The work presented has the following approach: starting from the Pope's reflection on the planet and ecological problems, it is intended to show the philosophical influences that underlie Francisco's exposition. These influences make it possible to describe a philosophical profile present in the encyclical Laudato si’. In addition, since philosophy claims to know, it is not exhausted only in knowledge, but tries to know in order to act; therefore, the presence of an ethical proposal follows; and since all ethics leads (...) to action, it follows that action cannot be without some indicators, without an axiology on which human action on the planet revolves. The result is that Francisco offers an ethic of otherness that feels the other as an authentic neighbor, even those who are in the future. It is an ethic of common benefit and caring for the other whose fundamental axis is the person and for this reason he reflects the phenomenon of human life within life on Earth, with which its philosophical approach seems personalist, from a point of Christian view. (shrink)

Can democracy be at once radical and Islamic? In this paper I argue that it can. My argument is based on a comparison and contrast of certain aspects in the social-political thought of two contemporary authors: Axel Honneth who defends a particular conception of radical democracy, and Rached al-Ghannouchi who defends a particular conception of the Islamic state. I begin with Honneth’s early articulation of his model of radical democracy as reflexive cooperation, which he presents as an alternative that reconciles (...) Arendtian republicanism and Habermasian proceduralism while avoiding their weaknesses. I also refer to his more mature conception of democracy by way of highlighting his understanding of democracy as a process of constituting civil society. This is significant for the purposes of this paper since it forms the most important link between Honneth’s radical democracy and Ghannouchi’s Islamic model of political rule. I then introduce Ghannouchi’s theoretical account of the Islamic state with a focus on his conception of shura (consultation) in order to bring to the fore both the similarities and dissimilarities with Honneth’s theory of democracy. By this point I will have identified Islamic resources for a conception of democracy that, like Honneth’s democracy as reflexive cooperation, shares with proceduralism an instrumental view of democratic procedures, and with republicanism a strong connection between the pre-political social level and politics. Next, I ask whether this conception of radical Islamic democracy can square its dual commitment to pluralism and Islamic unity. Again, I draw on Ghannouchi’s thought to respond to the challenge, doing so in a way that brings out the agonistic dimension in radical Islamic democracy. I conclude by making explicit how radical Islamic democracy carves out a conceptual space in which proceduralist, republican and agonistic features are combined. (shrink)

We arrived at the neighborhood in Antwerp where our accommodation, Adagio Aprthotel, was located. The presence of immigrants was the one of the first things that caught my attention. They are everywhere. Enroute to the shops past the train station after dropping off our bags, Amiel and I passed a synagogue, and at McDonald’s (yup, my first meal in Belgium was french fries!), seated at the next table were two Filipinos. Overhearing their chatter, I surmised that they have been living (...) in Antwerp for some time. While intently exploring the surrounding streets, it became obvious that there is a profusion of migrant communities in Antwerp offering a multifaceted panorama of cultural diversity. This iss underscored by the conspicuous presence of Orthodox Jews, Arabs, Africans, and Chinese, the latter ensconced in their own Chinatown. Our neighborhood afforded immersion within a milieu teeming with migrant-owned enterprises, from butcher shops and corner stores to quaint cafés and eateries, predominantly overseen by Middle Easterners and Jews. Our first communal meal was, in fact, at an Arabic restaurant just across our accommodations. (shrink)

A small but growing number of studies have aimed to understand, assess and reduce existential risks, or risks that threaten the continued existence of mankind. However, most attention has been focused on known and tangible risks. This paper proposes a heuristic for reducing the risk of black swan extinction events. These events are, as the name suggests, stochastic and unforeseen when they happen. Decision theory based on a fixed model of possible outcomes cannot properly deal with this kind of event. (...) Neither can probabilistic risk analysis. This paper will argue that the approach that is referred to as engineering safety could be applied to reducing the risk from black swan extinction events. It will also propose a conceptual sketch of how such a strategy may be implemented: isolated, self-sufficient, and continuously manned underground refuges. Some characteristics of such refuges are also described, in particular the psychosocial aspects. Furthermore, it is argued that this implementation of the engineering safety strategy safety barriers would be effective and plausible and could reduce the risk of an extinction event in a wide range of possible scenarios. Considering the staggering opportunity cost of an existential catastrophe, such strategies ought to be explored more vigorously. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differentiated learning training program at the mathematics subject teachers' meeting (MGMP). A descriptive quantitative approach was used to identify the successes of the program and areas that require improvement. The sample included 21 mathematics teachers in Sub Rayon 2 of Lebak District. The instruments used were questionnaires in which data on participants' responses to resource persons, materials, and suggestions for future activities were collected, and the results of direct observations. Data analysis (...) was carried out using descriptive statistical methods to describe the overall evaluation results. Based on the findings, it is expected to provide an in-depth view of the differentiated learning program, contribute to the development of the program in the future, and become a guideline for improving the quality of mathematics learning in the Lebak district. The results of this training program evaluation show that the differentiated learning training activities have been well implemented in MGMP Mathematics Sub Rayon 2 Lebak District. This is evidenced by the level of teacher satisfaction in participating in the training, the majority of which were at scores 4 and 5, namely agreeing and strongly agreeing. This was also the case with the resource persons, materials, and training facilities, and organization. It is hoped that in the future continue to carry out ongoing training related to differentiated learning by current needs and to improve the competence of mathematics teachers in particular, as well as teachers of other subjects in general. (shrink)

