Este texto pretende-se um ensaio sobre a questão do Espiritual na teoria pictórica de Kandinsky. Nele busco evidenciar a idéia de que as concepções do pintor russo, em grande parte construída em consonância com o pensamento esotérico do fim do século XIX, aproximam-se bastante de um tipo de cosmologia mágica, que abriga uma perspectiva análoga àquela das categorias do pensamento mágico segundo Marcel Mauss. No centro desta cosmologia encontra-se a arte, síntese do Espiritual, cuja noção central é a de gênio (...) que creio ser herdada em grande medida de Kant. (shrink)

No presente trabalho será demonstrada a estreita, embora discreta, relação da filosofia moral de Kant com a ética antiga, especialmente com o estoicismo de Cícero. O tema será explicitado mediante uma aproximação entre as obras da Crítica da razão prática e Sobre os fins (De finibus), respectivamente de cada um desses autores. Será destacada a crítica de Kant à identificação entre virtude e felicidade e sua reformulação sintética no conceito de “sumo bem”. Na conclusão se torna claro que a realização (...) moral da razão, reivindicada por Cícero, encontra na reformulação de Kant sua determinação mais precisa. The crises of practical reason and stoicismThe present paper shows the close albeit subtle relation of Kant’s moral philosophy to ancient ethics, especially Cicero’s Stoicism. The subject is made explicit by means of a rapprochement between the Critique of practical reason and De finibus, so as to be highlight Kant’s criticism of the classical identifying of virtue and happiness and his synthetical recasting of the concept of the supreme good. The essay concludes by making clear that the moral actualization of reason, reclaimed by Cicero, finds in Kant’s reformulation its most precise determination. (shrink)

Pretendemos reflexionar sobre la manera en la que los discursos audiovisuales están hilvanando las relaciones entre crisis medioambiental y quiebra de los marcos comunitarios sociales. Partiendo de una metodología híbrida basada tanto en la filosofía del arte (y de la ecología) de Heidegger como del análisis narratológico, proponemos pensar el campo mediante dos modelos: las representaciones mainstream que se basan en la repetición de estructuras narrativas clásicas donde la amenaza climática es un conflicto solucionable mediante una intervención heroica y aquellos (...) textos complejos en los que se exige el replanteamiento de una eco(teo)logía que ponga en su foco la necesidad de reactivar la comunidad. (shrink)

No artigo Prefácio à transgressão, revivemos dois cenários que encontram seu ponto de inflexão na Crítica da Razão Pura, especificamente, no gesto contestatório de determinação de limites realizado nesta Crítica. Em um dos cenários, que mais tarde seria detalhado em As palavras e as coisas, e já bastante visitado por seus leitores, Foucault problematiza os desdobramentos deste gesto, transgressão que inaugura a épistémè moderna: o Homem e sua finitude. No outro cenário, objeto deste artigo, Foucault analisa como este gesto poderia (...) ser delineado: como poderia ser possível uma transgressão desta finitude. Nosso principal objetivo é problematizar a linguagem desta transgressão e propor um caminho à finitude transgredida. (shrink)

“Materialism,” which is central for Marxism, is apparently less important for Marx, who, after the “Theses on Feuerbach,” only rarely mentions it. In Capital, Marx mentions “materialism” only two times: in a passage on Giambattista Vico, an important eighteenth Italian philosopher, and in the Afterword to the second German edition in the famous comment on Hegelian dialectic. This paper concerns the reference to Vico. This reference is important in two ways: in calling attention to a basic similarity between Marx’s position (...) and Vico’s constructivist approach to knowledge, and in suggesting Marx’s position is not science but rather a particular kind of philosophy. (shrink)

A nexus of imperfect duty, defined as positive commitments that have practical limits, describes business behavior toward building affable and virtuous relations, maintaining reasoned social discourse, and performing the due diligence necessary for making knowledgeable business decisions. A theory of the development and extent of the limits of these imperfect managerial duties is presented here, a theory that in part explains the activities and personnel included under the firm’s umbrella. As a result, the nexus of imperfect duty is shown to (...) complement the perfect-duty-based nexus-of-contracts theory of the firm. The existence of flexible trade-offs involving these duties, trade-offs limited by contractual arrangements whether explicit or implicit, is shown to be one of the advantages of imperfect duty for developing business relations. (shrink)

