En este trabajo presentamos los fundamentos teóricos de una propuesta para el abordaje didáctico de concepciones teleológicas de los y las estudiantes en la enseñanza de la Biología. La propuesta en cuestión supone acudir al modo en que Darwin lidió con las concepciones teleológicas dominantes entre sus contemporáneos, para proponer una estrategia general a través de la cual se podría incidir sobre las intuiciones teleológicas de los estudiantes, de modo que se pueda facilitar el aprendizaje de la teoría de la (...) selección natural. Sugeriremos también que esta propuesta implica un modo original de apelar a la analogía entre el cambio teórico en la Historia de la Ciencia y el aprendizaje de las ciencias. (shrink)

Reseña del libro Claves de la Justicia desde América Latina (2019).

En los últimos tiempos el derecho ambiental ha ganado un puesto importante en el ámbito jurídico, hecho que refleja la preocupación que hoy se tiene por la relación del hombre con su entorno. Desde hace quince años, la Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra señora del Rosario, por intermedio de su Facultad de Jurisprudencia y concretamente de la Especialización y la línea de investigación en Derecho Ambiental, ha propuesto a través de diversos proyectos avanzar en el conocimiento y análisis del ordenamiento (...) jurídico ambiental, aportando así al desarrollo, estructura y consolidación de esta rama jurídica. Bajo estos parámetros, el objetivo de esta publicación es hacer algunas reflexiones en torno a distintos temas que dentro del derecho público impactan o influyen al derecho ambiental y responder a los enormes desafíos que se presentan en la materia. Por tanto, el programa quiere contribuir desde la academia al diálogo crítico y propositivo que permita dar solución a los problemas encontrados en la aplicación del derecho ambiental. En el primer capítulo, Gloria Amparo Rodriguez describe los ordenamientos jurídicos constitucionales de Colombia, Ecuador y Bolivia a fin de analizar la forma en que cada uno de ellos consagra el derecho a un ambiente sano. A continuación, Martha Ovalle y Zelba Nidia Castro de Perez realizan un estudio de los principios de precaución y prevención, exponiendo su alcance, su fundamento desde el derecho internacional y cómo vienen siendo entendidos por nuestro ordenamiento jurídico, tanto jurisprudencial como legal. Luis Adolfo Diazgranados se ocupa de la responsabilidad de los funcionarios públicos en materia ambiental, para lo cual realiza un análisis de los deberes consagrados en la normatividad vigente. Continuando con esta temática, el profesor Jorge Agudo Gonzalez, de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, explora la incidencia del ambiente y los recursos naturales en los procesos contractuales, a fin de mostrar cómo estas materias se han constituido en variable fundamental en el devenir de la formación, celebración y ejecución de los contratos, desde un punto de vista crítico, los aspectos importantes del proceso sancionatorio ambiental, evidenciando las falencias y vacios del a Ley 1333 de 2009. Jairo Cabrera plantea algunas reflexiones sobre la responsabilidad, valiéndose de la doctrina internacional, sobre la problemática de la reparación por daño ambiental. Por su parte, Leonardo Güiza Suárez explica el régimen general de la responsabilidad ambiental en el ordenamiento jurídico a partir del daño de los bosques naturales y su incidencia sobre los derechos humanos. Andres Gomez Rey, desde la teoría del acto administrativo, desarrolla el análisis crítico del régimen jurídico de las aguas superficiales en el derecho ambiental. Giovani J. Herrera Carrascal realiza una disertación sobre los recursos naturales y el ambiente como elementos del espacio público que a su vez constituye en un componente del medio ambiente urbano a partir de la jurisprudencia y de las competencias respectivas. Por último, Marybell Ochoa Miranda trate el tema de los residuos hospitalarios en Colombia, exponiendo su régimen jurídico, las competencias de las autoridades ambientales, los deberes que en estos asuntos tienen los ciudadanos, proponiendo lineamientos para avanzar en la consolidación de la gestión integral de residuos hospitalarios y similares. (shrink)

