All humans share a universal, evolutionarily ancient approximate number system (ANS) that estimates and combines the numbers of objects in sets with ratio-limited precision. Interindividual variability in the acuity of the ANS correlates with mathematical achievement, but the causes of this correlation have never been established. We acquired psychophysical measures of ANS acuity in child and adult members of an indigene group in the Amazon, the Mundurucú, who have a very restricted numerical lexicon and highly variable access to mathematics education. (...) By comparing Mundurucú subjects with and without access to schooling, we found that education significantly enhances the acuity with which sets of concrete objects are estimated. These results indicate that culture and education have an important effect on basic number perception. We hypothesize that symbolic and nonsymbolic numerical thinking mutually enhance one another over the course of mathematics instruction. (shrink)

In this paper I present reasons for us to accept the hypothesis that suspended judgment has correctness conditions, just like beliefs do. Roughly put, the idea is that suspended judgment about p is correct when both p and ¬p might be true in view of certain facts that characterize the subject’s situation. The reasons to accept that hypothesis are broadly theoretical ones: it adds unifying power to our epistemological theories, it delivers good and conservative consequences, and it allows us to (...) assess processes of reasoning involving attitudes of suspended judgment. (shrink)

The significance of critical phenomenology for psychiatric praxis has yet to be expounded. In this paper, I argue that the adoption of a critical phenomenological stance can remedy localised instances of hermeneutical injustice, which may arise in the encounter between clinicians and patients with psychosis. In this context, what is communicated is often deemed to lack meaning or to be difficult to understand. While a degree of un-shareability is inherent to subjective life, I argue that issues of unintelligibility can be (...) addressed by shifting from individualistic conceptions of understanding to an interactionist view. This takes into account the contextual, historical and relational background within which meaning is co-constituted. I conclude by providing a corrective for hermeneutical injustice, which entails a specific attentiveness towards the person’s subjectivity, a careful sensitivity to contingent meaning-generating structures, and a degree of hermeneutical flexibility as an attitude of openness towards alternative horizons of possibility. (shrink)

In this paper, I offer two counterexamples to the so-called ‘Uniqueness Thesis.’ As one of these examples rely on the thesis that it is possible for a justified belief to be based on an inconsistent body of evidence, I also offer reasons for this further thesis. On the assumption that doxastic justification entails propositional justification, the counterexamples seem to work.

Education for Empire: American Schools, Race, and the Paths of Good Citizenship (Stratton, 2016) is much more than a history book about American education. It is a critical work that provides philosophical undertones that challenge our perception about the imperial roles of the U.S. school system. Stratton very clearly and meticulously presents the intricate relationship between history, civics, and geography within school curricula and textbooks. He shows us how these subjects have been manipulated by those in power to promote a (...) hidden agenda. One that instills national pride, American loyalty, and patriotism, and is designed to turn students into supporters of U.S. imperialism and of their racial and class hierarchies. An example of this is Stratton’s own examination of the content of books like, Complete Geography written in 1899. Stratton claims this text was widely used in American public schools and it explicitly states that, “the Caucasian or white race is most intelligent and most powerful of all races.” Education for Empire: American Schools, Race, and the Paths of Good Citizenship helps us understand why it has taken so much time for people of color, like me, to occupy academic spaces and to begin the dismantling of oppressive governmental and pedagogical systems that have intentionally kept us from having a dignified education. (shrink)

The paper is concerned with the rational requirements for suspended judgment, or what suspending judgment about a question rationally commits one to. It shows that two purported rational requirements for suspended judgment cannot both be true at the same time, at least when the entailment relation between questions is understood a certain way. The first one says that one is rationally required to suspend judgment about those questions that are entailed by the questions that one already suspends judgment about. The (...) second one says that one is rationally required to believe the presuppositions of the questions one suspends judgment about. Two plausible solutions to the problem are discussed. One of them explicates the relation of entailment between questions in an alternative manner, and the other one rejects the presupposition requirement. Either way, a closure requirement for suspended judgment can be maintained which is analogous to the closure requirement for belief. Whereas belief is ideally closed under entailment between propositions, suspended judgment is ideally closed under entailment between questions. (shrink)

In this paper, I flesh out an account of the inferential basing relation using a theory about how humans reason: the mental models theory. I critically assess some of the notions that are used by that theory to account for inferential phenomena. To the extent that the mental models theory is well confirmed, that account of basing would be motivated on empirical grounds. This work illustrates how epistemologists could offer explications of the basing relation which are more detailed and less (...) empirically risky. (shrink)

Logic arguably plays a role in the normativity of reasoning. In particular, there are plausible norms of belief/disbelief whose antecedents are constituted by claims about what follows from what. But is logic also relevant to the normativity of agnostic attitudes? The question here is whether logical entailment also puts constraints on what kinds of things one can suspend judgment about. In this paper I address that question and I give a positive answer to it. In particular, I advance two logical (...) norms of agnosticism, where the first one allows us to assess situations in which the subject is agnostic about the conclusion of a valid argument and the second one allows us to assess situations in which the subject is agnostic about one of the premises of a valid argument. (shrink)