Una de las bifurcaciones en el debate contemporáneo sobre la legitimidad de la democracia explora si ésta ofrece ventajas distintivamente epistémicas frente a otras alternativas políticas. Quienes defienden la tesis de la democracia epistémica afirman que la democracia es instrumentalmente superior o equiparable a otras formas de organización política en lo que concierne a la obtención de varios bienes epistémicos. En este ensayo presento dos (grupos de) argumentos a favor de la democracia epistémica, que se inspiran en resultados formales: el (...) teorema del jurado de Condorcet [TJC] y el teorema ‘diversidad supera habilidad’ [DSH]. Pese a su gran atractivo, sostengo que estos argumentos son incapaces de respaldar dicha tesis: no brindan razones para considerar que la democracia es epistémicamente superior (o equiparable) a algunas alternativas políticas no democráticas. En su lugar, sugiero que, sin requerir un cambio radical en nuestras formas de organización política, la epistemología democrática –el estudio de las ‘circunstancias epistémicas de la democracia’– puede ofrecer valiosas lecciones de sobre cómo optimizar, en nuestra situación, instituciones y procedimientos de toma de decisiones. Para ello, primero distingo entre varias maneras de evaluar procedimientos de toma de decisión colectiva. Argumento que, al considerarlos como formas de organización política, un factor importante en la evaluación de tales procedimientos involucra asuntos fácticos sobre los cuales puede aspirarse a obtener o promover algunos bienes epistémicos. En este contexto, presento algunos de los argumentos más importantes a favor de la democracia epistémica. A continuación, reúno algunas de las objeciones sobre la aplicabilidad de dichos argumentos y ofrezco razones independientes para dudar de que ofrezcan apoyo a la tesis de la democracia epistémica. Finalmente, defiendo que la epistemología democrática puede desempeñar un papel significativo en la legitimación de formas de organización colectiva que podrían denominarse ‘democráticas’. (shrink)

Frente a problemas de decisión colectiva de cierta complejidad, distintos métodos de votación pueden considerarse igualmente democráticos. Ante esta situación, argumento que es posible investigar cuáles de esos métodos producen mejores resultados epistémicos sobre asuntos fácticos. Comienzo ilustrando la relación entre democracia y métodos de votación con un sencillo ejemplo. Muestro cómo el uso de modelos idealizados permite descubrir algunas propiedades de los métodos de votación; varios de estos descubrimientos muestran que, frente a problemas de cierta complejidad, no hay una (...) respuesta clara acerca de cuál es el resultado de una elección democrática. Frente a esto, sugiero que deberíamos tomar en cuenta un rasgo epistémico instrumental de varios métodos de votación: su capacidad para generar respuestas correctas ante varias situaciones. Esta intuición ofrece lecciones importantes para el diseño de instituciones electorales. (shrink)

In this thesis, I elaborate and defend Donald Davidson's account of knowing one's own mental states that exhibit first-person authority. To that end, I place Davidson's account among others in the philosophical landscape concerning self-knowledge. Next, I examine his response to philosophical challenges that arise from mental content externalism and self-deception. Finally, I draw some insights froms Davidson's account to the broader aims of epsitemology.

But it would be neither fair nor truthful to present to those perhaps less familiar with the EU and the 60 year old project of European integration, a picture which is only partial. The highly successful project of European integration, the EU, faces today (like it did 10, 20, 30 years ago) big challenges. Yet Brussels is, often, a very useful tool to face them is.

Naturalism, construed as the idea that philosophy should be continuous with science, is a highly influential view. Its consequences for epistemology, however, are rather odd. Many believe that naturalized epistemology allows eschewing traditional skeptical challenges. This is often seen as an advantage; but it also calls into question its claim of belonging to the philosophical inquiry into knowledge. This paper argues that skeptical challenges can be stated to defy epistemic optimism within naturalized epistemology, and that there are distinctively naturalistic forms (...) of skepticism. To that end, it outlines some assumptions underlying many attempts to naturalize epistemology. It contrasts these approaches to traditional epistemology and identifies the reasons offered by naturalistic epistemologists to dismiss traditional skeptical challenges. Next, it argues that the problem of skepticism can be sensibly stated within a naturalistic setting. Finally, it contends that there are distinctively naturalistic strategies to argue for skepticism and diagnoses the prospects of naturalism vis-à-vis these kinds of skeptical challenges. (shrink)

The euro crisis has hit “Europe” (the European Union, or EU) at its root. Economic harshness, social unrest and political turmoil betray a deeper problem: a weak pan-European sense of belonging — a common political identity thanks to which European citizens may regard each other as equals, and therefore as deserving of recognition, trust, and solidarity. This paper explores interculturalism from an analogical perspective, looking at the harmonious interplay between human rights and cultural plurality, as a possible source of trust (...) and solidarity among European citizens. Only a common — even if analogical — political identity, whereby European citizens regard each other, if not as “siblings” at least as “cousins,” can make the sacrifices required to overcome the crisis meaningful — and therefore less unlikely to happen. (shrink)

The focus of Australia-US relations is most often on mutual security and economic ties. But it is also important to acknowledge the significant role that educational linkages and exchanges have played in furthering the bond between the two countries.