RELAÇÃO E EFEITOS BIOQUÍMICO-NUTRICIONAIS SOBRE OS CISTOS OVARIANOS EM VACAS Emanuel Isaque Cordeiro da Silva Departamento de Agropecuária – IFPE Campus Belo Jardim [email protected] ou [email protected] WhatsApp: (82)98143-8399 11. CISTOS OVÁRICOS Os cistos são cavidades anormais que às vezes possuem conteúdo de fluido biológico, ou podem ser cavidades ocas, com paredes sólidas refratárias à maioria dos compostos endógenos. Formam-se como alterações patológicas das células luteais ou foliculares do estroma ovárico. A presença de cistos altera o ciclo estral e obriga a (...) realização de tratamentos exógenos para remover o mesmo, fazendo com que a atividade cíclica da gônada retome sua normalidade (HATLER, et al. 2006). Alguns fatores de origem nutricional, tanto por deficiência de alguns compostos, como por excesso no fornecimento de outros, têm sido considerados como causas potenciais dos cistos, entre os principais fatores nutricionais podemos citar: 11.1 Fito-toxidade/fitoestrogênios Compostos vegetais, tais como plantas com elevado teor de flavonoides estrogênicos, encontram-se sob a forma de glicosídeos e têm a capacidade para modificar os processos reprodutivos devido à sua semelhança com os núcleos esteroides de hormônios femininos; são substâncias estruturais e funcionalmente semelhantes ao 17-ß-estradiol ou que produz efeitos estrogênicos (MENDOZA, et al. 2001). Pouco se sabe sobre os estrogênios presentes nas plantas e os níveis de fito-toxidade dos mesmos, logo na prática torna-se algo difícil de ser observado e atacado. Porém, a nível laboratorial, caso haja alguma complicação que afete o animal para além das capacidades reprodutivas, um diagnóstico aprofundado é o mais indicado. 11.2 Minerais 11.2.1 Iodo (I) Alimentos com baixo teor de iodo, provocam estros silenciosos nos animais e aumentam a incidência de quistos ováricos. O I é parte da molécula de tiroxina que estimula a produção de ATP na mitocôndria, a deficiência reduz a captação de oxigênio o que determina uma diminuição no metabolismo energético. Na tireoide existe um complexo de proteína-iodo, chamado tiroglobulina, essa molécula é uma glicoproteína. A maioria do I é reduzida a iodo inorgânico no trato gastrointestinal e a sua absorção é imediata. A função principal da tireoide é acumular I e fixá-lo, formando hormônios da tireoide sob o controle da adenohipófise por secreção (TSH). O I é convertido em iodeto no trato intestinal e então é transportado para a tireoide, aqui as células foliculares o prendem com efetividade através de um processo de transporte ativo, contra um gradiente de concentração, estimulado por TSH. Uma vez que as hormonas da tireoide controlam o metabolismo, uma deficiência em I diminui a taxa metabólica do organismo, isso afeta indiretamente a reprodução, uma vez que o funcionamento irregular da tireoide afeta a formação de lipídios, esses necessários para a produção de hormônios esteroides (estrogênios) e estes por sua vez influenciam a síntese das prostaglandinas F2-alfa necessária para o processo de luteólise o que faz com que o corpo lúteo não se rompa, perdure e forme um cisto. O I presente no alimento do animal deve estar presente e obedecer o intervalo de 0,34 a 0,88 mg/kg de MS em todos os alimentos que o animal viera a ingerir, seja forragens ou rações. A forma de suplementação são as mais conhecidas, via volumoso, concentrado, água ou pelo sistema SMI. 11.2.2 Manganês (Mn) Níveis elevados de manganês na dieta levam à depleção da absorção de ferro, bem como de outros minerais necessários para a síntese, metabolismo, ativação de enzimas e absorção de outros minerais. Essas interações com outros minerais e o papel do excesso de manganês na inibição da síntese dos precursores de hormonas necessárias para a reprodução, bem como dos metabolitos gerados durante o desdobramento ruminal são representados de forma indireta. Para além do efeito antagônico com outros minerais e enzimas, níveis elevados de manganês provocam uma alteração na população da flora ruminal, o que prejudica a produção de ácido propiônico e butírico a nível ruminal, tendo um efeito negativo no metabolismo dos lipídios com uma subsequente baixa de energia (derivado do metabolismo graxo diminuído ou inibido) e também da síntese de ácidos graxos. Por esta última razão, ocorre uma diminuição na síntese das hormonas esteroides, as quais, não estando presentes em níveis adequados, geram problemas no ciclo estral, uma vez que estas hormonas são essenciais para a síntese das prostaglandinas (PGF2-α) que são necessários para a lise do corpo lúteo, com sua posterior persistência, terminando na formação de um cisto luteal. Como sempre falado nos capítulos dessa compilação de trabalhos, o composto Mn é mais um mineral imprescindível para a alimentação do animal, manutenção normal dos seus mecanismos fisiológicos e relações com outros minerais. Sua disponibilidade para o animal deve ser de 12 a 50 mg/kg de MS das forragens, ou a mesma quantidade no conteúdo da ração balanceada. É um elemento que pode ser colocado na água para absorção pelos animais ou através da suplementação mineral injetável (SMI). 11.2.3 Sódio (Na) Os sinais de deficiência de Na são inespecíficos, mas os mais expressivos são sobre o crescimento e produção leiteira. Numa diminuição do consumo de Na, o organismo ativa os mecanismos de conservação mediados pela liberação de aldosterona que aumenta a reabsorção a nível dos túmulos renais deste mineral. A deficiência de Na afeta a produção de muco cervical, com consequências como problemas na formação de espermatozoides e aumento das infecções uterinas. Dado que a deficiência de Na é rara, apenas os sintomas clínicos desta deficiência mineral podem ser vagamente descritos é k caso da dificuldade de concepção, distorcias e bezerros fracos ao nascimento, além da inatividade ovárica e maior incidência de retenção de placenta. As causas de tais alterações foram motivo de numerosos estudos com resultados contraditórios, as vacas com deficiência de energia no início da amamentação têm diminuição nas concentrações de hormona luteinizante (LH), isto conclui que a alteração ovárica seria determinada por uma alteração da liberação pulsátil de LH devido a uma deficiência energética aguda. A intensidade e a duração do estro são de importância fundamental para a IA nos bovinos. Ao ocorrer uma deficiência de sódio, aumenta-se a estabilização das membranas celulares impedindo que o corpo lúteo se lise, formando-se um cisto, que continuará com a produção de progesterona, levando, por fim, a um anestro patológico. O sódio é um elemento que deve estar disponível aos animais de forma à vontade, ou seja, esse mineral é combinado com o Cl, fazendo o balanceamento eletrolítico e disponibilizado para os animais pelo conhecido sal. Sua administração, como é em sistema à vontade, não é muito controlada, mas o produtor poderá fornecer as quantidades na mistura alimentar do animal, tendo um maior controle da absorção do mesmo pelos animais. Sendo assim, o Na deve ser fornecido em quantidades que obedeçam 0,10 a 0,18% da MS no caso das forrageiras, ou a mesma quantidade misturada no todo da ração, quantidade essa encontrada por meios de cálculos, ou que já vêm na composição da ração industrial. Estudos apontam que um animal deve ingerir cerca de 50 gramas de NaCl por dia, no caso do sódio estar presente em 39% da composição desse cloreto de sódio. REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS BARRENHO, Gonçalo José Pinheiro. Nutrição e fertilidade em bovinos de leite. 2016. Dissertação de Mestrado. Universidade de Évora. BINDARI, Yugal Raj et al. Effects of nutrition on reproduction-A review. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res, v. 4, n. 1, p. 421-429, 2013. BOLAND, M. P. Efectos nutricionales en la reproducción del ganado. XXXI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2003. CHAMBA OCHOA, Hermógenes René; BENÍTEZ GONZÁLEZ, Edgar Enrique; PESÁNTEZ CAMPOVERDE, Manuel Teodoro. Factores predisponentes para la enfermedad quística ovárica bovina y su efecto en la eficiencia reproductiva. Revista de Medicina Veterinaria, v. 1, n. 35, p. 17-28, 2017. DEHNING, R. Interrelaciones entre nutrición y fertilidad. In: Curso Manejo de la Fertilidad Bovina18-23 May 1987Medellín (Colombia). CICADEP, Bogotá (Colombia) Universidad de La Salle, Medellín (Colombia) Instituto Colombiano Agropecurio, Bogotá (Colombia) Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica-GTZ (Alemania), 1987. DE LUCA, Leonardo J. Nutrición y fertilidad en el ganado lechero. XXXVI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2008. DIAS, Juliano Cesar et al. Alguns aspectos da interação nutrição-reprodução em bovinos: energia, proteína, minerais e vitaminas. PUBVET, v. 4, p. Art. 738-743, 2010. FERNANDES, C. A. C. et al. Fatores predisponentes para cistos ovarianos em vacas da raça holandesa. Ars Veterinaria, v. 21, n. 2, p. 287-296, 2008. GORDON, Ian. Controlled reproduction in farm animals series. Nova Iorque: CAB International, 1996. HATLER, T. B. et al. Effect of a single injection of progesterone on ovarian follicular cysts in lactating dairy cows. The Veterinary Journal, v. 172, n. 2, p. 329-333, 2006. KESLER, D. J.; GARVERICK, H. A. Ovarian cysts in dairy cattle: a review. Journal of animal science, v. 55, n. 5, p. 1147-1159, 1982. MAAS, John. Relationship between nutrition and reproduction in beef cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, v. 3, n. 3, p. 633-646, 1987. MENDOZA, R. Muñoz et al. Parámetros reproductivos en vacas Holstein alimentadas con alfalfa alta en cumestrol. Archivos de zootecnia, v. 51, n. 195, p. 373-376, 2002. PASA, Camila. Relação reprodução animal e os minerais. Biodiversidade, v. 9, n. 1, 2011. SARTORI, Roberto; GUARDIEIRO, Monique Mendes. Fatores nutricionais associados à reprodução da fêmea bovina. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, v. 39, p. 422-432, 2010. SHORT, Robert E.; ADAMS, D. C. Nutritional and hormonal interrelationships in beef cattle reproduction. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, v. 68, n. 1, p. 29-39, 1988. THATCHER, W. W. et al. Strategies for improving fertility in the modern dairy cow. Theriogenology, v. 65, n. 1, p. 30-44, 2006. TEIXEIRA, J. C.; TEIXEIRA, LFAC. Alimentação de bovinos leiteiros. FAEPE, Lavras, 1997. YOSHIOKA, Koji; IWAMURA, Shokichi; KAMOMAE, Hideo. Changes of ovarian structures, plasma LH, FSH, progesterone and estradiol-17β in a cow with ovarian cysts showing spontaneous recovery and relapse. Journal of veterinary medical science, v. 60, n. 2, p. 257-260, 1998. (shrink)