Resumo: O texto aqui apresentado analisa aspectos relevantes da complexa relação que Bergson estabelece com Kant. Defende-se a hipótese de que Bergson não pode ser considerado mero adversário do filósofo alemão, mas seu projeto filosófico tem como objetivo retomar a metafísica, levando em consideração os limites que a crítica kantiana lhe impôs. Nesse sentido, a Crítica da Razão Pura, à qual Bergson dedicou sua atenção, serve de guia e apoio para a colocação das questões propriamente metafísicas, as quais a filosofia (...) da duração busca responder. Procuramos mostrar também que, se Bergson criticou Kant em vários momentos da sua obra, foi apenas na medida em que a Crítica o impedia e impedia os outros de avançar. A relação entre as interdições kantianas para a razão especulativa e as ilusões da inteligência dissolvidas em A Evolução Criadora revela como Kant condensa ilusões que existiam antes dele e que, nesse sentido, Bergson não é nem pré-crítico, nem pós-kantiano. Em suma, defendemos que Bergson desloca as análises críticas e rompe com Kant do interior de sua filosofia, que ele divide em duas tendências - uma que ele rejeita, como antiga, outra da qual ele se apropria.: This paper examines important aspects of Bergson's complex relationship with Kant. Our hypothesis defends that Bergson can not be considered a mere opponent of Kant, but that instead his philosophical project aims to renew metaphysics, taking into account the limits that the Kantian critique has imposed. In this sense, the Critique of Pure Reason, to which Bergson devoted his attention, serves as a guide and support for reworking metaphysical questions that the philosophy of duration seeks to answer. We have also shown that if Bergson criticized Kant at various points in his work, it was only to the extent that the Critique was an impediment to moving forward. The relation between Kantian interdictions to speculative reason and the illusions of intelligence dissolved by the analysis of Creative Evolution shows how Kant condenses illusions that existed before him. In in this sense, Bergson is neither pre-critical nor post-Kantian. To sum up, we argue that Bergson displaces critical analysis and breaks with Kant from the inside of Kant's philosophy, which Bergson divides into two tendencies, one that he rejects as old, another that he accepts. (shrink)

One of the primary concerns of Immanuel Kant in his major works on philosophy of religion is the doctrine of radical evil. He was greatly perplexed by the conundrums of this doctrine. Although Kant claimed it to be a universal trait, he failed to give a formal proof supporting it. However, he asserted that the conducts of human beings are enough to demonstrate the nature of radical evil. The complexity of the doctrine is further fuelled by introducing the idea of (...) the need of divine intervention for one to overcome such moral-religious predicament. Critical responses from both Christian and secular scholars reflect interesting take on his ethico-religious discourse. One of the prominent criticisms to Kant’s doctrine of radical evil is its relapse to religious absurdity reflecting the Christian doctrine of the ‘fall of mankind’ as narrated in the first book of the Bible. Consequently, the seriousness of the criticism not only affects the moral maxims but also the portrayal of its strong religious affinity, rendering the doctrine even more allusive and perplexing. The article intends to throw some light on the pragmatic perspective of the doctrine with special focus on the universality of the radical evil nature of human. (shrink)

This article assesses Jean Hampton’s feminist contractarianism by considering the way in which she draws together the contradictory positions of Hobbes and Kant to produce a test for exploitation in personal relationships. The ways in which this work fits with her other analysis of retribution, gratitude and self-worth are examined. Hampton’s work is evaluated in the context of Carole Pateman’s argument that moral theories distract from the political analysis of who has a voice in relationships. Hampton’s work presumes the social (...) and economic structures that Pateman has done so much to understand. It is useful as a claim for justice in personal relationships, to be considered as part of consciousness-raising or public debate. (shrink)

Embora a filosofia de Kant não fosse requisitada diretamente por Gilles Deleuze para compor o “espaço aliado” de sua filosofia da diferença, é possível atentar para a valorização de certos elementos constitutivos da crítica kantiana no interior da démarche deleuziana. Conforme pretendemos demonstrar, os conceitos de Kant que são privilegiados por Deleuze estão implicitamente reunidos em torno do desdobramento de duas apropriações: em primeiro lugar, a recuperação sistemática da doutrina das faculdades como colaboradora de uma concepção de diferença não apenas (...) empírica e externa, mas, sobretudo, transcendental e interna; e, em segundo lugar, a relação entre tempo e pensamento, ou melhor, a dessubordinação do tempo em relação ao movimento operada pela filosofia kantiana, a qual, inclusive, desloca as pretensões fundantes do cogito cartesiano. (shrink)