The cultural, economic and political crisis affecting the European Union (EU) today is manifested in the political community’s lack of enthusiasm and cohesion. An effort to reverse this situation – foster ‘EU identity’ – was the creation of EU citizenship. Citizen- ship implies a people and a polity. But EU citizens already belong to national polities. Should EU citizenship override national citizenship or coexist with it? Postnationalists like Habermas have suggested EU citizenship can overcome nationalisms, grounding political belonging on the (...) body of laws that members of the post- national polity generate in the public sphere. Cosmopolitan communitarianists like Bellamy, by contrast, think that EU citizens should form a mixed commonwealth, with political belonging based on national citizenship. I will argue in favour of the second option, and submit an analogical reading of the ensuing ideas of citizenship, identity and polity. Cosmopolitan communitarianist EU citizenship promises to better foster the great richness of European national cultural, religious, historical, political, legal and linguistic diversity in a ‘mixed’ polity. Its main challenge is how to keep the diverse, mixed polity together. (shrink)

El presente artículo muestra, dentro del pensamiento filosófico de John Stuart Mill, su enfoque de sociedad avanzada, apoyada en la libertad del individuo como soporte básico, en el marco de estados democráticos, y que se desarrolla y avanza gracias a la educación. Las implicaciones beneficiosas para la humanidad, que se siguen, de ello son relevantes.

If health sciences are to be humanized, health professionals must first humanize themselves. This research deepens the paradigmatic aspects that enrich and form the basis of a compassionate attitude, a key element in this process of humanization. For this reason, emphasis has been placed on the sensitivity that is at the basis of a compassionate attitude. It is proposed that this sensitivity includes wonder as a starting point that allows one to connect with reality and to encounter the reality of (...) the human person, who in turn discovers that he is called to communion with another like himself. In this way, compassion is considered as a movement of the heart, and the particularities and consequences of this movement are identified in order to respond to objections to compassion, especially those of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It is noted that his criticisms are directed against a compassion understood as pity, while compassion understood as a movement of the heart distances itself from falling into the sentimentalization of pity and helps to reaffirm the positive dimension of compassion. -/- Si se quiere humanizar las ciencias de la salud, han de comenzar a humanizarse los profesionales de la salud. Por esta razón, en esta investigación se profundiza en aspectos paradigmáticos que fundamentan y enriquecen el ser compasivo, considerado como un elemento clave en dicho proceso de humanización. Para ello, se ha puesto énfasis en la sensibilidad que se encuentra al fondo de la actitud compasiva. Se ha planteado que dicha sensibilidad involucra el asombro como punto de partida, que conecta con la realidad y que permite encontrarse con la realidad de la persona humana, que a su vez se descubre llamada a la comunión con el otro semejante a ella. De esta manera, se llega a considerar la compasión como un movimiento del corazón, y a partir de allí, se determinan las particularidades y consecuencias de este movimiento para responder a las objeciones que se le hacen a la compasión, principalmente las del filósofo alemán Friedrich Nietzsche. Se ha determinado que sus críticas están dirigidas a una compasión entendida como lástima, mientras que la compasión entendida como movimiento del corazón, se aleja de caer en la sentimentalización de la lástima y da luces para retomar la dimensión positiva que posee la compasión. (shrink)

The paper reviews the foundational ideals that gave “Europe”, an integration project with continental ambitions, its initial meaning or identity. “Europe” meant reconciliation and peace, reconstruction and widespread prosperity, and the mitigation of nationalism through the creation of supranational communities. A broad cultural consensus made it easier to trust each other and work together. The enterprise received a tacit approval from Europeans throughout the initial stages. More than 60 years and 20 member states later the project is under strain in (...) the social, economic, political and cultural fields. Today, as Europeans (now continental citizens) experience not only the advantages, but also the sacrifices of belonging to “Europe” (in the form of a Union), their allegiance to, and indeed the identity of the whole project are in question. I will submit that the original identity of “Europe” should be revived, and revisited for it to evolve in response to the present challenges. If its future identity is that of an intercultural, inclusive, flexible, and analogical polity, Europe will be still worth fighting for. (shrink)

