ABSTRACT Objective: to understand the meaning and dimensionality of state of comfort from chronic hemodialysis patients’ perspectives. Method: this is a qualitative study conducted with 30 patients from a hemodialysis clinic from May to June 2018. A semi-structured interview with guiding questions was used. Data were analyzed according to Bardin’s content analysis method, supported by Kolcaba’s theoretical framework. Results: five subcategories for being and feeling comfortable emerged: psychological well-being; Silent environment; Good quality of care; No health changes; Reduction in the (...) frequency/duration of hemodialysis. Regarding dimensionality to achieve comfort, there were three subcategories according to the adopted states. Regarding dimensionality, relief is achieved when a patient is disconnected from the machine, does not attend any session or does not present clinical manifestations of hemodialysis complications. In calm, visible discomforts are linked to change of routine, abandonment of work activities, financial difficulties and poor family support, and psychospiritual issues that weaken in their daily life, making them vulnerable to discomfort. In transcendence, absence of symptoms, attachment to religion, faith or spirituality and resilience to the new routine figured as indexes. States do not act individually, they are related to the experiences of contexts. Conclusion: comfort has meaning of relief from discomfort, state of having met basic human needs, mental and physical well-being, physical, mental and environmental comfort, and final state of nursing therapeutic actions, which permeate the contexts and states of relief, calm, and transcendence. These elements combine with each other to generate unique responses. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective The study seeks to reflect on rehabilitation nursing care, from the perspective of the Theory of Recognition and the Principle of Hope. State of art Reflection study, based on Axel Honneth’s Theory of Recognition crossed by Ernst Bloch’s Principle of Hope, aiming to elucidate the theoretical and methodological potential of these references for future research in health, nursing and rehabilitation nursing. Rehabilitation nursing care is permeated by theoretical and philosophical influences little described in the literature. The study proposes (...) a way of thinking and exercising care with the perspective of building rehabilitation nursing care, in which the nurse excels in trust, respect and mutual esteem, playing the role of agent of hopeful and realistic expectations. Conclusion The study showed the main characteristics of each philosophical theoretical axis, permeating, separately, the relevant definitions to understand its implications in the concrete reality of living. (shrink)

: Despite the ubiquity of models in science education, there are several different conceptions about their nature in the scientific community. We sought to investigate understandings about them conveyed in the recent research in science education. To this end, we have reviewed papers published on models and modelling between 2010 and 2019. Our analysis revealed that these different notions on the concept of model could be represented in three main trends: Concrete, Construct and Mathematical. In addition, we found that these (...) studies: are predominantly empirical in nature; involve frameworks arising mainly from science education research itself, but with a considerable influence from Philosophy of Science and cognitive sciences; encompass Physics, Biology and Chemistry domains in relatively similar frequencies, but decreasing in this order. Another outcome of this study was the emergence of different scenarios regarding the journals consulted, revealing the existence of different thought styles in science education research community. (shrink)

This article aims to discuss Virginia Woolf’s critical appraisal of the contemporariness of her contemporaries’ production while also probing the very idea of what constitutes “the contemporary”. “The Modern Essay serves as the frame for what Woolf dubbed “the contemporary dilemma”, which this article then traces in “How it Strikes a Contemporary”. Resorting to other major essays, this article contextualizes Woolf’s publication of The Common Reader – First Series so as to explore its conversational quality as a philosophical principle inherent (...) to Woolf’s oeuvre. The philosophically inclined methodology of Woolf’s essays finds fertile ground in Giorgio Agamben’s “What Is the Contemporary?”. Ultimately, by reading Woolf alongside Agamben, this article sheds light on the intersections between contemporary philosophy and the philosophical questions we continue to find in Woolf’s writing. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: To elaborate a reflection on the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty and her contributions to nursing research. Methods: This is a reflective theoretical study based on one of Merleau-Ponty's works and recent scientific literature on the subject. Results and discussion: Three themes were developed that combine the contribution of Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, starting from the central concepts of philosophy and nursing care. The approach to the body not only from a biological expression, but from the phenomenology of the lived body provides (...) an existentialist vision of the understanding of the human being immersed in the world and its relations with holistic care. Final considerations: Merleau-Ponty's philosophical reference is very useful in the generation of nursing knowledge, constituting a support for phenomenological research since it allows the understanding of the subjective phenomena of care through the body. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to understand elderly people’s experiences in emergencies through access to other levels of health care. Methods: a phenomenological study in the light of Heidegger, conducted with 19 elderly patients admitted to an Emergency Care Unit of the city of Salvador, between April and October 2019. Results: ontic primacy: Disposition of the experience of elderly people waiting for regulation; Constitutional anguish and fear in the willingness to be an elderly person waiting for regulation in an Emergency Care Unit; Inappropriate (...) elderly being suppressed while waiting for regulation; Being an elderly person unveiled in the existential modality of being for death. Ontological primacy: Heal how to be the presence of elderly people waiting for regulation. Final considerations: elderly people being anguished and afraid, feelings that allow the questioning of their own being, who want a healing and seeks ways that allows an active and proper participation in care. (shrink)

The visualization of Information Science as a postmodern science must aim at overcoming borderline dominant models, surpassing simplistic methodological impasses, and covering complex phenomena. In this regard, the article is inserted in the epistemological discussions, selecting social epistemology and decolonial thought as its themes. Its purpose is to identify the possible convergences between decolonial thought and social epistemology and, based on that, to propose, in an essay-like way, a decolonial social epistemology. In the methodological aspect, this is an exploratory, qualitative, (...) and bibliographic research. The technical procedure for the analysis of the bibliography took place using a non-probabilistic approach, by judgment. The main result of this article is the construction of a historical and epistemological panorama that makes possible the approximation of thematics that, although produced in different contexts and interests, converge in a common objective: that of constituting a social, democratic epistemic field and that does not disregard the different subjects of knowledge. Thus, the reflections that combine the proposal of social epistemology with the decolonial thought or movement may bring theoretical panoramas and perspectives closer to the professional practice and research aimed at the 21st century informational context. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Latin American decolonial theory is built around the thesis of the “coloniality of knowledge”, which claims that the socio-political domination of Latin America and other regions of the global periphery by European countries and the United States is directly related to the initial colonial imposition and subsequent cultural reproduction of so-called “Western epistemology” and science. I argue that the epistemological claims of four decolonial thinkers that make up the coloniality of knowledge thesis are problematic for several reasons: they are (...) based on distorted and simplistic readings of Descartes, Hume and other Enlightenment figures; they make contentious generalizations about so-called Western epistemology; and they ultimately lead to epistemic relativism, which is a problematic basis for the social sciences and, contrary to decolonial aspirations, renders the subaltern unable to speak. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The research aims to reconstruct the expressive contribution of the philosophy of otherness to thinking the status of Christian theology in Latin American lands, as well as the disenchantment of that kind of philosophy. First, it is about evoking the contribution of the wisdom of Love to think Christian theology otherwise in light of a broader background that re-establish the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Secondly, we intend to explain the impact of the Levinasian approach on the problem of (...) God and its developments in our continent from a theological point of view. Without denying that theology has a discursive character, it is a matter of retaking what the Lithuanian-Frenchman philosopher evokes about the service to the love of the wisdom of love. And by way of conclusion, it is intended to propose some brief notes about the urgency of a poststructuralist turn of Latin American theology in function of the centrality of ethics and their respective languages in the manner of a Canticle of the Canticles. (shrink)