In line with recent efforts to empirically study the folk concept of weakness of will, we examine two issues in this paper: (1) How is weakness of will attribution [WWA] influenced by an agent’s violations of best judgment and/or resolution, and by the moral valence of the agent’s action? (2) Do any of these influences depend on the cognitive dispositions of the judging individual? We implemented a factorial 2x2x2 between–subjects design with judgment violation, resolution violation, and action valence as independent (...) variables, and measured participants’ cognitive dispositions using Frederick’s Cognitive Reflection Test [CRT]. We conclude that intuitive and reflective individuals have two different concepts of weakness of will. The study supports this claim by showing that: a) the WWA of intuitive subjects is influenced by the action’s (and probably also the commitment’s) moral valence, while the WWA of reflective subjects is not; b) judgment violation plays a small role in the WWA of intuitive subjects, while reflective subjects treat resolution violation as the only relevant trait. Data were collected among students at two different universities. All subjects (N=710) answered the CRT. A three-way ANOVA was first conducted on the whole sample and then on the intuitive and reflective groups separately. This study suggests that differences in cognitive dispositions can significantly impact the folk understanding of philosophical concepts, and thus suggests that analysis of folk concepts should take cognitive dispositions into account. (shrink)

Have you ever kept a diary of your personal life? For many people, keeping a written record of their experiences, thoughts, feelings, travels or encounters with people is a common practice. For others, it is not. Perhaps for some it is something completely foreign. For Russian Orthodox priest Alexander Schmemann it was clearly not. His diary, two volumes of almost 600 pages each, has given an insight into the life, worries, joys and even disappointments of one of the most influential (...) theologians of the 20th century. On this occasion we would like to refer to the first volume and scrutinize a little of what this work brings to the world today. ¿Ha llevado usted un diario de su vida personal? Para muchas personas, llevar un registro escrito de sus vivencias, pensamientos, sentimientos, viajes o encuentros con personas es una práctica común. Para otros no. Quizá para algunos esto es algo completamente ajeno. Es evidente que para el sacerdote ortodoxo ruso Alexander Schmemann no lo fue. Su diario, dos tomos de casi 600 páginas cada uno, ha dejado ver a fondo la vida, preocupaciones, alegrías, e incluso desilusiones de uno de los teólogos más influyentes del siglo XX. En esta ocasión queremos referirnos al primer tomo y escudriñar un poco qué aporta esta obra al mundo de hoy. (shrink)

In this paper I deal with epistemological issues that stem from the hypothesis that reasoning is not only a means of transmitting knowledge from premise-beliefs to conclusion-beliefs, but also a primary source of knowledge in its own right. The idea is that one can gain new knowledge on the basis of suppositional reasoning. After making some preliminary distinctions, I argue that there are no good reasons to think that purported examples of knowledge grounded on pure reasoning are just examples of (...) premise-based inferences in disguise. Next, I establish what kinds of true propositions can to a first approximation be known on the basis of pure reasoning. Finally, I argue that beliefs that are competently formed on the basis of suppositional reasoning satisfy both externalist and internalist criteria of justification. (shrink)

Los sociobiólogos han defendido una posición "calvinista" que se resume en la siguiente fórmula: si la selección natural explica las actitudes morales, no hay altruismo genuino en la moral; si la moral es altruista, entonces la selección natural no puede explicarla. En este ensayo desenmascaro los presupuestos erróneos de esta posición y defiendo que el altruismo como equidad no es incompatible con la selección natural. Rechazo una concepción hobbesiana de la moral, pero sugiero su empleo en la interpretación de la (...) psicología de los primates no humanos y en un modelo de progresión evolutiva que habría llevado a la moralidad como adaptación pasando por la razón instrumental. /// Sociobiologists have endorsed a "Calvinist" position captured in the following formula: if natural selection explains moral attitudes, morality is not genuinely altruistic; if morality is altruistic, then natural selection cannot explain it. I expose the false presuppositions behind this claim and argüe that altruism as fairness is not incompatible with natural selection. I reject a Hobbesian view of morality as an instrumental endorsement of fairness norms, but suggest its use to interpret primate psychology and to model an evolutionary progression ending in moral capacities as adaptations. (shrink)

This paper aims to show that a proper understanding of what Leibniz meant by “hypercategorematic infinite” sheds light on some fundamental aspects of his conceptions of God and of the relationship between God and created simple substances or monads. After revisiting Leibniz’s distinction between (i) syncategorematic infinite, (ii) categorematic infinite, and (iii) actual infinite, I examine his claim that the hypercategorematic infinite is “God himself” in conjunction with other key statements about God. I then discuss the issue of whether the (...) hypercategorematic infinite is a “whole”, comparing the four kinds of infinite outlined by Leibniz in 1706 with the three degrees of infinity outlined in 1676. In the last section, I discuss the relationship between the hypercategorematic infinite and created simple substances. I conclude that, for Leibniz, only a being beyond all determinations but eminently embracing all determinations can enjoy the pure positivity of what is truly infinite while constituting the ontological grounding of all things. (shrink)