On one popular view, the general covariance of gravity implies that change is relational in a strong sense, such that all it is for a physical degree of freedom to change is for it to vary with regard to a second physical degree of freedom. At a quantum level, this view of change as relative variation leads to a fundamentally timeless formalism for quantum gravity. Here, we will show how one may avoid this acute ‘problem of time’. Under our view, (...) duration is still regarded as relative, but temporal succession is taken to be absolute. Following our approach, which is presented in more formal terms in, it is possible to conceive of a genuinely dynamical theory of quantum gravity within which time, in a substantive sense, remains. 1 Introduction1.1 The problem of time1.2 Our solution2 Understanding Symmetry2.1 Mechanics and representation2.2 Freedom by degrees2.3 Voluntary redundancy3 Understanding Time3.1 Change and order3.2 Quantization and succession4 Time and Gravitation4.1 The two faces of classical gravity4.2 Retaining succession in quantum gravity5 Discussion5.1 Related arguments5.2 Concluding remarks. (shrink)

This article analyses the epistemic status of law and its presumption of being a science in relation with the so-called demarcation criterion proposed by different philosophers of science. Such criteria are the main analytical elements to differentiate scientific discourses from those who are not and the ones who pretend to be. In relation to those, pseudoscience and law are treated, to finally conclude with the exposition of the case of Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals, in which a judicial process defined (...) demarcation criteria. This paper shows how the demarcation criteria of science and the concept of pseudoscience cannot be applied to law science given its own rationality. (shrink)

The economic crisis in Europe exposes the European Union’s political fragility. How a polity made of very different states can live up to the motto “Europe united in diversity” is difficult to envisage in practice. In this paper I attempt an “exegesis”—a critical explanation or interpretation of a series of published pieces (“the Series”) which explores, first, if European unity is desirable at all. Second, it presents a new methodology—analogical hermeneutics—used throughout the Series to approach the problem of unity. Third, (...) it conceptualises the source of unity as political identity. Fourth, it advances that the vehicle to share such identity is an analogical language: the political culture of human rights. Fifth, it submits the conditions under which such political culture could ground political identity through an open public sphere. Finally, it presents a way in which solidarity can grow as the increasingly diverse citizens of the European Union interact with each other. Even though the economic crisis can be solved by means of sound economic strategy (which is not the main object of my work), any successful economic strategy requires—as a precondition—a certain degree of political unity (the central concern of my research). (shrink)

The Lautsi case in Italy attracted widespread attention in Europe and beyond. Though the issue under contention was a Christian symbol, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgements showed changes in assessment both about religion (in contrast with former cases regarding Muslim veils) and secularism (which did not have the same meaning for everyone). In light of those rulings, this paper reflects on the concepts of neutrality and secularism and their normative implications for European citizens in terms of belonging, (...) solidarity and cohesion. An open and plural public sphere, in which intercultural exchange can flourish, is crucial if Europe is serious about the integration of its immigrants, many of whom possess a Muslim background. A ‘post-secular’ Europe may have to reconsider long-held stereotypes about religion and nuance its self-understanding as ‘secular’, in a way that religious citizens can identify with Europe too. The discussion will draw on the ideas of Taylor, Casanova, Habermas, Weiler and Beck to illustrate some of the political, ethical and theoretical complexities of the Lautsi case, specifically issues to do with neutrality, secularism and the role of religion in the public sphere. (shrink)

El libro de María González Navarro se presenta a sí mismo como una “nueva hermenéutica” (23). La novedad involucra dos aspectos: uno que llamaremos metateórico y otro hermenéutico en propiedad. Hablando metateóricamente, el libro presenta una hermenéutica gadameriana vigorizada y robustecida por las teorías pragma-dialécticas de la argumentación. Desde el punto de vista hermenéutico propiamente dicho, la novedad reposa en que se considera que la interpretación correcta está indesligablemente vinculada a la argumentación abductiva.

The increasing number of residents and citizens with non-Western cultural backgrounds in the European Union (EU) has prompted the question of whether EU member states (and other Western democracies) can accommodate the newcomers and maintain their free polities (‘liberal democracies’). The answer depends on how important – if at all – cultural groundings are to democratic polities. The analysis of a fascinating Habermas-Ratzinger debate on the ‘pre-political moral foundations of the free-state’ suggests that while legitimacy originates on the will of (...) the citizens that conform the political community, liberal democracies might not be completely free from moral principles implicit in their political culture. This possibility has normative implications for the political future of the EU - and of the West in general - particularly regarding immigration, integration and citizenship policies. (shrink)

Plurality implies a public sphere in which different worldviews (e.g. Secular Humanist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and others) coexist respecting each other. Banning the presence of one or several of them from the public sphere is questionable in principle, and divisive in practice.

The separation of church and state isn’t the same as separating religion from politics. Countries that have enshrined secularism have found themselves discussing religious architecture, law and clothing.