Étroitement lié au concept d'histoire, celui de culture devient un «collectifsingulier » à partir du dernier tiers du XVIIIe siècle. L'idée allemande de culture ne s'est pas immédiatement opposée au concept de civilisation et les deux termes ont longtemps gardé une signification presque identique. Que révèle donc l'orientation polémique du concept allemand de culture à partir des années 1880-1890? D'abord, la chute du modèle idéaliste néo-kantien d'un individu cultivé qui se détermine lui-même comme une fin (la Selbstbildung); ensuite, la montée (...) en puissance d'une condamnation morale de l'esprit vide de l'époque. Ce double processus atteint son apogée haineuse durant la Première Guerre mondiale. (shrink)

The idea that business firms qualify as group moral agents offers an attractive basis for understanding corporate moral responsibility. However, that idea gives rise to the “corporate autonomy problem” (CAP): if firms are moral agents, then it seems we must accept the implausible conclusion that firms have basic moral rights, such as the rights to life and liberty. The question, then, is how one might retain the fruitful idea of firms as moral agents, yet avoid CAP. A common approach to (...) avoiding CAP appeals to specific features of human embodiment, such as vulnerability to pain, as the basis for attributing moral rights to human persons but not to firms. But that response has less purchase in a Kantian framework, which does not ground moral status in such particularities of human embodiment, but rather in the rational nature that humans share with other rational beings. To avoid CAP while retaining a (broadly) Kantian framework, one does better to rely on features of firms as cooperative, compositionally derivative moral agents, created for the pursuit of specific ends. As derivative agents, firms do not qualify as Kantian ends in themselves, and thus are not appropriate bearers of basic moral rights. To further clarify the level of consideration we owe to firms, I draw on Darwall’s distinction between recognition respect and moral esteem, arguing that we should not respect firms as unconditional ends in themselves, but rather esteem morally autonomous firms as collective achievements of their human members. (shrink)

This essay presents a philosophical and computational theory of the representation of de re, de dicto, nested, and quasi-indexical belief reports expressed in natural language. The propositional Semantic Network Processing System (SNePS) is used for representing and reasoning about these reports. In particular, quasi-indicators (indexical expressions occurring in intentional contexts and representing uses of indicators by another speaker) pose problems for natural-language representation and reasoning systems, because--unlike pure indicators--they cannot be replaced by coreferential NPs without changing the meaning of the (...) embedding sentence. Therefore, the referent of the quasi-indicator must be represented in such a way that no invalid coreferential claims are entailed. The importance of quasi-indicators is discussed, and it is shown that all four of the above categories of belief reports can be handled by a single representational technique using belief spaces containing intensional entities. Inference rules and belief-revision techniques for the system are also examined. (shrink)

O artigo pretende discutir a possiblidade da percepção interna, delimitando-a do compreender da pessoa, que pode ser tanto compreensão do próximo como autocompreensão. Do mesmo modo, a percepção interna poder ser a percepção de si mesmo como percepção do outro. Parte-se, portanto, de uma indicação recorrente na fenomenologia de Scheler, de acordo com a qual a percepção interna não pode ser reduzida à autopercepção, entendida, sobretudo, no sentido de autoconsciência. Nesta direção, primeiramente, tenta-se uma definição fenomenológica do ato em questão, (...) visando, sobretudo, libertá-lo das determinações idealistas enquanto autoconsciência e das compreensões subjetivistas, tais como a auto-observação e meio de autoconhecimento. Para tanto, demonstra-se que a percepção interna é uma direção de um único ato perceptivo e que o seu objeto não é uma forma lógica pura e vazia, mas sim a apreensão do eu material, concreto e singular. A intuição imediata e direta deste eu, então, aparecerá como a base sobre a qual se rompe com as duas interpretações supracitadas. Por fim, discute-se os elementos internos que contribuem para estes limites, em especial a fisiologia do sentido interno e os interesses do corpo-próprio, o que permite entender positivamente os limites e descrever os seus primeiros significados. A partir deste ganho fenomenológico, a investigação detém-se nos fatores externos, responsáveis por transformar a percepção interna em mero instrumento do autoconhecimento e por subjugá-la às metas e interpretações da cosmovisão natural, analisando brevemente as fontes da idolatria do autoconhecimento. Conclui-se que, na delimitação de sua possibilidade essencial, a desconsideração do papel psicofisiológico do sentido interno, a transladação das leis e relações espaço-temporais próprias da esfera física para a psíquica e, consequentemente, a superposição da percepção externa sobre a interna em consonância com a interpretação sensualista da última são as principais fontes da ilusão denominada idolatria do autoconhecimento. (shrink)

