Writing about the intellectual development of a philosopher is a delicate business. My own endeavor to reinterpret the influence of Hegel on Dewey troubles some scholars because, they believe, I make Dewey seem less original.1 But if, like Dewey, we overcome Cartesian dualism, placing the development of the self firmly within a complex matrix of social processes, we are forced to reexamine, without necessarily surrendering, the notion of individual originality, or what Neil Gross calls “discourse[s] of creative genius.”2 To use (...) a mundane example, I can recall several conversations with Dewey scholars about his dislike for his home state of Vermont, all of which revolved around personal reasons he may.. (shrink)

En su Teoría postmetafísica del conocimiento, Antonio M. López Molina muestra detallada y rigurosamente que el vaciamiento sustantivo de la razón y, junto con él, el desmoronamiento de la vieja pretensión filosófica de acceder de manera privilegiada a la verdad (como al Bien o a Dios), no comportan su definitiva quiebra, sino más bien la urgencia de reelaborarla en términos falibilistas y procedimentales; con tal fin –y, a su vez, para asignarle a la filosofía el papel que le ha de (...) corresponder tras el ocaso de todas y cada una de las ilusiones metafísicas– analiza López Molina el concepto de acción comunicativa, capaz de imbricar a las ciencias positivas con el mundo de la vida y proveer el fin –ni utópico ni teológico– de una intersubjetividad no falseada, apoyada en relaciones simétricas de libre reconocimiento recíproco. (shrink)

Este volume resume as palestras apresentadas durante o simpósio comemorativo dos "100 Anos da Física Quântica", realizado no Instituto de Física da USP. Para avaliar o significado dessa comemoração, basta lembrar que a Física no século XIX parecia estar completa. Os textos agrupados neste volume tratam de aspectos históricos associados à emergência inicial da teoria quântica, de desenvolvimentos relacionados com algumas das suas mais notórias conseqüências, e de aplicações abrangendo fenômenos desde a escala sub-atômica, atômica e molecular, até as dimensões (...) do universo como um todo. (shrink)

Crítica y metafísica es una compilación de artículos sobre la filosofía de Immanuel Kant, reunidos para rendir homenaje a la trayectoria de Mario Caimi en el ámbito de los estudios kantianos. Los trabajos que integran este volumen han sido elaborados por algunos de los especialistas más destacados, provenientes de distintos lugares del mundo, y abordan diversos aspectos del pensamiento de Kant. Mario Caimi (* 1947) ha sido profesor titular de filosofía moderna en la Universidad de Buenos Aires, y se desempeña (...) actualmente como Investigador superior en el Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina. Es autor de numerosos trabajos sobre la filosofía de Kant, y ha traducido al español algunas de las obras más importantes del filósofo. En 2010 recibió el Kant-Preis, otorgado por la Kant-Gesellschaft, como reconocimiento a su destacada trayectoria. Crítica y metafísica ist ein Sammelband über die Philosophie Immanuel Kants, der den Werdegang Mario Caimis im Bereich der Kant-Studien würdigen möchte. Die hier gesammelten Beiträge wurden von einigen der anerkanntesten Kant-Spezialisten aus verschiedenen Ländern verfasst und behandeln diverse Aspekte des kantischen Denkens. Mario Caimi (* 1947) war Lehrstuhlinhaber für Philosophie der Neuzeit an der Universität von Buenos Aires und ist zur Zeit als investigador superior beim Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) der Republik Argentinien tätig. Er ist Autor mehrerer Aufsätze über die Philosophie Kants und hat einige der wichtigsten Werke dieses Philosophen übersetzt. 2010 erhielt er den von der Internationalen Kant-Gesellschaft verliehenen Kant-Preis in Anerkennung seines Werdegangs. (shrink)