Since the publication of Clark and Chalmers' Extended Mind paper, the central claims of that paper, viz. the thesis that cognitive processes and cognitive or mental states extend beyond the brain and body, have been vigorously debated within philosophy of mind and philosophy of cognitive science. Both defenders and detractors of these claims have since marshalled an impressive battery of arguments for and against “active externalism.” However, despite the amount of philosophical energy expended, this debate remains far from settled. We (...) argue that this debate can be understood as answering two metaphysical questions. Yet prominent voices within the debate have assumed that there is a tight relationship between these two questions such that one question can be answered via the other. We defend an alternative ‘wide’ view, whereby mentality is understood as constituted by wide social and cultural factors. Our wide view entails that the two metaphysical questions are separate and should be kept distinct. This suggests that active externalism as understood by prominent voices within that debate requires dissolution, rather than solution. However, if the debate were instead understood as only focusing on the second of the two questions, then there could be a possible future for this debate. (shrink)

Brexit has been widely covered in the news. Much of the attention of the press in English has gone to the British perspective. This piece seeks to present a holistic view of this event, including the European perspective. It argues that, notwithstanding this break-up and the problems it highlights (especially the tiredness of citizens with traditional party politics), the European project can survive this crisis and forge ahead into the future.

MacIntyre's is one approach among many to explain what philosophy ought to be. For Pieper (in: "Defence of Philosophy"), just to cite another one, "to engage in philosophy means to reflect on the totality of things we encounter, in view of their ultimate" or fundamental truth. And there are others. But my interest here is to explore the circumstances under which philosophers could claim a place in society due to a service they provide, as valuable as that of a mechanical (...) engineer in a factory, a waiter in a hotel or a pilot on an airplane. The circumstances, this is, which would make society see philosophers not (or not only) as oddly useless figures addressing intellectually engaging puzzles and uttering obscure conclusions, but as valuable contributors to the common good. (shrink)

The accelerated development of science and technology, along with the economical growth of countries and the rise of the phenomenon of globalization have had consequences in different aspects of human life. Social injustice, inequality, violence, fighting within and between countries, along with ecological misfortunes calls out for an ethical system that regulates and brings new light to human behaviour in this globalized world. The globalization dynamic of the techno-scientific, world market economic culture suggests the need of an urgent formation of (...) conscience of a global ethics. Having in mind this world panorama, in this process of ethical development we must analyze how bioethics can respond to the great challenge that this globalization plants. We propose that the key to the answer lies within the proposal developed by the personalistic current, which looks to solve real moral problems of concrete human persons, without leaving out anyone and looking to respond to all the dimentions of the human person. -/- El acelerado desarrollo de la ciencia y la tecnología, junto con el crecimiento económico de los países y la consolidación del fenómeno de la globalización ha tenido consecuencias en los diferentes ámbitos de la vida del ser humano. La injusticia social, la desigualdad, la violencia, las luchas dentro de los países y entre los países, así como el descalabro ecológico reclaman un sistema ético que regule y dé nuevas luces al comportamiento humano en este mundo globalizado. La dinámica de globalización de la cultura tecnocientífica y económica de mercado mundial, sugiere la necesidad de una urgente toma de conciencia de una ética global. Teniendo en cuenta este panorama mundial, en este trabajo analizamos cómo la bioética puede responder a este gran desafío que plantea la globalización. Proponemos que la clave fundamental de la respuesta está en la propuesta que ha sido desarrollada por la corriente personalista, la cual plantea y da solución a los problemas morales reales de rostros humanos concretos, sin dejar fuera a nadie y sin dejar fuera ninguna de las dimensiones del hombre. (shrink)

The Catholic Church is a field hospital with medics that help to spiritually heal those who recognize that they are in need of healing and who are willing to accept the cure being offered. Many of the sick ask for closeness, proximity and compassion, realities that cannot be offered simply by promoting pastoral activities. For this reason, we highlight the work of the spiritual doctor as a key element for a Church on the way out; we describe its main characteristics (...) based on the work of St. John Climacus. His contributions are of great relevance because they are based on living the virtues in order to offer personalized care. -/- La Iglesia católica es un hospital de campaña con médicos que ayudan a sanar espiritualmente a quienes reconociéndose enfermos aceptan la cura ofrecida. Muchos de estos piden cercanía, proximidad y compasión, realidades que no se logran ofrecer simplemente impulsando la realización de actividades pastorales. Poresta razón, destacamos la labor del médico espiritual como pieza clave para unaIglesia en salida; describimos sus principales características apoyándonos en la obra de San Juan Clímaco. Sus aportes son de gran actualidad porque se apoyan en la vivencia de las virtudes con el fin de brindar una atención personalizada. (shrink)

Paul Ricoeur argues that narration is lived life. Therefore, human experience has a narrative dimension, ie, it has a narrative structure and every effort you want to make for the human need to consider the narrative. For this reason, the text theory is converted to Ricoeur in a general model for the study of human action, since this is conceived as an open work to anyone who can read it. Given this general framework for discussion, we have deepened the notion (...) of the patient as “text”, and described their richness for reflection of bioethics and medical act, rescuing the value of listening, prudence, responsibility and rediscovering a place for the principle of autonomy and casuistry. -/- Paul Ricoeur sostiene que la narración es vida vivida. Por lo tanto, la experiencia humana posee una dimensión narrativa, es decir, tiene una estructura narrativa y todo esfuerzo que quiera dar cuenta de lo humano tendrá que contar con lo narrativo. Por esta razón, la teoría del texto se convierte para Ricoeur en un modelo general para el estudio de la acción humana, pues esta es concebida como una obra abierta a cualquiera que pueda leer. Teniendo en cuenta este marco general de reflexión, hemos profundizado en la noción del paciente como “texto”, y describimos su riqueza para la reflexión de la bioética y el actuar médico, rescatando el valor de la escucha, la prudencia, la responsabilidad y redescubriendo un lugar para el principio de autonomía y la casuística. (shrink)