During the last 150 years or more, society has witnessed many key scientific discoveries and inventions, which have dramatically improved not only our quality of life, but our lifespan. However, the motivation of scientists to provide scientific advances has generally not been the achievement of these goals, but mainly driven by research curiosity. Fundamental scientific studies, also known as basic science, have paved the way to a society of knowledge by means of continuously evolving education systems, and have led to (...) applied science and technological breakthroughs changing the World. However, without basic science such life-changing advances would not happen, which is poorly understood by the society. Having this in mind, chemists and biochemists working in a chemistry network highlight here examples of how basic science has played a crucial role and led to major breakthroughs. In seven short stories, the authors describe cases and historical events where basic research discoveries have advanced science, and opened avenues for future achievements. Investment in basic science is crucial for a nation’s health and wealth. The support of scientists driven by curiosity ultimately can benefit the whole of society, not only in innovative products, but also in the improvement of the understanding of our own lives. (shrink)

Two decades ago, Robert Proctor coined the term agnotology to refer to the study of ignorance that stems from scientific research. Amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, the world is witnessing the greatest natural experiment ever, and countries have adopted different response strategies. An evaluation of the effectiveness of different policies will play a valuable role in preparing for future public health emergencies. However, controversial issues such as the timing and pathways of viral emergence, the effectiveness of social distancing and lockdown (...) strategies, and the use of antimalarial drugs as therapy have still not been fully resolved. This serves as a fertile breeding ground for agnotological strategies, whereby scientific studies are deliberately or unintentionally designed to create distractions or draw conclusions that are not supported by research findings. Researchers, public health authorities, and healthcare workers should be equipped to identify such agnotological strategies, distinguish them from scientific fraud, and avoid drawing misleading inferences based on an irrational adherence to hypotheses and a lack of criticism of implausible results. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to reflect on the relationships involving the older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of complexity, envisioning the path of hope. Method: this is a reflection based on the Theory of Complexity, according to Edgar Morin, and on articles addressing the new coronavirus. Results: the experiences during the pandemic showed economic, social, health, cultural, ethical, and moral difficulties in relation to the older adults. Facing the uncertainties of COVID-19 teaches about the attitude towards this inevitable involvement (...) in the individual and collective life, as well as in the history of the country and the world - a problem aggravated by the fears of humanity. Therefore, adapting society and remodeling it with regard to relationships with the older adults can translate into success against the pandemic disease. This induces thought reform, reorganizing the understanding of the older adults, which currently involves scattered, disjoint, compartmentalized, and excluding thinking. This reform is broad, deep, paradigmatic, cultural, ethical, and moral, which strengthens the culture of aging, propagating and democratizing the poetry of living, allowing the older adults to know the beauty of emotions, and to discover their own truths through the masterpieces of their lives. However, this intention presupposes a metamorphosis of individualism, oppression, and exclusion, in whose context gerontological nursing is fundamental. Conclusion: the transformations experienced during the pandemic may be the prelude to changing relationships with the older adults, through multiple reforming and transforming processes that come together, by the strengthening of gerontological nursing. Perhaps the pandemic moment is the beginning of the path of hope for new times of Humanity's dignity. (shrink)

We show that, contrary to common sense, the author of mechanical work does not necessarily provide the required energy. By the most simple example one can ever conceive – a standing person starting to move, this point is made clear: the floor does not spend energy and it does work on the person. We analyse two additional examples in order to ilustrate the subtle aspect of Newtonian theory: despite something is said about where the work is going to, namely the (...) Work – Kinetic Energy Theorem, absolutely nothing is said about where the work comes from. In all these examples, explicit calculations of work are done in both inertial and non-inertial frames. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify evidence of nursing patterns of knowing disseminated by the Brazilian press before the implementation of Florence Nightingale’s model in Brazil and categorize topics of journalistic articles according to Carper’s and White’s patterns of knowing. Methods: categorical content analysis of materials related to Florence Nightingale, published in Brazil between 1850 and 1919, collected at Hemeroteca Digital. Four analysts identified themes of journalistic article, performing classification in patterns of knowing. Results: there was a predominance of evidence of the (...) sociopolitical pattern followed by the empirical pattern. In the analyses per decade, ethical and aesthetic patterns showed predominance between 1860 and 1870, respectively. Conclusion: White’s classification by nursing patterns of knowing was useful in understanding precursor themes of professional/disciplinary knowledge that spread in Brazil, linked to Nightingale’s character, in addition to the repercussions of her actions and her expanded sociopolitical perspective. (shrink)

Jacques Derrida delivered the basis of The Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning, & the New International as a plenary address at the conference ‘Whither Marxism?’ hosted by the University of California, Riverside, in 1993. The longer book version was published in French the same year and appeared in English and Portuguese the following year. In the decade after the publication of Specters, Derrida’s analyses provoked a large critical literature and invited both consternation and (...) celebration by figures such as Antonio Negri, Wendy Brown and Frederic Jameson. This forum seeks to stimulate new reflections on Derrida, deconstruction and Specters of Marx by considering how the futures past announced by the book have fared after an eventful quarter century. In this fifth group of contributions, three philosophers explore the specters of colonialidade, the specifically Brazilian legacies of Portuguese and European coloniality. Carla Rodrigues opens the dialogue by exploring the haunting and melancholy provoked by colonial forms of violence and shows how confronting Brazilian necropolitics sustains the Derridean legacy; Rafael Haddock-Lobo offers a meditation on the difficulties of being before the law and standing before specters as a means of being justly haunted by the others of European philosophy in Brazil; finally, Marcelo Moraes continues the theme of Europe as a specter-producing machine and invokes specifically the presences of indigenous and Afro-Brazilian political resistances with the aim of deconstructing coloniality. (shrink)