O presente artigo pretende mostrar uma dupla perspectiva do ensino da filosofia proposto de forma disjuntiva: aprender a filosofar ou aprender a filosofia, representada, respectivamente, por Kant e por Hegel. A análise dessa questão será desenvolvida dentro do contexto da filosofia kantiana, nela destacando três aspectos: a) o ideal de perfectibilidade do gênero humano; b) o preceito da Aufklärung do pensar por si mesmo e o exercício crítico da razão, e c) a necessidade da coação como instrumento para o cumprimento (...) do caráter normativo da conduta humana. Estes aspectos serão, também, abordados na filosofia de Hegel, bem como as suas conseqüências para o ensino da filosofia, e da possibilidade de uma escolha não disjuntiva de uma ou de outra perspectiva. (shrink)

Are actions that are morally good, morally goosd because God makes them so? Or does God urge humans to do them because they are morally good anyway? What is, in general, the relationship between divine commands and ethical duties? It is not an uncommon belief among theists that morality depends entirely on the will or commands of God: all moral facts consist exclusively in facts about his will or commands. Thus, not only is an action right because it is commanded (...) by God, but its conformity to his commands is what alone makes it right. An action is right solely because he commands it, and solely in virtue of his doing so. This view has come to be known as the „divine command theory of morality". This paper is devoted to a brief reconstruction of claims and controversies surrounding the theory, beginning with Plato's Euthyphro, which is the historical initiator of the debate and to a reconstruction of the various lines of argument that have been set forth to defend the theory. (shrink)

Aunque Descartes pretende hablar de cuestiones morales en general, y de las pasiones en particular, como si nadie hubiera escrito antes sobre ellas, lo cierto es que, en el caso de la admiración, es clara su referencia al mundo antiguo. En concreto, en este caso el pensador francés se sitúa críticamente en contra de la postura aristotélica, que entiende la admiración como el inicio de la filosofía. Frente a la propuesta clásica, que convierte dicha emoción en el motor permanente de (...) la investigación de las primeras causas, para Descartes la curiosidad excesiva y el estupor del asombro son rechazables. No obstante, algunos han señalado el carácter ambivalente de las declaraciones cartesianas. No en vano la admiración es no sólo la primera de las pasiones, sino también un componente fundamental de todas ellas. Y si bien en el campo del conocimiento debe superarse, en otros ámbitos, como el de la contemplación de la divinidad o en el goce de la libertad de la voluntad humana, tal desdén desaparece. En ese sentido, pretendemos explorar el modo en que Descartes separa admiración y conocimiento para luego reivindicar su importancia en el plano práctico. Palabras clave: Admiración, asombro, curiosidad, libre albedrío, pasión. (shrink)

A stable classification of practical principles into mutually exclusive types is foundational to Kant’s moral theory. Yet, other than a few brief hints on the distinction between maxims and laws, he does not provide any elaborate discussion on the classification and the types of practical principles in his works. This has led Onora O’Neill and Lewis Beck to reinterpret Kant’s classification of practical principles in a way that would clarify the conceptual connection between maxims and laws. In this paper I (...) argue that the revised interpretations of O’Neill and Beck stem from a mistaken reading of the fundamental basis of the classification of practical principles. To show this, I first argue that Kant distinguishes between maxims and laws on the bases of validity and reality. I then argue that although a practical principle necessarily has the feature of validity, its reality in actually moving the agents to action sufficiently makes a principle a practical principle. If this is so, I argue that the classification of practical principles must be based on the extent to which they are effective in human agents. Such a classification yields us three exhaustive and mutually exclusive types namely, “maxims that are not potential laws”, “maxims that are potential laws” and “laws that are not maxims”. (shrink)

