Relatar lo ocurrido como invención: una introducción a la filosofía de la ficción contemporánea ofrece al lector en castellano una magnífica oportunidad para familiarizarse con algunos aspectos centrales de la filosofía del lenguaje contemporánea y sus implicaciones para la teoría de la ficción. García-Carpintero recorre los argumentos fundamentales en favor y en contra de cada una de las posiciones relevantes, y nos propone finalmente un análisis alternativo de la norma de la ficción y una teoría neofregeana de (...) los términos referenciales que logra esquivar algunas objeciones tradicionales. Esta discusión incluye, no obstante, dos objeciones a su norma de la ficción: una se refiere a las formas de la conciencia que esa norma presupone y la otra a la naturaleza del interés que suscitan los proyectos imaginativos vinculados a las obras de ficción. (shrink)

En “The King´s two bodies” Kantorowicz explora la ficción legal de los dos cuerpos del Rey: cuerpo mortal y cuerpo político. Ficción en la cual el rey, constituido como persona ficta, trasciende la temporalidad de cualquier cuerpo individual sobre la idea de “dignitas non moritur”. El presente trabajo pretende abordar la lectura de esa dualidad corporal encarnada en el derecho a través de un doble registro: cuerpo textual y cuerpo imaginario, explorando asimismo cómo el discurso jurídico se construye (...) en el marco de dicha simbología y legitimidad. Instituir lo vivo del texto jurídico no puede hacerse más que sobre el rastro de la semiótica misma. Como señala Legendre, la normatividad produce un “Écrit vivant” en perpetua necesidad de interpretación. Es paradójicamente la batalla por la apertura del texto lo que permite la imagen misma de su continuidad. Una crítica de los montajes vividos, de la instancia de la censura que ata y moviliza el discurso jurídico, provee el fondo de una urgencia: el de la tarea iusfilosófica por venir. (shrink)

O propósito deste artigo é aprofundar o debate da narratalogia cognitiva sobre o papel das emoções e afetos na escrita e leitura do texto ficcional. Para tanto, buscamos fundamentos teóricos em teorias recentes da afetividade situada, em particular nos conceitos de andaimes, arranjos e milieus afetivos, a fim de observar como textos codificam afetos para suscitar estados afetivos e emocionais nos leitores. O mérito da interlocução virá da capacidade de fertilizar a compreensão do papel das emoções na construção de textos (...) ficcionais, mediante a análise do seu papel na composição de um texto em particular: o conto “Criançada”, de Anton Tchekhov. Como teorias da afetividade situada reservam um papel de destaque para o ambiente externo na construção da afetividade humana, argumentamos que a aplicação dessas teorias ao nosso objeto permite observar como a construção do espaço, a descrição dos objetos e os afetos dos personagens estão intimamente ligados, alimentando-se reciprocamente e fortalecendo-se em relações de feedback. Essas análises podem permitir que a narratologia cognitiva saliente elementos afetivos dos textos ficcionais até aqui pouco explorados nos estudos literários. (shrink)

En este ensayo, evaluaremos el problema de la identidad personal en el contexto del transhumanismo. En primer lugar, en contra de la tesis de que el transhumanismo representa una amenaza a la persistencia de la identidad personal argumentaremos lo siguiente: los individuos humanos que son personas no tienen características esenciales. En segundo lugar, con la ayuda del primer episodio de la segunda temporada de la serie de ciencia ficción Black Mirror, defenderemos la tesis de que hay propiedades que realmente (...) importan en el problema de la identidad personal: las propiedades relacionales(esta tesis tiene como consecuencia que nuestros seres queridos son irremplazables, incluso por duplicados exactos). Finalmente, concluiremos que el uso de las tecnologías de mejoramiento humano no representa una amenaza a la identidad personal de un individuo en tanto que no altera sus propiedades relacionales importantes. (shrink)

El proyecto transhumanista de mejoramiento humano viene proponiendo ya desde hace tiempo una superación de los límites humanos que nos permita convertirnos en una nueva especie. A pesar de que dicha posibilidad es todavía lejana en la práctica, las hipótesis han invadido la ciencia ficción y están generando la imagen colectiva de lo que se considera posible o, incluso, deseable. Al mismo tiempo en la ciencia ficción esos desarrollos artificiales se llevan hasta sus últimos límites y se ponen (...) en cuestión. En el presente estudio se revisan las tensiones en relación con el posthumanismo que aparecen en la serie de ficción Westworld. En concreto, el artículo estudia cómo se desarrolla en ella el concepto de identidad, uno de los que más están cambiando en nuestra época. El análisis revela la necesidad de abordarlo desde un punto de vista complejo, en el que se dé una importancia especial a la vivencia personal, tanto desde el punto de vista corporal como psicológico para el despertar de la conciencia. A su vez, dichos elementos se mostrarán esenciales para comprender la propuesta de identidad narrativa que subyace en la serie. Por todo ello, los planteamientos de Westworld suponen una interesante reflexión sobre cómo se concibe la identidad hoy en día. (shrink)