Personas altamente sensibles is an easily read book with a scientific description of what a High Sensitive Person (HSP) is. This book, based on previous psychological research, seeks to alert the scientific community of how high sensitivity has been confused with introversion, inhibition, and neuroticism. The truth is that previous works, on which this book is based, have allowed HSP to better understand themselves. Some of the main features of these people are deep information processing, high sensitivity, high frequency with (...) which they are overstimulated and great ability to capture details and subtleties. (shrink)

O artigo em questão se detém nas implicações epistemológicas da revolução copernicana de Immanuel Kant, cuja perspectiva, emergindo das fronteiras que inter-relacionam o racionalismo de Leibniz, o empirismo de Hume e a ciência positiva físico-matemática de Newton, instaura o horizonte do idealismo transcendental, estabelecendo a correlação fundamental envolvendo o sujeito e o objeto do conhecimento.

Detendo-se na investigação dos dois grandes modelos que caracterizam o pensamento polí­tico, a saber, o modelo clássico (grego ou aristotélico) e o modelo jusnaturalista (hobbesiano), o artigo em questão, distinguindo no âmbito daquele as teorias idealistas e realistas, empreende uma abordagem que nas fronteiras deste último sublinha desde a questão que envolve "Como nasceu o Estado?", proposta pela perspectiva historicista (paradigma aristotélico), que traz como fundamento o homem como "animal polí­tico", até a leitura racionalista (parãmetro hobbesiano), que acena com o (...) problema "Por que existe o Estado?", identificando o homem como um ser naturalmente anti-social, salientando que se o bem comum determina a visão platônico-aristotélica, a leitura hobbesiana instaura uma lógica que emerge através do contrato social e assinala a tendência natural da autopreservação como fundamento da ação humana, consistindo, em suma, na transição da ordem mecãnica da matéria à ordem final da vontade. (shrink)

Ancorada na teoria de Rousseau, uma pesquisa assinala que, consistindo na condição sine qua non para o exercício da soberania popular em uma construção que converge para as fronteiras que encerram a Constituição e o Estado, a Vontade Geral envolve uma possibili-dade de articulação da totalidade dos homens enquanto desejamos em sua concreticidade histórico-cultural e econômico-social, o que implica uma universalidade concreta, que advém do conjunto de vontades e fato econômico que caracterizam uma sociedade e dinâmica das relações intersubjetivas. Dessa (...) forma, fundamentalado em uma pesquisa bibliográfica, o ar-tigo dialoga com a perspectiva da teoria institucional de Castoriadis, Lapassade e Lourau, defendendo que, caracterizando-se como um processo ético-jurídico de deliberação coleti-va que implica a objetivação dos valores , necessidade e fins do povo como corpo coletivo e moral por intermédio de um movimento econômico-político que envolve os momentos que encerram o instituído, o instituinte e a institucionalização, a Vontade Geral converte o conteúdo político-social em poder de direito. Portanto, convergindo para a superação da universalidade de um Direito que encerra um "dever-ser" e uma exterioridade coercitiva que se impõe em nome do bem comum da totalidade político-jurídica e econômico-social do Estado, a pesquisa mostra que a Vontade Geral se sobrepõe à ruptura que, envolvendo uma ordem jurídica e a ordem social, caracteriza a instituição estatal sob a égide do liberalismo, possibilitando a instauração da democracia participativa. (shrink)

Perfazendo a primeira filosofia existencial trágica, a doutrina de Schopenhauer atribui a origem do caráter simultaneamente trágico, absurdo e doloroso da existência ao querer viver, implicando um pessimismo que impõe à felicidade uma condição negativa, à medida que o sofrimento emerge como o fundamento de toda a vida, constituindo-se o prazer estético uma possibilidade quanto à superação da dor e do tédio, conforme assinala o artigo cujo trabalho mostra a correlação envolvendo a perspectiva da metafísica da vontade e o pensamento (...) de Nietzsche que, detendo-se no niilismo como um acontecimento que expressa a negação da vida e converge para a sua própria superação, sobrepõe ao dualismo metafísico o princípio da unidade-múltipla através da construção da sua metafisica de artista, que supõe um movimento da consciência ética para o pathos artístico. (shrink)

When talking about sexual abuse of children we can understand culture as one of the leading determinants of child health. As a public health problem, sexual abuse has different causes, from which we can distinguish the silence and secrecy that is kept by third parties. In every single abuse there is a person or people that are present at the moment of the abuse, or without being present know that the abuse is in progress, or even help in any way (...) the perpetrator to commit the abuse. In order to work consistently in this type of abuse of children, we need to work in adding values to a culture that contribute to freely and openly talk about sexuality and to teach how to gain transparency in communities that could help disclose sexual abuses. (shrink)

Perfazendo a primeira filosofia existencial trágica, a doutrina de Schopenhauer atribui a origem do caráter simultaneamente trágico, absurdo e doloroso da existência ao querer viver, implicando um pessimismo que impõe à felicidade uma condição negativa, à medida que o sofrimento emerge como o fundamento de toda a vida, constituindo-se o prazer estético uma possibilidade quanto à superação da dor e do tédio, conforme assinala o artigo cujo trabalho mostra a correlação envolvendo a perspectiva da metafí­sica da vontade e o pensamento (...) de Nietzsche que, detendo-se no niilismo como um acontecimento que expressa a negação da vida e converge para a sua própria superação, sobrepõe ao dualismo metafí­sico o princí­pio da unidade-múltipla através da construção da sua metafisica de artista, que supõe um movimento da consciência ética para o pathos artí­stico. (shrink)