This manuscript aims to discuss possibilities for the incorporation of complex thinking in the scientific field of Physical Education in Brazil. In dialogue with philosophers who theorize about complex thinking, we analyze the ordering of scientific knowledge structures in Brazil, such as the organization in areas and lines of PE Graduate Programs exposed on their websites and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel document. Regarding sociocultural transformations that occurred throughout the 20th century, science perceives the limits of (...) knowledge, where divisions in disciplines seem to be insufficient to investigate the complexity of problems, giving rise to the epistemological perspective of complex thinking. PE is organized in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary way, but with gaps between human sciences and natural sciences. Therefore, seeking strategies to reduce borders is emerging for the area to adapt to the new scientific needs of the 21st century. (shrink)

: This paper argues for an interdisciplinary interlocution between social theory and social philosophy in order to recast the problem of normativity in social practices, especially within Brazil's democratic ethos. By resorting to insights from critical theory and social epistemology, the essay proposes to reexamine Bourdieu's conception of habitus so as to contribute to a moderate social constructionism that cannot be reduced to a postmodernist discourse or to a variant of relativism.

ABSTRACT Objective: to present Thomas Kuhn's theory and its applicability for epistemological evaluation of the Nursing Graduate Program. Method: reflective analysis with a guiding question: How can Thomas Kuhn's theory contribute to an epistemological evaluation of the Graduate Nursing Program? Results: the Nursing Science in its historical process of realization has been facing numerous challenges that impose themselves to scientific knowledge: having an accurate and robust philosophical basis that justifies and legitimizes the knowledge of the area to support its assertions; (...) dwell on the object of his science; have clear the field of discipline and its relationship with the related sciences, establishing interdisciplinary dialogue. To base scientific production on objects proper to nursing, to seek appropriate methods to approach them without disregarding the knowledge of nurses' experiences and accomplishments may be the guiding thread that enables Nursing Science to be linked to the pragmatics of the profession and Cheers. This has been the challenge for the nursing scientific community. The elements of Kuhnian theory are presented: pre-science, normal science, crisis and revolution; points out a hypothesis to be tested by the researchers of the program. If the hypothesis is true, Nursing Science approaches the paradigmatic level and will manifest itself in pragmatics through the scientific nursing discipline. If rejected, there will be a new classification for the area. Conclusion: the corpus doutrinae of the profession requires qualitative self-assessment of an epistemological nature. Thomas Kuhn's thinking can support this assessment. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: This study intends to analyze how the human condition of the nurse is established in the context of Psychosocial Care Centers. Method: theoretical-reflexive study, anchored in three essential parts: 1) Theoretical and philosophical conception of the human condition from Hannah Arendt’s perspective; 2) The nurse’s work in the Caps; and 3) Human condition to think about the work of the nurse. Results: in the context of the Caps, the work can be represented by the psychic significations; the work, (...) through the production of nurses’ practice of care; and the action by the relations established between worker and institution, worker and user. Final considerations: the understanding of the vita activa allows to reflect on the human condition of the nurse in their work context and considers a better understanding about the impact of the work on the life of these mental health workers in the contemporaneity. (shrink)

: The article presents some Heideggerian ideas applied to the art of clowning. Four principles of practice of the clown’s art are analysed in the light of misfitness - a concept based on the clown’s ability not to fit into theatrical, cinematic and social conventions, thus creating a language of his own. In an ontological approach, this article seeks to examine what it means to be a clown-in-the-world. Following a Heideggerian principle, the clown is analysed here taking into account his (...) artistic praxis; a clown is what a clown does: this is the basic principle of clown poetics. The conclusion proposes a look at the clown’s way of thinking - which is here called misfit logic - and shows the hermeneutics of failure, where the logic of success becomes questionable. (shrink)

: The dialogue discusses the role presence could be permitted to play in academic situations of co-presence with others. It ponders the extent to which conventional academic forms, quite apart from seeking to guarantee objectivity in theory, actually pre-determine, or in fact limit, the communicability of theoretical content. The conversation points to the need for a new dramaturgical attentiveness to the performativity of theory and calls for an innovative approach to the formats in which the questions and results concerning various (...) fields in the humanities could be presented and negotiated more successfully. (shrink)

: The article suggests that eavesdropping scenes contain the key to a fundamental dispositive of the theatre, that reinforces the intricate metatheatrical dimensions of any performance and amplifies its philosophical aspects. In order to make this claim clear, the article discusses the idea of a dispositive, a concept broadly taken from Foucault and applies its self-reflexive dimensions to a number of examples from different plays, in order to demonstrate as those work both as scores for performances as well as texts (...) with a philosophical character. (shrink)

: Creative imagination is a central concept in critical philosophy which establishes the framing faculty of the subject in the middle of the cognitive process. Linking the internal and the external, imagination is also key for dramatic acting methodologies. This mediation has been alternatively interpreted in Western tradition under a reversible perspective, giving priority to either the process that goes from the outside inwards or just the opposite. Going beyond dialectics, this article will connect philosophy with dramatic theory. My proposal (...) explores the virtual drama of identity to emphasise how the transcendental and empirical get linked theatrically. (shrink)

: In this paper, the so-called Crisis of Representation is discussed as a hallmark of Western Theatre and Modernity. The key hypothesis of overcoming such a crisis is investigated through the emergence of a performative turn, in which performance is understood in a broader sense derived from Performance Studies. To address this, the paper builds on authors such as Artaud, Derrida, Heidegger, Gumbrecht and Féral for a general theoretical background, and on the work of authors such as Cull, Street and (...) others for a more specific approach concerning the field of Performance Philosophy. This paper argues that a philosophical turn in Performance Studies has happened through a radicalization of ‘Presence’. (shrink)

: This article introduces performance philosophy, despite the risk of performative contradiction such an act involves. First, it considers performance philosophy as a field that questions how performance thinks and thought is performed. Drawing from Laruelle’s non-philosophy, it then addresses performance philosophy as method, framing it as an alternative, performative paradigm to the philosophy of the arts approach that has historically dominated approaches to aesthetics. It concludes by affirming the call to the field to address the ethico-political dimensions of knowledge-production (...) in not only disciplinary, but also geopolitical terms. (shrink)