RELAÇÃO E EFEITOS BIOQUÍMICO-NUTRICIONAIS SOBRE AS ALTERAÇÕES DO CORPO LÚTEO EM VACAS -/- Emanuel Isaque Cordeiro da Silva Departamento de Agropecuária – IFPE Campus Belo Jardim [email protected] ou [email protected] WhatsApp: (82)98143-8399 -/- •__7. ALTERAÇÕES DO CORPO LÚTEO -/- A estrutura funcional desenvolve-se a partir da cavidade folicular após a ovulação. O corpo lúteo é constituído pelas células da teca interna (pequenas e ativas na primeira fase do seu desenvolvimento) e células da granulosa (grandes e ativas na segunda metade do seu (...) desenvolvimento). As principais características de cada tipo de célula podem resumir-se da seguinte forma: As células pequenas são mais sensíveis à ação da LH porque possui uma quantidade maior de receptores biologicamente ativos para esta hormona e a resposta é mediada pelo sistema AMPc-adelinato ciclase. As grandes células lúteas têm menos receptores para a LH (a maior quantidade são para a PGF2α e a PGE2), e são as responsáveis pela produção da oxitocina luteal (BAH, et al. 2006; CAMPO, 2003). Contrariamente às pequenas células lúteas, a produção de progesterona (P4) é parcialmente controlada pelo sistema Ca+2 - Fosfatil inositol-quinase C (CAMPO, 2003). A regulação da função do corpo lúteo é um mecanismo complexo. Nela intervêm fatores tróficos e líticos que estão presentes em forma simultânea durante todo o ciclo estral, e portanto a estimulação ou inibição da síntese e secreção de P4 depende do balanço entre estes fatores. (CAMPO, 2003). Dentro dos fatores tróficos, os nutrientes desempenham um papel relevante sobre a luteólise e as funções luteotrópicas, entre estas pode-se citar a ação das seguintes: -/- 7.1 Vitaminas Deficiência em betacarotenos. Vitamina A é um termo genérico que designa qualquer composto com atividade de retinol, o trans-retinol, é o composto base, sua forma aldeído e ácido são chamados de retinol e ácido retinóico, respectivamente. Por outro lado, a forma ativa da Vitamina A participa no mecanismo da visão, como 11-cis-retinal. Adicionalmente, o betacaroteno, considerado uma provitamina A é a única forma em que esta encontra nas plantas. Em sentido nutricional, a família da Vitamina A compreende todos os compostos que possuem atividade de retinol, incluindo cerca de cinquenta carotenoides que possuem atividade de provitamina A, aceitando-se que o mais ativo é o trans-betacaroteno (TORRES, et al. 2002). As vitaminas que são necessárias para o crescimento e a produção, também são essenciais para a reprodução. As recomendações atuais de vitamina A são de 75.000 UI/dia durante a lactação e 80.000 UI/dia (nota: 1 mg de Vitamina A = 400 UI) durante o período seco nas vacas leiteiras. A suplementação com vitamina A tem pouco risco de toxicidade, enquanto a sua deficiência pode retardar o aparecimento do primeiro cio/estro, induzir cios/estros silenciosos, aumentar o número de quistos ováricos, reduzir os índices de concepção, causar abortos, mortes embrionárias e ocasionar o nascimento de bezerros debilitados e fracos, uma vez que não irão nascer com os índices e requerimentos ideais de nutrientes passados da mãe para o feto pela placenta, e que, já que a mãe possui deficiência nutricional, o colostro não terá o efeito completo para passar a imunidade essencial ao neonato. Embora os mecanismos de ação não sejam claros, foram notificadas maiores secreções de esteroides ováricos quando as concentrações de β-carotenos no fluido folicular foram elevadas; logo, foram observadas maiores concentrações elevadas de β- estradiol e vitamina A nos folículos que terminaram em ovulação do que naqueles que terminaram em atresia. Para evitar as perdas reprodutivas por deficiência de vitamina A, pode-se optar pela administração oral ou injetável desta ao animal, mediante dois métodos: o primeiro consiste em adicionar 1 a 2,5 kg de premix vitamínico em 1 tonelada de grãos o que supre de 4 a 6.000 UI o que é desejável; o segundo é a administração via injetável em quantidades vide bula do fármaco. 7.2 Minerais O excesso de fósforo é absorvido principalmente no intestino delgado dos mamíferos através de um mecanismo de transporte ativo dependente do sódio, que é estimulado pela pró-hormona 1,25- hidroxivitamina D3. Os ruminantes são capazes de absorver o fósforo dietético em proporção direta às quantidades presentes na ração. Estima-se que aproximadamente 1% do corpo animal é composto de fósforo, do qual 85% está presente nos dentes e no tecido ósseo. Os tecidos moles são capazes de conter entre 0,15-0,20% de fósforo sob a forma de fosfoproteínas, nucleoproteínas, fosfolipídios, fosfato creatinina, adenosintrifosfato, glicose-6-fosfato, etc. Ao nível do plasma sanguíneo, o fósforo apresenta valores de 12,09 mg/dl. Os valores plasmáticos de fósforo são regulados principalmente pelo rim, sendo observado um aumento na excreção urinária do elemento inorgânico quando este excede a capacidade de transporte (REBOLLAR & MATEOS, 1999). O fósforo faz parte dos fosfolipídios, que são importantes no transporte de lipídios e seu metabolismo, como componente das membranas celulares. O fosfato faz parte do RNA e do DNA, componentes celulares vitais, e são essenciais para a síntese proteica. O fosfato faz parte de sistemas enzimáticos como a cocarboxilase e NAD, portanto está envolvido em todos os processos de síntese e regulação energética, dado que o corpo lúteo requer altas quantidades de energia para a síntese celular e hormonal, um excesso de fósforo pode bloquear a capacidade renal da sua regulação gerando um desequilíbrio catiônico que descompensa a relação Na:K, já que deverão ser excretados íons fosfato para regular o equilíbrio ácido-básico, desta forma, os processos celulares em tecidos de alta sensibilidade como o ovário serão afetados em sua função. A situação para prevenção de problemas relacionados ao fósforo (P) já foi tratada em assuntos anteriores, porém, sempre vale frisar para o leitor fiel que me lê que as exigências de P presentes na matéria seca (MS) variam entre 0,17 e 0,59% de P por kg/MS para bovinos de corte e em 0,32 a 0,44% por kg/MS para o gado leiteiro. Dessa forma, dados obtidos por pesquisas, ditam que para a mantença de uma vaca ou quaisquer outra categoria bovina o ideal é o consumo de 1.43 g/100 kg de peso vivo (PV), garantindo assim a prevenção de possíveis afecções reprodutivas como as alterações do corpo lúteo. Gramíneas, forragens, leguminosas e os concentrados fornecem muito bem os requerimentos de fósforo para os animais, todavia deve-se estar atento as relações e dependências do P com outros elementos como o Ca e a relação Na:K (10-15:1 idealmente). 7.3 Compostos estrogênicos Os fitoestrogênios afetam repetidamente a estabilidade do corpo lúteo. Os compostos estrogênicos encontrados principalmente em leguminosas pertencem principalmente a três grupos: isoflavanos, isoflavonas, presentes no gênero Trifolium e praticamente restritos às leguminosas, e cumestanos, que foram estudados na alfafa (Medicago sativa) e na Melilotus alba. Todas as isoflavonas sofrem algum grau de transformação no rúmen, sendo o Isoflavonoide formononetina, na realidade um pró-estrógeno, o único que se ativa no ecossistema ruminal ao ser convertido em equol, enquanto que as demais são degradadas a produtos inativos (RAMOS, et al. 1998). Por fim, a alta concentração no sangue do equol retarda a retroalimentação sobre a hipófise mediante a qual se reduzem os níveis de FSH para dar lugar à onda ovulatória de LH, se esta não ocorrer, o corpo lúteo obviamente não se formará. O conhecimento acerca dos estrogênios na alimentação animal é defasado nos livros sobre o tema, no entanto, o criador pode ficar tranquilo no que tange o tema na prática da sua fazenda e dos seus animais, uma vez que tal elemento é muito bem fornecido naturalmente por meio dos alimentos volumosos presentes no seu pasto. -/- Apoio -/- Realização -/- REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS BAH, Mamadou M. et al. Role of intraluteal prostaglandin F2α, progesterone and oxytocin in basal and pulsatile progesterone release from developing bovine corpus luteum. Prostaglandins & other lipid mediators, v. 79, n. 3-4, p. 218-229, 2006. BERCHIELLI, Telma Teresinha; PIRES, Alexandre Vaz; OLIVEIRA, SG de. Nutrição de ruminantes. Jaboticabal: funep, 2006. BINDARI, Yugal Raj et al. Effects of nutrition on reproduction-A review. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res, v. 4, n. 1, p. 421-429, 2013. BOLAND, M. P. Efectos nutricionales en la reproducción del ganado. XXXI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2003. CAMPO, E. Comportamiento reproductivo del ganado Bovino y Bufalino. 2003. Universidad Agraria de la Habana. Havana, 2003. DEHNING, R. Interrelaciones entre nutrición y fertilidad. In: Curso Manejo de la Fertilidad Bovina18-23 May 1987Medellín (Colombia). CICADEP, Bogotá (Colombia) Universidad de La Salle, Medellín (Colombia) Instituto Colombiano Agropecurio, Bogotá (Colombia) Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica-GTZ (Alemania), 1987. DE LUCA, Leonardo J. Nutrición y fertilidad en el ganado lechero. XXXVI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2008. FRAZER, Grant S. Bovine theriogenology. Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, v. 21, n. 2, p. xiii-xiv, 2005. GORDON, Ian. Controlled reproduction in farm animals series. Nova Iorque: CAB International, 1996. HURLEY, W. L.; DOANE, R. M. Recent developments in the roles of vitamins and minerals in reproduction. Journal of Dairy Science, v. 72, n. 3, p. 784-804, 1989. KUMAR, Sudhir et al. Importance of micro minerals in reproductive performance of livestock. Veterinary world, v. 4, n. 5, p. 230, 2011. MAAS, John. Relationship between nutrition and reproduction in beef cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, v. 3, n. 3, p. 633-646, 1987. PASA, Camila. Relação reprodução animal e os minerais. Biodiversidade, v. 9, n. 1, 2011. RAMOS, Graciano et al. Los compuestos secundarios de las plantas en la nutrición de los herbívoros. Archivos de Zootecnia. 47: 597-620, 1998. REBOLLAR, Paloma García; MATEOS, Gonzalo González. El fósforo en nutrición animal. Necesidades, valoración de materias primas y mejora de la disponibilidad. CURSO DE ESPECIALIZACIÓN FEDNA. Avances en nutrición y alimentaciín animal, XV, p. 19-64, 1999. SHORT, Robert E.; ADAMS, D. C. Nutritional and hormonal interrelationships in beef cattle reproduction. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, v. 68, n. 1, p. 29-39, 1988. TEIXEIRA, J. C.; TEIXEIRA, LFAC. Alimentação de bovinos leiteiros. FAEPE, Lavras, 1997. TEIXEIRA, J. C. Nutrição de ruminantes. Lavras: FAEPE, 1992. TORRES, M. et al. Aspectos Farmacológicos relevantes de las Vitaminas Antioxidantes (E, A y C). Archivos Venezolanos de Farmacología y Terapéutica, v. 21, n. 1, p. 22-27, 2002. YASOTHAI, R. Importance of minerals on reproduction in dairy cattle. International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology, v. 3, n. 6, p. 2051-2057, 2014. -/- Emanuel Isaque Cordeiro da Silva Belo Jardim, 29 de março de 2020. (shrink)