El materialismo de la Edad Moderna nos describe al hombre como una máquina, comparable a un complejo artilugio mecánico. Cabe entonces imaginar que una máquina no-biológica pueda constituir un ser pensante como lo son los seres humanos, e incluso cabría pensar en la posibilidad de codificación de una mente humana real para su posterior trasvase a un sustrato artificial. Considero que estas últimas posiciones son más propias de la cultura friki o de amantes de la ciencia ficción que de (...) una cultura humanista seria. En cualquier caso, una cosa parece clara: la simulación por ordenador de cualquier tipo de materia no es la materia misma. Una simulación por ordenador de una estrella no emite luz ni calor, y del mismo modo tampoco ofrece calor humano (en términos materiales) ni voluntad de vivir una máquina que hipotéticamente pueda contener toda la información sobre el ser humano y simular sus respuestas. -/- English translation: The materialism of the Modern Age describes human beings as machines, comparable to complex mechanical devices. It is then possible to imagine that a non-biological machine can constitute a thinking being as humans are, and one could even think of the possibility of coding a real human mind for its subsequent transfer to an artificial substrate. I think that these latter positions are more typical of the geek culture or of science fiction lovers than of a serious humanist culture. In any case, one thing seems clear: the computer simulation of any type of matter is not the matter itself. A computer simulation of a star does not emit light or heat, and likewise a machine that hypothetically can contain all the information about a human being and simulate his/her responses offers neither human heat (in material terms) nor will to live. (shrink)

En México y en otros países, eufemísticamente llama-dos "en desarrollo", los sistemas públicos de atención a la salud enfrentan continuos recortes presupuestales, lo que impacta negativamente a los recursos materiales y a la disminución de plazas para los egresados de las carreras de medicina, esto es, menos contratos de médicos de base en hospitales, clínicas y centros de salud. Bajo este panorama adverso, algunos administradores, desarrolladores de software y no pocos políticos preclaros, suponen que la salida a los problemas económicos (...) estará en el uso intensivo de la inteligencia artificial (en adelante IA) y la robótica. Una vez que los algoritmos sean adecuadamente entrenados, un ejército de robots doctores serán capaces de hacer valoraciones más precisas, diagnósticos 100% acertados, y prescripciones farmacológicas exactas; mucho mejor que los médicos humanos. Además, la IA no se cansa, no protesta, no se sindicaliza… ¿Realidad o ficción? En países como China y el Reino Unido ya se utilizan técnicas computacionales para la interpretación de imágenes de rayos X, detección de tumores, prótesis inteligentes e incluso IA para predecir los resultados de un ataque cerebrovascular isquémico. En México se incorporó a RoomieBot, un robot que sirve para el diagnóstico de pacientes con posible coronavirus. La cirugía robótica Da Vinci es buen ejemplo de cómo la IA puede trabajar colaborativamente con la o el cirujano en el quirófano. Sin embargo, aún quedan por resolver grandes desafíos antes de preocuparse por el llamado desempleo tecnológico de los egresados. Si bien la IA es una valiosa herramienta, en estricto sentido, en esta y en otras muchas áreas su autonomía total es todavía una quimera, por ejemplo: los vehículos autónomos pueden ser engañados y hackeados, y no existe aún un robot que pueda hacer un simple nudo a las correas de sus zapatos sin asistencia 2. Por otra parte, se requiere un marco normativo-todavía inexistente-para la aplicación universal de IA en los cuidados de la salud. Los principios de la bioética están claramente establecidos: la beneficencia, la no maleficencia, la autonomía y la justicia, así como el Juramento Hipocrático. No es así para IA, donde los países interesados no llegan al consenso de los principios morales básicos de la medicina que debería extrapolar 3. Hasta que no se solucionen los problemas técnicos, tecnológicos y, sobre todo, los dilemas éticos, la IA deberá continuar como la útil herramienta que es para la medicina; sin embargo, sustituir el valor intrínseco kantiano de la persona es algo que, seguramente, tendremos mucho tiempo para reflexionar y, acaso, algún día resolver de manera satisfactoria. (shrink)

Conan, el niño del futuro (1978) es un dibujo animado oriental que plasma a una sociedad futurista que ha sobrevivido a la Tercera Guerra Mundial. El personaje principal, un niño de 10 años, aparece en la historia para impedir que el grupo hegemónico continúe con su pretensión de dominar el mundo, sin importar la tiranía que ejercen contra los ciudadanos. Para lograr ese vil propósito, las autoridades de Isla Industria han incurrido en escenarios en los que se observa la esclavitud, (...) la dificultad para expresarse con libertad y el sometimiento obligatorio a las decisiones del sistema. Esas actitudes no solo revelan un contexto recreado en un mundo ficcional, sino que es latente al apreciar las revueltas sociales de la actualidad. A ese tipo de manifestación por los derechos, se le agrega otra modalidad correlativa: la censura. Esta se concreta de forma implícita y sutil, con el objetivo de que las víctimas desacrediten sus derechos y no reclamen ante los abusos frecuentes de un gobierno que los sanciona, los encarcela o los exilia con injusticia. Su condición de peligro para la hegemonía es esencial, porque puede acarrear una toma de conciencia para los demás pobladores y una posible rebelión. Para finalizar, esta investigación se valdrá de las teorías poscoloniales e interculturales para evidenciar cómo un proyecto político se instaura en un anime japonés y, en especial, en el protagonista que desea reorientar a toda una sociedad, junto con ese sistema represivo inherente. (shrink)

La Cuarta Revolución Industrial es un conjunto de transformaciones sociales que están y seguirán siendo provocadas en los próximos años por la irrupción de tecnologías que parecieran propias de las narraciones de ciencia ficción. Se trata de un grupo de tecnologías convergentes, es decir, que tienden a complementarse y cubrir áreas más allá del rubro o disciplina desde y para el que fueron diseñadas. A partir del informe de los talleres sobre tecnologías convergentes impulsados por el National Science Foudnation (...) (NSF) de Estados Unidos en el año 2002, estas fueron conocidas con el nombre de tecnologías NBIC, por sus siglas Nanotecnologías, Biotecnologías, Infotecnologías (tecnologías de la información) y de las ciencias cognitivas. Como indicó el presidente del Foro Económico Mundial, Klaus Schwab (2016), el impacto de estas tecnologías será tal que no solo prometen cambiar el qué y cómo hacemos las cosas, sino también el quiénes somos, por lo que conocer algunas de las características de este nuevo horizonte tecnológico es fundamental para el debate sobre el futuro. Veamos a continuación algunas de estas. (shrink)