Global justice or the lack thereof has internal connections with global poverty. Global justice is an ideal pursuit of cosmopolitanism, which regards basic human needs as its rightful object. The right to life, from the point of view of global justice, is the most fundamental in the list of Human Rights. International anarchy and the current international economic order, however, cast a utopian shadow on the realization of this right when we consider the de facto institutions and the ostensible goal (...) of impartial love for everyone. Humanitarian aid is another approach to the problem of contemporary global poverty. Its difficulty lies first in people’s different conceptions of obligation and donation. They consider the former as duty while the latter is seen to lie beyond the call of duty. Second, in terms of a correlation between right and duty, since everyone has the right to life, the duty falls accordingly upon organizations or individuals. Meanwhile, donation as duty is not perfect obligation, thus is not compulsory either. Finally, international humanitarian aid is constrained by nationalism and partial love. Hence, in the light of either government or individual, the humanitarian aid approach is beset with challenges. Global justice has gained academic importance worldwide since John Rawls’ later works. By contrast to domestic justice, it is a theory of justice that proposes to include all human beings. Global justice stands for a kind of utopian justice in regard to both the institutional path and the humanitarian aid approach. I shall examine the theory of global justice under these two aspects. (shrink)

En este trabajo se analiza el intento de Hume de compatibilizar el reconocimiento de la diversidad en los juicios estéticos con la existencia de principios del gusto universales. La exégesis de su propuesta de una norma del gusto se desarrollará analizando su relación con las aportaciones anteriores de Locke, Shaftesbury, Addison y Hutcheson, fundamentalmente. Asimismo, se valorará su impacto en la estética posterior, sobre todo en la Crítica del juicio de Kant.

Severity of Test (SoT) is an alternative to Popper's logical falsification that solves a number of problems of the logical view. It was presented by Popper himself in 1963. SoT is a less sophisticated probabilistic model of hypothesis testing than Oaksford & Chater's (O&C's) information gain model, but it has a number of striking similarities. Moreover, it captures the intuition of everyday hypothesis testing.

ExcerptIn her superb book Looking Away, Rei Terada offers a sophisticated and highly complex analysis of “phenomenality and dissatisfaction” from Kant to Adorno, persuasively drawing on philosophy, psychoanalysis, and literary theory. Taking her cue from Nietzsche's suspiciously overstated rejection of metaphysics in favor of an affirmation of the world as appearance, the premise of Terada's book is that artists and thinkers have always had difficulties dealing with “the given.” Is the phenomenal world the only world? If so, does one have (...) a right not to be satisfied with it? Is there not an objective obligation to acknowledge that facts have…. (shrink)

O objetivo desse artigo é fazer uma discussão acerca da concepção de verdade presente no método A Razão dos Efeitos do filósofo francês Blaise Pascal. No opúsculo Do Espírito Geométrico, Pascal constata a presença de limites no âmbito da racionalidade que impedem a apreensão dos princípios da geometria de modo absoluto. Segundo pensamos, o método A Razão dos Efeitos, utilizado na obra Pensamentos, também estaria estruturado a partir desse pressuposto. Nos Pensamentos Pascal, na medida em que se depara com a (...) impossibilidade de apreender o homem de modo absoluto, é levado a assumir uma concepção bipolar de verdade no âmbito do método A Razão dos Efeitos, na qual os dois pólos que constituem a natureza humana, a miséria e a grandeza, são valorizados dentro da óptica do pecado original. Desse modo, tanto no Opúsculo, quanto nos Pensamentos, constatamos a presença de limites, os quais impedem que possamos obter uma concepção absoluta de verdade, seja em sentido teórico ou prático. (shrink)

Por que a experiência visionária perturba a filosofia (crítica)? Experimentando uma anarqueologia como procedimento de leitura, argumento que a relação entre filosofia e magia no curso da história ocidental pode ser encenada como uma peça paradoxal. Da mesma maneira que a filosofia racionalista conjura a magia, simultaneamente, tais saberes estiveram presentes de modo polifônico nos bastidores da encenação ilustrada. Para conjurar o demônio é necessário antes evocá-lo. Evoco, assim, o itinerário das viagens aos infernos ao qual certa visão xamanística de (...) alma grega fecunda possibilidades para ensaiarmos um tipo de filosofia pré e pós crítica, onde a experiência visionária aparece posteriormente como pedra no sapato ao pensamento ilustrado, científico e humano. Exemplifico tal questão recorrendo à visão paradoxal de Immanuel Kant quando analisa as experiências visionárias de Emmanuel Swedenborg. Ao reconhecer contemporaneamente a nossa herança legítima como filhos da razão, será preciso reencarnar o lugar bastardo dos sonhos e da mediunidade exorcizada. (shrink)