Hemos ingeniado numerosos juegos para solazarnos; jugamos en las relaciones sociales desempeñando papeles con sus pertinentes máscaras; y el mundo semeja un gran juego que avanza subyugado por reglas, en el que, armados de nuestros saberes, jugamos para mantenernos vivos y vivir de la mejor manera. Mas aquí no se acaba el juego: resulta que el mundo, que es uno entre los posibles, debe de haberse impuesto, sin duda, a otras combinaciones de cartas en una recóndita partida de póquer de (...) un jugar inasible y difuso que rehúye nuestras concepciones. Porque, si bien de los juegos que hemos construido sabemos el qué, el para qué y el cómo, no podemos decir lo mismo del juego del mundo, inscrito a su vez en una maraña que juega sin límite y en la que nos vislumbramos. Por ello hemos de aclarar en qué consiste este juego último, para intentar descubrir a qué juega todo y a qué juega el ser humano. A ello ha venido consagrándose la Metafísica con estrategias varias: la Metafísica es también un juego, un juego de nociones, y a él se aplica este ensayo pretendiendo jugar con el mayor tino aun sin obtener ganancia. Así pues, este no es un libro de filosofía, contra lo que proclama el título; esto es un entretejido de partidas de un juego desesperado donde el jugador se juega el mundo, la vida, el pensamiento, el hombre y hasta a sí mismo. Con el molde del juego probaremos a concebir la realidad entera y a digerir la temática filosófica en sus tópicos más relevantes. Porque en este escrito la palabra juego funcionará como un significante flotante (en la nomenclatura estructuralista), como un valor simbólico cero, susceptible de aplicarse a cualquier fenómeno, y útil para conexionar nuestras inquietudes en los escenarios más diversos. Con dicha táctica, este libro recorrerá los problemas fundamentales de la filosofía para ofrecer al lector una visión aventurera al mismo tiempo que coherente. Empezando por un juego de solitario, el del Yo pensante, nos abriremos al pensamiento y al mundo, como juego en que participamos los hombres; veremos cómo en él se constituye el sentido o ser de las cosas, y cómo ese juego nos catapulta a un Gran Juego columbrado, al Juego de Ser (por llamarlo de algún modo), a un jugar sin sujeto y sin reglas al que no cabe aplicarle nuestras nociones. En tal juego intervenimos los hombres y efectuamos nuestras apuestas con los otros y con nosotros mismos y ante la muerte. Este libro se dirige a los jugadores genuinos, a los amantes del juego al margen de su resultado, dispuestos a los triunfos y a las derrotas, y a la derrota definitiva, sabedores de que todo es un juego después de todo. Emprenderemos, pues, un juego en sentido estricto y en sentido laxo, habida cuenta de que el ser y la nada, la verdad y el conocimiento, el mundo y las cosas, el hombre y el Yo pensante, la sociedad y la historia, el bien y el mal, Dios y el absurdo, la transcendencia y la muerte… son piezas, cartas o fichas con que nos hemos topado en un juego que nos abarca y al que nos sentimos arrojados. En cuanto juego, este libro, verdadero curso de filosofía para jugadores, aspira solo a que sus jugadas cuadren. (shrink)

Marco Aurelio. Pensamientos.--Kant, E. Fundamentación de la metafísica de las costumbres.--Mill, J. S. De que clase de prueba es susceptible el principio de utilidad.--Lefebre, H. La moral marxista.--Dostoievski, F. Crimen y castigo.--Nietzsche, F. Más allá del bien y del mal.--Bergson, H. La obligación moral.--Camus, A. El extraño.--Hare, R. M. Etica y política.

Background: Older, frail patients with multimorbidity are at an especially high risk for disease severity and death from COVID-19. The social restrictions proved challenging for the residents, their relatives, and the care staff. While these restrictions clearly impacted daily life in Norwegian nursing homes, knowledge about how the pandemic influenced nursing practice is sparse. Aim: The aim of the study was to illuminate ethical difficult situations experienced by Norwegian nurses working in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research design and (...) participants: The research design involved semistructured individual interviews conducted with 15 nurses working in 8 nursing homes in 3 health regions in Norway, within both urban and rural areas. Ethical considerations: Oral and written information about the study was provided before the participants gave their written consent. The transcribed interviews were de-identified. The study was approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data. Findings: Four ethical difficult situations were identified: (a) turning the nursing home into a prison; (b) using medication to maintain peace and order; (c) being left alone with the responsibility; and (d) s. impact on decision-making. Conclusions: The nurses’ ethical challenges were intertwined with external factors, such as national and local guidelines, and the nurses’ own internalized factors, which were connected to their subjective professionality. This duality inflicted emotional distress and gave nurses few opportunities to perform nursing in a professionally sound and safe manner. (shrink)