Definida como beleza lógica e forma do paradoxo, a ironia romântica de Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829) assimila a antiga ironia socrática e a reinterpreta, inserindo-a como elemento central de sua teorização crítico-literária. O presente artigo analisa a ironia romântica, buscando situar sua alteração e abrangência no final do século XVIII, quando o conceito passa a significar metacrítica, reflexão filosófica, ruptura ficcional, distância estética e forma de exposição da arte literária. Defined as logical beauty and form of paradox, Friedrich Schlegel's (1772-1829) romantic (...) irony incorporates ancient Socratic irony and reinterprets it, inserting it as a nuclear element of his theorization on literary criticism. The current paper analyses the concept of romantic irony seeking to situate its alterations at the end of 18th century, when it changed its meaning for metacritics, philosophical reflexion, fictional rupture, aesthetical distance and form of art exposition. (shrink)

Cuento ganador en la categoría "Mini ficción" de la compilación "El covid no es un cuento".

La teoría de los valores, la axiología, a veces suele pasar muy inadvertida en los análisis que se hacen de la obra filosófica de Mario Bunge, o autores que siguen su línea de investigación como Gustavo Esteban Romero. En este artículo voy a repasar las principales concepciones básicas en teoría de valores de los dos filósofos citados (aunque se intentará no caer en un mero análisis escolástico), centrándome en las diferencias y coincidencias con tal de lograr luego una tentativa síntesis. (...) Se expone el proceder: primeramente se tratará de explicar cada sistema por separado, destacando todas sus similitudes e implicaciones, luego se contrastarán algunas diferencias, se discutirán estas y se tratará de conformar una teoría consistente que encare la axiología con todos los aportes hechos, como rama de la filosofía científica y general. (shrink)

Philosophy begins and ends in disagreement. Philosophers disagree among themselves in innumerable ways, and this pervasive and permanent dissent is a sign of their inability to solve philosophical problems and establish substantive truths. This raises the question: What should I do with my philosophical beliefs in light of philosophy's epistemic failure? In this open-access book, János Tozsér develops four possible answers into comprehensive metaphilosophical visions and argues that we cannot find peace either by committing ourselves to one of these visions (...) or by abandoning our philosophical beliefs. Tozsér calls this disheartening insight "the experience of breakdown", making the case that philosophy's truth-seeking and justificatory tools are unsuitable for establishing truths. Shedding light on the epistemic status of our philosophical beliefs, Tozsér adopts a broad approach to assess the metaphilosophical visions used by philosophers to interpret their own activity and determine their epistemic self-esteem. Open access was funded by the Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungary. (shrink)

Abstract: The article elucidates the potential merits and demerits that are normally faced by students who are willing to deal with the issues of job and study simultaneously.

Nomophobia (no-mobile-phone phobia) is the fear and anxiety of being without a mobile phone. This study pioneers the investigation of nomophobia in Afghanistan using the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q), addressing a crucial gap in the field. We collected statistical data from 754 undergraduate medical students, comprising men (56.50 %) and women (43.50 %), and analyzed the dimensions of nomophobia. While results revealed that all but two participants were nomophobic, they identified three significant dimensions affecting the level of nomophobia among participants: (a) (...) gender, (b) age, and (c) marital status. The study's contributions are precious, given the peculiarity of Afghan political turmoil, security, and human rights issues, especially for women. For example, the study's data collection was abruptly halted in December 2022 due to the Taliban regime's decision to make it illegal for women to enroll in universities as students. Therefore, while examining the characteristics of nomophobia across societies is imperative, it is also vital to investigate what is true of one society, Afghanistan, at one point in time and space. The study concludes by emphasizing the need to broaden participants' scope in future studies to better understand the prevalence of nomophobia across broader societal contexts and forces. (shrink)

Las soluciones a la paradoja de la ficción propuestas por Kendall Walton y Gregory Currie, a pesar de diferir en puntos de detalle importantes, suponen dos movimientos conceptuales comunes para entender la situación de quien está inmerso en una obra de ficción, a través del recurso a la noción de “cuasi-emociones” y de la idea de construcción de escenarios imaginarios. Aquí propondré que sus propuestas fallan en sus dos puntos centrales, a partir de problemas que son, sin embargo, (...) independientes. Por un lado, sus ideas sobre las emociones que sentimos al estar atrapados por una obra de ficción fallan al suponer una versión inaceptable de la tesis cognitivista acerca de las emociones. Por otro, sus ideas sobre la construcción de mundos imaginarios por parte de los “consumidores de ficción” fallan al suponer una dicotomía entre mundos de ficción y realidad. Finalmente, discutiré brevemente el modo en que ambos tipos de problemas repercuten sobre la viabilidad del planteo de la paradoja misma. (shrink)

The belief that Christianity has a relevancy and a truth to convey is one thing, a reason to be heard is another. Christians are to be grounded in the Word, ready to give a reason for their hope (1 Peter 3:15). But, as has been experienced by the Church over the centuries ‘no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.’.