We discuss the proposition of wave-particle duality made by Louis de Broglie in the period of 1922-1924 as well as the narratives of undergraduate Physics textbooks that introduce this topic. After a brief discussion on the nature of scientific reality, we point out the main theories, assumptions and techniques adopted by de Broglie to achieve the relation between momentum and wavelength. We use these elements as analytical categories, observing which of them are still present in four popular undergraduate introductory textbooks. (...) Our results show that none of the textbooks used de Broglie's original strategy, treating his ideas as postulates. Moreover, we show that only few elements of de Broglie's original presentation are still commented by textbooks, which treat de Broglie's ideas as purely speculative, reinforcing the “genius myth”. In the sequence, we propose a didactic alternative, which we call a “chain of reference presentation”. In this strategy, we highlight that all scientific knowledge is supported by previous theories and it works as the ground of future scientific improvements. With this perspective, we perform a didactic derivation of de Broglie's momentum-wavelength relation and we introduce empirical and theoretical works that may be studied from it. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: Analyze the meaning of being an elderly person living in a long-term institution. Method: Qualitative study based on Martin Heidegger’s thought. Twelve phenomenological interviews were conducted with people aged over 60 years living in a long-term institution for the elderly in the city of Itabuna, Bahia, Brazil. Results: The units of meaning identified were: experience of progressive loss of autonomy and independence, perception of living in an institution as an inevitable circumstance; and being-with becoming being-alone/being-lonely. After the identification (...) of ontic aspects and hermeneutical understanding, the unit of meaning was constructed: meaning of being an elderly person living in a long-term institution. Final considerations: The ontological needs referring to being an elderly person remain forgotten. As we are ontic and ontological, limited care to the ontic instance indicates deficiencies in institutionalization. Improvements are required to ensure the right to age with quality of life to this population. (shrink)

Based upon Foucauldian and Derridean post-structuralist philosophy of language, Sousa Santos and Menezes de Souza’s sociological approaches to language, Hall’s productive conceptualization of culture and on Mirzoeff, Stam and Shohat’s visual studies, this paper seeks to engage with discussions on visual culture, cultural translation and language education. Of qualitative/interpretative nature, this reflection is divided into five main sections: in the introduction, it presents philosophical and sociological approaches to language and culture. Section one problematizes visual culture by means of the genealogy (...) of invisible bodies. Next section evolves from the grammar-translation model to cultural translation in visual culture. Then, it revisits and deconstructs dominant literacy models through cultural translation. Finally, this genealogical perspective towards the visual shows how the traditional historical formations have taken over back again the political and educational scenarios in our country, and thus sadly promoted a politics of manipulation and alienation. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to understand the life experiences that favor transcendence of the elderly being. Method: a qualitative phenomenological hermeneutic study, in two groups of elderly coexistence. The selection of participants was by intentional sampling: 11 elderly, achieving theoretical saturation. Data collection was carried out through a phenomenological interview with a detonating question. Ethical principles of the General Health Law in health research were fulfilled. Analysis with Heideggerian hermeneutic circle was performed. Results: unity of meaning on the consciousness of a higher (...) power for transcendence is highlighted, where spirituality and religiosity are resources of the elderly for strength, feel protected, overcome difficult situations and reach fullness; both favor the understanding of their historicity by manifesting enlightenment. Final considerations: transcendence of the elderly being is favored with spirituality and the experiences of their daily life are imbued with a spiritual and religious relationship that give meaning to their existence. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to discuss the use of the H-index as an indicator for the evaluation of the Nursing area researcher in the light of Thomas Kuhn's disciplinary matrix. Method: this is a reflective study, conducted between March and April 2018, which identifies the elements that underlie the H-index and criticizes it as an indicator for the evaluation of the researcher in the nursing scientific community. Results: the Nursing area is in the normal science phase and has a disciplinary matrix. It (...) consists of theories, research methods and experiments; establishes procedures; indicates the problems to be studied and determines the scientific agenda; provides modular solutions for the scientific community; it has epistemic values that legitimize and justify the research practice. The values are of a quantitative and qualitative nature, namely: accuracy, consistency, range, simplicity, objectivity, originality and fruitfulness. The H-index cannot display the qualitative values of science. Conclusion: the quantitative and qualitative epistemic values form an amalgam, making it impossible to separate them, for it is in axiological complementarity that science is founded. From its evaluative approach with the so-called mature sciences, it is inferred that the Nursing area should consider these values for itself. The H-index is limited for the evaluation of the researcher. Care should be taken to harbor it, so as not to hinder the insertion of new candidates to be researchers into the postgraduate teaching staff, thus preventing generational sharing among peers, given that the index does not can measure the category made up by young researchers. (shrink)

Objective: To reflect on the use of phenomenological analysis in nursing research through the hermeneutical circle of Martin Heidegger. Method: Theoretical reflection based on Martin Heidegger’s concepts through literature review. Results: Phenomenology is a philosophical referential to address lived phenomena; Heidegger emphasizes the essence of being in the world bound in experiences, the hermeneutical circle is a methodological referential of analysis to understand the world lived by the being through a pre-understanding; an understanding and an interpretation to reveal the essence (...) of the phenomenon. Conclusions and implications for practice: Nursing can make use the hermeneutic circle to understand, from a philosophical view, the phenomena in the language of those who experience them, to unveil them and to understand the subjectivity of care. (shrink)