The aim of this research was to gain insight into the experiences and perspectives of individual members of a Medical Research Ethics Committee regarding their individual roles and possible tensions within and between these roles. We conducted a qualitative interview study among members of a large MREC, supplemented by a focus group meeting. Respondents distinguish five roles: protector, facilitator, educator, advisor and assessor. Central to the role of protector is securing valid informed consent and a proper risk-benefit analysis. The role (...) of facilitator implies that respondents want to think along with and assist researchers in order to help medical science progress. As educators, the respondents want to raise ethical and methodological awareness of researchers. The role of advisor implies that respondents bring in their own expertise. The role of assessor points to contributing to the overall evaluation of the research proposal. Various tensions were identified within and between roles. Within the role of protector, a tension is experienced between paternalism and autonomy. Between the role of protector and facilitator tensions occur when the value of a study is questioned while risks and burdens for the subjects are negligible. Within the role of assessor, a tension is felt between the implicit nature of judgments and the need for more explicit formulations. Awareness of various roles and responsibilities may prevent one-sided views on MREC work, not only by members themselves, but also by researchers. Tensions within and between the roles require reflection by MREC members. (shrink)

Although its roots can be traced to the 19th century, progress in the study of nonlinear dynamical systems has taken off in the last 30 years. While pertinent source material exists, it is strewn about the literature in mathematics, physics, biology, economics, and psychology at varying levels of accessibility. A compendium research methods reflecting the expertise of major contributors to NDS psychology, Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences Using Real Data examines the techniques proven to be the most (...) useful in the behavioral sciences. The editors have brought together constructive work on new practical examples of methods and application built on nonlinear dynamics. They cover dynamics such as attractors, bifurcations, chaos, fractals, catastrophes, self-organization, and related issues in time series analysis, stationarity, modeling and hypothesis testing, probability, and experimental design. The analytic techniques discussed include several variants of the fractal dimension, several types of entropy, phase-space and state-space diagrams, recurrence analysis, spatial fractal analysis, oscillation functions, polynomial and Marquardt nonlinear regression, Markov chains, and symbolic dynamics. The book outlines the analytic requirements faced by social scientists and how they differ from those of mathematicians and natural scientists. It includes chapters centered on theory and procedural explanations for running the analyses with pertinent examples and others that illustrate applications where a particular form of analysis is seen in the context of a research problem. This combination of approaches conveys theoretical and practical knowledge that helps you develop skill and expertise in framing hypotheses dynamically and building viable analytic models to test them. (shrink)

Lagos-based Raypower Radio is one of the very few stations in Nigeria that is offering broadcasts in Nigerian local languages and tribal dialects. Due to the pre-dominant use of English in the education system native Nigerian languages tend to be considered as inferior, especially among social circles of higher education and wealthy background. This research attempts to analyse the influence of parental attitude towards tribal dialects as a barrier or motivational source for Nigerian youth in terms of the use and (...) acquisition of local languages and the reception of radio stations offering local content. (shrink)

Traditional accounts of the emergence of professional biology have privileged not only metropolis over province, but research over teaching and laboratory over museum. This paper seeks to supplement earlier studies of the 'transformation of biology' in the late nineteenth century by exploring in detail the developments within three biology departments in Northern English civic colleges. By outlining changes in the teaching practices, research topics and the accommodation of the departments, the authors demonstrate both locally contingent factors in their development and (...) continuities with existing traditions in natural history. The appointment of Arthur Milnes Marshall in preference to Louis Miall to the new zoology chair in Manchester in 1879 casts light on contemporary views of the laboratory and museum as 'equal though different'. The transformation in biology, in Northern England at least, was shaped more by such local institutional changes than by a phoenix-like rise of the laboratory from the ashes of the museum-more by the rhetorical construction of a professional academic community than any dramatic shift in sites. In this period the biology laboratory supplemented, rather than eclipsed, the museum, and the dichotomy between the 'naturalist' and the 'experimentalist' was far from clear-cut. (shrink)

Global bioethics and the environment -- Biodiversity -- Health -- Disease -- Drugs -- Food -- Water -- Global bioethics in practice.