The purpose of this essay is to articulate a specific desideratum for any theory of Latinidad, namely, that there is no adequate conception of Latinx without an attendant conception of Afro-Latinx. In order to be reflective of those whom it purports to describe in the U.S. and elsewhere in the hemisphere, the term Latinx must be plastic enough to encompass the many internal differences, and even antagonisms, between its different constituent parts. Within it, we argue here in particular, it must (...) include its Afro-descended history, which includes not just African-descended people but also a denial of the influences of African-descended culture writ large. Our central claim here, then, is that a certain African-descendedness is constitutive of Latinidad in multiple registers, including history, cultural practices, and social identificatory processes despite Latinidad’s pernicious exclusionary history. (shrink)

Christine Tappolet’s book Philosophy of Emotion: A contemporary introduction, and many other works in emotion theory, focus primarily on emotional episodes at the expense of so-called “emotional dispositions.” I argue that there are no reasons for theories of emotion to focus on emotional episodes, or to reserve the term “emotion” for emotional episodes.

Awarding rights to rivers, forests, and other environmental entities (EEs) is a new and increasingly popular approach to environmental protection. The distinctive feature of such rights of nature (RoN) legislation is that direct duties are owed to the EEs. This paper presents a novel rebuttal of the strongest argument against RoN: the no interest argument. The crux of this argument is that because EEs are not sentient, they cannot possess the kinds of interests necessary to ground direct duties. Therefore, they (...) cannot be legitimate rights-bearers. After considering and rejecting standard responses to this argument, the paper challenges its fundamental assumption: that rights-correlative duties must be grounded in the interests of the rights-bearer. The paper then presents the RoN critic with a dilemma. The critic must either accept that EEs are legitimate rights-bearers, or delegitimise many well-established rights-bearers along with EEs. Either way, the no interest argument loses its force. (shrink)

The No-Miracle Argument (NMA) is one of the main argumentation frameworks of scientific realism. Many rebuttals have been offered by antirealists around NMA, the important of which are the Pessimistic Meta-induction (PMI), the Circular Argument, and the Underdetermination of Theory by Evidence. This essay attempts to defend NMA and scientific realism by refuting these three major refutations.

Qualquer museu destinado a apresentar “outras” culturas se constitui como uma exceção em relação à função usual de um museu: a ambição de retratar um mundo em miniatura requer uma expografia muito específica, na qual a alteridade tensiona com a continuidade, que os museus em geral presumem, entre os visitantes e os objetos que vieram ver. A ambição de constituir um microcosmo, portanto, levanta um problema de legitimidade: quem, entre “nós”, tem legitimidade para assumir a responsabilidade paradoxal de colocar em (...) cena o “Outro”? Mais do que uma simples abordagem sobre a história dos museus, mais do que uma viagem pelos problemas colocados pela Antropologia, o livro de Benoît de l’Estoile (2007) permite encarar de frente tal dificuldade, comum a todas as instituições francesas que se sucederam após a exposição colonial de 1931 (mas não somente). Entregando-se aos prazeres da intertextualidade cinematográfica, para além de ser uma forma de apresentar a questão fundamental da legitimidade (bom gosto contra mau gosto), o título da obra coloca o “gosto” em questão: “por ‘gosto alheio’, entendo as diversas formas de apropriação ‘das coisas dos Outros’, entendidas em um sentido amplo como manifestações da alteridade cultural” (L’Estoile 2007: 20). O gosto, portanto, remete aos modos de apropriação em todos os processos de apropriação, cuja legitimidade se apresenta, imediatamente, de maneira problemática. É sob este ângulo, considerando o problema da legitimidade como uma tensão que atravessa todo o texto, que abordaremos uma obra que demonstra como a alteridade foi construída ao longo de um século, segundo modos diferenciados, colocando em evidência a mais fundamental das questões: “O que significa a distinção entre nós e os outros no mundo em que vivemos?”. (shrink)

Imagine a character, Mary Analogue, who has a complete theoretical knowledge of her subject matter: the illusory nature of self. Suppose that when presenting her paper on no self at a conference she suffers stage-fright – a reaction that implies she is under an illusion of the very self whose existence she denies. Might there be something defective about her knowledge of no self? The Buddhist tradition would claim that Mary Analogue, despite her theoretical omniscience, lacks deep ‘insight knowledge’ into (...) the reality of no self. The only way for her to gain insight, and thereby improve her epistemic status, would be to divest her mind of the self-illusion. In this paper, I offer an analysis of what could be epistemically involved in the process of acquiring such insight knowledge whereby one becomes, in Buddhist parlance, ‘awakened’. (shrink)

Mặc dù vẫn còn những nghi ngờ về sự thay đổi khí hậu trong một số tài liệu nghiên cứu, sự đồng thuận mạnh mẽ trong cộng đồng khoa học vẫn xác định rằng nhiệt độ bề mặt toàn cầu đã tăng trong vài thập kỷ gần đây. Biến đổi khí hậu, chủ yếu là kết quả của hoạt động con người, đang trở thành một trong những thách thức toàn cầu cấp bách nhất của thời đại chúng ta. Trong (...) thập kỷ vừa qua, con người đã thực hiện những nỗ lực đáng kể để đối phó với cuộc khủng hoảng biến đổi khí hậu và đã đạt được những ảnh hưởng nhất định trong việc chống lại biến đổi khí hậu và tạo ra nhận thức sâu rộng về hậu quả của nó. Tuy nhiên, câu hỏi tiếp tục đặt ra là liệu chúng ta đang đi đúng hướng để giải quyết cuộc khủng hoảng này một cách hiệu quả hay không? Bài tiểu luận này sẽ xem xét những thành tựu trong cuộc chiến chống biến đổi khí hậu, nhận thức ngày càng tăng về tác động của nó, mức độ nghiêm trọng ngày càng tăng của khủng hoảng khí hậu và liệu hành động của chúng ta đã đi đúng hướng chưa hay liệu chúng ta có cần xem xét lại cách tiếp cận của mình hay không. (shrink)

The recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in light of the impressive capabilities of transformer-based Large Language Models (LLMs), have reignited the discussion in cognitive science regarding whether computational devices could possess semantic understanding or whether they are merely mimicking human intelligence. Recent research has highlighted limitations in LLMs’ reasoning, suggesting that the gap between mere symbol manipulation (syntax) and deeper understanding (semantics) remains wide open. While LLMs overcome certain aspects of the symbol grounding problem through human feedback, they (...) still lack true semantic understanding, struggling with common-sense reasoning and abstract thinking. This paper argues that while adding sensory inputs and embodying AI through sensorimotor integration with the environment might enhance its ability to connect symbols to real-world meaning, this alone would not close the gap between syntax and semantics. True meaning-making also requires a connection to subjective experience, which current AI lacks. The path to AGI must address the fundamental relationship between symbol manipulation, data processing, pattern matching, and probabilistic best guesses with true knowledge that requires conscious experience. A transition from AI to AGI can occur only if it possesses conscious experience, which is closely tied to semantic understanding. Recognition of this connection could furnish new philosophical insights into longstanding practical and philosophical questions for theories in biology and cognitive science and provide more meaningful tests of intelligence than the Turing test. (shrink)

This paper explains how the practice of ‘no platforming’ can be reconciled with a liberal politics. While opponents say that no platforming flouts ideals of open public discourse, and defenders see it as a justifiable harm-prevention measure, both sides mistakenly treat the debate like a run-of-the-mill free speech conflict, rather than an issue of academic freedom specifically. Content-based restrictions on speech in universities are ubiquitous. And this is no affront to a liberal conception of academic freedom, whose purpose isn’t just (...) to protect the speech of academics, but also to give them the prerogative to determine which views and speakers have sufficient disciplinary credentials to receive a hearing in academic contexts. No platforming should therefore be acceptable to liberals, in principle, in cases where it is used to support a university culture that maintains rigorous disciplinary standards, by denying attention and credibility to speakers without appropriate disciplinary credentials. (shrink)

No reservations, no conditions to live a life of fiction.

La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha levantado sospechas de edadismo y gerontofobia en diversas prácticas de racionamiento sanitario. La edad es un criterio de triaje controvertido. En este artículo se esclarece la relevancia ética de la edad dentro de los sistemas de triaje, analizando particularmente su rol dentro de los principios de equidad y de eficiencia. La equidad requiere dar más oportunidades a aquellos que han cumplido menos ciclos vitales. La eficiencia tiene en cuenta la edad de manera subrepticia al (...) tratar de maximizar los beneficios a corto plazo (salvar vidas) y a largo plazo (salvar años de vida). Finalmente, la edad no debe ser la última ratio de las decisiones de triaje, aunque es una variable a tener en cuenta debido a su presencia implícita en principios fundamentales de priorización. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised suspicions of ageism and gerontophobia in various health rationing practices. Age is a controversial triage criterion. This article clarifies the ethical relevance of age within triage systems, particularly its role within the principles of fairness and efficiency. Fairness requires giving more opportunities to those who have completed fewer life cycles. Efficiency takes age into account surreptitiously when trying to maximize short-term (saving lives) and long-term (saving years of life) benefits. Finally, age should not be the final rationale in triage decisions, although it is a variable to be taken into account because of its implicit presence in fundamental principles of prioritization. (shrink)

Summer with Monika (Ingmar Bergman, 1952) was a point of reference for filmmakers searching new ways of filmmaking during the 1960s and 1970s because it anticipated the characteristic reflexivity of cinematic modernity because of the protagonist’s look at the camera. By unexpectedly bursting into the narrative, this gaze becomes a self-conscious strategy aimed at disarticulating not only the cinematic fiction, but also Monika’s fiction, which has symbolically appropriated the imaginary world projected by cinema.

1. The no form action theory is a novel philosophical theory that transcends traditional dualisms such as matter and spirit, form and substance. It establishes a two-dimensional theoretical framework composed of form and no form, and uses this two-dimensional theory to understand various aspects of the world. 2. The three key actions of no form are: isolation action (e.g., distinguishing between different things), motive force action (e.g., driving changes in things), and manifestation action (e.g., allowing us to perceive things). These (...) three actions have strong "self-reflexivity". For example, the relationships between these three actions can be divided into: isolation relationship, motive force relationship, and manifestation relationship. These three relationships, in turn, belong to isolation action, motive force action, and manifestation action respectively. 3. The no form action theory have strong universality, capable of providing unified theoretical explanations across various disciplines. For example, it can be used to explain quantum entanglement phenomena in physics, as well as the mechanism of consciousness generation in psychology; it can explain ontology, as well as time and space; it can explain emotions, as well as logic. It can explain language, as well as the macroscopic world. 4. The completion of the core ideas of the no form action theory marks the beginning of a new historical stage in philosophical research. It provides a completely new set of methods and perspectives to understand the world, and has achieved a series of important results: (1) It offers new interpretations of the most fundamental philosophical concepts such as "being", "existence", "is", "freedom", "consciousness", "beauty", "space", "time", "basis", "cause", "self", "identity", etc., and introduces many new concepts. It binds these concepts technically within the framework of the no form action theory. This establishes a highly logical and explanatory philosophical system. As a result, philosophical research now has clearer, more rigorous, and more reliable technical operational methods. (2) It derives and explains the three basic laws of formal logic, and demonstrates that they are interdependent and form an inseparable whole. (3) It provides a new solution to Descartes' "mind-body problem" and also explains difficult issues in physics such as quantum entanglement. (4) It discovers a third dimension in the world besides time and space: "now". This discovery provides a completely new perspective for understanding reality, consciousness, and the nature of the universe. (shrink)