O objetivo fundamental desse artigo consiste em demostrar que a ética de Kant contém elementos teóricos essenciais que possibilitam uma discussão sobre a dignidade da pessoa humana. O referencial teórico norteador da nossa abordagem será a Fundamentação da metafísica dos costumes. Um aspecto relevante dessa reflexão encontra-se relacionado à segunda formulação do imperativo categórico da qual é possível extrair implicações éticas fundamentais para uma reflexão sobre o ser humano e sua dignidade. O artigo encontra-se estruturado em torno de dois momentos. (...) Em primeiro lugar, uma abordagem sobre as faculdades que estruturam a concepção de subjetividade em Kant. Em seguida, uma exposição sobre os aspectos mais relevantes da ética kantiana. Será nesse momento que a segunda fórmula do dever e a noção de reino dos fins se constituirão numa interessante chave de leitura para uma reflexão sobre a dignidade da pessoa humana. (shrink)

Este artigo tem como tema o problema filosófico da fundamentação da moral com o objetivo de apresentar o sentido e a validade de uma ética feminista. Parte-se da hipótese de que uma ética feminista se distinguiria das éticas antigas e apresentaria uma alternativa adequada ao problema da fundamentação da moral, bem como dos conflitos morais atuais, em especial, pelo tipo de solução que propõe, a qual segue uma lógica construída mediante uma práxis humana determinada. Em outros termos, o objetivo deste (...) artigo é ajudar a compreender como um conteúdo da moralidade surgido de elementos históricos, temporais, culturais pode ser construído; nesse caso, ligado às condições das mulheres surgidas no meio social. Para tanto, será apresentada uma nova concepção de ética e o exemplo de uma ética capaz de orientar uma solução para conflitos morais atuais, a ética feminista do cuidado de Carol Gilligan. (shrink)

With the consideration of some issues in contemporary philosophy, this thesis attempts to analyze being, thinking and language as philosophical subjects, and clear up the multiple meanings for each of them. It will also inquire the traditional methods in both Chinese and Western philosophy, and those in contemporary thinking. Finally, it puts forward a theory of "the critique without principles". The thesis aims to explore a new way to solve the problems of contemporary philosophy by changing its subjects and methods.

Could an ethical theory ever play a substantial evidential role in a scientific argument for an empirical hypothesis? InThe Descent of Man, Darwin includes an extended discussion of the nature of human morality, and the ethical theory which he sketches is not simply developed as an interesting ramification of his theory of evolution, but is used as a key part of his evidence for human descent from animal ancestors. Darwin must rebut the argument that, because of our moral nature, humans (...) are essentially different in kind from other animals and so had to have had a different origin. I trace his causal story of how the moral sense could develop out of social instincts by evolutionary mechanisms of group selection, and show that the form of Utilitarianism he proposes involves a radical reduction of the standard of value to the concept of biological fitness. I argue that this causal analysis, although a weakness from a normative standpoint, is a strength when judged for its intended purpose as part of an evidential argument to confirm the hypothesis of human descent. (shrink)

"The revolutionary desire to realize the Kingdom of God is the beginning of modern history." "Friedrich Schlegel" "The world has to be purified, recreated." "Anatolij Lunačarskij" "Ubi Lenin, ibi Israel." "Ernst Bloch" "Socialism is the religion that will kill off Christianity." "Antonio Gramsci"I. The Millennial Vision of History The millennialism that penetrated the heart of western civilization was one of the most incisive and enduring results of the spiritual victory of Christianity over the Greco-Roman culture. This is a vision of (...) history, formulated by the prophets of Israel from the eighth century…. (shrink)

This study deals with responsibility as part of innovation. By nature, innovation gives birth to development for the organization and can only be at the core of any strategy within an ever-increasingly global economic context. However it also raises new questions stemming mostly from the impossibility to forecast the success of the innovations. More precisely, the questions raised by innovation also concern its consequences on society as a whole. Today, the innovator should understand his responsibility, the consequence of each innovation. (...) Moreover, common acceptance of the word ‘responsibility’ raises some questions about its use and how it should be understood. What does ‘responsibility’ mean? Who is responsible and for what? Through the notion of ‘care’, we aim at providing an evolution of responsible-innovation. The concept of ‘innovation-care’ is centered on people and more precisely focuses on taking care of them. The purpose of innovation-care is indeed to innovate and keep up with the level of productivity necessary to any organization while taking into account the essential interdependence between the status of the innovator and that of the citizen. (shrink)