In this work, we show the results from a research made in a curricular innovation situation, whose main focus was to assess the performance of a teacher which implemented a teaching sequence on the concept of mass. This process began by a revision of the concept of mass in three different frameworks, namely classical mechanics, electromagnetism and relativity, with the purpose of addressing the epistemological changes of the subject from Newtonian mechanics to relativity. This revision yielded a written material about (...) the theme and was employed in the development of the teaching sequence, which had as main methodology the Design Based Research. Our main research focus concerns the performance of the implementer teacher and his appropriation of the underlying didactic intention. In order to assess how effectively this teacher did absorb the intentions of the course he delivered, we relied on Chevallard’s Didactic Transposition Theory. Data were extracted from recordings of the teacher’s classes and the subsequent analysis has shown that there may be a relation between the difficulties he had in conveying the didactic intention and the innovative character of the contents involved. Our results indicate that these difficulties are directly related with the very nature of scientific knowledge and, in fact, belong to the realm of epistemology. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: To understand the life experiences that favor the plenitude and transcendence of the elderly being. Method: Qualitative study of hermeneutical phenomenological approach. It was conducted from January 2014 to March 2017 in two social groups for seniors. Selection of participants was by intentional sampling with information saturation. Characteristics of participants: men or women aged 60 years and over. Data collection through a phenomenological interview. Study in compliance with the General Law of Health, Subject of Health Research and the (...) Declaration of Helsinki. Analysis through the Heidegger’s hermeneutic circle: Pre-understanding, understanding and interpretation. Results: Units of meaning arose. Ontologically, seniors are revealed in their historicity and temporality, emphasize fear and anguish in their daily life, and fall into a feeling of nothing with the need to be authentic that is achieved through care. This understanding of the being is transcendence, and its manifestation is enlightenment. Conclusion: Transcendence is favored by care in the life cycle. Nursing as a science of care can promote actions that facilitate the reach of the encounter of seniors at different stages of their lives. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: To reflect on the qualification process of the professionals of the School Health Program through the Complexity Theory. Method: Edgar Morin's theoretical framework was used to defend the need to overcome the reductionist, disjunctive and limiting view of thought through the integration of knowledge. The recursive, dialogic and hologramatic principles and the concepts of order and disorder supported this process. Results: It was understood that the products and effects are included in the same process and if they are (...) retroactive. The interaction and dialogue between the different professionals through the union of different ideas are necessary and become inseparable for the complexity of the capacities, when not only the parts are in the whole, but the whole is also identified in the parts. Conclusion and Implications for the Practice: It is necessary to integrate health and education professionals in the training of the School Health Program when considering their needs in the work processes, when counting on the contribution of the knowledge of other disciplines and sectors, as well as when sharing attributions in the execution of the activities proposed by the School Health Program. (shrink)

This contribution focuses on the complex origin and publication history of the clandestine treatise Traité des trois imposteurs that put into motion the process of the radical Enlightenment. The treatise consists almost completely of a compilation of paraphrases and quotations of heterodox texts of the 17th century. A summary will be made of the most important source texts assembled in the collage. One of them is Vanini’s De Admirandis Naturae Reginae Deaeque Mortalium Arcanis from 1619 on which the analysis will (...) focus. Two editions of the treatise are particularly important in this respect and will be looked at in detail: the first publication in print from 1719 under the title L’esprit de Spinosa and the re-edition as Traité des trois imposteurs from 1768 probably made by D’Holbach. The hypothesis developed of this contribution is that through the translation and the retranslation, step by step, a shift in meaning from Renaissance pantheism and the idea of natural religion to atheism and materialism took place. This hypothesis will be assessed by a precise comparative analysis of two excerpts of Dialogue 50 of De Admirandis, the French translation in L’Esprit de Spinosa and the French retranslation in the Traité des trois imposteurs. Finally, also the Italian translation of 1798 will be compared with the previous editions/translations. (shrink)

Based on an epistemological discussion, this paper aims to show the contribution of abduction as a scientific procedure in the educational field. To that end, I explain how scientific research approaches and processes are founded on the three types of logical inference: deduction, induction and abduction, all of which underpin knowledge building and the role of both science and researchers. Firstly, I describe the specific features of abduction according to Peirce’s philosophical system. Then, I illustrate its implementation in a study (...) on teaching. Finally, I underscore how abduction could contribute to build a broader scientific project in the intercept between basic and praxeological research. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: To reflect about the father’s experience close to the premature son using the kangaroo method under the referential of Merleau-Ponty. Method: Theoretical-reflexive study based on the phenomenology of perception and behavior proposed by Merleau-Ponty and relevant literature. Results: To live the prematurity with the son using the kangaroo method, provides for the father to recognize himself as a being in the world. His intentions regarding the care are demonstrated through the skin to skin contact and the associated care (...) for the newborn child. From the lived experiences, the father can exert the fullness of his paternity. Conclusion and implications for practice: By comprehending the father’s way of being, acting and reacting using the kangaroo method, it will be possible to reflect upon his attitudes as caregiver and get him closer to the newborn child. Therefore, it is possible to strengthen the behaviors between father and son with the purpose of creating an emotional bond, thus allowing the inherent care regarding prematurity. Understanding the paternal behavior in the care of the premature child in the Kangaroo Method and their perceptions about care neonatal, can benefit nursing praxis from the perspective of promoting neonatal health, as well as in the prevention of diseases in relation to morbidity and Infant mortality. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Purpose: To review the scientific production on organizational learning, which made use of the practice-based studies approach, concerning the production evolution, the author's profile, methodological characteristics, and correlated themes. Originality/value: Organizational learning presents gaps regarding contributions from other areas, such as Sociology. Practice Based Studies have the sociological bias and the social space as a locus of learning processes and knowledge generation. No studies have been identified that review the national scientific production on organizational learning in the PBS context, (...) reinforcing the potential contributions of this work. Design/methodology/approach: The research covered the papers available in Spell's database and in Capes Journals Portal, published until 2017, 42 in total. Those were systematically reviewed in a qualitative approach. Ucinet6 and NetDraw software were also used in the analysis. Findings: The publications are recent and focus on journals of national and international impact. The authorship is under responsibility of small groups, evidencing a partnership among the authors. The number of theoretical papers and the relevance of their contributions are significant. As for the empirical studies, there is a predominance of case study and interview. As to the themes, topics relevant to the PBS theoretical-methodological proposal are discussed. It was concluded that PBS, by taking the practices inserted in the context of organizations as a locus of learning study, reveal a potential to fill gaps in the traditional organizational learning perspective. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to discuss search-interference, whose processes are related to the field of health and the social field. Method: theoretical essay used as basis in the philosophy of difference represented by the philosophers Baruch Espinosa and Gilles Deleuze. Results: the present reflection resulted from the meeting of studies from the nursing field that deal with the production of knowledge based on the interference mode. The endeavor of crossing studies produced a theoretical composition presented in three plateaus: interference, a research that (...) welcomes the In-World Experiences; a way of producing researchers; and a nomad mode in health research. Final Consideration: search-interference can be considered as a nomad ethical and political mode for producing research whose consistence plan is provisory, rhizomatic and the result of meetings, forces, intensities and affects produced in the research field. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to reflect on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s notion of intersubjectivity as a potential reference to researches and actions directed to human care. Method: a reflexive analysis addressing three thematic areas: intersubjectivity and the holistic care; intersubjectivity and interdisciplinarity within the context of care; and description of experiences related to the own body within the context of health care. Results: the discussion presents structuring elements of Merleau-Ponty’s notion of intersubjectivity, such as: dialogue, respect, bond, and language. On the other hand, it (...) reveals ambiguities inherent in the connection of life and culture worlds, created in the intersubjectivity, resulting in different profiles of care, considering its potential to create interdisciplinarity and integrity within the context of health practices. Conclusion: intersubjectivity can contribute by making more creative and innovative the care with ourselves, the others, and the world. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms according to the model proposed by Walker and Avant. Method: a descriptive-reflexive study developed in the first half of 2016. He used the first five phases proposed by the Walker and Avant model: identification of the origins of the theory; examination of the meaning of the theory; logical adequacy; utility; degree of generalization and parsimony of theory. Results: the study allowed the reflection on the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms, considering the multidimensionality (...) of the symptoms and the potential stimulation between them. It was identified the relations between the main concepts used to construct the theory: physiological, psychological and situational factors, followed by performance, suffering, duration, quality, intensity and unpleasant symptoms. Conclusion: the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms presents a structured theoretical framework, presenting logical meaning, through well-defined concepts and relations, which make possible its use in practice, teaching and nursing research. (shrink)