The human person has been defined in a variety of ways along human history. As time goes on, reflections from philosophy, theology, psycology, anthropology, sociology, and history have done great contributions to understand and explain what the human person is. We have focused in the proposals that personalism have done so far which states that the human person should be the center and start point of every reflection about the human being. Among all the characteristics of personalism, we find that (...) the human person is above all a being for the encounter with each other and its first encounter is the filial relationship. Even though being children is more than evident for every single person, we usually do not live as them or at least it does not seem that we fully understand this fact. This is why we try to shed light on the keys that could help today men and women to understand the value of being children and the possible causes that hinder us to live or accept that condition in our own lives. We hope that this work could help understand the richness of being children, so that we can facilitate the comprehension and opening to christian faith which states that we all are children of God. -/- La persona humana ha sido definida de muchas maneras a lo largo de la historia. Con el paso del tiempo, la reflexión filosófica, teológica, psicológica, antropológica, sociológica, histórica, etc, ha hecho grandes aportes a la comprensión de la persona humana y aportado otras definiciones. Nos hemos enfocado en las reflexiones que ha hecho el personalismo que sostiene que la persona humana es el centro y punto de partida de toda reflexión. De todas sus características, la persona humana es ante todo un ser para el encuentro y el primer encuentro de su existencia es la relación filial. No obstante lo evidente que resulta el ser hijos, no vivimos como tales o al menos no parece que lo entendamos así.. Es por eso que hemos querido sacar a la luz algunas claves que sirvan a hombres y mujeres del mundo actual para comprender el valor de la dimensión filial de la persona humana y qué puede estar impidiendo vivirla o aceptarla en la propia vida; esperando que a partir de esta reflexión se pueda ayudar a reconocer la riqueza del ser hijos, y de esta manera, se tiendan puentes para facilitar la comprensión y la apertura a la fe cristiana que entiende a todo ser humano como hijo de Dios. (shrink)

Este trabajo analiza los patrones de desambiguación de presuposiciones que se pueden considerar anafóricas y son generadas por partículas indexicales. En contraste con teorías recientes sobre la presuposición que privilegian la información lexical proponemos un análisis perspectivo de la presuposición según el cual la inferencia por defecto sobre este tipo de información hace uso de la perspectiva de los hablantes. En dos estudios exploramos el patrón de desambiguación de oraciones que contienen la palabra ‘también’ en contextos donde se usa el (...) indéxico ‘yo’. Los resultados confirman nuestra hipótesis y se discuten a la luz las principales ideas sobre presuposición y anáfora. A partir de estos resultados sugerimos algunas direcciones futuras de investigación. (shrink)

El artículo trata de mostrar las influencias de los ideales de la Ilustración en el pensamiento de John Stuart Mill. Así, puede comprobarse como en esos ideales de libertad, igualdad, tolerancia, respeto a la diferencia que propugna la Ilustración están presentes en el pensamiento de Mill y vertebran su filosofía.

As the euro crisis unfolds, political discourse on both sides of the European Union (EU)’s internal divide—“North” and “South”—becomes ever more exasperated, distant and untranslatable. At the root lies a weak pan-European sense of belonging—a common political identity thanks to which European citizens may regard each other as equals, and therefore as deserving recognition, trust, and solidarity. This paper describes some of the culture-related problems that impact directly on the formation of an eventual political identity for EU citizens. It then (...) suggests that the enacting of an interculturalist paradigm can help untie some of the nuts—political but also cultural—that Europe faces in order to solve the economic crisis. A few remarks are dedicated in the conclusive part to cultural pluralism in Singapore, a key player in any future progress towards the integration of the Asia Pacific Region. (shrink)

Our philosophical understanding of mental illness is being shaped by neuroscience. However, it has the paradoxical effect of igniting two radically opposed groups of philosophical views. On one side, skepticism and denialism assume that, lacking clear biological mechanisms and etiologies for most mental illnesses, we should infer they are constructions best explained by means of social factors. This is strongly associated with medical nihilism: it considers psychiatry more harmful than benign. On the other side of the divide, naturalism and reductionism (...) are on the look for failures in the biological functioning of the organism whenever a genuine mental illness occurs. Psychiatry as currently practiced, accordingly, exhibits the gaps of an ongoing research programme; a yet to be completed neuroscience would link mental illnesses with identifiable biological mechanisms. Both sides of this divide claim to be fostered by scientific discoveries and advances in neuroscience, when taken at face value. Against this background, we argue instead for a modest view. To that end, we draw attention to some nuances in the scientific realism debate. While contending that neuroscientific theories and models aim to provide true representations of their target systems, and can justifiably claim to have attained some, we argue that our confidence should not be placed beforehand in specific features of these scientific representations. Hence, it would be unwarranted to extract morals for psychiatry from posits (or their absence) in neuroscientific explanations of mental illnesses. To illustrate our position, we examine some recent discoveries in neuroscience concerning bipolar disorder. We conclude by linking our topic to a broader issue in the philosophy of medicine: insofar as psychiatry is a biomedical specialty, its classifications of health and disease are guided by pragmatic concerns, as well as by scientific discoveries. (shrink)