Organization figures centrally in the understanding of biological systems advanced by both new mechanists and proponents of the autonomy framework. The new mechanists focus on how components of mechanisms are organized to produce a phenomenon and emphasize productive continuity between these components. The autonomy framework focuses on how the components of a biological system are organized in such a way that they contribute to the maintenance of the organisms that produce them. In this paper we analyze and compare these two (...) accounts of organization and argue that understanding biological organisms as cohesively integrated systems benefits from insights from both. To bring together the two accounts, we focus on the notions of control and regulation as bridge concepts. We start from a characterization of biological mechanisms in terms of constraints and focus on a specific type of mechanism, control mechanisms, that operate on other mechanisms on the basis of measurements of variables in the system and its environment. Control mechanisms are characterized by their own set of constraints that enable them to sense conditions, convey signals, and effect changes on constraints in the controlled mechanism. They thereby allow living organisms to adapt to internal and external variations and to coordinate their parts in such a manner as to maintain viability. Because living organisms contain a vast number of control mechanisms, a central challenge is to understand how they are themselves organized. With the support of examples from both unicellular and multicellular systems we argue that control mechanisms are organized heterarchically, and we discuss how this type of control architecture can, without invoking top-down and centralized forms of organizations, succeed in coordinating internal activities of organisms. (shrink)

Living organisms act as integrated wholes to maintain themselves. Individual actions can each be explained by characterizing the mechanisms that perform the activity. But these alone do not explain how various activities are coordinated and performed versatilely. We argue that this depends on a specific type of mechanism, a control mechanism. We develop an account of control by examining several extensively studied control mechanisms operative in the bacterium E. coli. On our analysis, what distinguishes a control mechanism from other mechanisms (...) is that it relies on measuring one or more variables, which results in setting constraints in the control mechanism that determine its action on flexible constraints in other mechanisms. In the most basic arrangement, the measurement process directly determines the action of the control mechanism, but in more complex arrangements signals mediate between measurements and effectors. This opens the possibility of multiple responses to the same measurement and responses based on multiple measurements. It also allows crosstalk, resulting in networks of control mechanisms. Such networks integrate the behaviors of the organism but also present a challenge in tailoring responses to particular measurements. We discuss how integrated activity can still result in differential, versatile, responses. (shrink)

The new mechanists and the autonomy approach both aim to account for how biological phenomena are explained. One identifies appeals to how components of a mechanism are organized so that their activities produce a phenomenon. The other directs attention towards the whole organism and focuses on how it achieves self-maintenance. This paper discusses challenges each confronts and how each could benefit from collaboration with the other: the new mechanistic framework can gain by taking into account what happens outside individual mechanisms, (...) while the autonomy approach can ground itself in biological research into how the actual components constituting an autonomous system interact and contribute in different ways to realize and maintain the system. To press the case that these two traditions should be constructively integrated we describe how three recent developments in the autonomy tradition together provide a bridge between the two traditions: (1) a framework of work and constraints, (2) a conception of function grounded in the organization of an autonomous system, and (3) a focus on control. (shrink)

Endocrinologists apply the idea of feedback loops to explain how hormones regulate certain bodily functions such as glucose metabolism. In particular, feedback loops focus on the maintenance of the plasma concentrations of glucose within a narrow range. Here, we put forward a different, organicist perspective on the endocrine regulation of glycaemia, by relying on the pivotal concept of closure of constraints. From this perspective, biological systems are understood as organized ones, which means that they are constituted of a set of (...) mutually dependent functional structures acting as constraints, whose maintenance depends on their reciprocal interactions. Closure refers specifically to the mutual dependence among functional constraints in an organism. We show that, when compared to feedback loops, organizational closure can generate much richer descriptions of the processes and constraints at play in the metabolism and regulation of glycaemia, by making explicit the different hierarchical orders involved. We expect that the proposed theoretical framework will open the way to the construction of original mathematical models, which would provide a better understanding of endocrine regulation from an organicist perspective. (shrink)