This is an exploratory qualitative and bibliographic research without a chronological framework that addresses the historical and epistemological relations of Library Science and Information Science from the Brazilian scientific production in Information Science. This study addresses how and which aspects in the historical and epistemological relation occur between Information Science and Librarianship in Brazilian scientific production. The general objective is to identify to what extent the content of publications brings the two fields together. Specifically, the objectives were as follows: list (...) works within the Brazilian scientific production in Information Science that deal with the history and epistemology of Librarianship and Information Science; verify which works correlate historical and epistemological aspects of librarianship with Information Science; elicit some reflections on the historical and epistemological relations from the analysis of this research. The data collection was carried out in the Journal Portal of Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior database of the Scientific Electronic Library Online, Library and Information Science Abstracts, Web of Science and Scopus. Based on the analysis of the corpus of 21 articles, the most predominant themes were the history of Librarianship, the development of Information Science, the documentation of Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine, and interdisciplinarity. It is important to deepen the historical and epistemological relations of Librarianship and Information Science in national scientific production since research shows a lack of theoretical depth in the studies retrieved from the corpus. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the investigative path of analysis and the operationality of concepts based on Martin Heidegger's theoretical and philosophical framework. Method: Theoretical reflection on the phenomenon of pregnancy in a woman with heart disease. Results: Stages of the investigative movement were evidenced based on the pre-reflection related to the object of study and to the search for the phenomenal meaning, using the existential and analytical Hermeneutics as the approach and resulting in the reach of the phenomenal totality. Conclusion: (...) The worldview of the researcher, who considered the subjectivities of the person in a health or disease situation, favored the announcement of the referential by the object of study. Knowledge production in the light of Martin Heidegger's phenomenology unveiled phenomena lived and experienced in the Health and Nursing field, provided of epistemological rigor that demanded appropriation of concepts inherent to the existential analytics. (shrink)

This paper argues that social inequality is possibly the core topic of any critical theory in the social sciences – for epistemological as well as ethical reasons. As the social scientist is part of the scientific object, namely society, the project of science is interdependent with its object. For this reason, the structure of society itself influences the shape of social science. At the same time, the processes and results of the scientific project have an impact on society. Science changes (...) its own object. Epistemological issues are therefore tied to the ethical questions about the social organization of the scientific project, access to science, the structure of society and inequality. If access to science is unequal and if science contributes to inequality, this has to be legitimized scientifically. (shrink)

Contemporary philosophy of mind has tended to make the believer disappear. In response, Matt Boyle and Pamela Hieronymi have argued that believing is an act or activity, not a mental state. I argue that this response fails to fully critique contemporary accounts of believing. Such accounts assume that states of believing are particulars; with semantic properties; that we attend to in reflection and act on in inference; and with a rich causal life of their own. Together, these assumptions leave no (...) room for the believer in an account of believing. But these assumptions are not entailed by the idea that believing is a mental state. Careful reflection on other kinds of states helps us see how to put the believer back in the heart of our account of believing. (shrink)

Objective: Theoretical reflection that uses Reflexivity as a theoretical reference and its objective is to approach Donald Schön's reflective thinking, interrelating it with the innovative curriculum. Method: The writings of Schön and other authors who addressed the themes in their works were used. Results: The innovative curriculum as an expression of dissatisfaction with the fragmentation paradigm may favor reflective practice, since it is necessary to mobilize reflexivity for actions and contexts that are unpredictable in the field of health promotion. Conclusions: (...) The innovative curriculum favors and is favored by a reflective practice and the development of competencies for the promotion of health. Implications for practice: The findings apply to the practice of nurses to deal with the conditioning and determinants of the health-disease process. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Reflections on some assumptions of the theory of Communicative Action and the development of Critical Thinking in the context of training students in undergraduate nursing courses. The perspective is based on concepts of Jürgen Habermas, as a possibility for the development of critical thinking among the students of these courses. Communication is therefore understood as inherent in the training of nurses in a continuous, dynamic, dialogical process, with interventions that are related to the context of the students and that (...) have meaning for them, in order to contribute to the promotion of Critical Thinking. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: Understanding the meaning of pregnancy for heterosexual couples facing serodiscordant situation for HIV, aiming at construction of care possibilities based on subjectivity. Method: Phenomenological research, theoretical-philosophical-methodological framework by Martin Heidegger. Research was conducted in a University Hospital in the countryside of Southern Brazil, from September 2013 to May 2014 through a phenomenological interview, with participation of eleven couples. Results: For the couples, pregnancy is part of life when they wish to have a child, even when one or both (...) of them already have children from previous relationships. In addition, it is part of life when they consider the risks and do not want to have children in such circumstances anymore, but it happened unexpectedly. Conclusion: Understanding reproductive needs and demands of these couples is an aid for qualification and improvement of care as a contribution to nursing care planning towards reproductive health of these couples. (shrink)

Physics is a peculiar way to reason about the world that often makes the invisible visible. If one aims at understanding what physics is about, recognise how experimental measurements and mathematical reasoning are intertwined is essential. In this work we exemplify such entanglement by analysing three case studies. In the first one, the explanation of the Hall effect underlines how we indirectly penetrate into the microscopic structure of a wire and manage to evaluate the number of charged particles per unit (...) volume inside it from a set of macroscopic measurements. The second case shows how our reasoning allows us to determine the radius of a hydrogen atom from the experimental measure of the atom's binding energy. The third example comes from kinetic gas theory and illustrates how it is possible to estimate the number of gas particles per unit volume from the experimental values of pressure and temperature. These three case studies show that the equal sign of certain equations can be seen as a bridge connecting the empirical and theoretical dimensions. We argue that epistemological reflections should be an essential part of science education if we aim at delivering an authentic picture of the nature of physics. (shrink)