O artigo em questão se detém no método baconiano, que emerge através do Novum Organum (ou Verdadeiras Indicações acerca da Interpretação da Natureza) e acena com a pretensão de possibilitar o verdadeiro progresso da ciência, que demanda, em suma, a erradicação das predisposições para o erro, dos preconceitos e das noções falsas que impedem o acesso à verdade, dos “ídolos”, enfim, segundo a leitura de Bacon, que propõe o controle científico sobre a natureza como fator determinante da harmonia e do (...) bem-estar dos homens, conforme o ideal exposto no trabalho intitulado Nova Atlântida, que converge para caracterizar o saber como uma construção coletiva, desenhando um horizonte que se impõe ao processo formativo-educacional, à medida que estabelece uma relação envolvendo conhecimento e poder que guarda raízes nas fronteiras da experiência, em cuja perspectiva a investigação em referência dialoga com a metodologia freinetiana, que sublinha a articulação entre teoria e prática e assinala o papel que cumpre o trabalho em uma aprendizagem que traz como fundamento a ação. (shrink)

Most of the time, when sexual abuse is discussed or studied, only the victims and perpetrators are mentioned. However, little is said about third parties, those who covered up the abuse or did not say anything when they saw something suspicious, or who were simply negligent and did not comply with their task of monitoring vulnerable people so that they were not abused. On the other hand, it is not usual to talk about secondary victims, which are the families, members (...) of the parishes, religious communities, educational institutions, clubs, or sports teams where victims were part. Although the biggest wound is suffered by the victim of abuse, secondary victims can be seriously injured, psychologically, spiritually, and/or in trust towards other people or towards the institution where the abuse occurred. Definitely, secondary victims of sexual abuse are also survivors of the abuse. Thus, this book comprehensively addresses the psycho-spiritual healing of survivors of sexual abuse. Luis Alfonso Zamorano includes third parties and secondary victims who may also need psycho-spiritual healing. The author provides a thorough look at what is sexual abuse of children and adolescents, with a particular focus on the situation of the Catholic Church. (shrink)

Segundo Kierkegaard, a verdade se sobrepõe ao caráter objetivo que encerra desde uma investigação histórica até um exercício especulativo, guardando correspondência com a subjetividade em um movimento que implica a condição-limite da interioridade. Detendo-se em tal princípio hermenêutico-existencial, o artigo assinala a espiritualidade enquanto experiência epistêmico-existencial envolvendo a verdade como paradoxo em Kierkegaard, que se sobrepõe à mediação lógico-discursiva e implica uma construção dialético-subjetiva que transcende a razão histórico-objetiva (ou finita). Dessa forma, caracterizando a espiritualidade enquanto experiência epistêmico-existencial que encerra (...) como único tipo de evidência a evidência de caráter não racional, o artigo recorre à perspectiva fenomenológica de Rudolf Otto, que sublinha o sagrado e a sua distinção absoluta em relação à realidade natural e ao seu caráter perceptível em uma construção que enfatiza o elemento não racional e a sua natureza suprarracional e implica o numinoso, que escapa aos processos lógico-racionais e, emergindo como a priori, converge para a apreensão do racional e do não racional na noção da Divindade. Assim, se a relação com Deus se sobrepõe às fronteiras que encerram a subjetividade e a objetividade, convergindo para a superação do referido esquema estrutural epistêmico, o artigo, baseado na perspectiva teológico-filosófica de Paul Tillich, detém-se no conceito de Presença Espiritual que, caracterizando a vida sem ambiguidade, implica a união transcendente, correlacionando ágape e gnosis enquanto experiência epistêmico-existencial envolvendo a relação com o sagrado como presença de Deus através de um movimento extático-religioso que converge para a automanifestação, a autorrevelação e a autocomunicação do Absoluto e Transcendente como Deus. (shrink)

Constituting the object or content of New Testament preaching, salvation is made available by the kerygma as a proclamation of the Gospel that concludes God’s saving act and implies an exhortation to conversion that is based on the person and work of Jesus as Christ and Lord and Son of God and the soteriological facts of his death and resurrec-tion. In this way, Prof. Luiz Carlos Mariano Da Rosa, faced with the issue involving the primacy of either the historical-Christological (...) tradition or the pneumatic-Christological preaching, points out that preaching converges to kerygmatic communication as a public announcement in relation to the promise and claims of the salvific event, converging to a tradition that witnesses salvific processes based on faith, constituting the Gospel as a pneumatic-kerygmatic tradition. Thus, the article focuses on the Christological kerygma as an event that encloses God as loquitur in Barth, which consists of an announcement involving an event yet to be realized (Ankündigung) in a process that presupposes that God speaks through a relationship that attributes to the human the function of announ-cing (Ankündigen) such a situation. Overriding the meaning that the kerygma of Jesus as the Messiah contains as content that imposes itself on the Old Testament tradition under the meaning of an additional ethical-religious and literary-theological value, the proclamation, according to Bultmann, constitutes the primary and basic that gives its character both in relation to ancient tradition and in relation to the preaching of Jesus in a process that maintains the entire past under another interpretative principle. In this way, overriding historical phenomena and their mere description, Bultmann elaborates a theological-philosophical construction that, through the use of scientific thought and the establishment of an existential interpretation, ends the claim of highlighting the true meaning of the message, converging on the borders that expose the current situation of human beings and the need for faith as decision and obedience. (shrink)