El estudio actual de la argumentación se encuentra distanciado de la lógica. En este artículo sostengo que restaurar el vínculo del estudio de la argumentación con esta disciplina podría resultar benéfico para la metas descriptivas y normativas de este campo de investigación. Tras destacar algunos aspectos del surgimiento la teoría de la argumentación contemporánea, enfatizando la idea de "perspectivas", explico cómo el reconocimiento de sus objetivos y tareas volvió problemática la coexistencia de varios enfoques o aproximaciones para el estudio de (...) la realidad argumentativa. Sugiero algunas hipótesis explicativas sobre el abandono del enfoque lógico en favor de otras alternativas y, a continuación, ofrezco razones para encauzar el estudio sistemático de la argumentación desde este enfoque. Además de las consideraciones normativas y las herramientas descriptivas que pueden aducirse en su favor, sostengo que el enfoque lógico puede proporcionar una clase de integración a este campo investigación de maneras que no están disponibles para otras aproximaciones. (shrink)

El presente capítulo presenta un análisis teórico del tipo de amor que involucra la sexualidad, las altas expectativas que genera y la incertidumbre de que se cumplan. Para esclarecer el estudio se distingue entre sexualidad, impulso amoroso (“eros”) y amor propiamente dicho (“ágape”) y se echa mano de conceptos tomados de la filosofía personalista incluidos los de naturaleza, persona, racionalidad, relación y los varios tipos de amor. A final de cuentas se propone que sólo cuando se vuelve conyugal puede el (...) amor sexuado puede desarrollar su máximo potencial. (shrink)

La literatura universal muestra cómo resulta mucho más sencillo plasmar ciertos valores en “modelos” o ejemplos humanos que los encarnen. Y es de modelos de ese tipo que los niños - y muy especialmente- los adolescentes de todas las épocas, han tomado el ejemplo y los valores que orientarán su comportamiento durante toda la vida. Por lo menos esa constituye la intuición inicial de este trabajo, que está motivado por buscar hasta qué punto la presentación de modelos puede repercutir eficazmente (...) en la educación moral de los ciudadanos del mañana. En las líneas que vienen se procede a la investigación, siguiendo los desarrollos que al respecto han realizado diversos pensadores, en especial William Kilpatrick. (shrink)

El presente artículo es un extracto de la Tesis Doctoral leída en la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad de Oviedo el 16 de abril de 2010 titulada Educación para la Libertad en el pensamiento de John Stuart Mill. Este artículo recoge de forma resumida, a lo largo de sus páginas, los aspectos más destacables de dicha Tesis Doctoral. Se subraya el aspecto de la educación como elemento fundamental en el pensamiento del filósofo inglés John Stuart Mill, en el sentido (...) de mostrar la educación como aquello que permite sacar al exterior las capacidades, talentos, destrezas que la persona posee. Al mismo tiempo es la educación, en el marco de la cultura, la que afina y refina a la persona, ayudándola a construirse como una persona que se incorpore a la ciudadanía con derechos y deberes y que ejerza esa ciudadanía responsablemente en aras del bien común. La educación hace al ser humano más libre, y la libertad es la esencia de la persona en el pensamiento de Stuart Mill. (shrink)

En el presente artículo, el autor se ocupa de esbozar una caracterización general del autoengaño desde algunas de las principales perspectivas en la materia, señalando los problemas centrales que involucra y haciendo énfasis en la línea intencionalista. Luego analiza la relación que el autoengaño guarda con la autoridad de la primera persona y qué imagen resulta de una conjunción teórica de ambos problemas.

Citizenship is the cornerstone of a democratic polity. It has three dimensions: legal, civic and affiliative. Citizens constitute the polity's demos, which often coincides with a nation. European Union (EU) citizenship was introduced to enhance ‘European identity’ (Europeans’ sense of belonging to their political community). Yet such citizenship faces at least two problems. First: Is there a European demos? If so, what is the status of peoples (nations, demoi) in the Member States? The original European project aimed at ‘an ever (...) closer union among the peoples of Europe.’ Second: Citizens are members of a political community; to what kind of polity do EU citizens belong? Does the EU substitute Member States, assume them or coexist alongside them? After an analytical exposition of the demos and telos problems, I will argue for a normative self‐understanding of the EU polity and citizenship, neither in national nor in federal but in analogical terms. (shrink)

El trabajo que se presenta intenta mostrar, por un lado y siguiendo a Ortega y Gasset, la complejidad del fenómeno de la política; y por otro lado, a partir de la constatación anterior, la necesidad de una ética que haga de la política una actividad presidida por el diálogo, la integración y la búsqueda de soluciones a las complejidades de la sociedad actual. Son relevantes en este aspecto Apel y Habermas.