: We analyzed articles on studies carried out by doctors using qualitative methods. A literature search of articles published on the SciELO Brazil database between 2004 and 2013 was performed using the following keywords: qualitative research, interview, focus group, participant observation, content analysis, discourse analysis, social representation, and dialectical hermeneutics. The texts were analyzed using a theoretical framework based on the qualitative research review guidelines. Articles were grouped into the following categories: consistent, not very consistent, and inconsistent. A total of (...) 135 articles were selected from 28 journals. The majority were considered consistent. The main weaknesses found were: lack of information on methodological path; superficial and descriptive analysis without reference to relevant literature; conclusions that did not advance beyond common sense; decontextualized results, and lack of study limitations. We concluded that the majority of the articles had scientific validity and suggest that journals covering the health field should provide specific norms for articles produced from qualitative studies. (shrink)

The objective of this article, which is part of the research program developed by the authors on the role of representation in science and science education, is to highlight the use of mechanisms and mathematical principles as representational heuristics of physical phenomena. They have been used by Descartes and Fermat in their respective investigations in the field of optics, more specifically in their analysis of the light refraction phenomenon. With examples drawn from the works of the cited authors, we sought (...) to reveal the distinct, but not exclusive commitments and conceptions about the dynamics involved in building and developing scientific theories. From the heuristic point of view, we raise the hypothesis of the complementarity and convergence between both representations, with the argument it's up to the mechanisms to capture the constituting material principle of the phenomenon, while the abstract mathematical principles should take care of its formal organization. By emphasizing aspects related to the dynamics of the construction and development of scientific theories, heuristic elements essential to an understanding of the Nature of Science and therefore relevant to the Descartes, Fermat, Epistemology of physics, Heuristics, Physics Education teaching and learning process of physics will emerge. (shrink)

ABSTRACT A key challenge for applied linguistics is how to deal with the historical power imbalance in knowledge production between the global north and south. A central objective of critical applied linguistics has been to provide new epistemological foundations that address this problem, through the lenses of post-colonial theory, for example. This article shows how the structure of academic writing, even within critical traditions, can reinforce unequal transnational relations of knowledge. Analysis of Brazilian theses and publications that draw on the (...) multiliteracies framework identifies a series of discursive moves that constitute “hidden features”, positioning “northern” theory as universal and “southern” empirical applications as locally bounded. The article offers a set of questions for critical reflection during the writing process, contributing to the literature on academic literacies. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Objective: to present the theoretical perspective of Imre Lakatos, from its Methodology of Scientific Research Programs, and its epistemological evaluation of the Brazilian Postgraduate Nursing Program. Method: It is a reflexive analysis, organized into three sections, with the following question: Can the theoretical-philosophical proposition by Imre Lakatos contribute to assess to the Brazilian Postgraduate Nursing Program? Discussion: It is assumed that nursing care as a theoretical hypothesis; it presents the basic elements of lakatosian program: the hard core, the protective (...) belt, negative and positive heuristics and its application for evaluation of Brazilian Postgraduate Nursing Program. Program researchers must define and establish the lakatosian basic elements. After 43 years of the creation of the stricto sensu postgraduate programs in Brazil, a critical analysis of its epistemological foundation is necessary. Conclusion: the amplification of the evaluation process from the link between quantitative and philosophical in order to judge the Nursing Science is recommended. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In this paper, I propose a variant of a Humean account of laws called "Open Future Humeanism", which holds that since the laws supervene partly on future events, there are at any instant infinitely many possible future courses of events. I argue that if one wants to take the openness of the future that OFH proposes ontologically serious, then OFH is best represented within a growing block view of time. I further discuss some of OFH's problems which stem from (...) the fact that in this view, there are no laws as long as time progresses. These problems can be solved by adding a temporal operator to the laws, so that at any instant, we get a set of tensed laws which held up to and including that instant. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Although the issue of temporality has mainly been studied from Physics, this topic also exhibits diverse interesting aspects that could be addressed from a biological perspective. One possible way of approaching this subject is to examine the kinds of temporalities involved in biological processes. In that vein, the aim of this article is to analyze developmental and evolutionary processes' temporality in different biological fields of study, including a novel area which attempts to integrate the research of those processes. To (...) that end, we propose a taxonomy for the analysis of the temporal characteristics of biological processes. Making use of that taxonomy, we conclude that biological processes' temporality is extremely complex since not only different fields of study present differing temporal characteristics, but also each kind of biological process shows diverse temporalities. These observations point out the pertinence of biological insights and the relevance of Philosophy of Biology's contributions to the study of the extensive and multifaceted issues of time and temporality. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The study aimed to identify and understand, in the student's discourse, the social value and discuss it in the light of some of Max Scheler's assumptions. The senior students in Nursing take an existential place in the world, giving it meaning and sense through their opinion. The research is qualitative with a phenomenological approach. The subjects were 10 senior students from the Nursing course in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data were collected from August to September, 2014, through interviews. (...) Dilthey's hermeneutics was used to unveil the meaning of the statements. The social value emerged in the discourse, expressing solidarity based on sympathy. The social value was recognized as a constituent of the axiological field that founds the profession and is essential for nursing care. It is acknowledged that the "logic of reason" and the "logic of the heart" are complementary and combine the art and science of nursing. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This short essay, written from the point of view of a young theatre maker, pedagogue, and scholar, is presented in the spirit of a letter, addressed primarily at theatre artists and scholars to question their role of scientists in the growing exchange between theatre and neurosciences. In particular the essay highlights the importance of science in a theatre tradition based on the actor's pedagogy, and posits such a tradition as an example of research from which theatre makers could engage (...) in a deep exchange between scientists of cognition. (shrink)