Theoretical accounts of development exhibit several internal tensions and face multiple challenges. They span from the problem of the identification of the temporal boundaries of development (beginning and end) to the characterization of the distinctive type of change involved compared to other biological processes. They include questions such as the role to ascribe to the environment or what types of biological systems can undergo development and whether they should include colonies or even ecosystems. In this chapter we discuss these conceptual (...) issues, and we argue that adopting an organizational approach may help solve or clarify them. -/- While development is usually identified with the achievement of an adult form with the capability to reproduce and therefore maintain a lineage, adopting the organizational approach may provide a different strategy, which focuses also on the maintenance of the current organization of the organism. By doing so an organizational approach favors a switch in perspective which consists in analyzing how organisms maintain their viability at each moment of development rather than considering them as going through intermediate stages of a process directed toward a specific goal state. This developmental dimension of biological organization has yet to be given a general and detailed analysis within the organizational theoretical perspective, apart from some preliminary attempts. How a biological organization is maintained through a series of radical organizational changes and what these changes are issues that still require clarification. In this chapter we offer the beginnings of such an analysis of developmental transitions, understood as changes in functionality brought forth by regulatory mechanisms in the context of the continued maintenance of organizational viability at every step. (shrink)

Political theorists have recently sought to replace the liberal, contractual theory of the firm with a political view that models the authority relation of employee to firm, and its appropriate regulation, on that of subject to state. This view is liable to serious difficulties, however, given existing discontinuities between corporate and civil authority as to their coerciveness, entry and exit conditions, scope, legal standing, and efficiency constraints. I here inspect these, and argue that, albeit in some cases significant, such discontinuities (...) fail to undermine the firm/state analogy, either because they are not significant enough to do so or because the particular trait on which they hinge is not decisive for how authority, in the state and in the firm, should be regulated to be legitimate. A pro tanto requirement exists, I thus argue, that corporate authority be held to regulatory norms comparable to those legitimate states abide by, including civil liberties, rule-of-law constraints, and accountability to subjects. (shrink)

In response to the COVID‐19 pandemic philosophers and governments have proposed scarce resource allocation guidelines. Their purpose is to advise healthcare professionals on how to ethically allocate scarce medical resources. One challenging feature of the pandemic has been the large numbers of patients needing mechanical ventilatory support. Guidelines have paradigmatically focused on the question of what doctors should do if they have fewer ventilators than patients who need respiratory support: which patient should get the ventilator? There is, however, an important (...) higher level allocation problem. Namely, how are we to ethically distribute newly obtained ventilators across hospitals: which hospital should get the ventilator(s)? In this paper, we identify a set of principles for allocating newly obtained ventilators across hospitals. We focus particularly on low and middle income countries, who frequently have limited pre‐existing intensive care capacity, and have needed to source additional ventilators. We first provide some background. Second, we argue that the main population healthcare aim during the COVID‐19 pandemic should be to save the most lives. Next, we assess a series of potential heuristics or principles that could be used to guide allocation: allocation to the most densely populated cities, random allocation, allocation based on the ratio of patients to ICU personnel, prioritisation in terms of intrahospital mortality, prioritisation of younger populations, and prioritisation in terms of population mortality. We conclude by providing a plausible ranking of the principles, while noting a number of epistemological challenges, in terms of how they best further the aim of increasing the probability of saving the most lives. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework to understand how multicellular systems realize functionally integrated physiological entities by organizing their intercellular space. From a perspective centered on physiology and integration, biological systems are often characterized as organized in such a way that they realize metabolic self-production and self-maintenance. The existence and activity of their components rely on the network they realize and on the continuous management of the exchange of matter and energy with their environment. One (...) of the virtues of the organismic approach focused on organization is that it can provide an understanding of how biological systems are functionally integrated into coherent wholes. Organismic frameworks have been primarily developed by focusing on unicellular life. Multicellularity, however, presents additional challenges to our understanding of biological systems, related to how cells are capable to live together in higher-order entities, in such a way that some of their features and behaviors are constrained and controlled by the system they realize. Whereas most accounts of multicellularity focus on cell differentiation and increase in size as the main elements to understand biological systems at this level of organization, we argue that these factors are insufficient to provide an understanding of how cells are physically and functionally integrated in a coherent system. In this paper, we provide a new theoretical framework to understand multicellularity, capable to overcome these issues. Our thesis is that one of the fundamental theoretical principles to understand multicellularity, which is missing or underdeveloped in current accounts, is the functional organization of the intercellular space. In our view, the capability to be organized in space plays a central role in this context, as it enables (and allows to exploit all the implications of) cell differentiation and increase in size, and even specialized functions such as immunity. We argue that the extracellular matrix plays a crucial active role in this respect, as an evolutionary ancient and specific (non-cellular) control subsystem that contributes as a key actor to the functional specification of the multicellular space and to modulate cell fate and behavior. We also analyze how multicellular systems exert control upon internal movement and communication. Finally, we show how the organization of space is involved in some of the failures of multicellular organization, such as aging and cancer. (shrink)

The aim of this essay is to examine the path of the philosopher of religion Italo Mancini related to his early speculative period on meontology and to show a theoretical consonance with his later period of “double thoughts”. The first part of the contribution argues: it is possible to explain the meontological path as prolegomena to the non-being of being through an in-depth analysis of the notions in his youthful essay “e La struttura dell’essere" e "Il trascendentale come fondamento”, understood (...) as status quaestionis on ontology in general (§1, §2); it presents also why for Mancini transcendence and functionality ground his scheme of possibilities (§3, §4); we define why the fundamental reason why Mancini’s strategy works is entirely based on a theology of oxymorons: starting with double thoughts (§5), as an open and structured path, insofar as thought and revelation appear as a hermeneutic circle (§6); in the last part, we delve into the logic of fragmentariness as an integral principle of religious hermeneutics and, finally, a summary relation between Mancini’s first speculation and the last of his posthumous work “Frammento su Dio” is assessed (§7). (shrink)

In this article we analyse the problem of emergence in its diachronic dimension. In other words, we intend to deal with the generation of novelties in natural processes. Our approach aims at integrating some insights coming from Whitehead’s Philosophy of the Process with the epistemological framework developed by the “autopoietic” tradition. Our thesis is that the emergence of new entities and rules of interaction (new “fields of relatedness”) requires the development of discontinuous models of change. From this standpoint natural evolution (...) can be conceived as a succession of emergences — each one realizing a novel “extended” present, described by distinct models — rather than as a single and continuous dynamics. This theoretical and epistemological framework is particularly suitable to the investigation of the origin of life, an emblematic example of this kind of processes. (shrink)

In times of climate change and public debt, a concern for intergenerational justice should lead us to have a closer look at theories of intergenerational justice. It should also press us to provide institutional design proposals to change the decision-making world that surrounds us. This book provides an exhaustive overview of the most important institutional proposals as well as a systematic and theoretical discussion of their respective features and advantages. It focuses on institutional proposals aimed at taking the interests of (...) future generations more seriously, and does so from the perspective of applied political philosophy, being explicit about the underlying normative choices and the latest developments in the social sciences. It provides citizens, activists, firms, charities, public authorities, policy-analysts, students, and academics with the body of knowledge necessary to understand what our institutional options are and what they entail if we are concerned about today's excessive short-termism. (shrink)

News about the first baby born after a mitochondrial replacement technique (MRT; specifically maternal spindle transfer) broke on September 27, 2016 and, in a matter of hours, went global. Of special interest was the fact that the mitochondrial replacement procedure happened in Mexico. One of the scientists behind this world first was quoted as having said that he and his team went to Mexico to carry out the procedure because, in Mexico, there are no rules. In this paper, we explore (...) Mexico's rule of law in relation to mitochondrial replacement techniques and show that, in fact, certain instances of MRTs are prohibited at the federal level and others are prohibited at the state level. According to our interpretation of the law, the scientists behind this first successful MRT procedure broke federal regulations regarding assisted fertilization research. (shrink)