À primeira vista, o que parece razoavelmente defensável na posição kantiana, com base na Fundamentação da Metafísica dos Costumes, é que as ações imorais são insondáveis, mas não o são como as ações morais. Estas são sempre insondáveis, aquelas quando vestem a conformidade ao dever, pois quando são contrárias ao dever são sondáveis. Mas na Crítica da Razão Pura (1980b, p.279, n.; B 579, n.80) Kant afirma que “a moralidade própria das ações (mérito e culpa), mesmo a de nosso próprio (...) comportamento, permanece-nos totalmente oculta”, pois não sabemos o quanto devemos imputar ao efeito puro da liberdade ou à simples natureza. Assim, ao que parece Kant defende duas posições. Uma, apregoando a insondabilidade parcial das ações imorais, outra uma opacidade total da qualidade moral das ações. Julgo, contudo, que, no fundo, Kant pode sustentar, sem cair em contradição, tanto a posição de que (a) as ações contrárias ao dever sinalizam a maldade de uma máxima como a tese de que (b) o mérito ou demérito moral jamais pode ser observado. A primeira alternativa é a que verificamos, por exemplo, na Fundamentação da Metafísica dos Costumes e que também na Religião desempenha um importante papel, uma vez que Kant tem de assumir, de algum modo, a experiência de ações más. Já a segunda tese parece ter um fundo eminentemente especulativo. Ela visa a mostrar a indecidibilidade metafísica acerca da qualidade moral de uma máxima. (shrink)

With this monograph on Kant and the problem of language, Raphaël Ehrsam develops a well-argued reconstruction of the architectonic place of language in Kant’s philosophy. The author terms his argument “genetic thesis”. On Ehrsam’s genetic thesis, in Kant’s philosophy the mastery of linguistic competences is indispensable to the acquisition of a priori theoretical and practical cognitions. The material of the book can be divided into three parts. In the first part (Introduction and Chapter One), Ehrsam frames the subject by outlining (...) his thesis and foregrounding Kant’s notions of acquisition and epigenesis. In the second part (Chapters Two - Five), he then articulates his thesis by reconstructing the functions played by specific linguistic instances in Kant’s theoretical and practical philosophy. The third part (Chapter Six) is devoted to sketching Kant’s thoughts on how the human being, both as an individual and a species, acquires linguistic competences. (shrink)

A noção de opinião pública como processo, não pode circunscrever-se unicamente sobre as bases empíricas de uma teoria, deve também enfocar a posição que essa noção ocupa no que tange à interpretação da sociedade. A abordagem de Jürgen Habermas sobre a opinião pública surge a partir de sua obra clássica sobre a Publicidade Burguesa. Como desdobramento das análises acerca da opinião pública, Habermas constrói a Teoria Normativa de Democracia, a qual se baseia nas condições comunicativas em que pode ocorrer uma (...) Formação Discursiva da Opinião e da Vontade de um público formado pelos cidadãos de um Estado. Nessa esteira argumentativa, Habermas retoma o projeto histórico-filosófico da modernidade atribuindo à opinião pública a função de legitimar o domínio político por meio de um processo crítico de comunicação sustentado nos princípios de um consenso racionalmente motivado. O escopo do presente artigo é explicitar os elementos constitutivos das reflexões habermasianas acerca da Formação Racional da Opinião e da Vontade, uma vez que é a partir deste primordial conceito que podemos compreender a legitimação do Estado de direito. Rastrear-se-á o que levou a reflexão habermasiana a buscar as condições de uma autêntica participação dos indivíduos em um espaço público, onde há responsabilidade e solidariedade na execução das soluções dos problemas de uma comunidade, e seu consequente desdobramento que desemboca na teoria do poder político. (shrink)

En el debate científico-ético contemporáneo en torno a la mejora humana biotecnológica, las nociones de identidad y dignidad humanas son utilizadas de forma habitual por parte del sector de pensamiento más conservador, para rechazar la aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías biomédicas sobre el ser humano con el objetivo de llevar a cabo una mejora de carácter no-terapéutico. Sin embargo, ¿sirven éstas como argumento para rechazar una mejora humana de carácter perfeccionador? En este artículo se analizará el significado de ambas nociones (...) en el debate bioético contemporáneo, así como la validez de su uso como argumento para rechazarla. (shrink)