New media are increasingly providing spaces and opportunities for media houses and activist groups engaged in socio-political reform in Africa. In Nigeria, social media are becoming platforms for communicating messages of resistance against oppressive political and exploitative economic power structures. This study analyzed Ogas at the top (OATT), an online puppetry series by Buni TV, as a way of examining new platforms and message content in Nigeria’s rapidly changing media sphere. Relying on semiotics and critical discourse analysis perspectives, the study (...) analyzed select episodes of the series, to gauge how producers constructed powerful visual and linguistic messages to boldly satirize social injustices perpetrated by Nigeria’s political elites. (shrink)

Based on our empirical research on global meaning in people with spinal cord injury and people with stroke, we formulated ‘inner posture’ as a concept in rehabilitation. Inner posture, as we concluded from our empirical data, refers to the way in which people bear what cannot be changed. It helps them to live with their injury. Considering that much has already been written about meaning from a variety of disciplines, the question arises whether the concept of inner posture adds something (...) new to the existing literature, or is just another name for a phenomenon that has already been described before in different terms. In this paper, we aim to investigate this and to clarify our conceptualization, by comparing the concept of inner posture with influential concepts in healthcare literature which seem to be more or less related. In the work of Puchalski regarding spirituality, Pargament regarding religion, Eliott regarding hope and Frankl regarding attitude, we found definitions and descriptions that seemed to come close to the phenomenon we refer to as inner posture. Because these concepts have various theoretical backgrounds, the comparison can help to better understand our concept of inner posture, through a process of dialogue between traditions, following Gadamer’s notion of dialogue as fusion of horizons of understanding. We conclude that inner posture differs from the other concepts in several ways. Some of these differences are more fundamental, other are partial. This suggests that we identified a new perspective on a phenomenon partially described earlier. The comparison also inspired us to slightly adjust our definition and to formulate new research questions. (shrink)

Karl Popper’s falsificationist epistemology that all knowledge advances through a process of conjectures and refutations carries profound implications for politics and education. In this article, I first argue that, on a political level, it is necessary to establish and maintain an open society by fostering not only five core values, viz. freedom, tolerance, respect, rationalism, and equalitarianism, but also three crucial practices, viz. democracy, state interventionism, and piecemeal social engineering. Then, considering that an open society places great political, and thus (...) educational, demands upon its members, I examine the role played by education in its establishment and maintenance, focusing on its educational aims, curriculum, and pedagogy. (shrink)

Liquidity risk arises from the inability to unwind or hedge trading positions at the prevailing market prices. The risk of liquidity is a wide and complex topic as it depends on several factors and causes. While much has been written on the subject, there exists no clear-cut mathematical description of the phenomena and typical market risk modeling methods fail to identify the effect of illiquidity risk. In this paper, we do not propose a definitive one either, but we attempt to (...) derive novel mathematical algorithms for the dynamic modeling of trading volumes during the closeout period from the perspective of multiple-asset portfolio, as well as for financial entities with different subsidiary firms and multiple agents. The robust modeling techniques are based on the application of initial-value-problem differential equations technique for portfolio selection and risk management purposes. This paper provides some crucial parameters for the assessment of the trading volumes of multiple-asset portfolio during the closeout period, where the mathematical proofs for each theorem and corollary are provided. Based on the new developed econophysics theory, this paper presents for the first time a closed-form solution for key parameters for the estimation of trading volumes and liquidity risk, such as the unwinding constant, half-life, and mean lifetime and discusses how these novel parameters can be estimated and incorporated into the proposed techniques. The developed modeling algorithms are appealing in terms of theory and are promising for practical econophysics applications, particularly in developing dynamic and robust portfolio management algorithms in light of the 2007–2009 global financial crunch. In addition, they can be applied to artificial intelligence and machine learning for the policymaking process, reinforcement machine learning techniques for the Internet of Things data analytics, expert systems in finance, FinTech, and within big data ecosystems. (shrink)