Sobrepondo uma concepção crítica envolvendo os fundamentos do saber às ontologias dogmáticas que se impõem ao trabalho que implica a apreensão das questões filosóficas, o projeto kantiano propõe o fim da filosofia como construção metafísica e a necessidade de se lhe atribuir uma tarefa teórica de caráter essencialmente genealógico e crítico, no sentido que encerra a legitimação do conhecimento racional através da análise das faculdades que se lhe estão atreladas, conforme assinala o artigo, que se detém nos direitos da razão (...) cuja legitimidade a lógica da verdade reconhece e cuja ilegitimidade a lógica da aparência denuncia, convergindo para as fronteiras que encerram a possibilidade da construção do conhecimento científico, à medida que, tornando o entendimento o legislador universal da natureza e circunscrevendo a utilização das categorias aos limites da experiência possível, propõe as condições necessárias para fundá-lo sobre os juízos sintéticos a priori. (shrink)

Counselling y cuidados paliativos es el título del libro escrito por la doctora Esperanza Santos y el profesor José Carlos Bermejo. En esta obra, de fácil lectura y con consejos muy prácticos y útiles, se presentan elementos fundamentales para brindar un acompañamiento de óptima calidad en el cuidado paliativo, así como la posibilidad de hacer un autoexamen de cómo los cuidadores de los pacientes prestan sus servicios e incluso para no caer en burnout. Este libro es de gran utilidad, tanto (...) para los profesionales de la salud que trabajan en las unidades de cuidados paliativos, como para personas que dedican gran parte de su tiempo al cuidado de familiares con enfermedades terminales, o que pasan por procesos prolongados de enfermedad. Con ejemplos de conversaciones de la vida real entre cuidadores y pacientes, la lectura del libro se hace, a la vez, agradable, divertida y profundamente reflexiva. (shrink)

Understanding sexual abuse es un libro que sorprenderá al lector por varias razones. En primer lugar, es un testimonio de la vida real del autor como víctima de abuso sexual en su niñez por una de las personas más cercanas a su familia. En segundo lugar, no es el típico libro sensacionalista que busca llamar la atención ni generar lástima ni victimizarse ni buscar fondos para alguna ONG de prevención de abuso sexual; más bien, el autor, con mucha apertura interior, (...) humildad, valentía, así como con un elevado profesionalismo, describe lo profundo que pueden ser las heridas de este tipo de abuso y lo crudo e injusto que es este crimen. En tercer lugar, la manera como el autor se aproxima al tratamiento de un trauma como el abuso sexual, permite que el lector se identifique plenamente con el autor, si ha sido abusado sexualmente, o si no, que aun así pueda tomar muchos elementos para sanar traumas de su propia vida, a pesar de no tratarse de abuso sexual, y sobre cómo acompañar a otras personas que han sufrido este tipo de abuso; he aquí la riqueza de este libro. (shrink)

This paper advances the view that the history of philosophy is both a kind of history and a kind of philosophy. Through a discussion of some examples from epistemology, metaphysics, and the historiography of philosophy, it explores the benefit to philosophy of a deep and broad engagement with its history. It comes to the conclusion that doing history of philosophy is a way to think outside the box of the current philosophical orthodoxies. Somewhat paradoxically, far from imprisoning its students in (...) outdated and crystallized views, the history of philosophy trains the mind to think differently and alternatively about the fundamental problems of philosophy. It keeps us alert to the fact that latest is not always best, and that a genuinely new perspective often means embracing and developing an old insight. The upshot is that the study of the history of philosophy has an innovative and subversive potential, and that philosophy has a great deal to gain from a long, broad, and deep conversation with its history. (shrink)

El libro El Feminismo es un Humanismo escrito por Rubí de María Gómez Campos es un trabajo literario sobre la urgencia y la complejidad del feminismo. La autora utiliza su vasta experiencia como educadora y filósofa en el contexto mexicano para presentar esta colección de ensayos, resultado de varias décadas de su carrera académica. En estos escritos explora las diferentes vertientes filosóficas del feminismo desde varios ángulos críticos y teóricos.