Kant, in various parts of his treatment of causality, refers to determinism or the principle of sufficient reason as an inescapable principle. In fact, in the Second Analogy we find the elements to reconstruct a purely phenomenal determinism as a logical and tautological truth. I endeavour in this article to gather these elements into an organic theory of phenomenal causality and then show, in the third section, with a specific argument which I call the “paradox of phenomenal observation”, that this (...) phenomenal determinism is the only rational approach to causality because any logico-reductivistic approach, such as the Humean one, would destroy the temporal order and so the very possibility to talk of a causal relation. I also believe that, all things said, Kant did not achieve a much greater comprehension of the problem than Hume did, in his theory of causality, for he did not free a phenomenal approach from the impasse of reductivism as his reflections on “simultaneous causation” and “vanishing quantities” indeed show, and this I will argue in Sect. 4 of this article. (shrink)

An orthodox view in marketing ethics is that it is morally impermissible to market goods to specially vulnerable populations in ways that take advantage of their vulnerabilities. In his signature article “Marketing and the Vulnerable,” Brenkert (Bus Ethics Q Ruffin Ser 1:7–20, 1998) provided the first substantive defense of this position, one which has become a well-established view in marketing ethics. In what follows, we throw new light on marketing to the vulnerable by critically evaluating key components of Brenkert’s general (...) arguments. Specifically, we contend that Brenkert has failed to offer us any persuasive reasons to think that it is immoral to market to the vulnerable in ways that take advantage of their vulnerability. Although Brenkert does highlight the fact that the specially vulnerable are at greater risk of being harmed by already immoral marketing practices (e.g., deception, manipulation), he fails to establish that the specially vulnerable are a unique moral category of market clients or that there are special moral standards that apply to them. Moreover, even if Brenkert’s position were theoretically defensible, the practical implications of his position are far less tenable than he suggests. If our criticisms are sound, then Brenkert and others who endorse his position are seriously mistaken regarding how one can permissibly market products to vulnerable populations, and, in addition, they have improperly categorized certain morally permissible marketing practices as being immoral. (shrink)

I begin with a few general suggestions about what it means to be a Christian. I then summarize the new interpretation of Kant as proposing a ‘System of Perspectives,’ which I have set out in greater detail elsewhere. After discussing the important notions of ‘criticism,’ ‘perspective’ and ‘system’ as they operate in Kant’s thought, the bulk of the essay is devoted to an assessment of the theological implications of Kant’s System, I conclude that, contrary to popular opinion, particularly among some (...) Christian theologians, Kant’s intentions were theologically constructive, and moreover, that his System is thoroughly consistent with the Christian perspective. (shrink)

Este trabajo se centra en la relación entre la tolerancia y su subyacente concepción de la subjetividad. Se intentará mostrar cómo cabe hablar de dos concepciones de la tolerancia, “pasiva” y “activa”, derivadas de dos concepciones de la subjetividad en las que el encuentro con el otro se integra de maneras antitéticas. La obra de Lessing servirá para ilustrar una concepción del sujeto y, con éste, de la tolerancia, alternativa a la hegemónica concepción ilustrada de otros autores.

Kantian virtue can be construed as a condition of an agent which secures adherence to the requirements of morality in the face of the ever-present possibility of inner conflict with counter-ethical considerations. This paper claims that this conception of virtue does not fit in well with one essential characteristic of the virtuous agent; that he or she is attentive to the well-being of others. After some preliminary remarks about virtue-related evaluations, the paper criticises the Kantian conception of virtue in the (...) light of certain characteristics of ethical attentiveness. The paper concludes by developing a notion of ethical habituation which includes the training of attention. (shrink)

According to Aristotle, humans are the rational animal. The borderline between rationality and irrationality is fundamental to many aspects of human life including the law, mental health, and language interpretation. But what is it to be rational? One answer, deeply embedded in the Western intellectual tradition since ancient Greece, is that rationality concerns reasoning according to the rules of logic – the formal theory that specifies the inferential connections that hold with certainty between propositions. Piaget viewed logical reasoning as defining (...) the end-point of cognitive development; and contemporary psychology of reasoning has focussed on comparing human reasoning against logical standards. (shrink)

How to uphold a politics of universalism, egalitarianism and abstraction without being tarnished by the accusation of fanaticism? In order to open the space in which the question can be asked, Alberto Toscano’s Fanaticism explores various instantiations of the trope of ‘fanaticism’ and other associated concepts. Challenging the reliance on simplification, decontextualisation and analogical thinking behind uses of those terms, the book shows how fanaticism as Other conversely engenders a mystified idea of the modern West as the negative of the (...) political and theoretical interdictions associated with them. (shrink)