This is a short sketch of some central ideas developed in my recent book _Being No One_ (BNO hereafter). A more systematic summary, which focuses on short answers to a set of specific, individual questions is already contained _in _the book, namely as BNO section 8.2. Here, I deliberately and completely exclude all work related to semantically differentiating and empirically constraining the philosophical concept of a "quale" (mostly Chapter 2, 3 & 8), all proposals regarding conceptual foundations for the overall (...) theory (2 & 5), all of the neurophenomenological case-studies used to test and refine it (4 & 7), and all remarks of a more general or methodological character (1 & 8). In particular, the present Pr. (shrink)

I argue that a certain type of naturalist should not accept a prominent version of the no-miracles argument (NMA). First, scientists (usually) do not accept explanations whose explanans-statements neither generate novel predictions nor unify apparently disparate established claims. Second, scientific realism (as it appears in the NMA) is an explanans that makes no new predictions and fails to unify disparate established claims. Third, many proponents of the NMA explicitly adopt a naturalism that forbids philosophy of science from using any methods (...) not employed by science itself. Therefore, such naturalistic philosophers of science should not accept the version of scientific realism that appears in the NMA. (shrink)

Several philosophers, both in Buddhist and Western philosophy, claim that the self does not exist. The no-self view may, at first glance, appear to be a reason to believe that life is meaningless. In the present article, I argue indirectly in favor of the no-self view by showing that it does not entail that life is meaningless. I then examine Buddhism and argue, further, that the no-self view may even be construed as partially grounding an account of the meaning of (...) life. (shrink)

Relying on evidence from fifteen epigraphic collections and sixty-odd ancient sources as well as discussing a literature of over five hundred titles, the essay’s highly unorthodox conclusions are a case in point of the micrological ideal of achieving novelty on any given subject by way of transcribing and studying first-hand all relevant materials – edited and unedited alike. The paper’s ambition was to shed new light on one of the most intriguing analogies of the whole Aristotelian corpus, namely the comparison (...) between words and pebbles. A review of all material evidence and virtually all extant sources made short work of two related, albeit mutually exclusive, misconception about ancient reckoning boards and their workings: (1) the idea that – for all practical purposes – the abacus’ arrangement mirrored the decimal system, its columns and rows conveniently matching units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. (2) the idea that the inscriptions on several surviving counting boards were a nuisance to the extent that, being inconsistent to a fault with the decimal system itself, they made actual calculations harder than they already were (as opposed to making them easier, as one would expect). The paper demonstrated that the first assumption – the « decimal » bias – is simply mistaken and betrays little or no awareness of the epigraphic and archaeological evidence. The paper also demonstrated that the second assumption – the « abacus riddled with complications » bias – simply defeats the purpose of resorting to the abacus in the first place and betrays a poor understanding of its practical vocation which, most assuredly, was not to add to the very problem it was meant to solve. After bulldozing its way through both misunderstandings, the essay focused on the abacus most distinctive features, that is positionality (i.e. the abacus being a positional system through and through) and hybridity (i.e. the abacus’ place value system being monetary in nature and purpose, as opposed to it being abstract and homogeneous). The final result is an interpretation that moves away from the received views by showing that the prologue of the Sophistici elenchi offers no support to the notion that, when Aristotle referred to counters, he was leaning on a kinship of sorts – or any kinship, for that matter – between abstract calculation and speech. Once we turns the pebble’s simile on its head and set it back upon its feet (Aristotle’s pebble analogy is about pebbles, what else?), it becomes clear that it presupposed numeracy all right, but it was not about numeracy itself. Moreover its goal was not to explain why computational and linguistic symbolisms succeed, but to explain how they fail – failure being the whole point; in this particular instance, failure to detect and prevent abusive value shifts affecting words and counters alike. (shrink)

According to no-futurism, past and present entities are real, but future ones are not. This view faces a skeptical challenge (Bourne 2002, 2006, Braddon-Mitchell, 2004): if no-futurism is true, how do you know you are present? I shall propose a new skeptical argument based on the physical possibility of Gödelian worlds (1949). This argument shows that a no-futurist has to endorse a metaphysical contingentist reading of no-futurism, the view that no-futurism is contingently true. But then, the no-futurist has to face (...) a new skeptical challenge: how do you know that you are in a no-futurist world? (shrink)

This article demonstrates a priori cosmopolitan values of restraint and harm limitation exist to establish a cosmopolitan “no-harm” duty in warfare, predating utilitarianism and permeating modern international humanitarian law. In doing so, the author exposes the atemporal and ahistorical nature of utilitarianism which introduces chaos and brutality into the international legal system. Part 2 conceptualises the duty as derived from the “no-harm” principle under international environmental law. Part 3 frames the discussion within legal pluralism and cosmopolitan ethics, arguing that divergent (...) legal jurisdictions without an international authority necessitates a “public international sphere” to mediate differences leading to strong value-commitment norm-creation. One such norm is the “no-harm” duty in warfare. Part 4 traces the duty to the Stoics, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, African traditional culture, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Parts 5 and 6 explain how the duty manifests in principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law. (shrink)