In this paper I argue for the following hypotheses: The Davidsonian language thesis, which presupposes a set of beliefs and shared desires, is a quasi-rational phenomenon that weights the truths, and from them, is able to derive other objective thoughts in the domain of values. This view of Davidson conceives that thinking and language are prior to convention, and that necessarily implies the acknowledgement of humans as thinking beings; capable of understanding even when deprived of content, this is to say, (...) negating naturalism or substance in beliefs and innate desires. (shrink)

Why should we avoid incoherence? An influential view tells us that incoherent combinations of attitudes are such that it is impossible for all of those attitudes to be simultaneously vindicated by the evidence. But it is not clear whether this view successfully explains what is wrong with certain akratic doxastic states. In this paper I flesh out an alternative response to that question, one according to which the problem with incoherent combinations of attitudes is that it is impossible for all (...) of those attitudes to be simultaneously knowledgeable. This alternative response explains what is wrong with akratic combinations of attitudes using commonly accepted epistemological theses. The paper still shows how this proposal is able to explain the badness of incoherent combinations involving the absence of attitudes, suspended judgment and credence. These explanations deploy the notions of knowledge and being in a position to know, instead of the notion of responding properly to the evidence. Finally, I suggest that this picture can be generalized to the realm of practical rationality as well. (shrink)

Objective: The study seeks to provide a thorough description of the teachers' digital literacy (DL) and digital competence (DC) and shine a light on the variables that influence the development of their digital literacies and competence. Method: Comprehensive data collection and analysis from 274 participants were completed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to accomplish the objectives of this study. Results: It came to light that teachers with less than ten years of experience have higher levels of digital literacy. Pre-service (...) education, having access to ICT resources, and a favorable attitude about using ICT were all strongly associated with DL and DC. The research's essential contribution is its findings affirming the value of DL and DC, which can be utilized to approach new technologies critically and use them as a part of digital pedagogy. Novelty: The critical contribution of the research is the result claiming the positive status of DL and DC, which can be used to approach new tools from a critical pedagogical perspective and apply them as part of digital pedagogy. -/- . (shrink)

Substructural approaches to paradoxes have attracted much attention from the philosophical community in the last decade. In this paper we focus on two substructural logics, named ST and TS, along with two structural cousins, LP and K3. It is well known that LP and K3 are duals in the sense that an inference is valid in one logic just in case the contrapositive is valid in the other logic. As a consequence of this duality, theories based on either logic are (...) tightly connected since many of the arguments for and objections against one theory reappear in the other theory in dual form. The target of the paper is making explicit in exactly what way, if any, ST and TS are dual to one another. The connection will allow us to gain a more fine-grained understanding of these logics and of the theories based on them. In particular, we will obtain new insights on two questions concerning ST which are being intensively discussed in the current literature: whether ST preserves classical logic and whether it is LP in sheep’s clothing. Explaining in what way ST and TS are duals requires comparing these logics at a metainferential level. We provide to this end a uniform proof theory to decide on valid metainferences for each of the four logics. This proof procedure allows us to show in a very simple way how different properties of inferences (unsatisfiability, supersatisfiability and antivalidity) that behave in very different ways for each logic can be captured in terms of the validity of a metainference. (shrink)

Designing proper measures and carrying them out is one of the key jobs we expect science to accomplish. Properly defined and properly executed scientific measurements provide us with a precise picture of the things we study and give us the kind of information from which we can build scientific laws, models and principles that can help us predict and change the world around us. This chapter is about how this is done in the social sciences.

La rivelazione della persona, dall’individuo alla comunione es un libro que, exponiendo la temática desde la fe cristiana con un acento en la teología ortodoxa griega, atrae la atención de quien quiere comprenderse mejor así mismo como persona, identificando lo nocivo que puede llegar a entenderse simplemente como individuo y, a su vez, profundizando en lo que significa la comunión en el ser persona. El lenguaje claro, conciso y ordenado del profesor Ware se combina con una holgura y flexibilidad en (...) la exposición de sus planteamientos, enriquecidos por el lenguaje teológico que incluye varios Padres de la Iglesia y teólogos contemporáneos junto con autores más propios de otros ámbitos, como el literario. De esta manera, el profesor Ware logra destacar los elementos claves para comprender lo que implica que Dios se haya revelado. (shrink)

Atribuindo à ironia a possibilidade de exercício e desenvolvimento da liberdade subjetiva, Kierkegaard sublinha a negatividade absoluta como característica do referido processo em Sócrates, convergindo para assinalar o absoluto e irredutível valor do indivíduo em um movimento que implica o início absoluto da vida pessoal entre criar-se e deixar-se criar. Dessa forma, contrapondo-se à dissolução da existência humana nas fronteiras da pura conceituação intelectual, Kierkegaard assinala a tensão inaplacável entre existência e transcendência em um movimento que implica a interioridade e (...) guarda correspondência com a necessidade de tornar-se subjetivo, tendo em vista a perspectiva que defende que a verdade consiste na transformação do sujeito em si mesmo entre a vertigem da liberdade e o paradoxo da fé em um processo que encerra angústia e desespero e converge para a transição do ético ao religioso. (shrink)