This paper critically revises the organisational account of teleology, which argues that living systems are first and foremost oriented towards a goal: maintaining their own conditions of existence. It points out some limitations of this account, mainly in the capability to account for the richness and complexity of biological systems and their purposeful behaviours. It identifies the reason of these limitations in the theoretical grounding of this account, specifically in the too narrow notion of closure of constraints, focused on self-production. (...) It proposes to ground an organisational account of biological teleology in the capability of living system not just to produce and replace their parts, but to control their own internal dynamics and behaviours in such a way as to maintain themselves. This theoretical framework has two advantages. It better captures the distinctive features of biological organisations and consequently the richness and active nature of their purposeful behaviours. By doing so, it makes it possible to apply this framework beyond minimal theoretical models to real biological cases. (shrink)

Jane Friedman claims that when we inquire, there is a tension between the instrumental normativity of our inquiries and some basic epistemic norms: The former forbids what the latter permit. Moreover, she argues that since the instrumental normativity of inquiry is epistemic, the previous tension shows that our current conception of epistemic normativity is incoherent and needs to be revised. To solve the problem, she suggests that all our epistemic norms should be considered “zetetic”, namely, norms of inquiry. In this (...) paper, I will argue that the instrumental normativity of inquiry Friedman depicts is inaccurate. I will propose the following alternative picture: All our reasons to inquire and take means to answer our questions are instrumental and can be derivative from the epistemic, the practical, or both. However, developing this alternative view, I will argue that our duties to inquire and take means to answer our questions are just practical in nature. Based on this, I will show that the tension between the epistemic and the zetetic Friedman depicts is just a conflict between the practical and the epistemic: A conflict that does not show per se that the current conception of epistemic normativity is incoherent and needs to be revised. (shrink)

El trabajo desarrolla la concepción del inconsciente como voluntad desde el análisis de la lectura ¿Que es la ilustración? de Michel Foucault. La imagen del "inconsciente" supone un conocimiento que está manejado por los discursos de la época. El suponer una verdad en base a una creencia es el producto del inconsciente que se encuentra sometido a un evento discursivo. En ese sentido, se propone, desde una mirada crítica que ofrece el autor francés sobre la revolución francesa, que el rol (...) del espectador se modifica a sí mismo en relación con los eventos discursivos, a pasar a tener el rol del participe. Pues, la relación entre causa y razones del mismo inconsciente es lo que nos ofrece un reflejo crítico y empírico. Es el reflejo del actuar o voluntad que se ofrece en la ilustración con el que se pretende demostrar la particularidad de la relación de nuestras prácticas sometidas a los saberes que se abordan. La configuración de la "inconsciencia positiva" que Foucault ofrece en Las palabras y las cosas es una distinción que se da con el psicoanálisis freudiano, pero que representa un preludio en la crítica foucaultiana. (shrink)

It is a widespread idea that suspended judgement implies a state of doxastic neutrality. Jane Friedman has recently claimed that while inquiring into a given question, one suspends one’s judgement on it. Jointly considered, the previous claims imply that one is in a state of doxastic neutrality about a given question while inquiring into it. In this article, I explore the leading cases against Friedman’s perspective, arguing that it is debatable whether they exhibit inquiries into questions without doxastic neutrality. However, (...) I will propose the possibility of “explorative disconfirmation inquiries” to show that doxastically non-neutral inquiries do exist. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to investigate the relevance and implications of synthetic models for the study of the interactive dimension of minimal life and cognition, by taking into consideration how the use of artificial systems may contribute to an understanding of the way in which interactions may affect or even contribute to shape biological identities. To do so, this article analyzes experimental work in synthetic biology on different types of interactions between artificial and natural systems, more specifically: between (...) protocells and between biological living cells and protocells. It discusses how concepts such as control, cognition, communication can be used to characterize these interactions from a theoretical point of view, which criteria of relevance and evaluation of synthetic models can be applied to these cases, and what are their limits. (shrink)

Definition The authors’ definition of the autopoietic system has evolved through the years. One of them states that an autopoietic system is organized (defined as a unity) as a network of processes of production (transformation and destruction) of components that produces the components which: (1) through their interactions and transformations regenerate and realize the network of processes (relations) that produced them; and (2) constitute it (the machine) as a concrete unity in the space in which they exist by specifying the (...) topological domain of its realization as such a network (Varela 1979, p. 13). Nearly the same formula was earlier used to define an autopoietic machine (Maturana and Varela 1973/1980, 1984/1987, p. 135). (shrink)

The article examines education in the information age, proposing an informational perspective. By analyzing the epistemology of informational learning, I offer a framework for understanding how individuals acquire knowledge, highlighting the role of design and models in active and constructive learning. Following this, the paper presents the UDL and ODDE educational models, outlining their key features and potential contributions. I then showcase the practical application of these models through case studies focusing on the use of AI to develop personalized learning (...) tools and inclusive environments. I propose EIML as a competence to address the abundance of information in learning and the need for the concept of reciprocity. (shrink)

In the Ethics, Spinoza famously rejects freedom of the will. He also offers an error theory for why many believe, falsely, that the will is free. Standard accounts of his arguments for these claims focus on their efficacy against incompatibilist views of free will. For Spinoza, the will cannot be free since it is determined by an infinite chain of external causes. And the pervasive belief in free will arises from a structural limitation of our self-knowledge: because we are aware (...) of our actions but unaware of their causes, we suppose that we alone must be responsible for them. Yet I argue that the standard accounts miss a further element of Spinoza’s arguments that also targets compatibilist views on which free will is consistent with a specific kind of determination—namely, self-determination in accordance with our value judgments. For Spinoza, we are misled not only in supposing that our actions lack external determination but also in thinking that they are determined by our representations of value. In fact, our actions are determined by our appetites, which are blind to our value judgments. And the pervasive belief that our actions are determined by such judgments arises from the projection of value onto the objects we seek. As he denies us free will, then, Spinoza also denies us a capacity central to agency—the capacity to determine our actions in accordance with our ideas of the good. This makes his arguments against free will more consequential, and more radical, than commonly assumed. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to present some system-theoretical notions ─ such as constraint, closure, integration, coordination, etc. ─ which have recently raised a renovated interest and have undergone a deep development, especially in those branches of philosophy of biology characterized by a systemic approach. The im- plications of these notions for the analysis and characterization of self-maintaining organizations will be discussed with the aid of examples taken from models of minimal living systems, and some conceptual distinctions will be (...) provided. In the last part of the paper the epistemic implications of these ideas will be presented. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that some human reproductive genome editing interventions can be therapeutic in nature, and thus that it is false that all such interventions just create healthy individuals. I do this by showing that the conditions established by a therapy definition are met by certain reproductive genome editing interventions. I then defend this position against two objections: (a) reproductive genome editing interventions do not attain one of the two conditions for something to be a therapy, and (b) (...) some reproductive genome editing interventions are therapeutic but in a nonstandard way. In the Conclusion I call for a more nuanced discussion of the nature of reproductive genome editing interventions. (shrink)

The republican case for workplace democracy is presented and defended from two alternative means of ensuring freedom from arbitrary interference in the firm—namely, the right to freely exit the firm and workplace regulation. This paper shows, respectively, that costless exit is neither possible nor desirable in either perfect or imperfect labor markets, and that managerial discretion is both desirable and inevitable due to the incompleteness of employment contracts and labor legislation. The paper then shows that WD is necessary, from a (...) republican standpoint, if workers’ interests are to be adequately tracked in the exercise of managerial authority. Three important objections are finally addressed— that WD is redundant, that it is unnecessary provided that litigation and unionism can produce similar outcomes, and that it falls short of ensuring republican freedom compared to self-employment. (shrink)

In Pensare l’infosfera La filosofia come design concettuale, Luciano Floridi states the value of a correct analysis and philosophical responses within the information age we are living in. The aim of this paper is to suggest several ideas for reflecting on some of Floridi’s topics such as the analysis of presence, relationship and semantization. In the second paragraph, after a brief introduction about the author, I will analyse philosophical insights on the relationship between being and determination. In the third paragraph, (...) I am going to suggest the importance of a correct analysis of presence. In the fourth paragraph, a possible analogy between the philosophy of information and a certain form of neo-idealism will be shown. At last, I try to show how the philosophy of information can play a key role in the way we think about reality, but also its possible conceptual risks. (shrink)