This paper is concerned with learners who aim to learn patterns in infinite binary sequences: shown longer and longer initial segments of a binary sequence, they either attempt to predict whether the next bit will be a 0 or will be a 1 or they issue forecast probabilities for these events. Several variants of this problem are considered. In each case, a no-free-lunch result of the following form is established: the problem of learning is a formidably difficult one, in that (...) no matter what method is pursued, failure is incomparably more common that success; and difficult choices must be faced in choosing a method of learning, since no approach dominates all others in its range of success. In the simplest case, the comparison of the set of situations in which a method fails and the set of situations in which it succeeds is a matter of cardinality (countable vs. uncountable); in other cases, it is a topological matter (meagre vs. co-meagre) or a hybrid computational-topological matter (effectively meagre vs. effectively co-meagre). (shrink)

The modern Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics describes an emergent multiverse. The goal of this paper is to provide a perspicuous characterisation of how the multiverse emerges making use of a recent account of (weak) ontological emergence. This will be cashed out with a case study that identifies decoherence as the mechanism for emergence. The greater metaphysical clarity enables the rebuttal of critiques due to Baker (2007) and Dawid and Th\'ebault (2015) that cast the emergent multiverse ontology as incoherent; responses (...) are also offered to challenges to the Everettian approach from Maudlin (2010) and Monton (2013). (shrink)

Na Religião nos Limites da Simples Razão, Kant se propõe a investigar o núcleo racional da religião e sua relação com a religião histórica. O ponto de vista da filosofia crítico-transcendental e os princípios da religião racional-moral desenvolvidos nas três Críticas são apresentados como a base de uma análise da religião histórica, sobretudo da religião cristã. Com efeito, o conjunto de dogmas e estatutos da religião cristã é interpretado como um conjunto de símbolos que representam os meios pelos quais os (...) princípios morais puramente racionais se tornam intuitivos na experiência humana. De um modo geral, o propósito dessa exegese é verificar e demonstrar, respeitando certos limites, que existe compatibilidade e unidade entre os princípios da religião racional e os dogmas da religião cristã. Ao mesmo tempo, ela se propõe a acusar os elementos que não são compatíveis ou não são essenciais à religião. O resultado disso é um discurso consistente sobre a “essência moral” do cristianismo que culmina em um manifesto contra todo tipo de “entusiasmo” religioso e contra as “práticas religiosas” contraprodutivas à moralidade. Em última instância, pode-se argumentar ainda que o objetivo de Kant na Religião ultrapassa o empreendimento de oferecer um discurso sobre a essência da religião ou mesmo uma interpretação moral do cristianismo, dirigindo-se a uma investigação sobre as condições de possibilidade do progresso moral da humanidade e da realização do objeto último da razão, para o qual tanto a religião racional quanto a religião histórica desempenham um papel fundamental. (shrink)

In “Normativity and Epistemic Intuitions”, Weinberg, Nichols and Stich famously argue from empirical data that East Asians and Westerners have different intuitions about Gettier -style cases. We attempted to replicate their study about the Car case, but failed to detect a cross - cultural difference. Our study used the same methods and case taken verbatim, but sampled an East Asian population 2.5 times greater than NEI’s 23 participants. We found no evidence supporting the existence of cross - cultural difference about (...) the intuition concerning the Gettier car case. Taken together with the failures of both of the existing replication studies, our results provide strong evidence that the purported cross - cultural difference in Gettier intuitions does not exist. (shrink)

Después de introducir el artículo (§1), repasaré los aspectos más generales y centrales de la literatura sobre la fundamentación (§2); esta tarea me parece valiosa ya que no existen revisiones generales y actualizadas en español sobre el tema. Después, argumentaré que la fundamentación no es una medida de complejidad física, y que, sin un vínculo necesario con la complejidad, quedan pocas razones para pensar que la fundamentación une a los diferentes estratos de la realidad física, que es una de las (...) motivaciones más importantes para introducir relaciones de dependencia (§3). (shrink)

The first and greatest commandment according to Jesus, and so the one most central to Christian practice, is the command to love God. We argue that this commandment is best interpreted in aretaic rather than deontic terms. In brief, we argue that there is no obligation to love God. While bad, failure to seek and enjoy a union of love with God is not in violation of any general moral requirement. The core argument is straightforward: relations of intimacy should not (...) be morally imposed upon autonomous beings. We contend that such reasoning applies to human beings’ relationship to God. So, even if our ultimate end is to enjoy communion with God, God has no right that human beings seek a relationship with him. If this is correct, then the command to ‘love God’ is not the sort of moral principle that can be supported by threats of hellfire or other forms of coercion. (shrink)

Procedural justifications of democracy emphasize inclusiveness and respect and by doing so come into conflict with instrumental justifications that depend on voters’ competence. This conflict raises questions about jury theorems and makes their standing in democratic theory contested. We show that a type of no-regret learning called meta-induction can help to satisfy the competence assumption without excluding voters or diverse opinion leaders on an a priori basis. Meta-induction assigns weights to opinion leaders based on their past predictive performance to determine (...) the level of their inclusion in recommendations for voters. The weighting minimizes the difference between the performance of meta-induction and the best opinion leader in hindsight. The difference represents the regret of meta-induction whose minimization ensures that the recommendations are optimal in supporting voters’ competence. Meta-induction has optimal truth-tracking properties that support voters’ competence even if it is targeted by mis/disinformation and should be considered a tool for supporting democracy in hyper-plurality. (shrink)