Canada has an enviable record of relatively progressive and egalitarian legislation and policy in relation to Canadian family forms. The country’s constitutional guarantees of equality and multiculturalism provide the legal foundation for this record. In particular, Canada’s leadership in the recognition of and support for same-sex relationships in family law and social policy is widely acknowledged. This is, however, also deeply contested terrain: Feminist legal scholars informed by critical political economy argue that recent family law advances in Canada sit compatibly (...) with neo-liberal social policy and restructuring of the welfare state; the neo-conservative and religious right assert that the fundamental nature of family has been undermined by the recognition of same-sex marriage, facilitating the legal recognition of polygamous relationships, among others. Still others take the view that despite a liberal, progressive and formally egalitarian approach to family, the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Canada reflects and reinforces a historically patriarchal, heterosexual institution that should be jettisoned rather than embraced. These arguments raise issues and illustrate more generally the tensions in state and legal construction and regulation of familial relations — historically and in the current context. In this Article, I re-theorize the significance of patriarchy and the relationship between patriarchal relations and the discourse of privatization in critical family law. Using the experience of women from the “outskirts” — lesbian spouses, welfare mothers, and women in polygamous relationships — I demonstrate the limits of any theory of “privatization” that does not theorize patriarchal relations. In particular, I identify and analyze the impediments to equality posed by increasingly invisible, but no less enduring, patriarchal familial ideologies in order to envision forms of family law reform and state social policy that might actually improve gendered and generational familial relations and transform the social landscape more generally. (shrink)

Combining her expertise in legal theory and her judicial practice in criminal law in a Court of Appeal, Jeanne Gaakeer explores the intertwinement of legal theory and practice to develop a humanities-inspired methodology for both the academic interdisciplinary study of law and literature and for legal practice. This volume addresses judgment and interpretation as a central concern within the field of law, literature and humanities. It is not only a study of law as praxis that combines academic legal theory with (...) judicial practice, but proposes both as central to humanistic jurisprudence and as a training in the conduct of public life. Drawing extensively on philosophical and legal scholarship and through analysis of literary works, Gaakeer proposes a perspective on law as part of the humanities that will inspire legal professionals, scholars and advanced students of law alike.-Back cover. (shrink)

There is an underdeveloped potential for using neuroscience as a particular input in the process of law-making. This paper examines one such instance in the area of public health law. Neuroscience could play an important role in elucidating and strengthening the relevance of the conditions underlying and re-enforcing our ability to cooperate in balancing the benefits and burdens necessary to achieve particular goods; for instance, the protection of public health in an outbreak of pandemic influenza. In particular, I shall focus (...) on how a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of reciprocity could be used to help increase support and compliance with public heath laws—especially those involving restrictive measures (such as quarantine and isolation). (shrink)

The Lord of the Fourteen worlds is manifest here. Questioner: For whom is the title 'Dada Bhagwan' used? Dadashri: For 'Dada Bhagwan.' Not for me. I am a 'Gnani Purush A. M. Patel.' 'Dada Bhagwan' is the Lord of the fourteen worlds. He dwells within you also, but He has not awakened yet, he remains unmanifested. Here within me, He is fully awakened and manifest. He is capable of awakening the Lord within you.

In this paper, the authors have detected a new effect in the area of geomagnetism, related to the behavior of a magnetic dipole freely floating on water surface. An experiment is described in the present paper in which a magnetic dipole fixed upon a float placed on non- magnetized water surface undergoes displacement along with reorientation caused by fine structure of the earth's magnetic field. This fact can probably be explained by secular decrease of the earth's major dipole moment. Further, (...) a detailed study of the phenomenon may create interesting premises for its practical use, particularly for the analysis of fine structure of geomagnetic field and its time-dependent anomalies. A strange behavior of some sea fish species prior to strong earthquakes may be explained if the fish are assumed as 'live magnetic dipoles'. (shrink)

The episodes of cowpox inoculation (1798) and rabies preventive treatment (1885) are celebrated as the landmark of modern medicine. Paradoxically, these two advances have been accomplished without any theoretical breakthrough in the understanding of immunity. Going further, they were made possible by a long past of empirical procedures among which smallpox inoculation played an outstanding role. The paper explores the paradox of 'Immunization without Immunology' and Pasteur's reconstruction of the past, through his successful use of a metaphor. 'Vaccine', originally linked (...) to the jennerian method, was meant by Pasteur to designate a general program of virus attenuation. The paper investigates the scientific factors accounting for why viruses played such a leading role in immunization. The longlasting immunity, the easy transmission from man to man characteristic of smallpox allowing in vivo experimentation, may explain how crude procedures of early immunizers shaped scientific ideologies and strategies of public health and family initiated modern 'vaccinology'. (shrink)