This paper focuses on physiological integration in multicellular systems, a notion often associated with biological individuality, but which has not received enough attention and needs a thorough theoretical treatment. Broadly speaking, physiological integration consists in how different components come together into a cohesive unit in which they are dependent on one another for their existence and activity. This paper argues that physiological integration can be understood by considering how the components of a biological multicellular system are controlled and coordinated in (...) such a way that their activities can contribute to the maintenance of the system. The main implication of this perspective is that different ways of controlling their parts may give rise to multicellular organizations with different degrees of integration. After defining control, this paper analyses how control is realized in two examples of multicellular systems located at different ends of the spectrum of multicellularity: biofilms and animals. It focuses on differences in control ranges, and it argues that a high degree of integration implies control exerted at both medium and long ranges, and that insofar as biofilms lack long-range control (relative to their size) they can be considered as less integrated than other multicellular systems. It then discusses the implication of this account for the debate on physiological individuality and the idea that degrees of physiological integration imply degrees of individuality. (shrink)

Open peer commentary on the article “Circularity and the Micro-Macro-Difference” by Manfred Füllsack. Upshot: The target article defends the fundamental role of circularity for systems sciences and the necessity to develop a conceptual and methodological approach to it. The concept of circularity, however, is multifarious, and two of the main challenges in this respect are to provide distinctions between different forms of circularities and explore in detail the roles they play in organizations. This commentary provides some suggestions in this direction (...) with the aim to supplement the perspective presented in the target article with some insights from theoretical biology. (shrink)

In a recent publication Tom Douglas and Katrien Devolder have proposed a new account of genetic parenthood, building on the work of Heidi Mertes. Douglas and Devolder’s account aims to solve, among other things, the question of who are the genetic parents of an individual created through somatic cell nuclear transfer (i.e. cloning): (a) the nuclear DNA provider or (b) the progenitors of the nuclear DNA provider. Such a question cannot be answered by simply appealing to the folk account of (...) genetic parenthood, according to which the genetic parents of an individual are those individuals who produced the egg and sperm, respectively, which fused to create the embryo. It cannot be so as in cloning there is no fertilization as such. In this article I critically examine Douglas and Devolder’s new account of genetic parenthood and demonstrate that it is vulnerable to counterexamples that exploit the lack of a condition specifying that genetic parents should cause a child’s coming into existence. (shrink)

This paper discusses the epistemic status of biology from the standpoint of the systemic approach to living systems based on the notion of biological autonomy. This approach aims to provide an understanding of the distinctive character of biological systems and this paper analyses its theoretical and epistemological dimensions. The paper argues that, considered from this perspective, biological systems are examples of emergent phenomena, that the biological domain exhibits special features with respect to other domains, and that biology as a discipline (...) employs some core concepts, such as teleology, function, regulation among others, that are irreducible to those employed in physics and chemistry. It addresses the claim made by Jacques Monod that biology as a science is marginal. It argues that biology is general insofar as it constitutes a paradigmatic example of complexity science, both in terms of how it defines the theoretical object of study and of the epistemology and heuristics employed. As such, biology may provide lessons that can be applied more widely to develop an epistemology of complex systems. (shrink)

The folk Psychology frames propositional attitudes as fundamental theoretical entities for the construction of a model designed to predict the behavior of a subject. A trivial, such as grasping a pen and writing reveals - something complex - about the behavior. When I take a pen and start writing I do, trivially, because I believe that a certain object in front of me is a pen and who performs a specific function that is, in fact, that of writing. When I (...) believe that the object that stands before me is a pen, I am in relation to "believe" with the propositional content: that in front of me is a pen. Philosophers of the proposition, from Frege onwards, have dedicated their studies to the analysis of what kinds of entities are the propositional attitudes. Jerry Fodor says that now, the proper prediction of the psychology of common sense, can not be questioned and that the propositional attitudes represent the most effective way to describe our behavior. What Fodor says, however, is that propositional attitudes function, but not how they work. Most philosophers interested in the issue, we are dedicated to the search for a theory that can account consistently both a semantics for propositional attitudes, both of these entities that seem to cause the behavior of a rational subject. There are two main paradigms in the theory of the proposition that contributed to the discussion of the propositional attitudes. One is the one that begins with Gottlob Frege, the other with Bertrand Russell. Defenders of Frege argue that the paradigm scrub objects and properties can not be constituents of the propositional content which have a purely conceptual. In other words, the philosophers belonging to the paradigm of Frege, but not all, mean that you can test in a rigorous way the truth conditions of propositional attitudes. Who defends the russellian’s paradigm argues that the propositional content are made by the objects and properties on which propositional attitudes relate. The purpose of this article is not to rebuild - in detail - both paradigms, nor to reconstruct one but, in a sense, my work will be a completely partial objective is to demonstrate how the paradigm is more profitable russell not only to make a coherent semantic theory for propositional attitudes2 but also to predict the behavior of a rational subject thing, completely innovative, given the repeated objections in contemporary literature3. At the end of this paper will be drafted a proposal to build a consistent model to predict the behavior,of a rational agent, based on a referential theory of propositional attitudes. (shrink)

Uma pesquisa revisando o pensamento gestáltico se justifica pelo intenso debate em torno da tese emergentista da mente. Sem a pretensão de uma exposição extensiva dos usos de noções emergentistas na análise do conceito de mente, realiza-se uma exposição do conceito com foco nas perspectivas de John R. Searle e de Evan Thompson. Ambos realizam uma defesa da emergência como conceito central na compreensão e explicação da relação mente corpo, mas o primeiro centrado no conceito de propriedades emergentes e o (...) segundo centrado no conceito de processos emergentes. Neste debate entendemos que contribuições da teoria da Gestalt podem se fazer interessantes. Apresenta-se neste contexto o pensamento gestáltico enfatizando o texto “Über ‘Gestaltqualitäten’ ” de 1932, ditado à sua esposa por Chistian von Ehrenfels (1859-1932) no ano de sua morte como um comentário a partir da repercussão de seu artigo “Über ‘Gestaltqualitäten’ ”, publicado em 1890 e comentado pelos três autores de maior repercussão da psicologia da Gestalt; Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), Kurt Koffka (1886-1941) e Wolfgang Köhler (1887-1967). (shrink)

Despite renewed interest in work, philosophers have largely ignored self-employment. This neglect is surprising, not just because self-employment was central to classic philosophizing about work, but also given that half of the global workforce today, including one in seven workers in OECD countries, are self-employed. We start off by offering a definition of self-employment, one that accounts for its various forms while avoiding misclassifying dependent self-employed workers as independent contractors, and by mapping the barriers to becoming and remaining self-employed (section (...) 2). We then examine five arguments why governments ought to promote self-employment, despite the forgone opportunities to promote employee work instead that this often entails (sections 3-7): the argument from job creation, the argument from job satisfaction, the argument from independence, the argument from occupational freedom, and the argument from subsistence under non-ideal circumstances. Some of these are unconvincing, we argue, but others are not. Although the strength of the latter arguments hangs on various context-dependent conditions, such that they need to be carefully weighed against considerations of efficiency and equality, they nonetheless offer compelling pro tanto reasons to promote, and not just to protect, self-employment. (shrink)

From 1950 onwards, the study of creativity has not stopped. Today, AI has revitalised debates on the subject. That is especially controversial in the artworld, as the 21st century already features AI-generated artworks. Without discussing issues about AI agency, this article argues for AI’s creativity. For this, we first present a new functionalist understanding of Margaret Boden’s definition of creativity. This is followed by an analysis of empirical evidence on anthropocentric barriers in the perception of AI’s creative capabilities, which is (...) later criticised for considering insights from media theory. Finally, benefits derived from including AI as an artistic creative producer and supportive tool are discussed. It is then argued that AI can contribute to democratising the artworld. Therefore its creative role must be recognised. (shrink)