No-futurists ('growing block theorists') hold that that the past and the present are real, but that the future is not. The present moment is therefore privileged: it is the last moment of time. Craig Bourne (2002) and David Braddon-Mitchell (2004) have argued that this position is unmotivated, since the privilege of presentness comes apart from the indexicality of 'this moment'. I respond that no-futurists should treat 'x is real-as-of y' as a nonsymmetric relation. Then different moments are real-as-of different times. (...) This reunites privilege with indexicality, but entails that no-futurists must believe in ineliminably tensed facts. (shrink)

Suppose we were to randomly pick out a book on Buddhism or Eastern Philosophy and turn to the section on 'no-self' (anatt?). On this central teaching, we would most likely learn that the Buddha rejected the Upanisadic notion of Self (?tman), maintaining that a person is no more than a bundle of impermanent, conditioned psycho-physical aggregates (khandhas). The rejection of ?tman is seen by many to separate the metaphysically 'extravagant' claims of Hinduism from the austere tenets of Buddhism. The status (...) quo has not, however, gone unchallenged. I shall join forces against this pernicious view, integrating some recent contributions into a sustained, two-pronged argument against no-?tman theories of anatt?. At the end it shall be suggested, in line with Thanissaro Bhikkhu, that anatt? is best understood as a practical strategy rather than as a metaphysical doctrine. (shrink)

A mudança da concepção do critério geral da significação que tinha Wittgenstein no seu período intermediário para a concepção dos critérios de significação do seu período posterior justifica que se fale numa correlativa mudança na aplicabilidade do conceito de ‘uso’. Acompanhar esta mudança é importante para se caracterizar o âmbito do pragmático tal como Wittgenstein o concebe, e bem assim o tipo de investigação sobre os fundamentos do simbolismo linguístico e sobre a ligação entre linguagem e mundo que esse filósofo (...) advoga como adequada. Este artigo pretende circunscrever algumas das novas questões que, no período intermediário de Wittgenstein , conduziriam a tal mudança conceptual. (shrink)

Since the publication of Timothy Williamson’s Knowledge and its Limits, knowledge-first epistemology has become increasingly influential within epistemology. This paper discusses the viability of the knowledge-first program. The paper has two main parts. In the first part, I briefly present knowledge-first epistemology as well as several big picture reasons for concern about this program. While this considerations are pressing, I concede, however, that they are not conclusive. To determine the viability of knowledge-first epistemology will require philosophers to carefully evaluate the (...) individual theses endorsed by knowledge-first epistemologists as well as to compare it with alternative packages of views. In the second part of the paper, I contribute to this evaluation by considering a specific thesis endorsed by many knowledge-first epistemologists – the knowledge norm of assertion. According to this norm, roughly speaking, one should assert that p only if one knows that p. I present and motivate this thesis. I then turn to a familiar concern with the norm: In many cases, it is intuitively appropriate for someone who has a strongly justified belief that p, but who doesn't know that p, to assert that p. Proponents of the knowledge norm of assertion typically explain away our judgments about such cases by arguing that the relevant assertion is improper but that the subject has an excuse and is therefore not blameworthy for making the assertion. I argue that that this response does not work. In many of the problem cases, it is not merely that the subject’s assertion is blameless. Rather, the subject positively ought to make the assertion. Appealing to an excuse cannot be used to adequately explain this fact. (Nor can we explain this fact by appealing to some other, quite different, consideration.) Finally, I conclude by briefly considering whether we should replace the knowledge norm of assertion with an alternative norm. I argue that the most plausible view is that there is no norm specifically tied to assertion. (shrink)

One of the most unpredictable things the pandemic brought to our societies was the closure of hospitals and other health services to visitors. Preventing the spread of infection was the main reason for these decisions in the early days of the pandemic when there was no clarity about the means of transmission and the origin of the virus. However, in view of the persistence of the restrictions to date and the numerous negative consequences they have had on the professional and (...) personal quality of life of doctors, nurses, patients and carers, the aim of this article is to analyse in depth the reasons why these decisions have been and, above all, are still being applied, also considering the hypothesis that the choices made so far in the training of health professionals should be questioned. The persistence of restrictions, the constant reduction of human and economic resources in the face of an increase in the demand for care have exacerbated the distance between health professionals and users, to the point of escalating into actual acts of violence and aggression. According to the Critical Pedagogy approach, educators can play a central role in activating formative and collaborative strategies, such as maieutic groups, to rebuild an alliance between those who today find themselves on opposite sides: health professionals on the one hand, and patients and families on the other. (shrink)

This is the English (and extended version) of an interview originally published in Estonian in October 2018. In the interview, Simpson summarizes a particular way of defending the practice of no-platforming. The varying appeal of different defences of the practice in different socio-historical contexts (i.e. the UK/US versus a post-Soviet country such as Estonia) is discussed also.

The practice of ‘management euthanasia’, in which zoos kill otherwise healthy surplus animals, is a controversial one. The debate over the permissibility of the practice tends to divide along two different views in animal ethics—animal rights and animal welfare. Traditionally, those arguments against the practice have come from the animal rights camp, who see it as a violation of the rights of the animal involved. Arguments in favour come from the animal welfare perspective, who argue that as the animal does (...) not suffer, there is no harm in the practice and it is justified by its potential benefits. Here, I argue that an expansion of the welfare view, encompassing longevity and opportunities for positive welfare, give stronger considerations against management euthanasia, which then require greater benefits to justify its use. (shrink)