Se a leitura da epistemologia clássica e a perspectiva dos adeptos do “empirismo lógico” assinalam que a ciência demanda a exclusão de tudo aquilo que não se impõe ao horizonte que envolve a dedutibilidade analítica e a verificabilidade, Karl Popper defende que mais do que saber quando e em que condição uma teoria dialoga com a verdade a relevância não acena senão para a demarcação entre ciência e não ciência, particularmente no tocante às fronteiras que abrangem a ciência que carrega (...) autenticidade [que emerge através da construção de Newton, submetida ao aperfeiçoamento e à correção de Einstein] e as ideologias [marxismo e psicanálise], tornando-se imprescindível a busca de uma resposta para a questão referente ao critério capaz de estabelecer o estatuto científico de um universo teórico ou de um enunciado. (shrink)

Leibniz is not commonly numbered amongst canonical writers on toleration. One obvious reason is that, unlike Locke, he wrote no treatise specifically devoted to that doctrine. Another is the enormous amount of energy which he famously devoted to ecclesiastical reunification. Promoting the reunification of Christian churches is an objective quite different from promoting the toleration of different religious faiths – so different, in fact, that they are sometimes even construed as mutually exclusive. Ecclesiastical reunification aims to find agreement at least (...) on the most important doctrines. Religious toleration involves accepting and respecting disagreement even on the most important doctrines. If one regards these two projects as alternative rather than complementary strategies for dealing with religious diversity, Leibniz might more readily be characterised as an ecumenist rather than a tolerationist. Such appears to be the conclusion, at any rate, implicit in the balance of critical literature on these topics: whereas a steady stream of studies has discussed Leibniz’s project of ecclesiastical reunification, only a meager trickle has been devoted to his views on toleration; and some of these studies go so far as to conclude that Leibniz had no doctrine of toleration at all. This paper will attempt to show, on the contrary, that a robust, many-layered, and unusually inclusive doctrine of toleration can be gleaned from Leibniz’s writings. This doctrine operated at least at three different levels: philosophical, theological, and pragmatic. As this implies, the doctrine of religious toleration, rather than being in collision with Leibniz’s core project of ecclesiastical reunification, was an essential element of that very project: it should be seen, in other words, not as a competing goal, but as a necessary first step toward ecclesiastical reunification. Yet at the same time it will also emerge that Leibniz’s doctrine of toleration was no mere function of this intra-Christian project of reunification: rather it was a still more fundamental principle which extended beyond the ecumenical project as well. It had the resources for accepting and respecting irreducible religious diversity and disagreement on points of importance not only between Christian communities, but also between Christians and non-Christians, including, in principle, even the atheists. These points will emerge from a discussion of statements on the philosophical, theological, and pragmatic justifications of religious toleration scattered throughout Leibniz’s sprawling corpus of writings. (shrink)

This contribution discusses Leibniz’s conception of faith and its relation to reason. It shows that, for Leibniz, faith embraces both cognitive and non-cognitive dimensions: although it must be grounded in reason, it is not merely reasonable belief. Moreover, for Leibniz, a truth of faith (like any truth) can never be contrary to reason but can be above the limits of comprehension of human reason. The latter is the epistemic status of the Christian mysteries. This view raises the problem of how (...) it can be determined whether a doctrine above the full grasp of human reason does or does not imply contradiction. The notion of ‘presumption’ and the ‘strategy of defence’ are presented and discussed as Leibniz’s way to tackle this issue. Finally, the article explores the ‘motives of credibility’ which, according to Leibniz, can and should be produced to uphold the credibility of a putative divine revelation, including his account of miracles. (shrink)

This paper re-assesses the place of theology in Leibniz’s thought focusing on the relationship between theory and praxis. It takes as its point of departure a general conclusion established in previous work, namely that Leibniz’s key formulations of his overarching plan for the reform and advancement of all the sciences, are devoted to a set of objectives which is both shaped by broadly theological concerns and ultimately practical. Against this backdrop, the discussion will then turn to an exploration of how (...) Leibniz thought of theology as such. I argue that Leibniz was committed to the elaboration of a robust Christian dogmatic which was rationally defensible, and that this commitment resulted in a genuine engagement with Christian theology which took very seriously its theoretical content. The key additional thesis argued for in this paper is that this theoretical engagement was in the service of a science which he conceived as ultimately practical. For Leibniz, the ultimate aim of theology was to lead to the love of God above all things and, in so doing, to salvation and eternal happiness. It is in the light of this practical end that his theological pragmatism should be evaluated. When this is done, it becomes apparent that, beneath Leibniz’s efforts at theological reconciliation in the context of his Kirchenpolitik, there lies a deeper, fundamental and properly theological emphasis on praxis, grounded in Leibniz’s epistemology and driven by his conception of salvation as ultimately dependent on a practical attitude – the love of God above all things. Leibniz’s theological pragmatism was remarkably -- perhaps even surprisingly -- close to the family of prudential approaches to religious belief proposed by Pascal and later authors such as William James. The paper concludes that Leibniz’s conception of theology as ultimately practical is very much in line with the whole thrust of Leibniz’s intellectual programme as expressed in the over-arching plans discussed in the first section. These plans too were driven by a practical end: the promotion of the common good and of human happiness as the celebration of the glory of God in his creation. At the same time, the end of happiness – whether worldly or eternal -- should not be regarded as competing with Leibniz’s theoretical endeavours – whether in the sciences or in theology -- but as directly supported by them. (shrink)

