animals, or the question whether sentient animals are morally considerable. The arguments for and against the moral status of animals are discussed, above all the argument from marginal cases. It is argued that sentient animals have moral status based on their having interests in their experiential well-being, but that there are degrees of moral status. Two interest-based approaches are presented and discussed: DeGrazia’s view that sentient animals have interests in (...) continuing to live, and that their interests should be granted moral weight; and McMahan’s TRIA which similarly postulates that animals have interests and that in a given situation we should compare the human and animal interests at stake. Finally, the paper concludes that the anthropocentric approach to animal ethics should be abandoned in favour of the biocentric ethics. (shrink)

This paper deals with the evolutionary origin and the adaptive function of emotion. I discuss the view that emotions have evolved as functional adaptations in both humans and non-human animals in order to cope with adaptive challenges and to promote fitness. I argue that there is evolutionary continuity between humans and animals in emotions and emotional expressions, and discuss behavioural argument for this thesis, specifically, Darwin’s and Ekman’s research on similarities in how humans and animals express their basic emotions. In (...) addition to this argument, I provide neuroscientific evidence that supports the claim that basic emotions are evolutionary old and shared among humans and many other animals. Finally, I conclude that animal emotions can be considered the bases and roots of our emotions that connect us to other sentient beings. (shrink)

This paper addresses the issue of the legal status of non-human animals and the possibility of changing it from the status of things or property to the status of non-things, or better, sentient beings. Key arguments for the change of their status are discussed, including the argument from marginal cases, as well as scientific evidence indicating that many animals are sentient beings. Two ways of initiating such changes seem most promising: legislation, i.e. modification of the civil codes, and litigation, i.e. (...) filing lawsuits on behalf of individual animals. It is argued that legislative changes are necessary for moving animals out of the legal category of things and into the category of sentient beings that can bear rights. On the other hand, litigation could bring about more radical change of the legal status of some animals. (shrink)

This paper discusses the evolutionary origin and adaptive functions of emotions, in line with contemporary evolutionary psychology. Drawing upon Charles Darwin’s study of emotional expressions, it is argued that there is an evolutionary continuity among animals in emotional capacities, and that the differences between humans and animals are differences in degree and not in kind. The focus is on basic or primary emotions (joy, fear, sadness, anger), as it has been consistently shown that they are universal and shared among many (...) different species. Basis for this view is the neuroscientific research on brain mechanisms underlying the emotions, especially subcortical brain regions that are proven to be the evolutionary old loci of emotions, homologous across many species. These neuroscientific data provide convincing empirical evidence for the existence of emotional experiences in animals and the evolutionary continuity among species. (shrink)

This paper addresses the issue of the moral standing of nonhuman animals and their moral and legal rights. First of all, two most prominent views arguing for moral significance of animals are discussed. Peter Singer’s utilitarian view is that animals are sentient beings and therefore deserve equal consideration of their interests. Next, Tom Regan’s standpoint is that many animals have inherent value as experiencing subjects of a life, and consequently an equal right to be treated with respect. This is followed (...) by a discussion about legislation and legal practice in our country and abroad. Finally, it is argued that animals should have at least some basic rights guaranteed by the law. (shrink)

The Planteome project provides a suite of reference and species-specific ontologies for plants and annotations to genes and phenotypes. Ontologies serve as common standards for semantic integration of a large and growing corpus of plant genomics, phenomics and genetics data. The reference ontologies include the Plant Ontology, Plant Trait Ontology, and the Plant Experimental Conditions Ontology developed by the Planteome project, along with the Gene Ontology, Chemical Entities of Biological Interest, Phenotype and Attribute Ontology, and others. The project also provides (...) access to species-specific Crop Ontologies developed by various plant breeding and research communities from around the world. We provide integrated data on plant traits, phenotypes, and gene function and expression from 95 plant taxa, annotated with reference ontology terms. (shrink)

Reading Todorov’s The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre - Irfan Ajvazi.

Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Tzvetan Todorov; David Bellos The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia by Richard Overy Stalinism and Nazism: History and Memory Compared by Henry Rousso; Lucy B. Golsan Stalinism and Nazism: Dictatorships in Comparison by Ian Kershaw; Moshe Lewin Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism? Five Interventions in the use of a Notion by Slavoj Zizek.

Este artículo periodiza y desarrolla los paradigmas concomitantes de la novela policial, para extrapolarlos en un contexto peruano incipiente con textos que cumplen con los requisitos indispensables denominarse de ese modo. La violencia resulta un elemento inexorable para la eficacia receptiva y su tratamiento creativo, además del conocimiento de tópicos afines, como Derecho, Política, Sociología, Fuerzas Policiales, etc. Para ello, se corroborará con la definición de este género (como lo fundamenta principalmente Tzvetan Todorov) y la taxonomía hegemónica de sus subgéneros: (...) novela de enigma, novela problema, novela negra, whodunit, novela policiaca histórica, novela policiaca de período histórico y novela criminal. (shrink)

Este artículo examina La ciudad y los perros (1963) de Mario Vargas Llosa para fundamentar cómo se logra la estratificación teórica de estilos y técnicas que se emplean para abordar la violencia en el texto. Sobre la epistemología, recurre principalmente a Todorov, Hamburger, Lotman y Genette. Y, para argumentar la manifestación de la violencia, considera las eventualidades que padecen los personajes del Colegio Militar Leoncio Prado; en especial, el Jaguar, el Poeta y el Esclavo. Esas acciones serán justificadas por la (...) instrucción castrense, la evolución humana, la necesidad de una conducta hegemónica idónea y la búsqueda del efecto perlocutivo en el lector. Para sistematizar esas peculiaridades, se opta por una metodología adscrita al cotejo de información teórica para que sea confrontada con el discurso literario. El análisis que se desarrolla es complementado con fragmentos representativos para que las formulaciones sean más directas y convincentes. Como resultado, se confirma esa correspondencia entre las teorías heterogéneas, la novela y la interpretación, por lo que el concepto de violencia adoptaría una multidimensionalidad que evidencia su existencia y su requerimiento esencial en los personajes. Con ello, se sustenta como conclusión que la violencia en ese contexto debería ser permanente e imprescindible para subsistir. (shrink)

Recenzija knjige: Wu Xiaoming Filozofija i Zhexue Put k drugome i natrag Prijevod: Zorana Baković, Mario Rebac Odjel za orijentalistiku Hrvatskoga filološkoga društva i Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb 2006.