It is widely held that there is a distinctive norm of assertion. A plausible idea is that there is an analogous, perhaps weaker, norm for indirect communication via implicatures. I argue against this type of proposal. My claim is that the norm of assertion is a social norm governing public updates to the conversational record. Off the record implicatures are not subject to social norms of this type. I grant that, as happens in general with intentional actions, off the record (...) communicative acts may be subject to normative assessments on different levels (for instance, regarding their moral or prudential appropriateness). However, such assessments do not generate distinctive norms that apply to all cases of implicature. (shrink)

En este artículo se examina de qué forma los investigadores de la Inteligencia Artificial han asumido un desafío propuesto por Descartes: la imposibilidad de construir máquinas programadas que, al entender lenguaje, evidencien que son pensantes. Tal desafío, que se enmarca en la filosofía metafísica cartesiana, distingue entre cosa pensante y extensa, siendo imposible la existencia de pensamiento en esta última. El lenguaje evidencia la imposibilidad de la inteligencia de máquina, de hecho. Como se examina, al enfrentar el desafío cartesiano, dichos (...) investigadores han debido suponer como verdadera parte de la teoría cartesiana, a saber, que el uso flexible de lenguaje implica la existencia de pensamiento. Por ello califico de ambivalente la relación que tiene la Inteligencia Artificial con el filósofo francés: por una parte, rechazan la imposibilidad en principio de la inteligencia de máquina; por otra, están de acuerdo con Descartes en que el uso flexible de lenguaje es suficiente para mostrar que alguien piensa. Si bien el carácter ambivalente entre la IA y Descartes parece anecdótico, no lo es. El hecho de que aún se considere el Test de Turing como una evaluación adecuada de la inteligencia corrobora la compleja relación entre la IA y el pensamiento cartesiano. (shrink)

Some Comments on de Melo-Martin and Harris.

Sfruttando alcune considerazioni, presenti in Richard (1997), riguardo questioni pragmatiche e psicologiche connesse alla semantica russelliana per i verbi psicologici si propone un modello teorico in cui, attraverso l’introduzione di alcuni enunciati strategici, ad es. “Lois non realizza che Superman è Clark Kent”, alcuni problemi connessi al diverso comportamento di Lois con gli individui Superman e Clark Kent, sembrerebbero risolti fornendoci corrette predizioni riguardo il comportamento di un agente razionale. Scopo di questo lavoro è estendere il modello ad alcuni casi (...) riguardanti l’etica delle credenze e mostrare, attraverso un caso paradigmatico nella letteratura specialistica, alcune potenziali conferme empiriche del modello stesso. (shrink)

The aim of this essay is to provide an overview of New Realism in its opposition and reaction to Postmodernism. An analysis of the implications of both philosophical approaches in diverse fields will be offered, from epistemology, to politics, to ethics. Ethical new realism is presented as particularly promising and important to the future of philosophy.

Recent breakthroughs in stem cell differentiation and reprogramming suggest that functional human gametes could soon be created in vitro. While the ethical debate on the uses of in vitro generated gametes (IVG) was originally constrained by the fact that they could be derived only from embryonic stem cell lines, the advent of somatic cell reprogramming, with the possibility to easily derive human induced pluripotent stem cells from any individual, affords now a major leap in the feasibility of IVG derivation and (...) in the scope of their potential applications. In this paper we develop an ethical framework, rooted in recent scientific evidence, to support a robust experimental pipeline that could enable the first-in-human use of IVG. We then apply this framework to the following objectives: (1) a clarification of the genetic parenting options afforded by IVG, along with their ethical underpinnings; (2) a defence of the use of IVG to remedy infertility, broadening their scope to same-sex couples; (3) an assessment of the most far-reaching implications of IVG for multiplex parenting. These include, first, the liberation of parenting roles from the constraints of biological generations in vivo, allowing multiple individuals to engage in genetic parenting together, thus blurring the distinction between biological and social generations. Second, we discuss the conflation of IVG with sequencing technology and its implications for the possibility that prospective parents may choose among a hitherto unprecedented number of potential children. In view of these perspectives, we argue that, contrary to the exhausted paradigm according to which society lags behind science, IVG may represent instead a salient and most visible instance where biotechnological ingenuity could be used in pursuit of social experimentation. (shrink)

En este artículo examino dos criterios para la existencia de estados mentales, el de Descartes y el de Turing. Mientras que el primero plantea que las máquinas no pueden pensar en principio, el segundo defiende la inteligencia de máquina. Pese a esto, ambos parecen coincidir en que la decisión sobre la presencia de estados mentales es tomada por alguien que juzga internamente la misma. Si bien ello es esperable del racionalismo cartesiano, en el funcionalismo de Turing es sorprendente. En efecto, (...) ningún comentarista de su Juego de la Imitación repara en el hecho de que los interrogadores son una instancia que no parece reemplazable y, además, que dichos interrogadores aplican un criterio internalista para decidir si están frente a una mente o un computador. Tal aproximación internalista a la mente, argumento, representa una dificultad para que una máquina pase el Test de Turing. Por este motivo concluyo que dicho test no solo no reemplaza la pregunta ¿pueden pensar las máquinas?; adicionalmente traslada de modo dramático el foco del debate a la filosofía de la mente. (shrink)

En este artículo argumentamos que la naturaleza pública o privada de la educación tiene una incidencia directa en las instituciones que conforman la realidad social. Para sustentar lo anterior, en primer lugar discutimos cómo, según Searle, habitamos un mundo de instituciones gobernadas por reglas y poderes deónticos, ontológicamente irreductibles. Luego, postulamos que la intencionalidad colectiva requiere de la confianza para mantenerse, y esta aumenta cuando gobiernan reglas y poderes deónticos en circunstancias normales. Finalmente, planteamos que la educación pública es una (...) institución que, a diferencia de la privada, privilegia el espacio de lo común. Sócrates es un ejemplo de esto, al proponer una filosofía que no solo busca la verdad, sino que además privilegia el reconocimiento de la ley por sobre la satisfacción inmediata de deseos e inclinaciones personales. De todo esto se explica el círculo virtuoso: la educación pública, al ser inclusiva y beneficiar a todos, potencia las instituciones sociales que tutelan ese interés y, dentro de ellas, el servicio público. (shrink)

L'articolo ha come obiettivo quello di dimostrare come il paradigma russelliano risulti più proficuo non soltanto per rendere coerente una teoria semantica per gli atteggiamenti proposizionali ma anche per predire il comportamento di un agente razionale cosa, del tutto innovativa, viste le continue ciritiche nella letteratura contemporanea. Sul finire dell'articolo viene abbozzata una proposta inedita volta alla costruzione di un modello - inquadrato nelle scienze cognitive - coerente per prevedere il comportamento di un agente razionale sulla base di una teoria (...) referenzialista degli atteggiamenti proposizionali. (shrink)

Se le llama ‘psiquiatría biológica’ a la vertiente de la investigación psiquiátrica que busca establecer asociaciones estables entre condiciones psiquiátricas y factores biológicos específicos. La búsqueda de tales asociaciones está motivada por lo que llamo el “compromiso causal” de la psiquiatría biológica, que es la presunción de que factores biológicos específicos son las causas principales de las condiciones psiquiátricas. En este artículo argüiré que dicho compromiso es una presunción implausible sobre esas condiciones, pues la mejor evidencia psiquiátrico-biológica disponible no lo (...) respalda y es dudoso que la evidencia futura lo hará. (shrink)