Detendo-se na investigação dos dois grandes modelos que caracterizam o pensamento político, a saber, o modelo clássico e o modelo jusnaturalista, o artigo em questão, distinguindo no âmbito daquele as teorias idealistas e realistas, empreende uma abordagem que nas fronteiras deste último sublinha desde a questão que envolve Como nasceu o Estado?, proposta pela perspectiva historicista, que traz como fundamento o homem como animal político, até a leitura racionalista, que acena com o problema Por que existe o Estado?, identificando o (...) homem como um ser naturalmente antissocial, salientando que se o bem comum determina a visão platônico-aristotélica, a leitura hobbesiana instaura uma lógica que emerge através do contrato social e assinala a tendência natural da autopreservação como fundamento da ação humana, consistindo, em suma, na transição da ordem mecânica da matéria à ordem final da vontade. (shrink)

Se o sentido e a finalidade da razão como instrumento de conhecimento converge para a possibilidade de discernimento envolvendo o verdadeiro e o falso, o que se impõe ao seu exercício não é senão um método que consiste na aplicação de determinados preceitos destinados tanto ao entendimento como à vontade, cuja contradição caracteriza o fundamento metafísico do erro, segundo Descartes que, conforme assinala o referido artigo, recorre a uma dúvida que, na investigação dos fundamentos absolutos, encerra uma radicalidade que tende (...) a se deter nas fronteiras do próprio ato de duvidar, que implica na experiência do Cogito e traz a prova ontológica da existência de Deus como única condição capaz de assegurar a realidade do mundo. (shrink)

Over the past decades a number of scholars have identified Johann Heinrich Bisterfeld as one of the most decisive early influences on Leibniz. In particular, the impressive similarity between their conceptions of universal harmony has been stressed. Since the issue of relations is at the heart of both Bisterfeld and Leibniz’s doctrines of universal harmony, the extent of the similarity between their doctrines will depend, however, on Bisterfeld and Leibniz’s respective theories of relations, and especially on their ontologies of relations. (...) This paper attempts to determine in more detail whether Bisterfeld’s ontology of relations contains at least the germ of the defining features of the ontology of relations later developed by Leibniz. It comes to the conclusion that, although Bisterfeld’s theory of relations is not as fully developed and explicit as that of Leibniz, it does contain all the key “ingredients” of it. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that, in Leibniz’s mature metaphysics, primary matter is not a positive constituent which must be added to the form in order to have a substance. Primary matter is merely a way to express the negation of some further perfection. It does not have a positive ontological status and merely indicates the limitation or imperfection of a substance. To be sure, Leibniz is less than explicit on this point, and in many texts he writes as if (...) primary matter were a positive constituent of a substance. It seems to me, however, that the view most in keeping with the thrust of his mature philosophical system is that captured by a striking remark of 1695: “Materia rerum est nihilum: id est limitatio [The matter of things is nothing: that is, limitation].” This becomes especially apparent in texts showing that Leibniz’s conception of primary matter corresponds to his conception of creaturely limitation. I start by discussing the notion of primary matter in the scholastic tradition. I then show that although Leibniz places the scholastic terminology of primary matter at a crucial juncture of his metaphysics, he thinks of primary matter in a way which significantly deviates from earlier scholastic views. I conclude that despite his adoption of distinctive terminology of Aristotelian scholasticism, instead of holding a broadly Aristotelian concept of primary matter as the ultimate subject of inherence, Leibniz thinks of primary matter according to a Neoplatonic blue-print in which matter is non-being, privation, mere absence of perfection. (shrink)

Correlating it to contemporary society, the article in question beckons with the reading of the idols of the cave [Bacon], holding specifically that the question involves the nature of the individual, whose trend can prevail only to adapt the framework of your perspective content resulting from the endoculturação, converging, in short, to the borders of dogma, as highlighted by the emergence of materialistic scientism, in the name of progress, establishing the techno-scientific belief in the assumptions, proposing the credibility of the (...) referential framework of science and technical division of conditionalities as determinants of social change, characterized because, as a false notion, as evidenced by the consequences. (shrink)

Detendo-se no pecado em Pelágio como possibilidade enquanto exercício da liberdade e responsabilidade individual, o artigo assinala a defesa da neutralidade envolvendo a criação do ser humano e a sua capacidade para o bem e o mal, sublinhando a liberdade da vontade e a sua absoluta indeterminação, o que atrela o pecado à escolha. Dessa forma, o texto mostra o pecado em Agostinho como fato e ato enquanto liberdade, responsabilidade e culpa pessoal, na medida em que o ser humano é (...) constituído enquanto tal em estado de santa inocência em um processo que atribui ao pecado a condição de um produto da escolha humana através do exercício de sua liberdade e plena consciência, convergindo para um acontecimento que, baseado na atitude de Adão, impõe a sua posteridade a condição de absoluta depravação e inescapável culpa. Assim, examinando o pecado como símbolo racional entre Pelágio e Agostinho segundo Paul Ricoeur, a pesquisa afirma a necessidade de um processo que seja capaz de desconstruir o conceito em função da emergência da intenção ortodoxa enquanto sentido reto e eclesial. (shrink)