A stunning phenomenon has dramatically changed the way in which we in the West regard the public sphere in particular, and democracy in general in the twenty-first century: the re-emergence of religion.

Political integration has been part of the European project from its very beginnings. As far back as the early seventies there was already concern in Brussels that an ingredient was missing in the political integration process. ‘Output legitimacy’ – the permissive consensus citizens grant to a government that is ‘delivering’, even if they do not participate in setting its goals – could not sustain unification indefinitely. Such a lacking ingredient – or ‘soul’ – has been labelled ‘European identity’ (EI) in (...) an abundant and growing academic literature. According to Aristotle, a ‘city’ (polis) is a community composed of ‘citizens’ (politai). No polis can exist unless the politai form it and sustain it. But what will keep them united? They can be very diverse regarding their language, history, religion or economic activity. In absence of a motivation, diversity of itself will make each member of a community go their own way. What kind of bond is required among very diverse European citizens to keep their political community (the EU) together? In this paper I analyse several responses – culture, deliberation, welfare, power, openness. Then I suggest that elements of those responses could be combined in a single notion. Finally I mention issues regarding EI that require further study. (shrink)

Este artículo trata de mostrar la idea de sociedad y de convivencia política de los ciudadanos en el pensamiento de John Stuart Mill desde su perspectiva utilitarista, en la cual el objetivo es la felicidad de las personas.

Attacks similar to those in Nice and Munich could happen in any other Western city in the near future. Discussion about the political culture that grounds liberal democracies should not be delayed.

Resilience Tutors is the title of the book written by Gema Puig Esteve and JoséLuis Rubio Raval, published in 2015 by the Gedisa publishing house in Barcelona, Spain. In a novel way, the book, divided into two, expresses in the first part, in a fictional way, through experiential, emotional and direct language, the reality surrounding the resilience tutor; In the second part, it gives us concrete theoretical elements that allow us to delve deeper into the foundations of resilience, the contexts (...) in which it develops and the characteristics of resilience tutors. We could summarize the theme of the book in a poetic way with a few words from Espinosa (Cited in Rubio and Puig, 2015): “Every year of my life I have searched for twelve pearls. Twelve people that I did not know, but who appeared to me and marked my world in such a way that my self changed (...) Over time some pearls become diamonds (...) a diamond, so that you understand me, is one of those people who become so basic and so important in your life that they seem created solely for you” (p. 49). -/- Tutores de Resiliencia es el título del libro escrito por Gema Puig Esteve y JoséLuis Rubio Raval, publicado en el 2015 por la editorial Gedisa en Barcelona,España. De manera novedosa el libro, dividido en dos, expresa en la primera parte,de manera novelada, a través de un lenguaje vivencial, emotivo y directo, la realidad entorno al tutor de resiliencia; en la segunda parte, nos da elementos teóricos concretos que permiten profundizar en los fundamentos de la resiliencia, los contextos en los que se desarrolla y las características de los tutores de resiliencia. Podríamos resumir la temática del libro de manera poética con unas palabras de Espinosa (Citado en Rubio y Puig, 2015): “Cada año de mi vida he buscado doce perlas. Doce personas que noconociera, pero que se me aparecieran y marcaran mi mundo de tal maneraque mi yo virara (...) Con el tiempo algunas perlas pasan a ser diamantes(...) un diamante, para que me entiendas, es una de esas personas que sehace tan básica y tan importante en tu vida que parece creada únicamente para ti” (p. 49). (shrink)

To demarcate the limits of experimental knowledge, we probe the limits of what might be called an experiment. By appeal to examples of scientific practice from astrophysics and analogue gravity, we demonstrate that the reliability of knowledge regarding certain phenomena gained from an experiment is not circumscribed by the manipulability or accessibility of the target phenomena. Rather, the limits of experimental knowledge are set by the extent to which strategies for what we call ‘inductive triangulation’ are available: that is, the (...) validation of the mode of inductive reasoning involved in the source-target inference via appeal to one or more distinct and independent modes of inductive reasoning. When such strategies are able to partially mitigate reasonable doubt, we can take a theory regarding the phenomena to be well supported by experiment. When such strategies are able to fully mitigate reasonable doubt, we can take a theory regarding the phenomena to be established by experiment. There are good reasons to expect the next generation of analogue experiments to provide genuine knowledge of unmanipulable and inaccessible phenomena such that the relevant theories can be understood as well supported. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The next generation of analogue gravity experiments’. (shrink)

El presente artículo trata, desde una perspectiva histórica, mostrar el debate entre la Razón y la Fe en la Historia de la Filosofía.