: This article outlines some features of the discursive strategies adopted by Thomas Hanna in order to legitimate Somatics - as well as his own method - in the eyes of the scientific community. The notion of soma and the representations of its functions will be recognized at the core of this issue. In order to stress the enduring risk of dogmatism of the scientific rhetoric to our days, as well as their influence on the configuration of somatic discourses, I (...) will be mainly referring to Isabelle Ginot's radical epistemology and Martha Eddy's critical perspective. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine how the media articulates the knowledge and positions involved in the process of death and dying. Documentary research in the field of post-structuralist cultural studies. The empirical material consisted of ten interviews, published in the magazines Época and Veja, between 2000 and 2012. To delimit the corpus of analysis, we used discursive mapping by means of the software ATLAS.ti. The findings were submitted to discourse analysis inspired by Foucault. In the reports, nursing appeared linked (...) to care for the body and technical procedures, leading to the conclusion that the media constructs the professionals' image, according to the historical attributes linked to the professions. The knowledge of medicine and of justice is authorized to teach the subject to decide and to plan the death. Power/knowledge relations are outlined that legitimize the discourse on the production of a singularized death, which must be provided by the subjects using an expert of health. (shrink)

In this paper I challenge the widespread assumption that the conditions for singular reference are more or less the same as the conditions for singular thought. I claim that we refer singularly to things without thinking singularly about them more often than it is usually believed. I first argue that we should take the idea that singular thought is non-descriptive thought very seriously. If we do that, it seems that we cannot be so liberal about what counts as acquaintance; only (...) perception will do. I also briefly discuss and reject semantic instrumentalism. Finally, I argue that while singular reference is cheap, singular thought comes only at a price. (shrink)

We review Ferreirós and Lassalle Casanave's recently publishedbook "El árbol de los números". The book is a result of the Brazilian-Spanish conference "Sobre la elucidación del concepto de número: cognición, lógica y práctica matemática" hosted in Sevilla in 2013, and collects new papers on History and Philosophy of Mathematics as well as Mathematical Practice. These papers present results of investigations in Cognitive Sciences, Logic and Epistemology of mathematical certainty. In this review we present a general overview of the papers' contents, (...) and advance a critical analysis of them. (shrink)

In this article, I present a sketch of a new proposition to guide organizational studies: the Cicle of Epistemic Matrices. Inspired by Thomas Kuhn and based on the thesis of paradigms' incommensurability, Gibson Burrell and Gareth Morgan drew the diagram of sociological paradigms, but its inclusion in the academy has encouraged a paradigms war. The Circle of Epistemic Matrices also provides an outline for the guidance of organizational studies, but it is based on Habermas and defends the thesis of cognitive (...) incompleteness, suggesting that the sociological and organizational knowledge grows according to the thesis of epistemic reconstructions. To accomplish these propositions and elaborations, I present the debate about the paradigms' war in literature and I question the adequacy of sociological paradigms of Gibson Burrell and Gareth Morgan to organizational studies, with the issue of the influence that it suffered from Kuhnian paradigms and logic. In the following sections, there is an exhibition of alternative proposition - the of Circle of Epistemic Matrices - and, also, I support the thesis of cognitive incompleteness and the thesis of epistemic reconstructions in order to bring a new theory of knowledge development to the area. Finally, I present the findings and thoughts for future research. (shrink)

This study assessed the development of the theory of mind in preschool children aged 4 and 5 years old, along with potential interactions among gender, age and whether children were from private or public schools. A total of 178 children participated in the study. After securing ethical compliance with applicable guidelines, we applied the Theory-of-Mind-Scale. There was no evidence of differences regarding gender . Differences were found in regard to age and whether students were from private or public schools . (...) Five-year-old children performed better on the scale and children from private schools also performed better than those from public schools. The results show that the scale was sufficiently sensitive to capture the evolutionary sequence of the theory of mind and the relevance of socio-cultural factors. Because research in this field is still incipient, we emphasize the importance of further studies conducted with larger samples. (shrink)

One of the most debated choices in every social research design is the adoption of either a realist or an idealist worldview of sociological problems. As argued in this paper, this dichotomy can be bridged by the dialectical approach of historical space production according to Marxist traditions in human geography. Therefore, this paper explores the philosophical grounds of this debate and previous attempts to conciliate the dichotomy and finally proposes a rejection of this dichotomy by adopting the categories of ‘space’ (...) and ‘time’ as central in organizational analysis. Space is a historical production of social relations, and the same relations are defined in terms of their surrounding space. Thus, organization studies can benefit from a spatial view of organizations to overcome epistemological constraints by interpreting organizations as historically produced and producers of their spatial context. (shrink)

After a hundred-years of its publication, the Karl Jaspers' book, General Psychopathology, is still an indispensable book to psychiatrists and for all those who study psychopathology. It's a clear delineation of the phenomenological method for describing the symptoms of mental disorders that remains unmatched until nowadays. The book focuses on the relevance of phenomenological and hermeneutical methods in psychopathology. Although this work is grounded in the clinical thought and practices of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jaspers' delineation of (...) psychiatric methods in this work is still evaluated as unmatched to this day, a work that is indispensable to contemporary psychiatry. Jaspers also contributed with important articles and book reviews to psychiatric periodicals during the first two decades of the twentieth century. (shrink)

The peer review process is the dominant system adopted in science to evaluate the quality of articles submitted for publication. Various social players are involved in this process, including authors, editors and reviewers. Much has been discussed about the need to improve the scientific quality of what is published. The main focus of these discussions has been the work of the authors. However, the editors and reviewers also fulfill an important role. In this opinion article, we discuss some proposals to (...) improve the peer review system, emphasizing the role of reviewers and editors. (shrink)

Animal experimentation, besides a research method extensively applied in the production of scientific knowledge, is also considered essential to science and with undeniable historical relevance in advances in human health. In this survey, a questionnaire was applied to a group of researchers involved with research based on non-animal models (n =18), and to another group involved with research based on animal models (n =18). The data analysis was grounded in Ludwik Fleck (1896 -1961) epistemological assumptions. The results suggested that there (...) are at least two thought styles operating in consonance on the same research problem (advances in human health conditions) with significantly different conceptions not only concerning the research practices involved, but also the historical conceptions related to the role of animal experimentation. (shrink)

It is thought in the theory and philosophy of law, aimed at discussing the conditions of possibility of rapprochement between the art form and legal form. The text investigates, dialectically, the implications for the legal philosophy of the impossibility of such approximation, and the problems in a conservative approximation. It follows that: 1) would be a loss for a reason and therefore to legal philosophy, not to communicate between art and law; 2) the relationship between legal and aesthetic standards should (...) be guided by the critical, especially in terms of Adorno's thought. It is by overcoming the dichotomy between possibility and impossibility, opening on the idea of constellation of methodological categorical fields of law and aesthetics in their current forms, paving the way for understanding the legal form as a tragic way. (shrink)